Make Voting Mandatory Says Obama, France May Ban Skinny Models, Darknet Marketplace Disappears: A.M. Links

Michael Boitin/Flickr

• President Obama suggested yesterday that maybe what we need to "transform" American politics and "counteract" excessive campaign spending is to make voting mandatory. 
• France is considering a ban on catwalk models who don't meet minimum weight standards. 
• The darknet marketplace Evolution, Silk Road's successor, has vanished. 
• Students at the University of Virginia are protesting the violent arrest of a black student by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents outside a bar on Wednesday. 
• A bill in Massachusetts would legalize both hemp and marijuana. 
• Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to overturn several District of Columbia city laws. 
• A Navy SEAL was killed Wednesday during a skydiving training exercise when his parachute failed to open. 
• Uber cars now outnumber taxis in New York City.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama suggested yesterday that maybe what we need to "transform" American politics and "counteract" excessive campaign spending is to make voting mandatory.

Mandates for all!

[wareagle]

yes, let's increase the ranks of the stupid, the uninformed, and the gimme-free-shit crowd.

[thom]

There's probably enough rednecks out there to offset the gimme free shitters.

[WTF]

That hasn't been the case the last few decades.

[Steve G]

You mean like the rednecks in eastern TN/KY who literally have created an industry around free shit?

[Tonio]

And all of WV, thanks to Sen. Byrd.

[Lord Humungus]

My other home is in a little nowhere county - it is a weird welfare state. Lots of people make money under the table - cutting trees, processing game, farm work - all while getting milk from the government teat. You should see the nice new pickup trucks at the food bank.

[pan fried wylie]

the nice new pickup trucks

Says the guy with a fancyshmancy Other Home In Bumblefuck Creek.

#jelly

[gaijin]

He would probably like the entire world to be forced to vote in US elections.

[Col. R C Dean]

Well, he's starting with Mexico and Guatemala. Give him time.

[Pope Jimbo]

Well, he also proposed that these apathetic voters be given ballots that have already been filled out for them in advance. So really all they have to do is pick up their ballot and walk it over to the tally machine.

What? How is it decided on how to pre-fill in those ballots? Don't worry your pretty head about that. We'll take care of it in the same transparent method that you have become used to from this administration.

[Pope Jimbo]

Well, he also proposed that these apathetic voters be given ballots that have already been filled out for them in advance. So really all they have to do is pick up their ballot and walk it over to the tally machine.

What? How is it decided on how to pre-fill in those ballots? Don't worry your pretty head about that. We'll take care of it in the same transparent method that you have become used to from this administration.

[expat]

But who's gonna drive me to the polls?

[hamilton]

All we need to do next is classify voting for the Wrong People as hate speech, and from there it's a hop, skip, and jump straight to Utopia. Sign me up.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"President Obama suggested yesterday that maybe what we need to "transform" American politics and "counteract" excessive campaign spending is to make voting mandatory."

Once you mandate, you can't stop. It's like a...DISEASE!

Stale progressive ideas from the mind of a dated left-winger.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

HELLO.

[Monty Crisco]

IT'S LIKE..... PRINGLES!!!!!

*shudders in salty horror*...

[Dixon Sider]

You know who else has experienced salty horrors?

[UnCivilServant]

HP Lovecraft?

[Charles Easterly]

Nice.

+1 R'Lyeh for you

[Just a thought not a sermon]

The Enterprise crew in The Man Trap?

[Tonio]

Nice.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Me.

Whenever I eat out.

[Rich]

Colonel Kurtz?

[Atanarjuat]

Jonah?

[Cdr Lytton]

Anyone doing belly shots off a prostitute?

Oh, horrors... nevermind.

[Catatafish]

Guys, can we please get the nomenclature correct? This is merely a common-sense "shared responsibility" action.

[WTF]

Government is just a name for the things we are forced to do together.

[Col. R C Dean]

Keeper. Thanks, Mr. F.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

"Individuality is fine, as long as we all do it together." Said by a major, thought, not a colonel.

[Auric Demonocles]

Remember, inactivity is the same thing as activity.

[Charles Easterly]

If you choose not to decide you cannot have made a choice.

[Heedless]

If you choose not to decide, we will choose for you. Or if you choose the wrong way. Or if you choose the right way with insufficient enthusiasm. Or if it's Tuesday. Or if it's not Tuesday. Or if we feel like it.

How else can we be sure that your voice will be heard properly?

[Charles Easterly]

Why?

For Your Total Wellbeing.

[np]

If only there were a way to confine the results of voting to people who voted for them.

[Steve G]

But just don't mandate voter's present ID, 'cause that would be raciss

[Lady Bertrum]

Sometimes I opt to not vote because I hate the options and refuse to endorse a shitty candidate.

Obama knows that we'll never have a voting mandate.

I, for one, would make it may business to engage in civil disobedience if a mandate existed.

FU, Obama, I won't be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils.

[Injun, as in from India]

Exactly. I think choosing to not vote is protected by the 1st amendment.

[Xeones]

CTHULHU 2016

WHY VOTE FOR THE LESSER EVIL?

[pan fried wylie]

Awesome Campaign Tagline, or Awesomest Campaign Tagline Ever?

[Cdr Lytton]

Oregon just passes an automatic voter registration bill. Just cut out the middle man and have an automatic voting law.

[Cdr Lytton]

passed

Stupid autocorrect.

[Lord Humungus]

And if you don't vote, will there be another Pentaltax for that dipshit Roberts to uphold.

[Injun, as in from India]

If voting is made mandatory, I will burn my ballot the way people used to burn their draft cards.

[Lady Bertrum]

Yeah. I think spoiling our ballot would be the alternative.

But, you're right, not voting must be 1st Amendment protected.

But, even if some libertarian extremists did this, Obama would still get the outcome he desires. A bunch of indifferent dipshits would undoubtedly vote and vote Dem because free shit.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Or because the nice people on the TV box told me that the other guy was like Hitler, or something...

[Old Man With Candy]

A bunch of indifferent dipshits would undoubtedly vote and vote Dem because free shit.

Yeah, we can't have THAT happen.

Oh, wait, that's exactly what's happening.

[CatoTheElder]

How does one burn a virtual ballot on an electronic voting machine?

You can't even spoil the ballot on one. I've done that on several referenda which posed a reform that was worse than the problem it purported to address.

[Old Man With Candy]

You can't even spoil the ballot on one.

The combination of a Sharpie and a ball peen hammer can be quite efficacious.

[Heedless]

I've had good results with nitric acid, myself.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

Mark your ballot like a Great Dane marks its territory.

[Illocust]

This policy would be acceptable if each presidential ballot was required to have six candidates of different parties on it with no lettering after the name to indicate party affiliation, and the first and last slots of the ballots were required to be taken up by a person from a party that received less than ten percent of the electoral college last presidential election. A no vote option must also be prominently displayed.
Of course, this would eliminate the republicans and democrats ability to manipulate all those people that are just making a check mark to comply with the law into checking the rep or dem name on the ballot in any significant numbers, so it would never happen.

[CatoTheElder]

I'd agree if every ballot simply allowed the voter to vote "None of the Above".

[Lady Bertrum]

I'd agree if an option on the ballot was "Go Fuck Yourself".

[Citizen Nothing]

I'd write in "Go Fuck Yourself" for every office. I love that guy.

[pan fried wylie]

And if None of The Above wins, the position remains empty till the following election. Two consecutive empty periods followed by a 3rd NOTA win dissolves the position.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

So he is not a secret Kenyan....he is a secret AUSTRALIAN!!!!!

[Real American]

They already have mandatory voting in Chicago. The mandate kicks in once you die.

[PRX]

hey Obama, people who didn't vote did express a preference to not vote for you. why do you hate democracy?

[Warren's Strapon]

Consent is sexy.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

STEVE SMITH THINK CONSENT IS MANDATORY. YOU WILL CONSENT WHETHER YOU LIKE TO, OR NOT.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

36) Slate believes two recent dead dolphins found on the Louisiana coast are due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill five years ago. Oil spills, is there anything they can't do?

[WTF]

All caused by global warming climate change.

[Steve G]

Dolphin rape is REAL!!

[Lady Bertrum]

Wait. I thought dolphins were the rapists?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

DEPENDS IF STEVE SMITH SWIMMING IN DOLPHIN TANK!

[Steve G]

Exactly. And their porpoise victims don't take too kindly to it.

[Charles Easterly]

How can you be so fluking flip about this?

[Steve G]

Shut yer blow hole!

[Old Man With Candy]

Hank Hill was raped by a dolphin.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Obama. Is there anything he can't do?

Besides being a royal fuck up of course.

Sigh. No matter how many times we belittle or mock him...TWICE ELECTED.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

You know who else was twice elected?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Pedro?

[Monty Crisco]

NIXON?!?!?!?!

[Lord Humungus]

W?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Just think of that..."Compassionate Conservative" and "Teh Lightwerker"...both, twice.

*bangs head on desk*

[Charles Easterly]

I apologize for reminding you of it Switzy, but you left out Clinton.

[Rasilio]

The sad thing is Clinton was actually a pretty good president.

Sure he is an amoral fuck but when it came to actually doing the job of President he wasn't half bad.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Fuck that. Bubba was just an opportunist who would jump out in front of a trend and say "Hey Everybody! Look what I did".

I despise Newt Gingrich, but he was probably the most effective speaker in the last 80 years.

[Rasilio]

Compare that to the two bozo's who succeeded him who were NOT able to recognize a trend or when they did were not smart enough to get in front of it.

By contrast that makes Clinton look like a Genuis

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Clinton wasn't headbang worthy. He turned to the center after getting his nose rubbed in it in 1994. He was a corrupt and petty man, but not like the next two.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

Except for dumping a huge economic clusterfuck in his successor's lap while taking all the credit for the bubble that caused it and fighting a fairly bloody war based on a lie and gutting Glass-Steagall (thereby launching the next catastrophic bubble, the worst thing about Clinton is apologists for this Arkantsaw schlub make me defend W, and W's worthless.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thatcher?

[Injun, as in from India]

President Obama suggested yesterday that maybe what we need to "transform" American politics and "counteract" excessive campaign spending is to make voting mandatory.

Another individual mandate?

[wareagle]

and how does mandatory voting impact campaign spending, other than making it even more "excessive" than it is?

[Injun, as in from India]

NEVER...

EVER...

... try reasoning with a "progressive".

[wareagle]

you're right...to emoting camp for me.

[Auric Demonocles]

Because obviously the low informed, uninterested group of people who make up the bulk of the nonvoters won't be swayed by campaign ads!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to overturn several District of Columbia city laws.

Hey, it's not a state so it doesn't count as anti-federalism.

[WTF]

Well, congress does actually have legal control over DC.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Supremacy Clause mixed with the Interstate Commerce Clause means they technically have legal control over the states, too.

[WTF]

Not really, unless you buy into the ridiculously expansive reading of the commerce clause such that it nullifies the rest of the constitution.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

The penumbras of the FYTW clause.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

35) The item somebody posted yesterday about the guy who stands in his front door naked, offending his neighbors, but the police won't arrest him because he's in his own house got me thinking. Why is public nudity a crime, and not just a breach of etiquette? I mean, if I go to career day at my kids' school and drop the f-bomb, I won't be invited back, but nobody's going to try to arrest me. If I fart in the elevator, I'll going to get some dirty looks, but nobody'll call the cops. I can give other motorists the finger on the expressway, tell dirty jokes at the ladies' auxiliary flower sale, and cut in line at the post office. Might lead to public ostracism, but not against the law. So why is dropping trou such a crime? If I go jogging au naturel, why am I risking jail time? Or if my wife breastfeeds in public (admittedly only a crime in some states) why could that lead to a courtroom appearance? None of things would hurt anyone. So what makes nudity, in particular, such a threat to public order?

[KDN]

Placing 35 after 36? What kind of God would allow that?

[Rich]

Now, *that* is a threat to public order!

[robc]

The kind who calls his sermons thoughts.

[gaijin]

you mean, JATNAS is god?!

*mind blown*

[Tonio]

Well, done, robc. But I think that poster is female.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

How would you feel if Hilary or Wasserman or Pelosi or Marcotte - or whomever you may choose to slot in this sentence - would enter your field of vision while nekked?

I rest my case.

[WTF]

Jesus Christ - trigger warning next time!

[Charles Easterly]

Yeah, that was not nice at all Rufus.

[gaijin]

Here's a thought for a matching game puzzle:

Take four naked torsos from the HilaryWassermanPelosiMarcotte...crop the heads
Take the four heads from HilaryWassermanPelosiMarcotte...crop the torsos.
Match the correct head to the correct torso.

Fastest person to hurl loses

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

*raises hand*

I lost. Just thinking about it, I lose.

[Aloysious]

This sounds like an opportunity for Crusty Juggler.

[Charles Easterly]

My brain hurts now.

[Rich]

So what makes nudity, in particular, such a threat to public order?

Well, Just, you and I can control ourselves, but not everyone has this natural ability.

[Lady Bertrum]

All the more reason for public dress codes. Women should wear head to toe clothing with veils over their faces because some men are pigs.

[Charles Easterly]

Why should women be made to suffer for piggish men? Why not blindfold the men and lead them around on leashes until they're at their destination?

[Enough About Palin]

By chance, do you publish a newsletter?

[Heedless]

Yes, but it arrives in a plain brown wrapper.

[Charles Easterly]

It took the two of you to point out just how s&m my post appeared.

"Why not blindfold the men and lead them by their hand until they're at their destination?" would have been better, but I wanted to invoke the hostility I see in many feminist articles and comments.

[Atanarjuat]

Personally, I don't think casual nudity is a big deal. I don't really make any particular effort to shield the kid from it, although I prefer to not go around naked myself even at home. But for some people, exposing their nude body is explicitly sexual. Therefore they are involving those who they expose themselves to in their sexual pleasure without the other person's consent--eyeball rape, if you will.

[double ham fisted]

I will

[KLafayette]

And yet, even in those cases, no one is harmed. So I still don't get why it's criminalized.

[trshmnster the terrible]

But for some people, exposing their nude body is explicitly sexual. Therefore they are involving those who they expose themselves to in their sexual pleasure without the other person's consent--eyeball rape, if you will.

Some people are inordinately obsessed with avoiding any nudity ever. I think there's a balance. It's one thing for a woman to breastfeed in public, or for a naked guy to walk across his window in the nude. It's another thing for a dude to be walking around a park sporting a hard-on, staring at the children on the playground.

Incidental nudity... not a crime.
Intentional sexual incitement ... i'm not prepared to say that it's merely a social faux pas.

[Warren's Strapon]

Cases like the playground are easily solved with private property; the property owner decides whether or not to allow nudity, and you decide whether or not to take your kids.

More interesting is the "standing in your own doorway" example given by JATNAS.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Nudity on your own property isn't "public" nudity. At worst, I could see a nuisance claim by the neighbors. How can I have quiet enjoyment of my property when Joe Beergut is reflecting sunlight off his entirely-too-pale ass and into my eyes?

[B.P.]

I anxiously await your proposal at the next town council meeting to privatize the town's public parks in order to clear up where people are allowed to wander around naked.

[Old Man With Candy]

It's another thing for a dude to be walking around a park sporting a hard-on, staring at the children on the playground.

/tries to look innocent

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

we are on toy uo!

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

er, to you.

[Injun, as in from India]

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to overturn several District of Columbia city laws.

Conservatives and progressives - two sides of the same coin.

[Lord Humungus]

U.S. congressman admits U.S. behind cyber attack against DPRK

A senior U.S. lawmaker said the December Internet outage in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was retaliation for an earlier cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, made the remarks Tuesday at an event held by the Washington-based Center of Strategic and International Studies. He didn't specify which U.S. agency conducted the attack.

[Rhywun]

retaliation for an earlier cyber attack

Jeez, did we call them poopy-pants too?

[Injun, as in from India]

France is considering a ban on catwalk models who don't meet minimum weight standards.

I thought frogs are a kind of lean meat.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Students at the University of Virginia are protesting the violent arrest of a black student by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents outside a bar on Wednesday.

Is this the same ABC that went ape on a girl buying bottled water a few years ago?

[wareagle]

was he a frat guy who took part in a non-existent sexual assault at UVA? And that line makes it sound like the violent arrest of a non-black student who have been a big meh.

[hamilton]

Reading, writing, arithmatic
Are the branches of the learning tree
But without the roots of love statism everyday girl
Your education ain't complete

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Yup. They are clearly a vital public safety organization.

BOOYAH!

[Atanarjuat]

aftpapic

good beat

hth

[Crusty Juggler]

Protecting and serving, keeping the children safe. To be clear, they were wearing uniforms this time.

[sarcasmic]

Would you eat a steak that's 180 days old? Tom Rawstorne tries the extreme-aged beef that is all the rage with foodies
The trend for extreme-aged beef started in restaurants in America
180 day old steak costs ?215 a kilo or ?65 for a decent sized portion
For the past six months it has been unwrapped and exposed to the air
Taste and texture of the beef changes and develop as it ages
Tom Rawstorne tried it at the Goodman restaurant in Canary Wharf

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....odies.html
I'd try it.

[UnCivilServant]

Hell no.

[Steve G]

Just don't get the value of aging meat...or maybe I just haven't been exposed to the before/after. I'm always reading how venison needs to be aged to get rid of the gamey taste, but in my experience nothing is more ungamey than a loin that's gone straight from the live animal to my frying pan, same day.

[sarcasmic]

Just don't get the value of aging meat...

Two things. First, there are enzymes present that break down the protein, making the meat more tender. Second is that as it ages it dehydrates, which concentrates the flavor.

Though most of that can be accomplished in three to four weeks. This aging for months thing is a bit excessive, though I'd still try it. If someone else paid for it.

[Steve G]

enzymes present that break down the protein, making the meat more tender

Oh yeah, I'm aware of the science/theory, just never felt like the meat I've bought/hunted needed any tenderizing if it was good quality to begin w/.

as it ages it dehydrates

In other words, dries out. Again, I think I just need to sample a good before/after.

[sarcasmic]

Like I said, I'd try it if someone else bought it. It's not something I plan to seek out anytime soon.

[Col. R C Dean]

It has be done well. Its labor-intensive process.

When done right, you get a more intense flavor and more tender cut.

[Rhywun]

Not even if you scrape the maggots off first.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

"maggots"? You mean wriggly flavor pellets!

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

protein.

[pan fried wylie]

the meat was already protein though.

the selling point would be pre-digestion, i think.

[straffinrun]

eating extreme-aged meat is fine as long it doesn't come packaged in a pant suit.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

That's our next president you're talking about.

[Injun, as in from India]

Uber cars now outnumber taxis in New York City.

NYC does not (yet) have Germany's ban boner for Uber.

[Catatafish]

I love how every single one of the bans over in Europe is based not upon some horrible finding of rampant health and safety violations by Uber but by...taxicab association complaints.

Who doesn't love the smell of cronyism in the morning?

[Rhywun]

No, they just regulate the shit out of them. If it's not cheaper, why bother?

[Peachy rex]

"You spare the Uber drivers?"

"Nah, we regulate the shit out of 'em at the Number Six Dance later on!"

[Charles Easterly]

Nice.

[sarcasmic]

No wonder he is so rich! True cost of Dre Beats headphones revealed
Headphone designers estimate cost of making fancy headset could be $14
Cheapest Beats headphones cost $200 and price goes as high as $700
Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre created $3.2billion company in the mid-2000s
It was sold to Apple in May of 2014 and they are now company employees
Deal included $2.6billion in cash and approximately $400million in stock

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

During an audio test of 18 of the top-selling headphone brands, TIME Magazine ranked Beats as the second-to-worst entry in terms of sound quality

And my wife still can't figure out why I refuse to buy her a set.

[Injun, as in from India]

Excessive profit!

Price gouging!

Quick - we need a WINDFALL PROFIT TAX!

[sarcasmic]

Or you just recognize that they're overpriced crap, and choose not to buy them. That was easy.

[Injun, as in from India]

But think about the kids!

Think about all the good things that government do with the money taken from the undeserving rich bas****s.

[A Frayed Knot]

Beats headphone are a great example of the power of image and marketing.

[Auric Demonocles]

Unsurprisingly, now owned by Apple,

[Catatafish]

You beats me to it.

[pan fried wylie]

You beats me to it.

Applepalling.

[A Frayed Knot]

True. But at least Apple products, while overpriced, are well designed and generally function well. Beats headphones are pure crap

[Rhywun]

I have seen way more Microsoft than Apple commercials in the last couple years. I wonder how that is working out for them.

[ColonelEngineer]

I've had the same pair of $15 Skull Candies for almost 10 years. Still work and sound great.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's only if you think the headphones "working" means they play sounds well. At the vital job of "signaling to other people how cool you are" they fail! You might as well take off the sticker from your baseball cap!

[Illocust]

I thought skull candy was about signaling your cool. They have the skull on them and they are generally surrounded by cheaper options. I'm getting the feeling this is my white trash upbringing showing through.

[ColonelEngineer]

At the time, they were the second cheapest options.

[The DerpRider]

I've got a pair from monoprice that cost about $7 and sound better than anything else I've tried out.

[KDN]

I got a set of Sol Republic for $10 with my phone; I'm quite happy with them. Apparently they for $70 - $100 retail, which makes sense, IMO.

[crab_apple]

Beats are kind of like Bose headphones. Lots of marketing but all they are selling is a pair of headphones with excessive bass which appeals to the masses.

If you want good headphones, then look to the pro-audio brands like Sennheiser, Shure, Audio-Technica.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Sennheiser, have a pair and love them

[ColonelEngineer]

^^ THIS ^^

Friend of mine got some Sennheisers from Musicians Friend on deep discount. They sound phenomenal. I could hear nuances in songs that I had listened to dozens of times before, but was never able to pick out.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I have a set of Panasonic over ear noise cancelling headphones that are really nice. I've also got a set of klipsch ear buds that are the best workout headphones I've ever had. I'm not sure about the sound quality, but I'm not looking for top quality sound while I'm on the treadmill.

[Fist of Etiquette]

France is considering a ban on catwalk models who don't meet minimum weight standards.

No no fat chicks.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Italy laughs and says "come on over to Milan". The Swiss narrow their gaze into a cunning look and prepare facilities in Geneva...

[Rhywun]

You have to squint to see some of those walking clotheshangers.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

"They eat less while waiting in the green room!"

/beancounter

[sarcasmic]

'Another mom could never have replaced the father I lost': Woman raised by lesbian moms comes out against gay marriage
Heather Barwick says she is against gay marriage because she missed out on having her father around when she was growing up
The 31-year-old mother-of-four admits her mother's partner 'treated me as if I was her own daughter'
She also says that her biological father 'wasn't a great guy,' and 'didn't bother coming around anymore'
Despite being an advocate for gay marriage in her 20s, Barwick now says she's had a change of heart
'My father's absence created a huge hole, and I ached every day. I loved my mom's partner, but she could never have replaced the father I lost'

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

Blasphemy! Heresy! Burn the witch!

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Does she weigh as much as a duck?

[seguin]

Well, come on...she feels shortchanged because her dad skips out, and her response is "let's prevent gays getting married"?

HTF is that supposed to make sense?

[Illocust]

Most of the bad parts of her childhood probably centered around her parents using her as an example of why its okay for gays to get married. Now that she's out on her own all that resentment she bottled up under the 'they love me' cork is flowing free and she is lashing out at the thing that made her miserable growing up. It's a normal if feeling based reaction.

[Tonio]

I haven't RTFA, but would be interested to know whether her father really did stop coming around voluntarily, or whether the lesbian couple actively discouraged him. Straight women regularly pull that shit.

[Catatafish]

Wouldn't her argument more logically be that she is opposed to gay couples adopting?

[Illocust]

Eh not surprised it happened eventually. A lot of the insidiously crappy stuff you put up with from parents when your a kid is because your preprogrammed to cling to them to prevent your abandonment and starvation. If they aren't actively abusing you, you're willing to over look their obvious life choices that make your life miserable. It's only when you get off the teat so to speak that you can truly start judging them for the bullshit they put you through.

Now this woman is probably confusing pain coming from being raised by political activist (30 years ago there weren't a lot of quiet gay couples raising kids. Defacto the act was political and a lot took it further than that) who used her as a constant example of how there lifestyle was okay, rather than the fact than pain caused by being raised by a lesbian couple, but the misjudgment is common and the woman's pain is understandable. It's a shame activists are going to attack her even more. I just hope she's smart enough to keep her kids out of the limelight.

[WTF]

You mean fathers actually play an important role in children's lives? HERESY!

[gaijin]

Despite being an advocate for gay marriage in her 20s, Barwick now says she's had a change of heart

Old Russian saying: Come here. Put this in your mouth so wind not blow your head around so much.

[Rhywun]

So she'd rather have had her deadbeat dad around than a second loving mother? She sounds a little - confused.

As the child of a single mother, and without any option of having a father, I find this all a little whiny.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

She's just convinced whatever hole there is in her soul wouldn't be there if she had a daddy instead of another mommy. She's wrong, of course (we all have at least one hole in our soul), but it's very difficult for her to see, because it's mostly unconscious.

[sarcasmic]

The height of etiquette: Michelle Obama towers over Japanese emperor as she stumbles in silver stilettos while attempting awkward curtsey
Mrs Obama towered over Emperor Akihito and stumbled as she tried to bow, shake his hand and curtsey at once
She also grabbed Japan's First Lady in a hug-and-handshake combination while she was mid-bow
The awkward trip is being described as a 'makeup call' after Mrs Obama failed to accompany the President to Japan last year
Tensions are high after death threats to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan
Mrs Obama wore a green printed dress from Kenzo's Fall 2014 collection, followed by a striking flower-print suit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ardly.html
[insert wookie joke here]

[wareagle]

surprised she was described as "stumbled" with her shoes. Isn't it racist to imply that a black woman can't walk properly in heels?

[Crusty Juggler]

I have been saying for months that Kenzo's Fall 2014 collection is totally gauche.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

It was almost Michelle's Fall shoe collection!

*ducks*

[Elspeth Flashman]

*gaze narrows*

[Monty Crisco]

Obama's bow in 2009 was FAAAAAAAAAR worse. Just a bizarre combination of a bow and a no-look handshake. Endlessly hilarious - and demeaning as hell for the office of the "most powerful man in the world"...

"Shine ya shoes, mistah Empara, sah?!?! I shines 'em up real goods I wills!"

[WTF]

Especially since per Japanese custom, the deeper bow should come from the subordinate, while the superior will basically just return with little more than a nod of the head.

[Heedless]

And American tradition is that you doff your hat and nothing more. Not that we wear hats anymore. So maybe a nod?

[Col. R C Dean]

Fist bump.

[SusanM]

At least she didn't puke on him...

[Cdr Lytton]

Doesn't she have a staff to help prep and guide her for this sort of thing.

/SLD that an unelected spouse shouldn't have a taxpayer paid staff

[Illocust]

Hell this is one of those cases the presidents staff should have helped her out. If the family is going on a diplomatic mission to another country they are acting as an extension of the president. One of the guys at the local embassy should have been there to help her figure out how to act and dress (Not pick the outfit to match the culture, but little things like you shouldn't wear heels if you are already going to be taller than everyone else that is there).

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah there's something not adding up with all these diplomatic faux pas.

Either they think they're too cultured and ignore advice or they're just plain idiots.

[sarcasmic]

Probably both.

[Col. R C Dean]

Replace the "or" with "because", and I think you've got it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

She has the elegance of a clumsy linebacker.

[Timon 19]

That's one of the most awkward-looking pictures I've ever seen of anyone greeting another person ever (the first one).

The rest are various looks at how amazingly...uncoordinated the FLOTUS looks pretty much all the time. The way she's standing on the stairway outside the plane...what the hell is going on there? Is she trying to give birth standing up?

[Lord Humungus]

Why Are James Fallows and His Commenters Annoyed by the Holocaust?
The ugly accusation that Jews 'use' the Shoah to drive nations to war migrates from the swamps of the right to the foreign policy left

Leading the brave charge against Jewish conniving in recent months has been Atlantic national correspondent James Fallows. In reaction to the controversy surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress earlier this month, Fallows published a long series of blog posts in February and early March, not only disputing the suitability of appropriating the Holocaust with regard to the risk posed by Iran to the Jewish State, but implying that certain actors are deliberately exploiting the Nazi genocide to manipulate U.S. foreign policy for predictably uncouth purposes.

"I am deadset against my country drifting into further needless unwinnable wars," Fallows wrote in one of his first posts on the subject, by means of explaining his intense interest. What bugs Fallows is that his intellectual adversaries keep on invoking the Holocaust, that old conversation stopper, to exaggerate the problem posed by a nuclear Iran, just as "they" did with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. "

[sarcasmic]

Morning news station apologizes for 'unintentional porn' after burlesque dancer takes power saw to her crotch live on air ...and in front of a group of school children
During a segment on Chicago's WGN Morning News, a burlesque dancer took a power saw to her crotch
Sparks flew as Shana Vaughan-Gabor used a power saw on a small, metal box fastened to her pelvic region
A news anchor yelled for the woman to stop and soon the station cut away from her performance to footage of hockey players
Children who saw the shocking display called Vaughan-Gabor's performance 'creepy' and 'stinky'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....e-air.html
Uhhhhh.... I got nuthin.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

*SugarFree perks up, reaches for pen and notebook*

[Catatafish]

I don't understand the media's negative reaction to this. It was clearly performance art. Vaughan-Gabor was demonstrating the need for direct action against the patriarchy that oppresses women through mass uterus control.

[seguin]

For one thing, that's an angle grinder, not a "power saw".

Journalists.

[Elspeth Flashman]

It probably was creepy and stinky.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

+ many perspicacious kids

[Charles Easterly]

Nice.

My buddies didn't believe me the first time I used perspicacious around them.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Letterman did it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A bill in Massachusetts would legalize both hemp and marijuana.

I doubt it.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Hempijuana?

[straffinrun]

There's probably a tom, juan and steve that would too.

[sarcasmic]

Don't worry about the snow and ice! Meteorologists claim this winter was actually the warmest on record
Last month was the second warmest February on record globally
January and February temperature beat the old record for the first two months set in 2002
December to February broke the meteorological winter record set in 2007

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....ecord.html
What are you going to believe, your lying eyes or the experts?

[Crusty Juggler]

Seth Meyers.

[gaijin]

God...insufferable douche Seth Meyers is in that clip

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes. I guess I should have put a douche warning on that link. He is one of those comedians who is considered funny for reasons I cannot comprehend.

[WTF]

I guess snow is also really a thing of the past, too. Just like they predicted.

[Col. R C Dean]

Every spring, snow becomes a thing of the past. Predicting this is not really such a huge breakthrough.

[Lord Humungus]

The U.S. music industry made more money from online streaming than CD sales last year

The U.S. recording industry has earned about $7 billion a year over the last several years, down from a peak of $14.6 billion in 1999 (thanks in good part to Britney and the Backstreet Boys) ? but how it has made that money has shifted quite a bit. In 2014, the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) indicated in a report issued Wednesday, streaming music services made more money for the industry than physical CD sales, a first.

[John]

Amazing what adapting your business model to changes in technology can do.

[Rhywun]

I don't care how easy technology makes it to "stream" music - if I'm paying, I want my own copy dammit.

[Timon 19]

I am completely baffled that people actually pay good money to NOT own music and instead pay for the rights to hear it from afar, if the servers and infrastructure are all working and if the streaming service decides to deliver it to you.

Paying for streaming music subjects your music purchase to the whims of so many people who are not you.

[Col. R C Dean]

Meh. I pay for satellite radio, and I'm happy to.

Not "streaming", but I'm still paying for the rights to hear it from afar.

[sarcasmic]

It's that time of year again! Prom photos preserve the magically-awkward moments some teens would probably rather forget
Snapshots from Awkward Family Photos shows painfully-funny prom pics
Feature wardrobe malfunctions, hairstyles that don't cut it and and more

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

I'd take a fish to the prom. Why not?

[Elspeth Flashman]

It might be more active than your actual date.

[sarcasmic]

Might smell better too.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Did she have a metal box and an angle grinder?

[Lord Humungus]

I went to prom when I was in 10th grade. Ended up making out with three girls at different times... and getting my first blow job. All on speed and Bacardi.

[sarcasmic]

Officer shoots man dead on his first day back from mandatory leave after shooting another suspect TEN days earlier
Kenosha police officer Pablo Torres returned from leave Saturday
On the day of his return he confronted Aaron Sile, 26, who had 'armed himself with a weapon' and Torres fatally shot him
10 days earlier he shot a man who advanced on police armed with knives

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....oting.html
This guy must be the envy of his department.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

"armed himself with a weapon"? WTF?

What else would you "arm" yourself with?

"armed himself with a dandelion"?

"armed himself with a slice of pie"?

[seguin]

This particular individual spoke aggressive words aimed aggressively at the officer in question who was at the scene.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Now he's done it. This time they'll have to give him 20 days mandatory leave.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

All that loss of overtime is really gonna hurt his household budget.

[sarcasmic]

Fury at University of Virginia after cops bash black honors student bloody while arresting him for public intoxication ?and now the governor is calling for an investigation
Governor Terry McAuliffe's office asked for state police to conduct a probe
Martese Johnson, a junior and member of UVA's Honor Committee was arrested after being denied entry to Trinity Irish Pub early Wednesday
Virginia ABC has put the officers on administrative duty while the matter is investigated
Johnson went to the hospital and received 10 stitches, according a student group, and a bloody photo circulated after his arrest

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rrest.html
The officers went home safely. Nothing else matters.

[wareagle]

I'll ask again: is the outrage over the cops' behavior or that a black student was involved? Because that whooshing sound from Charlottesville sounds eerily like a point being missed.

[sarcasmic]

He was an honor student. An honor student!

[John]

Of course not. Just like there wasn't any outrage when the police beat the homeless guy to death in San Fransisco and Mike Brown was a national cause. The fact that the guy in San Fransisco was a victim of unbelievable and indefensible police brutality and Brown was a criminal who gave the officer no choice but to shoot him didn't matter. What mattered is one was white and Brown was black. White people are not entitled to the same sorts of protections that blacks are.

[Crusty Juggler]

The Public Ivies are almost as superior as the regular Ivies, so obviously anything they collectively believe is smarter than anything you believe.

[Tonio]

Even if they are missing the point they are fighting back against the police.

[Azathoth!!]

No they're not.

They're fighting against racism in the police force.

[Rich]

President Barack Obama suggests it might be time to make voting a requirement.

Or, it might be time to make *not* voting a requirement.

[Lord Humungus]

Milky Way Flush With Habitable Planets

Scientists combined data collected by the Kepler telescope with computer models replicating preferential structures of planetary systems to calculate the likelihood that planets would end up in life-friendly orbits ? those properly distanced from their parent stars for liquid surface water.

The results of the study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, indicate that billions of stars in the Milky Way have planets in so-called "habital zones" suitable for liquid water ? and possibly life.

And still no escape from Warty.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

And I'll bet Pro L' has homestead rights on the best ones already....grumble.

[Catatafish]

Mmmmmm..."Goldilocks Zone."

Probably shouldn't say that in response to any comment with Warty's name in it...

[Lord Humungus]

Topless dancer shot at Columbia club entitled to workers compensation, court says

An exotic dancer who was shot at a Columbia nightclub is entitled to workers' compensation benefits for her injury, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in what could be a potentially precedent-setting decision for topless performers in the Palmetto State.

The court ruled that dancer LeAndra Lewis was an employee of the Boom Boom Room Studio 54 ? not an independent contractor. That makes her eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits, the court said.

[John]

Makes sense to me. Calling your employees "contractors" is a common way people try to dodge workman's comp laws. The woman was shot while at work doing her job. she deserves workman's comp.

[robc]

In libertopia there is no difference between an employee and a contractor.

[John]

The funny thing is that workman's comp does nothing but fuck deserving people. The total compensation available under workman's comp is great if you are a bum with some sham injury but totally sucks if you are really hurt. So all the system has done is make it easy for bums to rip off their employers while preventing deserving people from getting compensation.

It is a more subtle issue than most believe, however. It is easy to say that workers should be responsible for their own injuries absent employer negligence. The problem is that if employers don't bear the cost of their employees' injuries, they don't have any incentive to worry about worker safety. If you work me 16 hours a day and I get tired and make a mistake, that is technically my fault. Yet, your decision to work me dangerously long hours contributed to that and since you don't have to pay for the resulting negligence, you have no reason to care. If I am out delivering packages for RobC's delivery, that is not your fault. Yet, I was only there because you told me to be and doing your business. I don't think it is the worst harm in the world to say "if your employee gets hurt doing your business, you have to take care of them".

[robc]

I dont disagree, seems like an issue for contract negotiation. Or, possibly, in extreme cases, a tort.

[gaijin]

In marriage, this is also true!

[Col. R C Dean]

Having actually represented a strip club and stripper agency back in the dim mists, most (?)dancers don't work a specific club indefinitely. They go from club to club, as arranged by the agency, and are definitely independent contractors with respect to a given club.

Don't know her specific deal, but its unlikely, I believe that she was "really" an employee.

[WTF]

France is considering a ban on catwalk models who don't meet minimum weight standards

Why are they othering the slender-bodied? I guess body-acceptance only goes in one direction.

[John]

Sarcasmic hardest hit.

[Brett L]

I was on Amazon last night and the models on their front page look like they were lifted feom an anorexia treatment clinic. Their upper arms had no muscle tone at all. Ugh.

[Lady Bertrum]

True fact: anorexia nervosa is the most deadly mental illness (rate of death by # diagnosed by deaths).

[John]

Whenever anyone claims to be a "human rights lawyer" they are a fascist using the law as a weapon in support of oppression. Fascists always destroy language first. Here "human rights lawyer Tanya Cohen" being saying how there should be no right to speak hatred and being bold enough to admit what she thinks is "hate speech". She says

One of the most admirable things about Europe is that most (if not all) of the right-wing rhetoric that you hear in the US is explicitly against the law there. For example, attempting to link Islam with terrorism, saying that gay marriage isn't really marriage, or saying that trans women aren't really women would get you charged with discrimination and/or incitement to hatred. Numerous European public figures have been charged with hate crimes for implying that large-scale immigration is connected to higher crime.

Pointing to facts the government doesn't like is just "hate speech"

http://thoughtcatalog.com/tany.....ct-hatred/

[Auric Demonocles]

Is it also illegal hate speech to tell someone they're human, and not actually a bird like they claim to be?

[John]

What is most scary about that paragraph is the things it contains and how recent the mores they represent are. Just a few years ago even someone as hard core as this woman would not have claimed objecting to tranvestites or gay marriage was hate speech. Yet, now it is. What will they be claiming is hate speech next month or next year?

[Catatafish]

Stop. Impeding. Progress. JOHN!

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I'm not sure that's a real woman. She's posted three articles at Thought Catalog, all about hate speech, and gotten shit on every time. The only evidence there is of her existence is a twitter account that was set up shortly before her first article was posted.

Also, Thought Catalog has a long history of trolls making up fake articles because Thought Catalog has no standards.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I mean, here's the first sentence:

"One of the most admirable things about Europe is that most (if not all) of the right-wing rhetoric that you hear in the US is explicitly against the law there."

That immediately strikes me as a fake quote meant to satirize leftists. YMMV on that I guess.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! This is obviously fake:

"Right-wing hatemongers like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, BILL MAHER, and Sarah Palin (to name just a few) are allowed to freely incite hatred and violence, oppose human rights, and undermine progress with impunity. "

This is absolutely the kind of thing I would write if I were dicking around and mocking progs. Putting Bill Maher in the middle of that group is a particular give away.

[WTF]

Poe's Law.

[Catatafish]

I don't know, Irish. He pissed off a ton of progs with his Islam comments. It's not like they are slow to eat their own.

[John]

yeah, maybe so.

[gaijin]

Thought Catalog has a long history of trolls making up fake articles

So it's like Penthouse Letters for ProgThoughtPorn?

[John]

So Madison and I were coming home from a planning meeting for the upcoming Black Lives Matter protest and we stopped at the free trade organic local food co-op to pick up some soy and a few vegan delicacies for that night's dinner and we ran into her friends Joshua and Megan and invited them back to our place for dinner and I still can't believe what happened next.....

[Form 27B/6]

Trigger Trauma
[trigger warning: The Nation]
http://www.thenation.com/blog/.....melodrama#
Students traumatized and injured by professor's article calling them melodramatic pussies.

[Catatafish]

"I got many dozens of emails from professors (and administrators and deans and one ex college president) describing how fearful they are of speaking honestly or dissenting on any of these issues. Someone on my campus?tenured?wrote me about literally lying awake at night worrying about causing trauma to a student, becoming a national story, losing her job, and not being able to support her kid. It seemed completely probable to her that a triggered student could take down a tenured professor with a snowball of social media."

Operation Progtard Accomplished

[WTF]

So, the students immediately set about proving the professor's point. We are doomed.

[Lord Humungus]

Placenta smoothie business investigated by Wiltshire health officials

Kathryn Beale produces the drinks for new mothers, who supply her with their own placenta.

She insists the smoothies are safe and argues that eating placentas has many health benefits.

But when council officials heard about Beale's business, they sought an emergency prohibition order. She has voluntarily stopped making smoothies pending a visit from officials to inspect hygiene standards.

Beale said she makes each smoothie by blending an 8cm-long piece of placenta with some sliced banana, a punnet of organic berries and 150ml of water.

[Rich]

"How many times has this happened to *you*? You have a placenta ?."

[Monty Crisco]

Man, that is kind of nasty.... BLEEECH

[Elspeth Flashman]

Can I sell you a smoothie from what I puked hearing about those smoothies? Cause I might have a limitless supply.

[Lord Humungus]

It does churn the ol' stomach.

[Lord Humungus]

From Tel Aviv to Turtle Bay
The White House hoped a new Israeli prime minister would resume peace talks with the Palestinians. With Netanyahu holding on, the administration is weighing a turn to the U.N. to help force a deal.

After years of blocking U.N. efforts to pressure Israelis and Palestinians into accepting a lasting two-state solution, the United States is edging closer toward supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would call for the resumption of political talks to conclude a final peace settlement, according to Western diplomats.

The move follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decisive re-election Tuesday after the incumbent publicly abandoned his commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state ? the basis of more than 20 years of U.S. diplomatic efforts ? and promised to continue the construction of settlements on occupied territory. The development also reflects deepening pessimism over the prospect of U.S.-brokered negotiations delivering peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

[wareagle]

because peace talks have worked so well in the past. Likud and Labor PMs alike have tried and failed in that regard, even with serious US involvement and the appearance of a solution. If only it were possible to see what the monkey wrench has been each time?

It never dawns on folks that perhaps Bibi has realized that there simply is no negotiating with the current crop of Arab decision-makers. Seems Israelis have figured that out, too.

[Rhywun]

Obama will find some way to cause maximum damage here. Not only does he not give a shit about anything anymore, Bibi stole his thunder.

[ColonelEngineer]

Students at the University of Virginia are protesting the violent arrest of a black student by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents outside a bar on Wednesday.

UVA? I wonder if Rolling Stone will cover this...

OT: Anyone familiar with a Kizone Kaprow? He/She/It found my personal blog and sent some unnecessary harassment. Quite entertaining actually. Apparently they have a crush on us here at H&R.

[Andrew S.]

It's Mary Stack. Our most deranged troll.

[Crusty Juggler]

This is just going to make the other trolls jealous.

[ColonelEngineer]

I figured out the troll part. I actually laughed at the commentary. I just didn't know if this was a new thing or not.

#H&Rnewguyprobs;

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

HM believes Kizone is a chubby dude from NY.

[John]

That person is absolutely nuts. The thinking was that it is Mary Stack, but that has come into question. Whoever it is, they are seriously deranged. My advice is to delete the email and if you can, ban whatever IP address it came from from accessing your blog. Don't engage with them and hope they go away.

[ColonelEngineer]

It wasn't a direct email. I have to monitor all comments so it was from WordPress. I giggled and marked the comment as spam. I'll need to play with the settings; not familiar with blocking IPs. However, the IP was traced to Virginia, FWIW

[John]

Really? That is interesting. Though the person behind that is very persistent about using multiple servers to hide her IP address and change it after she has been banned. The thought that whoever it is might be in Virginia, makes me glad I own guns. I am not kidding, the person is a nut.

[Ted S.]

Is there anybody here not familiar with Kizone Kaprow?

[kinnath]

yes

[Lord Humungus]

I get random comments on my (non-political) blog from KK. I've had to turn on moderation.

[Old Man With Candy]

Let's be fair- you censor MY comments on your blog as well.

[Injun, as in from India]

Evil, heartless, capitalist bastards of Hollywood.

L.A. THEATER HEADS SAY SCREW THE UNION, WE CAN'T AFFORD MINIMUM WAGE

[Andrew S.]

The darknet marketplace Evolution, Silk Road's successor, has vanished.

And apparently, its owners absconded with about $12 million in BTC. Much of it owed to some fairly nasty people.

A prog friend of mine shared this story on Facebook with a rant about how this is proof that libertarianism doesn't work.

[John]

When the owners of the network are found floating in some river somewhere after the Russian mobsters whose money they stole catch up with them, I am pretty sure the next darknet owner will think twice before absconding.

[Injun, as in from India]

LOL. An underground market that exists because the government bans the free exchange of certain goods ends up with a case of fraud.

And libertarianism is to blame because the government intervened?

Just when I think these people can't be any dumber...

[Monty Crisco]

You try to be cynical, but it's never enough to keep up....

[Lord Humungus]

EU to tell Greece time, patience running out

Euro zone leaders will tell Greece on Thursday that time and patience are running out for its leftist-led government to implement agreed reforms to avert a looming cash crunch that could force it out of the single currency.

Greece has been kept from bankruptcy by two international bailouts but now risks running out of money within weeks if it does not receive more funds. Greek banks reported the largest deposit withdrawals since Feb. 20, a sign savers are worried about the outlook for the country's finances and institutions.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has requested a meeting with the leaders of Germany, France and the main EU institutions on the sidelines of a European Union summit to press for Athens to receive short-term funds to keep itself afloat.

[Injun, as in from India]

Are the Greeks still into butt sex like they were a few millenia ago?

They better be, because I see a big EU dick about to f*** them hard.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

If Greece leaves the Eurozone, how bad will their inflation get? Apparently they averaged 11% inflation from the 1970's until Eurozone entry, and since then they've been around 2% inflation, or even lower.

Given their gargantuan debt burden, I imagine their inflation would be worse than that if they weren't shackled to the ECB and had their own central bank.

[wareagle]

for the better part of three decades, the Greeks have consistently elected the Socialist Party into power. Now, folks act shocked that problems could arise from that. Moving from the drachma to the Euro didn't help but structural problems also existed.

[Injun, as in from India]

A friend of mine worked as a consultant in Greece for a couple of years, and thought their "work" culture was a joke.

Greece has low productivity and high debt. They are overregulated. There is a ton of cronyism. When they were on their own, they could inflate their road into idiocy down the road. But now they can't. Reality is a b****.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

The Greeks also want money via social programs, but they refuse to pay their taxes in order to pay for the social programs. Imagine if you had Norway's social programs, but no oil and your citizens refused to pay taxes. That's Greece.

[wareagle]

tax evasion, a huge under the table economy, hyper-dependence on tourism $, and cradle-to-grave welfare. What could go wrong? If my father was alive to see this, he would have to be put on suicide watch.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And if that happens, whose fault will that be?

Aliens? Bush? Me?

[wareagle]

wait...those aren't the same things?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

He is an alien boooosh?

[straffinrun]

According to Yellin the Fed has lost it's patience, too.

[Injun, as in from India]

It is only fair that the ugly get as much action as the attractive. Government must step in!

Regulate the Dating Market - A modest proposal for romantic justice

Some naysayers complain that this new CARE will limit our freedom. But freedom is not the only value. We have to consider the greater good.

Freedom is tolerable when exercised in ways that serve society, but its excesses must be curbed to prevent its exercise in antisocial ways. Good, decent people need some security in the romance market. If that means a little less independence for everyone else, so be it. Those who demand unfettered freedom are simply apologists for the heartbreak status quo.

[robc]

I really hope that is parody.

[Injun, as in from India]

It actually is. I love that web site btw. Highly recommend it.

[robc]

If I had seen the modest proposal in the title I would have known for sure. It was the lasdt sentence that tipped me off, but its hard to tell sometimes.

[Injun, as in from India]

I think there is a chance something like this can get reported as a real proposal by the Democratic Underground or Jizz-ebel.

Kind of like how the Onion occasionally gets picked up as real news by foreign news outlets.

[John]

The funny thing about that proposal is that there is no other group on earth feminists hate more than ugly or awkward white guys. Feminists hate porn and hookers more than almost anything. Porn and hookers are the two available sexual outlets for unattractive or socially awkward men. What is some old fat guy without a lot of money supposed to do for sex? What is some really awkward and unattractive young guy supposed to do? By doing everything the can to stigmatize and criminalize porn and hookers, feminists are trying to ensure that the only sexual satisfaction all but the most attractive men get is whatever they can beg women to give them, which for a lot of men is nothing.

[Lord Humungus]

'Call of Duty' Remains the eSport That Says No Women Allowed

Video games has always been seen as a bland safari full of white males running around shouting at each other between fist bumps, windmill high-fives, and "slightly jokey, but not really joking" sharing of YouPorn links. But the demographic expanded from those out-dated perspectives quite some time ago. More women play than ever before ( stats here), and gaming is growing up, diversifying its content, extending its reach, and maturing its demographic.

But when it comes to competitive gaming, women are still stuck in the metaphorical kitchen, making sandwiches for all the dudes on stage. Call of Duty seems to be particularly behind the times, with a dearth of notable female participants while other titles seem to be more welcoming of their talents, and have been for some time. You might think that's because CoD is a shooter, and "girls don't like guns," but there are top female players on Halo: Reach (spacey alien guns), Counter Strike: Global Offensive (cartoony madcap guns) and surprisingly even Dead or Alive 4, one of the most barely clothed beat 'em ups you can find today.

[Injun, as in from India]

We can always ask Obama to make playing CoD mandatory for women, like he wants to make voting mandatory.

[John]

Absolutely nothing anywhere at any time can be even majority male or cater to male tastes. All forms of masculinity and maleness are to be driven out of society. Call of Duty must go.

This is what feminists think. Even a man sitting in the privacy of his own home playing a game cannot be allowed to do so if that game does not conform to feminist ideology. These people are right out of 1984. This is what real totalitarianism looks like.

[Injun, as in from India]

Here's the thing. NO ONE is stopping women from playing CoD. They are free to join.

And yet...

[Crusty Juggler]

There are not enough ponies in the game. Or shoes. Or vacuuming.

[John]

That is because it doesn't cater to women's tastes. It is hostile towards them and thus must be eliminated.

[Catatafish]

"Call of Duty seems to be particularly behind the times, with a dearth of notable female participants while other titles seem to be more welcoming of their talents, and have been for some time."

Note the way the GAMES are somehow empowered with the ability to make discriminating choices.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Animism, just like guns and crosshairs on maps have negative moral agency.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

"past-it ideas as to why women can't be on the army frontline or play soccer at the same level as men. (Something about if they fall over then all the other soccer players would stop playing and bring them cold compresses and smelling salts? Clearly a match would just take forever to finish)."

This individual is truly lost without a map. On the positive side, she builds strawmen better than an 18th century farmhand.

[Lord Humungus]

Two New Species Of Vampire Crabs Discovered

Meet two tiny new species of "vampire crabs" from Java, Indonesia! One has gorgeous purple claws, the other has stunning orange nippers, and they both have intense yellow eyes that give them their vampiric appearance. While new to science, both species have been in the aquarium trade for many years already.

In the last decade or so, colorful land-dwelling crabs from the genus Geosesarma have been sold in Asia and Europe and exported around the world. The two most popular of these vampire crabs are the violet ones and the bright orange ones, but where they originated has been a bit of a mystery: Dealers have claimed that they come from Sulawesi, Java, Krakatau, or Riau Islands in Indonesia.

[Col. R C Dean]

stunning orange nippers

Oh, nippers! Whew. I was not wanting to see a crab with, you know, . . . .

[Lord at War]

stunning orange nippers

sounds like Boehner porn...

[Ted S.]

I didn't know if I was going to be around for the Mourning Lynx thread today, but I don't have anything to do for a few hours. Those of you who weren't in the Mr. Napolitano thread kindly read here et sqq..

[tarran]

That's so sad Ted. I'm so sorry for both your loss, and the burden you had to carry for all those years.

[hamilton]

Oh, man. So sorry Ted, and wishing you peace.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Peace to you in this difficult time.

[Catatafish]

So sorry to hear this, Ted.

[Free Society]

Best regards, Ted. I've been down that road with my grandmother. The one upshot was that everyday I saw her I got to inform her that she had a great granddaughter that I named after her and I got to see her face light up with surprised joy everyday that I visited her in the nursing home.

[grrizzly]

My sincere condolences. Very sorry to hear this Ted.

[Tonio]

My condolences, Ted.

Alzheimers and Senile Dementia are so cruel to both the patients and the caregivers.

Hoping the following will give you some perspective and closure: The most recent memories are the first to go, so if she didn't recognize the house it was because at least the last forty years were gone. Anyone born during the missing years would be unrecognizable, or misidentified. When my mother "went" she didn't recognize me because her latest accessible memories of me were as a little boy; she recognized me as a relative but since her son was (in her mind) still a little boy she was alternately convinced I was my father, or her cousin who I also resemble.

Memory loss is extremely confusing and disorienting to the patient. Nothing is as expected - people, places, etc. Anger is a common reaction to this, and sometimes paranoia if they become convinced that people are trying to fool them (you can't be my son, my son is eight).

[trshmnster the terrible]

My wife worked with a research group studying Alzheimers patients. It was very hard to listen to her stories because she had to interact with caregivers who took the brunt of the emotional toil. In some senses, the patient is blissfully unaware of the mess happening to them. They can't remember that meltdown last week, but the caregiver still can.

My wife said the hardest thing to hear was the conversation with caregivers about taking away the keys to the car. That is a really emotional line to cross, and when it happens at age 50, the caregiver is in for a long difficult road ahead.

I'm nervous because my grandfather and great grandfather both had Alzheimers, and genetically my dad, brothers , and I are in the crosshairs. I really don't look forward to watching my dad waste away like my grandpa, or the potential that I will eventually have the same fate.

There is something about memory loss that robs people in the most intimate way. Relationships change for the worse, life is lived by the minute. It's just really hard to deal with because unlike most diseases or maladies, it changes who you are. In a sense, death is a release from the agony.

My condolences to you Ted. It shows a lot about you that you were willing to fight to your breaking point for your parents.

[Auric Demonocles]

Is the alt-text on the darknet?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

And it was disappeared too!

[Lord Humungus]

I watched the Randy Quaid porno so you don't have to
It's full of erotic asphyxiation, paranoia and Rupert Murdoch's name uttered during climax. You're welcome!

When I heard about the Randy Quaid sex tape, I knew I had been called upon once again to fulfill my journalistic duty of watching a terrible porn so that you don't have to. The "Independence Day" actor turned conspiracy theorist published the two-part video, which is more than an hour long, starring him and his wife, Evi, to the video-sharing site vidme, just as with the now infamous clip published last month of him simulating sex with his wife while she wears a Rupert Murdoch mask. The latest is similarly fixated on the 21st Century Fox CEO, who Quaid alleges has put him through "a living hell of biblical proportions," and a Hollywood "cabal" he says is responsible for killing Heath Ledger, David Carradine and Michael Jackson ? but unlike the earlier video, it features actual sex.

Yes, I have seen Randy Quaid's penis. I have watched Randy Quaid perform cunnilingus on his wife. I have watched Randy Quaid receive a blow job. I have watched Randy Quaid choke his wife with a belt while she brings herself to orgasm. And I have lived to tell the tale.

Keep it classy, Salon.

[Crusty Juggler]

I know what I'm doing for the next eleven minutes and fourteen seconds.

[Steve G]

EWW!!!

[straffinrun]

EWE! (If you're not a Kiwi, disregard)

[hamilton]

Holy shit. The history of Salon as a web site is like a long slow train wreck.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Two things:

1. Obama is a totalitarian shithead.

2. I've gotten annoyed by people who claim that the amount of money you get from food stamps is 'insufficient' to live off of. First of all, SNAP means SUPPLEMENTAL Nutrition Assistance Program, and therefore isn't meant to be the only money you spend on food. You're also supposed to go to food pantries or have a job. Secondly, people get $133 a month per person from the SNAP program, which is more than enough to eat. I could do that and have money left over.

Which is why I'm going to! Starting in June, I'm going to spend a year eating for the same amount of money as a SNAP recipient - approximately $5 a day. Since I've never attempted this, I'm looking for advice on how to make my money go the furthest - food that's the biggest bang for your buck, where to shop, etc. If any of you have advice on cheap meals I could make, please share.

[Rich]

Serious question: Is dumpster-diving allowed?

[Injun, as in from India]

Have you heard of the "freegan" movement?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

No. I'm not even going to take recourse to a lot of other things poor people have available to them, like food pantries. Particularly since I'm not actually poor and would feel like the biggest mooch piece of shit in the universe if I went to food pantries to prove a point.

This was actually called the 'SNAP challenge' when Democratic staffers did it as a piece of propaganda. The Democratic staffers refused to draw up budgets or figure out ways to make their money last longer, failed through their own purposeful incompetence, and then declared it impossible to eat on that amount of money because they basically failed on purpose for political reasons.

Then a Republican staffer did the SNAP challenge and succeeded, but was told by the Democrats that it didn't count because a lot of the food he bought was unhealthy. In other words, they moved the goal posts from YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO EAT to you have to eat healthy well balanced meals.

That's why I'm also going to try to be as healthy as possible. I'm not going to waste money on any sugary drinks (no soda), am not going to eat any junk food (it would blow the budget anyway), and am going to (shudder) wean myself off coffee so I don't even have to drink that. That's the primary reason I'm waiting until June - I need to plan and budget, but also need to break my coffee habit over the next two months so I don't spend the month of June twitching spastically from withdrawal.

[WTF]

Buy cheap, but nutritious items in bulk, like dried beans and rice where you can get 1o pound bags for a few bucks. You can get a 25 pound bag of rice for 8 or 9 bucks, and a 25 pound bag of dried pinto beans for 20 bucks. Then just supplement with cheap whole chickens you break down yourself or other cheap cuts of meat you find on sale along with vegetables from a local farmer's market. Use a variety of spices and seasonings to add variety. You can eat for a month easily on $133 like this, you just have to put in some work actually prepping and cooking meals.

[WTF]

1o = 10

[Tonio]

^This. What WTF said.

[Tonio]

I admire you for trying this, as it's going to be a PITA.

Also admire you for not mooching from the food bank, but suggest that you do visit the foodbank a couple of times to figure out what foods are regularly available. Allow yourself to buy foodbank-available items off-budget, ie simulate what an actual poor person would get for free and not count that against your food budget.

[Auric Demonocles]

people get $133 a month per person from the SNAP program, which is more than enough to eat. I could do that and have money left over.

But you can't do that while buying t-bone steaks every night to eat in front of your 60 flatscreen TV as you watch HBO!

[WTF]

Which means it isn't FAIR!!!

[Injun, as in from India]

Make a blog about it. Document everything. Show 'em.

You can get on-the-edge produce for cheap. That also invalidates the claim that produce is too expensive while processed food is cheaper. Skip luxuries like ice cream. Get powdered juice that you can mix with water.

I know this from personal experience from way back.

[Injun, as in from India]

I paid rent, a phone bill (with a big international charge), electric, gas, and food - never a day late and in full. All while earning less than $800 a month.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

[Tonio]

Yes, please document this. Write it up as an article and you might get paid for it. But this will be an invaluable resource for countering all those claims about how you can't get by on welfare (whatever).

Make maximum use of your freezer to freeze extra portions, and extend the useable life of food items.

[Jordan]

Beans, rice, and potatoes.

[John]

My wife and I don't spend $266 a month on groceries for ourselves and we eat very well. We spend more than that on food but that includes eating out. But we only eat out once or twice a week. The rest of the time we eat at home.

We are two adults. Feeding a kid would be much easier since kids have simpler tastes in food. If you can't feed yourself and your kids on $133 a month per person, it is because you are too lazy to shop and cook.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Exactly. Plus, like I said, you don't even have to eat for only $133 a month. You can go to food pantries or work for additional money. I'm wondering what percentage of SNAP recipients only eat from SNAP. I'm guessing it's not very high.

[A Frayed Knot]

Can i have your shopping list? Really? Because I spent more than $266 a month on produce alone (I do have two kids as well). And I don't ever buy the organic stuff.

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

Yeah, what AFK said.

[John]

My wife is a mad coupon shopper and makes maximum use of our COSCO membership. We may be the only two person household in the world for whom a COSCO membership makes economic sense.

Maybe I am underestimating. But, I don't think I am by much if I am at all. You just have to be smart about how you shop. The other issue now that I think about it is, we live in a place with good grocery stores. If we lived in the ghetto it would be much harder. That of course is thanks to Progs who want poor people to suffer so they don't have to look at a Wall Mart.

[Rasilio]

Seriously, for my family of 6 we generally spend around $1200 a month on food. I could pretty easily cut that down to $1000 a month if I had to but going below that would be tough.

I mean I know ways to get it a lot lower if I needed to, you can eat a healthy diet of nothing but redbeans and rice, greens (Kale, Collards, Mustard, whatever), with onions and peppers mixed in and the occasional piece of fruit and hard boiled eggs for breakfast and it will cost you right around $1 per meal or in the ballpark of $90 per month but that diet would get real old real fast

[WTF]

that diet would get real old real fast

What's that saying about beggars can't be choosers? If they want more than what $133 a month buys, go earn it.

[sitnam90]

When I was actually eating like this when I first got married, spices made all the difference.

[Pope Jimbo]

I don't know. I have two active teen aged boys at my house now and I can easily watch my grocery bills skyrocket when they and their friends are over.

Of course I also have a Korean wife who sincerely believes that the best way to show your love for your kids is through food. She said growing up, there was never enough food so to her keeping kids full is her main priority.

Still, if we didn't have a ton of money coming in, it would still be possible to keep them well fed for not much money.

[LynchPin1477]

OK, serious response:

1) Dried beans, lentils, rice, barley, etc. are your friends. Yes, the beans take a little longer to cook, but just soak them overnight and it shouldn't be too bad, and it is way cheaper than buying canned.

2) Soups and stews. No better way to get the most out of your ingredients, and it is filling.

3) If you like organ meat, it is usually pretty cheap.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Thank you. I'm going to have to experiment with different things. I'm lucky in that I don't have picky taste, so I can try virtually anything and have no problem.

[Pope Jimbo]

Irish, do you hunt or fish?

Both are a good way to get some meat into your diet. When we were poor we would plink a lot of squirrels and rabbits. Not only the legal country ones that we took during the official season, but also the city ones that we could shoot with a pellet gun when no one is looking.

You can also dig your own worms up and catch a lot of panfish. I think they taste the best of any fish anyway.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I live in Chicago. Shooting squirrels in the park is frowned upon.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Yeah, being shot to death by CPD might end the experiment a bit early.

One of these days, we will need to have a Chicago area Reasonoid meet up. I know there are a few of us here on HampersandR.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

It's you, me, Nicole...I don't know who else.

[Old Man With Candy]

It's you, me, Nicole...I don't know who else.

Swiss Servator and me as well.

[Old Man With Candy]

Oh, and EdWuncler.

[Pope Jimbo]

When I lived in Memphis, I knew a hillbilly who went to a park with some old bread, one of those small commemorative bats and a sack. He always came back with a sack full of squirrels.

He claimed he'd never had any problems with the cops. He said he'd bait them in, smack them and throw them in the sack so quickly no one realized what he was doing. He said it helped that the park squirrels were so tame, that they would return to grab the bait right after you'd killed one of their brothers, so it looked like you were simply feeding them.

[Brett L]

I can believe this. I heard of a guy who was suspected of harvesting squab from his office window in a similar manner.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

I knew a couple of guys who moved into town near the local urban lake and would get up early every two weeks when the stocking trucks came and go "fishing" in the shallows with metal rakes.

Granted, after a couple months of this, nobody would go into their apartment, but until they found work they never had to go hungry.

[Tonio]

While a practical suggestion for someone on a truly limited budget, that would complicate things when you refute the "need moar benefits" crowd. The proggies don't expect people on welfare to be resourceful when it comes to things like using dried beans and rice, so having them go the extra step, and involving icky guns, would be a non-starter.

[LynchPin1477]

Oh something else that will save you A LOT of money and give you flavor: get your spices at Whole Foods (if you have one nearby).

No, really, you can buy spices and herbs in any amount there. Just open the jar, fill your baggy up with what you need, and write the number down. If you are using only a few teaspoons of something you will probably pay, literally, 7 cents, because it is by weight and the scales barely even register.

Compared to buying a jar of McCormick spices that you probably won't use that often for minimum $4-5, there is a significant savings.

This will allow you to cook Mexican, Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc. soups, stews, curries, or whatever for much cheaper than you otherwise would. And you won't have to skimp on flavor since you'll have so many delicious spices in the dishes. And as a cost saving bonus, a lot of those dishes are vegetarian, but they are tasty enough you won't miss the meat.

Oh, and when you do buy meat, buy in bulk and freeze it.

And chuck roast is your friend. Cheap and flavorful. You have to cook it for 2-2.5 hours, but you can basically put it in a pot or the oven and forget about it. Throw some potatoes, carrots, and onions into a roasting dish and make gravy with the drippings. Insanely good.

[Aloysious]

If you have a meat grinder, ground chuck is the bomb, especially for chili.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

For chili, I leave the chuck whole, season it and cook it for 4-6 hrs in the crock pot, until it just starts to flake (pull it apart with a fork) then I make chili.

Drain the fat and add the rest of the fixin's. Cook for a hour or two, and viola!

You can do this with boston butt (pork) as well for another cheap variation.

[Catatafish]

A slow cooker is the world's greatest invention for working people that want to eat flavorful foods on a budget. Everything everyone else has said about dried beans/rice, cheap veggies, bulk spices and "lower quality" cuts of meat you can throw into a slow cooker, set for eight hours, go to work and when you get home you have a shitload of food for a few days and can freeze the rest. Tons of excellent slow cooker cookbooks out now too.

[Tonio]

Also, ethnic supermarkets, particularly Indian, have bulk spices dirt cheap. Save even more, and prolong shelf life and maxize flavor buy buying whole seeds and grinding the quantity you need before use.

[Pope Jimbo]

I would also suggest that you find a local baker and make friends with him. In college we would always buy day old bread at discount prices.

I also agree that a big pot of red beans and rice is the way to go. It isn't super tasty, but it does fill you up and is pretty healthy.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

red beans and rice isn't super tasty

You're doing it wrong then, which isn't suppressing given where you live.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

*surprising

[Pope Jimbo]

Hey! My red beans and rice days were back in my Memphis period.

It was also a shitty bachelor pad. You didn't dare make anything too tasty or you would be stuck as the cook bitch for a while. You also learned that if you came into money and made something nice, all the mooches would come out and demand some for themselves.

It was very educational.

* I also admit that Minnesoda in general does not do well when it comes to the culinary arts. We are the home of "Extra Mild" salsa. I had to move away before I learned that Sloppy Joes are not simply hamburger mixed with ketchup.

[Tonio]

Most large commercial bakeries have Thrift Store outlets where they sell day-old goods.

Also, get to know the location of the day-old bread rack at your local supermarket.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You can't expect the ignorant masses and deadbeats to understand this. What they will grasp is that they're getting 'free' money.

I have a couple of welfare cases whereby the government gives the parents money to be used exclusively for daycare (the thinking being so they can go work). They turn around and spend it on other stuff like food and then fail to pay ME. When we explain to them that's not how it's supposed to work and that they can get in all kinds of trouble (the government will ask for its money back) they look on with a blank stare.

We truly enable people and this is not good.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The money is for 'credit d'impot service de garde' (daycare tax credit) not 'to buy milk.'

Yet. One girl was handing the $500 over to her dead beat boyfriend and then acted like we were the bad guys.

Even when 'society' gives them a break they still manage to make wrong decisions.

At some point, you just have to let people live by their choices.

[Heedless]

In the mental health field, there is a new (last ten years or so) focus on "natural consequences", which is social worker speak for letting a client get hit by the handle if they are really determined to step on that rake. It is unsurprisingly effective, but it is really hard to do (with clients, that is. When it comes to aquaintances and dead beat relatives, I'm practically setting up for a tailgate).

[Lady Bertrum]

The problem with a low cost diet is it will inevitably be high in carbs. Excessive carb intake - even if it's 'complex' carb - may make you fat and have negative consequences for your long term health.

Via farm subsidies carbs are unusually cheap. Foods high in quality macro-nutrients (fat and protein) are more expensive.

I wouldn't do it, but then I like my svelte figure.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I'm a runner and I go to the gym 5 times a week. I think worst case I have to make sure I do a little more than I do now in order to maintain fitness.

[Lady Bertrum]

Maybe. Still:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Scie.....ds=phinney

[Lady Bertrum]

I'll just add, there's a reason poor people the world over are fatter than the general populations in which they live. It's because their diets are higher in carbs.

If you can eat a low cost but low carb diet, I'd be really impressed.

Good luck.

[Catatafish]

Something tells me that poor people, at least those in industrialized economies, don't work out once a month, much less five times a week.

[Lady Bertrum]

Calories in/calories out is inaccurate science.

It's not about activity level; it's about insulin resistance.

[Lady Bertrum]

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Cal.....ary+taubes

[Lady Bertrum]

For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Gotta eat lots of fiber and mix in low-cost protein sources like eggs and dairy.

[Lady Bertrum]

True fact: There's a lot of fiber in meat.

[Catatafish]

I don't disagree with you that type of caloric intake is important, LB. My current diet is high protein and moderate to low carb (through protein shakes, fish, poultry, eggs, almond milk and leafy greens). But saying "calories out is inaccurate science" makes zero sense. Find me someone who works out an hour a day, five times a week and then becomes obese and I will eat an Old 96er, gristle and all, in one sitting.

[Lady Bertrum]

See Peter Attia:

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

Or, Tim Noakes:

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

Both are serious athlete who had weight/diabetes health issues.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

Or Ferenc Pusk?s

[PRX]

oatmeal. it's practically free.

[Banjos]

Typically, the more you cook from scratch, the cheaper it is. Before buying something ask yourself if you can make it yourself.

[Pope Jimbo]

I had a friend who was a stay at home dad and he decided one summer to prepare everything his family ate. He lost 20+ pounds that summer, but the rest of his family stayed about the same.

According to him, it wasn't the nutrition, it was the amount of labor that went into having to prepare everything you wanted like a fucking pioneer.

He finally gave it up because he was so sick of having to do so much work on his own.

[Banjos]

I definitely don't envy our ancestors. Cooking and cleaning was a full time job at one time, requiring women to stay home. Something feminists conveniently forget.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I lost weight when I started cooking a lot. I thing part of the reason is that you sample all the way through the cooking process, so you're not as hungry when it's time to eat.

[Banjos]

Sloopy and talk about how cheap it is to eat if you do it right all the time. The other day we made a stew out of veggies, spices, and chicken leg quarters and estimated that it couldn't have cost more than $8. It was enough to feed 2 people for lunch and dinner for two days. That's $2 per person per day. Throw in 50 cents worth of eggs and 10 cents worth of bread for breakfast and you could feed someone (very well) for just $2.60 a day.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Farmers Markets kick ass for adding high quality but cheap ingredients to your stash. I typically take a $20 and have enough food to make/accent 3 or 4 meals a week.

There are tons of ways to get costs WAAAAAY down, there are economies of scale, and there are great ways to make food extend into multiple meals (rotisserie chicken is dinner, chicken sandwiches for the next lunch, chicken salad for another lunch, chicken stock for soups, etc.)

[Tonio]

Depends on the farmers market and the product. You can sometimes get really good deals on produce, but the meat is often more expensive since small producers don't get the economies of scale that Tyson or Perdue can. Also, the market favors specialty niches for small producers, ie free-range, organic, etc.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Get a freezer and fill it up. My wife spent $800 last August to cook 4 months of meals and freeze them. 8 months into it, we've emptied out about half of it, and have spent $150-200 a month on food for some fresh produce. Even if you add the $200 for the clearance chest freezer that we got, we've spent $1000 + $200/month over 10 months (assuming we empty the rest by June) == $300/month without really trying to go "bare bones." We're currently in the middle of not eating at any restaurants for Lent, and plan to extend that to 100 days.

[Aloysious]

Since you know how to cook, keep an eye on the ads in your local supermarket for fresh/frozen/canned veggies.

Fresh garlic and limes are almost always cheap, and give you tons of flavor.

[Rhywun]

Secondly, people get $133 a month per person from the SNAP program,

I was on food stamps for about a month in the early 90s and it was WAY more money than that. Like 70 dollars per two weeks. Are you sure of your numbers?

[trshmnster the terrible]

I think that's the statutory minimum... IIRC, there are tiers to SNAP depending on your financial status.

[KLafayette]

Late reply, but here you go:

1. Asian groceries & farmers markets -- Everywhere I've lived, Asian groceries were invariably the cheapest places to find amazingly fresh and varied produce (and oftentimes, seafood and certain meat cuts). If you have access to a farmers market, you can buy seasonal produce in bulk (often in huge random assortments), as well as dairy and grain products.

2. 'Whole' meat -- If you're going to cook chicken, buy a whole bird, or at least avoid wasting money on stuff like boneless breasts. Save bones, skin, and other meat/vegetable scraps for stock (zero effort, keeps well frozen, a million good uses). Gizzards and organs are dirt cheap and can be made palatable in recipes like dirty rice.

3. Coupons/weekly circulars -- If you can be bothered to actually read those mailbox-suffocating grocery circulars, you'll actually save a good deal of cash by shopping sales. Become a 'member' at your local grocery stores too.

[Pope Jimbo]

Hah, I have a Korean wife and a cast iron stomach and even I get the heebie jeebies sometimes looking in the freezers at the local Korean market.

But yeah, you can get good deals on produce there.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Costco Hotdogs are cheap. Not the snack bar ones. The ones inside.

Get the beef polish. They are fucking delicious, and 1/3 pound of beef.

It comes out to under $.30 per serving, iirc.

[Pope Jimbo]

You know one of the other things that you have to account for when eating cheap is the fact that you have to eat what is on sale at the time. Not what you want to eat.

So if Costco is having a sale on polish dogs, that is what you are going to eat for that week. Too fucking bad if you had a hankering for meatloaf. You have to wait until Costco has a sale on hamburger for that.

I think that is what throws a lot of people off track. You decide what you are hungry for and buy that.

[Tonio]

That's what freezers are for.

[Lord Humungus]

My family of three doesn't spend much more than $133 a person. I'm a low-carber too so that means lots of meat and salad-makings.

Mostly stay away from processed / pre-packaged food - but the local store does have pre-packaged Cordon Bleu for $7.99 for a box of six. Store brands are (duh) cheaper than name brands and sometimes even better (this of course varies considerably).

Eggs are cheap - steak 'n' eggs... sausage and eggs... beef sizzlers with eggs. Hardboiled eggs on a salad.

Chicken breast is often on sale for ~$2 a pound. Beef is more expensive but we end up buying steaks, hamburger (I love chili which is really filling). Some Chinese food is a great way to spice up a normally bland meal. Or making enchiladas (with low-carb tortillas in my case). Pork used to be really cheap but prices have gone up.

Don't buy pre-packaged salad, thought coleslaw is fairly cheap. The worst part about greens is their short shelf-life. eg, don't buy more than you need since it will eventually go bad unless you eat like a rabbit.

Nuts are a great snack but anything other than peanuts or sunflower seeds are expensive. I like to buy a small amount of chocolate or sugar free ice cream to use as a night snack / reward after a long day.

[Teaching Student]

Legumes are your friends. As is Costco (My wife doesn't let me go alone anymore, I always buy more than we have storage for). Between my wife and I, for pasta dishes we use 1/2 lb. of pasta. I got 14 lbs of pasta for $9, that's 28 Dishes/Meals. Along with Rice Dishes, Bean Dishes, etc (My wife is vegetarian, I am unless we go out), it is easy to make a variety of very tasty dishes on the cheap, especially Indian or other Asian style dishes.

We like Red Lentil Daal, Lentils, Onions, Serrano Pepper, cooked down with a whole bunch of spices. We serve it with a simple homemade flatbread (Flour, Salt, Water, Rosemary). Maybe over Rice.

Others sound like they have solved produce (we haven't).

[Azathoth!!]

First make sure all you'd get is $5 a day--it might be more, it might be less. Usually the first month is more because you get it as 'emergency' aid. After that it settles down to a standard.

That first month, in addition to food, grab any spices you'll need.

Create weekly menus and shop weekly--weekly specials are better than the first of the month rush. Use the 'manager's special' bin in the meat department.

Buy one of those big bags of chicken leg quarters. You get about a dozen quarters in each bag and they run around 6-7 bucks.

Grab a 10 pound bag of potatoes, a 10 pound bag of onions and a big bag of the cheapest long grain rice. Beans are not a cheap as you would think--and they're more expensive in time than is really worth it.

DON'T go near a farmer's market. Farmer's markets will charge way more than your local supermarket or walmart.

Frozen veg for a buck a bag with 2-3 meals. Canned veg for even less if you can deal.

You'll find that with just a touch of smart shopping, you'll be the welfare queen buying yourself some lobster in about three months because you've got stocked basics and you can easily eat, and eat well with just a touch of thinking.

Oh, and unless you're addicted to seriously expensive coffee you shouldn't have to give it up.

[Lord Humungus]

Penn State frat bros joked about posting nude photos of women in private Facebook group
Court documents reveal members of the now-suspended Kappa Delta Rho knew exactly what they were doing

Members of a secret Facebook group run by the Penn State chapter of Kappa Delta Rho reportedly joked about the photos of unconscious, naked women they posted online, according to recently released court documents. The fraternity has been suspended for a year and is under investigation for posting images of unsuspecting (and likely non-consenting) victims, hazing and drug dealing in the private group, where members could also comment on the posts.

"Lol delete those or we will be on CNN in a week," one member wrote.

In an exchange between two others, the Los Angeles Times reports, members quipped about the images being seen hundreds of thousands of times: "373,217 views. All from us," one said. "Make that 373,218," another responded. More from LA Times:

[Lord Humungus]

Drinking diet soda linked to a widening waistline with age

People over age 65 who drink diet soda daily tend to expand their waistlines by much more than peers who prefer other beverages, possibly contributing to chronic illnesses that go along with excess belly fat, according to a new study.

Research in other age groups has directly associated drinking sodas that replace sugar with artificial sweeteners and increased risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and preterm birth, said lead author Dr. Sharon P.G. Fowler of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The new study only observed people over time, and did not test whether drinking diet soda actually caused gains in abdominal fat, she cautioned. "We can't prove causality but there is quite a consistency in observational studies," Fowler told Reuters Health

[Catatafish]

I haven't read the study but something tells me (from personal experience) that there is a significant population that goes to Whataburger (or whatever your inferior alternative to Whataburger is), orders a double with cheese and extra large fries and then says "and a Diet Coke." Again, strictly anecdotal but when I was wolfing down fast food and pizza all the time, drinking diet soda almost became a psychological tool in order to tell myself, "eh, it wasn't ALL bad."

[Lord at War]

catafish-

That was the running joke when I worked at Chi-Chi's ("Mexican" restaurant) in the 90's.

The women would come in and drink 2 margaritas, then order a taco salad (in the fried flour tortilla bowl) with extra sour crean and guacamole... and a diet coke.

[Rich]

Arabic version of Pledge of Allegiance ignites furor

State Education Department regulations specifically say the Pledge of Allegiance should be read in English.

United Statesu Akbar!

[Jordan]

President Obama suggested yesterday that maybe what we need to "transform" American politics and "counteract" excessive campaign spending is to make voting mandatory.

Fuck off, slaver.

[LynchPin1477]

mandatory voting

Vote or die

Seriously, though, this is the most disgusting thing I've heard him say. You really want the same police officers beating up and/or shooting black guys enforcing mandatory voting? Like, in his world view, that sounds like a good idea?

Seriously, fuck off. He should be impeached for just saying this.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

In Australia, people actually get elected because of something called 'donkey voting,' where people who are forced to go to the polls will just vote for the person at the top of the ballot or rank their ballot in order from top to bottom.

[LynchPin1477]

Will of the people! Mandates! Elections have consequences!

[Rich]

Excellent video.

[LynchPin1477]

And it is so blatantly obvious what he wants to do with this. Voter turnout is lowest in poor and minority populations, so he thinks that by forcing them to vote it will help Democrats. In his mind the country probably is overwhelmingly liberal/Democrat but these evil rich Republicans depress voter turnout.

And yet somehow he thinks that fining poor people or sending election cops into hispanic and black neighborhoods to force people to vote is going to end well. Unbelievable. I can't even describe how fucked up this is. I'm not going to be able to concentrate at all today.

[John]

That really is the worst thing he has ever said. There is no way such a system could ever be implemented without resorting to the worst sorts of oppressive tactics. I always try and remember that Obama is an idiot who has never been called on anything he said in his life. So, you have to take everything he says with a grain of salt knowing that most of the time he is just talking out of his ass and has put zero thought into what he is saying. That said, even grading on the curve, that is an appalling and offensive thing to say.

[LynchPin1477]

It's the got to be one of the most narcissistic and disturbing things I've heard from a politician.

No politician would call for mandatory voting unless they though a majority of the votes would go their way. So he's narcissistic enough to think that most of those uncast votes would go Democratic, and that is what people really want, but they are...what? too stupid, too depressed, to actually go to the polls?

But it's even worse than that, because what he is in effect saying is that he wants to force people to vote so that Democrats will have power. That is terrifyingly close to having someone elected for life.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Shooting victim from yesterday's rampage in Mesa, AZ posted a selfie on SnapChat before seeking medical assistance

An Arizona man who was wounded in a shooting spree took a selfie for Snapchat before seeking medical attention.

Isaac Martinez, 20, was one of five people injured when suspect Ryan Giroux allegedly went on a rampage and killed a man in Mesa Wednesday, according to the Arizona Republic.

Giroux shot Martinez in the shoulder when he refused to hand over car keys to the ex-convict outside Bistro 13, the restaurant where Martinez works, police said.

When Giroux allegedly drove off in the getway vehicle, Martinez took the opportunity to show off his injuries on the photo-sharing app before finding authorities at the scene.

"I just got shot?," Martinez said casually on the picture of his blood-stained shoulder.

He was transported to the hospital and took another selfie in a hospital bed, dried blood staining his bare chest.

The culinary student was treated and released and said he expects to "heal fine."

Our dumb world.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Tough dude - dumb, but tough.

[Steve G]

don't forget lucky as hell

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

William Shatner to tour country in futuristic motorcycle of his own design

William Shatner, the actor most famous for his hosting stint on Rescue 911, has unveiled his new, weird motorcycle collaboration with American Wrench. It sure is ... something.

Say hello to the the Rivet One. Specs, such as top speed, are scant. What we do know is that it looks like a mixture of a drag racer and a motorcycle, with a three-wheeled, exposed-rivet, retro-futurist design not unlike what Shatner imagined in Tek World.

T.J. Hooker himself will be driving the bike across the country this summer, presumably to hit the Boston Legal fan convention circuit.

Warp 6.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Like everything else Bill Shatner does, that looks kick ass.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Him you don't want to deport though, eh?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

We have a common law, adverse possession claim to him!

[hamilton]

"William Shatner, the actor most famous for his hosting stint on Rescue 911"

What the actual fuck?

"Paul McCartney, the singer most famous for his stint in Wings..."

[Andrew S.]

I'm guessing that was an attempt at sarcasm.

[bodenlosen Schweinerei]

"Who's Wings?"

"They're only the band the Beatles could have been."

[db]

Rock on, Shat. You rule.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Feminist who has clearly never played a Nintendo game scolds Nintendo for 'weak' female characters

Here's the full list of female characters that Nintendo intends on celebrating for Women's History Month: Tetra from "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD," Toadette from the Mario series, Bayonetta from "Bayonetta," Rosalina from the Mario series, Lucina from "Fire Emblem," Samus Aran from "Metroid" and Bombette from "Paper Mario." Have you heard of most of these characters? Didn't think so.

You may notice that one of Nintendo's most famous female characters, Princess Peach, isn't included in this list. That's likely because she generally plays the damsel-in-distress character rather than hero. Princess Peach appears in 15 Mario platform games (the ones where the characters jump from platform to platform) and is kidnapped in 13 of them. She's playable in only two of the Mario platform games, the ones she's not kidnapped in. She is, however, playable in the "Mario Kart" games, thankfully.

When the female characters aren't being saved, they're just what feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian calls "Ms. Male Characters," or "female versions of an already established or default male character." See: Bombette and Toadette. These two are just pink versions of the male characters.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

There are a bunch of strong female characters in Zelda games. How about Sheik/Zelda in Ocarina of Time? The entire Geruda are a tribe of female thieves. Tetra in Wind Waker also (SPOILER ALERT!) turns out to be Princess Zelda, so only someone who hasn't played the game could think she's 'obscure' since the actual video game series is named after her.

And putting Samus in there...she's only like the most famous female character in video games.

[Ted S.]

There's a reason my favorite video gam has always been Q*bert, and why I play Go instead of video games online.

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

My kids saw the Q*bert characters in Wreck-it Ralph and I tried to explain the game to them...finally had to find some video online.

[Rhywun]

There's a reason my favorite video gam has always been Q*bert, and why I play Go instead of video games online.

You're lame? /JK

The Metroid games are probably my favorite series of all time. Famously, the lead character's sex wasn't revealed until (I think) the end of the first game, when the clothing sort-of falls off to reveal pixelly curves.

[Mike M.]

Good grief. Talk your first world problems.

[Pope Jimbo]

Fuck these cunts. Why are they focusing on this bull shit instead of recognizing the real shame of the gaming industry? That there are no viable characters that TRANS people can play?

Why are there no chicks with dicks in CoD?

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

Why are there no chicks with dicks in CoD?

I hear that will be in Grand Theft Auto VI

[Rhywun]

Subtitled "Bangcock City"?

[Col. R C Dean]

Have you heard of most of these characters?

All but a couple, and I've never played Nintendo and am by no means a hard-core gamer.

Thanks for asking.

The great thing is, after whining about how there are no strong female characters, she has to dismiss all the, err, strong female characters as being "Ms. Male."

Apparently strong = male to her.

And we're the ones with problems.

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

I see our resident BoTrollBot has decided to come out and play at night instead of during the day. Is there something in the air past 6pm that makes people want to feed it?

[Lord Humungus]

I'm busy livin' the dream after 6PM - trying on different monocles, sampling my gin collection, and beating the servants. I'm glad I'm not party to such shenanigans.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

Ah, you are living the life!

*adjusts monocle, reaches for gin gimlet*

[Catatafish]

You forgot "polishing my blunderbuss."

[Lord Humungus]

Is that why you kids call it these days?

[John]

Most people post on here because they are bored at work. They have lives in the evenings. I guess Bo has decided it is better to inflict himself on those unfortunate people who live and work on the west coast. Him and Episiarch deserve one another I guess.

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

Ok, I'll allow it though everyone should know better by now. And that is a very unkind thing to say about Epi - the only one on this board that deserves Bo is...Bo.

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

That is what your Mom said!

/Epi

[Eorl Restoras, Esq.]

I love that Your Mom jokes never fail to elicit a chuckle.

Well played, sir.

I wonder how long before the fucking Jezzie SJWs try to take that away from men?

[Swiss Servator... Switzy!]

They have not already?

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Well... being a mom makes you a traitor in the feminist war, so no.

[John]

Episiarch is the biggest gay monster since gay came to gay town. He can take care of himself. And trust me, he twisted enough he will enjoy torturing Bo. And Bo most certainly deserves the torture.

[straffinrun]

"They have lives in the evenings." Thanks, John. It's 11:30pm here.

[John]

Even interesting lives have lulls.

[straffinrun]

Agile disagrees. Cheers, anyways. At least I get to drink before you.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

Most people post on here because they are bored at work.

How dare you make such a damning assertion? There are those of us who are simply interested in the cause of liberty and...

Ok, we're bored at work.

[Real American]

and if you don't vote, the government will do it for you.

[Rasilio]

Screw less money in Politics, I want to see MORE money in politics. Lets make it legal to buy additional votes.

Everyone gets 1 ballot for free, but for each office/question on that ballot you can if you like purchase additional votes. 1 additional vote is $1, 2 additional votes is $11, 3 additional votes is $111 and so on. Basically each additional vote costs 10x what the last one cost. and that is per office so if you want to cast 4 votes for President, Congressman, and Senator that is gonna cost you $444.

Proceeds go to the level of government the office/question exists at.

It will also be explicitly legal for groups and organizations to donate money to people for the purpose of purchasing additional votes however they would have no way of knowing of the person they gave money to actually bought those votes, cast them the way the organization wanted, or just pocketed the money.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Here's a start... increase property taxes slightly, and landowners automatically get a second vote.

[WTF]

Net tax payers get to vote; net tax recipients do not.

[Lord at War]

Rasilio-

That's Heinlein (via Twain's "Republic of Gondor")-- make it the only source of revenue for the level of gov't the vote is cast...

[Cdr Lytton]

Morning idiocy- NPR had a story on a doctor discovering that there's no generic insulin. Long winding path filled with shoutouts to brainwashing doctors by marketing (because they must be the ones buying the prescriptions) and how older versions of insulin are still available in other countries such as Canada (supposedly the work of consumer advocates, but given Canada's health care system, I doubt that's entirely the reason). Doctor asks whether the advances in insulin are worth it and if we'd just be better with older versions.

Not once does the reporter ask this doctor "If generic insulin is perfectly acceptable and there's this unfulfilled demand for low cost insulin, why don't you quit your job and start the Generic Insulin Company?"

[John]

Just a guess, but I imagine the FDA and tort law is the reason. The newer versions are presumably better. Hard to see how a doctor could survive a malpractice suit if he proscribed the old drug and the patient suffered some harm that the new drug would have prevented. Even if the old version works better for 95% of patients, I doubt a malpractice insurance company would want their insureds to proscribe the old medicine. Lastly, it would not surprise me if the FDA has banned the old versions. Maybe not but it is worth checking.

This looks to me like an example of how we are never willing to take a less than perfect solution. Would I prefer every patient get the new and presumably better stuff? Sure. But that may not be possible and the old stuff may be all some can afford. That kind of choice is something the FDA and the tort lawyers seem committed to preventing us from making.

[Cdr Lytton]

Oh, sure. No mention of regulatory effects in that story either.

Found the transcript: http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt.....-expensive

[Stormy Dragon]

Ben Carson beclowns himself during CBS interview:

Ben Carson stumbles over questions about NATO, al Qaeda

[[e-mail]]

my friend's sister-in-law makes $68 /hour on the laptop . She has been without work for 10 months but last month her income was $12752 just working on the laptop for a few hours. check out the post right here [][][][]

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