A.M. Links: Liberals Join Tea Partiers to Oppose Obama Trade Deals, California Warn Against 'Measles Parties,' Assad Says U.S. Tells Him About Airstrikes in Syria

• Liberal Democrats in Congress are joining with some Tea Party Republicans to oppose President Obama's trade agenda.

• While a federal judge ruled same-sex marriage legal in Alabama, judges in many counties are still refusing to issue such marriage licenses.
• Public health authorities in California are warning residents against exposing unvaccinated children to infected children in "measles parties."
• The Syrian president Bashar Assad says the U.S. informs him of airstrikes against ISIS conducted in his country.
• A member of parliament in Somalia was shot and killed by an Islamist militant outside the presidential palace.
• NBC evening news anchor Brian Williams is temporarily off the air while the network conducts an internal investigation into his embellishments.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

NBC evening news anchor Brian Williams is temporarily off the air while the network conducts an internal investigation into his embellishments.

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if they'll find that I was flying Brian Williams around in a Chinook.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Liberal Democrats in Congress are joining with some Tea Party Republicans to oppose President Obama's trade agenda."

You want bipartisanship? You GOT IT!

[Dweebston]

Bipartisanship means republicans joining the president to support his newest pet project. What you're describing is racism.

[AdamJ]

Not so much racism as unintelligent protectionism. Sure there's some "othering" going on as well, but that's more tribalism than racism. Either way it's stupid.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

BIPARTISAN RACISM, then?

[Dweebston]

No, see, bipartisanship is a Good Thing and a virtue to which every GOP legislator should aspire. When Democrats cross the party line they're defecting from the President's bold vision, so they're racists, too.

[The Last American Hero]

Anybody gonna call them out on their racism?

[The Laconic]

Suspended with pay pending an internal investigation?

I guess cops aren't treated any differently from the rest of us.

And by "the rest of us", I mean ordinary, average, high-paid, famous TV celebrity types.

[Lord Humungus]

Mass escape from Brazilian prison after women seduce guards

The women reportedly drugged the prison guards by giving them spiked whisky after convincing them to take part in an orgy, according to investigators.

Inmates then left the prison through the main doors, even taking with them guns and munitions they had taken from prison caches.

Police later found a bag of lingerie and dominatrix police uniforms believed to have been worn by the temptresses.

[Ted S.]

Gotta love prison guards.

[Rich]

Oh, yeah!

/Tavon White

[Florida Man]

The inmates took three 12 caliber rifles shotguns, two 38 caliber revolvers and munition, she said.

That's a mighty tiny rifle/shotgun.

[Injun, as in from India]

journalists are so well-informed about firearms!

[Zeb]

It's 12 caliber, not .12. So they'd be more properly described as cannons.

[Florida Man]

Most people don't refer to a 38 caliber as .38 caliber but I take your meaning.

[R C Dean]

Most people don't refer to a 38 caliber as .38 caliber

Actually, in writing I rarely recall seeing it without the decimal.

[Zeb]

They don't say "point thirty eight", but they do generally write it that way if they have any idea what they are talking (well writing) about.

[Raston Bot]

12? Fuck! What's the inside diameter of the barrel on an Abrams?

[R C Dean]

Since calibers are generally fractions of an inch, I think we're talking more naval cannon than anything else.

[Isaac Bartram]

Actually, "caliber" means something different when referring to small arms that it does in reference to naval guns.

In small arms "caliber" simply means bore diameter but

The bore to barrel length ratio is called caliber in naval gunnery, but is called length in army artillery.

[Isaac Bartram]

"that" in the first sentence sb "than"

[Cdr Lytton]

120mm.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

When is the movie coming out?

[SugarFree]

This is the exact plot of The Big Doll House.

[WTF]

Beautiful women prisoners are abused in a Philippine prison, until 5 of them plot an escape by taking the evil female warden hostage with the reluctant help of 2 male fruit vendors.

Gonna have to add that one to my watch list.

[SugarFree]

EPIX Drive-In shows it every once in a while.

[Charles Easterly]

Pam Grier is in it.

[Bee Tagger]

exposing unvaccinated children to infected children in "measles parties."

Also be on the look out for measles flash mobs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I worry about measles rainbow parties.

[gaijin]

Can you taste the rainbow?

[Charles Easterly]

If it's a plaid rainbow, yes.

[Zeb]

People used to do that sort of thing so that all of their kids would have the disease at once so they could just get it over with. I suppose with the measles parties, at least they are making sure that their kids have immunity.

Vaccination seems like a much better solution, though. Measles isn't very deadly (0.2% according to Wikipedia), but I can only imagine that it is far more likely to cause permanent injury than the vaccine. And it doesn't look like much fun for the kiddies.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

In the late 50's and early 60's in the US, the measles death rate was around 0.1% and that was at the height of baby formula usage (no antibody transfers). Measles survivability is totally linked to nutrition and quality of care. Still a shitty disease that you don't want to get.

[Zeb]

Must be a world wide number.

[Mike Laursen]

Nobody used to do that type of thing.

[KDN]

My mother and aunt did this to me, my sister, and our cousins when my brother got Chicken Pox. It happened to a few of my friends as well.

[Mike Laursen]

OK, one inbred family. But nobody else did this.

[KDN]

It happened to a few of my friends as well.

And Zeb's anecdotal evidence below. Get your reading game up.

Probably a quarter of my elementary school was out with chicken pox at the same time. It's a perfectly rational response if you're a fatalist about these sorts of things and vaccines are unavailable, and it's clear that plenty of people are.

[Robert]

It was particularly rational to expose girls to German measles, because the disease is milder than regular measles but is the "R" in the mnemonic "TORCH" for the commonly teratogenic infections of toxoplasmosis, other, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex. So it was like, get it out of the way now, when it'll just make you itchy for a couple days like your brother, rather than taking a chance on your getting it when you're pregnant.

[aelhues]

Sorry, but it was a regular practice..you must be a youngin'.

[Mike Laursen]

Not a young one at all. I was just being a pain in the ass.

[Hamster of Doom]

It was common when I grew up, for chicken pox. As I recall, parents tried to time it to not be as horribly inconvenient as possible. So if down-time for illness just could not be managed, the kids were put on virtual lockdown. If it could be managed, they'd do anything to make sure you got the chickenpox.

I was put in the bath with my brother, when he had it. As soon as my aunt found out she brought my cousins over. Party in the tub.

[Zeb]

Yeah, they did actually. Not measels parties with your idiot mommy club, but putting kids in bed together and stuff like that. It makes a lot of sense when pretty much everyone gets it as a child.

When I was a kid chickenpox vaccine was still pretty rare and some people would do the same sort of thing.

[Mike Laursen]

OK, that's what I thought. Nobody ever literally had a "party" when we were kids.

[MJGreen]

Pretty common with chicken pox. If one kid has it, might as well make sure the other kids get it while they're young.

[thom]

They did for chicken pox.

[alittlesense]

I suffered through measles as a kid, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy (although I might make an exception for Jenny McCarthy). It came with a high fever, slight delirium (I was picking flowers off the wallpaper), and misery for maybe a week and a half.

[The Laconic]

Vaccination seems like a much better solution, though.

Whoa, those are strong words, hombre.

[Robert]

The phenomenon of measles parties where the vaccine is available has a really depressing implication: that a good # of persons so distrust technology that they think whatever comes from it must be worse than whatever there was otherwise. They're saying, "I trust the wild virus to be more benign than your attenuated strain, because people are such fuckups they change everything for the worse." Is that cynicism, skepticism, or what?

[Fist of Etiquette]

A member of parliament in Somalia was shot and killed by an Islamist militant outside the presidential palace.

In his defense, how could he guess that Somalia would even have a parliament?

[Injun, as in from India]

See. This is why all guns should be banned, and libertarianism should be outlawed.

[Catatafish]

Clearly a fake story. How could the member of parliament or the Islamist even get to the presidential palace WHEN THERE ARE NO ROADZ?!

[Lord Humungus]

Motorist cited for using flashlights in place of headlights

Officials say a Sweetwater resident was pulled over twice in an 18 hour period for driving after dark with only flashlights used to light up the road. The flashlights were reportedly strapped in with a bungee cord attached to the vehicle's bumper. The driver was first stopped by KPD in East Knoxville, then later by another officer in North Knoxville.

The driver was cited in both traffic stops for "Improper Headlights," "Violation of the State Registration Law" and "Driving Without Insurance."

Officials added that attaching flashlights to a bumper with a bungee cord is very dangerous.

[Rich]

Officials added that attaching flashlights to a bumper with a bungee cord is very dangerous.

You could snap your eye out.

[Slammer]

I think driving at night with NO headlights would be more dangerous.

[Charles Easterly]

With the resultant blood pouring down your face you'd be a red rider.

[Rich]

+1 Major Award

[Entropy Void]

I hear they do allow you to strap flashlights to your bumper in Fragile', Italy.

[Bee Tagger]

Liberal Democrats in Congress are joining with some Tea Party Republicans to oppose President Obama's trade agenda.

The Libertea coalition? Tea Progger coalition?

[UnCivilServant]

Bootleggers and Baptists.

[Lord Humungus]

Dunphy?

Mutant pig with human face and PENIS on its forehead draws crowds - and cash offers

A farmer says he was inundated with cash offers for a pig born with a human face and a PENIS on its forehead after photos of the newborn 'mutant' went viral.

Friends and neighbours of Tao Lu rushed to his property in Yanan township in the city of Nanning, China, after news of the deformed pig spread.

One of the last to be born in a litter of 19, the little piglet was described by witnesses as having a human face and a penis on its forhead.

[SugarFree]

Nah. The penis-faced humapig still has a chance to do something honorable with his life.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Star in a SugarFree tale?

[SugarFree]

He's seen things you non-penis-faced huma-nonpigs wouldn't believe.

[Slammer]

The poor little thing had enough problems without hooking him up with a monster like Pelosi, Swiss. That's beyond cruel.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

I was thinking he could be the adorable (OK, maybe not) sidekick for Warty Hugeman.

[Old Man With Candy]

Been there, done that.

[WTF]

It's a PIGMAN!

[Catatafish]

Clearly it's not a pigwoman, otherwise they would've drowned it in the Yangtze.

[Pope Jimbo]

Ron Jeremy hardest hit? How can he compete in this brave new world?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...judges in many counties are still refusing to issue such marriage licenses.

"YOU'RE NOT THE JUDGE OF ME!"

[Injun, as in from India]

Tyranny of the robed ones.

[Steve G]

JUDICIARCY!!1!

[Steve G]

or JUDICIARCHY!!1!

[Entropy Void]

"or JUDICIARCHY!!1!"

The Joos are running everything?

[Lord Humungus]

Man caught driving while using phone, laptop and headphones in car

A cyclist has captured a driver in Aberdeen, Scotland, at the wheel of his hefty Land Rover, with his earphones in, mobile phone in hand and an open, switched on laptop beside him.

"Not only he's not paying any attention to the road, I suspect he's not even on this planet," the uploader Aberdeen Cycle Cam says.

When the driver spots the cyclist who has a helmet cam on, he puts the phone down before driving on.

[Ted S.]

Somehow I bet the law allows cops to do this.

[Dweebston]

a) I don't see the motorist swerving, although I do see a cyclist weaving through traffic to shame him about it, and b) these maniacs are all driving on the wrong side of the road.

[The Last American Hero]

I thought at the Outback, there were no rules, just right.

[Charles Easterly]

True Scotsmen don't wear headphones.

[Zeb]

If he didn't immediately crash into something, I think he must be paying some attention to the road.

I think a lot of people drive badly when using their phone or something. But for the most part they manage not to crash while doing it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Syrian president Bashar Assad says the U.S. informs him of airstrikes against ISIS conducted in his country.

Through the New York Times.

[Lord Humungus]

Germany rejects Greek claim for World War Two reparations

Germany said on Monday there was "zero" chance of it paying World War Two reparations to Athens, following a renewed demand from Greece's new leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Tsipras, in his first major speech to parliament on Sunday, laid out plans to dismantle Greece's austerity program, ruled out any extension of its 240 billion euro international bailout and vowed to seek war reparations from Berlin.

The demand for compensation, revived by a previous Greek government in 2013 but not pursued, was rejected outright by Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's vice chancellor and economy minister.

[Jordan]

Not smart, Greece. Germans don't tend to react well to demands for war reparations.

[Raven Nation]

Just wait until the Germans send troops into Greece to seize control of the, umm, Greek beaches?

[Ted S.]

Greek beaches must be made safe for German nude bathers!

Perhaps all the Germans ought to start vacationing in Sicily instead.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They already do!

Germans are everywhere in Italy.

Even hung out with one in Florence back in 1994.

[Pro Libertate]

How do you say "Stabbed in the back!" in Greek?

[Rhywun]

I would say, but HyR demands English.

[Pro Libertate]

Disappointed!

[Rhywun]

Actually, I have no idea - I just wanted to register my annoyance at HyR's asinine language policy.

[Pro Libertate]

If I can't quote Greek texts from the Classic period, what's the fucking point of this blog?

[BardMetal]

Because demanding reparations from Germany worked out so well the last time. Besides hasn't Germany been bailing out Greece for years because the Greeks can't get their financial house in order?

Where does a nation get off demanding money from a country they already a tremendous debt to?

[Doctor Whom]

Yes, I murdered my parents, but I demand leniency from the court 'cause I'm an orphan.

[Pro Libertate]

Perhaps Germany should agree, then deduct all that it's spent on Greece.

[BardMetal]

Or maybe they can use the army to foreclose on Greece for not paying it's debts. After all it's been 70 years since Germany has had a war the must be getting a bored.

[Zeb]

I think Germany probably won't have worked through its collective guilt until well after everyone who was alive during the war has died. Which I guess isn't all that far away.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The young ones have already forgotten how shitty East Germany was.

[Zeb]

At this point, most of the young ones never knew in the first place (first hand, anyway).

[Pro Libertate]

Reunification! Besides, there are some Germans living in Greece, you know.

[Pope Jimbo]

That is my solution to resolving the question about native american's claim that they were swindled by colonists.

Give them huge reparations. Then slap them with a lawsuit for inflicting tobacco on them. Get reparations and then some for all the tobacco related deaths from Jamestown till now.

[Old Man With Candy]

Don't forget syphilis.

[Zeb]

My solution is to point out that all of the colonists who did any swindling are long dead, as are those who were swindled.

I think Indians did get fucked over by the US government many times. But that's history. You can't repair all of the evils of the past without causing new and possibly worse evils now.

[Zeb]

Maybe they are hoping for debt forgiveness as a compromise position.

Seems pretty damn unlikely now that Greece is getting ready to start spending more money that it doesn't have again.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Jesus, Greece wasn't it enough a German coach helped you to a Euro win in 2004?

[Irish]

I think Greece should therefore be required to pay reparations to Turkey for invading after World War I.

Shit, but then Turkey would have to pay reparations to Greece for all the years the Turks ruled them during the Ottoman Empire. Thankfully, Turkey should be able to partially pay off their debt to Greece through the reparations they get from Mongolia for the losses sustained in the battle of Ankara.

The Mongols will actually be the big losers once the war reparations train gets rolling. They're already a poor, small country, but due to past military success, they'll have to pay out reparations to China, the Middle East and wide swaths of Europe.

[Raven Nation]

Wait until the people with Neanderthal DNA start coming after everyone else.

[Zeb]

Well, that pretty much means the rest of the world demanding reparations from sub-Saharan Africa. Doesn't seem likely to be very lucrative. I suppose there are all of those Nigerian princes.

[Restoras]

Shouldn't Greece also have to pay reparations to Iran for the depredations of Alexander?

[Charles Easterly]

Iran is five minutes from getting a nuclear weapon and wiping a certain country from maps. So no.

/Red Tony

[Zeb]

Well, make Iran pay reparations for the Persian wars.

[Zeb]

Nah, that was Macedonia, which really wasn't Greek Greek.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Shhh! I remember in university the Greek student council being extremely defensive about that. The sign on their door was 'Macedonia is Greece, Greece is Macedonia.' They would have crazy fights over it.

[Zeb]

The ancient Greeks were of a rather different opinion on the subject.

My Greek professor in college thought it was silly that the Greeks want to claim Macedonia as their own since Alexander was a warmongering, imperialist mass killer.

[Rhywun]

I think Germany's starting to get tired of propping up southern Europe and it's starting to show. Watching the EU fall apart is sure going to be interesting.

[SugarFree]

St. Paul PD to Family of 101-year-old Woman They Ran Over: "Bitches should be watching where they going."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

On the one hand, a cop with a history of reckless operation of her car who backs into a person. On the other hand, a 101 year old woman with a walker.

This time, the cops will have some trouble winning the PR battle.

[Rich]

She apparently was trying to cross the street at midblock at the time of the accident

Jaywalking with a walker. Oops.

[SugarFree]

She survived the Siege of Leningrad, but not living in Minnesota.

[Rich]

"That's different."

[WTF]

Aw, jeez!

[Pope Jimbo]

Leningrad had nicer weather...

[Pope Jimbo]

Us goddamned prairie dwellers have a god given right to cross the street where ever we want!

Seriously, when the new light rail went in there was a temporary crack down on jaywalking in downtown Mpls and people went ape shit.

We love crossing the street where we want to.

[Rich]

Boy, 13, Shot And Killed In Belmont-Cragin [Chicago]

"I know my son got killed today. That's very sad. I wish this violence stopped," his mother, Laura de Domenico said

I suppose she was in shock.

[gaijin]

I wish this violence stopped,

So let it be wished for, so let it be done

[Rich]

"I know I wish this violence stopped."

[The Other Kevin]

The kid was shot because he accompanied his sisters to a fight, which was about a post on Facebook. The fuck is with these kids?

[gaijin]

Plus the sister is in a gang..according to her parents who were interviewed on the news...so, yeah, wtf.

[Rich]

FTFA: I don't even know where she gets this from, but that's her hobby: running away, and fights," [the mother] said. "She always had this problem with fighting. I always tell her not to take him, because he's not streetwise at all."

[gaijin]

I saw this on WLS...maybe 'gang' was the vernacular?

Boy fatally shot

Family members said Diaz and his two older sisters, ages 15 and 17, snuck out of their home in Chicago's Belmont Cragin neighborhood around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. They said he went to back them up in a fight with some other girls over disrespectful comments made over a neighborhood gang.

"She was dissing our gang. We came, we fought. They just got out of hand. They jumped all of us and they ended up shooting my brother," Jennifer Sosa said.

[straffinrun]

Safest city because they have a large police force. Too much crime? Your police force must be too small. How do you get around logic like this?

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Er...link is to wut?

[Raven Nation]

SFed the link.

[Ted S.]

That's some mighty interesting logic there.

[straffinrun]

Too much whisky. Sorry.
http://safecities.economist.co.....i-masuzoe/

[SugarFree]

The Syrian president Bashar Assad says the U.S. informs him of airstrikes against ISIS conducted in his country.

Assad looks forward to watching Yemen Pt. 2 unfold from the safety and comfort of France.

[Jordan]

I wonder how many of the weapons we sent there have ended up in ISIS hands. USA! USA! USA!

[SugarFree]

They may not have needed them after raiding that huge cache we left behind in Iraq.

[Raven Nation]

Remember this one:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/ca.....st-weapon/

[Idle Hands]

Look at all the free publicity he's getting.

[Idle Hands]

He should be paying them.

[Slammer]

Rude tweet gets Texas teen fired before her first day on the job.

People are also defending her. What.the.fuck.

[Jordan]

She's clearly deserving of $15 per hour.

[Ted S.]

If the manager called her a fuck ass employee, people would be screaming cyberbullying.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

We had a former employee bad mouth us (and her former colleagues who were close friends to her) on Facebook.

She was a nasty, manipulative and two-faced piece of work whom we gave a couple of chances to while being paid $2 more an hour than she was actually worth.

When she had the balls to complain she wanted to get paid equal to senior educators with three times the education we didn't throw her out the door. Instead we suggested for her to go back to school and get the necessary credentials and reminded her that she was already well-compensated.

No high school diploma and constantly making stupid life decisions that we helped her with and she still took it Facebook saying 'don't have to work for bad bosses' and 'hypocrites co-workers'.

Her co-workers are gems by the way.

[Ted S.]

Her co-workers are gems by the way.

Is that meant seriously, or sarcastically?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seriously.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Folks tweeting at her that she's going to get a better job... how? She can't even hold down a job at a pizzeria.

[WTF]

Hell, she can't even make it to the first day on the job at a pizzeria.

[Catatafish]

Clearly the "free speech rights" of an at-will employee trump the property rights of an evil corporate overlord 1%-er.

/derpityderp

[Mock-star]

My favorite was the tweet advising her to contact her HR dept.........at a local pizzeria.

[Juice]

"Contact HR right away!"

People, it's a fucking pizza joint.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

I am still waiting for a link or story on the Great Data Forgeries/CAGW Fraud.... guess it joins Rotherham as a non-story.

[Idle Hands]

She was exercising her freedom of speech doh/ retards everywhere.

[Idle Hands]

Meant for slammer.

[Restoras]

Come now, LTC, they had...um...good intentions?

[Tonio]

They are teflon, Switzy.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Mommies everywhere are angry at Ashton Kutcher for wanting to parent his kids.

Ashton Kutcher raised his nanny-free flag in December, telling Ellen DeGeneres all about how he and Mila Kunis have decided against outsourcing help for their 4-month-old daughter Wyatt. "We just want to know our kid," Kutcher said, acknowledging, at least, that he's lucky to have the freedom to choose. "We want to be the people that know what to do when the baby's crying to make the baby not cry anymore. We want to know, like, when she makes a little face or something, we want to be emotionally in touch with her. And I think the only way to do that is by being the one who's there."

[Idle Hands]

Over the years I've come to accept that Ashton Kutcher may not be a complete douche.

[Jordan]

Yeah. Although, I would kill for a nanny right now.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I'd kill for a Mila Kunis right now.

[Ted S.]

Even if she talks like Fran Drescher?

[Idle Hands]

You just described Sof?a Vergara.

[SugarFree]

I'd stay home with Mila's new boobs as well.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

They are a little leaky right now.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's right but it's sad these days it needs to be expressed.

I thought it went without saying. We always stayed next to our daughter.

I'm sure, like most parents here, there were times where you just gazed at them in marvel.

That's the point of the exercise is it not?

[Restoras]

Well, I think the point of the exercise is to satisfy our genetic programming to reproduce, but yes, gazing at them in wonder at random moments is a wonderful benefit.

[The Late P Brooks]

NBC evening news anchor Brian Williams is temporarily off the air while the network conducts an internal investigation into his embellishments.

"Why do you think they're called STORIES? Sheesh."

[Aloysious]

Maybe he would have been more believable if he had started his stories off with 'Once upon a time', or 'It was a dark and stormy night'.

[Charles Easterly]

He should have read a few of the Bulwer-Lytton contest winners: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

[Kaptious Kristen]

Or "Winter comes early to the high country..."

[gaijin]

... judges in many counties are still refusing to issue such marriage licenses.

SO is this considered judicial nullification? Activist courts?

[Jordan]

The "rule of law" crowd seems oddly silent on this.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Are you TRYING to summon Tulpa????

[sarcasmic]

His mommy only lets him play here on weekends.

[SugarFree]

That's when she lets him come up for air and wash his face.

[Catatafish]

(retching)

[WTF]

Ew!
- teenage girl

[gaijin]

You would think someone somewhere in Alabama might be using this as a case for removing the state from the business of licensing a marriage contract.

[R C Dean]

The "rule of law" crowd seems oddly silent on this.

I haven't given it all that much thought, but the state judge who countermanded the order may have a point: that this is beyond federal authority to do.

And, of course, there's Scalia's point that refusing to suspend this kind of decision pending appeals (or even dispositive SCOTUS precedence in another case) is not the way its done.

[Rich]

Bryn Mawr Changes Admission Guidelines To Accept Transwomen

"Intersex individuals who do not identify as male are also eligible for admission."

Let me get this, um, straight. The default is "woman"? Isn't that SEXIST!?

[gaijin]

How else to undo a millenia of injustice at the hands of the patriarchy!?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Brandeis is admitting Jews of both sexes, and hermaphrodites!

[Lord Humungus]

Obamacare Ruling May End Civilization As We Know It

They started predicting that the Court would "cripple" Obamacare. But 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the law, so this didn't exactly cause panic in streets. Next, they said that a ruling against the government could deprive many of taxpayer-funded insurance subsidies. The taxpayers were oddly unmoved. Now, they have resorted to claims so wild that even progressives will have trouble taking them seriously. Think Progress, for example, published a screed last week with the following title: "How King v. Burwell Threatens the Lives of Millions of Children."

And DNC mouthpieces like Think Progress are by no means the only purveyors of such balderdash. The nominally independent Slate warns that "9,800 additional Americans will die each year" if the Court rules against the Obama administration. Even relatively respectable publications have joined this chorus. The Hill posted a story last Friday titled, "King v. Burwell will decide the Fate of Millions," whose author solemnly warns that "the wrong outcome" would put "American lives in peril" and "erode some of the largest coverage expansions in decades."

[straffinrun]

I'm drunk. Try this if you want.

http://safecities.economist.co.....i-masuzoe/

[Ted S.]

At least you're more coherent than Agile Cyborg.

[straffinrun]

Not much more tonight. Going to bed. Night all.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Take an Alka-Seltzer before you go to bed. Seriously.

[Mike M.]

NBC evening news anchor Brian Williams is temporarily off the air while the network conducts an internal investigation into his embellishments.

True schaudenfreude is watching the scum at NBC squirm like the little weasels that they are.

As a special added bonus, it has even given us a welcome break from Weigel for most of the last few days.

[Lord Humungus]

The long-lost Apollo 11 artifacts discovered in Neil Armstrong's closet

Neil Armstrong's widow, Carol, made quite the discovery. More than two years after Armstrong's death, Carol found a white cloth bag inside one of his closets that contained tools, hooks and a small camera.

Those items were aboard Apollo 11's lunar module, Eagle, the first manned vehicle to land on the moon, writes National Air and Space Museum curator Allan Needell. That camera recorded the moment that Armstrong took his first step on the moon and declared, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

No mention of a mailbox?

[Rich]

Hmm. One might surmise that stuff is, um, government property.

[Pro Libertate]

Pretty sure they let the astronauts keep some stuff, and the practice was legally ratified later on.

The mailbox, of course, is in the Smithsonian.

[Lord Humungus]

The problem with Barack Obama playing the professor in chief

The problem is that Barack Obama is the president of the United States and not its professor in chief. It isn't the president's role to stand apart from and above the nation he leads, issuing supposedly even-handed, dispassionate, scholarly, objective, or prophetic moral judgments about the sins of America and Western civilization. This is especially true when those judgments are rendered in the context of a comparison with the butchers of ISIS ? a bloodthirsty Islamist syndicate the president has accurately described as a "network of death" and pledged to destroy by force of arms.

What Obama's comments demonstrate is that he lacks a sufficient appreciation of the crucial difference between politics and morality.

[Injun, as in from India]

Let's hope that Professor Obama is not a predecessor to Professor Warren.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This has been the case since 2008.

He's also condescending about it. And that's what's so irritating because his takes on things are vapid and of the nondescript left-wing variety.

Great orator my ass.

[Injun, as in from India]

Great orator my ass.

It was always the TelePrompter backed up by a team of speech writers.

[Pro Libertate]

Adjunct Professor-in-Chief. He isn't even tenure-track.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Enter at your own risk:

An Exceedingly Polite Beginner's Guide To Anal Sex

[hamilton]

Any mention of drugs or mexicans? Otherwise, too tame for H&R.

[Charles Easterly]

"Enter at your own risk"

I snickered.

[Lord Humungus]

David Axelrod Describes The No Good, Very Bad Minefield Of Obama's Early Presidency

Obama's first problem upon winning the election, as Axelrod recounts, was putting together a staff. Whether out of false modesty, stubbornness or an aversion to a terribly stressful job, many of Obama's cabinet picks initially turned him down.

"Fuck no," said then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel upon being asked by Axelrod to consider being chief of staff. Hillary Clinton balked as well (though presumably in less salty language) when offered the post of secretary of state. And Tim Geithner tried to talk Obama out of nominating him for treasury secretary, which had the perverse affect of making Obama want him more.

"What I liked the most about him was that he spent the whole hour trying to persuade me why I shouldn't hire him," Obama said, according to Axelrod.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"And Tim Geithner tried to talk Obama out of nominating him for treasury secretary, which had the perverse affect of making Obama want him more."

Rape culture!

[Raven Nation]

That seems odd. Don't most candidates have a staff penciled in before the election?

[John]

Obama didn't have any friends outside of Chicago. Most Presidents have been governors or long time fixtures in Washington and have a ton of people who have followed them up the ladder. Obama didn't have that. He had been a state legislator and a give a speech and vote present one term Senator.

[The Late P Brooks]

One might surmise that stuff is, um, government property.

One can only assume the Smithsonian has its own SWAT team, currently under way to the Armstrong home.

[Rich]

Probably *NASA*.

[Pope Jimbo]

Sheesh! Everyone knows that both have SWAT teams. We can only hope they show up at the same time and end up in a firefight with each other.

[straffinrun]

Smithsonian SWAT? Say goodbye to the Dogs playing poker.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The Washington Post article on the Alabama marriage dispute is by the Post's "social change reporter." Good thing there's no media bias!

[Tonio]

The post also has a religion beat reporter, a real estate beat reporter and even a music reporter. What are you trying to say, Eddie?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

That the warm, moist feeling on my leg isn't rain.

[Lord Humungus]

The Parent Agenda, the Emerging Democratic Focus

Yet in the months after last year's midterm elections, a reinvigorated liberal agenda has started to emerge. Few of the pieces of this agenda were discussed in the 2012 presidential elections or last year's midterms. But they have rapidly moved from various liberal intellectual publications into President Obama's speeches and budget, as well as Hillary Clinton's speeches.

The emerging Democratic agenda is meant to appeal to parents. The policies under discussion ? paid family leave; universal preschool; an expanded earned-income tax credit and child tax credit; free community college and perhaps free four-year college in time ? are intended both to alleviate the burdens on middle-class families and to expand educational opportunity for children. The result is a thematic platform addressing some of the biggest sources of anxiety about the future of the middle class.

[gaijin]

to appeal to parents

Translation...moms.

[Lord Humungus]

War Against Women - Part II

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"addressing some of the biggest sources of anxiety about the future of the middle class."

OK, middle class, you're screwed, I hope that addresses your concerns.

[WTF]

Yeah, a platform of "more 'free' shit, paid for by higher taxes". Sounds like a winner to me.

[Injun, as in from India]

"We" will tax your college savings to "give" you "free" college!

[Tonio]

They will tax our savings to give "free" college educations to those who cannot afford them on their own, and who would have trouble managing their student loan debts because they are unlikely to graduate or be able to get a decent job with those degrees in grievance studies.

[PBR Streetgang]

And eventually do the same for retirement plans.

[Injun, as in from India]

Okay. Housewives are uncool. Women ought to work. And the government needs to step in to fill the resulting gap in parenting. Got it.

[Rich]

Hawaiian Independence Movement Attracts Chinese Interest

Chinese military hawks ... are ready to provide arms to Hawaiian independence activists in retaliation for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

We'll just see what Hawaii Five O has to say about that!

[Raven Nation]

I say we arm the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Uyghur, please!

[Jordan]

Let them leave. Hawaii is filled with retards anyway.

[Bardas Phocas]

But we need it to coal our Navy's steamships.

[Ted S.]

Ooh, get rid of two TEAM BLUE Senators.

[bassjoe]

"Public health authorities in California are warning residents against exposing unvaccinated children to infected children in "measles parties.""

Next year, polio parties!!!

[Jordan]

Ebola parties are where it's at.

[bassjoe]

The bleeding eyes make the party goers look like clowns so no need to hire one...

[straffinrun]

by "measles parties" they mean "public schools"?

[Entropy Void]

No, Disneyland.

[Lord Humungus]

Zeldin: Has President Obama Launched a Political Campaign Against Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu?

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, R-NY-01, today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for information regarding media reports that U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used to fund efforts to influence upcoming elections in Israel.

"Has President Obama launched a political campaign against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his representatives?" Senator Cruz said. "This administration's relentless harassment of Israel is utterly incomprehensible. The Islamic Republic of Iran is pursuing the deadliest weapons on the planet and there can be no doubt that their first target will be Israel, followed by the United States. This administration should be focusing its animosity on the very real enemies we face, not on our staunch allies."

[Rich]

FAKE SCANDAL!

[MJGreen]

If Cruz's position is that Iran will nuke the United States, my chances of voting for him have dropped from unlikely to definitely not.

[Solanum]

Don't Make a Three-Parent Baby. Adopt Instead

With the advent of reproductive technology then, we, and our culture, made very obvious our value rankings: we prioritize genetic relationships to such a degree that we created and utilize a technology to allow one or both parents to have this relationship, even when doing so requires great intervention on the body and to the exclusion of inviting a needy child into our homes.

[Dweebston]

Who wants a needy child, though? Do they have a low-maintenance variety?

[Charles Easterly]

Needy children work longer hours for less pay.

I mean ? that's what I read somewhere.

[Emmerson Biggins]

for the kind of people who would take advice on this subject from Wired, I totally agree.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"NBC evening news anchor Brian Williams is temporarily off the air while the network conducts an internal investigation into his embellishments."

What about his producer (s)? I mean, they had to have known he was being a douche, no?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"What more do you people want - we got our scapegoat all ready for sacrifice!"

[Raven Nation]

I think it would be great if the media lost control of the narrative and people started fact-checking all the reports, etc.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Michale Moore is upset...because Bush.

It's AMAZING how retarded how their logic spins on the left.

[Ted S.]

The producers are equally douchey, I presume.

[Lord Humungus]

When America behaved like ISIS: Jesse Washington and the Bible Belt's dark history of public lynchings

Jesse Washington was just one black man to die horribly at the hands of white death squads. Between 1882 and 1968 ? 1968! ? there were 4,743 recorded lynchings in the US. About a quarter of them were white people, many of whom had been killed for sympathizing with black folks. My father, who was born in 1904 near Paris, Texas, kept in a drawer that newspaper photograph from back when he was a boy of thousands of people gathered as if at a picnic to feast on the torture and hanging of a black man in the center of town. On a journey tracing our roots many years later, my father choked and grew silent as we stood near the spot where it had happened.

Yes, it was hard to get back to sleep the night we heard the news of the Jordanian pilot's horrendous end. ISIS be damned! I thought. But with the next breath I could only think that our own barbarians did not have to wait at any gate. They were insiders. Home grown. Godly. Our neighbors, friends, and kin. People like us.

[Dweebston]

ISIS doesn't epitomize Islam overall, but the Klan is pretty much America incarnate. Got it.

[Monty Crisco]

Assuming that if Salon is truly going to repudiate all things KKK, then they are now reversing their previous position on gun control and are FULLY behind an unrestricted 2A?

[Charles Easterly]

The sound of crickets is all that I hear.

[John]

So the fact that the country fought a civil war and practically tore itself apart again in the 1960s to stop that means nothing?

Beyond that, what is Salon's point? Do they honestly think that any country guilty of any evil has no right to say anything or fight evil? The entire point of that article seems to be that no one has any right to stand up to evil because we are all just as bad. Isn't saying that pretty much the definition of evil?

[Dweebston]

Before we northerners take umbrage with the barbaric practices in the south, let us consider our own past misdeeds lest we forget our execrable treatment of the natives of this fine land. Only then as moral equals can we fail to do anything about ending slavery.

[John]

Germany was a victim of the West. And how dare we criticize their treatment of the Jews in light of our own treatment of blacks.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They don't have one. They're just signaling.

[Irish]

Salon's point is the same as Obama's point when bringing up the Crusades - you can't criticize Islam for the obvious correlation between Islamic radicalism and terrorism because at some point, decades or centuries ago, people in your group did something bad.

It's really tremendous logic. For example, France should not have been allowed to criticize America's invasion of Iraq because of Napoleon's military expansionism. Similarly, Germany should never be allowed to criticize anyone because of the Nazis.

[John]

Salon liberals no doubt claim to love America. It is just their way of showing it is constantly criticizing it and defending and excusing its enemies no matter how evil. Salon Progs only beat America because they love it.

[sarcasmic]

They don't love America. They love what America should be. Which is a whole lot different from what it is.

[John]

They only beat you because they want you to be better.

[BardMetal]

I think that is close to the truth, most Progs I've talked to seem to hate America/western civilization/etc because it's not absolutely perfect in their eyes, because it too has some black marks on it's history.

Them seem to forget that despite it's flaws it's better then any of the alternatives that currently exist, or has existed.

[sarcasmic]

Them seem to forget that despite it's flaws it's better then any of the alternatives that currently exist, or has existed.

But, but, but... Denmark!

[CatoTheElder]

Lest any Danes get on their high horse and think they are unique, it wasn't long ago that their Viking forefathers looted villages, raped the women, and took survivors as chattel slaves. And, of course, they did this in name of their old Norse gods.

[John]

Bard Metal,

Most of them have never actually been to a foreign culture. At best they have been to Europe, which isn't that much different from the US. And they don't even experience Europe. They go to the tourist places and have no idea how the typical European thinks or lives.

My experience with Progs is that they are nearly always profoundly ignorant about the rest of the world and about history. Every single person I know who I would describe as knowledgeable about history is somewhere on the right. Progs have these utterly naive and ignorant views of what the rest of the world is like. So, they honestly think that the US is more racist or that our society is more oppressive than other societies.

[Stormy Dragon]

This is projection here. It's conservative who are unable to love a less than perfect America (thus thier hysterical reaction to anyone suggesting it is less than perfect). Unable to grasp the concept that someone could love something and still be critical of it, they assume anyone who isn't a "my country, right or wrong" type must not love it.

[sarcasmic]

Beyond that, what is Salon's point?

That if you're white, then it is your duty to hate yourself.

[hamilton]

Wow, good thing we aren't burning brown children to death any more. Nope, not a kind and gentle Democratic administration like us, by jiminy.

[Matrix]

Yes, it was a shameful time in history. But honestly, which country on Earth never had their own issues like this, be it witch trials or ethnic cleansings. Yes, our ancestors were barbarous and killed many innocent people. Does that mean we cannot condemn contemporaries for such actions? Hardly.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Only those with the purest of victim cred stretching back generations and centuries may criticize.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

White people sure have a lot of nerve denouncing other peoples' atrocities.

What about the Crusades? The Wounded Knee Massacre? Vanilla Ice?

[John]

And when the hell is Canada going to finally take responsibility for Justin Bieber?

While we are at it, Rufus you and your people have some real explaining to do regarding Seline Dion.

[BardMetal]

I think in different times the creation of Justin Bieber would be considered a cause for war.

[John]

IN fairness, we inflicted Paris Hilton and the Kardasians on the world.

[Juice]

Now now. Canada has apologize many times fro Bryan Adams.

[Irish]

My favorite part of this is that there were 4743 lynchings over 86 years.

That's 55 a year. That's certainly horrible, but for ISIS 55 deaths is a weekly body count. I just googled 'How many people has ISIS killed' and the Daily Beast says that in the first 9 months of 2014, it was estimated at 9347 civilians, so that doesn't even count combatants they killed.

That's twice as many in 9 months as were lynched in the American south in 80 years, so I have a difficult time understanding the equivalence.

[Mike M.]

Note that approximately 2,500 black people in America are killed by other blacks every single year. They're basically matching the entire historical output of the Klan against themselves every two years.

"#BlackLivesMatter"

[John]

A black male under the age of 25 has as great a chance of dying a violent death in a given year as a white American male under 25 did during the height of World War II. They are inflicting World War II on their youth every single year, year after year.

It is just horrible.

[Rhywun]

I'm sure Salon's article generator has already cranked out an explanation for why that is white people's fault.

[Entropy Void]

Stop using RACIST MATH!

[Mike M.]

They're basically doubling down on Obama's vapidity. The best response the left can come up with to the barbarism of the radical Muslims is to repeatedly give America the middle finger. Man, these people are pathetic.

[Spoonman.]

I have an ISIS question.

Who, exactly, is going to dislodge them from Fallujah and Mosul? It won't be the Iraqi army. So is the plan to wait until Obama is out of office, and then re-invade Iraq to remove ISIS? Or just to leave western Iraq in the hands of barbarians forever?

SLD: I don't want us to be involved. But our current involvement seems worthless.

[John]

Give them enough support and the Iraqi Army would dislodge them. ISIS is a bunch of retards running around in HMWWVs and pickups. A serious US air campaign would obliterate them. The only reason the Iraqi army fell apart was because the soldiers concluded the US had abandoned the country and they were going to lose no matter what. Make it clear that ISIS is going to be destroyed and they will join the winning side.

If you notice, they haven't taken the rest of Iraq and have lost ground once the US did the little bit it has. Do a lot more an you could leave them with a greasy spot. Even better, you do it with air power and let the Iraqis do the dirty work of terror in revenge. Let them kill or hang everyone associated with the organization sending a message to every budding jihadist in the world this is how this kind of behavior ends.

[Dweebston]

If you notice, they haven't taken the rest of Iraq and have lost ground once the US did the little bit it has.

So... Obama's foreign policy is an unalloyed success? /msnbc

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Arm the Kurds with sweet weapons.

And watch.

[John]

That too. Give them all they want and massive air support. Then tell them to go full Ghegis on ISIS's asses.

The problem is Obama will never do that because frankly I don't think he has much of a problem with ISIS. He is only doing what he is doing out of political necessity. If there wasn't a political price to be paid, I think he would not have a problem with ISIS taking over the entire middle east. He views them more as a potential strategic partner than an enemy. He is just forced to act otherwise by the pesky Europeans, evil Jews and racist tea baggers.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Not only will Obama not do that, but the Turks won't let him. They are not interested in armed Kurds.

[John]

There is that. But he won't really let the Iraqis do it either. He honestly doesn't understand what the big deal about ISIS is or why anyone has a problem with them.

[Steve G]

A serious US air campaign would obliterate them

*facepalm*

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else thought he could win through an air campaign?

[Steve G]

Curtis Lemay?

[Charles Easterly]

I second Steve's pick.

"If you kill enough of them they'll stop fighting."

However, this is the quote of his I've never forgotten: "Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal."

Victors write history.

[Juice]

Give them enough support and the Iraqi Army would dislodge them.

The US gave The "Iraqi" Army plenty of support and when ISIS came a calling they up and ran away because a bunch of shiites aren't going to die to defend a bunch of sunnis whom they were fighting just a couple of years ago.

[John]

No we didn't. We walked away and gave them no support. And when ISIS showed up, they ran.

[Injun, as in from India]

Who, exactly, is going to dislodge them from Fallujah and Mosul?

Kurds?

[Lord Humungus]

Because they taste so good:

Almost 1 billion monarch butterflies have disappeared since the 1990s

On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (both conservation groups) launched a $3.2 million campaign dedicated to saving monarch butterflies. In the late 1990s, the orange and black species' population hovered around 1 billion ? in the past few years, that has fallen by 90 percent.

The butterflies, which alight from Mexico to Canada on a journey that takes six generations to complete, rely on milkweed plants for food and sustenance. Farmers and homeowners have largely destroyed the plants with herbicides, so the campaign basically aims to regrow it by the masses.

[R C Dean]

I can remember the Monarch migration coming through town a couple times when I was a teenager.

Some yards would be literally (and I mean that correctly) covered in Monarchs. It was pretty amazing.

The milkweed thing has been known as an issue for decades. I would think seeding roadsides and medians (and not mowing them as needed) would be the way to go.

[Juice]

You've got to make sure it's the RIGHT KIND of milkweed too.

[Lord Humungus]

7 fascist regimes America enthusiastically supported
Republicans critical of Obama's Cuba strategy ignore our long history of propping up Latin American dictatorships

President Barack Obama inspired a great deal of debate when, in December, he asserted that it was time for the United States to begin to normalize relations with Cuba and start loosening the embargo that has been in effect since the early 1960s. And many hard-right Republicans and neocons, from Texas' Ted Cruz and Florida's Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate to House Speaker John Boehner, have been vehemently critical of Obama's stand. Boehner has insisted that "relations with the Castro regime should not be revisited, let alone normalized, until the Cuban people enjoy freedom," and Cruz has maintained that because Fidel and Raul Castro are "brutal dictators," the embargo must remain. But given the United States' long history of supporting one fascist dictatorship after another in Latin America, the embargo of Cuba has been the height of hypocrisy on the U.S.' part.

[John]

Those regimes were not hostile to our interests. Cuba is. These idiots honestly think that the US should actively support its own enemies.

[Irish]

How is Cuba hostile to our interests? What can Cuba possibly do now that the Soviet Union is gone which would in any way damage American interests?

They have the population of New York City and a per capita GDP slightly higher than the Dominican Republic.

[John]

How is Cuba hostile to our interests?

When they had the money, they bankrolled every anti-American leftist in Latin America. They would do so again if they are ever not broke. They also are involved with any and every international drug gang down there. They are aligned with Muduro and do everything they can to support the communist insurgency in Columbia.

Cuba before the Soviets cut them off were responsible for an unbelievable amount of harm and trouble in Latin America and Africa. They haven't changed. They just no longer have any cash. Let them get some and they will go right back to doing what they were.

Do you honestly think the Cuban Communists are just these groovy people who want to be left alone to build socialist paradise?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Guten morgen, suckas. Here I am back in the cold after the tropical heat of Utah (not joking). At least now all the people in Park City know what skiing Vermont is like. Except for this season, of course.

[Old Man With Candy]

Snowbird any better?

[Kaptious Kristen]

South-facing slopes will be bad, north-facing will be crusty. The pattern looks like it will change middle of next week, according to wasatchsnowforecast.com

[Old Man With Candy]

Fresh powder next week?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

On a scale of 1 to 10 how much Frank Underwood is in Obama?

[Idle Hands]

he's like a one. But he thinks he's an 11

[Injun, as in from India]

All 10 inches of him.

/ducks

[John]

So Obama actually described the Paris Jewish Deli Massacre as "killing a bunch of random people in a deli". The thing to always remember about Obama is that he really is that stupid. He honestly thinks that what happened in France was just random crime. We have not once but twice elected someone with the intelligence and wisdom of a below average KOS diarist.

[sarcasmic]

He honestly thinks that what happened in France was just random crime.

I don't think so. He's a liar. He knows exactly what happened, but he doesn't want to offend the Muslim community by telling the truth.

[John]

I think you give him too much credit. I think he is that stupid. I have learned to bet on stupid with Obama.

[Restoras]

I think it is less about offending the Muslim community than it is about not wanting to admit that one group, or any group (besides Republicans) for that matter, are capable of evil and are willing to commit murder in the name of their ideology.

Progtards don't want to admit that people are capable of the most heinous acts of brutality and violence. I think it has something to do with de-legitimizing their narrative.

[The Late P Brooks]

Paging Derpetologist! Vox, find it yourself, if you dare.

The internet has made everybody audible. And, as a result, anybody can become a victim of a pitchfork-wielding mob, if you happen to say something online that the mob wants silenced. Nowhere has this reality been clearer than in the backlash against nascent feminism on Twitter.

Followed by an interminable, incomprehensible, unreadable torrent of word salad. Something something men hate feminism something troglodytes blah blah blah.

Archie Bunker is probably in there somewhere.

Do

not

care.

[John]

We need to do something about people standing up to our mob violence tactics. Stop their mob violence so ours can effectively silence anyone we don't like!!

/Signed

VOX

[Lord Humungus]

So... had a conversation with my so-con / conservative co-worker.

After talking about the current state of America, agreed that our personal freedoms are being taken away. And how important liberty is...

And then immediately goes on about how pornography and drugs have to be taken away for "safety" reasons.

Then I asked him who gets to determine what is pornographic, or what drugs (alcohol?) are safe enough for consumption.

A bit of silence and then a change of subject.

[John]

Drugs can at least kill you if you take enough of them. What exactly is unsafe about porn? Did he explain that? Does he think people really do go blind from jerking off?

[sarcasmic]

Because the women who voluntarily and willingly participate in the production of pornography are victims of human trafficking. Duh.

[John]

I think that is the feminists who claim that. Socons usually go for the "if men are allowed to see porn they will no longer have sex with their wives and destroy their marriages" line. That or the "children's minds are poisoned by porn and we lose the specialness and sanctity of sex".

SOCONs are in their own way as weirdly sex obsessed as the worst porn addict. They can't view lust and sex like any other sin or sexual related sins like adultery like any other. Sex is some kind of special problem that requires special treatment and strange obsessions. Banning porn because it might destroy marriages is like banning sports because it causes men to spend less time with their wives and children.

[SugarFree]

BAN THE SPORTS!

[John]

It is funny to see people's blind spots. The SOCONs would never support that even though the logic they use to ban porn applies equally well. The feminists, however, would totally be on board with that. The whole "domestic violence sky rockets on Super Bowl Sunday" claim is one of their most cherished myths. Yet, feminists would never support banning something they liked to get men to be better husbands.

[Stormy Dragon]

When a socon like John says that Socon would NEVER support something, it usually means they do support it, they just don't think they can do so openly yet.

[John]

Yeah,

Dragon, i am totally a SOCON. You got me. What gave it away, my support for legalized child porn or my consistent support for ending the drug war?

You seem to be completely unable to grasp the concept that you don't have to like or support the same things as someone to also defend their right to be that way. In your limited imagination, the fact that I will stand up for the rights of SOCONs to believe what they want means I must be one of them.

Seriously, that must be a terrible way to think and live. Moreover, you are no friend of freedom, since you are incapable of defending the freedom of anyone you don't personally approve.

[Stormy Dragon]

You don't stand up for the rights of socons, you stand up for the powers of socons to infringe on the rights of others.

Just look today: we have a full-on Christian Dominionist and you can't even bring yourself to say "well it's kind of disturbing Paul is hanging out with that sort of person, I don't think that reflects Paul's actual views". No, you defend them. Because you're one of them.

[John]

You don't stand up for the rights of socons, you stand up for the powers of socons to infringe on the rights of others.

Yeah by refusing to bake cakes or educating their kids how they want to. The problem here is you think someone thinking or doing something you don't like is infringing on other people's rights and I don't.

[Stormy Dragon]

You're right, people should be free to refuse to bake cakes for gay people. But people should also be free to refuse to accomodate Christians as well.

So again, look at the Janet Porter trailer. There's a guy asking "why is a gay-straight student alliance allowed to exist at schools?" If other parents don't mind their kids joining such a club, why is Janet Porter's approval necessary? Because of course "educating their kids how they want to" means "educating your kids how they want to".

[John]

There's a guy asking "why is a gay-straight student alliance allowed to exist at schools?"

Clearly he has no right to ask that or have any influence on how is tax money is spent. Right? And you know I am all about forced public schools. Not like I don't constantly argue for school choice or anything.

Yes, you hate that guy and want to use the power of government to do him harm. I object to that, so of course it must be because I am just like him.

[John]

But people should also be free to refuse to accomodate Christians as well.

I absolutely support your right to be a complete and utter bigoted asshole. I would never say otherwise.

[Stormy Dragon]

Refusing to live as a fundamentalist Christian == bigoted asshole

Yeah, you're defintely not a Christianist. /sarc

[Entropy Void]

If the porn causes concussions ...

[Kaptious Kristen]

Heh heh. This woman is related (kind of, by marriage) to one of my colleagues.

[John]

What was the dispute about?

[Kaptious Kristen]

My colleague says she's just plain old crazy.

[Irish]

Idea for a Remy song:

Sung to the tune of Gangster's Paradise, it's about the day to day travails of a Venezuelan peasant as he goes about trying to steal packs of $900 condoms from the back of a truck and hoard toilet paper in his garage.

You call it Worker's Paradise and the chorus is sung by a man dressed like Hugo Chavez.

[lap83]

I like it.

[sarcasmic]

Police stop teens seeking snow shoveling work

[WTF]

New Jersey is a proggie paradise.

[Rhywun]

I think we know by now that this story could have originated in any state of the union.

[The artist known Dunphy]

I am pretty sure it wouldn't be likely in Hawaii

[The Late P Brooks]

And then immediately goes on about how pornography and drugs have to be taken away for "safety" reasons.

But what about teh violent sexy videogames?

Those poor little chilluns.

[The Late P Brooks]

Police stop teens seeking snow shoveling work

Again?

[Stormy Dragon]

Mike Huckabbe, Rand Paul, Louie Gohmert, and Steve King appear in documentary by Christian Dominionist Janet Porter:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the.....nt_to.html

[John]

So? Seriously, who cares? Did they say something objectionable? If so, what was it? If not, then why should anyone care?

[Stormy Dragon]

So if Obama appeared in a movie by a group that explicitly advocates overthrowing the US government and replacing it with a communist state, you wouldn't care unless he personally said something objectionable in the film?

[John]

He pretty much did that. He got his political start from Bill Ayers. How many bombs has this guy built? How much time in prison has he spent?

Unless you want to admit that Obama's association with Ayers is a big deal and should have disqualified him from being President, you really have no standing to complain about this.

I understand your point that this might be a big deal. The fact is however, the standard for this kind of stuff was set with Obama. So we now have to live with it. As lousy as a standard as it may be, it would be worse if it only applied to the benefit of one side.

[Stormy Dragon]

I don't think Obama was qualified to be President for a whole host of reasons. Hence my not voting for him.

[John]

Good for you. But the fact is that his association with Wright and Ayers were dismissed. So, the sorts of associations you mention should be dismissed as well.

Call me about these things when anyone on the Left is ever held responsible for associating themselves with a nut. Until then, I really don't care.

[WTF]

Principals, John, not principles.

[Stormy Dragon]

Funny you should complain about Wright since the thing he said that was so outrageous (God is pissed at America for not obeying his will), is exactly the same thing Janet Porter says.

Of course you're a supporter of the sort of tyranny Porter wants to impose, so when she says it, you don't care.

[John]

Again, I objected to Wright Dragon. And the media said, it didn't matter. So, it doesn't matter. What is the point of my complaining about this when all it does is hold Paul, who I like, to a standard that his opponents were never be held too?

I lost and people like you won on the Wright issue. Sucks to be me. But, I am not going to compound that loss by now holding people on my own side to a standard that people on the other side are not held to.

So again, get back to me about this stuff when someone on the left is held accountable. Until then, I really don't give a shit if you have a picture of Paul with Hitler. He has the right to be held to the same standard his opponents are held to in this regard, which is no standard.

[Stormy Dragon]

Of course you aren't, because your "libertarianism" is completely phony. You love big government, as long as it's socon big government.

You're defending Paul not because of some bullshit Tu quoque, but because you're glad he's finally coming over to your side to help you smite the heathens.

[John]

No Dragon. I am not a phony. I am nothing if not completely transparent in my views. You just don't like them. And you only care about this because you don't like Paul. You never gave a shit about Ayers and Wright because you are at least sympathetic to anyone on the left.

Stop projecting your insincerity on me.

[Stormy Dragon]

Your right, I don't like you. But I also think you're a Christianist, despite your claims to favor freedom, because pretty much all you ever do is defend Christians trying to use the state to force compliance with your religion.

But just because I despise you, doesn't mean I like Obama. I'm free to despise you both. You're so much alike after all.

And as for Paul, I want to like him because he seems to say the right things, but lately he seems to say the right things to neo cons and so cons too. So I'm left to wonder: is he fooling them or fool me? Or all of us?

[John]

But I also think you're a Christianist

Some believe in unicorns too. You just convince yourself of that because you can't accept that anyone could respect the rights and views of people you don't like without being one.

because pretty much all you ever do is defend Christians trying to use the state to force compliance with your religion.

Except when I am arguing against the drug war, police brutality, forfeiture, prosecutors, the welfare state and about a hundred other things. When do you ever show up on the drug war or the dead puppy threads? Rarely if ever. All you care about is making excuses for the left and explaining how it is okay to deny free expression to people on the right you don't like.,

You only despise me because my very existence reveals what a phony you are.

[The artist known Dunphy]

Paul can't even support MJ legalisation.

He's a joke on so many fronts of libertarianism

[Sevo]

Sevo to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras: Up yours!

"Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said late Monday that if negotiations with the eurozone fail, the country would go to 'Plan B', which could involve asking for funding from the United States,"...
http://news.yahoo.com/greece-l.....09496.html

[John]

I doubt he said that out of nowhere. Watch Obama illegally send a few hundred billion to bail out the Greeks. That ought to help the Democrats' 2016 election prospects.

[Stormy Dragon]

I'm pretty sure he did say that out of nowhere, since he spent the entire run up to the election saying that Germany was going to do the same thing when it was obvious to everyone that they wouldn't. Tsipras is just delusional.

[John]

Maybe. On the other hand the US State Department and Obama is very much committed to the continued existence of the EU. It would not surprise me at all if Obama had the US step in to keep the Greeks from leaving the Euro if there was no one else who would.

[Stormy Dragon]

The only country that's going to give Greece huge amounts of money right now is possibly Russia and that's just because there's an advantage in pulling Greece out of the EU because it will block the attempt to build alternate natural gas pipelines that aren't under Russia's control.

[Sevo]

My dead-tree version of the paper this morning had him claiming the 'austerity' is just a 'political ploy' by the Germans, and then turning around and asking for billions in free money.
Hey, you slimy lefty, if it's just 'politics', why, tell your constituents they can eat a political speech.
No, it isn't 'just politics'; you're out of money!

[Old Man With Candy]

What's the real cause of rape?

Problem solved.

[John]

Every time I see something like that I get more tempted to start trolling the feminist boards under the pseudonym of a conservative Saudi woman living in America. You could totally laud the virtues of dressing modestly, never leaving your home without escort and being the property of your husband. When they objected to anything, I would just accuse them of cultural imperialism and racism. It would be great watching their heads explode at the thought of attacking a woman with more victim creed than they have.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Please do this!

[Zeb]

I've met some feminists who are honest enough to come out and say that Islam is a crappy and very anti-feminist religion that treats women poorly. It would be interesting to test how common that is.

[This Machine Loves Koch]

This is almost as good as your idea to begin writing a proggie blog, develop a substantial following, then out yourself as a libertarian who's been bringing down the movement from the inside all along.

Allmost as good.

[lap83]

A Saudi Arabian historian trying to justify the nation's ban on female drivers says women who drive in other countries such as the United States don't care if they're raped and that sexual violence "is no big deal" to them."

There could be an upside to this, if crazy Muslims decide NOT to rape western women because we wouldn't view it as punishment.

[Rhywun]

So, basically he's agreeing with radical feminists who think that men cannot restrain themselves from raping every woman in sight.

[Coeus]

Beck is the classiest mothafucka in the room.

After the 57th Grammy Awards, Kanye West clarified that in his near-interruption of Beck's acceptance speech for album of the year, he intended to announce that Beyonce should have won. Beck, who encouraged West to join him onstage after he'd turn around and left, maintains he hasn't taken offense at West's insult.

VIDEO:Kanye Interrupts Beck After Grammy Win

"I was just so excited he was coming up," Beck said after the show. "He deserves to be onstage as much as anybody. How many great records has he put out in the last five years, right?"

In a post-show press conference, the winner of 21 Grammys commended himself for holding his peace on the live telecast but said that Beck should "respect artistry" and should have given his award to Beyonce.

Beck agreed that she deserved to win album of the year. "Absolutely," he said. "I thought she was going to win. Come on, she's Beyonce!"

When asked about West's implication that Beck isn't a true artist, he replied, "You can't please everybody, man. I still love him and think he's genius. I aspire to do what he does."

I'd have left out the g-word, though.

[Pro Libertate]

He actually said "heinous."

[lap83]

It's probably easy to be gracious when you're going home with the award.

[John]

"I was just so excited he was coming up," Beck said after the show. "He deserves to be onstage as much as anybody. How many great records has he put out in the last five years, right?"

Maybe my sarc meter is set too sensitive, but I read that as a brilliant slam.

[Rhywun]

I can't believe "Beck" is still around. He was awful 20 years ago but at least now with so much more choice, I don't have to hear him anymore. Or any of the other crap these narcissists fawn over each other about. I have to wonder how much longer the Grammys will be at all relevant.

[Zeb]

I thought Mutations was a great album. Most of what he has done since then is pretty boring.

[jdgalt]

"Measles parties" are open and shut child abuse. Send the parents to jail.

[BuSab Agent]

So paying a doctor to inject the measles virus to provide temporary immunity is good, but exposing a healthy child to the virus to gain permanent immunity is bad. Gotcha.

[TracyBshore]

my best friend's sister makes $61 hourly on the computer . She has been without a job for 8 months but last month her income was $15147 just working on the computer for a few hours. this page..............

????? http://www.netpay20.com

[John]

The disturbing thing about that article is not the worry that Hawaii is going to break away. It is that the Chinese Military is apparently retarded and thinks it might. The thought of people that stupid controlling nuclear weapons should not make you sleep well at night.

[Pro Libertate]

This is all silly, anyway. Japan will take Hawaii through popular acclamation. . .when the robots are ready.

[Pope Jimbo]

I can hardly wait until the reinstitute the kapu system where you could kill a commoner if their shadow fell across the shadow of a royal.

Or human sacrifice. That will be a great new tourist attraction.

http://hawaii-inns.com/history/

I think that this is another example of the rebels all thinking that they will be on the inside once the revolution has happened. I bet they don't think they will end up being a commoner who has to bow and scrape to the new king.

[WTF]

I don't think they're stupid, they just really, really, don't understand America. People like to claim that Americans are ignorant about the rest of the world, but most of the rest of the world is really ignorant about the United States. They all think they know shit that just isn't true.

[John]

Yes. The entire thing reads like a drunken night of trash talking between Chinese and US diplomats and military attaches.

[John]

That is a great point. The rest of the world seems to forever think the US is on the verge of collapse and an easy mark. It is doesn't matter how many times we kick the living shit out of people, they forever think the US is some weak dottering country rather than the unpredictable and deeply dangerous one it is.

[Raven Nation]

As someone who immigrated to America in his late 20s, I think this is mostly correct but let me add something.

Most people outside America don't understand America but, because of the global spread of US culture, we think we understand America. Which makes the whole thing much more complicated.

[BardMetal]

Raven Nation, interesting name, did you migrate from a Scandinavian or Germanic country?

[Injun, as in from India]

Woot! Who else here is an immigrant?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Could barely even make turns in the soup that was the base area. We skied from the top the whole time, needless to say. We did have a couple of days of fresh, Wednesday being the best (I was actually able to ski a blue trail a couple times in a row without killing myself).

Next year: Beaver Creek, where the base is at 8000' and the weed flows like...something.

[Raven Nation]

No, the Land Down Under. Raven Nation comes from the old SciFi Channel Show, First Wave

[gaijin]

I took it to mean he emigrated from Baltimore

[Protagoronus]

I have friends just back from the Canyons where they decided to say fuck it and go golfing Sunday.

[Pope Jimbo]

I married one. Does that count?

Took advantage of a sweet gal from Korea fresh off the boat to study at Memphis State who actually thought I was a catch.

23 years later, I think she has learned her lesson.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yeah, Canyons' altitude is even lower than PCMR. We rode the lift with one guy who was skiing Canyons, but decided to take Wednesday off, which was the only really good day of the week.

Here's Wednesday's conditions (Parley's Park trail).

And a gratuitous shot of me from the pros they have staked out on certain trails.

[Charles Easterly]

Plaid!

[Citizen Nothing]

Give 'em Kaho'olawe. Seriously. It would be fun to watch the 10 sovereignty groups fighting it out and trying to prove they could establish a workable society, all amongst unexploded ordnance.

[Citizen Nothing]

I go to Beaver Creek every year. A friend's parents used to have a sweet ski-in, ski-out condo a few doors down from Gerald Ford.

[Restoras]

Next year: Beaver Creek, where the base is at 8000' and the weed flows like...something.

No no no. Telluride. The base is 9,000 feet and there is a marijuana dispensary in town.

[Restoras]

It'll have to be the robots since the Japanese aren't having sex.

[Pro Libertate]

With other humans, no. In any event, Japan has a whole lot more influence on Hawaii than China.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Not liking Telluride's trail map.