A.M. Links: Hostage Seige in Sydney, Cheney Rejects Senate Torture Report, Jeb Bush Eyes 2016 White House Race

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  Credit: takomabibelot / Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND

  A hostage situation is currently unfolding in Sydney, Austria, where an armed gunman is holding an unknown number of people in a cafe. At one point, several hostages were "seen pressing a black flag with Arabic text against the cafe's windows."

• Appearing yesterday on Meet the Press, former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the CIA against the charges leveled against it in the Senate Torture Report. "I'd do it again in a minute," Cheney said of his own role in helping to craft U.S. policy towards detainees suspected of terrorism.

• "In final spending bill, salty food and belching cows are winners."

• The news that Jeb Bush is writing a new e-book has sparked a fresh round of speculation that the former Florida governor will be running for president in 2016.

• Liberal hero Elizabeth Warren repeatedly told NPR that she is not running for president.

• The Cleveland Police Union is demanding an apology from the Cleveland Browns after wide receiver Andrew Hawkins warmed up on the football field before a recent game wearing a t-shirt protesting the police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. "We have great respect for the Cleveland Police Department and the work that they do to protect and serve our city," the Browns responded in a statement. "We also respect our players' rights to project their support and bring awareness to issues that are important to them if done so in a responsible manner."

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Comments

[UnCivilServant]

Liberal hero Elizabeth Warren repeatedly told NPR that she is not running for president.

But expects people to vote for her anyway.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I heard that interview, she was so self-complimentary it was disgusting.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wanna a Warren-vomti?

http://elizabethwarrenwiki.org.....-bar-exam/

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And here are her dubious claims according to Commentary Magazine:

http://www.commentarymagazine......-bar-exam/

Hero to the left.

[Rich]

"Vomti". I like it!

But who was the first *orgasming* mother to take the exam?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

VOMIT.

Argh.

[Heroic Mulatto]

But who was the first *orgasming* mother to take the exam?

THIS IS MY NEW FETISH!

[Ted S.]

The first one to actually orgasm, or the first one to fake it during the exam?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Liberal lies.

http://nypost.com/2014/12/13/2.....f-the-lie/

[straffinrun]

She may not be running for president, but she is running from him.

[Lord Humungus]

America's white millennial problem: Why the next great generation might not be a liberal one

On social issues, however, these gaps are virtually non-existent. This suggests that while social liberalism will continue to be a political winner, economic liberalism may be tougher to sell to white millenials. Additionally, while white millenials say they want to live in a racially equitable society, they are no more likely than their parents to support policies to make that society come about. "At the same time, whites primed with the reality of growing diversity become are less likely to say they support diversity and more likely to support the Republican party."

Furthermore, even as minorities make up a larger and larger percentage of the electorate, these racial changes will not inevitably benefit Democrats. While Republicans have never won more than 40 percent of the Latino vote ? the claim that Bush won 44 percent in 2004, as widely reported, now appears to have been incorrect ? they could do so in the future. Pew data, for example, show that third generation Hispanics are more socially liberal, but more economically conservative than older Hispanics.

[Rich]

whites primed with the reality of growing diversity become are less likely to say they support diversity

So, familiarity breeds contempt?

[Doctor Whom]

Leave it to Salon to call deviation from the goodthink a problem.

[John]

Additionally, while white millenials say they want to live in a racially equitable society, they are no more likely than their parents to support policies to make that society come about.

It couldn't be that these "policies" have failed or have succeeded to a degree to which they are no longer needed and this generation sees that. Nope. It is just that they are the same selfish white people their parents were. The ideology is never wrong and the revolution never ends.

[Zeb]

Impossible. You can never have racial equality without treating people differently based on race.

[Zeb]

economic liberalism may be tougher to sell to white millenials

I assume that by "economic liberalism" they mean the opposite of what it really means.

Perhaps this will assuage some of the fears of those who think that immigrants from points south will turn the US into some sort of third world socialist dump.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There is no 'economic liberalism'. Just economics.

It becomes 'liberal' or 'socialist' or wheatever when we politically interfere in its operation.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Whatever. I'm on a roll today.

[Lord Humungus]

Get off that roll - someone may want to eat that later on.

[UnCivilServant]

Not anymore, it's got Canukistani bootprints on it.

[Charles Easterly]

I don't know, UCS, it's a wheat-ever roll. Just peel off the boot-tainted outer portions and the rest should be edible.

This is bigger than Wonka's invention of the Gobstopper if you think about it. An everlasting wheat roll could end world hunger.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Alright, alright.

Fuck off.

[Charles Easterly]

Okay, but I'm taking your roll with me.

[Zeb]

But as long as there is a government, there is a policy, even if the policy is not to interfere in the economy. Which is what "economic liberalism" is supposed to mean.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'Supposed' is the operative word.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

"government policy" never, ever means "not interfere".

[John]

Not really. The article is talking about white young people only. Isn't it?

[KDN]

Re-read the 2nd paragraph:

Furthermore, even as minorities make up a larger and larger percentage of the electorate, these racial changes will not inevitably benefit Democrats. While Republicans have never won more than 40 percent of the Latino vote ... they could do so in the future. Pew data, for example, show that third generation Hispanics are more socially liberal, but more economically conservative than older Hispanics.

[John]

Oh. Latinos will never be as politically homogeneous as blacks. There is too much intermarriage with whites for that to happen. Latinos are going to intermarry with whites and become like the European immigrant groups.

The only hope the Democrats have to make that otherwise is to just get such a huge number in here that it overwhelms the country's ability to absorb them. That is very unlikely to happen because the country's views about immigration ebbs and flows. We are likely to see the country sour on it for a while making it impossible to import enough Latins to do that.

[The Tone Police]

So Salon is calling for a millennial libertarian moment too? Oh the irony.

[Warren's Strapon]

Additionally, while white millenials say they want to live in a racially equitable society, they are no more likely than their parents to support policies to make that society come about.

Ahem.

[Juice]

"economic liberalism"

as in laissez-faire?

Oh, I see. That's not what they mean.

[Rich]

Warren repeatedly told NPR that she is not running for president.

*Vice* president, then?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Perhaps Johnny Football should have warmed up a bit more.

[Mike M.]

Boy, did he let them down one more time.

[TwB]

Just about the worst debut a rookie QB could have in the NFL. Ol' Johnny was running for his life most of the day and when he did throw, it wasn't pretty.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's like a little runt.

I wonder if he'll get a fairer shot than Flutie.

[WTF]

Manziel is 6'1". Russell Wilson is 5'10". How is Manziel a runt?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I meant the way he looks on the field in terms of he plays.

I don't see Wilson getting knocked around like that.

He seems to play small.

Meh. It's one game.

[WTF]

He seems to play small.

Gotcha.

[Old Man With Candy]

That 1" is PR generous. More like 6-even in reality.

I greatly enjoyed the look of shell-shock on his face.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Krayewski vs Root, the final showdown

[Citizen Nothing]

Links death match. I like it.

[Citizen Nothing]

And just like that, Root is the winner! All hail Root!

[UnCivilServant]

I am confused, what did I miss?

[Ted S.]

I presume they nuked Krayewski's links thread? There were two on the main page at 1400 UTC.

[Lord Humungus]

I bet FoE posted on the losing thread. He's off in a closet, sobbing in the dark as he clutches a bottle of whiskey.

[Ted S.]

He's in Warty's rape closet?

[Lord Humungus]

Two enter. Only Warty leaves.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

The other would leave...in a bag, right?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Eventually.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You know the law! Two men enter, one man leaves!

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

The Cleveland Police Union is demanding an apology from the Cleveland Browns after wide receiver Andrew Hawkins warmed up on the football field before a recent game wearing a t-shirt protesting the police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

Awwww. The precious little snowflakes' feelings were hurt.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Oh, and if they want an apology, it should have been for the play on the field....let down again, eh, Browns fans?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They really are quite delicate, aren't they?

[Rich]

"We apologize. Obviously Mr. Hawkins should have been wearing a *sweat*shirt."

[WTF]

"We are really sorry that you have an unstable lunatic on your force who saw fit to shoot down a 12-year old without any hesitation or assessment of the situation. And we are really sorry that you see fit to defend him."

[Shirley Knott]

Cheney supports torture?
This is my surprised face.

The man deserves to be up on war crimes charges. And, I'd argue, treason charges as well. He used the power of his office, including military might, to subvert the constitution of the US.

[TwB]

Add Barack Obama to that list, please.

[antisocial-ist]

It might be quicker to name the pols who shouldn't be on that list.

[WTF]

Yes, most politicians have been enthusiastically ass-fucking the Constitution for a long time now.

[Raston Bot]

uhhhhhhh..

/crickets

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Amash. Massie. Um...

[Bee Tagger]

"I'd do it again in a minute," Cheney said of his own role

At least the torture ran on time.

[sarcasmic]

Cops caught on film threatening weeping girlfriend of man they had just mistakenly shot dead in Walmart for holding a BB gun

New footage shows interview with partner of slain John Crawford III
Tasha Thomas is distressed by questions from Beavercreek, Ohio, officer
Rodney Curd repeatedly demands to know about 'the gun' Crawford had
Thomas says she knew nothing about it - despite repeated challenges
Crawford in fact had no gun, but picked up a replica from Walmart shelf
Thomas sticks to her story but is told she could go to jail for lying
Curd also suggests that Thomas looks 'messed up' and is drunk or high

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

[John]

It is just fucking appalling that this shit is only in the Brit Tabloids. You cannot hate the media in this country enough. They intentionally don't run these sorts of stories, even though they are mawkish as hell and would no doubt generate a ton of clicks and ad revenue. They will cover the latest dead white girl or lots of other stories because they generate revenue, but they won't tough this. They are the worst scum. The media is worse than the cops. At least the cops are acting our of self interest. The media are just the cops' toadies.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep,

They're only interested in police abuse when it can be spun as a racial issue that helps the democrats, and the police.

The riots and bullshit surrounding Ferguson set back the cause of police reform by making average, poorly informed people think that it's a criminal black issue.

[John]

Yes it did. They make it about race so the average white person sides with the cops. This causes blacks to continue to vote Democratic and prevents the real problems from being addressed.

[sarcasmic]

Any by focusing on race instead of police culture, the cops just keep doing what they're doing.

[Charles Easterly]

I was having a very similar conversation just yesterday. By making it seem like an issue solely about racial issues the very real problem of law enforcement brutality and unaccountability remains hidden.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Preach it, John! Preach it! A-men!

[sarcasmic]

Well it is in the media's self interest to avoid stories like these.
They need a certain amount of cooperation from police departments in order to get the news out, which they would lose if they ever ran anything critical of them.

[John]

That is what they tell themselves but that is complete bullshit. What do the police give them other than press releases to reprint?

[Heroic Mulatto]

By "cooperation", sarcasmic means "the police don't actively harass reporters and threaten their families".

[John]

Well Mulatto, there is always that. Goes to the point I often make that our media is nothing but state run these days. All the more reason to hate their guts.

[Ted S.]

If the police didn't do that, local TV would have to do real work to get their news!

[Restoras]

They don't arrest them for asking questions?

[sarcasmic]

I imagine most media organizations have a reporter or two with a cozy relationship with the police department, which can be used to get the inside scoop on some stories of interest.
That relationship would be lost if the organization ran stories that were critical of the police.
Not only that, but I'm sure there is plenty of passive-aggressive shit the cops could pull to punish such an organization. Like delaying the trucks shipping in the rolls of newsprint, causing the papers to come out late or not at all.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Local news needs the police, it's just about all they have to report on that gets headlines anymore.

[sarcasmic]

And most national news is picked up from local news outlets. So if they aren't critical of the police, no one will be.

[John]

I get the feeling from reading Sheryl Atkinsson's writing that the reporters are not as much of the problem as you would think. They cover whatever they are told to cover. The problem is the people who own and run these companies. They are the ones who don't want this shit covered and ensure that it is not.

[sarcasmic]

And why do you think they don't want those stories covered?

They want their reporters to arrive on a scene and get the scoop. If they write truthful and accurate stories about the police, then their reporters will be chased off or falsely arrested whenever they try to gather the news on anything in which the police are involved.

If they can't gather the news, then they will have a difficult time staying in business.

[John]

And why do you think they don't want those stories covered?

Because they only want stories that help the Democratic party covered. And these stories don't do that.

[sarcasmic]

*watches Red Tony dance the derpity doo*

[sarcasmic]

Look at how reporters were threatened, assaulted and arrested in Ferguson. Cops don't like it when reporters report the truth.

[John]

Look at how reporters were threatened, assaulted and arrested in Ferguson.

And that totally kept that story out of the news didn't it? And it had such an effect, they didn't cover the choking death in New York.

I will never understand you sarcasmic. You can be so reasonable and then the next moment go full fucking retard and start yelling Red Tony. Sorry, but the major media is in the tank for the Democrats. If that fact disturbs you such that you can't face it, too fucking bad. That is your problem not mine.

[sarcasmic]

Sure they're in the tank for Democrats, but that doesn't explain the cop fellating. That's just Red Tony derp.

[Lord Humungus]

Speaking of Warren

Elizabeth Warren Is The Face Of Modern Democrats (And Hillary Is Their Mitt Romney)

The most obvious reason bolstering my concern trolling is that Warren's positions far more closely reflect the sensibilities of constituents in the modern-day Democratic Party, not only in substance, but in tone.

Her hard-left economics?what the press quixotically refers to as "economic populism"?propels today's liberal argument. It's the default position of nearly every grassroots constituency on the Left. The center of the Democrats' agenda. This isn't just reflected in the embrace of class struggle ("inequality") but a slow warming to socialistic ideas (and I'm not throwing the word in as invective; I mean it in the most literal way). Right now, few if any politicians are better than Warren at stoking the anxiety that makes that work.

[John]

The hard left still runs the Democratic Party. They honestly thing that both their policies work and are popular. Therefore, the solution to losing control of the Congress and making the party virtually extinct in large areas of the country is to just Prog harder.

Hillary for all of her flaws has at least enough of a feral survival instinct to realize that Prog harder is not a solution. At some point they are going to have to lose so badly and for so long that the retards finally lose control of the party. I am not sure when they happens.

[Rich]

Where the heck is Fist already?!

[Ted S.]

He can't decide which of the threads to post in.

[UnCivilServant]

Damnit, you mean my Victory was hollow!

Noooo!!

[WTF]

He might be stuck in the other Mourning Lynx.

[Citizen Nothing]

Cue Rod Serling...

[Lord Humungus]

I'm guessing (see above) that he is yet another victim of Warty's lust.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I saw a divergence brewing and wisely steered clear. The rest of you have no idea which universe you've committed yourselves to by posting on either set of links, whereas I'm posting in both universes right now, the Root one and the Krayewski one, taunting those in both existences.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Schr?dinger's Links?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Students Allege They Were Kicked Off H.S. Team For Not Saying Mormon Prayer

"Three public school students in Mesa, Arizona, including a team captain, were allegedly removed from their varsity softball team, in part because they did not want to start each game with a 'team prayer.' According to a complaint filed in a federal court in Arizona, the three girls were 'penalized for not conducting 'team prayer' in accordance with the directive of Joseph Goodman,' the team's coach. Coach Goodman, allegedly acted 'for himself and at the behest of certain parents that were part of the [Mormon] Church.'"

http://thinkprogress.org/justi.....on-prayer/

[Citizen Nothing]

So if the coach had been Methodist, would the headline have said "...Methodist Prayer"?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Methodists, a denomination my father referred to as Baptists who could read."

[Matrix]

I've heard them referred to as half-assed Catholics.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I've always thought a great name for a Christian rapper would be Method(ist) Man.

[The Last American Hero]

That's the Episcopalians.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Episcopalians are 3/4 ass catholics.

Lutherans are probably 7/8.

[Ted S.]

They could have been praying to Moroni or something.

[Irish]

That's absurd if true, but the 'in part' in that first sentence gives me pause.

That seems almost like they were booted for legitimate reasons and claim it was because of an unwillingness to say this prayer.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I took a look at the complaint, the 'in part' refers to other alleged First Amendment claims in the suit (other religious activities the students claim they were penalized for not participating in/speaking out against).

Here's the complaint: http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfro.....r-case.pdf

[Irish]

Yeah, that's bad. Although this line made me laugh:

"During the tournament, contemporary hip-hop and other popular music liked by teenage girls was played and used as expressive speech to get'in the zone' performing at the competitive varsity school level."

This is almost as funny as Supreme Court oral arguments about pornography.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The translation of what jocks do by nerds.

[Lord Humungus]

Paging our resident chubby-chaser:

Mama June Sex Tape Featuring Sugar Bear: Porn King Steve Hirsch Says Former 'Boo Boo' Star Could Earn $1 Million

Mama June could be your next sex vixen, if she takes up the latest offer to become a porn star. According to TMZ, porn titan Steve Hirsch has offered Mama June the chance to make a lot of money if she will perform sex on tape with Sugar Bear. In the document obtained exclusively by TMZ, Vivid Entertainment founder and CEO Steve Hirsch tells Mama June, whose real name is June Shannon, that she can make $1 million or more by filming a celebrity sex tape.

Specifically, they believe that Mama June would fit in perfectly with their BBW line, which has a sex category for big, beautiful women through VividTV and Vivid.com. Hirsch asks Mama June to consider carefully those who have made it big off celebrity sex tapes, such as Kim Kardashian, Kendra Wilkinson, and Tila Tequila.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

and there goes my breakfast...

[John]

Porn King Steve Hirsch Says Former 'Boo Boo' Star Could Earn $1 Million

If that is true, we are now officially the most perverted and disgusting civilization in history. Nothing the Romans did even approaches watching someone like that in a porn flick.

[Ted S.]

Rule 34, for better or worse.

[Zeb]

And there is already much, much worse out there. Hell, as far as weird things to be into go, fat, ugly women is pretty mild.

[John]

It is not that she is fat, though that doesn't help. It is that she is just a dirty disgusting person. She could be a size 2 and the thought of seeing her in porn would be just as nauseating.

[Lord Humungus]

It would be like seeing a SugarFree short story brought to life.

*stomach churns*

[Zeb]

I know nothing about her. Not having TV is great sometimes.

[Charles Easterly]

"Not having TV is great sometimes."

Zeb, how do you get by without watching and discussing ad nauseam with family and friends what happened the previous night on Idol/Dancing/Survivor/Sons/whatever?

I kid.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Former 'Boo Boo' Star Could Earn $1 Million

A quarter at a time?

[Redmanfms]

The Romans watched people murder each other by the thousands on a daily basis. They enslaved people just for that purpose.

The Romans watched women be raped by wild animals.

We aren't even in the running with Rome.

Hell, we'd have trouble competing with Puritan Britain in depravity. They enjoy watching such things as lighting cats on fire, bear-baiting, rat v. dog/cat fights, and public executions. Even their sexual proclivities were far more perverse. They, for instance, saw nothing wrong with child prostitution.

[John]

It was a joke. Yeah, I know what the Romans did. The extreme tastes of the Romans is the point.

[Zeb]

I don't think it is impossible for a fat woman to be beautiful, but she is not that.

[Bee Tagger]

The news that Jeb Bush is writing a new e-book has sparked a fresh round of speculation that the former Florida governor will be running for president in 2016.

e-books, the new going on late night talk shows.

[DJF]

Co-President with Hillary?

Its time we ended divisiveness in Washington,

One Co-Presidency
One Co-Party
One Co-Future
2016, The Election To End Elections.

[Rich]

Excellent.

One Co-Untry.

[Lord Humungus]

Canadian navy sailors face near-total alcohol ban

Previously, sailors were permitted to drink while off duty; now they will only be allowed to on special occasions at the captain's discretion.

The new measures come after a warship had to be recalled after incidents involving allegedly inebriated crew.

The new restrictions bring the Canadian navy closer in line with the navies of the US, Britain and New Zealand.

[UnCivilServant]

But Rum is one of the pillars of Naval tradition!

[Jerryskids]

Thank god they still have the lash and the sodomy.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Curse you!

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

And sodomy and the lash but you don't see those...er...

[Drake]

One of the things I hated about the military was the lowest-common-denominator mindset. Because a couple of assholes can't handle their booze, nobody gets to drink at all.

[The Tone Police]

I wish that mindset were confined to the military, but if you think about it, it's pretty much the basis for 99% of all petty laws out there.

[John]

Yes. And that comes from the socialist mindset that the commander is responsible for everything. It has gotten much worse over the years. The problem with the "zero defect" military isn't just that it fucks good people who make one mistake. It is that it fucked those people's commanders as if a commander could somehow make his people smarter. So, the commanders rationally take the "lowest common denominator" philosophy you describe and make everyone miserable.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think that mind set pretty much applies to all our laws in society. The few ruin things for the rest of us.

[tarran]

Sodomy and the lash are no fun without rum...

[Lord Humungus]

Puts on The Pogues.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And thus comes to an end the legend of the drunken sailor.

[UnCivilServant]

Not so, it just means they'll booze up even harder on shore leave.

[SFC B]

They have an obvious solution to that problem too!

[The Original Jason]

But what did the Navy do with him?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

The new measures come after a warship had to be recalled after incidents involving allegedly inebriated crew.

Buggery on the Great Lakes?

[Rich]

At one point, several hostages were "seen pressing a black flag with Arabic text against the cafe's windows."

"Eat here, God willing."

Seriously, can't we translate that?

[UnCivilServant]

They can, but they don't like the answer.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Batons Kirsh, alhamdulillah!

[Jerryskids]

If I haven't forgotten all my Arabic, the banner says "I'm ready for Hillary".

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

*rises to begin standing ovation*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Let's not rush to judgment - I bet it says "Baptist power."

[WTF]

Fucking Baptist terrorists strike again!

[Charles Easterly]

I hate Illinois Baptist Terrorists.

[Lord Humungus]

"Eat at Ahmed's. First Serving of Tabouli is free."

[Jack Holby]

Allahu Snackbar!!

[Lord Humungus]

Tax Harmonization: Towards a Global Dystopia

There is a great and dangerous Trust seeking to form globally. Like any monopoly in days past, or OPEC now, its aim is profit. But its means are far more sinister, and potentially far more effective, than anything ever investigated by the Pujo Committee.

Rather than merely raising revenues on some good or service, this Trust will follow you wherever you might run. Nothing like it has been seen since the days of the fugitive slave acts. It is more controlling than when medieval lords bound their serfs to their estates, or the Roman latifundia forced Romans back to the land. The idea: To attach a uniform worldwide rate upon the surplus of your productive endeavors for the benefit of its members.

[Ted S.]

"Tax harmonization" always means trying to get low-tax jurisdictions to raise their taxes.

[Lord Humungus]

Most Americans' best days are behind them

Median household income peaked at least 15 years ago in 81 percent of U.S. counties. That means that when incomes are adjusted for inflation, most middle class households are actually earning less money than they did years ago. Even though the economy is finally revving up, most Americans still don't see the benefits in their paychecks.

[Doctor Whom]

DC and some of its outer suburbs are doing fabulously. Here is a shocked face that I bought at Woodward & Lothrop.

[Drake]

When the government takes more and spends more, of course the citizens have less to spend. Common sense few people seem to realize.

[Ted S.]

The majority of Americans are past the age of peak sexual potency, so yes, their best days are behind them.

[John]

Median household income peaked at least 15 years ago in 81 percent of U.S. counties. That means that when incomes are adjusted for inflation, most middle class households are actually earning less money than they did years ago

Key phrase there is "adjusted for inflation". The Fed is robbing the middle class for the benefit of the super rich.

[VG Zaytsev]

No, the key word is household. Household income is down, but not as much as household size is.

Turns out two divorced, or never married people, each have lower household incomes than they did (or would have) if their incomes were combined in one household.

[John]

That is a very good point. So is it your opinion that the middle class is not getting poorer?

[VG Zaytsev]

Yes.

My dad was a middle class unionized factory worker in the 1950s and 60s. Our family's standard of living was lower than that of poor people today.

Even in the 1970s and 80s our standard of living was substantially below what a similarly situated family would be enjoying today.

[John]

My father was a unionized AT&T employee in the 1970s with six kids. I am the only one of the six to go to college. All of them are much better off today than our family was in the 1970s, despite all except me having blue collar jobs.

The problem we have right now is less of an employment problem than you would think. It is also a skills problem. None of my siblings have ever been out of work. But, none of them have student loan debts and all of them have marketable blue collar skills. Even in the worse stretches of the recession, none of them ever went without work.

If you drop out of high school and have no marketable skills or you waste four years and tens of thousands of dollars getting a worthless college degree, you have problems. And there are a lot of people who fit that description right now.

[Lord Humungus]

Only one of my siblings - the doctor - has been able to best my old man (college drop out) in income. As I see it, there was more opportunity for the working class and poor to get ahead without the credentials required today.

[John]

LH,

My oldest brother has gone through two wives and had kids with both. That is generally a recipe for poverty. But, he is a highly skilled welder and all purpose machine maintenance guy with multiple certifications. So no matter how much he fucks up in his personal life he is never poor or out of a job very long.

If you have a real skill like that, you just have to stay out of jail.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Unless the investments I made in business pay off, I don't think I'll be able to top my father.

[VG Zaytsev]

If you drop out of high school and have no marketable skills or you waste four years and tens of thousands of dollars getting a worthless college degree, you have problems.

One of the myriad problems with the 'studies degree' kids is that they have an inflated sense of their own worth and view many entry level / blue collar jobs as being beneath them and so never get started on the first wrung of the upward mobility ladder.

[R C Dean]

The other key is, what do they count as "income"?

More compensation is diverted to benefits rather than cash over time.

[Bee Tagger]

The Cleveland Police Union is demanding an apology from the Cleveland Browns.

No reason to worry here, this is just the only group of people with a permission slip for violence getting upset about a citizen doing something legal.

[The Late P Brooks]

The Cleveland Police Union is demanding an apology from the Cleveland Browns after wide receiver Andrew Hawkins warmed up on the football field before a recent game wearing a t-shirt protesting the police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

By all means, go all out to defend the indefensible, you despicable shitbags.

[Drake]

I hope the cops make a big public stink of it - helping to publicize the fact that they gunned down an unarmed kid and think it's okay.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Oh yeah - we should all goad them on, heh heh.

[BuSab Agent]

How completely tone-deaf can the fat blue line possibly be? I'm willing to say not since the aristocrats of pre-revolutionary France has any privileged elite been so oblivious.

[John]

Being utterly unaccountable for anything you do tends to make you arrogant and tone deaf. The cops in this country have been given a blank check for misconduct. And they are in the process of making it bounce as we speak.

[Restoras]

Root Wins!

[Lord Humungus]

How do you tell your kids the world is falling apart?

"Saving My Tomorrow," a new HBO series, takes on the challenge, and what it's arrived at is basically the same approach we use for adults: a combination of science, stories and calls to action, supplemented by musical performances (Willie Nelson, Karen O and Pete Seeger, among others), and celebrity appearances (Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tina Fey and Alan Cumming are some of the big names).

What makes it particularly easy, director Amy Schatz told Salon, is that kids are already thinking about the big problems ? climate change, extinction, deforestation ? a lot; maybe even more than we'd want them to at such a young age. Then again, it's encouraging to see how ready they seem to take on the challenges passed on by older generations. What emerged from interviews about kids' varied concerns, Shatz said, was one consistent message: "The adults clearly aren't doing enough to stop this," as one child puts it, "so we have to take it into our own hands."

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

As long as they put all of Seeger's pro-Stalin crap up alongside images of dead Kulaks, I'm fine with it.

[Rich]

"The adults clearly aren't doing enough to stop this," as one child puts it, "so we have to take it into our own hands."

Out of the mouths of babes ....

[Rich]

"The adults clearly aren't doing enough to stop this," as one child puts it, "so we have to take it into our own hands."

Kids say the darnedest things!

[Rich]

"The adults clearly aren't doing enough to stop this," as one child puts it, "so we have to take it into our own hands."

#YouKnowWhatToDo

[Medical Physics Guy]

I've seen this drill before. Wasn't there just a Showtime series on Gaia-cide that no one watched?

[sarcasmic]

Indoctrination at work.

[UnCivilServant]

"The adults clearly aren't doing enough to stop this," as one child puts it, "so we have to take it into our own hands."

And thus thousands of children marched on the Holy Land to reclaim Jerusalem, never to arrive. Most would be sold into slavery before reaching the mediterranian...

[WTF]

Because kids aren't already subjected to enough leftist indoctrination.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Let's traumatize our kids!

[Spoonman.]

My wife had a lot of reading time with a newborn (less so now that she walks around and says a few words), so our Kindle ended up with a lot of parenting books on it. One of the ones she liked made a good point: exposing children to world news can be pretty stressful to them, because they' don't understand the context or proportion and feel helpless and terrified. The author was a psychologist who had treated kids whose parents fretted about global warming constantly.

[Ted S.]

My wife had a lot of reading time with a newborn (less so now that she walks around and says a few words),

I'm glad to see your wife is walking again and can say a few words. :-p

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My wife has a Masters in Early Childhood Psychology and has been a teacher for over 20 years and this is pretty much what she explains.

THIS is exactly the point parents don't grasp. Kids can't rationalize this stuff. Even if you think your kid is smart they're minds are simply not developed to process it.

[Zeb]

I remember worrying about a few current events sorts of things as a young child. Something about nuclear weapons, I think. But much more about vaguely defined monsters.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It was all about acid rain and nuclear Armageddon in the 80s.

Guess what? The dire predictions never came to be.

[Don Mynack]

If there is an artist that the kids really want to hear today, it's Pete Seeger.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Catholic SoCon Criticizes GOP Efforts to Make Birth Control Over the Counter

"A nation of dis-embedded individuals, separated from their families in making important decisions, but subject to outsized demands from a heartless consumerist mass culture (and, in the case of young women, the demands of hormonal adolescent boys) is not truly free, but merely abandoned. This is not the stuff of ordered liberty or of people capable of exercising it."

http://www.crisismagazine.com/.....war-family

[Irish]

"A nation of dis-embedded individuals, separated from their families in making important decisions, but subject to outsized demands from a heartless consumerist mass culture (and, in the case of young women, the demands of hormonal adolescent boys) is not truly free, but merely abandoned. This is not the stuff of ordered liberty or of people capable of exercising it."

I love that SoCon and progressive rhetoric sounds identical, just with a few minor changes. All you'd have to do is replace 'families' with 'community' and this could have come from Salon.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It's true. A few months ago in a conversation here it was pointed out that in US history the two even have a starting origin point. If you think about the Populists and early progressives like William Jennings Bryan they were 'socons' and 'progs.' It seems that some of them just went down the socon trail and others the prog trail to give us our modern variants, but the statism tendency remains.

[VG Zaytsev]

The progs retained the morality and social norms of 19th century Christians even as the lost god (or more accurately replaced Yaweh and Jesus with the people and government) while the Christian fundamentalist movement doubled down on personal belief in Jesus but made peace with capitalism and the market economy.

[Doctor Whom]

but made peace with capitalism and the market economy.

More like an armed truce. They're fine with intervention in the market when the market produces results other than what they want.

[VG Zaytsev]

Meh, modern socons are big defenders of capitalism, no doubt in it's modern limited form, whereas Christians in the 19th century had the kind of skepticism of it and markets and money in general that progs exhibit today.

I'd be willing to bet that you'd get many more progs to agree that money is the root of all evil than you would socons.

[wadair]

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil

1 Timothy 6:10

Christian scripture has nothing against money and commerce. The person who wrote this book is merely warning that greed causes "all kinds" of personal grief.

My own complaint against SoCons is not that they are too focused on the Christian religion, but that they misunderstand and misrepresent it.

[Isaac Bartram]

Evangelicals were closely tied to the progressive and socialist movements he late 19th/early 20th centuries.

While today we tend to say these are the same things the movements had diferences.

The Progressives tended to be an upper class movement and was largely concerned with improving the lower orders (whether they wanted it or not). some evangelicals were attracted to the movement because they equated this improvement with salvation.

[Isaac Bartram]

OTOH, socialism was mostly a genuine working class movement concerned with getting higher wages and benefits for things like unemployment and medical care. Some Evangelicals were attracted to this because of their reading of certain parts of the New Testament (as well as the Old - "you are your brother's keeper").

The extent to which the rich or the intelligentsia joined the movement was due to a belief that the workers were getting shafted by capitalism. It was purely a case of wanting improve their material lot rather than trying to improve their morals.

[Isaac Bartram]

The breakup between Evangelicals and the Progs and the Socialists started with evolution in the early 20th century and was ended by sex education in schools in the 60s and abortion in the 70s.

[Zeb]

It's like Christian rock. Just take some regular rock love songs and replace "Baby" or whatever with "Jesus".

[John Titor]

Once again, let's throw that on the 'Nietzsche was right' pile.

[The Tone Police]

They can join the feminists SJWs who are mad that birth control, if OTC, will no longer be "free"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Surprise! Brown witnesses have no credibility:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/14/.....edibility/

His hands were up and he was running away?

Yeah-k.

The narrative and agenda has been set so I doubt this will bring rational thought back into the discussion.

[Mike M.]

"It's over, Johnny. It's over."

[WTF]

"Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win!"

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's not over until the civil case is ruled.

[Rich]

Some admitted lying. Others changed their stories under questioning.

Serious question: What are the consequences for lying to a grand jury?

[Mike M.]

You can be charged with perjury, which is very difficult to prove, but not impossible.

Any witnesses who knowingly gave false testimony while under oath in the Darren Wilson hearing would likely have committed a Class C felony in Missouri, punishable by three to ten years.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Analysts differ over why prosecutors called witnesses with questionable credibility. Some say the prosecution wanted to present a jumbled case, to help Wilson. Others say the intense scrutiny and likelihood of a separate federal probe make it common in some places to toss anything and everything at a grand jury probing a controversial police killing -- even witnesses who prosecutors believe aren't likely to tell the truth."

Ooh, pick me, teacher, pick me!

Maybe they prosecutor doesn't want a bunch of people going to the TV and saying, "I saw the cop shoot Brown in the back, the prosecutor wouldn't even call me!"

[Lord Humungus]

The Fierce Urgency of Now: Why Young Protesters Bum-Rushed the Mic
Many young protesters believe that the Rev. Al Sharpton was co-opting their movement so, on Saturday, when none of the Ferguson youth leaders were slated to speak, a few hopped on stage and took the mic.

The primary concern among critics is what appears to be the purposeful distancing of Saturday's march from the revolutionary movement that began in August after the state-sanctioned shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, while simultaneously benefitting from its momentum.

Though there were moments of great emotion during Saturday's Justice For All March---particularly when the families of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Jonathan Crawford, III, Amadou Diallo, Brown and Garner, voiced their gratitude for Sharpton and the sea of supporters who have kept their loved ones names alive---the criticism that has followed the event largely proved to be true and young protesters all the way from Ferguson, Mo., made sure to let the world know it.

[Lord Humungus]

Arctic sea ice volume holds up in 2014

The spacecraft observed 7,500 cu km of ice cover in October when the Arctic traditionally starts its post-summer freeze-up.

This was only slightly down on 2013 when 8,800 cu km were recorded.

Two cool summers in a row have now allowed the pack to increase and then hold on to a good deal of its volume.

And while the ice is still much reduced compared with the 20,000 cu km that used to stick around in the Octobers of the early 1980s, there is no evidence to indicate a collapse is imminent.

[Ted S.]

8800 to 7500 is 15% less. I don't know how slight that is.

[Jerryskids]

There's a handy graph here showing the extent of Arctic sea ice since 1978

Note the reason I saw this was that I was just reading over the weekend an article that mentioned the unmistakeable downward trend in the sea ice and I defy anybody to tell me that graph shows a downward trend at all. Regular fluctuations between '78 and '94, a three-year drop and regular fluctuations since then.

Without knowing what the extent was in the century or so prior to '78, it's hard to say what the "normal" amount of sea ice is. And I also would be curious to know about that sharp mid-'90's drop - did they by any chance start using new and improved satellite imaging just about the same time that sudden change showed up?

[Zeb]

I heard that they have some new satellite that measures the volume of ice better. So I think that even the volume estimates from the 80s are not super accurate.

[Lord Humungus]

Man walking on Starr Street says teens with a tree limb tried to rob him

A 33-year-old man told police he was walking home about 5:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of West Starr Street when two males wearing hoodies, one of them carrying a tree branch, approached him and demanded he empty his pockets.

One of the teens threatened to stab the man, but he refused to give them anything and kept walking home, according to a police report on the incident.

He called police when he arrived home, but officers couldn't find the suspects.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

We need stick control!

[Rich]

Commonsense background checks!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I was thinking of a five day waiting period, but that makes sense too!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

And, why does anyone need more than one stick a month?

[Jordan]

Nobody needs more than 7 inches! (yeah, yeah; that's what she said).

[DJF]

How come witnesses can identify sex and hoodies but nothing else about the attackers?

Or is just that the police and reporters don't pass on any other information?

[Rich]

Perhaps they were hiding behind that scary limb they were brandishing.

[The Tone Police]

I'm sure there was one other indicator the witness saw. It's just not reported, of course.

[Lord Humungus]

Wall Street Can't Stop Stripping Bonds as Inflation Deemed Dead

An obscure corner of the $12.4 trillion market for U.S. government debt is providing one of the clearest signs yet that bond investors are writing off the threat of inflation for years, if not decades, to come.

Demand for Strips, created when Wall Street banks separate the interest payments from the principal of U.S. debt and sell each at a discount, has boosted the amount outstanding to an average $211 billion this year, the most since 1999, data from the Treasury Department show. The securities, the most vulnerable to inflation of all U.S. government bonds, posted the biggest returns this year by rallying almost 50 percent.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"After Nugent's first field goal, Hill scored again, breaking several tackles on a 16-yarder. Hill tried to celebrate by leaping into the stands, but was turned back by a Browns fan wearing a Joe Haden jersey. It was one of the few times Cleveland stopped Cincinnati all day."

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/.....=400554392

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Prenatal exposure to common household chemicals linked with substantial drop in child IQ

"Children exposed during pregnancy to elevated levels of two common chemicals found in the home -- di-n-butyl phthalate and di-isobutyl phthalate -- had an IQ score, on average, more than six points lower than children exposed at lower levels, according to researchers. The study is the first to report a link between prenatal exposure to phthalates and IQ in school-age children. While avoiding all phthalates in the United States is for now impossible, the researchers recommend that pregnant women take steps to limit exposure by not microwaving food in plastics, avoiding scented products as much as possible, including air fresheners, and dryer sheets, and not using recyclable plastics labeled as 3, 6, or 7."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....140823.htm

[Jordan]

I'm skeptical of anything produced by a school of public health.

[Medical Physics Guy]

They did a pretty good job removing confounds from the subject pool. I'd take this seriously. Forwarding to wife.

[Lord Humungus]

At Rikers, a Roadblock to Reform

With brutality by guards at the Rikers Island jail complex rising at an alarming rate, the chief investigator for the New York City Correction Department stood before a roomful of senior officers and union leaders in the summer of 2012 and outlined her plans to crack down on abuse and send more cases to prosecutors.

The presentation infuriated one man in particular, Norman Seabrook, the powerful president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, who believed the incidents should be handled internally. For the next two years he did everything in his power to get rid of the investigator, Florence Finkle. He helped scuttle some of her investigations, got one of her top people transferred, called for her resignation and denounced her on his weekly radio show.

In August, he finally got his wish: Ms. Finkle was forced out, replaced by a former senior Police Department official ? a childhood friend of Mr. Seabrook's.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He looks like a vile son of a bitch.

Sounds like Rikers needs a 'Shawshank Redemption' moment.

I never understand how we, as humans, permit this kind of thuggery to persist especially after being reported.

[John]

Who other than a vile son of a bitch would want to be a career prison guard? Sure maybe if you just can't get another job, you take that job, but anyone other than a sadistic fuck would leave it the first chance they get.

This is the nature of prisons; only the worst vile SOBs are willing to do the job of running them. There is no way around that. This of course is another reason why a just society must be very careful about who it sends to prison.

[Raven Nation]

Juve got a decent draw; Man City look screwed.

[John]

Does Rikers have a Champions League?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Coulda have been worse for sure.

None of the ties stand out and grab you, eh?

Maybe PSG/Chelsea but not really.

Roma, Roma, Roma. You had Man City by the balls and you let it slip away.

[Raven Nation]

Nah, not really. Plenty of moderate interest but nothing super exciting. BBC Football is citing a source claiming Real is thinking about selling Bale to Man U.

[John]

And note the guy is black. The people abused at Rikers are no doubt largely black and minority. And this guy is the head slave master at the plantation.

Remember, it is people like Thomas Sowell and Clarance Thomas who are the "race traitors". This guy is a dedicated public servant.

[Lord Humungus]

Iowahawk: "While we shouldn't rush to judgment, we should probably suspend a few Australian college fraternities just to be safe."

[DJF]

Only a few????. This is why we have a hostage culture in Australia.

[WTF]

Confirming yet again he is a national treasure.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Correction Officers' Benevolent Malevolent Association

FIFY

[Jordan]

Man can't challenge $280K tax bill he probably doesn't really owe, Pa. court says

In fact, city officials acknowledged in court that the tax bill they sent Nathan Lerner was a "jeopardy assessment" based on a fabrication.

The problem is that Lerner didn't follow the right procedural course in challenging it, a Commonwealth Court panel found in a ruling issued this week. And so, the state judges determined, he's stuck with that unfounded tax tab.

[...]

When Lerner's attorney asked Reynolds whether the jeopardy assessment "is just something you make up to scare the taxpayers to come in," Reynolds replied, "Basically, yes."

Asked about the origin of the numbers for the jeopardy assessments, Reynolds said her manager "really just makes them up."

"We try to make it really high," she said. "We want them to come in and make sure the figures are accurate."

I think I would be paying Mrs. Reynolds' office a visit if I was in this situation...

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I might pay their home a visit.

[Ted S.]

Following the wrong procedure isn't a problem when the government does it, of course.

[DJF]

So the government can make up any tax bill it wants, if the victim does not jump through the right hoops to challenge this tax then the victim is required to pay?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Bingo

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

According to court filings, Lerner made some legal missteps while trying to fight the tax battle on his own. The fatal one, the Commonwealth Court found, is that he didn't obey county Judge Leon W. Tucker's order to pay for a transcript of a city Tax Review Board hearing on the matter

So you have to pay for your own exculpatory evidence from your own representative government?

Neo-feudalism has arrived.

[Rich]

Those assessments ... are set deliberately high to induce the targeted taxpayer to contact the city's revenue department

"It's the only possible way to get those deadbeats to contact us!"

If only protestors blocked Philadelphia streets tonight over this.

[Lord Humungus]

Lena Dunham and the damage done by false accusations

Thus, I have a suggestion for The Post: Stop minimizing the harm caused by Lena Dunham's accusation. Ms. Dunham wrote a book in which she claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a person she called "Barry." Her identification of Barry pointed to only one living individual. Pretending that this is "the challenge of memoir" writing or claiming that it is more important for victims of sexual assault to explain their feelings than it is to protect the innocent distorts the concept of justice.

[John]

"the challenge of memoir" writing or claiming that it is more important for victims of sexual assault to explain their feelings

I thought the "challenge of memoir writing" was to make it interesting while also telling the truth? If the truth needs to be embellished with lies to make it interesting enough for anyone to want to read it, you shouldn't be writing a memoir.

What this story really says is that Dunham is just fucking boring. If she wasn't boring, she wouldn't have needed to lie to make her memoir interesting.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It also says that the only thing that makes you interesting or worth listening to is victimhood. It's a sad cultural statement.

[John]

It is not the only thing but it certainly is one thing. What it says is that Dunham is so unimaginative that being a victim was the only thing she could think of to make her story interesting, which supports my larger point that Dunham is more than anything else just boring.

I really hope her 15 minutes is coming to an end. She has to be one of the least talented and least interesting people to get famous in a very long time. At least Paris Hilton made a good sex tape. Kim Kardashian married a famous musician and has an enormous ass going for her. The white trash on Honey Boo Boo at least are epic train wrecks as individuals. Dunham doesn't even have those things. She really is a new low in celebrity culture.

[Lord Humungus]

Ted Cruz Will Bank on the Base
The question as 2016 approaches is whether he is more Goldwater than Reagan.

To hell with the independents. That's not usually the animating principle of a presidential campaign, but for Ted Cruz's, it just might be.

His strategists aren't planning to make a big play for so-called independent voters in the general election if Cruz wins the Republican nomination. According to several of the senator's top advisers, Cruz sees a path to victory that relies instead on increasing conservative turnout; attracting votes from groups ? including Jews, Hispanics, and Millennials ? that have tended to favor Democrats; and, in the words of one Cruz strategist, "not getting killed with independents."

[John]

Cruz sees a path to victory that relies instead on increasing conservative turnout; attracting votes from groups ? including Jews, Hispanics, and Millennials ? that have tended to favor Democrats

If he is doing that, he is not relying on the base. Those people are not the "base". It seems like he is saying "to hell with the low information middle".

[tarran]

"to hell with the low information middle"

He really doesn't have much of a chance with the low-info voter; you could promise them rainbows and they won't know it if the media does nothing but tell them how you want to chastise them with scorpions.

[VG Zaytsev]

He's really saying to hell with professional pols and their parasitic media, and consultant sycophants.

Which makes him an unacceptable extremist.

[John]

I like Cruz. I think he is a legitimate hell raiser and seems to have some balls. I think Cruz is the kind of person who might actually throw some bombs to make the right people very uncomfortable.

[Juice]

Ted Cruz is ineligible to be president.

[SugarFree]

Advice to men with angry and abusive pregnant wives: STFU and do as you're told.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Finally, if there is one message men should receive loud and clear when their lady gets pregnant to bear their child it is this: Now is the time you do your last bit of growing up.

Yet the ladies should get a pass.

[DJF]

So when she is screeching "You Did This To Me!!!"

Its not a good time to bring up the idea of getting a paternity test?

[Rich]

"You know, you're *cute* when you're angry!"

[lap83]

You know, posting Jezebel articles about how pregnant married women should act is like posting a crazy homeless guy's view on how Dodd-Frank will affect real estate. Neither has any influence. As much as Jezebel would like to believe, the average pregnant married woman is not reading them for relationship pointers.

[SugarFree]

Agreed, but I will point out that Tracy Moore's whole schtick is complaining about her marriage under the guise of writing an article for Jezebel.

[John]

The internet really is a freak show. The right is just as bad. If you read the rightwing blogs, you would think every man under the age of 35 has checked out of society and does nothing but play video games and watch porn all day.

Meanwhile in the real world, plenty of people seem to be getting married and having kids and leading pretty normal lives. The internet is about unhappy angry freaks as much as it is about porn and kittens.

[Raven Nation]

Yo! IFH, you around?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

God willing, she is not at a cafe...

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, the odds are pretty high...I was wondering if she had any local insight. I watched a little bit of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) live feed last night and people seemed pretty calm and not too much jumping to conclusions but see my post just below.

[The Late P Brooks]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't privately owned guns illegal in Australia?

I call hoax on this Sydney thing. Unless he's using a cleverly gnawed pop tart, or something.

[Drake]

Obviously not illegal enough! Time for another anti-gun pogrom.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, that was one of my first thoughts too. Wiki says:

As of 2007 about 5.2% of Australian adults (765,000 people)[1] own and use firearms for purposes such as hunting, controlling feral animals, collecting, security work, and target shooting.

Whole thing here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G....._Australia

And BBC news just posted that the gunman is an Iranian who was granted asylum in Australia. If that turns out to be true, there will be hell to pay (rightly or wrongly).

[Drake]

I'm going to guess rightly.

[DEG]

I read about Australia's gun laws when I researched expatriating. The description of Australia's gun laws was pretty recent. The description was it is possible to get a permit to own a gun, but it is difficult. When getting a permit, according to the description, you don't ever mention your reason for wanting a gun is self-defense. If you do, you'll be laughed at, told to "get a dog", and you won't get the permit.

[Raston Bot]

Homebrew pron...

http://oi57.tinypic.com/hvv5oj.jpg

The local homebrew shop was out of milk sugar so that back right carboy went from cream to oatmeal stout on the fly:

9 1/2 lbs stout malt
1 lb black
1 lb cararoma
3 1/2 lbs rolled oats

1oz Magnum at 60mins
WY1084 Irish Ale

The other two carboys are the same IPA. Dry hopping with Cascade, Citra, possibly Columbus in a week or so. Couldn't find any Summit leaf damnit!

[John]

What is the "1lb black"? Black what? My father has become the serious home brewer. And he is getting very good at it and has a mad setup. I will have to send him this recipe.

[sarcasmic]

Black Patent I assume.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm guessing black orphans.

[UnCivilServant]

Bone Black - for color.

/sarcasm

[Raston Bot]

Briess Black malt. I used to put English Black but can't find it anymore. It's all burnt to a crisp anyway.

[John]

Thanks. I will send that to him. He likes to experiment with different kinds of beer, though he is just like I am in that he mostly goes for the German Weisens and Pilsners.

[Raston Bot]

Is your dad retired? Lots of retired folks homebrew. Must be the chemistry and mechanical problem solving.. oh, and beer.

[John]

He is retired. It is the time, space and the disposable income.

[DEG]

Sounds yummy. I have a Vienna lager in my primary fermentation bucket. It's my first attempt at a lager. Fermentation is agonizingly slow.

[Raston Bot]

Is it in a fridge or outside in the shed?

I might try to do a lager to take advantage of the winter weather.

[DEG]

In my basement. My basement is a bit on the warm side for a lager, but still within the range of the yeast I'm using.

[Juice]

Speaking of lactose. Yesterday I bottled a "Chocolate Milk Stout" that used cocoa nibs in the secondary. It tasted awesome coming out of the primary and I was hesitant to use the cocoa nibs, but did anyway. It's good, but it tastes like a dessert. I think this is the last time I will make adulterated beer.

[The Late P Brooks]

I was in Missoula, Friday, for the Flogging Molly show.

Holy fuck, they were awesome.

That is all.

[The Late P Brooks]

Actually, that is not all. We went to a bar in downtown Missoula to grab a beer, and it was packed to the rafters with a social subgroup I had not seen for a very very long time: the "My child is an adorable little yuppie lifestyle accessory! Gaze upon us, and despair!" mob. Creepy does not even begin to cover it.

We drank about half a beer, and fled in despair.

[John]

One of the things I like about Europe is that the people, the mothers in particular, make their kids behave. It is just sad when you go to a place like Germany and see that they are not having as many kids. There are all of these hot young German women who could be out having well behaved kids and are not.

I would be game to import them over here on the condition they get married and have kids. This would give us better behaved kids and give men a choice of wives rather than the whinny fat Jezebel reading American woman.

People keep saying how American men are dropping out of marriage because the laws suck and frankly the choice of women suck. Men like to have wives and families too just like women do. At what point do American men just start importing their wives from better cultures? Go post that idea up on Jezebel and watch the gnashing of teeth that results.

[Irish]

"I would be game to import them over here on the condition they get married and have kids. This would give us better behaved kids and give men a choice of wives rather than the whinny fat Jezebel reading American woman.

People keep saying how American men are dropping out of marriage because the laws suck and frankly the choice of women suck. Men like to have wives and families too just like women do. At what point do American men just start importing their wives from better cultures? Go post that idea up on Jezebel and watch the gnashing of teeth that results."

Jesus fucking Christ, John, did you just wander over here from a Roosh seminar?

[John]

What is a Roosh seminar?

[SugarFree]

It's like a regular concert, but the drum set is far larger.

[Charles Easterly]

+1 Neil Peart

[Drake]

At what point? Like a decade ago.

[lap83]

"There are all of these hot young German women who could be out having well behaved kids and are not."

Is this another one of your hot women=better-in-every-respect leaps of logic? 🙂

[John]

It never hurts if they are hot. Frankly, if a woman keeps her looks and makes the kids tolerable to be around, those are pretty good points for a wife.

Don't kid yourself, biology matters and for whatever reason the mother has a much greater affect on the behavior of small children than the father generally does. I think the father's affect grows as the kids get older such that judged over the entire childhood both parents are pretty close to equal in importance. But under the age of about six or seven, its the mother who has the greatest influence.

[Irish]

It's one of his 'I'm going to collectivize 150 million women because there's one internet fever swamp' leaps of logic.

I also like his creepily misogynistic statement that we should 'import' hot women so men can 'choose' wives, like they're picking out a head of cattle.

[John]

Lighten up Francis. Hyperbole and whimsical collective statements is not "creepy". Please do me a favor stop contributing to our continued rape of the language. "Creepy" is cemetery at night or someone walking into Victoria Secret and asking if they have child sizes. Creepy is not, noticing that European women as a group do a better job of civilizing their small children than American women do.

And sorry to break the spell of the Haliquine Romance novels you have apparently been reading, but marriage often has practical considerations, like is the other person attractive to you and is the other person the kind of person you would want having a half share of raising your kids. Sadly, despite what the Jane Austin novels tell you, is not all about magical love.

[lap83]

What do you have against free trade?!
Shouldn't hot foreign women have the same glorious life-changing opportunity to be John's wife as American women? Or are you racist?

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm guessing black orphans.

Their tears add just the right hint of sweetness.

[Jerryskids]

Adding black orphans sounds disgusting - assuming they're black from the coalmines they're forced to work in.

[tarran]

Over at Skeptical Science Credulous Superstitions, Dana Nuticelli has apparently accidentally copped to being a liar.

Bishop Hill has the summary:

Dana Nuccitelli: Don't know his story, other than [Andrew Montford aka Bishop Hill] wrote The Hockey Stick Illusion, which I hear is quite inaccurate.

This made me laugh, because a year earlier Dana had written a review of The Hockey Stick Illusion on Amazon.com. It has since been deleted, but the text was recorded for posterity by BH readers:

...

As long as you don't take the book seriously it makes for an entertaining read. Just think of the book as another Crichton story, sit back, and enjoy a fun conspiracy theory. The only problem is that the story claims to be true, but is filled with misinformation, lies, and nonsense. And for that, I can only give it 1 star.

So twelve months after telling people in print that the book was "filled with misinformation, lies, and nonsense" he was glibly discussing with the rest of his Skeptical Science colleagues that he had "heard" it was "quite inaccurate".

Those of us watching the trainwreck that is Dana Nuticelli's increasingly desperate attempts to halt his religious cult's slide into irrelevance are not surprised.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

I can only quote sage at this point:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[brokencycle]

Austria and Australia are basically the same country.

[Lord Humungus]

*imagining Hitler with an Aussie Accent*

[Paul Hogan]

"I'll slip an extra Jew on the barbie for you"

[Lord Humungus]

I laughed.

[The Late P Brooks]

*imagining Hitler with an Aussie Accent*

Wearing a funny hat, astride a kangaroo.

[Raven Nation]

Yo, the Sydney cops are going in...live feed:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/

[Raston Bot]

That reporter looks to be at the tail end of a 12-hour shift.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

"The man police believe is responsible for the Sydney siege is an Iranian cleric Man Haron Monis.

Police have said they are happy for the identity of the hostage taker to be revealed.

Monis is on bail for a string of violent offences and has a conviction for sending offensive letters to the families of deceased soldiers.

He is currently on bail for being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and is facing more than 40 indecent assault charges"

Out on bail, WTF?

[tarran]

He is currently on bail for being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and is facing more than 40 indecent assault charges"

There's his reason. As Steyn pointed out (I can't find it easily) there are violent morons who want to imbue their stupid violence with meaning and take up the mantle of violent jihad. Then they can pretend that they are more than mere violent thugs, the cast-off woodchips of society on their way to the rubbish bin.

This asshole killed his ex wife and tried to sexually assault people. Rapists and wife-murderers are considered losers. But a jihadist? There's honor and fame and adulation.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Yeah, over?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/201.....on/5967232

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, the live feed makes it look like things are over. But, when the cops went in there was a lot of firing & flash-bangs.

[Raston Bot]

That was exciting which is bad for hostages.

[Lord Humungus]

thirty seconds of firing there... I'll be surprised if there wasn't some severe injury/death to the hostages.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

And there was one frickin' guy in there - I have seen far less ordnance deployed against buildings with more than one inside...

[zacharybaughandes]

Cameron . I see what you mean... Christina `s blog is astonishing, on sunday I bought a brand new Lexus LS400 since I been bringin in $5235 recently and even more than $10k lass month . without a doubt it is the easiest work I have ever had . I began this 10-months ago and almost immediately started bringin in minimum $75 p/h .
read the full info here =-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.jobsfish.com

[Lord Humungus]

heh - classic:

Not that I read it. Who can read a memoir by a 28-year-old? What's to memorialize? The last 28-year-old who could have written a memoir worth reading was Alexander the Great in 328 B.C., after he'd conquered the known world, but he was too busy conquering the rest of the world to write it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Is the picture photo shopped?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's not the labor that's the painful part in any case, it's the pubescent adolescence. I'll consider it an accomplishment if all my children come out alive.

[Rich]

I trust the man gets a pull present.

[lap83]

"It's not the labor that's the painful part in any case"

Um, yeah. I still think it is.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think if I asked my wife if she would trade another labor for more mature and reasonable children, she would jump at the opportunity.

[The Last American Hero]

You think it's easy standing there, helpless, forced to get ice every 15 minutes? Try it some time pal, and then we can talk.

[lap83]

Luckily she doesn't have to. Just kick them out the second they turn 18 and you'll have mature children in no time.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Just kick them out the second they turn 18 and you'll have mature children in no time.

Or porn stars.

[John]

My dad don't roll with that. He is a bit of a closet beatnik from the 50s. But not that much of one.

[John]

He is no doubt a bit of a SOCON, which is a legitimate ding on him. The question is, if were to ever be President, how much would that matter? How many of his SOCONish positions would ever actually affect policy? Not that many I don't think.

[lap83]

"Or porn stars."

Hey if there's anything Boogie Nights taught me, it's that porn stars are just like you or me. Only dumber.

[tarran]

Practically speaking it won't be a libertarian who gains the presidency and halts the growth of government.

Consider what would happen if libertarian ideas became more popular - it's not going to be sudden, nor a complete sea change on all policy issues. Rather, the changes will show up in the popularity of libertarian ideas in a few policy areas, and the people holding them will continue to have unlibertarian ideas in other areas.

And the politicians who react to this change will tend not to be libertarian ones, but ones who either agree with these policy changes or opportunistically adopt them to gain an edge on an election.

If (and this is a big if) the U.S. government does turn from the suicidal course it is on, it will be a guy like Cruz (ie someone flawed to we purists) that makes it happen.

[tarran]

Fuck. If my mom read this she would flay me alive for the bad grammar:

Should be someone flawed to us purists

[John]

No it won't Tarran. You are right. The country is not majority "libertarian" and likely won't be in the foreseeable future.

So if there is ever going to be a "libertarian moment", it will come in the form of someone like Cruz who is not a Libertarian but adopts a significant number of Libertarian ideas.

The problem is that other than maybe Ron Wyden, the Democrats don't have a Cruz or a Paul. Their alternative to the establishment is someone like Warren. Warren and the populist left are the closest things to full on fascists we have in this country. They will give you all of the police power and abuse of the current system with even more wealth confiscation and economic ignorance thrown in.

[tarran]

Both political parties are doing a shitty job of grooming candidates for higher office. I'm not sure why. Maybe they never did it and the candidates groomed themselves in a way that no longer works.

The progressives in the Republican party are a minority that has to contend with the Socon and the Taft Republican types (I know I am painting with an overbroad brush here, and I justify that by saying 'shut up'). This allows non-establishment types like Paul and Cruz to break their way in.

The progressives in the Democratic party aren't the minority - they run the establishment, and they are not going to let anyone end the party so long as the booze of tax revenues and debt-monetization continues.