Terrorists Kill Tourists in Tunisia, Fed May Increase Interest Rates, Donald Trump Continues Pursuit of Punchlines: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: Gage Skidmore / photo on flickr

  Authorities in Arizona were looking for a man who has shot at least five people, killing one, this morning in Mesa.

• Armed terrorists stormed the Bardo Museum in Tunisia, killing 19. Tourists accounted for 17 of the dead.
• Zapp Brannigan Donald Trump is forming a presidential exploratory committee. Je suis Kif.
• The Federal Reserve is signaling a possible interest rate increase in June.
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been helping Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) with the eye injury he suffered (among other injuries) in a exercising accident back in January.
• That letter sent to the White House that may have contained cyanide (they're doing more tests) was intercepted before it ever reached its destination.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump is forming a presidential exploratory committee.

You're not hired.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

My name is Rufus.

[rts]

Do you live on the second floor?

[Andrew S.]

He lives upstairs from us.

[T]

I think I've heard this before.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Canadian Upstairs.

Now there's a movie.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

A human-looking Canadian in a Ford crashes near Los Angeles. The car's driver is, in fact, an anthropologist from Canada and is now stranded in the USA. Tim O'Hara, a young newspaper reporter for The LA Times, is on his way home from Staples Center when he spots the Ford crashing.

Tim takes the Canadian in as his roommate and passes him off as his Uncle Gordon. Uncle Gordon refuses to reveal any of his Canadian traits to people other than Tim, to avoid publicity (or panic), and Tim agrees to keep Gordon's identity a secret while the Canadian attempts to repair his car. Uncle Gordon has various unusual powers: he can raise two retractable Molson's from his head and become invisible; he can levitate hockey pucks with the motion of his finger; he can communicate with moose; he can freeze maple syrup; and he can speed himself (and other people) up to make Kraft Dinner.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Ostensibly an inventor by trade, Gordon also builds several advanced devices, such as a time machine that transports Tim and the Canadian back to the French and Indian War and other times and places, such as Montreal in 1849 and the early days of Alberta, and brings Sir John Alexander Macdonald and John Candy into the present. Another device he builds is a "molecular separator" that can take apart the molecules of a physical object, or rearrange them (a ham was made into a Canadian bacon). Another device can take memories and store them in beer form to "relearn" them later. Other devices create temporary duplicates, or levitate Gordon and others without the need of his finger.

Tim and Uncle Gordon live in a garage apartment owned by a congenial but scatterbrained landlady, Mrs. Lorelei Brown, who often shows up when not wanted. She and Gordon have an awkward romance from time to time but Gordon never gets serious for fear of going home to Canada. She later dates a vain, cold-hearted, plain-clothes police officer, Detective Bill Brennan, who dislikes Uncle Gordon and is highly suspicious of him.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

/rises clapping furiously.

You wouldn't happen to be Canadian?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

No. My people luckily got out of Montreal in the 1930's.

Also, my scenario above would star The Hulk as Tim, and Mr. Hand as Uncle Gordon.

Also, I ripped it from the Wikipedia entry for My Favorite Martian.

[waffles]

So nothing new under the sun

[Obese American]

NEEDS MOAR POUTINE!

[expat]

Luka?

[Aresen]

Trump really needs a new schtick.

He's as tiring as a Mary Tyler Moore show rerun.

[Rhywun]

Meow!

[Tonio]

[narrows gaze at Rhywun]

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Aresen hates women.

[C. Anacreon]

Where do they even show MTM reruns? I wouldn't mind seeing one, I loved that show when it was on. Great ensemble.

The only part I'd find tiring was those occasions when Mary dated, which fortunately weren't all that often. One thing I still can't figure out is, she was supposed to be in her early-to-mid thirties, but all the guys she dated had silver hair. What about someone her own age?

[Jerryskids]

I used to really loathe Trump, but when you realize somebody that desperate for attention has got to be an emotional and psychological nightmare, it's hard not to feel pity for the poor bastard. Kinda the way one would feel both loathing and pity for Sm?agol, except Sm?agol did at least have some redeeming human qualities left in him.

[Injun, as in from India]

Donald Trump is forming a presidential exploratory committee. Je suis Kif.

Derka derka derk derk. You're fired. Derka derka.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Authorities in Arizona were looking for a man who has shot at least five people, killing one, this morning in Mesa.

Palin's Facebook wasn't drawing crosshairs again, was it?

[PapayaSF]

The breath-holding that you can sense across the country is the left hoping that the killer is someone they can connect to their political enemies.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'm local and from what I'm hearing it was a white guy. So there's box 1 checked off.

[Brett L]

Bets on the first pol to climb upon the bodies for personal gain?

[Catatafish]

Carolyn McCarthy.

[PRX]

the retar...I mean Special congressman Grijvala.

[JW]

The Hero of Tucson?

[Injun, as in from India]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been helping Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) with the eye injury he suffered (among other injuries) in a exercising accident back in January.

How long until he is accused of sleeping with the enemy?

[Andrew S.]

Which one?

[Ted S.]

He should start straighening out the cans in Harry Reid's kitchen, and making sure all the towels hang to the same length.

[mr lizard]

Or how long until he is bashed as a heartless libertarian Somalia road destroyer?

Notice there are no comments for that CNN article. The proggies can't handle a direct challenge to their narrative. BTW good on the Sen for being a classy guy. Both teams would do well to follow that example.

[Tonio]

They are waiting for their talking points. "Norman, coordinate."

[Jerry on the sea]

Clearly he was practicing medicine without the necessary state license.

[Injun, as in from India]

The proggies can't handle a direct challenge to their narrative.

How can someone help another person directly without voting for the government to "help" them, and feeling smug about it?

[MJGreen]

Paul's been really good on appearing bipartisan and friendly to "the other side." I think it's largely a political effort, but it's attractive and I don't think he's stumbled in that area yet.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That letter sent to the White House that may have contained cyanide...

Did the letter take the cyanide when it was caught?

[Enough About Palin]

#WHITEHOUSESMATTER

[Injun, as in from India]

The Federal Reserve is signaling a possible interest rate increase in June.

Finally, savers won't be punished. RIP Financial Repression. Sort of.

[Mike M.]

This is becoming the mother of all "boy who cried wolf" stories. How long have we been hearing them say this for now? It feels like forever.

[Brett L]

The Big Brokerage houses weren't seeing enough volume in the bond market trading.

[Ted S.]

The first time they said was the day after Voyager left the solar system.

[HeteroPatriarch]

And they'll raise rates on the day Voyager leaves the solar system.

[gaijin]

I'll believe they are going to raise rates when they actually do it...and keep them raised for more than 6 months.

[Brett L]

Nope. Just positioning for the 2016 campaigns. "See, Obama fixed the economy. Remember how good the 90s were? Vite Hill to get Bill. "

[Suthenboy]

I wouldn't get too excited just yet.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Tis merely the first layer of the Onion. Financial repression isn't over until the tears well up in your eyes.

[Brett L]

My conspiracy theory is that the cyanide letter is just a way to move press coverage to something more sympathetic than Hillary.

[Suthenboy]

And show that the Secret Service actually does something useful.

[Brett L]

Too bad about the intern who's job it was to taste every envelope though.

[Tonio]

While they (SS) may be paying for that, suspect that the actual work is done by contractors, and almost certainly at an offsite location. Probably a specialty company that processes mail for lots of bureaux.

Fun Fact: We occasionally send email to a government agency in DC who uses such a service. After 9/11 we were instructed to never use thermal labels; they heat up the mail to kill any Anthrax spores and that's hot enough to render a thermal label unreadable.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yes. The mail destined for the white house zip code is delivered elsewhere.

The mail is digitized, and all whitehouse staff, including the president, read the mail on tablets.

Not only do they not come into contact with the mail, ever; they don't even come into contact with the people who have physically handled the mail.

Which is why all of this OMG CYANIDE sounds so ridiculous.

[Pro Libertate]

Stone tablets? They carve letters on stone? That seems a bit much to me.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Just another way to waste our tax dollars.

They also still use dinosaurs to quarry rock.

[waffles]

That makes me feel proud to be an American.

[sthgrau]

Hmm, what if you sent pop-corn?

[Peachy rex]

Well, people who mail cyanide letters *are* more sympathetic than Hillary - so mission accomplished, I'd say.

[Injun, as in from India]

Terrorists Kill Tourists in Tunisia

Nice job with the alliteration, Shackford.

[Rich]

He *wanted* to write "Taunt".

[Injun, as in from India]

I was hoping he would squeeze tits in there somewhere, you know.

[Rich]

Tut, tut.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Tits! Terrorists totally trash Tunisian tradeplace, terminating the tourists therewith.

[Injun, as in from India]

What would you call a female terrorist?

Terror tits?

[Brett L]

I try to squeeze tits whenever the opportunity presents itself in a socially acceptable manner.

[Andrew S.]

I must attack the minion terrorist with Taunt!

[The Hyperbole]

Coulda been better

"Terrorist team tops tourists traipsing through Tunisia"

[Rich]

"Just because we removed the word patient from the statement doesn't mean we are going to be impatient," Chair Janet Yellen said

This is why Janet pulls down the big bucks.

[Mike M.]

Armed terrorists stormed the Bardo Museum in Tunisia, killing 19.

Turns out they were radical Muslims by the way, for those of you who weren't sure.

[Citizen Nothing]

Muslims in Tunisia? Get the fuck out!

[T]

Didn't the French try that, and didn't it backfire on them?

Wait, that was Algeria. Never mind.

[Jerry on the sea]

How is that Arab Spring working out?

[Mike M.]

And Tunisia truly is one of the few countries over there that isn't a complete shithole. Hopefully this is an outlier and doesn't become a trend.

[Injun, as in from India]

All I want is a steamy woman on my $20 bill.

The Campaign to Get a Woman on the $20 Bill Is Picking Up Steam

[Citizen Nothing]

Carry Nation or bust!

[Ted S.]

Ayn Rand. Or maybe Zora Neale Hurston.

[Citizen Nothing]

Isabel Paterson and I'm in!

[Rich]

"Part of the mission ,besides getting a woman on the $20 bill, is to educate as many people as possible about as many women as possible."

Emphasis added. Well, there goes my idea for replacing Jackson's portrait with "asmanywomenaspossible.gov".

[Injun, as in from India]

that's better than

bindersfullofwomen.gov

[Mad Scientist]

In that case, they should make 50 new $20 bills, just like they did with quarters. Collect them all! Watching the political infighting about which 50 women get the "honor" of being plastered on the currency will be delightful!

[Rich]

Or, just make 39 new bills and be done with it.

[thom]

I thought we only out women on crappy coins that nobody wants.

[Pro Libertate]

Wonder Woman.

[Enough About Palin]

Twenty bucks, same as downtown.

[Pro Libertate]

How about a topless woman? I bet that would get more traction.

[tarran]

That's for the security feature.

Fully clothed except under a blacklight when the clothes disappear. You know to impede counterfeiting.

[Pro Libertate]

Seems likely to happen, then.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I don't give two fucks who they put on the $20 but they are kidding themselves if they think Betty Friedan or fucking Margret Sanger are going to be chosen as proposed in the article.

[trshmnster the terrible]

The SoCons would literally start a civil war if Sanger found her way onto currency.

[C. Anacreon]

It would be something if Sanger was nominated, just to see the black community find out about her love of eugenics and her hope for what abortion would do for Negroes.

[CatoTheElder]

I'm sure Andrew Jackson would not mind getting his image off the 20

[Mock-star]

Especially because he is dead, and doesnt mind much.

[Andrew S.]

Apparently in California, if you're in the middle of a protest and you pull someone away from the police that they're trying to arrest, it results in a charge of "lynching".

(insert SAE joke here)

[Suthenboy]

I see they are trying to change the law because it uses politically incorrect terminology. They will change the text to be less offensive but the end results will still be the same. Geniuses.

[Tonio]

The police? Why would someone try to arrest the police?

[Andrew S.]

For stalking? Sting wrote a whole song about it.

(I not no english gud)

[rts]

Taxes Take Away, but Also Give Back, Mostly to the Very Rich

There are tax credits and tax deductions; tax exclusions and tax exemptions; tax deferrals and tax reductions; tax discharges and tax preferences, all of which put money in people's wallets rather than take it out.

There is one critical difference between tax-related payouts, however, and those that come directly from the federal budget: Spending channeled through the tax code tends to overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans.

Oy vey.

[AuH20]

Even before I checked, I thought to myself, "This sounds like the New York Times..."

[Tonio]

Actual proggie sticker (seen on a Prius, of course): I work hard and pay taxes so the rich don't have to. Totally rage-inducing.

[Sevo]

Was there a "thank you" bumper sticker on that thing to thank us for paying for it?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Shorter New York Times: The people who pay virtually all of the taxes also benefit the most from tax deductions.

Shocking, I know. I would have thought that homeless people who pay $0 in taxes would somehow get shitloads of deductions.

[gaijin]

And somehow, the rich still manage to pay most of the taxes.

[gaijin]

Beaten by a Slayer of Huns!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Hello beloved commenters.

Please do your part. Don't respond to trolls.

[mr lizard]

Are you implying that we're bound by some sort of implied contract of socializing?

[Ted S.]

I agree: nobody else should respond to Playa Manhattan. :-p

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Do you have a blog?

[Rich]

San Francisco Saint Mary's Cathedral Drenches Homeless With Water To Keep Them Away

"We do the best we can, and supporting the dignity of each person. But there is only so much you can do."

Hey, how about lending them *towels*?

[fish]

Yeah extremely poor message management......it should have read:

San Francisco Saint Mary's Cathedral Drenches Homeless With Water To Keep Them Away provides local wretches with opportunity to bathe.

See much better.

[Rhywun]

When you've lost SF...

[Ted S.]

If it's a gothic cathedral they could always use boiling oil.

[Rich]

Nice.

[Rich]

Take two.

[Rhywun]

I think it's a modern, hideous monstrosity - used to pass it during my commute.

[Sevo]

"I think it's a modern, hideous monstrosity - used to pass it during my commute."

It was built before architectural sun-angle software was available. On summer afternoons, the sun shadow of south peak casts a perfect Vargas boob silhouette on the east roof surface.

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

So you shit it out in your car?

[Rhywun]

It was the Geary bus, and no. Sorry.

[Rhywun]

If there's anywhere in America with a worse homeless problem than SF, I haven't seen it. Year-round pleasant weather + over-indulgent locals = homeless heaven. At least here in NYC the weather is unpleasantly hot or cold 8 out of 12 months of the year.

[Mad Scientist]

I have yet to encounter anything resembling pleasant weather in San Francisco.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You (and I) are spoiled. It's better than most of the country.

[Sevo]

"I have yet to encounter anything resembling pleasant weather in San Francisco."

San Francisco, California 18 Mar 2015, 1:56 PM

Clear
68?F
Feels Like
68?F

Humidity: 50%
Wind Speed: 10mph
Wind Direction: 290?
Dew Point: 49?
Visibility: 10mi

Today: Plentiful sunshine. High 66F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Tonight: A clear sky. Low 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/WxMap.aspx

[Mad Scientist]

It's below 75 degrees and you call that pleasant? They're likely huddled over trash barrels right now, burning the homeless for warmth.

[Rhywun]

My ideal weather is in the 60s, so yes. I don't like to sweat.

[C. Anacreon]

You forgot to mention the one thing that always blows everyone's mind back east: no bugs. Most people in SF don't even have screens on their windows, no reason to.

[Rhywun]

Most people in SF don't even have screens

I noticed that when I lived there, and being from upstate NY, found it very strange. Here in NYC we don't have bugs either but we do have screens - just in case I guess. I have cats so they do come in handy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Santa Monica, CA

[Old Man With Candy]

Santa Barbara.

[Tonio]

Pope Francis isn't going to like that. Suspect the Archbishop may have a come-to-Jesus call from the boss.

[Scarecrow Repair]

What drought?

I bet it wasn't holy water either.

And if someone pissed in it first, it wasn't even wholly water.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I think the English would call this an "own goal" - the Church giving points to her enemies.

[AuH20]

The Butcher and the Baker may be my new favorite show.*

*It's a Community reference, for all you non-Community watchers.

Honestly, though, decent premiere. It would have helped if this show had had the money and the support to retain core cast (Shirely would have left regardless- irl she has a sick dad and a multicam apparently gives her more time to help, but Donald Glover at least), but they are doing a decent job giving all that they have dealt with.

[seguin]

I loved the season premiere. Maybe it's just my longing for another season, but I thought It was definitely better than the season where Harmon wasn't involved (4?).

That's pretty sad about her dad - I noticed in the skit that she had lost a ton of weight. I hope that isn't stress... I know how that kind of stuff can wear on someone.

[Krieger's Waifu]

It's hard to choose between "The Butcher and the Baker" and "Knee-high Mischief"

The Yahoo player was pretty bad though. Hope they get that fixed.

[AuH20]

I gave up on the Yahoo player early. And acquired the video through, er... other means.

Seriously, Yahoo, if you want to play with the big boys, fix your shit.

[Suthenboy]

I am trying to think of some snarky clever thing to say, but my brain is still reeling from watching the video posted in the last thread of Rep. Malarkey saying earnestly that Obumbles saved the internet.

I guess 'fucking' and 'saving' are the same in Progspeak.

[Brett L]

Like everything else with Progressives, they had to kill it im order to save it.

[Injun, as in from India]

Why Was CIA Director Petraeus Required to Sign Separation Form If Secretary Clinton Was Not?

Short Answer: Petraeus is not a political animal. He just followed his animal instinct and stuck his dick somewhere he shouldn't have.

[GILMORE]

The entire spin the left wants to put on the question of 'legal propriety' is to attempt to create the context that "No one really does it"

Ergo, its not a 'real rule'.

Unfortunately, when they make these comparisons, they aren't of people who have been demonstrated to have flagrantly and willfully violated known document protection/retention requirements.

Also, in the case of Petraeus - he was threatened with *jail time* for actually violating the same regs Hillary did.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Color me skeptical about the cyanide letter. It's widely known that the president doesn't handle mail, ever.

[Tonio]

Widely known to rational people with clues, perhaps. We get some very interesting mail from some very unhinged people.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I would put these people on approximately the same level as the homegrown terrorists who keep getting ensnared by undercover FBI agents. Not exactly criminal masterminds.

[Jerry on the sea]

Obama just reads the letters to the editor in the newspaper.

[gaijin]

"the envelope listed a return address for a man who the alert says has a record with the Secret Service dating back to 1995

Round up the usual suspects for our false flag distraction.

[Jerry on the sea]

One of these FBI screw-ups where they use real cyanide...

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

So somehow I found this which led me to realize that Elizabeth Nolan Brown is an American hero.

"Seeking Arrangement: On My Brief & Failed Attempt at Becoming a Sugar Baby

I signed up with Seeking Arrangement in 2010, when I was living in Brooklyn, NY and?due to rent, road trips and too many visits from the weed delivery service?somewhat cash-strapped. But more than that, I was curious. Single for more-or-less the first time since age 17, this was the same time period when I first began blushingly perusing the Craigslist casual encounters ads. I wanted adventure. I wanted money. This seemed like a good way to satisfy both needs.

So I created a seekingarrangement.com profile, carefully crafting my image as a young writer eager to rely on the kindness of strangers. And, soon enough, the messages began pouring in. What I hadn't accounted for was all the online communication necessary to weed the weirdos from anyone with potential?I can barely manage to keep in contact with the people I love, let alone find time or motivation to talk to would-be sugar daddies. I had all but declared the experiment a wash until one night in July when my house threw an afternoon party."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Afraid to click that link at work. So what happens next?

[Brett L]

He fixes the cable?

[Citizen Nothing]

Don't be fatuous, Brett.

[seguin]

He delivers the pizza?

[Derpetologist]

She meets a handful of middle aged men looking for some strange, accepts a few wads of cash and nothing else happens.

The lesson is young women can get paid hundreds of dollars just to meet someone for coffee. But something something equal pay.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

That is inaccurate. She also awkwardly hooks up with a smelly man named Ralph.

[Derpetologist]

Oopsy. I got a crocodile in reading comprehension.

[AuH20]

He lays some pipe?

[Ted S.]

Why are they throwing an afternoon party at night?

[gaijin]

afternoon can be at night, yes?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

It's a writer named Liz, but how do we know it's ENB?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oops, it's there on the link.

[Derpetologist]

LA Reasonoids: I will be there this month from the 21st to the 28th. If you are interested a dose of derp in meatspace, send me an electronic mail.

My email is [e-mail]. You can view my real name by clicking the orange "Derpetologist".

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Contact Jesse, the social secretary of Reason SoCal.

He gets back from Fiji tonight or tomorrow.

[Derpetologist]

Sent. Hope he still uses that hotmail address.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He does. But he's probably on a really long flight right now.

[kinnath]

Posted earlier, but to a small audience.

http://morningafter.gawker.com.....socialflow

In the painfully awkward clip above from tonight's All In with Chris Hayes, a black woman imitated a black man whom she believed to be a white man imitating a black man. All this interaction was missing was two triple venti half-sweet non-fat Caramel Macchiatos.

[Rich]

It would have been even more amusing if the guy had said "Actually, I self-identify as a black woman".

[AuH20]

CSI: Cyber is awful. But somewhat magnificent.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Is it as good as the Law & Order: SVU Gamergate episode?

[Andrew S.]

I've only watched on episode, but CSI: Cyber is the best worst thing I've ever seen on TV.

I think I'd enjoy it a lot if I was drunk or high.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

HOLY FUCK, LITTLE BOW WOW IS IN THIS SHOW!

[AuH20]

And Fat Neil!

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I need to watch this show. I just found the following quotes:

"My name is Avery Ryan. I was a victim of cybercrime. Like you, I posted on social media, checked my bank account balance online, even kept the confidential files of my psychological practice on my computer. Then I was hacked. And as a result, one of my patients was murdered. My investigation into her death led me to the FBI, where I joined a team of criminal experts who wage a war against a new breed of criminal hiding on the deep web. I infiltrating our daily lives in ways we never imagined. Faceless, nameless, lurking inside our devices. Just a keystroke away. IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU."

"Ready for the scariest part? A single-board computer like this can be found anywhere online for about fifty dollars. With instructions on how to do everything you just saw." "It's got to be a lot more difficult to crash a roller coaster than it is to prank an elevator." "Actually, it's not. The coding is very similar, and it's so easy that a 9-year-old can do it."

"Oh those poor parents, they buy a baby cam to protect their child, and it's the very thing that gets the child abducted. That is truly horrifying."

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

HAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA!

""Zogos [an Uber stand-in] make it socially acceptable to get into a car with a stranger. At least taxis are regulated, there's accountability. No, not with this app. You get in the car, you're playing Russian Roulette."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[MJGreen]

What the fuuuuuuck.

[AuH20]

It's basically, "BE SCARED OF THE INTERNET, OLD PEOPLE!"

Also, James Van Der Beek plays a guy named Elijah Mundo. Which allows me to pretend "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23" was real, or at least it's depicition of Van Der Beek.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah not sure about CSI: Cyber yet.

[db]

The CSI shows are confirmation that the retarded do indeed rule the night.

[Brett L]

So I know I'm a decade late to the party, but I started watching The Wire on demand recently. Other than the unrealistic crusader cop and formerly corrupt lieutenant, it is amazingly true to life.

[Rich]

So, are you "Ready for Tommy Martin"?

[MJGreen]

Who's the crusader cop? Freamon?

[MJGreen]

And semi-related, through the magic that is Disqus, I was reminded of some comment I made years ago on another site. I had mentioned that I watched The Wire as a libertarian show. I only now saw that, back then, someone responded to me incredulous that a libertarian could see anything to like in the show. According to this guy, the entire show is an indictment of free market ideas, and even public choice theory. (I want to think he's confused about public choice economics, because the show plays like a dramatization of public choice arguments) Institutional decay is due to Reagan and Thatcher, apparently.

I wish I had seen that reply back when it was made. It was so idiotic. I want to ask him if Milton Friedman is to blame for Cutty's trouble in getting a business license, or Jim Buchanan is the cause of BPD's institutional inertia.

[CatoTheElder]

Even though the title theme of actually getting a warrant for surveillance of telecommunications is a bit dated, The Wire is the best TV ever.

[Xajow]

Five things I learned about libertarianism while reading comments at Salon:

1) All without fail libertarians want to prevent and eliminate any and all market, food and environmental regulations. Deliberately leaving, of course, everyone and especially children and the elderly with zero protections against profit hungry corporations and poisons.

2) Libertarians do not understand history, because if they did, then they would know only progressive ideas have made America a free and prosperous nation.

3)Libertarians do not understand society, because if they did then they would know that libertarian ideas never ever work because society does not work that way.

4) No libertarian ideas or thinkers have ever accomplished or influenced anything, not even eliminating the draft because people who "were there" are 100% certain there were no "libertoonians" involved in anyway at all.

5) Pointing to ideas the policies that libertarians support and which are gaining popularity means nothing because other people like those ideas too, and plus refer to 1, 2, 3 and 4.

[Xajow]

Oops, that should be, "Without fail all libertarians..."

[Brett L]

I Hope you bathed before you came back here

[Xajow]

Showered, disinfected, and burned the clothes I was wearing while I was there.

[Andrew S.]

Not enough. Like with ebola, you should have to serve at least a 21 day quarantine period before coming back here.

[Xajow]

The facial tics mean nothing, I swear.

[MJGreen]

4) No libertarian ideas or thinkers have ever accomplished or influenced anything, not even eliminating the draft because people who "were there" are 100% certain there were no "libertoonians" involved in anyway at all.

Was the commenter claiming to have been "there"? Because that would sound like classic Internet bullshit.

"I was there when the draft was ended, and I didn't hear anything about this Friedman character!"

[Xajow]

The arguments went something like that, yes. They were there, so they know there were no libertarians involved. Though notably they had exactly nothing more to say on the matter after being told to look up conscription and Milton Friedman.

[Xajow]

Three more things I learned about libertarianism while reading comments at Salon:

6) Ayn Rand and by extension all libertarians are full of hate because of 1, 2, 3 and because Atlas Shrugged sucked.

7) Libertarians are all hypocrites for pointing out the greediness of using taxes to take from other people because only not wanting high taxation on the wealthy is greedy.

8) No matter how much libertarians explain libertarianism, every last one of them is wrong about what libertarianism is because the progressives have all talked to libertarians all their lives and so they, the progressives, are the ones who know without possibility of error what libertarianism is all about.

One thing I learned about comments at Reason. 1500 characters maximum.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You forgot libertarians use orphan labor.

[Raven Nation]

Juve looks safe.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes they do. QF was the objective for them this year.

I'm sure Ted S. is pleased there are no EPL teams in the quarters.

[Andrew S.]

Liverpool would be, but for some reason they spent the first few months of the season forgetting how to play football. I'm glad they remembered how.

[robc]

I am still hoping Everton backdoors into next years CL be winning the Europa Cup.

Hopefully while still being in the EPL.

[Xajow]

Oddly enough, I did not see that one used. I am sure I just overlooked it.

[JW]

What? No "driving on the roads we think shouldn't be built?"

[Xajow]

I think that was used, but it is common enough elsewhere that I did not think it merited being on the list.

[GILMORE]

"Armed terrorists stormed the Bardo Museum in Tunisia, killing 19. Tourists accounted for 17 of the dead."

I think the important thing to take away from this is that Chris Kyle called these people "savages", which is horrible and must be denounced millions of times over.

[The Other Kevin]

+1 Adam Lanza

[GILMORE]

Every time I hear someone say =

"One man's 'terrorist' is another man's 'freedom fighter'"

I want to buy them a guided Tour package to historical sites in Syria.... and ask them what "Freedom" means, exactly.

[AuH20]

Just started the Honor Harrington series. Solid page-turner.

[tarran]

The first few books are good. Then it begins to suck.

Once you get bored with it, check out Robert Frezza. A Small Colonial War and the sequel Fire in a Faraway Place are possibly the greatest works of military Sci Fi ever written.

And if you are into vampire themed science fiction as they would be written by Sugar Free's non-depraved identical twin brother if he existed, his books the McLendon's Syndrome and The VMR Theory are definitely worth checking out.

[GILMORE]

Now I know what a "Treecat" is.

[$park?'s head exploded]

Silicon Valley hates Millenials.

Sure, Silicon Valley doesn't owe America jobs. But something is wrong with the picture of a handful of tech billionaires overseeing a kingdom of falling wages, decreased worker protection and zero job security.

Yes, the But Rule definitely applies.

[OldMexican]

But something is wrong with the picture of a handful of tech billionaires overseeing a kingdom of falling wages,

See Wages fall,
He falls and falls,

decreased worker protection

Coding is dangerous.

and zero job security.

Do you want "job security"? Here's your job security: Off to the Gulag!

Because that is, in reality, the job security little red Marxians want for us.

[Derpetologist]

Meet the guy who spent 8,000 days as one of Castro's political prisoners:

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

In 1960, at the age of 23, he refused to put an "I'm with Fidel" sign on his desk at work.[4] Shortly after, he was arrested by political police at his parents' home.[5] He was subsequently given a thirty-year prison sentence.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But remember kids. It's the U.S embargo that made Cuba a communist shit hole paradise.

[Pro Libertate]

Oppression in the name of great social justice is, by definition, love.

[grrizzly]

I'm pretty sure I saw his photo in the Reagan library last Sunday.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Did you get your picture taken in Air Force One?

[grrizzly]

Not this time. For some reason we brought a German friend there. Naturally, he's center-left and said "Oh, no!" when he learnt that the presidential library we were going to visit was Reagan's. Then added that at least it wasn't George W.'s.

[Warty]

I left way early to try to avoid the worst of the Obama traffic. Nope. The whole city was a fucking nightmare. Fuck Obama in his fucking neck. There's no reason for him to come here and fuck up thousands of people's lives except his vanity. Fuck. Him.

[waffles]

What's in Cleveland anyway?

[db]

Unions.

[Warty]

He's giving a speech to announce some kind of bullshit payout to unions.

[BigT]

Local new shacks called it a'ramvling' speech that did not cover the pre-announced topics. =Teleprompter not working

[JeremyR]

Another day, another massacre by Islamists. Ho-hum, nothing to worry about...

[GILMORE]

PLEASE! = these are 'Radical *Extremists*" The 'islam' is purely incidental. These people are just Tea Partiers with different methods.

[lap83]

Well, Tea Partiers who deserve respect and tolerance.

[hurts_donut]

Yea but crusades...derp.

[HeteroPatriarch]

There are tourists in Tunisia?

[guitargeek]

Well, not anymore.

[GILMORE]

Ouch