Senate to Release Torture Report Today, Obama on Colbert Report, Are Vanity Plates Speech?: A.M. Links

shriekingtree/Flickr

• Parts of the hush-hush Senate Intelligence Committee report on Bush-era "enhanced interrogation tactics" are expected to be released this morning, and officials are promising nasty new details about CIA obfuscation and torture. 
• Stephen Colbert hosted some real talk with President Obama on the Colbert Report Monday night, asking "Does that happen to every president, where you get into the office and you think 'oh, you know what, I might be the only one I trust with this much power so I'll hold onto it?'"
• More than 150 demonstrators were arrested in Berkely, California, last night after storming Interstate 80 freeway in order to protest police brutality. Several journalists were injured by officers while covering the protests. Major protests were also seen Monday in cities from Brooklyn to Phoenix. 
• The Supreme Court will hear a case on whether vanity licence plates are protected by the First Amendment.
• Four Christian colleges and a group of Colorado nuns argued in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday that being excepted from Obamacare's birth control mandate is not enough because of the "morally problematic" forms they have to sign in order to opt out.
• South Carolina Republicans yesterday introduced seven bills to restrict abortion access. While several of the bills contradict each other in terms of when exactly they would ban abortion, state Sen. Lee Bright, who filed five of them, told The Huffington Post he was waiting to "see which [bill] gets the most traction."
• Michael Brown's federal autopsy report, conducted at the request of the Department of Justice and released yesterday, reached similar conclusions to autopsies performed by Ferguson officials and a private examiner. Transcripts of interviews with possible witnesses to Brown's shooting were also released.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Supreme Court will hear a case on whether vanity licence plates are protected by the First Amendment.

Kennedy's ASSMAN plate is in jeopardy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Obama the Unserious President.

[Ted S.]

Our plate's in jeopardy, baby,
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh

[gaijin]

Now that is a blast from a past

[Ted S.]

They just don't write 'em like that anymore.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What you did there, I see it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Trivia: For a year or so, Satriani was Kihn's lead guitarist.

[Bam!]

Shouldn't Kmele have the ASSMAN plate?

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Does that happen to every president, where you get into the office and you think 'oh, you know what, I might be the only one I trust with this much power so I'll hold onto it?'"

I'll give him credit for asking that one.

[Injun, as in from India]

This question could be rephrased in so many different ways! Such as: "Does the power of the office turn you into the world's most prolific auto-fellater?"

[BigT]

We all know power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Just how corrupt are you?

[Zeb]

Nah, if you can suck your own dick, what do you need power for?

[HeteroPatriarch]

So you don't have to?

[tarran]

Why? It was merely purposed to paint people who are accusing Obama of behaving dictatorially of being nutjobs.

BTW, I think it's kind of funny how Obama is reduced to doing interviews with comedians. It's like Gary Busey starring in Turkish movies.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I didn't get that from the question, and it's a comedy show. I don't expect any questions that come close to challenging. But I agree with your second point.

[DJF]

Here is my question. Mr President, the tax system in the US is unfair and hurts many people, will you issue an executive order to end enforcement of all Federal taxes?

[Warren's Strapon]

I only saw the last question and answer. Obama responded something along the line of, "If Congress doesn't want me using executive action on immigration, then they should send me a bill." Oh, you lying liar. You want your bill, not their bill. I mean, I'm closer to Obama's position, but he still couldn't help lying.

And of course the audience ate it up and cheered. "We'd agree with you if you'd do what we wanted!"

Fucking assholes. Stop pretending you're ready to cooperate.

[The Late P Brooks]

Diane Feinstein, American Taliban!!111!!

[UnCivilServant]

Four Christian colleges and a group of Colorado nuns argued...

Until the flying nuns with tommy guns went on strafing runs.

[Rich]

Four Christian colleges and a group of Colorado nuns

walk into a bar ?.

[UnCivilServant]

walk into a bar ?.

...ouch, who put that bar across the door!

[gaijin]

ba da da! don't forget to tip your servers!

[UnCivilServant]

... Just not too far or they'll fall over.

[Ted S.]

I'll be here all week. Tip the veal and try the waitress.

[Doctor Whom]

Rape culture!

[Ted S.]

Nuns on the Run?

[Rhywun]

Four Christian colleges and a group of Colorado nuns argued...

...and nobody noticed because only crazy wingnuts like them could possibly object to paying for other people's sexy-time.

[FlyingNunStrafingRun]

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT

[Fist of Etiquette]

Several journalists were injured by officers while covering the protests.

Lessons learned.

[UnCivilServant]

Lessons learned.

We can increase our ratings if our employees are hurt on-air!

How do we expand up this?

[LynchPin1477]

Journolist knife fights?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

+1 I killed a man with a trident

[Ted S.]

Ask Howard Beale for advice.

[BakedPenguin]

He won't take that anymore.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and officials are promising nasty new details about CIA obfuscation and torture.

SPOILER ALERT

[Rich]

Gruber and Tavenner on C-SPAN at 9:30.

"I'm with Stupid."

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Dumb & Dumber to?

[Fist of Etiquette]

South Carolina Republicans yesterday introduced seven bills to restrict abortion access.

Oh, ENB is doing Links this morning?

[SugarFree]

Got to throw out the red meat for the lovers of regulatory burden to gnaw on.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So get this. A client (parent) at the daycare quit his good, steady, solid job as a mechanical engineer to stay with the kids. As we talked, I discovered his wife suggested he do so because she makes more money, get this, selling products for a MLM company. Me and my sister stood there shocked listening to this.

This is long-term thinking for millennials I reckon.

[UnCivilServant]

So the person doing actual productive work quit while the person working in the Ponzi scheme kept going?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You got it.

She's a quack. Some of the things she tells us I tell ya...

[WTF]

It's true last month she got a check for $12,674 working just a few hours on the computer.

[Idle Hands]

It's not a bad racket as long as your closer to the top and get out early.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Maybe but for someone to quit a really good job over?

I don't think so! He'll be all like 'wha happened' soon enough.

[gaijin]

True, but as an ME, he will have an easier time re-employing himself than the MLM queens I'd guess.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What's the half-life of an ME education these days?

I know for EE it's pretty short (I left the field about ten years ago, there's no way I could step back in without a couple of years of re-education)

[gaijin]

What's the half-life of an ME education these days?

I'd say the math skills of an ME education provides for a long half life in a number of fields: finance, education, business...maybe just not doing actual ME work.

[Brett L]

Anyone who can do a heat-exchanger or compressor sizing (or, really, read a PID) can make $100k/year.

[Rasilio]

I hear they have camps for that

[db]

Possibly in the short term, but engineering skills atrophy and the job market can leave you behind very quickly if you aren't practicing continuously. Less than a year, possibly OK. More than that, and he is going to have a tough time getting another engineering gig.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That's what I think.

He worked 10 years for the company and he's only in his early 30s.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

So about the same age I left the engineering field. I left to take over the family business and get away from a requirement to travel overseas half the year. I never would have done it if I thought I would have to come back to engineering later. I knew my technical skills would suffer for it. Probably could still manage engineers though.

[Steve G]

I hear it's all ball bearings these days. ..and 3-in-1 oil.

[Zeb]

Not exactly a Ponzi scheme as they generally sell something. But close for the people near the bottom.

[Bam!]

A reverse funnel.

[Aloysious]

I personally know a married couple that went this route. Isn't working out so well.

[Zeb]

Which route, man staying with the kids, or working a MLM racket?

[Aloysious]

Man w/kids is working out fine. MLM racket dismal failure. She does not have a head for business, is not disciplined with money. So needless to say, financial woes are escalating.

[TwB]

Just....ugh. I hope someone tried to talk some sense into them. Alas, it fell upon deaf, dumb ears.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

TwB, you nailed it. My educator's husband and his buddies are furious with him. Despite their pleas he still resigned.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

My mom did the same thing. Didn't quit her job, but she wanted something else to do on the side so she went the MK route.

I couldn't convince her not to. Now, with a shit ton of unsold inventory lying around, she wishes she would have listened to me.

[Zeb]

Which MLM thing? I had some friends who tried doing Amway and were sure that they were going to be making $30k a month in no time. That was funny.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The worst has to be those stupid stomach wraps.

And yet, people must buy them...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not sure. Something to do with the oil-based home remedy crap.

Her daughter had a simple funghi virus that could be treated with a cream from the pharmacy and be gone in a couple of days. Instead, she's applying this garbage on her. Surprise! Three weeks later it hasn't worked. Her son has pink eye. Nothing polysporin can't remedy but nooooo. She knows better and making the kid suffer with her stupidity.

[Zeb]

Oh, I bet it's Melaleuka, or however you spell it. There is no shortage of people who believe that "natural" means good.

At least Amway has some pretty good cleaning products.

[Rasilio]

Hey it worked for Cobra Commander

(Little known back story, in the GI Joe commics Cobra Commander built is global terror network off the back of his MLM door to door soap operation)

[Atlas Slugged]

If only they could make a movie that actually followed some of those old Larry Hama stories...

[Steve G]

Monavie is my favorite. Overpriced anti-oxidants... which has pretty much been debunked as a miracle cure within the past few years.

[Atlas Slugged]

I actually enjoy the flavor, but when my ex bought into this....oh man. I was glad to be out of it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Semi-serious question, why are MLM companies all targeted toward women?

[gaijin]

Netowrk marketing of home goods. Same as Tupperware

[gaijin]

or did you mean why do women seem to participate in MLM?

[Rhywun]

Have you ever seen Hoarders?

[Redmanfms]

Not all of them are. Amway has a bunch of products that are definitely geared toward men, notably lawn care stuff and energy drinks/snacks.

I had a co-worker who tried to get me into selling Apsa products and stuff from some "man cave" type outfit (that wasn't Amway) that sold shit like beer coolers and meat products (think Omaha Steaks).

Poor guy spent most of his free and vacation time going to trade shows and the like to pimp products. I seriously doubt he made any money.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They aren't. My brother in law and wife do it.

He always tells my wife stupid crap and like a ding-a-ling she supports him. I keep her away from using bull shit 'home remedy' products that insanely cost two, three, four times the price of stuff that actually work. The thing is, they actually think their products are good.

They prey on people's concerns and sicknesses claiming they have the remedies for simple diseases pharma refuse to deal with. It's insane really.

Oh. Remember to keep an 'open mind'!

[Emmerson Biggins]

Does she make 78 dollars an hour just by using google?

[The Late P Brooks]

the "morally problematic" forms they have to sign in order to opt out.

That piece of paper is oppressing me. I'll have nightmares, now.

[UnCivilServant]

The form says "I object to paying for these items on moral ground, so I authorize someone else to pay for these items in my stead"

[SugarFree]

While the UVA story is crumbling is the perfect time for Slate to argue that frats should be prosecuted just like street gangs.

If a fraternity satisfies the definition of a criminal street gang, the state of Virginia can seize any real property used in substantial connection with its criminal acts or recruitment activities. Fraternity houses serve an important role in the criminal activities of rogue fraternity chapters. They insulate the chapter from supervision and oversight. They function as the venue for flagrantly flouting state laws relating to underage drinking, supplying alcohol to minors, and, in the context of rushing and pledging, hazing and recruitment. They also serve as vehicles for systematically subjecting women to sexual assault. The state has a powerful tool to disrupt the activities of groups whose egregious misconduct makes them closer in spirit to organized criminal enterprises than student clubs. It can take their fraternity houses.

[Idle Hands]

well this power could never be abused.

[tarran]

These people are following the exact same arc of moral panic that eventually had medieval mobs killing Jews in the ghettos because everyone "knew" the Jews were using the blood of gentile babies in passover rites.

Sadly, they consider themselves the most enlightened people on Earth, but all that separates them from a rude German peasant from the feudal ages is access to running water and Iphones.

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

Technology changes, people stay the same. Pretty sure there's a Far Side about this somewhere.

[LynchPin1477]

access to running water

Citation needed.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

They may have access, but there is no proof they use if for hygiene purposes...

[tarran]

They have access!

Whether they partake or not is not my problem.

[Injun, as in from India]

Can expand the definition of street gangs to include the Democrat Party and the Republican Party?

[SugarFree]

Rogue chapters would easily meet the Virginia Code's three criteria for a criminal street gang. Such a group must have as "one of its primary objectives or activities the commission of one or more criminal activities." Second, it must have an "identifiable name or identifying sign or symbol." And, third, its members must have "individually or collectively engaged in the commission of ? two or more predicate criminal acts, at least one of which is an act of violence."

Sounds like it to me.

[Idle Hands]

I'm thinking their target will expand more towards the young republicans and fire. Baby steps injun.

[Rich]

Excellent.

[WTF]

They also serve as vehicles for systematically subjecting women to sexual assault.

Evidence required.

[gaijin]

'My feelings are real!'
/SJ Warrior

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Sexual Assault Vehicle?

I think I would like an SAV. I'm not sure what it would look like...

Panel van with blacked out windows?

Late 80's Camaro/Firebird?

Maybe an Ice Cream Truck?

[TwB]

What about the freshmen who get smashed out of their fucking minds in their dorm rooms before they show up to the frat house, then when they go to the hospital later on because they have alcohol poisoning, they blame it on "that frat party"? I remember that happening at our frat house on a handful of occasions, and that was 10 years ago.

[SugarFree]

How dare you shit on the proud tradition of pre-gaming!

[Rich]

"Booted it!"

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Shoot the Boot!

[gaijin]

Das Boot?

[WTF]

The Boat?

[The DerpRider]

Rally!

[TwB]

Oh i get the pre-gaming and yes, it is fun. But not getting black out drunk before showing up to a frat party afterwards. That's just asking for trouble for yourself, let alone anyone else.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Some of the leadership of our university rugby club would have you over - and offer Milwaukee's Best or 3 month old Steinlager as pregame...you dared not show weakness, or you would not partake in the heavily discounted pitchers of Guinness later on.

[TwB]

Ahh the Beast. Not too many fond memories w/ that particular brand of beer.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

I believe it was just yesterday that we were talking about foamy laxatives...

[seguin]

I used to love Guinness, but now with all the kickass stouts available, it seems kind of weak and flavorless.

[trshmnster the terrible]

The only way guinness is good is directly from the tap. It sucks ass out of a bottle, and I can't even imaging the terribleness of canned guinness.

[robc]

Clearly, you should have breathalized at the door.

[BigT]

For your viewing pleasure:

Rolling Stone brutally mocked.

One day after Rolling Stone Magazine issued a statement concerning its seriously flawed story about an alleged brutal rape at a fraternity at the University of Virginia, the artist known as Sabo has responded.

Sabo created a parody cover of Rolling Stone magazine and has reportedly started posting copies of it around the Los Angeles area.

In addition to skewering the magazine, the parody also takes a swing at actress/writer Lena Dunham's accusation of rape by a college classmate from her recent book, as well as skewering the Clintons and Bill Cosby

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

TAKE ME, ELEPHANT BOY!!!

Sweet Jesus cinnamon titties motherfuck, I can't stop laughing.

[Coeus]

They make a major mistep, and then think that it means they should double down.

I'm reminded of feminist frequency crowing about GTA 5 getting pulled from shelves. If they'd just shut up, they can mitigate the damage of their true goals showing before it's time. But they always double down.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Criminal prosecution of ideological enemies is the inevitable next step of the SJW mindset. It was never about just raising awareness.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Anyone ever read 'A deal in Wheat'?

http://www.nbu.bg/webs/amb/ame.....s/deal.htm

[UnCivilServant]

Is now the time to debate Wickard v Filburn

No, I didn't follow your link, I'm a contrarian.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wondering if I should invest time in it. People here are well-read so I figured I'd ask.

[Ted S.]

A Corner in Wheat

[Rich]

I am not making this up: There will be a movie about Barack & Michelle's first date.

[SugarFree]

Will they be allowed to actually film in the petting zoo?

[Rich]

"The animals tasted like chocolate."

[SugarFree]

Sexual chocolate.

[Rich]

"There'll be none of *that* until *after* the wedding!"

[SugarFree]

No, I imagine that Barry gave her a blowie on the first date. Whether he wanted to or not.

[LynchPin1477]

As we all know, oral sex != sexual relations

[gaijin]

Barack: I did not have sexual relations with that _________.

[BigT]

Wookie

[WTF]

Wookiee?

[LynchPin1477]

"That's no woman, it's a wookie."

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Klingon?

[UnCivilServant]

How small is the echo chamber the creators are in? 'bamma's popularity is way down. Who is their target audience?

Who isn't going to be sickened?

(and for some reason I'm reminded of the fact that I sell more books than the governer, something something, political vanity project, something)

[tarran]

This looks like a great way to bribe a politician. Kind of like those "book advances" for books that are never written.

[LynchPin1477]

Which will make more lose less money, this or Atlas Shrugged?

[SugarFree]

Considering that schoolchildren will be bussed to see it, it will probably be a blockbuster.

[LynchPin1477]

Movie theaters do not sell approved school lunches.

[Rich]

"The wheels on the bus go 'Barack Obama, Barack Obama', ?."

[db]

"...as they roll over the staff"

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

"Who is their target audience?"

Shriek, Tony, Slate and Salon readers, Jezzies.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

People into pegging porn?

[Ted S.]

If Citizens United had gone the other way, this movie could be banned. How do you think TEAM BLUE would respond to that?

[Injun, as in from India]

No way, man.

If Citizens United had flopped, the target would have only been the evil plutocrats and their lackey bootlickers in the Teathuglican Party.

[Zeb]

Well, if it were an election year and if Obama were running for anything (even though it seems like he is still campaigning).

[Redmanfms]

So I guess Barack Obama is the new JFK. So they'll be making hagiographic TV shows and movies about this egomaniacal douchebag and his fatass, completely unlikable wife for the next 50 fucking years.

Godamnit. Gawd. Fucking. Damn. It.

[WTF]

A lot of the JFK hagiography arose as a result of his assassination. Obama will just be the sad ex-politician who presided over the decline of the United States.

[gaijin]

The Jimmy Carter model..but wtih two terms' worth of meh

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Man, this subject is just ASKING for a fucked up script.

I'm even tempted to write a fictional account it's too juicy.

Over/under it'll be better or worse than The Room or Troll 2?

[UnCivilServant]

On which metric? Actual Quality or Riffability?

[WTF]

I would love to read script written by SugarFree.

[SugarFree]

We could crowd-write it...

It's been a while since we all wrote something together.

[Rich]

"It was a dark and chocolaty night.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm sure we could come up with something...entertaining...or disturbing.

[UnCivilServant]

Distrubing, definately disturbing.

[Rich]

I'll wager he's already, um, on it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They already made Love Story

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

+1 Al Gore

[Steve G]

Already seen it?

[Steve G]

Shit..

[LynchPin1477]

OT question that I suspect someone here will know the answer to: A new job is likely forthcoming and the wife and I are trying to make a new budget. I want to get a somewhat realistic estimate of tax liability. When calculating income taxes, should I use pre- or post-payroll tax income?

[tarran]

Use pre-payroll tax income.

Bias the budget to err on the side of overestimation. If you guess high, the extra savings can go into a rainy day fund.

[LynchPin1477]

Thanks.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

What tarran and UnCivil said.

[UnCivilServant]

When budgetting, use the numbers that will give you the least leeway to spend. Its better to be pleasantly surprised by having more money than allotted than to find yourself in a defecit.

[Ted S.]

Unless you're a politician.

[Injun, as in from India]

+18 Trillion Dollars.

[UnCivilServant]

Isn't that '-18 Trillion Dollars'?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Only to us dumb taxpayers...to the politicians, it was + 18 Trillion to play with...

[Bones]

If only the powers that be would follow this wise advice...

[The Last American Hero]

Pass on buying the Ferrari this year and call it a large budget cut.

[Coeus]

Marcotte weighs in on the UVA incident.

So while there's a possibility that all these vicious attacks?which includes misogynists now doxxing Jackie?are happening to a liar who brought this on herself.

There's also a possibility, a much stronger one with the information we have right at this moment, that misogynists are ganging up on a rape victim who made the mistake of having an imperfect memory, a "mistake" literally 100% of people make on a daily basis. If this is so, then all the people ganging up on Jackie are re-traumatizing a rape victim, one who is already receiving treatment for mental health problems and who could be in very serious danger because of all this. Her attackers don't really seem to care if this is the case, either. Is it that they haven't really thought this through? Or is it that they want to make the price of speaking out about rape so high that women refuse to do it?

The Rolling Stone really screwed up giving rape denialists a toehold here, absolutely. But it's also important to hold rape denialists directly accountable for their gleeful attacks on a woman who they have no actual evidence is lying.

[Coeus]

Link to doxing to generate rage? Check.

Need for more evidence suddenly? (didn't seem to matter when she was demonizing the frat) Check.

Conflation of a completely different story with "a mistake of an imperfect memory? Check.

From the comments:

Amanda_Marcotte Mod ? 13 hours ago
Hey folks, I'm having a kind of stressful day and having to listen to a bunch of misogynists trying to scare rape victims into not reporting is just going to send me around the bend. However, I realize that some cross the line. Could you do me a solid and send links to the worst offenders in email so I can ban them? Thanks!

So she's saying she's a misogynist?

[LynchPin1477]

Could you do me a solid

Affirmative consent?

[SugarFree]

I doubt Mandy Marcotte has ever had a truly solid one.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Zing!

[Injun, as in from India]

Could you do me a solid and send links to the worst offenders in email so I can ban them?

If you can't win an argument, shut them down.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There's so many straw men in that piece I can't keep up.

[WTF]

"Rape denialist" is the best. As though requiring some actual evidence for a specific case equals denying the existence of rape. The mendaciousness of these idiots is breath taking.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

imperfect memory ? fabricated events and fictitious characters

Seriously, when someone destroys your very specific version of events, you don't respond with "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have mis-remembered."

[Doctor Whom]

What are you, one of those knuckle-draggers who still believe in presumption of innocence?

[Doctor Whom]

Burying your opponent under a mountain of straw is part of the progressive SOP.

[Idle Hands]

But it's also important to hold rape denialists directly accountable for their gleeful attacks on a woman who they have no actual evidence is lying.

So not being accurate to the point of changing her story multiple times according to her friends that actually believe something happened isn't evidence of lying? Jesus what the fuck is the threshold for evidence? literally having the ability to read minds?

[WTF]

Yes, there is abundant evidence that she was lying about multiple specific assertions.

[Tonio]

hold rape denialists directly accountable for their gleeful attacks

Ab-so-fucking-lutely, Amanduh. I'll be the first to call for prosecution when one of these people lays a hand on you, shakes a stick at you, or points one of those scary, scary guns at you. Oh, wait, you didn't mean attack-attack, you meant "said mean words that make me or someone else feel sad." So, no free speech.

[Injun, as in from India]

The word denial is being overused, isn't it. Starting with a justifiable "holocaust denial", it has now expanded to include things like climate denial and rape denial. The word risks becoming irrelevant thanks to expansive and impertinent usage.

[Drake]

This time of year is when the Santa denialist really start to piss me off.

[The Last American Hero]

Hey, if they want to end up on the naughty list, that's not your problem.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

"Holocaust denial" has become quite the powder keg as well.

[Zeb]

I can't put too much blame on "Jackie" and I kind of feel bad that she has to put up with all of this shit now. Even if she did just make it all up, which is far from certain, RS and the author of the article are the ones who fucked up.

[WTF]

"Jackie" did of course fuck up by lying. But apparently she is also a mentally-disturbed person who seems to have been exploited by RS.

[Zeb]

Oh, sure. If she deliberately mislead, that's bad. But people make shit up all the time. A supposed journalist is supposed to be the one to sort the wheat from the chaff.

[Ted S.]

What the hell do you know about journalism? Do you have a journalism degree from Columbia?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

It was masters in journalism from Columbia, you othering idiot!

[LynchPin1477]

Yeah, it seems like she made no special effort to publicize her story or harm those involved. So maybe she was totally lying about everything, but if that is the case then the lie wasn't directly hurting anyone. Lying is never OK, and indirectly it fuels the extremists that want to trample on due process and presumption of innocence, but she wasn't directly trying to ruin anyone's life.

Then RS comes along, and no matter what you think about this, it seems like she was really reluctant to talk to RS or name names. I'm guessing RS assured he she and those she accused would remain anonymous, but RS should know better. RS gave what might have otherwise been a fairly private lie a national platform and assured that everyone identified in the story would eventually be outed. And they didn't fact check, leaving open the possibility that those people, once outed, would be attacked. Which doesn't absolve the attackers, of course. But it makes RS look like possibly the worst offenders in all of this.

[Tonio]

So how did RS become aware of her in the first place? Did Jackie or a supporter seek out the press? Instead of, like, I don't know, the police or the emergency room?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My guess is she told someone who told someone who told RS of this incredible story that would blow the lid off the rape culture epidemic.

[RBS]

I thought the author of the RS piece was actively searching for a story like Jackie's?

[Michael]

DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!

[Coeus]

So how did RS become aware of her in the first place? Did Jackie or a supporter seek out the press? Instead of, like, I don't know, the police or the emergency room?

She gave this story at a take back the night rally.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Although Jackie shared elements of her story at a Take Back the Night event at the university, she told The Post that she had not intended for it to reach a wider audience until the Rolling Stone writer contacted her.

"If she had not come to me, I probably would not have gone public about my rape," said Jackie, adding that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is taking antidepressants.

Uh, what part of public testimony is not public?

[Tonio]

Thanks for filling-in that part for me, guys.

Uh, what part of public testimony is not public?

^This. But I suspect that the usual suspects will claim that that event was a "safe space" not public. Also, testimony in the broader sense, but not the under-oath sort.

[LynchPin1477]

So how did RS become aware of her in the first place?

Erdely was introduced to her by a former UVA student that worked with sexual assault victims and who is now a University employee. She was named in the original article and identified as a current friend of Jackie.

Erdely was hunting for a story like this, specifically at a prestigious university. My guess is she contacted various people who worked with victim support groups, etc. until she found a story worth pursuing.

[Rasilio]

No, there is no if, she pretty clearly made the whole story up.

It is entirely possible that she was actually raped, possibly even a gang rape but the story she told bears no resemblance whatsoever to whatever bad things she endured (if any)

[Zeb]

Sure, whatever. Doesn't matter what I think anyway.

[The Late P Brooks]

If a fraternity satisfies the definition of a criminal street gang, the state of Virginia can seize any real property used in substantial connection with its criminal acts or recruitment activities.

"Say, this asset forfeiture stuff might not be so bad, after all!"

[UnCivilServant]

Can we start a forfeiture proceeding against the PD? It's clearly a uniformed criminal gang.

[Tonio]

With the proliferation of nanny-state laws to the point that everyone is a criminal for something (trashcan left at curb too long, selling loosies), then everyone is a gang member. This is like something out of an Ayn Rand novel.

[The Late P Brooks]

The Rolling Stone really screwed up giving rape denialists a toehold here, absolutely.

"If that fat bastard Garner had obeyed police commands, he'd still be alive."

[Coeus]

For the last goddamn time, ptsd is the opposite of memory loss.

I know that from first-hand experience. I was a lawyer before becoming a journalist, and I worked with refugees and other trauma victims. That taught me that it is incredibly difficult for traumatized people to tell an accurate story, even if they are trying to do so. There are many reasons for this. In severe cases, post-traumatic stress disorder can cause memory loss

every goddamn feminist article I've seen doing damage control touts this same lie.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

No kidding...the terrible events that can result in PTSD are ones you CANNOT get out of your memory.

[Zeb]

Memory is a weird thing, though. Memories can be very vivid and persistent and still be wrong. I don't know how often this is the case with PTSD. Or if there is even a good way to find out.

[Ted S.]

Memory is a weird thing, though. Memories can be very vivid and persistent and still be wrong.

+1 Martha Coakley.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

I can only speak from experience - I have not studied that or done any reading or research... good point by you.

[Coeus]

Here's a decent place to start, if you're curious.

[Robert Falcon Scott]

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/.....f_ptsd.asp

Negative changes in beliefs and feelings
The way you think about yourself and others changes because of the trauma. This symptom has many aspects, including the following:
You may not have positive or loving feelings toward other people and may stay away from relationships.
You may forget about parts of the traumatic event or not be able to talk about them.
You may think the world is completely dangerous, and no one can be trusted.

[Robert Falcon Scott]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.....#Diagnosis

C: Persistent avoidance and emotional numbing. This involves a sufficient level of:

avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, such as certain thoughts or feelings, or talking about the event(s)
avoidance of behaviors, places, or people that might lead to distressing memories as well as the disturbing memories, dreams, flashbacks, and intense psychological or physiological distress[58]
inability to recall major parts of the trauma(s), or decreased involvement in significant life activities

[Robert Falcon Scott]

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health.....html#part3

2. Avoidance symptoms

Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience
Feeling emotionally numb
Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry
Losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past
Having trouble remembering the dangerous event.

[Robert Falcon Scott]

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/profess.....a_ptsd.asp

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood

Negative alterations in cognitions and mood that began or worsened after the traumatic event: (two required)
Inability to recall key features of the traumatic event (usually dissociative amnesia; not due to head injury, alcohol, or drugs).
Persistent (and often distorted) negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world (e.g., "I am bad," "The world is completely dangerous").
Persistent distorted blame of self or others for causing the traumatic event or for resulting consequences.
Persistent negative trauma-related emotions (e.g., fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame).
Markedly diminished interest in (pre-traumatic) significant activities.
Feeling alienated from others (e.g., detachment or estrangement).
Constricted affect: persistent inability to experience positive emotions.

[Robert Falcon Scott]

Due respect to both of you, you're wrong.

Not just a little wrong, but a lot lot lot wrong. PTSD is characterized, yes, by extremely vivid recall of certain parts of an event, but it is also very common for other memories of the same event to become jumbled, temporally disconnected, and difficult to recover.

This is one of the diagnosing criteria of PTSD.

[PBR Streetgang]

Can you vividly "recall" false details? Not being snarky, just wondering if the brain, as part of PTSD, can 'fill in' gaps with things that did not happen, but with which the individual is familiar (other unassociated events; movies; books)?

[Robert Falcon Scott]

I would have to say that while false memories do occur, they don't fit the pattern of what was described in the article, i.e. a long vivid, but very wrong memory, is not common. Misremembering false details is fairly typical.

[Coeus]

other memories of the same event to become jumbled, temporally disconnected, and difficult to recover.

In general: how common is very? Cause I know of no one I know who is diagnosed with it who has memory loss. They would kill for some memory loss.

In specific:
What part of that applies to this case, or any other time they use it in this way? They are literally saying it causes you to forget the event and replace it with different memories.

If she forgot the traumatic part, what's causing the ptsd?

Nobody is saying that you'd remember the address on the mailbox. I can even believe that you can forget most of the day up to the point of the trauma. That's not what we're talking about here. Understand, these people are literally saying that the PTSD caused her to forget the traumatic part, as well as the details. Nothing I've seen you reference here supports that.

[Robert Falcon Scott]

In general: how common is very?

Common enough that's it is a diagnosing criteria, and from my personal experience, it's about half.

Cause I know of no one I know who is diagnosed with it who has memory loss.

I've been treating patients since 1999.

In specific:
What part of that applies to this case,

I don't know enough about the specifics of her claim (nor do I want to) to answer your question.

I don't know why you're seemingly upset with me about this, memory loss is in the DSM, and the convolutions that occur when memory fails are very difficult to predict.

Nothing I've seen you reference here supports that.

Oh ok, I thought we were trying to have a civil conversation where we discussed this, but apparently you've decided to browbeat me because you were wrong.

Have a nice day.

[Coeus]

First off, thanks for the explaining how common it is. Filed away for future reference.

Oh ok, I thought we were trying to have a civil conversation where we discussed this, but apparently you've decided to browbeat me because you were wrong.

What part of that was uncivil? No cursing, no insults, no ad homs.

I don't know why you're seemingly upset with me about this, memory loss is in the DSM, and the convolutions that occur when memory fails are very difficult to predict.

Not upset, trying to figure out what you're saying. For some reason you ignored the question, though I restated it a few times. Is that what read as browbeating? People have a habit of picking out parts of a comment and ignoring the main question. But I've never seen the emphasizing done to avoid that used as an excuse to do it before.

Understand, these people are literally saying that the PTSD caused her to forget the traumatic part, as well as the details.

If she forgot the traumatic part, what's causing the ptsd?

The specific claim, which I see as completely wrong, is that PTSD caused her to forget the part which was traumatic, not just the ancillary details.

What they describe in that article, (and indeed every one I've read in the last few days) appears more indicative of head trauma coupled with false memories from Lifetime movies than PTSD.

[Coeus]

Police officer fired for not using violence

The officer, a 20 year veteran who has not been named, was first on the scene when he encountered a CSUMB student threatening to light himself on fire in a dorm room. There was blood in the room along with a knife and hammer, though neither were in the student's hands when the officer arrived according to the Monterey Herald.

The officer did not perceive the student to be a threat, so after talking the student down he went to get the young man a glass a water when the Marina police department showed up, and immediately began tasering the student.

"The other officers started yelling and screaming to get down, Tased him multiple times, and from what we understand (told the university officer) to Tase him again," said Jeff Solomon, the union's president.

And what was the officer's reward for not using violence to address a potential suicide case? Was he given a gold star for his quick thinking and silver tongue? Nope. He got fired.

The officer was issued a "failure to act" complaint that accused him of not engaging in a "highly agitated situation" and later terminated by the department.

[LynchPin1477]

See, everyone who says cops can't get fired are dead wrong!

[WTF]

Apparently de-escalating the situation to resolve it in a peaceful manner is now a firing offense for cops. That explains a lot, actually.

[UnCivilServant]

So given that information, I will judge anyone who fires upon offiers from that department to be fully justified in their actions.

[Drake]

Yes to WTF and yes.

I said it a few weeks ago - cops act this way because it is how they are trained and how they are rewarded.

[Steve G]

To my white male facebook friends?

see if you can let this reach your heart before you fight it with your brain meats

In other words, put your critical thinking skills aside and tap into your feelz!

Gawd, I'd rather read a story about a dog getting shot

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

So, like I said, you may believe you are not racist. You may have never said the N-word. You may have non-white friends. However, there are many different forms of racism, not all of them are active. Many of them are passive, and they might be invisible to you, because you're a white man. (Pause, breathe, try not to jump to defense at this idea. Stay open. Hang with me.)

/pauses, breathes

Let me be clear, go fuck yourself sideways.

[Ted S.]

The logical conclusion from this is that white men should just be gratuitously mean to everybody non-white and/or non-male around them, since the white guys are going to be called bigoted anyway.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not bigoted, racist.

[Ted S.]

Racist in this case, but in other cases it may be sexism, homophobia, or being a cis-shitlord.

[SugarFree]

Can't we just all agree that white people are the worst?

[Ted S.]

Worse than Nicole?

[SugarFree]

Nicole is white. Case closed.

[Coeus]

Only if they say "thug".

[Injun, as in from India]

I guess I'm exempt because of racial identity whatever reason.

Yay for group identity winning over individualism!

[RBS]

Fuck nice or something...

[Steve G]

I feel like I'm in the tailing end of a bad relationship. "Just tell me what you want me to do non-white male people!!!"

[Coeus]

Do exactly what they want. They'll still despise you for it.

"I asked a roomful of women, queer people and minorities, 'What do you want straight men to do? And what do you want them to be like?' " she recalls.

Lee wrote down all of the answers. It boiled down to this: They wanted the straight white male character to sit down and shut up.

"When you hear that around the table, you just feel yourself sinking slowly into the chair," remembers James Stanley, who plays the character created from the list. The character, named Matt, is a sort of idealized straight white male. He works for a not-for-profit and is guided by a sense of trying not to ? in his words ? "make things worse." Lee and Stanley workshopped the character in front of the students. Who hated him.

"Hated him," Lee said, clearly still surprised.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

To use Epi's reasoning, straight white men are a totem to them. They're not people, they're symbols.

[Coeus]

Or maybe they're just sexist and racist? Occam's razor, and all that.

[LynchPin1477]

That get's one thing right: people do sometimes dismiss the lived experiences of others when they don't comport with their own experiences. The author gives some examples. I'll add another one: women and minorities telling white men that they benefit from white privilege without knowing anything about their own personal challenges and struggles.

And you have to love the solutions:

You can read some books or essays (links and suggestions below). You can go online and take an ethnic studies course, or a women's studies course. You can start talking to your friends of color and saying, "Tell me about your experience."

[...]

So now, armed with this new skill set, before you pop off and say, in another thread ? "This isn't a race problem, it's a cop problem," or "When a cop kills a white man it's not news, but if they kill a black man it's racism," or "Why is it that a white man in a white power shirt is a problem but a black man in a black power shirt is fine?" or "I hate to say it but I'd follow that girl too, she's gorgeous," or "Women really should smile more, why do girls look so mad?" or "We don't know all the facts" or "Well, he probably shouldn't have been there" or "Cops have a hard, dangerous job" ? or any of the other tropes that are intended to shut down a conversation, stop.

Some of those are BS, but others are perfectly legitimate questions to ask.

[Ted S.]

That get's one thing right:

This is worse than any racism the Salon writer wrote about. :-p

[LynchPin1477]

Thats, like, you're opinion man.

[R C Dean]

women and minorities telling white men that they benefit from white privilege without knowing anything about their own personal challenges and struggles.

How "white privilege" isn't just straight-up anti-white racism is a mystery to me. It collectivizes people and discounts their value based on their race.

Its the flip side of a minority attributing every single bad thing that ever happens to them to racism, ignoring that bad things happen to everyone, and often for reasons that have nothing to do with race. White privilege asserts that every good thing that happens to a white person happens because of their race, etc.

[Juice]

friends of color

Just ask the colored people.

[Juice]

there's this Asian female playwright who can be a role model for other artists of color

Asians are "colored" now?

[Coeus]

So now, armed with this new skill set, before you pop off and say, in another thread ? "This isn't a race problem, it's a cop problem," or "When a cop kills a white man it's not news, but if they kill a black man it's racism," or "Why is it that a white man in a white power shirt is a problem but a black man in a black power shirt is fine?" or "I hate to say it but I'd follow that girl too, she's gorgeous," or "Women really should smile more, why do girls look so mad?" or "We don't know all the facts" or "Well, he probably shouldn't have been there" or "Cops have a hard, dangerous job" ? or any of the other tropes that are intended to shut down a conversation, stop. Breathe. Try to remember that this person's lived experience is just as true as yours, and try to find support for their position before your own.

[Doctor Whom]

Your wife or sister comes to you and says, "I am being harassed, threatened and terrorized out on the street by men. I experience gender inequality on a daily basis. I live in some degree of constant fear for my personal safety, just because I am a woman."

And you say, "That is impossible. Sexism is over. Women now occupy relatively high places of power in this country. You are fine."

And you walk away, convinced that your loved one must be wrong. You have abandoned her, because you are not taking her report as possibly accurate.

Your friends, community, neighbors, co-workers of color come to you and say, "I am harassed, threatened, terrorized on the street by police officers. I am experiencing systemic inequality on a daily basis. I live in constant fear that myself, my brother, my son, will be unfairly convicted of a crime, or shot on the street, simply because of what we look like."

And you say, "That is impossible. Racism has been conquered. We have a black president. Everyone lives an equal life here."

See what I mean about a mountain of straw?

[Andrew S.]

That's not just a mountain of straw. That's a mountain of straw so big you'd need a Sherpa to get through it.

[Rasilio]

"Your wife or sister comes to you and says, "I am being harassed, threatened and terrorized out on the street by men"

Here's the phone, do you want to call the police or do you want me to do it for you.

" I live in some degree of constant fear for my personal safety, just because I am a woman.""

Here's the phone, do you want to talk to the psychiatrist on your own or do you want me to set that appointment up for you?

[Marshall Gill]

"Your wife or sister comes to you and says, "I am being harassed, threatened and terrorized out on the street by men"

Sounds like time for some CC permits.

[Suthenboy]

How can a human being be that completely full of shit and still breath on their own? My god, that makes my brain hurt. Every standard of rational thinking and common sense is violated by Byers. She is functionally retarded.

Gibbering idiocy.

[trshmnster the terrible]

When people tell us that something we believe to be true is actually not 100 percent true, or maybe not true for everyone, we can experience cognitive dissonance. One way to respond to this is to walk away, or get defensive. Another way to respond is to compassionately lean in to it; lean in to our discomfort, our fear, our panic, our incredulity, our doubt. Open ourselves to the idea that our beliefs are just ideas that we go out and seek support for, and therefore there are other ideas out there that could become our beliefs, very easily, if we were willing to open ourselves up and expand our frame of reference.

The projection! It's killing me!

[Coeus]

Feministing teaches you about evidence

It's not, as Yoffe claims, a violation of "men's civil rights" ? but instead the standard for civil rights litigation. Forgive me for getting all lawyerly on you to share seven things you should know:

The Department of Education requires that schools determine culpability for gender-based violence based on the "preponderance of the evidence." That means that if most of the evidence points in one direction or the other, that's the decision the college should make.
Critics like Yoffe think this is too low a standard, comparing it to the standard used in criminal courts ("beyond a reasonable doubt") or that used in civil litigation with huge monetary fines ("clear and convincing").
The preponderance standard isn't some loopy idea used only in campus adjudication. It's also the standard civil courts use for almost all decisions, required for adjudication under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, etc.
One reason criminal courts use a higher standard of proof than civil courts (and universities) is that the stakes are much higher. Procedural protections run along a spectrum proportional to the severity of the possible punishment.

[Coeus]

The result of a criminal trial can be incarceration or even death, so we need evidence that ensures belief "beyond a reasonable doubt." Getting kicked out of school sucks, but it's not the same as imprisonment.
Another reason for different standards in different legal settings is that adjudication of civil rights claims ? as oppose to criminal claims ? puts the accuser and the accused on an equal evidentiary playing field. The alleged victim, not the alleged perpetrator, still has to prove the case. But because the statute is about equality, we take both parties' continue education equally seriously, so we don't tip the evidentiary scales too far in favor of the accused.
Contrary to what Yoffe writes, the preponderance of the evidence isn't the lowest standard possible. That would be "substantial" evidence, which is the basement standard of review courts have found constitutionally required for public universities. That means Title IX requires a higher standard for gender-based violence adjudication on campus than is constitutionally required for all other disciplinary procedures. Due process advocates should hold up Title IX as an aspiration for all campus adjudication, not a threat to procedural justice.
The Department of Education didn't "lower" the standard to the preponderance, as Yoffe claims. Yes, some schools used "clear and convincing evidence," which is higher, but some didn't.

[Injun, as in from India]

Getting kicked out of school sucks, but it's not the same as imprisonment.

Yeah. It is easy to say something like that when you are not the one on the receiving end of things.

[Injun, as in from India]

Getting kicked out of school sucks, but it's not the same as imprisonment.

Yeah. It is easy to say something like that when you are not the one on the receiving end of things.

This person did not read much of the Yoffe's article on how the kid could not get into any other school and essentially had his career destroyed.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

something something... omelets... something... eggs

[RBS]

These people don't live in the real world. I've said it before but I invite any of the people who believe that men are somehow getting away with the war on women to go hang out it family court for a day or two. For example, in the last week I have seen a man lose his kids, as in no visitation, because his wife accused him of being threatening, another get extremely limited visitation for essentially the same thing. It goes on, and that's just run of the mill domestic relations stuff with people who can afford attorneys. The DSS cases and CDV cases are worse.

[Tonio]

Not get into any other school and then has to start paying back his student loans. And he'll be trying to pay back those loans while working a minimum wage job.

[LynchPin1477]

Another reason for different standards in different legal settings is that adjudication of civil rights claims ? as oppose to criminal claims ? puts the accuser and the accused on an equal evidentiary playing field.

Which misses the point entirely because

1) sexual assault and rape should be treated like the crime that they are

2) Colleges and universities should not be adjudicating criminal claims OR civil rights claims. Freedom of association means that they can choose to expel someone if they want to using a procedure of their choosing, but they are NOT courts.

[Rasilio]

But it is not just getting kicked out of school. It is getting kicked out with a note that you are rapist so that any other school or employer who checks your school transcripts see's that you are a rapist.

Basically you get added to the stealth sex offender registry because the charge will follow you for the rest of your life

[Rasilio]

Also, it is not just a preponderance of the evidence. It is a preponderance of the evidence in the only environment where the accuser is believed to be inherently honest and the accused isn't. Where no one is allowed to view the accuers statements with a critical eye or even really question them becuase it may make them feel bad

[R C Dean]

As always, there is no price that progs aren't willing for other people to pay.

[RBS]

She's a student at Yale Law School. She must know everything.

[Injun, as in from India]

Yeah. This Yale Law School student definitely knows more than those 20 or so Harvard professors who released a statement saying that the Title IX procedural changes are stacking the deck against the accused, and that the presumption of innocence is important.

[Ted S.]

The Department of Education requires that schools determine culpability for gender-based violence based on the "preponderance of the evidence."

The DoE requires that schools do away with the rule of law when it comes to certain classis of crime.

[Injun, as in from India]

FIFY:

The DoE requires that schools do away with the rule of law when it comes to certain classes of crime victims.

[The Late P Brooks]

The officer was issued a "failure to act" complaint that accused him of not engaging in a "highly agitated situation" and later terminated by the department.

So this guy is like that frat pledge who *didn't* engage in the ritual gang rape.

"You don't have what it takes to be in THIS club, Pussy."

[Boomer]

The documents released regarding the Michael Brown case do not, interestingly, include the testimony of Dorian Johnson, arguably the person most directly responsible for the "Hands up, don't shoot!" trope. Johnson is now an employee of the City of Saint Louis...

[Boomer]

Correction: The documents do not include the recordings of Johnson's interviews with various law enforcement personnel. His GJ testimony was included in previously released documents.

[Andrew S.]

Last night for some reason I made the mistake of reading the comments on a Cleveland.com article about Tamir Rice. If I didn't hate the entirety of the human race before, I do now.

[tarran]

Over in Airstrip One, Bishop Hill examines the superstitious mystics mortifying their flesh to regain Christ's favor the Green movement.

Science or Public Relations?

[A] new paper out of the Met Office which describes a computer model study of the likelihood of future heatwaves. The title reads like something out of the Daily Mirror ...

Rule of Law Challenged by Greens

During the hearings, [FFB] argued that the cost of managing the disruption caused by protestors should have been taken into account by the planning committee. As the judge explained:

[the argument] was that the County Council should take into account the cost of dealing with the activities of those who disagree with their decision, and were and are prepared to misuse the right to protest to do so.

This approach, he said had "not the slightest merit"

[tarran]

Systematic Deception

So it's fair to say that FoE's "facts" are far off the mark. And it's hard to credit the idea that FoE don't know that their "facts" are actually fictions: their boss Richard Dixon sat through every session of the Dart hearing ...

Fuck the two link limit!!!!

[SugarFree]

Blame Mary and her myriad and squamous manifestations.

[Tonio]

For a second I thought you meant Fist...LOL.

[Fist of Etiquette]

i no my faks

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

I, for one, agree that FoE's "facts" are far off the mark.

[Mike M.]

Michael Brown's federal autopsy report, conducted at the request of the Department of Justice and released yesterday, reached similar conclusions to autopsies performed by Ferguson officials and a private examiner. Transcripts of interviews with possible witnesses to Brown's shooting were also released.

Meaning, the evidence shows that Brown attacked the cop and the cop shot him in self-defense. In other words, case closed.

The Brown case was nothing at all like the Garner case. The former was a justified killing of a violent, out of control criminal. The latter is a completely unjustified murder of a man who posed no threat to anyone whatsoever.

[Injun, as in from India]

Minneapolis columnist asks Dan Bongino to prove he's not racist

Remember, Glenn Beck did something like this to Keith Ellison - "Prove to me that you are not with the terrorists" or something like that. Journalistic scum exists on both the left and the right.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

@dbongino when was the last time you had someone of another ethnicity over to your house for dinner. That & who you married are litmus tests

The stupid, it burns....

[Sevo]

Uh, WHAT?

"California drought: Natural patterns, not human-caused climate change, federal study finds"
[...]
"Natural patterns, not human-caused climate change, produced one of California's worst droughts, researchers have concluded."
http://www.timesheraldonline.c.....dy-finds/7

I, for one, find the "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" humorous.

[Coeus]

Clemson University fraternity suspended over gang-themed 'Cripmas' party

A Clemson University fraternity has been suspended indefinitely by its national organization after some of its members threw a gangster-themed Christmas party over the weekend seen by many as racially insensitive.

The Saturday night off-campus party, dubbed "Clemson Cripmas," was thrown by the South Carolina school's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which school officials say has no black members.

The Crips are group of mainly African-American street gangs founded in Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Many of those attending wore bandanas, oversized T-shirts and low-slung pants, and were shown in photos posted on social media sites making what appeared to be gang signs.

"The decision of a few brothers to hold this type of social event is inexcusable and completely inappropriate," the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon organization said in a statement announcing the suspension posted on its website on Sunday.

[RBS]

off-campus party

Ha! There is no such thing as "off campus" anymore.

[Zeb]

And they are suspended by the national organization, not the school. So on or off campus isn't relevant if they billed it as put on by the fraternity.

[Brett L]

Are there not white Crips?

[Coeus]

There are a few.

[seguin]

I doubt it. They should be banned from campus for racism.

[Zeb]

racially insensitive

Because the Crips are something that black people should be very proud of and identify with.

[Atlas Slugged]

SAE = same assholes everywhere

[ronaldbarrkem]

My buddy's ex-wife makes $84 /hr on the computer . She has been fired from work for 7 months but last month her payment was $13167 just working on the computer for a few hours.
site here ???? http://www.jobsfish.com

[Fluffy]

If PTSD makes your memory unreliable, then any testimony from anyone with PTSD should be ignored out of hand.

PTSD can't be this magical "I don't have to remember the details right" shield when feminists want it to be, but not a factor when they don't want it to be. If by your own admission your memory is defective, then we have no choice but to ignore everything you say - because by definition you can't reliably set a bound on what you do and do not accurately remember.

[Rasilio]

Indeed. Traumatic != criminal

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I guess that's partially it, I still have a lot of other female friends who do it even with full time jobs and kids.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ha. So true.