A.M. Links: Obama's State of the Union, Knife Attack in Tel Aviv, NFL Still Investigating Deflated Patriot Game Balls

• 

  Credit: White House / Flickr.com

  President Barack Obama advocated tax hikes, endorsed unilateral military action around the globe, and promised to wield the veto pen against congressional Republicans in last night's State of the Union Address.

• At least seven people were stabbed during a rush hour knife attack at a Tel Aviv bus stop.

• Vice President Joe Biden hinted yesterday that he might challenge Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

• "The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC championship game told ESPN."

• The Ukrainian military reports that Russian troops have attacked its forces in eastern Ukraine.

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is vowing to "exhaust all possible measures" in order to free two Japanese citizens held captive by the Islamic State.

Follow Reason on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and promised to wield the veto pen against congressional Republicans in last night's State of the Union Address.

Well, that's not going to get the full chamber to its feet.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

I didn't watch the SOTUA and from what I read I'm glad I didn't. What an unhinged, cocky, disconnected, collectivist hack this guy is.

Free fucking daycare?

[Injun, as in from India]

Free daycare, free pre-k, free school, free community college, free college, free grad school.

What a f***ing loser and ivory tower academic this idiot is. If only he had a real private sector career, he would know.

[Rhywun]

He really seems to think that every American should experience his life of privelege and unproductivity.

[creech]

Yes, a loser. He never mentions the pain caused by those who can't pay for a nice funeral, cemetery plot, and headstone for their loved ones who pass.
Subsidies for death too or this president is just another one who thinks life should only be enjoyed from cradle to grave by the rich!

[CE]

What, no guaranteed income for all? Why so parsimonious?

[The Other Kevin]

Instead of watching SOTU, I watched the Black Hawks finally show up for a game. Much better way to spend the evening.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Did Tom Lysiak score?

[BigT]

Not until he got home.

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

No, but Al Secord got in a fight.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I hope he left Murray Bannerman alone.

[Atlas Slugged]

I was in a DC bar packed with hipsters who cheered every time he said "free shit". Why I didn't vomit all over them I have no idea...

[Rhywun]

I was in a DC bar packed with hipsters

Stop right there.

[Ska]

Worse than anything I've read from Sugarfree.

[Bee Tagger]

New Bjork album is, surprisingly, out now. I'm only a few songs in, but I'm enjoying it so far.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You waste a coveted second comment with Bj?rk?

[UnCivilServant]

They're still around?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Is a Bjork like a butt spork or something?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Is a Bjork like a butt spork or something?

[Bee Tagger]

I don't see anyone accusing her of wasting a perfectly good swan costume on the Academy Awards.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

More like bJERK, right?!?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wait. Is that pronounced bee-yurk?

[Bee Tagger]

What did you call me?

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

Bee yolk-er?

[Rich]

Talk about "thigh gap"!

[Roger the Shrubber]

The tightness of those pants required to produce that thigh gap has pushed her vagina onto her chest.

[Enough About Palin]

I too would like an opportunity to push her vagina into her chest.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I haven't listened to her albums but she was fantastic in Dancer in the Dark. Her acting AND music that is.

[Mike M.]

Speaking of music, get to work on finishing that book.

[John]

I have moved on to Of Monsters and Men for my strange but oddly compelling Icelandic pop music.

[Bee Tagger]

Good choice. It's not totally my thing, but I liked some of the songs I heard.

[John]

They are very good singers, especially the guy, and they do these great pop anthems. They remind me of Abba, only instead of being disco and cheesy, they are more pop rock and really creative and quirky and funny. I like bands that are actually funny. They have this great back and forth in the song "Little Talks" where the female singer says there is an old voice in her head... and the male replies "well tell her that I miss our little talks". It is the kind of clever funny line that few bands can pull off.

They have only done one record. I am really hoping they are not a one record band and their second is as good.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

What's a record?

[Overt]

John, that 'little talks' becomes even better when you realize that the woman is a widow talking with her dead husband. Funny and heartbreaking.

[John]

Yes. It took me a while to figure that out. You are right, it is one of the most clever and heartbreaking pop songs I have ever heard.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

20) When I was growing up in the 1980s, it was a different world for girls than it had been a generation or two earlier. There wasn't really anything boys could do that girls couldn't also do. Girls could play sports, they could wear pants and t-shirts, they could take Shop class, they could look forward to college and careers just like boys if they had the drive and desire. And this wasn't presented as some great achievement?it's just the way things were. Boys and girls could have the same ambitions, and it was no big deal. So I must have grown up in a progressive city, perhaps in the Northeast or the West coast, right? Nope. I grew up in a pretty conservative Southern town. I'm not sure I ever heard the word feminist, except maybe on TV, until I got to college.
That's why today, now that I'm an adult and do live in one of those Northeastern cities (well, in the DC suburbs), I'm highly suspicious when I encounter a woman who describes herself as a feminist. I mean, if girls and boys have been more or less equal since I was a kid, even in one of the least progressive areas of the country, what more could feminism actually be fighting for?

[UnCivilServant]

what more could feminism actually be fighting for?

Supremacy.

[UnCivilServant]

Or perpetual victimhood as an income source.

[Catatafish]

(sounds of slot-machine jackpot)

[Illocust]

She probably had a feminist mother that didn't realize times have changed. My mother tried to spend my whole childhood and preparing for college stages telling me how I was going to face discrimination for being female. I could see how a girl less strong willed could grow up in that environment and substitute the reality of what she sees in her daily life with the 50's vision of the world that her mother has.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

That's a good point. I've been thinking women with such views must have ulterior motives, but maybe they're just outdated. It was more reasonable to have an aggressive attitude towards changing society when there really were major social barriers to women, but now that that era's gone it's tough for some women to drop the warrior attitude.

[Illocust]

I believe a lot of it is just out datedness. My mom started her career by being an affirmative action hire for a boss that did not want her. She now spends all her time talking to women that grew up in the same environment, and she can't quite believe me when I tell her the only sexism I run into is when a teacher gives the women in his class better grades than the men.

[Jordan]

You need to distinguish between the Elizabeth Nolan Brown types and the Amanda Marcotte types.

[John]

Yes, that too. Sadly, I think the Brown types are fighting a losing battle to save the word from the Marcotte types. Most women have given up on the term altogether. Leaving a few brave souls like Brown to fight a losing read guard action against the nasty maniacs like Marcotte.

[Illocust]

Even those feminists are changing their name. They've started calling themselves equality feminist. Which ironically undermines the effort to save the movement. I mean if you have to put the qualifier equality in front of the word then it obviously doesn't actually mean equal in and of itself.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I actually enjoy Marcotte. She's so over the top I can't possibly take her seriously. I like to see how she tries to outdo herself with each week's new column.

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

Peak Derp cannot be achieved.

[John]

But if you chase it, just might catch retard.

[lap83]

I don't put feminism into horrid vs well-intentioned categories like a lot of people do. Even the less horrid brand of feminism is deluded because they all believe women experience a unique form of discrimination that must be focused on and eradicated. Some are just more psychotic about it than others, but it's all selfish and narrow-minded. In reality, everyone experiences discrimination in a variety of ways, gender differences are not bad, and the pro-choice movement is illogical and self-absorbed. The only thing remotely right about feminism is the discrimination. (which they usually don't correctly identify, but still exists) But you don't change that by ranting and legislating. You can't change it at all in other people. All you can do is take responsibility for your own actions, own your future and treat others the way you'd want them to treat you. You don't need feminism for that.

[Jordan]

Um, no. There are plenty of places around the globe where women are treated like chattel.

[lap83]

I never said I don't care about human rights violations. That is what is at issue in the places you're referring to, and invariably women aren't the only ones who are mistreated.

[lap83]

feminism, like all "isms" is inherently limiting.

[Jordan]

So what? Being a feminist does not imply not caring about other forms of discrimination. Do you think somebody who donates their time and money to the ASPCA must hate humanity?

[lap83]

Wait, are we talking about discrimination again? I thought we were talking about human rights abuses. I don't consider mere discrimination to be a violation of someone's human rights considering we all do it.

[Jordan]

Discrimination by government is a human rights abuse. But otherwise, yes, we are not talking about discrimination by private actors.

[Free Society]

feminism, like all "isms" is inherently limiting.

That's dumb.

[lap83]

ok thanks for that incisive critique

[Free Society]

ok thanks for that incisive critique

thanks for the dumb opinion. Here's a freebie for next time; "All pills are inherently bad"

[Free Society]

Um, no. There are plenty of places around the globe where women are treated like chattel.

And yet feminists in North America and Europe bemoan rape culture in those places while in a 3rd world country even wearing short sleeves will get you raped and the police will say you deserved it.

Like when Bruce Willis' daughter walked around New York topless as a protest of rape culture. She wouldn't pull that stunt in Islamabad or Mogadishu because you know....rape and stuff.

[Jordan]

Like I said, you have to distinguish between the Marxist types and the classical types.

[lap83]

Feminism isn't like liberalism. Classical feminism=Marxism

If you consider The Feminine Mystique to be the origins of modern feminism, Betty Friedan was very much influenced by Marxist economics.

[Jordan]

Classical feminism=Marxism

Now you're just embarrassing yourself.

Wollstonecraft is a founding mother of feminism and her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is widely viewed as the first great feminist treatise. She wrote in the classical liberal tradition, which promoted individual rights, especially against the restrictions of political power. Wollstonecraft's primary concern was the rights and status of women against the claims of society and law. But the drama of her life, no less than her work, is responsible for Wollstonecraft's enduring fame.

[John]

All you can do is take responsibility for your own actions, own your future and treat others the way you'd want them to treat you. You don't need feminism for that.

Never were truer words spoken. You either believe in equality or you don't. If you do, there is no reason to qualify it or create a special branch of it just for women. If you don't, then you are some kind of a supremacist and are using the word to cover that fact up. So the word is at best unnecessary and at worst mendacious.

[Jordan]

No. Focusing on a certain subset of the population does not imply hating the rest.

[John]

But it really is a zero sum game. If someone is more equal that others, the others lose.

I see what you are saying. There is nothing necessarily wrong with spending your efforts trying to ensure that one group is equal. The problem is that when you put in language that applies to just that group, it quickly devolves into a movement to make that group more equal than others. The point is that everyone should be equal before the law and entitled to the same respect and dignity, not "women should be equal".

[Jordan]

The point is that everyone should be equal before the law and entitled to the same respect and dignity, not "women should be equal".

And many feminists would agree with that.

[John]

And many feminists would agree with that.

They say that, but then when you look closely at what they are actually saying, it looks more like an effort to make women more equal. They say they want equality and then in the next breath want to deprive men accused of rape of the right to due process or want to get special treatment when applying for certain jobs.

[Free Society]

And many feminists would agree with that.

And those same feminists will demand that legislation be enacted to force employers to give women pay parity with men. That is not equality. That's one group being favored over another by the force of law.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Focusing on a certain subset of the population does not imply hating the rest.

logically? no. it doesn't.

empirically? yes. it does seem to.

[lap83]

Exactly. They claim to want equality, but it just results in mass resentment and bitterness. It sounds to me like either they don't know how to reach their goal, or it's not the real goal to begin with.

[Iucundus]

Equality of process is difficult but manageable. Equality of outcome is only feasible through mass extinction.

[Bill Dalasio]

Meh, my impression impression is that the ENB types are probably wrong in calling themselves feminists. They're basically confused individualists. Fundamentally, feminism is a collectivist ideology. It's about the relative status of one collective (women) versus another (men). Historically, feminists and individualists had common cause, as women faced injustice from collective judgements and standards. And, to some extent, that no doubt still happens today. But, at this point, feminists are fundamentally more interested in pushing for the relative status of their collective than judging indviduals as such.

[Free Society]

Whenever I look at a picture of Amanda Marcotte it just fills me with frustration. She actually looks like a lying, socialist, feminist weasel. Then after I look at her stupid fucking face I read her stupid fucking article. I must be a masochist.

[John]

The word "feminist" is just a brand name for a particularly militant and nasty form of leftism. The word doesn't mean what it once did. Indeed, this is why most women don't call themselves "feminists" anymore.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

No, the reason is that they all have false consciousness, and "society" has intimidated them so they dare not be out and proud feminists like they ought to be.

[Illocust]

Or they are really men pretending to be women. In online debates that is the go to feminist rebuttal to any woman that disagrees with them.

[wareagle]

and therein lies the reality of feminism - it's another form of group think, one that relies on a cult of victimhood and demands that its bidding be done by the state.

[John]

The poor dears are just too delicate to handle the full brunt of the patriarchy.

[Injun, as in from India]

I have not really seen feminists laud Margaret Thatcher, Ayn Rand, or any of the "rightists". So for the most part, I think you're right. It is leftist, collectivist, and when it infringes on broader civil liberties, even tyrannical.

[John]

They hate those women. Whatever you think of Rand or Thatcher, they are by any ordinary definition of the term "strong women". Yet, they are hated by feminists who claim to champion such.

[Marshall Gill]

Don't forget Palin. She was governor of a State and a VP Presidential candidate but because of her politics she is probably considered by most "feminists" as an Auntie Tom.

[John]

Palin hit all of the right buttons. She was attractive. For constantly obsession about the "male gaze" feminists are the worst to other women over looks and about being jealous of attractive women. She didn't go to a top flight school. Feminists are at heart class snobs who could never accept someone who didn't go to the right school. And worst of all, she was married and had a large family. Most feminists in the media are either unmarried or in their 30s or 40s before they have kids if they do at all. They hated the idea of a woman happily being married young with children. It brought out the worst of their envy and neurosis. Throw in the fact that Palin was a conservative and pro life and they went completely berserk. The entire reaction to Palin was like some kind of deep inner cry of rage and for help.

[BigT]

what more could feminism actually be fighting for?

More privilege, more special treatment, more handouts, and less personal responsibility. They are progs, after all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Vice President Joe Biden hinted yesterday that he might challenge Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Entertainment is on the horizon! Joe vs. the Clinton Machine, starring Tom Hanks.

[Bee Tagger]

He's hoping it will lead to America telling the White House: "You've got male"

[EDG reppin' LBC]

You son of a bitch...

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

*narrows gaze*

[expat]

Scary thing is, I am beginning to think EITHER of them would be an improvement at this point!

[John]

Don't sell Joe short. He may be a gaffe machine but it is in comparison to most of the rest of the Democratic Party, largely sane. Who else is going to carry the "not all of us are completely retarded and insane" banner in the Democratic primaries? If Hillary doesn't run, which is a possibility, that would make the choice Biden, Warren, Jerry Brown and some other full retard Prog governor like Cuomo or O'Malley. In that field, Joe looks pretty good, gaffes or no.

[Illocust]

The gaffes might work to his advantage. He's made so many that no one takes them seriously. Its not like a normal politician where if they say something stupid the other side holds it up as the one true vision of their real beliefs.

[Rich]

He may be a gaffe machine but it is in comparison to most of the rest of the Democratic Party, largely sane.

"Papoon for President -- He's Not Insane!"

[John]

Joe Biden, "he is the best you can expect".

There have been worse campaign slogans. And really at this point, Obama has set the bar so low that it is hard to imagine anyone short of Warren or someone of her ilk being any worse.

[Bill Dalasio]

Joe Biden: He's stupid but not evil.

[perlhaqr]

But he is really, really stupid.

[Bee Tagger]

The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires

But balls is a potentially funny word!

[The DerpRider]

So shocking. If they really cared, they would have official game balls that the NFL provided to both teams. My guess is that every team used a ball that their quarterback liked regardless of the inflation rule.

[Restoras]

This. Plus, I have a hard time believing slightly under-inflated balls had anything to do with the win the Pats barely squeaked out over the Colts.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

No see, the ball was so light that it allowed Blount to get that extra edge of running everyone over.

[Old Man With Candy]

But possibly against the Ravens, when they had to go all-pass.

[Mickey Rat]

So, if you cheat and it turns out you did not have to cheat to win, what you did is not cheating?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What a lousy non-starter.

I remember this happening in soccer when I was playing. Coaches would do all sorts of stupid shit. One even messed up the 18 meter box by leaving dirt and rocks in the area in front of the keeper. And Lord who can forget the antics of the Soviets in sports; especially basketball and hockey.

[Pompey]

President Barack Obama advocated tax hikes, endorsed unilateral military action around the globe, and promised to wield the veto pen against congressional Republicans in last night's State of the Union Address.

Great so....he's a lightly toasted GWB clone without the benefit of a lame tax cut. Got it.

[TwB]

Pretty much

[Lord Humungus]

Taiwan plans to build a sex and love theme park

The proposed park will likely be modeled after the sex themed Jeju Loveland in South Korea, which opened in 2004. Like Jeju, Taiwan's park will feature racy statues of oversized genitalia and three-somes. Though Romantic Boulevard is still in the early phase of development, the park has already staged a "scenic area" for couples to take wedding portraits. Shih says a whopping 220,000 people visited the site earlier this month.

The announcement of the park has received mixed reviews from locals, with some --including the central government's Tourism Bureau, concerned that the park will hurt Taiwan's reputation abroad.

But Shih told China Real Time that he's already been inundated with emails from people asking when the park will be open.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How about a half and half theme park?

[BigT]

How can I get the US franchise?

[Zeb]

concerned that the park will hurt Taiwan's reputation abroad.

As their reputation is mostly as a good place to get electronics made, I don't think that is much of a worry.

[sarcasmic]

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, 63, arrives on set to reprise his role as the Trickster on The Flash reboot in Canada

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....anada.html
One of the comments nailed it.

tadgh78, Dublin, 3 minutes ago

As time goes by he looks less and less like Luke Skywalker more and more like Emperor Palpatine. Why must it be so!?

[TwB]

He finally decided to embrace the dark side of the force after all

[Mickey Rat]

Time is the enemy of us all.

[sarcasmic]

Jurassic shark! Fishing trawler crew discover terrifying prehistoric beast with 300 TEETH among their catch

The frilled shark was pulled from the water near Lakes Entrance, Victoria
It was up to two metres long and caught at 700 metres below sea level
The origin of the shark dates back 80 million years and is eel-like in shape
It has 300 teeth over 25 rows, which allows it to swallow its prey whole

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....catch.html
That's one freaky fish.

[UnCivilServant]

Oh... tiny teeth.

[sarcasmic]

I wouldn't want to get bit by that thing. No fucking way.

[UnCivilServant]

What are you doing 700 meters below sea level?

[sarcasmic]

I dropped my keys.

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

I larfed.

[TwB]

It looks like an eel that spent way too much time in the water around 3 Mile Island

[UnCivilServant]

So, a freshwater eel?

[TwB]

Yes. A nuclear one, at that.

[UnCivilServant]

There was insufficient leakage from 3MI to cause any lingering irradiation of the local waters. The greatest effect it has is that it raises the local water temperature fractionally because the final stage coolant is an open system (but several closed systems away from the radiation)

[TwB]

I did not know that. I need to do better research before making a joke about a fucked up looking fish.

[An Innocent Man]

The greatest effect it has is that it raises the local water temperature fractionally...

Wrong. The greatest effect is that it causes hysteria in many people around here...

[Rich]

The frilled shark

Isn't that a restaurant in Rehoboth Beach?

[SugarFree]

Or a particularly disturbing lesbian sex act.

[sarcasmic]

Or a party with Led Zeppelin.

[TwB]

Don't forget about the guy from Vanilla Fudge, either. I believe one of their band members or crew caught the shark and John Bonham decided to "use it" on a groupie.

[Zeb]

There is a Frank Zappa song that recounts the incident in some detail.

[Libertarian]

There ARE no disturbing lesbian sex acts.

[Mickey Rat]

Not even acts involving Rosie O'Donnell?

[Copernicus]

Not to pick nits but having 300 teeth is not what allows it to swallow its prey whole.

Pelicans have no teeth and do the same thing.

[Zeb]

Well, not directly. But it makes it so it can hold onto things long enough to do so.

[Free Society]

From the article:

The dark brown, eel-like looking creature is a frilled shark, also known as the 'living fossil', and was named for its six pairs of frill-like gills along with its dorsal fins, similar to the predatory fish.

The author seems entirely unaware that a 'living fossil' is not the nickname for this fish, but a descriptive term referring to any archaic species that has survived to the modern era. These Daily Mail writers should stick to writing about Miley Cyrus' bleached asshole and leave taxonomy and journalism or any other subject up to anyone else at all.

[Enough About Palin]

She bleaches her asshole?

[Free Society]

Did you hear about the unfortunate Japanese guy in the beauty salon? "Heyro, I would rike you to breach my asshole."

[Lord Humungus]

Door-to-door salesman in chicken suit arrested on outstanding warrant

Lesson No. 1 from Hueytown: If there is a warrant out for your arrest, take off your full-body chicken suit before you go around knocking on people's doors.

Lesson No. 2: Think twice before you let a stranger in a chicken suit into your home.

[sarcasmic]

'They beat the daylights out of me': Man detained after shots fired near Joe Biden's home says police left him brutally beaten but he was never charged in the crime

Rock Peters, 57, was arrested 30 minutes after shots were fired from a vehicle on a road near the vice president's Delaware private residence
Peters says he was 'accosted' by police and left with a swollen nose, injured ribs, a bloodied face and black eye
Police charged Peters with reckless endangerment and resisting arrest charges after allegedly fleeing from an officer
Peters is speaking out to say it was the police who were the aggressors in the situation

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

The police report claims the officers were about to let him walk away but he then yelled something at them and sped off, nearly hitting an officer.

When he was pulled over again, police say Peters reached into a jacket pocket and they feared he was reaching for a gun.

The scuffle soon ensued, but Peters says the lead up went nothing like what the officers described. 'They're lying through their teeth,' he told the News Journal.

Um, yeah. They lie about everything, all the time. You're only now figuring this out?

[KDN]

The police report claims the officers were about to let him walk away but he then yelled something at them ...

This is completely believable. Cops hate when someone disrespects them, and that dude totally looks like the type to do so. Plus, as on older white dude in a wealthy neighborhood he's likely to get the benefit of the doubt from a suburban police force.

...and sped off, nearly hitting an officer.

When he was pulled over again, police say Peters reached into a jacket pocket and they feared he was reaching for a gun.

This is almost assuredly bullshit.

[Drax the Destroyer]

If it actually looked like he was reaching for a gun, they probably would have just shot him...if the past is any indication.

[Frank Frankelson]

This *is* weird, there aren't pockets on any of my chicken suits.

[Ted S.]

Did Peters actually fire the gun?

[sarcasmic]

Nope. He committed a much more serious crime: He disrespected one of the king's men. He's lucky to be alive.

[SugarFree]

and sped off, nearly hitting an officer

The "furtive movement" of the 2010s.

[UnCivilServant]

Video or it didn't happen.

[R C Dean]

Note the difference between "sped off, nearly hitting an officer", and "drove away without incident".

Two different ways of describing exactly the same thing.

Hell, when I was at the grocery store this weekend, someone in the parking lot "sped off, nearly hitting me." Yet I did not chase them down and beat the shit out of them. Weird.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC championship game told ESPN."

You know who else had substandard balls?

[TwB]

Bradley Whitford in Billy Madison?

[Catatafish]

Lance Armstrong?

[TwB]

Live Strong, until you don't because you're a cheater

[Ted S.]

Dunphy?

[BigT]

Bradley Manning?

[Ivoted4KODOS]

A large and unwieldy organization infamous for arbitrary and ambiguous rules (often with exceptions carved out for special actors) that are incompetently or inconsistently enforced feels the need to suddenly clamp down and make an example of one of its (unpopular) underlings in order to compensate for its own recent screw-ups that have resulted in horrible PR.
Boooorriinngggg!
Let's talk footbal instead.

[KDN]

"The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC championship game told ESPN."

I'm standing by my prediction that the NFL is going to use this total non-controversy as a pretext to impose a significantly harsher penalty than the situation demands because of the Belichick Patriots unending asshattery. And I'm fine with that.

[Drax the Destroyer]

As long as Brady's face remains thoroughly punchable, it's all good.

[TwB]

I'm thinking the Pats lose a draft pick or two and get fined around $1 million. And Bill Belicheck won't give one fuck about it because he is an arrogant sonofabitch.

[Restoras]

What draft would they lose that pick in? The one coming up - when they are already so far down the list?

[TwB]

Probably. Although they may take more than one this time, because the Patriots have been caught cheating twice now.

[Matrix]

Can't spell 'cheat' without Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

[BigT]

If this was done intentionally then the Pats, and Bellycheck in particular, deserve a very severe penalty. Bellycheck should be banned for a year or more - this is much worse than any of those drug offenses, or even than hitting your girlfriend because it undermines the credibility of the game. And Las Vegas can't have that.

[R C Dean]

The only penalty that they will give a shit about is if they forfeit the game, and the Colts go to the Super Bowl.

[Spartacus]

When I used to referee soccer, one of the first jobs of the referee after showing up at the field was to check the balls to ensure that they meet spec. Don't football officials do that?

[KDN]

They do so at the beginning of the game, and then apparently never again.

[Lord Humungus]

News you can use today!

Taylor Swift 'wants a big butt'

"She wants to join the 'belfie' gang but she knows she needs to firm up her rear," a source told OK! magazine.

The blonde beauty is naturally petite. She's often spotted heading into fitness classes, including dance ones, to maintain her health and shape.

But now it's claimed she wants to "lose her waif-like look for good" and is "doing close to 1,000 squats and lunges a day" to achieve that.

The outlet says Taylor is hustling to change her image before the summer, when she hopes to put it on show. She wants to add a more defined structure to her frame to present her fans with.

[Illocust]

You can't invent a butt. It's genetic. You are either prone to one or not.

[Warty]

Completely wrong. The stupid bullshit she's doing is not going to work, though.

[RBS]

She's going to wind up in one of those Synthol Gone Wrong Youtube videos.

[Warty]

I need to get on this gravy train. "Warty: Butt-Blaster of the Stars".

[WTF]

"Warty: Butt-Blaster of the Stars".

"Paging Sugarfree, Sugarfree to the keyboard, please."

[SugarFree]

I doubt even the mighty Warty Hugeman could butt blast a sun.

[Warty]

Are you kidding? There have been histories written about it.

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

I want to invest.

Is it Warty Butt-Blaster LLC or are you an S Corp?

[Restoras]

Invent some home-gym nonsense centered around squatting complete with a video and put it on late night info-mercials. Use models in yoga pants with great butts they built squatting (but not the video).

Watch money roll in.

[Warty]

The problem is that squats are hard and hard doesn't sell. You can dress up easy as hard and sell it on late night infomercials, but genuine hard doesn't sell.

...Unless you build a cult around it. Hm. WartyFit. I'll make a website and put up a daily Workout of Today (WOT) of stupid nonsense and lots of pics of tatted up andro chicks with six-packs. I'll make billions.

[RBS]

2015121-

For Time
1,000 Meter Row
37 Squats
23 Burpees
14 TTB
93 Pushups
136 Power Snatches
68 Deadlifts
3 Cleans
9,000 Meter Run

[Warty]

2015122

5000 meter swim with 80lb weighted vest

Post time to comments.

[This Machine Loves Koch]

5000 meter swim with 80lb weighted vest

I laughed way more at this than I probably should have. Though if CultFit actually did this and killed off a significant portion of their followers, I'd probably chuckle at that, too.

[Warty]

The Girl Whose Butt Exploded

[RBS]

At least Valentino was upfront about his absurdity and actually had some decent arms to begin with. Not so much with the youtube people today.

[TwB]

Squats, squats and more squats. Then lunges.

[Restoras]

Last night in my CrossFit class we did a snatch to a hang snatch with a 45* landing into 3 overhead squats for 8 rounds with a minute rest in between, and then back rack lunges. My legs are tired today.

[Warty]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[WTF]

Squats can however maximize the glutes.

[BigT]

She should have a couple of kids.

[Restoras]

I don't think that prevents gluteal amnesia.

[This Machine Loves Koch]

You can't invent a butt. It's genetic. You are either prone to one or not.

You're thinking of calves. Calves cannot be invented. Butts may yet be improved.

[Ted S.]

She likes big butts and she cannot lie?

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

Do you think all those other brothers can deny?

[Free Society]

In a decade when the giant ass fad is past, there will be a legion of former celebrities with giant asses and no one who will want to bang them. Except maybe some blacks.

[Rich]

The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires

So, the underinflation of the 12th was not statistically significant?

[KDN]

The kicking game is often overlooked.

[Bardas Phocas]

I read the title as:
A.M. Links: Obama's State of the Union Knife Attack

That would get me to watch the piss-poor politcal theatre.

[Ted S.]

Obama committing seppuku?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Cited for violent committing and no trigger warning.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

commenting.

Oookay moving along.

[Lord Humungus]

Senate's Shelby Says White House Bank Tax Is Dead on Arrival

The Republican lawmaker in charge of banking policy in the Senate vowed to block President Barack Obama's proposal for a $110 billion tax on big financial companies.

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said today that the plan makes no sense, because banks would just pass new fees on to their customers. He called the proposal "dead on arrival."

raccistt.

[Jordan]

Let's see: make the financial sector to big to fail through regulations and monetary policy, then guarantee to bail them out, and then tax them for your idiocy. Par for the course for this admin. Fuck people over, and then tax them for the privilege of being forced to accept your help.

[Injun, as in from India]

In other words,

Government is good at one thing: It knows how to break your legs, hand you a crutch, and say, "See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk."

- Harry Browne

[Raven Nation]

So, is it safe to assume that a lot of Obama's proposals over the next two years will be offered so he can accuse the Rs of being racist/sexist/uncaring about the poor and/or accuse them of being a "do nothing" Congress?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The worst thing that could have happened was gas prices dropping and the labor market giving the impression it's healthy.

What's that saying? Give a pig a chair, they'll want the table. Or something.

By the way, Giovinco signing with MLS is serious good news for the league. It's not everyday a player of his caliber still in his prime willing to come over. Hope others will follow. Maybe they'll calculate 'hey, instead of riding pine or wallowing in a middle table team in Portugal or Russia or France I can play in North America.'

[Griffin3]

If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk.

[UnCivilServant]

If I gave a mouse a cookie, you can be sure as hell it's poisoned.

[mousefeathers]

eek

[Rhywun]

It's not everyday a player of his caliber still in his prime willing to come over.

Never heard of him but that's because I hate Juventus. Anyway some are whining that he's doing it for the money. Yeah, he would be the first player to do that.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's his only goal.

[WTF]

Of course, that's why these things were not proposed when the dems had control of congress.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

About those 'peaceful and oppressed' Palestinians:

http://twitchy.com/2015/01/21/.....rs-photos/

[Irish]

We can trust Hamas and this wouldn't be happening if Israel would just accede to their demands.

/Jimmy Carter

Hamas also condemned Charlie Hebdo for 'deliberate incitement' after the shooting. I can't imagine why the Israelis would be hesitant to trust such fine, upstanding gentlemen.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Can't say this wasn't bound to happen given all the irrational rhetoric on guns:

"Man arrested after tackling shopper carrying gun"

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/s.....nse-holder

Apparently anti-gun nuts don't understand why he was arrested.

[Colonel Slanders]

Pure unadulterated asshattery. He's lucky he wasn't shot for gross stupidity. It would have been doing the human race a favor.

[tarran]

I think it's possible this crime was motivated in part by racism. Notice the race of the two men:

The victim was an armed black man. The aggressor was a white man.

[Steve G]

Yeah, god forbid you bring a long gun into a bass pro to get a scope mounted...

[Ted S.]

Why does ESPN hate Simona Halep?

Part of the reason sports like tennis and golf have popularity problems is that the sports channels have decided they're not going to cover the sport, but instead cover a small number of people who happen to play the sport. The first match in today's Australian Open night session went long, so ESPN seems not to have shown the second match. At least, I couldn't find it on any of the ESPN channels.

I'm sure most of you are going to say that you don't jerk off to Halep the way to you do to somebody like Sharapova, though. But how are players supposed to get to the top of the game and become stars when the sports channels won't cover them and act shocked when these non-sizzle players get to the late stages of the Slams?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Isn't this just Round 2?

[Ted S.]

Yes, but ESPN had no qualms about carrying Nadal's night session match. Halep is the #3 seed and last year's FO finalist. But as SF shows below, it's all about which players are perceived as making the target demographic masturbate.

[SugarFree]

I was just joking.

ESPN's coverage has gotten worse and worse since the advent of the Tennis Channel. They shunt almost all games not starring Americans or marquee players to TC. It's much like American futbol coverage, rather than following players/team they show only what they think has any sort of name recognition.

[Rhywun]

"Messi! versus Ronaldo! And some other dopes."

Yeah I fucking hate that too.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They should play naked.

[WTF]

Bouncy bouncy!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And all that grunting!

[SugarFree]

If she wanted coverage, maybe she shouldn't have gotten that breast reduction.

[RBS]

I had to google her...

[Monty Crisco]

Speaking of ESPN, anyone check out TMQ's rant about State vs Federal government? REally thought provoking.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_.....uarterback

Was wondering if anyone feels his veracity on this issue could be challenged or if this is the straight dope. I almost feel like the Feds are the drug-dealing enablers on debt.... but I am open to being wrong...

[KDN]

In his other life, Easterbrook is (or was) some kind of policy analyst for a left-wing think tank (Brookings, IIRC). This is likely something he knows a good deal about.

[KDN]

After reading through the rant, I think he's dead on. But one thing he overlooks is how much of State overspending is due to Federal mandates or the delegation of Federal programs. The Feds have been treating the states like provinces for decades, after all.

[Monty Crisco]

Yeah, that's a point I hadn't considered.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Without reading the article, the government is an enabler of all our worst vices and remover of our best virtues.

[Jordan]

1,700 Private Jets Will Fly to Davos to Discuss Global Warming

They're going to have to buy a lot of carbon indulgences from the Church of Carbontology.

[TwB]

And, just imagine all the trucks it will take to haul all the food, drinks and other assorted party stuff to the event. Those things don't run on hope and change.

[R C Dean]

Best quip on this topic:

It turns out global warming causes private jets.

[Griffin3]

OT: Watched network news last night. They had some sort of social media poll to find who had the lowest gas prices in the country, found $1.76 in some armpit Missouri town. The blond co-anchor burbled "I thought it would be there again". I thinks to myself, that can't be right, it's $1.88 just up the road here, and it's always lower on I-10 through Mississippi. A 90-second search on the GasBuddy app showed $1.69 in Slidell, LA; and extending the search to a whopping 3 minutes gave me the best price of $1.45 at a Murphy Express in San Antonio, TX.

In a nutshell, there is the accuracy you should expect from network news. Researched like a chimp with an encyclopedia. And the GasBuddy app even had the phone number, in case you wanted to call and verify.

[Zeb]

Social media polls are completely worthless. It is just absurd that they are reported on the news.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama tilts the scales against stay-at-home moms

But rather than ignore Obama's plan totally, it's worth studying it as a statement of his values and the values of his party. Doing this, you see it's less class warfare and more culture war. One clear message of the president's tax plan: Moms who stay at home with their children are less valuable than moms who work for pay.

Obama, alongside his tax hikes on the wealthy and on people who save for their children's college, proposed tax cuts that go only to dual-income families.

Obama called for a new "second-earner tax credit" and expanding a tax credit for commercial child care. Obama's second-earner credit is worth $500 for any dual-income family where the lower-income spouse earns between $10,000 and $120,000 (and reduced credits for others between $0 and $210,000).

[Drax the Destroyer]

It just seems like they want to make sure every child gets funneled through the soul-crushing time-wasting brain-draining schools. Easier to do so when both parents are "compelled" into the work force.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yep, government control from birth (daycare) to childhood (pre-k) to adolescence (grade school) to adulthood (college) and beyond.

[Ted S.]

I tend to think we'd be a lot better off if more people were in business for themselves. There might be a bigger pushback against the regulatory state, for example.

[Drax the Destroyer]

And it would be a lot easier to be in business for yourself if you didn't have to work 40% of the year just to pay off the state itself. And if you could sell drugs. Or be a prostitute. Or open a lemonade stand without a permit. Or become a cabbie without a million dollar bullshit medallion. And...you get the point.

[Zeb]

I tend to think we'd be a lot better off if more people were in business for themselves.

Yes. And with lower business taxes and a looser regulatory environment a lot of people would be able to do so.
I think this is one of the better responses to people who accuse you of not caring about poor people. A lot of poor people could have their own business if it wasn't so difficult and expensive to get anything bigger than a sole proprietorship going. Business taxes and regulation do far more harm to poor individuals than to big corporations or rich people.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And then (and this is all predictable) as it happened here, the government will take out ads to remind people to be with their families and have state-sponsored 'family events' because family is important.

Not once recognizing their hand in the mess.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Not once recognizing their hand in the mess.

To be fair, you can't recognize what you're not looking for.

[mad libertarian guy]

This fucks families with stay-at-home dads too (like mine).

Fortunately none of Obama's Xmas list of policy desires has a chance.

[Jordan]

Boy, 13, builds Braille printer with Legos, starts company

Obama says: "you didn't build that".

[SusanM]

OT but I've always wondered how blind people find out where the Braille writing is.

[Free Society]

I've always wondered why they put braille on room number plaques mounted above doorways, as if ole blindy is going to find it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well, how did he get his stuff to market?

ON THE ROADS SOMEBODY ELSE BUILT.

Ergo, send him his cut for allowing you the right to be able to build that.

It takes a village, Jordan. A VILLAGE.

Or a community of takers.

[Jordan]

"It takes a village to starve to death." I forgot who coined that quote, but I love it.

[RightofCenter]

I figured the comments on this kind of story would be safe. Boy was I wrong:

Leeland Hackbarth ? 19 hours ago
I pray he keeps his pricing structure in place and not succumb to the evils of profit.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Julie Borowski's prolife video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNH-0HKZu_U

[Lord Humungus]

Maureen Dowd's clueless white gaze: What's really behind the "Selma" backlash

This magnificent and powerful film has, at this point, been endlessly derided by white and black critics alike who say it fails to get the story just right. Among white critics, its cardinal sin is failure to pay proper homage to Lyndon B. Johnson for being a champion of black voting rights. He's represented in the film as a reluctant ally in the civil rights struggle, as one whose racial views evolve over time.

Dowd rips what she calls Ava's DuVernay's "artful falsehood," for having the potentially and apparently regrettable result of making the "young moviegoers [now] see L.B.J.'s role in civil rights through DuVernay's lens."

"Artful falsehood," Dowd tells us, "is more dangerous than artless falsehood, because fewer people see through it."

But the truth is, a new racial lens is exactly what America needs. In "Selma," we learn what films look like when directors and cinematographers who love and respect black people turn their gaze on us. "Selma" artfully displaces a white gaze, and it is this unnamed and unsettling anxiety that sits at the heart of so many of the critiques of the film.

[UnCivilServant]

Given that the film is in an attendance death spiral, I think the problem might just be that they made a piss-poor film.

[RBS]

Interesting, I've been told it's the greatest film ever produced and everyone should see it, for free.

[Ted S.]

But it has the right political views, and it's about The Black Experience!

[SugarFree]

Brittney always brings the crazy. Rutgers must be so proud.

[WTF]

She's a fucking embarrassment.

[Coeus]

The tone deafness of the bag in the seat article in the middle of the anti "manspreading" campaign is still one of my favorites.

[John]

It seems to not be that good of a film. That is a shame because I think it is good that the black director rejected the usual "benevolent white man came down and helped those poor, helpless, oppressed black people get their freedom" narrative. People like Dowd's entire self image is based on that narrative. It is good to see a black person deny it and make a movie showing black people helping themselves. Too bad she didn't make a better movie.

[Irish]

'It seems to not be that good of a film. That is a shame because I think it is good that the black director rejected the usual "benevolent white man came down and helped those poor, helpless, oppressed black people get their freedom" narrative.'

The worst is Glory.

"We're going to tell the story of a black Civil War regiment. 80% of the film will be from the perspective of the white officer."

[John]

I don't think that movie was bad. There was a white officer in charge. Charles Shaw was a real person. I don't think it is wrong to tell the story from Shaw's perspective.

It has been a long time since I have seen that movie. So maybe I have forgotten it. But I don't remember thinking of the movie that way at all. To me it was really a typical "tough military guy gets raw recruits to shape up" story. Shaw wasn't liberating the black soldiers. He was training them and teaching them how to fight. Someone had to.

[Iucundus]

White savior films do better when the main character undergoes personal growth. I liked Gran Torino because a large part of it involved Walt rethinking his own life, attitudes, and relationships with people. I don't remember meaningful character development in Glory, which makes the focus seem lopsided.

[John]

The other thing about Grand Torino is that while the savior character was white, the fact that he was white is not what made him a savior. He could have been any color and done what he did. The fact that he was white was important because of his development not because of the people he saved.

In fact, that movie is almost a minority savior film. The Asian neighbors saved the lead character's soul. It was an example of the minority saving the white person.

[OldMexican]

But the truth is, a new racial lens is exactly what America needs.

Which is just a nice way of saying "we need more propaganda."

I read Ms. Dowd's column, by the way, and what she said made sense for a change: that those who say that the director of Selma (Ava DuVernay) and the black actors who portrayed the historical figures were ignored by a bunch of old white fogies, are cleverly ignoring all those great directors and actors who were for some reason or another ignored by that same bunch of old white fogies for many years until they received a most-deserving consideration many years later. She reminded Ava and her supporters that she's just starting to enter the picture as director and that she has the same expectation of receiving the coveted award as any other newcomer.

[Lord Humungus]

Bye-bye, Reagan conservatism: Why Obama's speech was more significant than it seems
The president's State of the Union pushed back on '80s conservatism and '90s neoliberalism -- offering this instead

For the first time in more than six years, he had an opportunity to boast of changing the "trajectory" of the country like few presidents before him and none since Ronald Reagan. Crucially, he could do so while pointing to benefits that were tangible in the here and now, rather than being likely to occur in the indeterminate future, as has often been the case. He seized the opportunity, and made his case for what it would mean to be a citizen in the United States that Barack Obama helped make.

It sounds, I know, remarkably ambitious ? even hubristic. Still, it's a goal Obama's never been particularly hesitant to share, despite the fact that his moderate demeanor and often self-consciously centrist policies don't fit our expectations for how a guy trying to "fundamentally transform" a superpower acts. But when Obama talks about the long game, worrying less about whether a policy is a half loaf or a quarter loaf and looking instead at whether it pushes the political mainstream in his preferred direction is part of what he means.

[Irish]

Obama was kind to wait until he'd lost both houses of Congress to try changing the trajectory of the country.

If that fucker had tried this in 2008, he might have actually ruined us for good.

[Drax the Destroyer]

He used up most of his capital on the "Affordable" "Care" Act. It's too bad, like most government bullshit, we'll be saddled with that monstrosity until the heat death of the universe.

[Injun, as in from India]

He is merely changing the subject and creating distractions to get people's attentions away from his numerous failures - the 800 lb gorilla of which is the "Affordable" Care Act.

[Free Society]

If that fucker had tried this in 2008, he might have actually ruined us for good.

I wish he had. It would mean he'd spent all of his political capital early on and restrict his damage to relatively minor policy failures.

[wareagle]

his moderate demeanor and often self-consciously centrist policies

those are always the terms I think of when Obama is mentioned.

[John]

I know Salon's business model is to troll conservatives and provide comfort to the believers. But, Jesus tap dancing Christ, that is delusional even for them. Progressivism of the brand that Salon sells has been driven from Congress and state government after state government. Obama is their last bastion. He is like MacArthur sitting on Corregidor after the fall of Bataan. I am pretty sure it is going to take more than a speech to reverse the losses they have incurred over the last six years.

[Lord Humungus]

But I don't own a vagina... I merely rent one.

Your vagina can get high: 4 weird things we learned about sex this week

[Andrew S.]

When @Salondotcom retweeted that, I did not think it could possibly be real. I was fooled.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Distilled

Anyway, I now get to the State of the Union address. Obama said that he would veto any new sanctions bill that "threatens to undo" his "progress." Then he said, "The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom."

So, you see? Support for sanctions ? in the event of failed talks ? equals support for war. Sanctions-supporter equals war-supporter.

That is untrue. And not a very nice thing to assert. And so, so Obama. Absolutely typical. Perfectly Obama.

And he's right: The people elected him twice. Great.

[mad libertarian guy]

As a note: "The personal is political" is perhaps the most insidious tenet liberalism has introduced."

Liberals are incapable of being challenged, and another friendship has been lost because he was unable to handle someone having the temerity to disagree and refuse to be bullied.

[RG]

Similiar thing happened to me last night as well. Made mistake of challenging my friend's insane facebook post. Got called names.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I've learned to avoid rattling the facebook cage. No idea what random family members and long forgotten acquaintances will come out of the wood-work to call you a racist/misogynist/monster/etc with no evidence.

[Ted S.]

I don't even have a Facebook account.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Probably for the best. You get a gold star Ted. And a hipster beer.

[Ted S.]

I'm one of those freaks who doesn't like carbonated beverages. Send me a bottle of fine vodka instead. 😉

[Drax the Destroyer]

At least you drink. I'm not sure how any libertarian type of person could avoid alcohol in this world.

[RG]

Sadly, I enjoy those responses the most. Speaks volumes of their character. I then troll them even more by asking if their endless facebook posts whining about inequality can be used to feed the poor or help the middle class.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Nothing wrong with that as well. To each their own.

I just know most of my associates are, sadly, beyond hope. Fuck 'em.

[RG]

Same here, but since they believe that they have a claim on my wages, I have no problems shedding light on what awful human beings they can be.

[John]

As a note: "The personal is political" is perhaps the most insidious tenet liberalism has introduced."

Yes, it is the heart of totalitarianism. If the personal is political, then every aspect of our lives, no matter how intimate or personal, is part of politics and potentially a subject of government control. If the personal is political, then everything I do is a political statement in some form or another. It makes every aspect of life subject to the personal nastiness of politics.

What a horrible world it has created and a divided country. Everything is now part of the culture war. You can't play a sport, have sex, go to a movie, have a hobby or do anything without some jackass taking it as a political statement or trying to co-opt it into a weapon to further their political ideology.

The personal is political is a sick and depraved idea that needs to be run from public life.

[Lord Humungus]

Sometimes a man just wants to drink a beer and watch strippers.

[John]

No shit. Its like that movie American Sniper. It looks to me like a kick ass war movie. Now thanks to every single thing in life being political, it is now part of the political war and liking it or hating it is now a brand signal about which side you are on. For God's sake can't people just watch a damned movie?

[RBS]

Damn, American Sniper comments blew up my facebook newsfeed over the weekend. At this point if someone says "I don't even like war movies" they'll be met with "what the fuck are some kind of communist, troop hating pussy?" comments.

[Lord Humungus]

Well are you? (a communist troop hating pussy that is?) Huh? Huh?

[John]

I think the liberal revulsion to it is fascinating. They think that because Kyle liked his job and never felt bad about killing people in combat, he must have been some sort of monster. It shows that they have no understanding of either masculine or marshal values and that they are totally incapable of understanding that some people are able to make even the grave moral choice of killing someone and are able to live with it without guilt or tying themselves into knots.

Kyle wasn't a monster. He was just someone who made the decision that killing in combat was just, did it, and went home and didn't worry about it. There are lots of people like that. My father was like that. I have no doubt that he would have killed someone had it been necessary to defend himself or his family and never lost a minute of sleep over it. Liberals just can't comprehend such a person.

[Monty Crisco]

"martial", John, "martial"... unless you are implying Kyle also worked as a sheriff...

[John]

martial. Monty. Martial.

[SusanM]

Respond to any "snipers are cowards" with this. It's about a lady sniper with the Red Army so there's not much a prog can get a handle on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Pavlichenko

Pavlichenko had the option of becoming a nurse but refused; "I joined the army when women were not yet accepted".[3] There she became one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom about 500 survived the war. She made her first two kills as a sniper near Belyayevka, using a Tokarev SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle with 3.5X telescopic sight.

[John]

Snipers have enormous courage. They are out by themselves. Everyone on the battlefield hates them and wants to kill them. And they have no one but themselves to rely upon. It takes a lot more guts to go out by yourself than it does to move and fight with a squad to take care of you.

[R C Dean]

"The personal is political" is the battle cry of totalitarianism.

[Coeus]

Krugman once again lies by ommission.

Both found themselves at the mercy of that larger economy's monetary policies ? much obsession here over when the Fed will raise rates, much discussion of how low rates and QE in the US fed housing prices. So is the Hong Kong dollar at risk of a franc-like event?

No, it isn't. There's not a hint of pressure to drop the currency board. Why is Hong Kong different?

The answer, I'd argue, is that the institutional setup and history of Hong Kong plays very differently with hard-money ideologues than the Swiss peg did, even though the facts on the ground weren't very different at all. Swiss currency intervention looked to the usual suspects like activist monetary policy, runaway expansion of the central bank's balance sheet, "printing money" to debase the currency even if the goal was to keep it from getting stronger. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has a currency board, which is the next best thing to the gold standard, so maintaining the peg ? through the very same mechanisms Switzerland was using! ? became a demonstration of stern Victorian monetary virtue. Hence no chorus demanding that the peg be abandoned.

Competing private currencies. Must have slipped his mind, huh?

[Jordan]

The funny thing is that the Swiss move led to deflation - the horror of horrors according to Keynesian clowns - and yet Swiss people have gone on a spending spree. The death spiral is superstitious idiocy.

[Coeus]

It's amazing what happens when you quit punishing people for not living paycheck to paycheck.

[RG]

Bloomberg writer has the audacity to challenge the "deflation is bad" mythology.

http://www.bloombergview.com/a.....convinced-

[Jordan]

Good article.

[Emmerson Biggins]

It's been so long since I read the "textbook" explanation of why deflation is bad, that I forgot how stupid it is.

Seems very similar to CAGW now that I look at it. They assume positive feedback instead of a diminishing effect in order to justify their power grab. When obviously if the positive feedback they assume was there, the whole system would reached escape velocity all by itself long ago.

[Swiss Servator, gal?rien]

I am expecting our Home Office executives to descend on our North America HQ like a locust swarm and ask directions to the nearest swanky mall (as they usually do).

[Lord Humungus]

Left vs. Left

Queers Protest in the Castro #Blacklivesmatter

Approximately 300 people shut down Castro street on Saturday January 17th during the night when most people are going to bars. Activist's chose the Castro "because it is a space dominated by white middle class men, and is symbolic of the racial divide within the LGBT community and gentrification in San Francisco in general."

Activists also wanted to draw attention to the fact that the Castro supports LGBT related organizations that are generally "apathetic" towards black and brown people.

[SugarFree]

If the yokel contingent of the GOP would shut up, the white gay vote and money might not go to the Dems so often. White gay guys don't like taxes anymore than the straights one do, in my experience.

[Jordan]

White gay guys don't like taxes anymore than the straights one do, in my experience.

Yeah, that straight gay vote is crucial.

[SugarFree]

There's a reason no one invites you to our secret chats and parties, Jordan.

[Jordan]

I've always wondered what type of person posts those ads on Craigslist asking for a male friend to come hang out and jerk them off, while strenuously asserting they aren't gay.

[Lord Humungus]

You want to come over and play with my trainset? #NoHomo

[SugarFree]

No craigslist? I guess you've switched over to Grindr.

[Ted S.]

If the yokels shut up about ZOMG TEH GHEY!!!111!!!, how many of the low-information voters will they regain?

[SugarFree]

It's hard to say, given that abortion is probably still going to keep them away.

Abortion has a two-fold effect: The GOP looks like they are still beholden to the sort of religious contingent that brought the gay-hate and the GOP has a tendency to get really get their woman-hate on when discussing or debating abortion.

(Calm down, fetus-obsessed: I'm just reporting from the trenches, surrounded as I am by lefties.)

[John]

Why would gays necessarily care about abortion? And it seems to me that technology is breaking more every year against abortion.

It was one thing to be pro abortion before sonograms, sophisticated care for pre mature babies, and when the full science of gestation wasn't very well understood. But now that we know how the fetus develops and we can in fact watch it on film, it gets harder and harder to say that actual birth is some kind of special even that creates life. It clearly doesn't. We know now that there are a ton of "life like things" going on well before actual birth.

Indeed, the number of people who support abortion at any point during pregnancy goes down every single year. Twenty years ago, it was inconceivable that you could get a good majority of the country to agree that late term abortions should be banned. Today, that is exactly what is true. And its most true with women under 40 who have been most exposed to sonograms and the new technology.

It is ironic that many religious people are terrified of the day when we can grow children in labs. Yet, the advance of that very technology is likely what will turn people against all but the earliest term abortions.

As far as the GOP goes, the GOP or any party on the Right is never going to get a majority of young, unmarried women. That group is as a rule more venerable to the whims of the market and will always be more receptive to government solutions to things.

[SugarFree]

I took Ted's question to be about lightly committed Dem-voters who are not gay being swayed by a GOP that gave up on gay-hate. That's why I brought up abortion as an additional sticking point. I should have made that more clear.

[John]

But why would abortion be such an important issue to gays?

[SugarFree]

But why would abortion be such an important issue to gays?

I'm not saying that it is.

[Clich? Bandit]

Again, for the record, the religious mythology of judeo-christians says life begins with the "breath of life"...I didn't put the peg there the religious folks did. There is no religious text regarding un-birthed babies and their status. So it is really the pro-lifers who are going against their own faith. The pro-choicer crowd at least sets a bright line and follows it.

[Marshall Gill]

There is no religious text regarding un-birthed babies and their status.

Who cares? Biology tells us exactly when a new life beings. We have even described the mechanism with which it occurs. Mitosis and meiosis. So it is actually the pro abortion side which believes in the metaphysical. "I can not describe scientifically when a human fetus becomes a "person" or "being" but I am certain that it happens because...

[John]

You nailed it Marshall. It is the pro choice side that is always talking in metaphysical nonsense like "personhood" and such. And the strict pro life side has a firm line, 'life begins at conception". Moreover, that position is consistent with science. It says anything with a full set of human DNA that if left to its own devices will divide into a full human being is "life". Not everyone may agree with that, but it is a hell of a lot more science based than "life begins at personhood" whatever the fuck "personhood" is supposed to mean.

[Clich? Bandit]

I will repeat what I said in the other thread. The Christians are claiming conception and basing that claim on their religion. Their religion CLEARLY states it isn't conception (therefore making their position actually anti-religious). Your belief is, allegedly, based in some more objective reasoning I surmise from your comments. However, the Pro-Life camp is heavily represented by folks that claim a religious justification.

To your point about "sciency stuff", you propose to use some bright line test yourself to determine when an individual is bestowed with rights. It is just that yours is no more valid that the pro-choicers, the third-trimesters, and the flying spaghetti monsters. The discussion is one of an abstract philosophical principle. It can not be "scientifically" validated one way or the other. No more than I can prove I love my daughter "scientifically". The abortion debate, which has only become a debate in the last 100-200 years, is not really a debate. It is a belief...no matter where you stand.

[Rhywun]

Why would gays necessarily care about abortion?

I remember in college it was practically a requirement for us gays to support abortion. A "we're all in this together" kind of thing. As I got older I realized that in all honesty I couldn't care less about abortion because it will never, ever impact me. I literally have no opinion on it.

[John]

The other thing about abortion Rywun is that if they ever do discover a "gay gene" abortion could represent a mortal threat to the entire existence of gays. Few people would want their child to be gay and many would abort if they thought that was the case.

Of course the one group who wouldn't would be religious Christians. It would be further evidence of God's sense of humor if at some point in the future the only gays being born were to conservative Christian parents.

[Rhywun]

abortion could represent a mortal threat to the entire existence of gays

You mean, "gays that don't exist yet". I never understood why I should care about this. Yeah, Liza Minelli's fanbase might shrink. So what.

[John]

This is true Rywun. It won't effect you unless you live a long time and really go for young partners.

[Rhywun]

Shh. We're not ALL pedophiles.

[Jordan]

GOP idiocy on abortion and gay marriage isolates a lot of people, from what I've seen. It makes them sound like lunatics.

[John]

Yeah. And gays tend to be entrepreneurs as well. In addition, gays should rightfully mistrust government power. They have been on the receiving end of it a lot of times. You would also think the Prog love affair with Palestine and Islam would make gays a bit wary. If religious Muslims ever become a real political force in this country for the Democratic Party, gay rights are going right out the window. It is not like the Progs give a shit about gays beyond their usefulness in furthering Progressive politics.

[Irish]

"If the yokel contingent of the GOP would shut up, the white gay vote and money might not go to the Dems so often. White gay guys don't like taxes anymore than the straights one do, in my experience."

This. I have two friends who are gay and run a business. They bitch constantly about taxes and regulations in Illinois but would never even consider not voting Democrat because of the shit Republicans have said about them.

[Ted S.]

Activist's what chose the Castro?

And I was hoping from the headline that it would be gays protesting Cuba.

[An Innocent Man]

"The NFL has found that 11 of 12 of the New England Patriots game balls were inflated significantly less than the NFL requires, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC championship game told ESPN."

The Patriots are like the Clintons. The Clintons lie even when telling the truth would benefit them. They can't help it, it's just who they are. The Pats cheat even when they don't need to, it's just who they are.

[tarran]

How does underinflating a ball help one?!?

From my days playing soccer, I can assert that an underinflated ball would be a pain in the ass; more friction, more susceptible to being redirected by gusts of air etc.

I would think an underinflated ball would be hell to throw. It would be harder to hand off yet easier to hold onto during a scrum. It might be easier to catch, or it might not (the gloves already provide plenty of friction...).

[BigT]

An underinflated ball would be slightly smaller and squishier. It would be EASIER to hold, particularly if you have small hands, because you can squeeze it more. It would make little difference in throwing unless it became distorted from its shape. Football is not futball.

[RBS]

I think the speculation is it makes the ball easier to catch in those conditions. Of course they ran for close to 300 yards so like Innocent said, they "cheat" even when they don't actually need to.

[Ted S.]

Aaron Rodgers says he wants the balls overinflated

That having been said, if the NFL is going to fuck over the kickers by making them use a special ball they don't have access to before the game, do the same to the offense and defense.

[WTF]

Easier to throw, easier to catch and hold on to. Brady likes an underinflated ball.

[John]

It makes it easier to grip. If it is soft, you can grip it harder. this is especially important on a wet day like it was during that game.

That being said, every team has its own set of balls that are buffed and worn and handled until it meets their starting quarterback's liking. Each team brings its own balls that are used when it has the ball. So every team is using a ball that is tweaked a bit to suit their quarterback. I am not seeing why this is such a big deal.

[Coeus]

Vice founder Shane Smith on sea level rise: Why the f*ck aren't we freaking the f*ck out?

Because we know how continental drift works?

[KDN]

Because we've known for centuries how to live in coastal cities below sea level?

[Irish]

I get all of my science advice from Shane Smith.

"WHAT THE FUCK DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT BLUESHIFT!?!? DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT'S HOW WE PROVE THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY IS MOVING CLOSER TO THE MILKY WAY, INSTEAD OF FARTHER AWAY? DID YOU FUCKING SLEEP THROUGH ASTRONOMY CLASS?!?"

[UnCivilServant]

And even if the measurements can be regarded as accurate, the infinitesimal rate of rise will never threaten us. It's not as if we'd have to put millions to work filling sandbags to hold back the sea.

[Andrew S.]

If Obama ever sees this comment it's a near certainty that this proposal will be in the 2016 State of the Union address. Talk about shovel ready jobs!

[Atlas Slugged]

A few days old but the Feds and local police play fast & loose with a warrant? *shocked face*

http://www.whio.com/news/news/.....ran/njqRs/

[BigT]

SOTU, STFU!

"Well, there you go, folks?same canned lines we've been hearing for the last two years with a couple of empty nods to the little guy, just how I said it would be,"

[Injun, as in from India]

That was awesome.

[Irish]

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_.....150112.pdf

35% of Americans and 40% of Democrats think you can cure the flu with anti-biotics.

Personally, I think my favorite number in this study is the 8% of Democrats who think you can cure a hangover with anti-biotics.

The pro-science party, ladies and gentlemen.

[Injun, as in from India]

At least, they're not blaming climate change (YET!) for the flu or hangovers.

[SugarFree]

Climate Change And The Flu: Warm Winters Followed By Severe Flu Seasons

[Injun, as in from India]

Oh, great.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

In my experience, most if not all of the anti-vaccine types are progressives.

And they do it by claiming they understand science. The shit I hear from them at my daycare.

I should write a book. Some still remain convinced it triggers autism.

[UnCivilServant]

Books trigger Autism? who knew?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I've found that autism triggers books. Easier to get along with than people, and if you cast them aside when you're bored with them, nobody thinks it's a big deal.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Not all books trigger autism. Just your books.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Jesus Christ. Make ONE grammatical mistake....

[Clich? Bandit]

Ya fuck ONE GOAT...

[sarcasmic]

Fucking MERC! Ury!

/Jenny McCarthy

[creech]

"most but not all"
I first heard about the case against vaccines from a county Ron Paul leader in 2008. She was pretty tight with Mrs. Paul, too, because I was there when she called Mrs. Paul on her cell phone and had a nice five minute chat.
So I think some of the Ron Paul crowd was anti-vaccinations too.

[Marshall Gill]

I have been wondering how many adults here have kept up with the vaccination schedule that children have? My cousin who is 56 received 5. And two of those, polio and small-pox are nearly non-existent. The number today is in excess of 30.

So how many of you who are middle aged have gotten the extra 25+? If not, why not? Don't you fear you are going to die?

[Lord Humungus]

Did someone say 8%? /H&R meme

[Pompey]

Terrifying. Your friends and neighbours, folks.

[Coeus]

My doctor told me I had the flu and then proscribed antibiotics. No joke. Still not sure what was going on there. Maybe she's on drugs.

[sarcasmic]

Maybe to prevent a bacterial infection from developing. In the past I have had a viral cold or an allergy attack cause my sinuses to swell, trapping bacteria, which then developed into bacterial sinusitis. Maybe she was heading it off at the pass.

[Coeus]

Could be. My immune system seems to only be good at fighting my cartilage.

[John]

It is a bit sad that the government obsesses over controlling the use of pain pills, something that the over use of only hurts the person doing it but makes no effort to control the overuse of antibiotics, even though the overuse of antibiotics actually harms everyone.

The entire point of law seems to be to ensure no one ever enjoys taking a pill.

[sarcasmic]

The entire point of law seems to be to ensure no one ever enjoys taking a pill.

That's exactly right. Enjoying a pill is seeking out an artificial high. Artificial highs are bad, and the people who seek them out are immoral.
Natural highs, like the adrenalin rush you get when you toss a grenade into a crib before smashing down a door and assaulting everyone inside the building, are good and moral.

[Marshall Gill]

even though the overuse of antibiotics actually harms everyone.

I am a bit skeptical about this. Penicillin works wonderfully on me. While bacteria can certainly build up immunity to antibiotics, I suspect that people's immune systems do as well.

My wife the hypochondriac, on the other hand, does not respond well to many antibiotics. Is it really because she gets super bugs and I don't?

[Lord Humungus]

My poor wife - who rarely gets cavities - went to the dentist this morning to get an old filling repaired. Furthest back molar. After some local, the dentist starts drilling. And she's in pain. And then he injects more anesthetic. Goes to drill again but this time she flinches to hard that the running drill stabs the inside of her check and part of her lip. Lots of blood coming out; stitches required.

Nitrous given so they can finish the job. Now she's back home and won't be going to work.

[sarcasmic]

Novocaine doesn't work on my wife. She just deals with the pain.

[BigT]

Novocaine doesn't work on my wife. She just deals with the pain.

Maybe you should look into size reduction or could get Bellycheck to underinflate it.

[Coeus]

Does she have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?

[sarcasmic]

No idea. Sometimes I wonder if she just likes to suffer. She did marry me after all.

[KDN]

My old man was like that. He never used dental anasthetic, not even when he got root canals or teeth pulled.

[Mike M.]

John Boehner invites Benjamin Netanyahu to address special joint session of Congress without consulting the administration.

Wow. Looks like Block Yomomma isn't the only one around who can epically troll his opponents!

[Iucundus]

I've been called up for jury duty. I'm sure I could get myself dismissed multiple ways (being a college student, talking about jury nullification) but I might enjoy sitting on a jury for a real trial. Does anyone know what to expect regarding time commitment if I turn up for selection?

[Jordan]

Never been called, but of my friends who've been called, none have served more than a few days. Depends on the case, of course, but O.J.

Anyway, I've decided to lie about my views on nullification so that I can actually get on a jury and do some good.

[Jordan]

Whoops, meant to say that O.J. Simpson type cases are rare.

[R C Dean]

Really hard to predict, as it depends almost entirely on the case.

Selection alone can eat up between half a day and, in extreme cases, a week or more.

The trial itself could be a couple of days, or, in extreme cases, months.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Toss the notice in the garbage. Do not contact the court. Pretend like you never got the notice.

[Jordan]

Yeah, that's an option since they can't prove you ever received it.

[Marshall Gill]

I used to do this. Now I want to be on a jury for the purpose of nullification. Typically, I used to get them fairly regularly before I was a libertarian. Now that I actually want to serve, I haven't been called once.

[Rhywun]

I just like getting out of work for a couple days. I really, really don't want to be on a jury though.

[Don'tTreadOnMe]

And you can make bank on that $12 a day....$18 on a grand jury!!

[SugarFree]

Oh, the irony of this article appearing on a Gawker Media blog:

When Facts Threaten Our Beliefs, We Resort To Bullshit Rationalizations

[trshmnster the terrible]

That's delicious!

[John]

That link doesn't work.

[SugarFree]

Well, shit. These pricks are also doing the whole "put a br tag at the end of the URL." Idiots.

Heir

[Marshall Gill]

I let you in on how to make the preview button work and you still SF the link?

Stay golden, Pony Boy.

[lap83]

Those comments are painful

[Coeus]

SJWs on the march

When 12-year-old Mallory Merk opted to share a photo of her new hair style?box braids?she had no idea that a racially charged backlash would follow.

Mallory apparently wanted to try something new with her hair. What she didn't know is that what was "new" to her was a hairstyle strongly associated with African-Americans.

And as social unrest continues over the treatment of African-American lives and culture, this pre-teen unwittingly waded into a debate she was probably too young to truly appreciate.

It's a tidbit that was largely lost on the many people who attacked her.

My favorite? When jamilah, a jezebel writer jumps in.

[Enough About Palin]

Per the HyR commentariat request:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
? teaspoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (105 degrees F)
? teaspoon salt
Additional flower for work surface and bowl
Medium-grind yellow cornmeal for baker's peal

Mound flower on work surface. Form a well in the center and add olive oil to the well.

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside until creamy, about 15 minutes.

When the yeast mixture is ready, add the salt to the well along with half of the yeast mixture. Working from the center outward, with one hand gradually pull the sides of the well into the center until all of the flour is incorporated. The mixture will be very sticky.

Continue to mix the dough with both hands while adding the remaining yeast mixture in small increments. When all of the yeast mixture has been added and all of the ingredients are well blended, knead the dough until it is elastic, light and no longer sticky, adding small pinches of flour only if necessary to reduce the stickiness. Do not add too much additional flour or the dough will be too dry. The kneading will take about 20-minutes, with some 1 to 2-minute rest periods along the way. Shape the dough into a ball.

[Enough About Palin]

Dust a large bowl with flour and place dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1? hours.

Punch down the dough by pressing out most of the air with your fingertips. Shape into a ball once again, re-cover the bowl and let the dough rise a second time until doubled, about 30-minutes.

To shape the pizza crust, invert the dough onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it into a disc about 4-inches in diameter and 1-inch thick. Working from the center of the disk outward, press the dough out with the heel of your hands, keeping the edges thicker than the center. If the dough becomes sticky as you work with it, sprinkle a little flour on the dough and on the work surface. When the dough is about ? inch thick at the center, begin to stretch the dough by placing one hand on the center of the round, grasping the edge of the round with the other hand, and pulling gently. Work your way around the edge until you have an even round about 12-inches in diameter and 1/16 inch thick. The edges of the round should be slightly thicker than the center and turned up and pinched lightly to form a rim. Transfer the round to a cornmeal-dusted baker's peal, top the crust and bake as directed in individual pizza recipes.

Source: The Il Fornaio Baking Book by Franco Galli
http://www.amazon.com/Il-Forna.....aking+book

[Enough About Palin]

I bake pizzas on a well-heated pizza stone in an oven set at 500 degrees F at the very least.

Favorite topping: caramelized onions, fresh rosemary and goat cheese.

[Protagoronus]

Ever try brushing egg whites on the crust to make a pretzel crust? Not really a bread eater any more, but if I was making a pizza, I see no reason not to do that, maybe stuff it with some bacon or something...

[Clich? Bandit]

Have you tried adding about 1-2 Tbps of honey?

That is what I do...otherwise my recipe is similar.

[Clich? Bandit]

oohhh and I dust the stone with semolina not corn meal.

[sarcasmic]

I make bread all the time and I've never measured the flour. I seriously have no idea how much I use.

[Aloysious]

Interesting recipe. Difference between yours and mine: I like more olive oil in the dough, so it is more like a foccacia bread. Plus a little corn meal in the dough itself. I also really enjoy adding herbs into the dough, especially but not limited to elephant garlic.

I love pizza, you can make it a little different every day, just for fun.