A.M. Links: Obama Announces 'Student Aid Bill of Rights', ATF Temporarily Backing Off Bullet Ban, Jury Rules Against Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke in 'Blurred Lines' Lawsuit

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  VEVO

  A memorandum from President Obama sets up a "student aid bill of rights."

• The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria posted a video showing the execution of an Israeli Arab the terror group accused of being a spy.
• After receiving thousands of negative comments, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it would hold off on a proposed ban on "green tip" AR-15 ammo.
• The "Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Act" is being debated in the Senate this week—the legislation is widely expected to pass.
• Ferguson, Missouri's city manager, John Shaw, resigned in the wake of a Department of Justice report critical of the city's policing-as-revenue practices.
• A jury decided Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke had infringed on the copyright for "Got to Give It Up" in writing "Blurred Lines" and awarded the children of Marvin Gaye more than $7 million in damages.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A memorandum from President Obama sets up a "student aid bill of rights."

Single right: FREE!

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

WE WILL BECOME EUROPE BEFORE I LEAVE OFFICE!

/Teh Lightworker

[UnCivilServant]

"Congress shall make no law providing for the establishment of education, nor denying the free exercise thereof."

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yay, more positive "rights"

[sarcasmic]

How can something be a "right" unless it's backed up with force?
/Tony

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Tony is really the reincarnation of Saint-Just.

[WTF]

Single right: FREE!

Because we will NEVER run out of other people's money!!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Some day there will be an ink shortage at the Treasury and we will be well and truly fucked.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

They use electrons now. Though there is a finite number of those.

[hamilton]

Peak Electrons is coming!

[Ted S.]

Unfortunately, 64 electrons can handle up to a quintillion dollars.

[UnCivilServant]

You're using the wrong encoding schema then.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Isn't that the current national debt?

[gaijin]

We just need to create a couple of quintillion-electron bitcoins.

[Rich]

My favorite: "Every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan."

"Jack says 'Yes' to every deal!"

[Auric Demonocles]

Is there a lender's bill of rights?

[Rich]

Bite someone else's tongue!!

[gaijin]

Yes...the IRS Code.

[Raston Bot]

You have the right to go out of business.

[Scarecrow Repair]

I doubt that. They will either declare everybody too big to fail, or limit lending to those who are already too big to fail.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

1st right on the lender's bill: Stop being a lender.

Note, that this is the only right.

[Rasilio]

Who defines what affordable is?

That is one of those wishy washy words which is utterly meaningless because it contains a host of assumptions built within it.

I mean if you are making $50,000 a year with no kids $1800 a month is "affordable", it would put your lifestyle around that of someone on welfare's but it can certainly be afforded

[All-Seeing Monocle]

Who defines what affordable is?

Some unelected bureaucrat, duh.

[Pope Jimbo]

Some unelected bureaucrat, duh.

Some pol running for election.

You forget that a faceless bureaucrat could give 2 shits about you. A pol on the other hand will make sure that "affordable" means, "money for you, Mr. or Mrs. Voter"

[Rhywun]

"Affordable" translated from left-speak means "affordable for a small number of well-connected and/or lottery winning individuals - less affordable for everyone else".

[Certified Public Asskicker]

President Obama said Tuesday that the federal government must play a greater role in helping students manage college debt by establishing a "student aid bill of rights" that puts restrictions on lenders in the name of making higher education more affordable.

Why not restrict colleges on the number of student lounges they can build?

[UnCivilServant]

Or stop giving them taxpayer dollars?

[Rich]

I thought that was part of The Social Contract, or at least a thread in The Fabric of Society.

[gaijin]

This is the funny thing...the majority of student loans are made by...wait for it...the lender of first resort...yes...the US Government (6% of all student loans are private according to this . So, see Obama wants limited government afterall!

[Ted S.]

Or diversity facilitators they can hire.

[Brett L]

College debt may be discharged by declaring bankruptcy, but as this is an intabgible asset with a longer term of maturity, you have to wait five years between your furst payment coming due and declaring bankruptcy. That would be a compromise that would create a viable market for college debt. It is the reliably leftist college administrators that would suffer. I say reduce all faculty and administrator jobs to 1995 levels and raze all the lifestyle bullshit facilities budgets and see if in-state tuition at state institutions still equites taking a loan.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I wonder if the inevitable higher education market bust will bring your dreams to reality, or if it will take something more.

[BigT]

People are flocking to EdX and other online courses from top flight schools. Why pay for what you can get on the cheap?

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

equites?

Looked this up... Roman cavalry.

Hmm...

Requires lots of rapine and pillaging, so I guess it works in a meta sorta way.

+1, would troll again.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Better late than never.

"A memorandum from President Obama sets up a "student aid bill of rights.""

Viscount Vapid strikes again!

[Scarecrow Repair]

I would rather all politicians were never rather than late.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...awarded the children of Marvin Gaye more than $7 million in damages.

How about awarding damages to all those people traumatized by the video?

[sarcasmic]

Did those hard nipples poke your eye out?

[Bee Tagger]

Or, I'm assuming, the comments section of the video on youtube.

[UnCivilServant]

There is no comments section on YouTube.

Thank you Firefox add-ons.

[Fist of Etiquette]

On my customized browser, there is no video section. It's all YouTube comments. That's the entertainment gold.

[Mainer2]

Maybe the most horrifying thing I've heard.

[Brett L]

Sprained your wrist,eh?

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

Carpal tunnel syndrome.

[Lord Humungus]

Webb Pitches Firefighters on Possible White House Bid

Webb delivered remarks at the International Association of Fire Fighters conference just off Capitol Hill, one of eight prospective White House contenders to speak in-person on the second day of the gathering. (Jeb Bush spoke in a recorded video.)

Wedged between Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, the published author's subdued speaking style stood in contrast to two of the GOP's more gifted orators. It was a reminder of the knock against Webb's potential candidacy: He loves the policy work of politics far more than the theater of the campaign trail.

When asked by CQ Roll Call if he was prepared for the realities of the road to the White House, Webb reminisced about his first bid for elected office in 2006.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

And the world yawned?

He wouldn't get 10% of the Donkey primary vote, and the caucuses would shut him out too.

[Tonio]

Yeah, he's not dynamic, doesn't have a vagina, and once said something about women in the military which wouldn't play well today.

[gaijin]

But does he use private email?

[Pope Jimbo]

No, he was an officer. He used lieutenant email...

[Brett L]

The joke you were looking for was ellteemail.

[Pope Jimbo]

I never climbed higher than a lowly corporal. I must be excused for my stupidity.

[Tonio]

Meh. No worse than Clinton, Warren or Biden overall, and quite a bit better than any of them on certain issues.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ferguson, Missouri's city manager, John Shaw, resigned in the wake of a Department of Justice report critical of the city's policing-as-revenue practices.

And they're going to have to ticket so many people to pay for his severance.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Zing!

[sarcasmic]

Two men in custody after ex-corrections officer, 69, 'fatally shot man, 32, in Brooklyn subway station after argument during rush hour'
The ex-officer got into an argument with two young men aboard a southbound train on Tuesday afternoon after he stepped between them
The three men got off at Borough Hall and the officer and the argument turned physical between the officer and one of the men
Witness video showed the two men briefly scuffling before a shot went off
One of the men, Gilbert Drogheo, was shot in the torso and rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead
Police said the ex-officer had been carrying a 9-millimeter handgun
Both he and Drogheo's friend, 29, were being questioned on Wednesday

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-hour.html

[Tonio]

So, as a former corrections officer he gets special rights which are denied to the average citizen. Also, bet he's getting special cop treatment from police, prosecutors, etc.

[Mainer2]

Also note that his name is withheld while the dead man's is published.
Same as it ever was.

[sarcasmic]

Sorry Sean! Robin Wright reveals she's 'never been happier' or had more orgasms than with fianc? Ben Foster... as she sizzles on magazine cover

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....cover.html

[sarcasmic]

Save our Jezza: 300,000 sign petition to reinstate Clarkson after food fight fracas in which he punched producer that threatens to kill Top Gear for good
Clarkson suspended by BBC after allegedly throwing a punch at producer
54-year-old allegedly 'smacked' Oisin Tymon, 36, over lack of catering
BBC spokesman confirmed no one else has been suspended over incident
'Bring Back Clarkson' petition already has 250,000 online signatures
Top Gear episode will not air on Sunday and doubt over showing two more
Clarkson put on 'final warning' in 2014 after racism row over nursery rhyme
ITV may be preparing ?10million bid to lure presenter away from the BBC
Chris Evans favourite to replace Clarkson if he is sacked over 'punch-up'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ducer.html
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[UnCivilServant]

"Lack of catering"? Can anyone elaborate on what was actually going on at the location in question?

[Ted S.]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Timon 19]

This cannot be allowed to stand.

[UnCivilServant]

Seconded - take the BBC off the Air!

[Timon 19]

Noooooooooooooooooo!

[WTF]

Will they be stupid enough to risk the Top Gear franchise by sacking Clarkson? Tough call.

[tarran]

The BBC hates the Top Gear franchise.

The greenies that run the Airstrip One's propaganda arm hate that one of their most popular programmes extols gasoline powered engines.

[Timon 19]

This is something Clarkson has referenced on a number of occasions on the show itself. He likes to poke the bear.

In my estimation, he has also stepped up his antagonism a bit in the last couple of seasons.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

ITV laughs...all the way to the bank?

[WTF]

Likely, depending in the stupidity of BBC.

[Rhywun]

All I know about that show is it's on about 50 times a week on BBC-A. And it's got James May who has done far more interesting stuff on toys and gadgets other than cars.

[Timon 19]

May is the secret ingredient to that show.

At one point, they tried to spin him off into his own show called Man Lab. That looked really interesting (it was all about tinkering and garage-based engineering), but made it approximately 3 shows before disappearing.

[Rhywun]

He did a series of specials about iconic British toys that was really good. Too bad about Man Lab, I caught a couple and liked it.

[R C Dean]

A few seasons ago, word came down from the BBC brass that Top Gear should do more "green" cars.

So they kicked off a show by unveiling a green car. You know, one painted green.

I larfed.

[Timon 19]

They've been trying to get Ferrari, Porsche, and McLaren to all agree to a race of their hybrid supercars (which is the absolute best and most efficient actual use of hybrid technology if it can be re-scaled down) against one another

This week, they FINALLY got all three to agree to something, except that Porsche was looking for a suitable example fitting the conditions agreed to. They were on the way to getting it to happen this season.

If this nullifies it, I will be extremely cross.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

'If you're a certain age, you're not allowed to express your sexuality': Madonna poses for racy photos as she talks about the struggle for women's rights

Stealing Sarcs thunder,

Also, if your a certain age, it's no longer 'sexuality', it's 'creepy and sad'.

[Rhywun]

"Gay rights are way more advanced than women's rights,' Madonna said. 'People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period."

I'm not even sure what this is supposed to mean, other than she's suffering from Alzheimers or something.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it would hold off on a proposed ban on "green tip" AR-15 ammo.

BATFE owns stock in AR-15 ammo manufacturers, apparently.

[Florida Man]

I thought ss109 was green tip, not mx855 or whatever.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

ss109 is M855

NATO vs. US designation.

[Injun, as in from India]

They're holding off until the next Sandy Hook, when the shooter fires back at cops instead of committing suicide. If Democrats happen to control all branches of government at that time, this ban will pass.

[sarcasmic]

'I fear I'm raising a serial killer': Parents are terrified of knife-obsessed adopted son, 7, who has an imaginary friend called Bleeder and talks about stabbing them in the chest
Kim and her ex-husband, Ryan, adopted Rylan when he was a baby
Mother was addicted to drugs and both his parents had bipolar disorder
Kim claims aged 18 months old, Rylan held his breath until he passed out
She says her son has an imaginary friend called Bleeder - and he says the character tells him to kill his entire family with knives

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

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Now that's a parenting problem.

Parent: "Eat your broccoli, Johnny."

Johnny: "I'm going to stab you in the face when you're asleep."

[Rich]

Supernanny.com

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

I laughed. Thanks Scruffy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

EXCITABLE BOY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYuRjUO1OcQ

[Illocust]

And this sort of thing is why I believe parents should be able to make their children wards of the state. There are just some kids that an average person can frankly do nothing about. If you got the latest sociopath under your care or even some kid who is so disabled he requires constant attention then there should be an out that doesn't involve shooting the kid or you going to jail for abandonment.

[Tonio]

Yeah, it's a lose-lose situation. The only thing the state can do is keep him in a special orphanage until he's 18, then turn him loose upon the world. Poor kid was already re-homed once.

But that does create a libertarian quandry - if we give parents (including adoptive ones) this out then we're continuing to prop up CPS, setting a precedent for other situations (old people), etc.

[Illocust]

Precedent is already there. We allow mothers to abandon their infants at fire stations and hospitals (Safe Harbor laws). And to be perfectly honest, wanting to abandon the child that is threatening to stab you in your sleep is a lot more justifiable than abandoning a random infant.

[Mike Laursen]

Only thing the state can do? Let's use a little imagination here.

Hey could train the little naturally murderous dude and parachute him into ISIS territory, with promises of free ice cream if he canbehead Jihad Bob on video.

[HazelMeade]

I completely agree. Parents should be able to turn their kids over to foster care voluntarily.
Of course this has to be an irrevokable one-time choice.

[Illocust]

Well of course. It has to be permanent, this isn't an option for free daycare while you go on vacation. It a safety valve for problems that you can't reasonably expect your kid to have.

[double ham fisted]

Include mandatory vasectomy or tubal ligation?

[Illocust]

No? Just because one kid has extreme problems is no reason to believe every kid you have will have the same issues.

I had a tumor in my spine that left me pretty bad off, both my younger siblings are the picture of health. Step family is the same way, one really bad physical case and all the other children are A-Okay. (thankfully for all my parents sakes both me and the other one still have full mental capacities. That sort of thing makes a world of difference in how manageable something is)

[Tonio]

No.

Also, the case at the top of the thread was an adopted kid.

[antisocial-ist]

And this is his favorite song.

[WTF]

Mother was addicted to drugs and both his parents had bipolar disorder

Likely not the best choice for adoption as far as genes go.

[Tonio]

I don't know if the adoptive parents would have known this. Anyone?

[Brett L]

Yeah. Several ways. They could even be family. I think they consider mom's medical history relavent to baby's treatment if you adopt as an infant. Not sure about how they get the father's

[Lord Humungus]

Can Rand Paul Save the GOP and Lead It, Too?

The more Paul is forced to speak out on positions, the more opportunities he has to turn off supporters. For example, David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, and author of The Libertarian Mind, likes Paul's view of marriage as a contract, but suspects Paul's newfound rhetoric about gay marriage comes with a cost.

"Unfortunately," Boaz said, "it's tone-deaf language that cuts against his goal of improving the image of the Republican Party with people who don't trust Republicans."

"I have no doubt that the senator is being honest when he says finds gay marriage 'personally offensive,'" said Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of the libertarian Reason.com, in an email. "[T]he important thing is that Rand Paul is not letting his personal beliefs dictate national policy," he said, pointing to examples where Paul has said government shouldn't be involved in marriage.

[Tonio]

Ima say "no." I think the Pauls are destined to collectively be the John the Baptist of libertarianism.

[Restoras]

Interesting analogy - so who is that will demand the Pauls' collective heads?

[Brett L]

Ann Coulter danced naked for John McCain to make it happen.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

No, just no

/suffers Scanners-style stroke

[Restoras]

Picturing this in my head is somehow - awesome. I can see Coulter unleashing her inner Salome while McCain giggles and laughs maniacally while lightly stroking his shriveled manhood over his pin-stripe, three-piece suit....

[Lord Humungus]

One SugarFree is enough. We're becoming infected by his prose.

[Charles Easterly]

The SugarFree virus?

[SugarFree]

I am in every one of you. But not like "in" in, because that's how we get ants.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

A liberal friend of mine sent me a video of a woman who looked remarkably like Ann Coulter, dancing the "Dance of the Seven Veils".

When she got down to the last veil and pulled it away, BOOM, revealed was about a foot of cock.

Horrifying and hilarious, I can't look at Coulter, without seeing that video in my head.

[Tonio]

Stop that, Brett. You're verging into SugarFree territory, and one of him is enough.

[antisocial-ist]

Michael Hihn does that on H&R at least once a week.

[Pro Libertate]

Then who is the messiah of libertarianism?

[Restoras]

Well, don't hold your breath. A messiah would have to also be a popular martyr that sparks a movement - and their are no popular libertarians at the moment.

[Citizen Nothing]

Well, it took about 300 years for Christianity to really catch on. Sounds about right.

[Tonio]

I don't have anyone in mind. No historical analogy is ever an exact fit for the current circumstances.

[Pro Libertate]

Now Tonio, don't wimp out. How about SugarFree?

Also, who is the Herod in your analogy?

[Citizen Nothing]

I've always maintained that George W. was the John the Baptist for the Obama.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

That would make Nancy Pelosi... Salome?

/paging teen girl

[Ted S.]

The "Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Act" is being debated in the Senate this week?the legislation is widely expected to pass.

The only people who are going to see justice are government-sector workers enforcing this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria posted a video showing the execution of an Israeli...

This might put a dent in the rumors about who's funding them.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

You vastly underestimate the ability of people in that part of the world to spin fantastic conspiracy theories, up to, and including Jews, UFOs, the CIA, the US, Hollywood, Bollywood, the Pope, Persians, the EU, and FIFA.

[Tonio]

I thought you were one of us, Switzy. No more tinfoil for you!

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

BUT MINE AREN'T THEORIES....THEY ARE TRVTH!!!!1!1eleventy!11oneoneone!

[Ted S.]

Sheldon Richman?

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

Is he starting the rumors, or the funding?

[Bee Tagger]

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it would hold off on a proposed ban on "green tip" AR-15 ammo.

Sounds like someone tricked them into thinking this was part of a Go-Green initiative. Next thing you know, all of the Thursday night NBC comedies will have to incoporate AR-15 weapons into their plots for a week.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The 90's called and they want their Must See TV references back.

[Bee Tagger]

Could you BE any more lame right now?

[Mainer2]

Yeah, what's up with that ?

[RBS]

What's the deal with ISIS?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Talk to the hand, cause the face isn't listening.

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

No-o-o-o-rm!!

[Lord Humungus]

Facing facts on the pill and the poor

But if cost isn't really the motivating factor in the use of birth control, why do rich women use it more than poor ones? "A range of factors," says Brad Wilcox of the National Marriage Project.

Wilcox's research suggests that "coming from intact family" makes you more likely to use contraception regularly.

So does "believing that single parenthood is wrong." How you answer all sorts of questions about "what kind of family you're coming from and what kind you expect to form," says Wilcox, shapes your choices about contraception.

[Auric Demonocles]

So those who have stronger feelings about avoiding pregnancy are more likely to use birth control? Fascinating!

[Ted S.]

Sounds like another example of the upper middle class wanting those dirty poor to stop reproducing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The "Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Act" is being debated in the Senate this week...

Won't somebody please think of the victims who already have ample laws on the books "protecting" them?

[sarcasmic]

Did I read correctly that Botard took his ball and went home?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You can read?

[sarcasmic]

Grow up.

[Citizen Nothing]

Says the guy who uses "Botard."

[sarcasmic]

I thought I was just stating the facts.

[SugarFree]

You're both 13-year-old goth girls.

[sarcasmic]

I will have no part in your sexual fantasies.

[Lord Humungus]

go on...

[Almanian!]

Oh, god, please, no.....yes, yes, YES!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Says the 'retard took his ball home!' guy

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Jinx you owe me a jar of artisanal mayo

[Restoras]

Why should he grow up when acting so juvenile has been working so well for him?

[sarcasmic]

Acting?

[SugarFree]

Well, everyone in real life loves him so we are just a mean conservative clique.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You're not a conservative.

[Pro Libertate]

The hell he isn't. He's from Kentucky and drinks bourbon.

[Citizen Nothing]

He's more of a hill-william.

[SugarFree]

I am a city-goat! Yee-Haw!

[Citizen Nothing]

Ah, yes. The Fable of the City Goat and the Country Goat. I love that one.

[Xeones]

Ugh. Do NOT read Sweet'n'Low's version of The City Goat and the Country Goat.

When he says "country goat" he does not mean what you want "country goat" to mean.

[Charles Easterly]

Only to reinflate it, evidently.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What? What did I miss?

[Auric Demonocles]

I haven't missed anything about Bo since I hide his posts.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You do strike me as a hider

[sarcasmic]

Nothing, apparently. =-(

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

A huff worthy of Joe in Lowell. Apparently we are a collective racist cabal of TEAM RED activists in league with the Rosicrucians, or some such.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Not everyone.

There's a large sub group of what I call the Gamergate juvenile-psychopath Call of Duty chatroomers.

The conservative clique is another, albeit somewhat overlapping group.

And of course many in both are enlisted in the Offended White Guys brigade.

[Lord Humungus]

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party Gamergate juvenile-psychopath Call of Duty chatroom?

[Restoras]

I always preferred Brothers In Arms over CoD but I am weird that way.

[Lord Humungus]

I am Red Orchestra guy /total nerd

No health packs... real bullet physics... and a fairly mature community of players.

[Pope Jimbo]

Money for Nothing, Chicks for Free.

[Pope Jimbo]

Offended White Guys Brigade? Fucking splitters!!!!

[Charles Easterly]

They don't support Stan's right to be called Loretta.

[R C Dean]

I'm the Colonel, you know.

[adjusts string tie, strokes goatee]

[The DerpRider]

Angus?

[The DerpRider]

Angus?

[SugarFree]

Allied, of course, with the Petuniatheists,

[gaijin]

I've always wondered what it would be like to belong to a cabal. SOmehow a libertarian blog is not what I imagined

[Elspeth Flashman]

But here we are.

[RBS]

You mean the Offended White Guy Brigade?

[Charles Easterly]

"What? What did I miss?"

If you dare:
http://reason.com/blog/2015/03.....ts#comment

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Wow, 618 comments. I think that's a quarterly record.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Reason pays me per 100 clicks.

They pay me in robot themed articles

[Bobarian (hyphenated-american)]

That was funny.

[gaijin]

The effect on GDP is expected to be minimal 😉

[Citizen Nothing]

1. Expelling the students, especially this quickly, does cross a Rubicon here IMO.

2. The 'nothing to see here, why so much focus' by the Offended White Guys brigade here is both disengenous and unsupportable.

His two initial points seem reasonable (drink). But don't expect me to read anything after that.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Let the shunning begin! No barn raisings for you or access to Kelly McGillis!

[Citizen Nothing]

'Tis a fine barn, English, but 'tis no swimming pool.

[tarran]

His two initial points seem reasonable (drink). But don't expect me to read anything after that.

Back when I wasted time reading his stuff, his schtick was to start semireasonable and then get into trouble trying to tell people what they should be thinking.

What got really annoying is that he would mentally assign the person he was conversing with into some group, and then lecture them as to why they were being out-of-sync with that group as if it were a persuasive argument rather than a fallacy so stupid they don't have a name for it; I think it would be argumentum ad gentem.

It's like he never got out of high school. Shit, my son hasn't even started high school yet and he's more mature than that.

[Old Man With Candy]

Did I read correctly that Botard took his ball and went home?

It's not retardation (though I can see how people get that impression), it's Asperger's. More commenters should spend their keystrokes encouraging him to get treatment rather than calling him a retard (which cannot be treated).
Asperger's can be treated

there is no cure for Asperger's syndrome, but treatment may improve functioning and reduce undesirable behaviors.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

But Botard tools if the tongue so much easier than Boaspie...

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

*rolls off

[Old Man With Candy]

I see the attraction of that and fully understand the sentiment, but feeding his disease does none of us any good. Maybe I'm just old and mellow now and have a soft spot toward people suffering with diseases.

[Lord Humungus]

Stalin museum to open in Russia

According to the Russian historical and civil rights society Memorial, the museum will be established in the historic house of Soviet collective farmer named Kondratyeva, where Stalin stayed briefly in August 1943. The museum will be opened on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Organizers will depict Stalin "as a general, a statesman, the leader of a country, a politician and an organizer." The exhibition will focus on several themes: "10 Stalinist blows," "Stalin's contribution to victory in the war," "The role of Stalin in industrial evacuations," and "Stalin as a symbol of Soviet achievements and victories."

[UnCivilServant]

No section on stalin's contributions to the Holodomar?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think it should have busts of all the generals he purged over the years.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

A list of dead Finns, Ukrainians, Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, etc, etc.

[Rasilio]

Not sure there are enough trees in Siberia to make a list that long

[BigT]

Does the FDR memorial have a diorama of Japanese being herded into camps?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

It should.

[Jordan]

I wonder if american socialist has bought his ticket yet.

[Libertarian]

Maybe they can raise money for it by selling bricks with the buyers' names on them, like museums do. Wonder if you could by an "in memoriam" brick with the name of someone Stalin starved to death? Probably not -- with that number of bricks, the runoff during a rainstorm could be catastrophic.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

It could be a 319 story tower instead?

[Pope Jimbo]

Too commercial, you would alienate your customers. Remember these are the same people who mourn the fact Cuba might be able to become more prosperous and buy cool things from America.

What you really need is a reverse Potemkin village around the museum. Instead of a fake prosperous village though, you create an "authentic" workers' paradise. No advertising, lots of squalid concrete flats. You could populate it with people wearing bland generic commie clothes.

[Charles Easterly]

"The role of Stalin in industrial evacuations"

Evacuations to Siberia?

[UnCivilServant]

Pollution. Evacuating waste from the factories into the fields.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

-1 Aral Sea

[John]

He did a hell of a job "evacuating" the Chechens and the Kulaks.

[antisocial-ist]

" According to the Russian historical and civil rights society Memorial"

I'm guessing that civil rights means something very different in Russia.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

In Soviet Russia, rights exercise you!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"as a general, a statesman, the leader of a country, a politician and an organizer."

They forgot misunderstood murderer who meant well.

[Xeones]

Omelet chef.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

+ a whole shitload of broken eggs

[Bee Tagger]

Ferguson, Missouri's city manager, John Shaw, resigned in the wake of a Department of Justice report critical of the city's policing-as-revenue practices.

Is the Paul Rayn Rand Paul branch of the GOP with their revenue-as-morality-police capitalism somehow better?!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

?

[Bee Tagger]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lord Humungus]

FACT CHECK: Clinton and her emails

AP: How Hillary Rodham Clinton's statements about her exclusive use of private email instead of a government account as secretary of state compare with the known facts:

[Rich]

I predict she's going down for this.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I predict she's going down

Well, my day is now ruined.

[Libertarian]

Twenty years ago -- maybe. You forget that, in current times, each successive slate of presidential candidates is worse than the previous one.

[Rich]

I hear you; but the level of distrust of government is supposedly quite high these days.

[WTF]

Yet the same old party establishment assholes will get the party nominations and one will get elected.

[Raston Bot]

PHRASING!

[Rich]

Hey! You and Yenrab are the ones showing all the dirty pictures!

[expat]

Are we using that again? Is that back in play?

[gaijin]

Huma Abedin is smiling

[Timon 19]

This finally gets a bit closer to touching the real issues, but it still treats the distraction (the Archive Requirement regulation wasn't in force when she was SoS) too seriously.

Regardless of any archive requirement, there's still the problem of an information system that was not audited that possibly had information on it that is dictated BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT to be protected, full stop.

I lived under (and to some extent, still do) the State Department's (and Commerce Department, and DoD) rules, which have the force of throwing me in prison over shit like this, for 12+ years, so the Archive Requirement is completely irrelevant.

[John]

Even doing any official work on private email is for every government employee I have ever known a big no no. I personally know of at least one person who nearly lost their security clearance and job over one instance of it.

The idea that even a Cabinet Secretary, who of course gets the rules bent some for them, could set up their own email service and never have or use the official one is just staggering. The only thing more unbelievable that the fact she did it is that anyone would defend it or pretend that doing it doesn't disqualify her from future high office.

[UnCivilServant]

The whole mindset of going out of your way to use private e-mail confuses me. It literally takes more effort for me to get to my personal e-mail from work than to simply use my ny.gov mail. And we don't even have any particularly stringent security requirements. Why would someone put all of that effort in to bog down their personal mailbox with work related crap if they weren't planning to do something underhanded or illegal?

[John]

People like to work from home. So they will email documents to themselves and work on it at home. That is how the people I know have gotten in trouble for it. All of that was back in the days of desktops. Now, most people have laptops and work stations and agencies have VPNs that allow people to log in with their government issues laptops from home. So that issue has largely been solved.

All of that of course is utterly irrelevant for someone like Hillary Clinton. Cabinet Secretaries get secure classified email systems and phones built into their house. They travel everywhere in the world with a staff that is connected. The idea that the Secretary of State would have to worry about carrying two smart phones or how to answer her emails is completely absurd. Hillary actually claimed that she did this because she worried about being out of touch. She was the fucking Secretary of State. And she expects people to believe that she had to worry about being connected and getting her emails when she traveled. This is so insulting to the listener even the Democrat Operative media can't stomach it.

[Mainer2]

The theme that seems to be emerging is that this is just another example of how low the Republicans will stoop to try and smear Hillary. Making a big deal out of basically nothing.,

[John]

But no one is going to believe that. Hillary is not Bill. She has no charisma and can't charm her way out of things the way he could. People always knew Bill was a philandering, corrupt piece of shit but they forgave him because they liked him and they thought he was doing a decent job as President. I don't think they will think the same about Hillary.

[Citizen Nothing]

I agree, John. There's a ton of charisma in the Clinton family, but every drop of it resides in Bill.

[BigT]

There's a ton of charisma in the Clinton family, but every drop of it resides in Bill.

or on the blue dress.

[Mainer2]

It was funny here in New Hampshire. The head of the republican party was on camera saying in a very mature and professional way that this is a serious issue for Hillary and really call into question her judgment and fitness for office.

None of the usual Democrat leaders would go on camera. The found some fat pasty lady with bad teeth and half purple hair who said it's just a smear on Hillary.

I take that as a sign that the power brokers here see this as a real problem.

[John]

I said yesterday that you can tell she is in trouble over this because the usual leftist sock puppets on here have yet to show up on a Hillary thread and defender her. That means the Prog internet hive hasn't given them "here is how you defend Hillary" talking points yet. The sock puppets only post when they have talking points to defend the cause. Maybe they will get talking points soon. Time will tell. But the fact that they don't yet have them and the usual army of internet trolls are not out posting them all over the internet is a bad sign for Hillary.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm really starting to wonder what the Dems will do in 2016. Warren would end up with McGovern-like numbers in the general. Biden is just a joke now. There's got to be some youngish Dem pol who they'll start pushing soon. I mean, who heard of Obama before he became OBAMA?

[John]

CN,

They don't have anyone. Webb would be a credible candidate but there is no way in hell the party base would give him the nomination. I don't think Warren is going to even run and if she did, she would be as you point out a worse candidate than Hillary.

That leaves O'Malley and Biden. That is two old white guys from solid blue states. What exactly would they be selling? O'Malley has a terrible record in Maryland. So there is no way he could credibly claim to be anything but a far left liberal. Biden was once reasonable but as you say is a joke. And neither of them could play the "don't you want to make history by electing a (insert victim group here) for President" card.

People keep saying unknows this far out can win. That is true. The problem is the Democrats have been so damaged by the last three elections, they don't even have any unknowns. To paraphrase Rick Patino, "Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or Barrack Obama are not walking through that door".

[Warty]

O'Malley plays the guitar, has the suggestion of biceps, and has a state machine behind him. If that's not enough to become president, nothing is.

[Pro Libertate]

Is he tall? America can't abide short presidents. Also, he has to be left-handed, like all demon spawn.

[Warty]

Apparently he's 6 feet tall, but I dunno about that. Only short guys overcompensate this much.

[Pro Libertate]

A shirtless candidate? Can America handle that much truth? Also, he needs to work on his core.

[tarran]

Deval Patrick...

Mark my words. I predicted Al Gore winning the 2008 presidential election, so you know my predictions have great power.

[Pro Libertate]

There's actually quite a few people who might run, even if she doesn't drop out but especially if she does. Jim Webb, O'Malley, Sanders, Biden, Mark Warner, Castro, Cuomo, maybe even Gore and Kerry. Not to mention Vermin Supreme.

[Citizen Nothing]

Not to mention Vermin Supreme.

You've given me hope.

[Pro Libertate]

There is a nonzero chance that he will be our president.

[Xeones]

Oh man, i would vote for Vermin Supreme so hard.

[Charles Easterly]

Think of all the decay he'll prevent.

Plus - ponies.

[KDN]

Kirsten Gillibrand is the perfect Hillary! cipher. I think the Clinton machine throws their weight behind her for a surprise candidacy should the bitch go down.

[Pope Jimbo]

What Bill had going for him was that he didn't insult the listeners.

Even when he was telling whopper after whopper, he usually did it with a wink at the rubes, letting them know that he realized that he was bullshitting them, but that he had to at least go through the motions.

He was like a pro wrestler. They might rant and rave, but everyone knows what is really going on.

Hillary on the other hand seems to think that big whoppers actually work. That is why she keeps stepping on her tits when responding to these scandals.

[Brett L]

Since literally everyone who works has more than one email address, she's fucked. When your Fox News reciting community college dropout cousin can manage 2 different emails competently, it is too farfetched to believe the Secretary of State and a Yale lawyer can't figure how to do so without inconveniencing herself. She's done for insulting the intelligence of the average voter too obviously.

[John]

Every person I know who has a job above check out clerk or ditch digger carries two smart phones. It is how the world works these days. The fact that she would think such an excuse would fly shows how wildly out of touch she is with reality. She really does think it is still the 1990s. I think you are right that she is fucked here. She told a lie that nearly everyone has personal experience that says otherwise. Bad move old timer.

[Old Man With Candy]

Every person I know who has a job above check out clerk or ditch digger carries two smart phones.

Meet one who doesn't. But I'm bright enough to set up multiple email accounts on one phone.

[Lord Humungus]

Me too - One iPhone, two email accounts. When I'm vacation, I stop the email portion of my work account so I won't get tempted to see what's going on back at the ranch.

[Old Man With Candy]

Do you use DHTs for your smartphone? It makes the conversations seem more lively and intelligent.

[Lord Humungus]

DHTs?

[Old Man With Candy]

Yes, like 300B, 2A3, 45... I will only use smartphones with DHTs. Same with television- it brings out the emotional nuance in the dialog.

[Lord Humungus]

Additonal: I've dabbled with DHTs - a SE 300B, a SE 2A3, and a push-pull 6B4G - all homebrew amps.

The lack of feedback makes for some uh, interesting results - bloated bass, rolled off treble and a really colored, er, warm sound. It's distortion, pure 'n' simple.

They do sound better with really high efficiency speakers (a whole 'nother set of problems) with high impedances but for my setup single-ended triode amplifiers could never deliver the power I need. You could hear the output clipping on peaks.

[Lord Humungus]

(whoosh, over my head at first) - I'm a IHP man... don't like to futz with DC power supplies for filaments, or pots to null out the hum.

I use pentodes with regulated screens... and loop feedback... and even pentode drivers.

[Old Man With Candy]

I use pentodes with regulated screens... and loop feedback...

Are you throwin' schade?

[Lord Humungus]

Haven't gone that route (yet). Somehow keeping the OT out of the loop seems "wrong" - from the gut - to me due to the issues of all that wire/iron. Of course no phase problems?

My current monoblocks are an old project of mine that I recently bought back from the original buyer; An EF86 driving a 6550UL into a Hammond 1627SEA OT. I'm open to some experimentation.

[Old Man With Candy]

Drive the OPTs with a low impedance source (like fed-back pentodes or followers) and the distortion lowers. Multiple primary windings with cathode and/or screen feedback can also do wonders. That lets you increase the loop feedback without accidentally creating an oscillator.

Weighs down your iPhone, admittedly.

[Lord Humungus]

Makes sense.

[Timon 19]

Dihydrotestosterone?

[Timon 19]

Dihydrotestosterone?

[John]

You can't do that with government email.

[Brett L]

BYOP hasn't made the jump to government yet.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

A memorandum from President Obama sets up a "student aid bill of rights."

So this is what happens when the media excludes Obama from the headlines for 24 hours.

[Rich]

Well, there's also this:

Judicial Watch: Obama Family's 2014 Christmas Vacation in Hawaii Cost Taxpayers $3,672,798 in Transportation Expenses

[Brett L]

If that is the cost of him not administering, we should gladly pay it more often.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's the problem? It was paid for by money he saved cutting the deficit.

REVENUE NEUTRAL.

Or whatever.

[Steve G]

*yawn* much of this is sunk costs.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Thankfully, we have less than two years of his naked, ineffectual pandering to an indifferent congress to look forward to. Though on the downside, we probably won't see many more epic Rose Garden hissy fits before he returns to Harvard as the Spike Lee Honorary Celebrity Lecturer, where he'll continue to lose every debate he has, though this time in the form of Socratic dialogues directed at 23-year olds.

[Libertarian]

Have you seen who's running for president??! I'm afraid the next president will make Obama look good.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Short of getting the U.S. into another ground war and occupation, it's difficult to see someone trying to do more damage than Obama has. He really belongs in the LBJ/Nixon category of people who screwed the nation good and hard, though getting neutered immediately after his re-election helped things.

Clinton won't make it, and the Bush wing of the GOP is still more than willing to get the U.S. into another ground war with mass casualties, and I don't know if any of the significant candidates other than Rand would alienate half the party to oppose that. At this point, I'd settle for a Wendell Willkie clone.

[Rich]

the Spike Lee Honorary Celebrity Lecturer

LOL

[Somalian Road Corporation]

I hope I'm wrong here, but I can't see him returning to academia after the aggressively imperious way he's run his administration--like the crackdown on whistleblowers and bringing in the hope, change and transparency by prosecuting more than twice of them than all previous Presidential administrations combined. That doesn't spell "had a taste of power and is now willing to step away" to me.

Nope, I predict a return to the Senate or angling for a cabinet position in the future. Or maybe... Chief Justice Obama?!?one!! More history-book hilarity going for the legislative-executive-judicial trifecta there.

[John]

He is going to become Al Sharpton on steroids. That is what Obama For America is. His plan is to take his community organizing global. It is going to be a nightmare for the Democrats. They are going to want to move on and he is going to be out there being Obama and getting the attention he so craves and in doing so reminding everyone that the Democrats are still his party.

Imagine if George W. Bush had spent the last seven years out campaigning and making front page news every day. Think how fucked the Republicans would be right now. That is what I bet happens with Obama.

[Mainer2]

And given his age and my age, the odds are pretty good that I'll be hearing about him in the news the rest of my life. He's not going away.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I can't see returning to the Senate or any other position in the federal or state governments. It would be such a huge blow to the ego (and public perception, which is all that Obama has ever really been) to go from being the leader of his own personal Star Chamber to being basically a souped-up version of Barbara Boxer. Same with a cabinet position.

The thought of BHO making it onto the SC is terrifying but plausible. He would be the most contentious figure imaginable for that position--can you imagine?--but if we get another Obama-level asshole in the executive in the next 20 years, it could happen, especially if s/he were to take Obama's attitude toward recess appointments.

If I were to bet, I'd say he winds up as the Secretary General of the UN, though he'll have to spend a few years making the rounds to heal some wounds first. Maybe 2019 or 2023.

[Lord Humungus]

A gripping glimpse into bin Laden's decline and fall

Newly released al Qaeda documents, including letters to and from Osama bin Laden in the year or so before his May 2011 death, show an organization that understood it had severe problems resulting from the CIA drone program that was killing many of the group's leaders in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

As a result of this pressure, al Qaeda officials were seriously considering relocating elements of the organization to other countries such as Afghanistan or Iran. They also entered into ceasefire discussions through intermediaries with elements of Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, although the documents suggest that nothing came of these discussions and there is no evidence in the documents indicating that the Pakistani government had any clue about bin Laden's location or presence in Pakistan.

[sarcasmic]

Risk of 8.0 earthquake in California rises, USGS says

http://www.latimes.com/local/l.....story.html
I was shocked to see that global warming wasn't blamed.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's all the fracking in California that's causing it.

(Really I think the producers of San Andreas paid the USGS to start putting out scaremongering headlines.)

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Or they don't want any Italian style problems, if you know what I mean.

[Lord Humungus]

Divisive primaries have plagued Republicans. Now Democrats are dealing with them.

In municipal and statewide Democratic primaries all across the country, liberal candidates have emerged in strong competition against more moderate opponents at a time when the party base is increasingly longing for populist, outspoken standard-bearers. The result could be something akin to what Republicans have dealt with as tea party candidates have been battling centrist Republicans.

The rise of liberal contenders comes as activists have launched a movement to draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) into the presidential race, but she has shown no signs that she is planning to jump in. That has left many wondering whether issues like income inequality will be sufficiently addressed in 2016 by presumed early Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

[sarcasmic]

Naked ambition: Female candidate goes completely nude in posters promoting her bid to become mayor of Spanish town

Yolanda Couceiro Morin strips off in 'eye-catching' poster to get attention
Her private parts covered with words 'politicians have left us stark naked'
Running for mayor of the small town of Portugalete in the Bilbao Estuary
Member of far-right Party of Freedom describes left-wing as political elite
She claims her party is directly involved in 'cleaning up Spanish politics'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-town.html
I hope Hillary doesn't get any ideas....

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That thought burned a hole in my frontal lobe, thanks.

[John]

That is not even the half of it. Just wait until Elizabeth Warren tries to compete with her.

[Mainer2]

Playboy style soft core with Hillary and Warren playing nude volleyball while wearing cowboy boots and hats.

[Pope Jimbo]

No volleyball because it uses a ball. And balls are the exact opposite of both of their campaign themes.

[R C Dean]

I thought hitting balls was their campaign theme.

[Libertarian]

I hope Hillary doesn't get any ideas....

Transparency!

[John]

The student bill of rights might as well be called the "everyone gets a unicorn" memo. It is right out of The Onion.

"Every student deserves access to a quality, affordable education at a college that's cutting costs and increasing learning."

? "Every student should be able to access the resources needed to pay for college."

? "Every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan."

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com.....z3U5BGn1Xb
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

All three of those things are mutually exclusive. Number one is, at least if you believe the Prog line about how schools are forever struggling and need more funds, internally inconsistent. Is everyone in America now officially stupid?

[sarcasmic]

Good intentions are magic.

[Rich]

It's great stuff.

Have the proggies ever defined "access"?

[SugarFree]

Access = Free

[Rich]

So, "Access Hollywood" means free movie tickets? Yay!

[WTF]

Sort of. "Access" actually means "paid for by someone else".

[Rhywun]

"Access to my wallet"

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Something along the lines of "you are not free unless everyone else is your slave" as I understand it.

[UnCivilServant]

Is everyone in America now officially stupid?

See, their education plan is working!

[tarran]

John, the press caters to the stupid people because they are legion.

You thus hear the smart people in your inner circle, and most of what comes from your outer circle are stupid messages intended for stupid people.

And it seems that outside your circle there is nothing but stupidity, when in fact they are there; you just can't hear them. Their intelligent messages are lost in the sea of stupidity, like tears in rain.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"You thus hear the smart people in your inner circle, "

Good grief.

[Pro Libertate]

As the great George Takei once said, "[America], you are made of stupid."

[Almanian!]

Oh, my....

[Charles Easterly]

That is great. I hadn't seen that before. Thanks.

[Pro Libertate]

He's a gift that keeps on giving. Here's Blow'd Up.

[Charles Easterly]

Now I know how I will waste time when I'm done my housework.

[Florida Man]

I don't think people are stupid per se, it is economics and politics are boring to most people. All they hear is "more affordable college" and think that is nice.

[John]

Or they see through it but feel powerless to speak up. The entire idea that "every student deserves access to a college" is absurd. Some students are lazy or have little aptitude. They don't deserve the same access to hard working students with aptitude.

[Rich]

Um, ?. WORKINGIST!

[Florida Man]

I think public primary education makes it easy for people to envision "free" college education. I don't understand how people can see how poor public primary education is and think "yeah, let's expand that."

[John]

The other part of it is that people have the idea that schools educate people rather than giving people the opportunity to educate themselves. We seem to be devolving towards the primitive. It is just another form of cargo cult. People think if you build a school and people sit in the classrooms the students will be magically educated. It doesn't quite work like that.

[Florida Man]

Whole heartedly agree.

[Rich]

people have the idea that schools educate people rather than giving people the opportunity to educate themselves.

Well said.

Except "opportunity" should be "access". 😉

[Homple]

Half the population has below median intelligence.

[Libertarian]

They lost me at the asinine phrase "increasing learning." Sounds like something a second grader would write.

[Raston Bot]

Every student should be able to access the resources needed to pay for college

Nothing says rights quite like "should be able."

[WTF]

Of course, they already are able. They just need to earn it.

[Pope Jimbo]

Why not:

1) No govt loans/subsidies
2) Tuition cannot be more than 30 hrs/week * min wage
3) Now work your lazy ass through college
4) No more layers upon layers of administrators in universities.

I'm sure academia would shit their pants at the idea of no longer having a ton of govt money funneled into their coffers.

[Caleb Turberville]

Okay. "City on the Edge of Forever." Bones accidentally ODs on cordrazine. He then goes back in time and saves Edith Keeler, delaying the US entry into World War II.

My question: how did the pacifist movement in the US stop the call to war after Pearl Harbor? The US had already delayed entry into the war for 2 years. Pearl Harbor would be no match for the pacifist movement.

Also. The Enterprise/Constitution class should have no more than 20 decks. But in Star Trek V, the turboshaft goes to deck 70.

Finally, why didn't General Chang raise shields in The Undiscovered Country? There's no reason why a single torpedo shot from the Enteprise should have destroyed the bridge of the Bird of Prey.

[UnCivilServant]

why didn't General Chang raise shields in The Undiscovered Country? There's no reason why a single torpedo shot from the Enteprise should have destroyed the bridge of the Bird of Prey.

Even if he did, a single scout ship with a crew of twelve against two heavy cruisers isn't going to last long.

[hamilton]

Not to mention wouldn't he then lose cloak?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Because the whole shooting while cloaked thing was stupid to begin with. It's like the vampires can go out in the day now trope

[Florida Man]

I started watching enterprise with Bac-cul-a this week. I was enjoying it until time travel became a thing. Please no more time travel stuff guys.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I know, less time travel and more main deflector frequency modulation with power rerouted thru auxiliary couplings.

[Florida Man]

This guy gets it.

[UnCivilServant]

All right scruffy, we got your sound system hooked up.

What's next on the to do list?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Maximum human emotion will solve all the problems of interstellar relations.

[Caleb Turberville]

Listen. Re-route all inertial dampeners through the Heisenberg compensators. Make sure that the deflector disc has been formatted to released an intermittent tachyon pulses and that the nacelle collectors are programmed to take up any antimatter that may be within the sector.

Now, here's the tricky part. The tachyon pulse will result in an anti-time anomaly which will engulf the Alpha Quandrant and destroy all life.

Take your galaxy class star ship and create a static warp shell. Park the star ship in the middle of the anomaly and allow the subspace bubble to readjust the flow of spacetime.

[UnCivilServant]

We've only got a Kia of Prey and a Wrench.

[Florida Man]

NO Caleb! No goddamn tachyons! I don't what they are but every time I hear the words tachyon you might as well replace it with deus ex machina, because some dumb shit is about to solve all problems at the last possible second.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

For some real fun, go watch Prince of Darkness. Tachyons from the future warning of the arrival of the Devil.

[Florida Man]

Only if I can get drunk while watching.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Needs more sub-space harmonics

[Fist of Etiquette]

It gets better when they move away from the temporal cold war or whatever it was called. Only Janeway gets to do time travel every other week.

[Florida Man]

Thank god. I'm on episode 9 or 10.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think season two starts a different story arch, so you might have to wait until then.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Story arc. I don't know why I can't stop putting an h on that.

Captain Arc*er, out.

[Florida Man]

I forgive the spelling error but no the pun.

[Rasilio]

http://tomsmith.bandcamp.com/track/time-plot

[tarran]

The Internet has failed me;

I was going to post a clip of Tim Allen losing it and shrieking

JASON

There IS no quantum flux and there IS no auxiliary... There's no goddamn ship! You got it?

[Florida Man]

That movie allows me to tolerate Tim Allen, which is really saying something.

[Charles Easterly]

By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan....

[Rhywun]

^ So this. I could not stand him or anything he did before but I absolutely love that movie.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

1. A pacifistic US could easily have butterflied-away Pearl Harbor. Maybe President Wendall Wilkie makes peace with Japan, thus giving them no reason to attack Pearl Harbor.

2. A wizard did it.

3. I thought you can't run a cloaking device and your shields at the same time. Too much energy consumption.

[WTF]

Too much energy consumption.

However, the existence of transporters and replicators indicates each ship has access to virtually infinite power. Unless E no longer equals mc2 in their universe.

[R C Dean]

They can have access to unlimited power, like my house has access to god knows how many megawatts or volts or whatever.

That doesn't mean my house can handle all the megawatts or volts or whatever that it has access to.

Geez, this ain't rocket science . . . oh, wait.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We don't like to talk about Star Trek V, but yes, not only did the turboshaft label well over 70 decks, deck one was at the bottom instead of the top.

[UnCivilServant]

And they were out of order.

[Tonio]

Yeah, I've always hated that line, but I now view it as just a throwaway line to give a universally-understandable example of how important she would have been, even if that reasoning doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Aren't most college loans direct Ford ones via DOE?

[Lord Humungus]

Here are the most Earth-friendly beers
Non-profit Ceres had 21 breweries pledge to adhere to sustainable practices

Are you a beer drinker who wants to do everything you can to make sure there is a planet on which you can drink beer? Me too. It turns out the ingredients beer uses are threatened by climate change. Barley is threatened by heavy rain and drought, while hops have been struggling due to global warming.

Fortunately, the non-profit Ceres analyzed the manufacturing and distribution practices of a number of top breweries and put together a list of the companies most concerned about enforcing sustainable practices, which they've demonstrated by signing Ceres' Brewery Climate Declaration.

In signing the declaration, breweries pledge to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, use renewable energy, recycle steam, capture methane, cut transportation and become LEED Certified if they aren't already.

[John]

Beer foam is a greenhouse gas you know. They are already regulating cow farts. Human farts cannot be far behind.

[Libertarian]

I hope to hell Ceres also vigorously fought against the prohibition of brewers giving spent grain to ranchers.

[Mainer2]

On the radio this morning there was a report about proposed changes to New Hampshire's Car Dealer Bill of Rights. Why shouldn't car dealers have a BoR ? After all airline passengers, police, credit card users and now, apparently students receiving financial aid (and I'm sure I'm missing a few) heck every interest group gets their own Bill of Rights.

If only our politicians had respect for the, you know, ACTUAL Bill of Rights.

[Rich]

What we need is a Bill of Rights for the Bill of Rights.

And a Bill of Rights Czar.

[Libertarian]

The First Lady always has to pick a "cause". Perhaps the 2016 "First Gentleman" will call himself the "Bill" of rights. I'll be shocked if he doesn't.

[Rich]

*** gravelly Southern voice ***

"It'll be one of my thrusts."

[Irish]

When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

"Rome's growing sex industry may pave way for red-light district"

[Fist of Etiquette]

"A large penis is always welcome."

(You can guess whether that's SFW or Not.)

[Lord Humungus]

Don't touch our 'Butthole', say residents

Residents of an unfortunately named Leicestershire lane say they don't want it changed - even if it does make them the butt of jokes.

Butthole Lane in Shepsted, Loughborough, was named after the targets used in archery as it was where men went to practice their arrow skills in Tudor times.

Unlike the residents of Butt Hole Road in South Yorkshire, who had their street name changed to Archers Way, the people of Shepsted see it as a local tradition.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And that is my favorite post of the day. Thank you.

[Ted S.]

I thought they counted the holes in Lancashire, not Leicstershire.

[Mainer2]

They've got to know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

[John]

http://www.thenewamerican.com/.....e-citizens

Here is the latest bit of rightwing paranoia circulating around Facebook. Apparently, someone sat in a phone call where immigration activists let the mask slip and stated their plan is to create a nation within a nation of 11 million new immigrants. "These people will navigate not assimilate" says one person on the call.

First, this is probably true. There is no reason for the woman to lie about this and this totally sounds like something these idiots would say. Second, it is also the dumbest evil plan I have ever heard in my life. These people are actually stupid enough to believe that these immigrants won't assimilate, won't want to get a better job, learn English, see their kids do better in life or in any way be seduced by the broader culture. Nope, they are all going to stay proletariat drones for the cause. The people are evil but thankfully unbelievably stupid. Really, they are every bit as racist as the worst xenophobe. Both them and the xenophobes see immigrants as some kind of collective other and a threat to the country at large. The difference is these people, since they hate the country at large, see that as a good thing.

[Irish]

Yeah, the children of Mexican immigrants are more American than their parents and I'm sure their children will be even further Americanized. The children of immigrants are less in favor of a big government, for example.

I think it's hilarious that these people actually admitted that's their plan though. They're like Bond villains.

[John]

Really stupid Bond villains. I am not pro amnesty and open border. Even I, however, don't think this idiotic dream will work. It really shows how racist these people are. They view Central Americans as stupid and easily lead such that there is no worries about them getting any ideas about doing better or raising themselves up in the broader country. I am not sure how a person could have a more bigoted opinion of them.

[tarran]

When you think about it, it's pretty racist (ethnicist?) to think that a person's ancestry predestines their political & cultural views.

[John]

Yes. That is why xenophobes are rightly called racists. They think there is no way someone from another culture could ever assimilate into their culture. These people think exactly the same thing. They just hate the native culture and want that to happen.

[Irish]

The entire idea that the Democrats will emerge victorious because of 'diversity' is based on racism and idiocy. Blacks were a Republican constituency 70 years ago. Now they're the most Democratic constituency in the country.

That tells me a group's voting patterns can shift relatively quickly, given that they went from 70% Republican to 95% Democrat in less than 100 years. There's no reason the Hispanic vote couldn't conceivably be split 50/50 within the next generation.

[John]

The problem is intermarriage. Blacks have remained a largely homogenous population and remained loyal to first the Republicans and now the Democrats because black white intermarriage was for many years unheard of and still not that common today. Hispanics are not that way. The Hispanic white intermarriage rate has always been high. Whenever you hear those statistics about how "Hispanics are going to be the majority in X number of years", they include a huge number of half or more white "Hispanics". For all intents and purposes Hispanics are white. They are of European dissent. They are largely Christian. They are not an alien culture the way a Arab Muslim is. They are not really as alien as black culture, when you look at how much more common intermarriage is. The progs and the Hispanic race mongers just desperately want them to be the new black. They only reason they support immigration is because they think supporting it will produce a proletariat to outvote the evil white middle class. The moment they decide that isn't going to work, they will go full closed borders in the name of the environment.

[Citizen Nothing]

When I'm emperor, I shall mandate that all people who marry be of different races and religions. (Different sexes optional). In a few generations all humans shall be cafe-au-lait colored Unitarians. The world shall be at peace.

[John]

Intermarriage is the key to ending racism. You can only be racist if you can tell who is who. That is why racism among Europeans ended. You can't hate "Italians" if nearly all of the "Italians" are also half or more something else, including what you are.

This is why the Jim Crow South embraced the one drop rule. There were a lot of half wife people running around the South. If you started calling those people white, it would have been impossible to tell who was really black. If you can't tell who is black, you can't run a racist segregation system.

Today, the race mongers do the same thing. Just like the old racist southerners, they want a system of racist segregation. The only difference is they want the system so they can create obtain political power by created a racial spoils system and playing one races against one another. Just like the old white southerners, they too embrace the one drop rule lest people start seeing each other as human beings rather than an example of a "race".

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Maybe blacks, regardless of who they marry, just aren't attracted to a party full of Constantly Offended White Guys like yourself?

[Citizen Nothing]

And away we go.

[WTF]

Apparently he's decided to go Full Troll.

[Warty]

Apparently he's decided to go Full Troll.

A year ago, sure. Stop feeding him already.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How obsessed is Warty with me? Here he berates someone for feeding me when the guy wasn't (and doesn't) even respond to me.

[Irish]

"Maybe blacks, regardless of who they marry, just aren't attracted to a party full of Constantly Offended White Guys like yourself?"

Bo losing his mind and becoming a full blown troll has been immensely fun to watch.

It's especially hilarious that the Bo-troll spends as much time as he does engaging in ridiculously elitist posturing about the intellectual inferiority of people who didn't graduate from college, but then criticizes other people for their alleged bigotry.

Bo-troll sad. 🙁

[WTF]

For all intents and purposes Hispanics are white.

This reminded me of the fact that in the mid 1800s Irish and later Italian immigrants were not considered "white". Today that seems absurd, but when they were fresh off the boat I guess it made sense to the nativists at the time.

[Lord Humungus]

My wife's now departed grandma hated my guts when she first met me - she's Irish and hated the Dutch who ahem, run this town.

[Mainer2]

My grandmother called anyone not of German descent "English pock". I'm not sure exactly what pock means, but i'm pretty sure it's not a compliment.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Pack (which sounds like "Pock") can be a term meaning rabble, riff-raff, no goodniks, etc.

[Rhywun]

They view Central Americans as stupid and easily lead such that there is no worries about them getting any ideas about doing better or raising themselves up in the broader country.

Makes sense. That's exactly how they've treated blacks for the last 50+ years.

[Tonio]

Yeah, the children of Mexican immigrants are more American than their parents...

+1 Bisnatch

[OldMexican]

And so it is in the United States. Providing 10 to 15 million illegals instant citizenship via amnesty would greatly accelerate the "fundamental transformation" of America Obama promised in 2008.

Yeah, sure. Wait until those new immigrants start paying taxes - then you will have about 1/2 of them turning libertarian on you.

Little red Marxians are naive AND stupid. Yet they fancy themselves running the world. Mithra help us all.

[CJR]

This sounds like something I'd leak if I wanted to get the conservative base thoroughly riled up, and kill any chance of the GOP making overtures towards the immigrant community.

[Lord Humungus]

Trailer with tons of mozzarella stolen from truck stop

Hold the cheese. Thieves made off with a refrigerated tractor-trailer filled with $85,000 worth of shredded mozzarella cheese bound for a Hungry Howies Pizza distribution center in central Florida.

The truck was reported stolen Sunday.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports the driver and his girlfriend left the trailer at a truck stop in Summerfield on Saturday evening while having a mechanic check the truck.

Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational deep dish pizza!

[John]

Beware the threat of the homemade Pizza bomb.

[Auric Demonocles]

Who's going to want to buy that much hot cheese?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

ME!!!!!

[Old Man With Candy]

Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational deep dish pizza!

There is no such thing. There is deep dish. There is pizza. "Deep dish pizza" is an oxymoron.

[WTF]

Exactly.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

*narrows gaze*

[Auric Demonocles]

What is up with this new pop-up social media bar thing on the bottom of the browser? Is that new, or did I accidentally allow some script I was preventing before

[Lord Humungus]

hmm... I don't see it on Firefox (and I temporarily opened up all scripts on this page)

[Auric Demonocles]

I think I figured it out. Can you try resizing the window so it's narrower? (I had two things side by side) I'm guessing it's responsive to the browser size and thinks I'm on a tablet or phone when I do that.

[Lord Humungus]

now I see it - narrowing the window did make the bar show on the bottom

[Iucundus]

Watching some hagiography of people involved in Earth Day. Paul Ehrlich featured. Not sure whether to bring up the commodities bet to the professor. Kind of want to pass.

[Irish]

I see Bo's transformation from irritating but legitimate commenter to outright internet troll is complete.

Good job guys. I think we broke him.

[sarcasmic]

I fink we hurt his feewings.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You're sense of self importance remains intact though.

[Tonio]

Bo, you showed such promise, once...

[Citizen Nothing]

He could a' been a contender.

[sarcasmic]

He's transformed into Mary. Nothing except personal attacks from now on.

[Irish]

When you grow to hate a website's commenters this much, why not just stop posting? I don't understand the mentality that says 'I'm going to keep talking to these people I dislike,' only now it's going to consist of nothing but trolling.'

[sarcasmic]

Well his mommy says he's really likeable and smart, which means it's not his fault. It's our fault. The fact that nobody likes him is the world's fault, not his. He's so likeable and smart because his mommy says so.

[RBS]

Bo is from SC right? I know at least one regular thinks Bo is a Mormon and that explains his weirdness/ lack of social skills but I'm convinced he's a product of the Bob Jones system.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I don't post on here to be part of an online community Irish, but to express my views on things libertarian. Why would I stop that because I find that a lot of the commenters have formed a weird Gamergate juvenile psychopaths chatroom subculture and/or conservative clique on this libertarian site?

[Restoras]

He must just be bored. Or maybe he is a plant by the Reason staff to collectively summarize their left-libertarian leanings.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Or maybe he is a plant by the Reason staff to collectively summarize their left-libertarian leanings."

At least you recognize who is out of place here

[Citizen Nothing]

Zing!

[Restoras]

The Arbiter has spoken!

[Restoras]

He's transformed into Mary.

That was my thought as well. Not much longer until he is posting youtube videos using commenter text as fodder.

[RBS]

What he should do, to really speak truth to power, is start asking the really hard questions and then posting those responses to YouTube.

[Warty]

She's still going. I'm slightly surprised.

FREE-SPEECH LIBERTARIANS EXPRESS THEIR PHILOSOPHY AS ONLY WHITE FRAT-BOYS CAN, WONDER WHY PEOPLE HATE THEM
Libertarians have a new chant. Kinda catchy, no?
"There will never be a nigger in SAE. You can hang them from a tree, but they'll never sign with me."

Moral support from the troops.
This is what libertarians actually believe.

Though I should note that Heroic Mulatto claims to have evidence that Kizone Kaprow is some loser in upstate New York, not Mary. I haven't seen it, so who knows.

[Warty]

Another day, another Botantrum. It's getting unbelievably tedious.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

13 year old girls and their obsessions

[Lord Humungus]

That's why I supported Warty as a moderator.

[Warty]

WARMOD/SUGARFREE 2016
BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Each day is worse than the one before it. How long can this go on?

[tarran]

A tulpa style goodbye, followed by trolling under different handles...

I don't think the MNG graceless exit is his style.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You were absolutely right yesterday. He's pretending like nothing happened.

[The Laconic]

He can't actually pretend like nothing happened, because we won't let him forget it. He's alienated pretty much everyone, and he doesn't have the self-awareness and humility to change the situation.

He's dug himself into a hole and can't get out. It won't end well.

[Pope Jimbo]

Wait, we don't have to buy him because we broke him do we?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The Guardian: Let's scrap Top Gear and replace it with an 'eco-feminist' version

A true programme about cars would be one that roped all this like a steed, and said: look. Look at what we've discovered. We can take the shapes of the old and the power of the new and create something that is basically free, running on limitless energy, like in Star Trek.

Top Gear, being so far behind the curve, would only be able to catch up if it undertook a radical rethink of its value system. I suggest an eco-feminist approach. In the first place, they need to incorporate the obvious concerns of the entire industry, to produce cars that get you places without needless waste. It's not wholemeal and boring. What does an intelligent species do, faced with a problem? It finds daring answers. It doesn't plough into a ditch and laugh.

Feminism is relevant because only a macho culture would have allowed a bunch of idiots to elide heedless fossil fuel use with mindless racial slurs and scientific illiteracy. I wouldn't accidentally call someone a slope. I wouldn't charge around Argentina spewing asinine triumphalism about some long-gone war. Why not? Because the impetus behind those actions is territorial, and that's not what feminism or, for that matter, human beings are about.

NOT A PARODY!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I can hear the advertiser's response now.

[UnCivilServant]

"Eco-Feminist"? So they've combined a prefix that is a bullshit warning in of itself with a discredited -ism that has eaten its own young. Why are they not being laughed off the stage?

[Tonio]

That term has been around for years.

[Rhywun]

Why are they not being laughed off the stage?

Because that sort of flapdoodle gets taken seriously in England.

[tarran]

Nothing says "we aren't territorial" like seeking to shut up people you don't like.

[OldMexican]

Feminism is relevant because only a macho culture would have allowed a bunch of idiots to elide heedless fossil fuel use with mindless racial slurs and scientific illiteracy

So feminism is relevant because the author came up with a needlessly wordy Non Sequitur?

Will wonders never cease...

[RBS]

We can take the shapes of the old and the power of the new and create something that is basically free, running on limitless energy, like in Star Trek.

Oh my...

[Irish]

"Feminism is relevant because only a macho culture would have allowed a bunch of idiots to elide heedless fossil fuel use with mindless racial slurs and scientific illiteracy. I wouldn't accidentally call someone a slope. I wouldn't charge around Argentina spewing asinine triumphalism about some long-gone war. Why not? Because the impetus behind those actions is territorial, and that's not what feminism or, for that matter, human beings are about."

Hilarious. They also drove around the south with their cars plastered with slogans like 'I like man love,' but apparently it's only wrong to troll people if they're non-white. Although Argentinians are pretty white, so even that argument doesn't seem to work.

[John]

Lets scap the most popular and profitable show the BBC has ever produced and replace it with one that would be lucky to attract the readership at Jezebel.

The BBC is on the public dole. So they are free to make utterly idiotic decisions because it is not their money they are losing. I would not be surprised to see them kill Top Gear. It is only other people's money. So what do they care?

That being said, I would be shocked if some other network doesn't scoop up the show. I am pretty sure the Discovery Networks would be happy to produce Top Gear and let the hosts say anything they like. They broadcast in the UK don't they?

[Timon 19]

Discovery is all over the damn place. Earlier Mythbusters episodes shown on UAE satellite services are narrated by an Aussie, and are edited very...oddly.

I've seen Discovery shows in Turkish (which is sort of hilarious).

[HazelMeade]

A jury decided Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke had infringed on the copyright for "Got to Give It Up" in writing "Blurred Lines" and awarded the children of Marvin Gaye more than $7 million in damages.

WTF?
Bullshit. They aren't the same song.
This is the sort of thing that shouldn't even be decided by a jury.
What is wrong with this country... we have jury trials for copyright infringement, but an arbitrary judge gets to decide if you can keep your children.

[tarran]

I wouldn't want a jury deciding my custody issues.

It's already scary dealing with a judge well known to my lawyer.

[HazelMeade]

You should have the option of a jury trial.

[John]

Yes, they are not the same song. "Got to Give it Up" is one of the greatest disco songs ever written. It is the product of a true musical genius who was so good he could take up a genre of music he hadn't done before and do it better than people who spent their careers doing it. "Blurred Lines" is a shitty dance song written by a couple of second rate hacks.

That being said, the problem is not with this decision, it is with copyright in general. Short of just sampling the actual recording or doing the song note for note, I don't see how there is any definitive line between infringement and inspired by or to be more pejorative "ripped off". I can hear Chuck Berry in half of the Rolling Stones songs ever recorded. They are so close that I once heard Ron Wood bolo the opening riff to "Its Only Rock and Roll" and thought for sure they were doing "Oh Carol" for a second. You can hear the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly in just as many Beatles songs. All art is derivative in some way and copyright has become a giant monster that is eating our art.

[Apple]

It's insane. you can't copyright genre.

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: L Ron Hubbard

1. Let me clarify this very definitely. This is not an authoritarian organization.

2. I have high hopes of smashing my name into history so violently that it will take a legendary form even if all books are destroyed.

3. You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.

4. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM. You can write that down in your book in great big letters.

5. I'm drinking lots of rum and popping pinks and greys.

6. I set out to try to help my fellow man and to do what little I could to make the world a better place.

7. I didn't get rich by being stupid.

Extra derp: the spaceship landing pad Scientologists built in New Mexico:

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

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

6

[tarran]

My guess, #7 or #5....

I'd say #5 but it's close.

[Andrew S.]

6

[WTF]

6

[Charles Easterly]

Five. It seems too obvious but I don't think he'd admit that.

[Derpetologist]

7 is the Not- that is from Scrooge McDuck

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

5

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: David Axelrod

1. If the blue meanies are going to get me they'd better get off their asses and do something.

2. Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president.

3. I'm a kibitzer with a broad portfolio.

4. We know that 10 million more people will lose insurance in the next 10 years if we don't act.

5. I think President Obama is a committed, practicing nonideologue. He's consumed by neither tactics nor ideology.

6. He's not exactly a guy who invites the limelight, and he's not a showboat. He's really rather shy.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

1 was the Zodiac Killer IIRC

[Tonio]

Derpy, Ima liking this new thing you're doing, even though I suck at it.

[Charles Easterly]

Three.

[Derpetologist]

The Not is #1- a quote from the Zodiac Killer

[OldMexican]

A jury decided Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke had infringed on the copyright for "Got to Give It Up" in writing "Blurred Lines" and awarded the children of Marvin Gaye more than $7 million in damages.

I.P. means an undue transfer of property from rightful owners to whoever claims he or she is the "originator."

In any other instance, it would be called "government-mandated forfeiture" or just plain thievery. But under IP, the victims of the forfeiture are the "perps" and the perp is suddenly the "victim." The world is truly upside-down.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

1 was the Zodiac Killer IIRC

[Derpetologist]

Behold Chris Hedges' latest article entitled "Killing Ragheads for Jesus".

http://www.truthdig.com/report.....s_20150125

Sheldon Richman, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

There is no shortage of simpletons whose minds are warped by this belief system.
We elected one of them, George W. Bush, as president. They populate the armed forces and the Christian right. They watch Fox News and believe it. They have little understanding or curiosity about the world outside their insular communities. They are proud of their ignorance and anti-intellectualism. They prefer drinking beer and watching football to reading a book.

Wow, that's a lot of smug.

Chris Hedges has also decided that porn is the end of the world:

http://www.truthdig.com/report.....e_20150215

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

None of this, Dines pointed out, was by accident. Porn grew out of the commodity culture, the need by corporate capitalists to sell products.

Exactly as I suspected. Sex is to be in service of some higher purpose.

Along with the rise of pornography there has been an explosion in sex-related violence, including domestic abuse, rape and gang rape. A rape is reported every 6.2 minutes in the United States, but the estimated total, taking into account unreported assaults, is perhaps five times higher, as Rebecca Solnit points out in her book "Men Explain Things to Me."

And exactly wrong.

[Irish]

Hedge's claim re: sexual violence is amazing given that it's exactly the opposite of the truth. Sexual violence is at all time lows.

[Raston Bot]

Some potentially awesome news before spring gobbler season in April.

Virginia's 2014/15 "fall" (includes two weeks in January) turkey kill dropped off a cliff.

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/w.....4-2015.pdf

2005 through 2014
4428 4143 4759 3505 3538 2687 3470 4432 5351 2988

Difference between 2013 and 2014 was -44%.

Good mast crops depress harvest rates as turkeys move less to find food and typically spend most of their time in forested areas, using smaller home ranges and remaining out of view. ...The magnitude of change between years is significant and the wide contrast in mast crops between years is believed to be the primary cause. Despite the low fall harvest, we believe turkey populations are in good condition as cooperators in our August Brood Survey reported seeing near record numbers of broods and total numbers of turkeys. The widespread availability of acorns, the turkey's favorite food, simply made for tough hunting conditions as birds were hard to locate.

[Raston Bot]

link to mast explanation
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/w.....ummary.asp

[Sevo]

Kamala Harris decides she knows how to run hospitals, owners decide otherwise:

"Citing Attorney General Kamala Harris' "unprecedented" list of demands, Prime Healthcare Services pulled out of its deal to buy Daughters of Charity Health System's six nonprofit Catholic hospitals, including Daly City's Seton Medical Center."
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bay.....ate-result

Most of it is behind a pay-wall, but Harris put 300 conditions on the sale, including the requirement that the hospitals 'remain in business' for 10 years.
The hospitals' spokescritter is putting a brave, but there's a good chance they'll go under and offer no services at all.

[Tonio]

And that will, of course, be spun as the work of evil corps; not due to meddling by incompetent bureaucrats.

[DEG]

New Mexico lawmaker says "rape is defined in many ways, and some of it is just drunken college sex."

He's a Democrat, so I don't expect much outrage from the usual parties.

[Derpetologist]

There was a request for a Spot the Not featuring Bo. Instead, I present the 2 times I lost patience with him and insulted him.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/08.....nt_4694897

Derpetologist|8.10.14 @ 5:47PM|#

Say, where is Bo? I do miss his insightful commentary and bold contrarianism!

reply to this
Bobarian|8.10.14 @ 6:02PM|#

That, right there, is the derpiest thing you've ever brought on to HampersandR.

Well played.

reply to this

reply to this
sarcasmic|8.10.14 @ 6:04PM|#

Please don't say stuff like that. He'll think you're serious.

reply to this
seguin|8.10.14 @ 9:01PM|#

It's the one thing he won't argue with.

reply to this

http://reason.com/blog/2014/10.....nt_4805366

Bo Cara Esq.|10.1.14 @ 7:32PM|#

His original comment "Economic aid is basically international welfare (USAID) that is basically food stamps to buy our grain and pharmaceuticals." and others seems to imply he found the economic aid less defensible.

reply to this
Derpetologist|10.1.14 @ 8:00PM|#

Because he called it welfare? Your skill at reading between the lines is second to none.

I predict a long, illustrious career for you at the law offices of Ringling Brothers, Barnum, & Bailey.

reply to this

[WTF]

Damn, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Bo......nah, he brought it on himself.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He's begging for it. All has to do is not be an asshole, but he can't.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I can't help but notice that you haven't gotten mad at him lately.

[Injun, as in from India]

A new low: Charlie Hebdo's murdered staff receive an 'Islamophobe of the Year' award

Yeah, Islamophobia. The condition suffered by those who are afraid of speaking out against Islam because of past precedents of murder and bodily injury by muslims.

[Raston Bot]

WTF

they spoke out. they never stopped speaking out. they were murdered for speaking out.

[Injun, as in from India]

Islamophobia is a condition suffered by the living, because the ones who did not have it were already murdered.

[The Laconic]

To be fair, I'm sure they were afraid of Muslims. Toward the end.

[Derpetologist]

Melissa Harris Perry gives talk at Cornell event to commemorate Martin Luther King; begins by wishing that Trayvon Martin beat the shit out of George Zimmerman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA9GsEja0Oc

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....53538.html

[Injun, as in from India]

"We Can't Breathe: The Continuing Consequences of Inequality," was first posted by the Cornell Review, the university's "only conservative and libertarian publication."

That newspaper is like the one black guy at the Republican National Convention.

[Injun, as in from India]

For those who forgot, my comment was a reference to this: Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC Panel Mocks Mitt Romney's Black Grandson

[Knarf Yenrab!]

By race troll standards, she's quite attractive.

There's something about a progressive with a lisp openly engaging in hate speech and advocacy of violence that revs my motor.

[DEG]

US government claims Swedish kids are American citizens. Kids were born in Sweden, have lived in Sweden their entire lives, but have an American citizen mother. The oldest is six, and the mother is concerned about what the IRS will do to her kids when they are older.

[Lord Humungus]

Pay taxes!

[Injun, as in from India]

That was my FIRST thought after I read that. 🙂

[Roger the Shrubber]

I can't wait until the until the kid grows up and runs for POTUS as a Republican.

[DEG]

Snoop Dogg urging folks to dump firearms maker stocks.

"How I've been affected by gun violence over the years is through the deaths of friends and family members and associates," Snoop Dogg said in the video, holding a sign that says #ImUnloading. "I'm unloading for the loved ones I lost."

Later in the article:

Snoop Dogg might seem like an unusual choice as an anti-gun advocate. He once exalted gun violence through songs like "Bang Out" about gangsters. In 2006 he was charged with felony gun possession. And in the 1990s he was tried -- and acquitted -- of murder charges.

"exalted gun violence through songs". I think "gun violence" (whatever the fuck that is) affected Snoop in more than just loved ones getting killed, Snoop made a shit-ton of money off of it.

[Warty]

"Dat's whassup, nigga!"

[Raston Bot]

When I think sound financial advice, I think rap star.

And some fucking moron from the FEELZ brigade is going to conflate this with "value" investing because it reflects Snoops' values.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

BUY!

Lord do I loathe bad tough guys who made a mint playing the part act like this.

[double ham fisted]

If you simultaneously own individual stocks and take advice on which stocks to own from Snoop Dogg you don't have to worry about either for too long.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Yes, please give interested parties a good deal on stocks that you are intent on undervaluing.

Of all the idiotic symbolic moves, divesting yourself of stock has to be at the top (divesting your university, on the other hand, externalizes the costs to someone else, so that's defensible). "Practice financial self immolation to let this profitable business know how much you hate them!"

[Mainer2]

Bo has Jon Stewart sydrome.

Reason.com posters are erudite, thoughtful and intelligent. If I argue with them, then I'm smart too.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What happens when every single poster is calling him a retard?

[sarcasmic]

That just means that every poster has something wrong with them. After all, his mommy says he's really smart and really likeable. So the fact that he has no friends and is universally reviled is the world's problem, not his. It's not his fault. His mommy said so. The world just doesn't understand.

[Old Man With Candy]

They shouldn't. Asperger's is a different condition and, unlike retardation, can actually be treated. But only if we keep encouraging him to seek appropriate treatment.

Social skills therapies: Run by a psychologist, counselor, speech pathologist, or social worker, these therapies are invaluable ways to build social skills and the ability to read verbal and non-verbal cues that is often lacking in those with Asperger's.

[Pope Jimbo]

It means that he was wrong about there being a Offended White Guys Brigade.

It is worse! It is the Offended White Guys Division!! The rot in our republic goes far deeper than he originally thought. Shit it might even be Corps level deep.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

So I could finally get General's Stars someday!!!!

[The Laconic]

What happens is that he doubles down on the retardedness, rather than developing some self-awareness.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Welp, I think it's about time for Bo and Reason to part ways. We've reached that point.

[Old Man With Candy]

Well, falsely claiming a law degree is certainly a concern that things might go beyond just Asperger's.

[sarcasmic]

If we could only be that lucky.

[BigT]

Secret Service is practicing how to immobilize your drones. (Link is a 41 second self-starting video)

The Secret Service is conducting middle-of-the-night drone flights near the White House in secret tests to devise a defense against the unmanned aircraft.

The government-controlled drones will be flown between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. during the next several weeks over parts of Washington ?airspace that's usually off limits as a no-fly zone, according to a U.S. official briefed on the plans.

The official said the Secret Service is testing drones both for its own use in law enforcement and protection, and to identify how to defend against hostile drones. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the plans. The Secret Service has said details are classified.

Among the tests is the use of signal-jamming technology to thwart control of a remotely piloted aircraft, the official said.

[]
The challenge for the Secret Service is how to quickly detect a rogue drone flying near the White House or another location where the president is, then within moments either hacking its guidance mechanism to seize control, or jamming its signal to send it off course or make it crash.

Some consumer-level drones [] have enough lifting power to carry small amounts of explosives.

[BigT]

Judith Curry on a recent paper demonstrating that the Earth's albedo is determined largely by clouds. Water thus has a buffering effect on climate, ie when it gets warm more water vapor produces more clouds that cool the earth and when it gets cold there is less water vapor and fewer clouds and the earth warms up. Essentially CO2 has nothing to do with it.

The implications of this paper strike me as profound. Planetary albedo is a fundamental element of the Earth's climate. This paper implies the presence of a stabilizing feedback between atmosphere/ocean circulations, clouds and radiation. Climate models do not capture this stabilizing feedback.

The results of this paper also have interesting implications for ice ages, whereby the forcing that is predominant in one hemisphere is felt in the other.

The failure of models to reproduce this hemisphere synchronicity raises interesting implications regarding the fidelity of climate model-derived sensitivity to CO2.

[Illocust]

Serious on this, there are some kids that the average person is just not equipped to handle full stop. They are a danger to both themselves and others. I see giving parents and out from this situation as one of the places that government should fill.

[Restoras]

And actively hates on the Tesla.

As one should.

[Illocust]

Nope, there aren't other avenues. Parents aren't allowed to voluntarily make their kids wards of the state. I suppose you could walk up to a police station and start wailing on the kid, but that has some very nasty consequences for the parents.

[Illocust]

And yeah, the state would probably fuck a lot of shit up while trying to make this an option, but the situation is already so fucked up that everyone involved would still be better off.

[double ham fisted]

I am trying to think of a way to get CPS involved without harming the kid. Maybe let him walk home alone through a safe neighborhood?

[Injun, as in from India]

Well, he can f*** off. But if folks start dumping firearms maker stocks, I will play contrarian and go long on them.

[tarran]

Serious on this, there are some kids that the average person is just not equipped to handle full stop. They are a danger to both themselves and others. I see giving parents and out from this situation as one of the places that government should fill.

I don't know about other states in the U.S., but here in MA they have a legal option and I have witnessed it in action - ie. heard a conversation between a DCF worker and a tearful mother in the hallway of our county's juvenile court.

In that case, it seems the kid (13 - 14 judging from the context) had tried to hurt someone at home. Mom was saying that she was scared of him didn't know what to do, etc. DCF worker basically said "you've done everything you can, and he won't threaten you guys anymore".

The parent files a Child Requiring Assistance petition with the state, the state appoints a lawyer to represent the kid, and there are a minimum of two formal hearings. The first hearing can issue temporary orders that generally cover physical custody and then the second hearing before a different judge is an evidentiary one where the judge makes permanent judgements.

It's a messy clustefuck, but better than nothing, I suppose.

[Tonio]

there are some kids that the average person is just not equipped to handle

And there are some seriously sub-average parents, as well.

The ideal situation would be to find a relative who is better equipped to handle the kid (in past decades, ideally that farmer cousin), but in these days of smaller families and more urban populations those options are limited.

Also, various religious organizations and charities, but given the recent child-abuse at the hands of clergy scandals, that's looking less attractive, to.

I guess a military school scholarship fund for truly problem children would be the most Libertarian option. And if the kid is so messed up you can't handle him until school age, then he needs to be institutionalized.

[Pope Jimbo]

And dues. Definitely dues. Pay up Tundra, secret decoder rings don't grow on trees.

[Tonio]

^This