Krazy Kitzhaber Watch!, Labor Dispute May Entangle Obama, New Battle Over Federal Role in Education: P.M. Links

• 

  State of Oregon

  Oregonians won't get to see scandal-dogged Governor John Kitzhaber go full gonzo and barricade himself in his office after all. Instead, he's resigning peacefully, though in disgrace, and handing power over to Secretary of State Kate Brown. Damn.

• Obama is under pressure to intervene in the labor dispute slowing work at West Coast ports. Seriously? What, is it 1950 again?
• Congressional Republicans want to reduce the federal government's role in education, the White House doesn't. Political tussle ensues and you should just get your kids out of the public schools.
• Connecticut's Sandy Hook Advisory Commission fine-tunes its proposals for forting-up schools, unenforceable gun bans, and a mental health security state.
• Political lefties have a not-so-new "secret" strategy: going after the Koch brothers.
• Fighting escalates in Ukraine before the weekend ceasefire throws a wet blanket over the festivities.
• "I'm not dead yet," insists the eurozone economy.

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]

"I'm not dead yet," insists the eurozone economy.

The Abe Vigoda of economies.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"Oregonians won't get to see scandal-dogged Governor John Kitzhaber go full gonzo and barricade himself in his office after all."

Has it been reported which party he belongs to? Hm?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Given that he's an Oregonian it's a given that he's a Democrat.

[datcv]

I've already seen the pathetic commentary of "OH YEAH WELL BOB MCDONELL REPUBLICAN DERP DERP!" to which I reply "Yes, and that is why in Virginia, we only allow one term as governor, whereas you idiots elected this guy to a FOURTH TERM!".

[Virginian]

Not to mention McDonnell's sins are venial, not mortal. Plus I find it slightly hypocritical for the liberals of VA to get on their high horse. They voted to make the next governor Scumbag Terry. If there is anyone in American politics dirtier than Terry McAuliffe, I don't know who it could be.

I mean it would be one thing if they nominated Jim Webb or some other halfway decent person. But they spent the whole race crowing about corruption while running a guy who's dirty even for a politician.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Er, it's not like McDonell ever lost a statewide election, right (AG and Governor according to wiki)? So I don't see how Virginia voters get much credit there.

[Virginian]

I was speaking more about how the Dems and the media in VA hung McDonnell's penny ante corruption around the Cooch's neck in order to boost their candidate, who is one of the slimiest politicians alive in this country today.

Make no mistake, the charges were and remain ticky tack bullshit. This was the DNC using the power of the federal government to keep the two VA Senate seats in Dem hands.

I mean, all politicians are dirty, every single one of them. If you dig, you'll find something. So the key for whichever party controls the White House is deciding which up and coming pols of the other party you need to stop before they become a problem.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You might not be wrong:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.....connection

[Virginian]

Right, that looks like a perfect example to me. I couldn't think of any examples from the Bush DoJ, but during his tenure I was more concerned with how they kept finding ways around the Bill of Rights.

Every single human being in this country breaks at least one law every single week. I think the byzantine web of campaign finance laws in particular mean you can nail pretty much any elected official, even the ones who aren't total scumbags. All it takes is the will to move against them.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

You'd need the original Frankenstein to bring back the eurozone economy at this point.

[MJGreen]

At least they haven't turned Japanese.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

I really think so!

[Marshall Gill]

"I'm not dead yet," insists the eurozone economy.

You're not fooling anyone, you know, you will be stone cold dead in a minute.

[LynchPin1477]

Of the 18 member states of the eurozone only three recorded a contraction in their economy: Greece, Finland and Cyprus.

An unqualified success!!

Finland

But what? I thought the Nordic model produced nothing but sunshine and big breasted women.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

"sunshine and big breasted women"

MMmmm...

I am sorry, what were we talking about again?

[HeteroPatriarch]

'ere, he says he's not dead!

[Injun, as in from India]

Southern Poverty Law Center Apologizes To Ben Carson For Putting Him On Its 'Extremist' List

Under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that the civil rights organization had lumped Carson in with the likes of KKK members and other zealots on its "extremist watch list," the SPLC announced on Wednesday that it was scrubbing Carson's name.

Has anyone checked if Reason magazine readers are in the SPLC Extremist Watchlist yet?

[Tonio]

Who cares? They are irrelevant. Stunts like this are clearly end-stage attention whoring.

[R C Dean]

Who cares? They are irrelevant. Stunts like this are clearly end-stage attention whoring effective fund-raising ploys.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm pretty sure we are.

Come to think of it, there's a Royally Craving Meat Pies van right in front of my house.

[Ted S.]

At least the RCMP won't go after you for violating the language laws.

(I presume you're breaking one of Quebec's laws by posting here in English.)

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not yet. If they could they would. There have been some boneheads who wanted to regulate the language on the internet but so far it's been a dead issue. Idiots.

[SusanM]

That explains the Flowers By Irene truck...

[Mike M.]

I wonder if Mark Potok had on that concern troll sad face that he's perfected so well.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I just read that apology.

It was no apology.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Instead, he's resigning peacefully, though in disgrace, and handing power over to Secretary of State Kate Brown.

At least put him on a helicopter flashing double V signs.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

-1 John Kitzhaber to kick around any more

[Fist of Etiquette]

Alt text has you covered.

[Tonio]

Oh, that was tasty. Good call, Fist. Well-done, 2Chilly.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

OK, hat tip to beloved staffer Tuccille.

[Tonio]

+1 Checkers Speech reference.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Oregonians won't get to see scandal-dogged Governor John Kitzhaber go full gonzo and barricade himself in his office after all. Instead, he's resigning peacefully, though in disgrace, and handing power over to Secretary of State Kate Brown. Damn.

Worked out well for the warden in Shawshank.

[Injun, as in from India]

Political lefties have a not-so-new "secret" strategy: going after the Koch brothers.

Koch bad.
Steyer, Buffet, Bloomberg good.

[Zeb]

Don't forget Soros.

[juris imprudent]

I mean, it worked so well in 2014. These can't be the same people that worked Obama's campaigns.

[Shirley Knott]

I think every time I hear an attack on the Koch brothers, particularly used to slam/smear any political stance not shared by the utterer, I'm simply got to repeat "ad hominem fallacy" over and over again.

[waffles]

Sitting in the fetal position rocking back and forth I take it?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...you should just get your kids out of the public schools.

That's easy for you to say, Tuccille. Some of us don't make Reason bucks.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Isn't 2chilly Reason's kept man?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Nah, he actually puts out good articles and seems to believe what he's saying rather than being a hack who's just padding his resume and wallet before jumping to a more mainstream publication.

LEAVE 2CHILLY ALONE, LEAVE HIM ALOOOOONE

[R C Dean]

He's Dr. 2Chilly's kept man, is who he is.

With the mad bux she must be raking in with a pediatric Medicaid practice, he probably post from his private island.

[Ted S.]

Are those anything like Canadian Tire dollars?

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

More like Hank Bucks!

[DJF]

GAO High Risk List

32 Federal Government programs which the GAO reports has a high risk "due to their vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or are most in need of transformation"

This is probably not new, but its new to me so I will post it

http://www.gao.gov/highrisk/overview

I am betting that the Federal programs not on this list are on the list which says "Programs so corrupt and wasteful we don't even want to think about them"

[Mad Scientist]

Obama is under pressure to intervene in the labor dispute slowing work at West Coast ports.

The solution to any problem the government created is obviously to get more government involvement.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

It's a corollary to the First Rule of Brute Force: If Brute Force isn't working you are not using enough Brute Force.

[jesse.in.mb]

The Brute Squad!

Because The Princess Bride is always appropriate.

[Enough About Palin]

It wasn't him, Barack, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Political lefties have a not-so-new "secret" strategy: going after the Koch brothers.

On immigration?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Criminal justice reform. If the Kochs support it, it must be bad.

[DJF]

I heard those crazy Kochs are in favor of gay marrage.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

And public television, to push their insane "science" and "reason".

[Warty]

The worst thing you'll read today

Like all people of faith, I am horrified by the murder of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, and Razan Mohammad.

Us atheists are thrilled by murder, I guess. And it goes downhill from there.

That is a challenge, by the way. Try to find worse.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This from earlier today is pretty bad...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....rules.html

[Warty]

It's horrifying, all right, but I think mine wins on grounds of moral preening.

[Rhywun]

The older one wins. I've seen the opinion in this one expressed a thousand times before.

[Warty]

We need someone to judge the horror. SugarFree?

[jesse.in.mb]

Dude, he's just going to rewrite it, include some kind of bullet wound fucking and say "Now THAT's horror!"

[Zeb]

Uh-huh. No one ever justifies murder based on their faith. That never happens.

I like it when religious people assume that no one could possibly function without some equivalent to religion. Maybe some people don't feel a need to worship anything.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Maybe some people don't feel a need to worship anything.

Worship(n.) - adoring reverence or regard

I hazard to say that everybody has something that they focus on with adoring regard. Whether that be TEAM politics, money, sports teams, religion, intellect, a set of principles, self. Everybody has that one thing (or those few things) that drives them to achieve, to work hard, to persevere. That, to me, is why everybody worships something.

[SusanM]

Just because we don't want morality defined by a god does not meant we do not want morality

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Never fear, the lamestream media will downplay the atheism angle and focus on "Islamophobia" instead.

[Warty]

Never mind. I found something worse.

[Zeb]

You're going to have to prove that with some citations and links and shit or he might get all bitchy.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Look, if the LSM has been focusing on the atheism angle I apologize for my misstatements and extend my condolences to the atheists for the smears.

[Zeb]

I've already heard atheism mentioned in every single story about this. SO if that's the plan, they aren't doing a very good job.

But both atheism and Islamophobia are entirely irrelevant. Almost no atheists or people who distrust Islam go out and murder people. This guy's problem was being a violent asshole. Trying to tie it to ideology is as stupid as trying to tie it to guns.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm not tying it to atheism.

I would like to point out, though, that the LSM would be all over this if the guy talked about his Christian motivation.

Even if he didn't (see the atheist Eric Rudolph).

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Remember how Rudolph was a Christian fundamentalist?

[Zeb]

No. I can't even remember who that is at the moment.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Bombed the Olympics (for which Richard Jewell was blamed). Bombed an abortion clinic.

"In any case, there may be a tighter connection to the murders than abortion or religion. Deborah Rudolph, Eric's sister-in-law, says he's a drug addict. According to the AP, she told the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report that in the early 1990s, he would "sleep all day, then stay up all night and eat pizza and smoke pot and watch movies by Cheech and Chong." He reportedly made as much as $60,000 selling hydroponic marijuana. That much pot is enough to make anyone paranoid."

http://www.christianitytoday.c.....ml?start=2

[Anonymous Coward]

"Many good people continue to send me money and books," Rudolph writes in an undated letter. "Most of them have, of course, an agenda; mostly born-again Christians looking to save my soul. I suppose the assumption is made that because I'm in here I must be a 'sinner' in need of salvation, and they would be glad to sell me a ticket to heaven, hawking this salvation like peanuts at a ballgame. I do appreciate their charity, but I could really do without the condescension. They have been so nice I would hate to break it to them that I really prefer Nietzsche to the Bible."

Yep, I certainly do.

[Zeb]

I didn't say you were. That was just my take on the general situation. The media does seem to be all over the atheist thing.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

As I say, if you're right and I'm wrong, I retract what I said.

Unless I'm not allowed to say that on the Internet.

[Tonio]

Unless I'm not allowed to say that on the Internet.

I love it when Eddie is reduced to passive-aggressive whining.

[Mad Scientist]

Their instinct is always to put people into groups.

[MJGreen]

I blame it on the guy's lack of chin.

Chinless people are a menace and need to be monitored for the safety of society.

[jesse.in.mb]

I blame it on the guy's lack of chin.

You GET me, MJGreen!

[Irish]

The The Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig article I posted earlier is worse.

That's because everything she writes is the worst. I bet Nicole is just a product of her imagination, that's how bad she is.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We shouldn't be vilifying atheists because of the shooter. We should be vilifying overweight people!

[Warty]

Excellent point. His untreated beetus made him hangry. Sue General Mills!

[trshmnster the terrible]

His duhreetus prompted diahreehus caused by the diabeetus.

[jesse.in.mb]

It worked for Dan White

[Briggie]

This is pretty bad.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Joke's on you, I'm not reading that shit! It's Friday. Not gonna fuck it up.

[Acosmist]

Denying the antecedent is a fallacy, bro. Don't go all Bo on this thread.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fighting escalates in Ukraine before the weekend ceasefire throws a wet blanket over the festivities.

In Russia, fire ceases you.

[Warty]

You mean Syria.

[Caleb Turberville]

I'm sorta psyched up about Twin Peaks coming to Showtime. I've recently started re-watching the Twin Peaks as well as Blue Velvet. As good as Twin Peaks was, it's disappointing that it couldn't reach the levels of moral depravity as Blue Velvet.

[Ted S.]

I'm sorta psyched up about Twin Peaks coming to Showtime.

Isn't watching Twin Peaks like reading Agile Cyborg's acid-induced rants?

[Caleb Turberville]

It is sorta like a Freudian-film noir. Dale Cooper specializes in turning gibberish into meaningful clues.

[Ska]

And finding, pardon my language, a DAMN fine cup of coffee.

[Caleb Turberville]

And pie. And bacon and scrambled eggs. Crispy but not too crispy.

[juris imprudent]

No Cyborg's rants actually have more coherence than the entire Twin Peaks run.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

"Obama could, however, use his influence to convince the two sides to come to a resolution. A federal mediator is trying to facilitate talks, but this mediator needs "to do his job and keep both sides at the table," said Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif"

How exactly is the mediator supposed to do that, Janice? Pull out a gun and shoot one of the negotiators?

[DJF]

Cage Match judge. Two go in, one comes out.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Sith Lord style. "I have altered the pension plan. Pray I don't alter it any further."

[d3x / dt3]

Mediator Dredd

[Fist of Etiquette]

Connecticut's Sandy Hook Advisory Commission fine-tunes its proposals for forting-up schools, unenforceable gun bans, and a mental health security state.

They know that if they actually make schools safe, they'll be putting themselves out of business.

[Ted S.]

If concentrating the kids into camps where only responsible adults can look after them could save the life of even one child, don't we have an obligation to try?

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

You Know Who Else concentrated kids into camps?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

The YMCA?

[Stormy Dragon]

I worked at a YMCA summer camp for a while. Then general schedule was several sessions of traditional summer camp followed by a period at the end of the summer when they had foccused single subject camps like Riding Camp, Sailing Camp, etc.

There was one time I was helping out with a parent tour with the director and he told a group of parents, "and at the end of the year we have our concentration camps" before realizing that was a bad way to describe it.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Boy Scouts?

[d3x / dt3]

We could make sure the kids there are easily identified, say by a six-pointed yellow star on their jacket.

[Adans smith]

In truth children are far more likely to be harmed BY THEIR TEACHERS!

[Pro Libertate]

Along with an amendment requiring the separation of commerce and state, I'd also like one requiring the separation of education and state. We can repeal a couple of amendments while we're at it, namely the 16th and 17th.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

And where would you like your magical unicorn delivered Censor.

[Pro Libertate]

That's another amendment.

[Xajow]

Here is a new twist, I guess:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....70828.html

As best I can tell, the author disagrees with libertarianism because he thinks people should wash their hands after using the toilet in public restrooms.

[Zeb]

Never!

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

Proper Libertarians wash their hands before touching their junk, not after.

[Zeb]

He seems to think that no one would do anything if they weren't required to by law. Because without laws requiring it, no restaurant owner would have any reason to require employees to wash their hands. No one is going to put up a sign saying that employees are not required to wash their hands.

I suspect there is a bit of projection going on there.

[Xajow]

Yeah, it seems to be a variation on the old bit where even though author thinks washing hands is a good idea, and other people think washing hands is a good idea, if the government doesn't tell people to wash their hands, no one would do it; and so therefore, libertarianism doesn't work.

It reminds me of the time I saw someone try to argue that since libertarians would not legally require ingredient lists on foods, libertarianism required everyone to be experts on everything, and so therefore libertarianism doesn't work.

The arguments against libertarianism keep getting weirder and weirder. Which means we are making progress, I guess.

[Bardas Phocas]

...and germaphobia.

[MJGreen]

Shall we unleash the Frenchman on him?

[Ted S.]

Obama is under pressure to intervene in the labor dispute slowing work at West Coast ports. Seriously? What, is it 1950 again?

The Woman on Pier 13 is fun, if lousy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obama is under pressure to intervene in the labor dispute slowing work at West Coast ports.

Can't we email imports and exports yet? Come on, science.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

CNN 'mourns' the loss of Williams (a liar), Stewart (a jester who resigned by choice) and two other people who died.

http://twitchy.com/2015/02/13/.....ess-tweet/

[Ted S.]

CNN deleted the picture in that tweet. Or, at least, I got an error message when I clicked on that particular link.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

He was hoping that the other two would die?

[Warty]

I'm getting sick and tired of dinosaurs being forced on our children

[Aloysious]

I'm really concerned about dinosaurs, and I think something needs to be done. The science behind them is pretty flimsy, and I for one do not want my children being taught lies.

This is a joke. It has to be a joke.

[Zeb]

Yeah, has to be.

[Old Man With Candy]

Of course it is. I sincerely hope that it's from a Reason regular.

[Mad Scientist]

I admit it. Poe's Law applies here and I can't tell if this is serious.

[Xajow]

Wow. That is the funniest thing I have seen all day. And I have no idea if it is meant to be serious or not. I think it might funner if it is serious.

[jesse.in.mb]

Preach it, brother Warty!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Great comment from that one: You know that dinosaurs are just a gateway to the harder stuff though. One day your children are watching Walking With Dinosaurs then suddenly they're onto the hard stuff and reading The Origin of Species.

[jesse.in.mb]

My Korean students talked about chicken as "dinosaur meat" it bummed me out when I realized how unlikely it would be for American kids of the same age to have any concept of their relationship.

[datcv]

Mmm... Bulgogi T-Rex...

[Old Man With Candy]

Best comment:

I wish someone would set fire to Barney. Annoying cuntyfucker

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's about Barney & Friends.

[Loki]

That has to be a joke. Please tell me that's a joke...

[trshmnster the terrible]

I'm getting sick and tired of dinosaurs being forced on our children

Say no to dinosaur-child relations! Rawr means Rawr!

[Winston]

Seriously? What, is it 1950 again?

Yes because Obama and co. are such forward thinkers.

[Loki]

"I'm not dead yet," insists the eurozone economy.

You're not fooling anyone...

[Mike M.]

Bob McDonell just a couple of months ago, and now this guy in Oregon.

The across the board corruption of the so-called "elites" in this country is just sickening.

[Winston]

Kitzhaber had a college degree didn't he?

And least they are not schmucks!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

The across the board corruption of the so-called "elites" in this country is just sickening totally predictable and historically consistent.

FIFY

[Ted S.]

The entire New York State government.

[UnCivilServant]

Canukistanis need to tell the Quebecis to suck it up and respect their choice not to speak frog, rather than crap like this: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-.....e-31453599

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, it's getting really retarded. Two English speakers MUST speak French to each other in Quebec hospitals.

The attacks on freedom of expression is outrageous.

[Winston]

Argentina's president formally charged over alleged terrorist attack cover-up

http://www.theguardian.com/wor.....rto-nisman

[Aloysious]

Outrage as Shirley MacLaine asks: Were Holocaust victims paying for sins in past lives? (and did 'her friend' Stephen Hawking bring his devastating disease on himself?)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z3RfFYXp5X

Erin go bragh, Coos Bay, United States, about an hour ago

Always a provocative, beautiful, great lady. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

[Loki]

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[Enough About Palin]

You know who else asked if Holocaust victims were paying for sins in past lives?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Mahatma Hitler?

Adolph Gandhi?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well, she was in love with a married man in The Apartment.

[JeremyR]

That's really the trouble with Karma, it justifies any atrocity.

Terrible thing happened to them? Well, they deserved it for what they did in their past life.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Of course, that's the Kindergarten understanding of karma, and in no way bears relevance to how it is actually presented in Dharmic religious texts.

[straffinrun]

Enlighten me.

[rts]

If only more politicians would self-immolate...

Squamish councillor Peter Kent to set himself ablaze

Peter Kent, who was a stunt double for Arnold Schwarzenegger for 15 years in 14 films, pledged last November that if residents of the District of Squamish "rock the vote" ? that is, boost voter turnout from its 2011 levels of 41.2 per cent ? he would set himself on fire.

"At this point, I'm saying, me and my big mouth," Kent told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://boingboing.net/2015/02/.....cle-i.html

Oliver Sacks on a motorcycle in 1961 looks a lot like Zachary Quinto.

[Warty]

He was a competitive powerlifter at this time, too.

n 1962, he took a residency at UCLA, where he became a regular at Muscle Beach and set a California state weightlifting record with a 600-pound power lift: "I was known as Dr. Squat," he says, "which rather pleased me."

He's against hugeness now though, because he did something stupid and blew out his patellar tendons. Nobody's perfect.

[Caleb Turberville]

600 pounds?

Yeeks.

[Warty]

It's not as impressive as it sounds. Really. I've done it*.

*This is not an attempted humblebrag.

[Caleb Turberville]

It's more than I could do.

[Warty]

Well, sure, but you'd have a good chance with 2-3 years of training.

[jesse.in.mb]

Run away, Caleb. Warty is trying to convert you to Hugism. Gym membership and creatine will take up 10% of your income and the faith demands daily attendance.

[jesse.in.mb]

"I was known as Dr. Squat," he says, "which rather pleased me."

You did a terrible job of hiding that you made that passage up. He sounds just like you.

[Warty]

More here

[Enough About Palin]

That's a lovely bike.

[Aloysious]

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forwar.....56.article

It's a tweet that ultimately fell on deaf ears: "#ServicioPublico Infalgan solution of 10 Mg for injection is needed for Vanessa Chac?n." Sent from San Rafael del Pi?al, a small town in Venezuela near the border with Colombia, the tweet was sent on behalf of Chac?n, 22, who needed the medicine to survive a severe coronary condition. Unfortunately, it's simply not available there ? and isn't likely to be anytime soon.

"My niece is very sick. We haven't been able to locate the drug in pharmacies or in hospitals," says Nelson Jaimes, who's Chac?n's uncle and, coincidentally, a pharmacist. "We who are inside the pharma business can't locate the products. What can a regular citizen expect to find?"

[Winston]

Did you guys know that North Korea has a three-party system and 8 Independents in their legislature, 99.97 turnout and no President? Along with their opposition to US foreign policy, alliance with China and Russia, no corporate cronyism and lots of meth is North Korea a libertarian state?

Oh wait Sheldon Richman took over my computer again. Oops.

[grrizzly]

I was very surprised when I learned a few months ago about the existence of official parties other than the ruling one in North Korea. I knew in the '80s that East Germany had more than one official party but never thought this kind of "diversity" of opinion was tolerated in North Korea.

[Winston]

During the Cold War the Communists liked to create the illusion of a multiparty state. Cuba and China have "multiparty" systems too. And Vietnam and Laos have "independents" in "alliance" with the Communists.

[Winston]

Even Stalin permitted the election of "independents" in the USSR.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Headline I did not expect to see today.

Transgender Navy SEAL to primary Steny Hoyer

[Stormy Dragon]

*pictures Jesse Ventura in a dress and a really obvious wig*

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm actually pretty impressed with how Beck's transition went.

[JeremyR]

Still looks like a dude in a dress.

It's funny how female impersonators and drag queens tend to look more like women than actual transsexuals with hormone therapy.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, kinda like it's weird how professional models tend to be much better look better than random housewives.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

So, two turntables, no more microphone?

[Winston]

Will Bruce(?) Jenner primary Pelosi next?

[mauricegirodias]

I've been thinking about this. Films made from "bestselling" works of erotica almost always fail. The only exception would be Emmanuelle, where the original film was fairly true to the book, and the 86 sequels were pretty much unrelated.

Story of O was made into a film, even less comprehensible than the book (which was completed by drunks at a party).

Candy was a disaster, even with Marlon Brando and Richard Burton.

Exit to Eden, not in the same class, starred Rosie O'Donnell.

I could go on, but my site is suddenly busy.

[Winston]

Fail in what sense? Box-office or with critics? Cuz 50 Shades will make a profit.

[mauricegirodias]

Box Office and Critics. Candy was a major disaster for the studio. O had much higher hopes. I don't think Anne Rice got that much for Eden.

You're right that 50 Shades'll earn bank.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

I wonder if someone would actually make an Exit movie based on the book instead of turning it into a terrible cop comedy with BDSM.

[Stormy Dragon]

AFA finally backs off on advocating violence toward homosexuals:

Has The AFA Changed Its Position On Sodomy Laws?

Yesterday, the American Family Association announced that it was stripping Bryan Fischer of his position as a spokesman for the group. The AFA's move to distance itself from Fischer's regular barrages of bigotry apparently came in response pressure from its allies in the Republican National Committee, who are preparing to go on a tour of Israel on AFA's dime. (Though the fact that the group is retaining Fischer as a radio personality on its American Family Radio network makes the whole thing somewhat less convincing.)

In what seems to be part of this effort, AFA has sent the Southern Poverty Law Center a letter explicitly denouncing a laundry list of Fischer's statements, from his blaming the Holocaust on gay people to his insistence that the First Amendment applies only to Christians.

[jesse.in.mb]

Hahaha, fuck Bryan Fischer in the ear. He's a complete fucking lunatic, but the AFA is crazy from the top down, I've been reading their newsletter for something like 10 years and it's hardly just Fischer that's a nutbag.

My second favorite AFA moment was when they started selling this in their store and people across the political spectrum expressed concern that it looked like a burning cross in the ad copy.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If you can hear the dog-whistle, you're the dog.

[jesse.in.mb]

A dog? Can I be a corgi? They bring smiles to everyone!

Have you actually ever read the AFA's news journal or know anything about them? Or are you just chapped that people find a "good" Christian group who has employed an actual, unspooled lunatic as their spokesperson for years is being mocked?

[Irish]

Eddie just doesn't like when Christian groups are criticized, even if they deserve it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It's wrong to say Eddie has no standard by which he judges groups, in fact he has two!

[Stormy Dragon]

You're forgetting that he also defends groups reflexively if he doesn't like the person mocking them. So three! He has three methods by which he judges groups.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You're right. It's like when Duo Damsel became Triplicate Girl.

[Old Man With Candy]

You stole that line, Eddie.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Has the American Family Association Stopped Beating Its Wife?

Right-Wing Watch bashes Rand Paul over the "Southern Avenger:"

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/.....vers-72213

[Irish]

Right-wing watch is a leftist hack organization run by total hypocrites.

And? I wasn't aware their partisanship and past publishing of things I disagree with has anything to do with whether they're right about Bryan Fischer. The people who run Right Wing Watch can be assholes and Bryan Fischer can be insane at the same time.

They're not mutually exclusive.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

This. I read Right Wing Watch and they are at the same time 1. massive hypocrites 2. good at making mountains out of molehills while also 3. occasionally being right about some right wing nuts.

[Irish]

Any organization like right-wing watch is bound to generate more heat than light. Their entire reason for existence is attacking people, so they produce nothing of value outside of character assassination.

That's fine when the character deserves to be assassinated, but when that's all you do, you inevitably end up attacking people who don't deserve it and whining about total bullshit.

[Stormy Dragon]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that a witty man like GK Chesterton must have his reputation continually besmirched through association with someone so lacking in humor as Notorious GKC?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, I know the original GKC was more eloquent than I am, but for precisely that reason, you would have hated him more. Your professed respect is reminiscent of the liberals who - after Ronald Reagan was safely dead - concern-trolled about how Reagan was much more moderate and reasonable than modern conservatives.

Get ready to have your mind blown by the original Chesterton and his "theocratic," "bigoted" and counter-revolutionary ideas:

"I really think there was a moment when I could have invented the marriage vow (as an Institution) out of my own head; but I discovered, with a sigh, that it had been invented already."

"I do not dream of denying, indeed I should take every opportunity of affirming, that monogamy and its domestic responsibilities can be defended on rational apart from religious grounds."

"Two facts must be put at the very beginning of the record of the [human] race. The first is original sin. The second . . . is the family."

http://library.taylor.edu/dotA.....7f7121.pdf

[Notorious G.K.C.]

More reactionary twaddle from G. K. Chesterton:

"It is futile to talk of reform without reference to form.
To take a case from my own taste and fancy, there is nothing I feel
to be so beautiful and wonderful as a window. All casements are
magic casements, whether they open on the foam or the front-garden;
they lie close to the ultimate mystery and paradox of limitation
and liberty. But if I followed my instinct towards an infinite
number of windows, it would end in having no walls. It would also
(it may be added incidentally) end in having no windows either;
for a window makes a picture by making a picture-frame. But there
is a simpler way of stating my more simple and fatal error.
It is that I have wanted a window, without considering whether
I wanted a house. Now many appeals are being made to us to-day
on behalf of that light and liberty that might well be symbolised
by windows; especially as so many of them concern the enlightenment
and liberation of the house, in the sense of the home.
Many quite disinterested people urge many quite reasonable
considerations in the case of divorce, as a type of domestic liberation;
but in the journalistic and general discussion of the matter there
is far too much of the mind that works backwards and at random,
in the manner of all windows and no walls...

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Such people say they
want divorce, without asking themselves whether they want marriage.
Even in order to be divorced it has generally been found necessary
to go through the preliminary formality of being married; and unless
the nature of this initial act be = considered, we might as well be discussing haircutting for the bald or spectacles for the blind. To be divorced is to be in the literal sense unmarried; and there is no sense in a thing being undone when we do not know if it is done."

http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mwar.....ivorce.txt

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"someone so lacking in humor as Notorious GKC?"

[jesse.in.mb]

Right-Wing Watch can be obnoxious but they post video or screenshots of text that they're quoting generally. I find their assessment unpalatable but it can be a useful archive of insane goings on.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Agreed.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

RAPE CULTURE!

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) -- A homeless man broke into a funeral home and had sex with a woman's body, police said Friday.

Domonique Smith, 26, was arrested Feb. 9 when he was found with a bike stolen from the Hill Watson Peoples Funeral Service, and further investigation revealed that a body there had been disturbed during the burglary, police said.

"The results of our investigation and the forensic examination gave us probable cause to believe that this individual had indeed sexually assaulted a dead body," said Columbus Police Maj. Gil Slouchick

[SusanM]

Not quite the same thing...but far too close

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

[Winston]

Is 50 Shades of Grey evidence of the libertarian moment?

[Stormy Dragon]

It's a movie about a woman discovering she can only be truly satisfied when a Top Man is telling her what to do.

[Winston]

Nick Gillespie has a sad.

[Enough About Palin]

I don't think Family Guy is very funny, but yesterday while channel-surfing, I caut a minute and there was a koke whe a guy on the Food Network says "Tonight, on Bottom Chef"
Voiceover: "You've been chopped. Pack your fudge and go home."

[Anonymous Coward]

It's evidence that I need to bring a seat covers or a tarp to the movies after Saturday because, you know BDSM cooties.

[Winston]

What's the libertarian take on bathroom equality? We can not allow gendered bathrooms to remain and we can't allow urinals or peeing standing up as the last two are signs of male privilege.

[Anonymous Coward]

Say no to unisex toilets. Where women congregate to urinate, lines propagate at an astounding rate.

[Rich]

bathroom equality

Couldn't we just put urinals in the ladies' not-self-identified-as-male room so that the lines will be as short as for the men's other room?

[Stormy Dragon]

This is cisnormative, since it assumes only men pee standing up. The solution is to have a handicapped bathroom where those who are unable to pee standing up may choose to go if they wish to have privacy with regards to the congenital conditions that prevent them from doing likewise.

[Rich]

Brilliant!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Let private premises set up whatever bathroom situation they want, government can have uni-sex ones.

[Winston]

I'm disappointed that all we have on Greece is that Suderman article. Way to be up to the minute.

Can't we have a Richman article about Greece? Will he able to avoid ranting about Iraq and saying that Merkel is not different from Adam Lanza?

[Rich]

You know who else brought a state to its knees?

[Brian D]

General Zod?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

General Sherman?

[Lady Bertrum]

+0.03% growth in Europe - most of it from Germany is "strong growth"?

Oh, good Lord.

[Irish]

Actually, it's 0.3%.

My favorite part about Germany is that it grew by a staggering 0.7% and that caused this reaction:

'"This is a thunderbolt," said UniCredit economist Andreas Rees.

"Some spoke of possible recession after the summer but instead Germany rebounded. The fact that the growth comes mainly from the domestic economy gives strong grounds for optimism," he said.'

0.7% growth is a 'thunderbolt.' Europe is so fucked.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Actually according to this table, UK 1.8, Norway 1.6, Poland 1.3, Sweden .9, Slovakia .8, Ireland at .6.

.5 Germany, .3 France, .1 Italy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....owth_rate.

[Lady Bertrum]

Yes, .3%. Thanks

UK, Norway, Sweden aren't part of the Euro (currency) - yes part of the EU.

[Lady Bertrum]

Also, no mention in the article that deflation positively effects GDP. Nothing to subtract out.

[Winston]

In 1976, George C. Hildebrand and Porter published a book titled Cambodia: Starvation and Revolution, which compared the ways the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic and Communist Party of Kampuchea administrations each dealt with the problem of starvation in Cambodia. It challenged the prevailing media accounts of ideological fanatacism and cruelty by the latter,[35] and argued instead that the Democratic Kampuchea program constituted a rational response to the serious problems confronting the Cambodian nation: disease, starvation, economic devastation, and cities swollen with millions of refugees after years of American bombing.

And Sheldon Richman quotes the guy as a reliable source on Iran in a Brian Williams article.

[Irish]

You know Winston, you're a little obsessed.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That's pretty bad. Of course a guy can be spectacularly wrong about one thing and right on another.

[Winston]

It's more that this gives me reason to question his motives. He may well me right on Iran but he strikes as being as credible in that situation as PressTV.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

From what I can tell he was right on Vietnam, so does it cancel out?

[Winston]

Broken clocks and all that...

[John Titor]

Winston, perhaps you should save this for when it's actually relevant, rather than spending the past week whining about Richman every chance you get? You're aware that there's a weekly Richman article where people tend to dump their vitriol on him?

[Warty]

Remember you don't have to feed the griefer.

[Pro Libertate]

Isn't that a song? With cowbell?

[Los Doyers]

I hear virgins are the pickiest of eaters.

[Monty Crisco]

Good article at NYT about how a bad Tweet can tear your life up:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02.....below&_r=2

[R C Dean]

In illegal immigration news:

Since we are now issuing SocSec numbers to illegals, they are eligible for the EITC. Which, of course, is welfare thinly disguised as a tax refund.

Presumably, with SocSec numbers, they will also be eligible for more welfare in the form of SocSec retirement and disability benefits.

Yay! Right?

http://dailycaller.com/2015/02.....x-refunds/

[Square]

EITC is not welfare - it's the fair wage owed to those who raise the State's children for them!

[R C Dean]

Oh, and it turns out that when you give someone a SocSec and a driver's license, you really can't stop them from voting, either.

Woo-hoo!

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....ra/?page=1

[OldMexican]

They vote at their own risk.

If those immigrants try to apply for citizenship and Citizenship and Immigration Services finds out they voted on any election (local, state), they will deport them.

[Stormy Dragon]

And I'm sure Democrat political activists would never mislead them otherwise. After all, what kind of person would they be to risk someone's future citizenship for a slight short term electoral boost?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Since we're talking American Family Foundation:

"American Family Association governmental affairs director Sandy Rios is upset that media commentators like George Will are mocking Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for refusing to say this week whether he believes in evolution.

'There is no scientific evidence' to substantiate evolution, she said, at least according to 'the real experts.' So why has this stunning revelation that the foundational theory behind modern biology has been refuted not percolated through the scientific community? Well, Rios explained, that's because evolution has become a sacred, religious tenant.

'Evolution has become the religion of the elite,' Rios said. "It's a religion to the [level of] fanaticism of what they would say was the people at the Scopes monkey trial, the Christians waving their Bibles who were not really thinking through the facts, they were just outraged because it was against God's law. The truth of the matter is that the evolutionists like George Will, waving their evolutionary theory, have become as rabid and unreasoned as what they accuse the Scopes monkey religionists of doing to Darwin during that time. It has become a religion. Science has disproven so much of evolution?. These guys are wrong, Scott Walker is right.'"

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/.....FpZfK.dpuf

[S. Quincy]

When a black German woman discovered her grandfather was the Nazi villain of 'Schindler's List'

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Awk-ward!

[Paul.]

Obama is under pressure to intervene in the labor dispute slowing work at West Coast ports. Seriously? What, is it 1950 again?

Lots of container ships bobbing 'round in Puget Sound. I thought to myself... what IS Obama doing about this?

[Agile Cyborg]

Is American future twisting and warping like a fucking Hannibal speared on the end of a supranatural dagger?

People should question the complex shit that fore-runs the direct hit of the next age. We are changelos. Morphing into an express emitting of this dimensions dislocations... There does exist the awful complex of the where and how... where the how questions its when....... and the space light swarms discover the peace of why this fucking place has stymied the universal pioneers not of this planet.

Those things who have landed and passed on are fucking way more godfuckingdamned confused than the fucking old English bastards over there in the that fucking horrible squalor of bullshit UK.

I'm just mentioning somethings here that could and should be considered within the spherical machinations... perhaps like mounded brains could ponder these polemics and then insert certain keys like s o fucking many crazy levers of uncertain power... clearly the dark matter calls and its inverted gravity seeks qualified dreams my sweet and speicial membranes...

[JeanAGalvan]

Caden. I just agree... Patrick`s st0rry is astonishing, last tuesday I got a top of the range Land Rover Defender sincee geting a check for $6814 this last 4 weeks and in excess of 10k last month. it's certainly the coolest job Ive had. I actually started...............

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

[NancyRJames]

** Happy Valentines day all of you **
My dear, the next five minutes can change your life!
Give a chance to your good luck.
Read this article, please!
Move to a better life!
We make profit on the Internet since 1998,
If you are interested,
Visit this web-site.......
?????? http://www.Workvalt.Com

[Warty]

That too.

[Warty]

My PRs are a 605 squat, 635 pull, 395 bench, 275 press, 365 power clean, and 245 power snatch. I suppose I should compete, but I just don't care the $100 it costs to do a meet right now.

[edcoast]

Note to self: Don't piss off Warty. But I guess I already knew that.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

600lbs deadlift?!

*shudders*