One Scandalized Illinois Rep. Exits, Another Emerges From Prison, U.S. Assists with Airstrikes in Iraq: P.M. Links

• 

  U.S. House

  Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) gave his farewell speech on the floor of the House today, resigning and promising to "work tirelessly to make it up to" those he let down as a result of the allegations of misspending taxpayer dollars on personal things.

• Oh, hey there, interesting related story: Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) was just released from federal prison today. He spent 17 months behind bars for using campaign funds on personal purchases. His full term isn't actually done. He's heading to a halfway house and may end up spending his final six months in house arrest.
• U.S. forces are assisting the Iraqis in trying to take control of Tikrit away from ISIS by providing air strikes.
• Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed into law the state's religious freedom bill, allowing businesses and individuals to discriminate on the basis of their religious beliefs (such as opposition to gay marriage) unless the government can state a compelling reason to prohibit it.
• Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's attorney says the soldier tried to escape 12 times from his captors in Afghanistan. He has been charged by the Army with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
• Sen. Rand Paul is courting disappointment among libertarian supporters by calling for an increase in defense spending.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's attorney says the soldier tried to escape 12 times from his captors in Afghanistan.

Let's see if he does any better here.

[Sudden]

Before he finally succeeded in escaping his captors and joining the Taliban right?

Hang him.

[Dweebston]

the Taliban right

You mean the American Taliban?

[Raven Nation]

Hmm, I wonder why conservatives don't like people who claims to be rationalists? Oh, anti-science, right?

[Dweebston]

You'd wonder why we don't simply bow before the magisterial wisdom of their perfectly-reasoned arguments, like drawing moral equivalencies between two unlike things and declaring them identical in spirit.

[Raven Nation]

It's amazing how ill-informed so many self-proclaimed rationalists are.

I was listening to a Skepticality podcast the other day (from a year or so ago) where they talked about how a mark of intellectual maturity was found in someone changing their mind when confronted with new data. A completely valid point but the example they used was Obama changing his mind on gay marriage. In their view, gay marriage is a scientific issue and Obama's change of mind was solely due to a sober reconsideration of information.

Of course, one of the co-hosts also thought Howard Dean would have made a good president.

[Dweebston]

Because skepticism, for many of its aspirants, is a thin veneer for vapid leftist color-commentary. Throw in a bit of I F&$%ING LOVE SCIENCE coverage and you've a platform with a ready-made audience of sympathetic listeners.

I tried giving Ardent Atheist a listen because they're pretty averse to the social justice strain infecting the movement, and because they traffic in a lot of comedians, but the pointless hostility to all things spiritual put me off in the end. Even as an atheist, I have to roll my eyes when the host begins badgering a guest who's insufficiently nontheistic or (God forbid) agnostic.

[Dweebston]

Or maybe I should say especially as an atheist. I put my attitude of atheistic militancy behind me as a teenager.

[BardMetal]

Just curious. How does a podcast work, and how does one go about starting one? Also would anyone you guys listen to mine, and is their any money in it?

[Dweebston]

I can only speak as a consumer, but I've enjoyed the medium for several years now. A few of the podcasts I listen to have a subscription model for the bonus material, which I've never looked into. The main content has always been free, the auxiliary stuff is for fans willing to donate money. Some find sponsors or devote some time to advertisers. Until you're established you'll be doing it for free.

[Raven Nation]

Sorry, been out so just saw this. But, basically what Dweebston said. Reason has them: all the vids they post here are available as mp4 files. If you have iTunes, that's usually the easiest way: just subscribe (for free) through the store. There's a lot of politics out there but also science, sports, news (I get a daily BBC summary and weekly summaries from Australia and New Zealand).

[Roger the Shrubber]

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History and Common Sense podcasts are fantastic. Thanks to whomever it was here that turned me on to him.

[Enough About Palin]

Taliban is the name of a well-known street gang on Minneapolis's northside.

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2.....ug-charges

[Zeb]

Surely the point of rationalwiki is to be just as stupid as conservapedia. They seem to be doing a good job of it.

I'd bet there are a few American Christians who could be compared to the Taliban somewhat accurately, but trying to paint the religious right as a whole that way is quite absurd.

[C. Anacreon]

Don't turn around no-no
The Taliban's in town yo-ho

[hardbodyFLA]

Fist and FIST, what is fist?

[Fist of Etiquette]

If you ain't first, you're last.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

He is so enraging... Every morning I get up and fuck him in effigy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's heading to a halfway house and may end up spending his final six months in house arrest.

And then, re-election.

[Tonio]

Arrest, conviction and imprisonment didn't slow down Alcee Hastings. Try as they will, whitey can't always keep the black man down.

[Steve G]

Mmmm, Jackson, Barry, Hastings...I see a pattern here

[Catatafish]

You forgot impeachment, Tonio. Hastings batted the fucking cycle.

[CE]

Or maybe a job with the DEA.

[Antiwar Libertarian]

U.S. forces are assisting the Iraqis in trying to take control of Tikrit away from ISIS by providing air strikes.

Awful that the AmoroniKKKan Empire is engaged in genoicidal slaughter of the heroic ISIS libertarians.

[R C Dean]

U.S. forces are assisting the Iraqis Iranians in trying to take control of Tikrit away from ISIS by providing air strikes.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

U.S. forces are assisting the Iraqis Iranians in trying to take control of Tikrit away from ISIS getting involved in another quagmire by providing air strikes.

[C. Anacreon]

Listen (woo-wa-woo)
Do you want control of Tikrit (ooh-wah-ooh)
Do you promise not to tell (whoa-oh-oh)
Closer
Let me whisper in your ear
Say the words you long to hear

[Tonio]

Latest Derp from the Hippies - Earth Hour:

Carry this initiative home and turn off non-essential lights for 1 hour onSaturday,March 28th8:30pm - 9:30pm.
Unplug all your kitchen countertop appliances, home computers, TVs, and other electronics; use power strips; pre-charge your essential cell phones and batteries before 8:30pm; and stock up on candles and flashlights for the hour.Schedule some fun family activities: give everyone a re-usable bag and have your own treasure hunt, roast hot dogs or marshmallows over a fire, read/storytell by flashlight, play hide & seek, and, as a family, talk about ways to conserve energy, water & reduce your household waste. No matter what you decide to do, unplug and have fun!

My toaster doesn't use any power unless it's actually toasting. Yes, I've checked using an Ohm Meter. But drawing an intelligent distinction between dumb appliances, and smart ones with timers would require too much rational thought. We must all comply mindlessly. Power strips? WTF? Do those animist nutjobs think they have magical power-storing properties? And that fire is going to produce way more carbon than generating that power in a coal plant, transmitting it, and nuking those hot dogs. And those batteries aren't free energy, they have to be manufactured, transported, etc.

I am going to relamp my outdoor floods with the highest wattage incandescents I can find and light the place up. Suck it, hippies.

[rts]

I think the power strip is to be able to easily turn off many things at once. Easier than unplugging them all.

[Tonio]

Ok, that actually makes sense.

[Fist of Etiquette]

No! Concede nothing. It makes you look weak in the eyes of the internet.

[Steve G]

admit nothing, deny everything, make immediate counter-accusations

[Raven Nation]

Denial is policy.

[grrizzly]

I used to turn on every piece of electronics during the Earth Hour, now I don't even care.

[Tonio]

I'm not hostile to saving energy or to environmental causes. It's just that the movement is very firmly in the hands of idiots and control freaks.

[grrizzly]

Once I was having dinner in a restaurant during the Earth Hour. Since it was in Toronto, the Earth Hour was observed by dimming the lights. Exactly when the lights were dimmed an old waiter wearing glasses was checking the dessert menu. He had to bring the menu much closer to his nose to be able to see it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Me too. I used to heat my house with a hairdryer.

Turns out, it's pretty expensive.

[CE]

If you're on cable Internet, should be a good time for massive downloads.

[paranoid android]

This isn't new, I've been hearing this idea for years. It was probably first thought up by the same people who think organizing a day on which people decided to not buy gasoline would cause a total collapse of the fuel industry.

[OldMexican]

Why do you insist on souring my afternoon?

[Tonio]

Because I'm like that.

[Ted S.]

This one has been going for eight or nine years now. To me, it's an example of how the media is quick to jump on any green propaganda they can.

[Dweebston]

Follow this one weird trick for moral superiority in just one hour!

[BardMetal]

I'm no expert but what effect does millions of jackasses suddenly turning off all their power for an hour have on the power grid? I mean it's not like power plants magically burn less coal for that hour.

[CE]

Don't worry. I'll help smooth out the load by turning on all my lights, baking cookies, blasting music, watching TV and playing video games on my PC simultaneously.

[GILMORE]

"My toaster doesn't use any power unless it's actually toasting. Yes, I've checked using an Ohm Meter"

I believe that through meditation and contemplation on the perfection of the Buddha, that any may be able to eventually achieve enlightenment.

I know this because I checked with an Ohm Meter.

[BardMetal]

It's a shame Earth hour is so late, I planned on firing up my coal fire forge Saturday. Oh well I just have to cancel out the hippies efforts a few hours earlier.

[C. Anacreon]

What's really funny is in hippy-infested Northern Caifornia, we can't even follow their advice and build a fire, even in a fireplace. Plus, they are trying to ban all fireplaces unless they run on natural gas -- soon you can't sell or rent a home that has a normal fireplace unless you remove or convert it. Many days of the year are 'spare the air' where you're not even allowed to burn an artificial log or pellets. If your nosy neighbor can smell fireplace smoke they can call the po-po and it's $500 on first offense.

[Mike M.]

Carry this initiative home and turn off non-essential lights for 1 hour on Saturday, March 28th 8:30pm - 9:30pm.

The lights are already all turned off in my house for about 16-18 hours practically every single day! I'm not giving these stupid hippies another hour.

[Zeb]

The fucking candles thing is the funniest. There is a reason people don't use candle for everyday illumination.

[BigT]

STEVE SMITH say rapey hour 8:30 Saturday.

[Enough About Palin]

Are you a psychopath test:

http://vistriai.com/psychopathtest/

[Sudden]

It would appear that the author of the test is in fact a psychopath itself:

First question:
What gender do you identify as?

[Jerry on the sea]

Today?

[MJGreen]

The real first question: "I never never get tongue-tied."

So... is that a double negative, or is "never" repeated for emphasis, or is it a typo?

[Apatheist ?_??]

Is accepting transgendereds psychopathy now?

[Sudden]

Believing that you can choose to identify as something other than what your 23rd chromosomal pair indicates is.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Well the idea is that they don't have a choice. And even if you accept that, what gender are XXY people or people with various other chromosomal anomalies?

With all the crazy shit that goes on in people's brains, whether from genetics, epigenetics, or other environmental factors, I don't see how this particular one is such a stretch.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Well the idea is that they don't have a choice. And even if you accept that, what gender are XXY people or people with various other chromosomal anomalies?

It always comes back to Jamie Lee Curtis, doesn't it?

[Sudden]

The Klinefelters and XYYs are so exceedingly rare as to not even be worthy of mention. That said, in the case of Klinefelter, I believe almost all of the sufferers identify as male, have the gonads associated with the male of the species, and are generally viewed by others as males.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I believe almost all of the sufferers identify as male, have the gonads associated with the male of the species, and are generally viewed by others as males.

So its not about the chromosomes then? And you didn't address my second paragraph. And yes biological reality exists, but the brain is also biological. Sometimes they conflict in all sorts of ways. I don't really care if you believe it or not but I'm certainly not a psychopath for thinking that some people (rare people) have a female brain (as we understand it) in a male body through no choice of their own.

[mad.casual]

Believing that you can choose to identify as something other than what your 23rd chromosomal pair indicates is.

Well before the discovery of the 23rd chromosome, people were able to differentiate male from female.

The overwhelming majority of humanity proceeded thusly without consulting their chromosomes.

[Sudden]

My point was that biological reality exists independent of one's wishes. I wish I could fly, but I don't identify as a pterodactyl.

[Virginian]

I sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter. Ever since I was a boy I dreamed of soaring over the oilfields dropping hot sticky loads on disgusting foreigners. People say to me that a person being a helicopter is Impossible and I'm fucking retarded but I don't care, I'm beautiful. I'm having a plastic surgeon install rotary blades, 30 mm cannons and AMG-114 Hellfire missiles on my body. From now on I want you guys to call me "Apache" and respect my right to kill from above and kill needlessly. If you can't accept me you're a heliphobe and need to check your vehicle privilege. Thank you for being so understanding.

[Trigger Warning]

Virginian @ 1849, that was fucking awesome.

[Zeb]

I don't think it's really wishing you were the other sex. It doesn't seem so implausible that some people's brains might develop to be more similar to the brain of someone of the opposite sex. There is a lot more involved in development than just your genes. And genes can be expressed in weird ways. Men all have an X chromosome. All of the traits of a woman are in a man's genes. I think you dismiss it too readily.

I'm inclined to think it is probably better treated as a pathology than an identity, but it isn't just "let's pretend".

[Sudden]

That's largely my point, that it is a pathology. And one that I don't find particularly healthy or worthy of respect and embrace as the SJWs seem hellbent on making the standard template. Ultimately, I'd never use the cover of law to prevent people from cross dressing or even gender reassignment surgery, but I can shame the behaviour all I wish. And I do think its worthy of shame and ridicule.

[Stormy Dragon]

If it's a pathology, why do you think it's worthy of shame? Do you think cancer patients need to be shamed?

[Zeb]

No it isn't. You may think it is wrong (although all evidence suggests that people can and do identify as genders other than what their genetics determine). But you are a long way from psychopathy there. Are you perhaps thinking of psychosis (which I would also say doesn't apply)?

[db]

I identify as a person with a psychopathic disregard for the safety of those who end sentences with prepositions.

[Slammer]

What gender do you indentify as, asshole?

Better?

[Sudden]

I view the rule against ending sentences in prepositions as both pointless and stupid.

[Trigger Warning]

Maybe the JIt's an arbitrary rule invented by some tight-ass snob a long time ago. It's only a thing with people trying to sound smart. Rearranging English to avoid ending with a preposition can make for cumbersome, clunky sentences. I say do what sounds best for the particular arrangement of words you're using.

[Trigger Warning]

No more typing on my phone.

[Dweebston]

I think if people get offended, that is their problem.

Unless they make it my problem.

And then I have a problem on my hands.

[Catatafish]

And on your shirt and pants, unless you had the foresight to wear an apron. Getting the problem out from under your fingernails is the fucking worst.

[Dweebston]

Kiss the cook!

[Ted S.]

I'm not a politician, so no.

[GILMORE]

"Are you a psychopath test:"

It asked me how old i was and i wanted to kill it.

[Sudden]

I scored a 25. 30 or more makes you a psychopath. I'll have to work on not being self-conscious and getting a contempt of court and probation violation and then I'm there.

[GILMORE]

Have i mentioned that my middle name is Francis?

Really.

Guess what happens if you call me Francis

[Puddin' Stick]

Mother visits?

[GILMORE]

You just made the list, buddy

[Marshall Gill]

I don't have to go to the link. All I can say is that you desires will be fulfilled if you just join the police.

All I know is I finally get to kill someone

[GILMORE]

"Sudden|2015/03/26 17:09:32|#5184138

I scored a 25"

Way to go, champ. I scored a measly 12, but I think that's because I exaggerated my feelings of guilt and regret. All those people i could have raped, and never did.

[Sudden]

I sent the link to a few friends, who I thought were like minded and shared my values. Most scored in the low teens like yourself.

This has caused me to think that I may in fact be a budding psychopath. People crazier than I am arent.

[Marshall Gill]

This has caused me to think that I may in fact be a budding psychopath.

If your regular presence here does not attest to this fact I don't know what could.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Follow-up question: What are you thoughts about Gamergate?

[mauricegirodias]

It's about ethics in gaming journalism.

[CE]

I didn't take it. I have no concern either way what my score might purport to say about me and my evil plans.

[Lord at War]

I scored a 15- of course, my psychopathic ass knows what to say...

[rts]

Kansas to join states allowing concealed guns without permit

"Kansans already have two documents granting them the right to concealed carry ? the Constitution of the United States and the Kansas Constitution," Couture-Lovelady said. "That should be all they need."

Well said.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Except for the word granting.

[rts]

Well spotted.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Although, if you use grant to mean accept or concede, I will grant it.

[Tonio]

For me, "grant" implies agency, as in the rights only exist because the constitution says they do. It's the ultimate appeal to authority.

What about holding certain truths to be self-evident.

[Free Society]

If certain truths were truly regarded as self-evident by he people who say that, there wouldn't be a state. It's self-evident that taxation is theft, yet the Constitution expressly authorizes it. So...grain of salt and all that jazz.

[MJGreen]

So I have to carry a pocket Constitution, then?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yes, also concealed. No open carry.

[Dweebston]

Carrying a Constitution is also, like carrying a gun, a good way to get yourself detained by cops.

[Restoras, OWG and RWC]

Especially if you brandish it to them.

[CE]

Or reach for it furtively.

[Steve G]

or audited by the IRS, you 'patriot'

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thanks to being a Reason magazine subscriber, I got a "free" pocket Constitution, courtesy of the Cato Institute. (Well, it was free, if you count having to glance over the 11-page letter pleading for funds).

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

None of my stuff arrived as promised, except for the beanie.

[Entropy Void]

Was it made of foil?

[pan fried wylie]

"complimentary"

Vocab!

[mauricegirodias]

And the IRS checking over your tax returns each year for being a dirty libertarian donor.

[BardMetal]

Now if only Ohio would join them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) gave his farewell speech on the floor of the House today, resigning and promising to "work tirelessly to make it up to" those he let down-

town Abbey.

[R C Dean]

Schock used to play for the Bengals?

[Brett L]

Illinois, so probably the Cubs.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Was the speech a fabulous one?

[Antiwar Libertarian]

Sen. Rand Paul is courting disappointment among libertarian supporters by calling for an increase in defense spending.

You Cosmos were warned! ISIS too opposes US defense spending increases. Who is more libertarian?

[Tonio]

So, guys, who is this? Tulpa? Who was it that was always whinging about cosmotarians?

[Wasteland Wanderer]

SIV, IIRC.

[Warren's Strapon]

D-

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Stop the revolving door between political office and prison in IL.

[R C Dean]

Stop it? Speed it up, I say.

[Brett L]

Lets just make it exit only from office.

[Dweebston]

No, draw your candidates for office solely from prison. When they break parole, send them back.

[CE]

Can't we just invite them for a special session of the legislature, then lock them in and throw away the key? Or ship them to Detroit?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed into law the state's religious freedom bill, allowing businesses and individuals to discriminate on the basis of their religious beliefs...

What if ideology is my religion?

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

As a hedonist, I'm not sure where this leaves me???

[Free Society]

Ideologies have a capacity to be too rational. Thus, religious exemption won't apply.

[NidhoggRocketman]

I went to Purdue and have a lot of friends still in Indiana and the pants-shitting over this all day has just been unbelievable. You'd think every business in Indianapolis is now gleefully printing out "no gays allowed" signs.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Same here, and the derp would even make derpetologist cry.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Is this the same RFRA that is passed in most of the states and that Clinton signed? I'm pretty sure it is.

[Real American]

Yes, but the way the gay fascists portray it, Indiana just passed the Sodomite Suppression Act.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I guess he wanted a glazed doughnut and decided to take matters into his own hands.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Maybe they were out of creamer?

[Antilles]

When did masturbating at Starbucks become a crime? Glad I stopped going...

[Trouser-Pod]

Maybe it just wasn't the same after you left?

[mauricegirodias]

They should have a conversation about this.

[Trouser-Pod]

#StrokeTogether

[Antiwar Libertarian]

I see the brutal AmoroniKKKan Empire is plotting to judicially murder the heroic Bowe Bergdahl, a man who stood to Yanquis Imperialism, in the name of supporting such Western Imperialist Facist notions of Female Education.

[Sudden]

You are my favorite troll in a while. We haven't had a troll of this calibur since Hercules left us.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This is what happens when you don't day drink.

[Sudden]

Are you at the day drinking fest today too? Goddamnit.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Fest? Not yet. I'm having a Stone Ruination and I'm about to take the little one out to swim.

I'm just waiting for him to drop his daily deuce so that there's no misunderstanding when we get in the water.

[Brett L]

Mine waited until we had the swim diaper on last week to take a dump. Little punk. But at least he didn't do it in the water. Swim lessons would be much less fun with a turd floating in the pool.

[Sudden]

That's what you get for naming your child Sandi

[Brett L]

Don't even joke about it. My wife and I have such opposite tastes in names that picking the name for the second one took something like three weeks of negotiations. I think we are settled, but it just happened today. It won't be official until she sleeps on it for a few days. But I have successfully fended off al the yuppie/hipster last names as first name, I think.

[Sudden]

Back when my ex-wife and I were talking about kids, she liked the name Jack. I was in favor of D'Brickashaw (first name of the New York Jets starting left tackle, who was apparently named after Father Ralph D'Bricissard in the 1977 Australian novel The Thornbirds). She did not like that name. My second choice was Evander. Again, she was not a fan.

That was the hill my marriage died on.

[carol]

My ex wanted to name our son Voit Spaulding. That is when I knew we were doomed.

[Sudden]

I feel like he and I would be good friends.

[Xeones]

I sort of knew D'Brickashaw Ferguson in college. He's a really nice guy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

On round 3, I just lost. Didn't even fight.

*shrugs*

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

In non-residential pools, they have to shut it down for a couple of hours and saturate with chlorine.

I've seen many a swim lesson cancelled in my day.

On a related note, I was at an unnamed hotel (I'm not naming it because they made things right and then some), and a kid duked in the pool. Huge floater. They roped the entire pool off, and had the pool staff shoo people away while they fished it out.

They roped off everything, EXCEPT for the waterslide from the other pool. My kid went down face first. Right into the turd. Good times.

[Enough About Palin]

"In non-residential pools, they have to shut it down for a couple of hours and saturate with chlorine."

They are building the nation's first natural swimming pool in north Minneapolis. No clorine, the water gets filtured twice a day. I simply do not believe it won't become a hotbed of ecoli.

http://www.startribune.com/loc.....34161.html

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"Mother Nature is giving life to a long-awaited pond-like swimming pool "
Pond-like? Yep, e. coli. Looks like it's just a sand filter.

A hotel that I stayed at on the Big Island last winter has so much water seeping out of the rocks that they just change the water in the pool every night. It's pristine, but cold as hell.

[lap83]

"I simply do not believe it won't become a hotbed of ecoli."
I grew up in north/northeast Minneapolis and unless the neighborhood has changed dramatically, I'd bet on it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Were you raised to poop in pools?

/ducks

[lap83]

No but a lot of kids seemingly were.

[hamilton]

Wait, is that what you west coast guys are calling it? We're just having a symposium.

[Tonio]

+1 Socratic Method

[hamilton]

"I drank WHAT?"

[MJGreen]

I think Winston snorted something and decided to be naughty.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Maybe my sexism decoder ring is malfunctioning, because I don't even...

[DesigNate]

I appreciate that your trolling is short and succinct, although a wall of text every now and then would be nice.

[generic Brand]

Welfare Makes America More Entrepreneurial

The evidence simply does not support the idea of a consistent tradeoff between bigger government and a more entrepreneurial economy. At least in some cases, the reverse is actually true. When governments provide citizens with economic security, they embolden them to take more risks. Properly deployed, a robust social safety net encourages more Americans to attempt the high-wire act of entrepreneurship.

It's like they don't realize that the "risks" of starting a business are felt more because of a big government with hundreds of thousands of regulatory hoops to jump through. Welfare should probably be the last thing to be reduced when scaling back government, but that doesn't mean it is somehow a boon to starting businesses.

[Brett L]

Soo, back when most smithies, farriers,tailors, and stores were sole proprietorships or partnerships, people were more likely or less likely to start their own business?

[OldMexican]

The evidence simply does not support the idea of a consistent tradeoff between bigger government and a more entrepreneurial economy.

Who said they're related? Entrepreneurship is a state of mind and an art. Where there IS a correlation is between bigger government and business growth. Both are negatively correlated.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

If this is the case, then why is the United States so wildly entrepreneurial relative to Europe? People in the US take vastly greater risks than the Europeans do. It doesn't take much risk to work 35 hours a week like the Frenchies.

[DesigNate]

It does if you're supposed to be working 60 hours. 😀

[Free Society]

Welfare should probably be the last thing to be reduced when scaling back government,

Well that's only extremely debatable. Welfare is every bit as destructive to the free enterprise as regulatory hurdles, though it's damage is indirect and largely unseen.

[lap83]

" When governments provide citizens with economic security, they embolden them to take more risks."

Even if this is true, starting a business that way is extremely flawed. Every expense, down to your personal salary, needs to be taken account in the cost of doing business. Otherwise it's not sustainable over the long term.

[lap83]

My guess is that if some people rely on welfare when starting a business, they're more likely to end up in the high percentage of businesses that fail within a few years.

[hardbodyFLA]

I hardly ever get to comment here, but I read it all the time. That's just FYI.

Revisiting the driverless cars topic, and how for the system to work properly all cars would have to be mandated by force of law to use a shared software and be in the system. Quote shithead Musk and his "2 ton death machine" sniveling. Where do motorcycles fit into this? Motorcycles would have to be outlawed. I'm sure all the pragmatic utilitarians around here like Cytotoxic and Ron Bailey relish the idea of the dangerous choice to ride a motorcycle being taken away, but unlike car enthusiasts, motorcyclists have actually managed to organize themselves into a somewhat effective lobby. As long as the motorcyclists can retain their freedom, car enthusiasts should conceivably be able to piggy back off of it, shouldn't they?

[Tonio]

Thanks for stopping by, bro.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Pics please. For Tonio.

[C. Anacreon]

First post here from Hardbody F-L-A
Hitchhiked his way across the USA
Then I guess he had to crash
Valium could have helped that gash
He said 'hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.'

Sorry, everything sounds like song lyrics today.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I think if motorcycles were suddenly "invented" today (instead of a century ago or whatever), there would immediately be moves to outlaw them b/c they are so unsafe. I mean: no airbags! no safety mechanisms! Vapors!

[John]

That is a good point. And that is probably the case. And no amount of hatred and disdain is too much for Musk. Curse Bailey for being such a pathetic Toady when it comes to these issues.

[mauricegirodias]

Plus Musk completely ruined Machete Kills. Bastard.

[Carl ?s the level]

Cytotoxic is a utilitarian? News to me.

[John]

In some ways he is. Since he is nuts, he kind of defies easy categorization.

[Jerry on the sea]

Paul Krugman's wet dream: Trans-Eurasian Belt Development superhighway would connect Russia and U.S.

[Sudden]

Trans-Eurasian? Isn't that that thing that won the last Eurovision contest?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

[golf clap]

[grrizzly]

I still don't understand why Australia participates in Eurovision.

[Raven Nation]

It was a special invite, most likely a one-off.

[Steve G]

Someone say tranny?

[Medical Physics Guy]

Wasn't that a plank in the Lyndon LaRouche platform as well?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

So the Euros and the Asians get billing in the name but the North Americans are left out?

Fuck that shit. It's a Trans-AmeriEuroSino superhighway or I saw we don't play ball!

[Sudden]

I believe Trans-AmeriEuroSino is also an adequate description of the democratic presidential nominee in 2024.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Tiger Woods?

[Sudden]

I believe Trans-AmeriEuroSino is also an adequate description of the democratic presidential nominee in 2024.

[Dweebston]

No artist's rendering? What's a pitch without glitzy conceptual drawings?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Here, you lazy bastard.

http://alangutierrezart.devian.....-340878945

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Also, that's apparently from a 1994 Popular Mechanics magazine.

Which just goes to show how much Europeans are living in the past. We're talking about shooting people through tubes from LA to SF in a couple hours and they're talking about cars being the future.

Fucking losers.

[C. Anacreon]

Why does that bridge have all those cannons on the lower level? Is this like the Guns of Navarone?

[Dweebston]

That's terrible! The train's going to roll right off the end.

[Sudden]

I dunno. It sure put North Haverbrook, Ogdenville, and Brockway on the map.

[Dweebston]

By gum!

[Steve G]

We needed a few more BP checkpoints

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I've seen enough "Meanwhile in Russia" videos to know that connecting our highway systems would be a really bad idea.

[Sudden]

But maybe then we'd universalize the driving camera culture here in the states

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I have a GoPro and a dash mount. But I mostly use the camera for.... other purposes.

[Puddin' Stick]

It would simply link two pieces of Russian territory.

/Putin

[Xajow]

From The Boston College Chronicle:

Catholic leaders from Pope Francis to Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich have spoken critically of libertarianism, calling it inconsistent with Catholic social teaching. Archbishop Cupich said the two are "on two distinct trajectories when it comes to the meaning of economic life, and the goal of politics in a world of globalization." He also expressed concerns about libertarianism's impact on pastoral life: "[Young people's] interior life is at risk in a world that encourages them to be caught up in their own interests, leaving no room for others, no place for the poor."

"In the past few election cycles," said STM Dean Mark Massa, SJ, "libertarianism has emerged as an issue that has generated a great deal of discussion among religious leaders, political pundits and public intellectuals. The April 6 event will continue that tradition with an array of very smart individuals focused on the issues that surround the libertarian impulse as a religious, political and social stance."

Libertarianism leaves no place to care about the poor? Where do these people get this stuff?

Also, does anyone know anything about the speakers for this event? The announcement says very smart individuals but nothing about whether any of them are actually libertarian.

[John]

I am pretty sure the temptation to try and create heaven on earth through government is a hell of a lot more dangerous than the temptation to become too involved in one's inner life.

Sometimes the Catholics do a great job or reminding me why I am not a Catholic. They might want to ask themselves why the Jews wanted Jesus dead. It was because he claimed to be their king but specifically rejected becoming a political figure. They wanted a messiah who was going to come down and solve all of their political problems by throwing the Romans out. Instead they got one who rejected politics and told them to stop looking at the world as a gift to them and instead start paying rent by becoming a gift to the world.

Given that history, it is utterly preposterous to claim that Christianity demands or even condones political activism.

[DesigNate]

Well said John, and exactly why I left the Church.

[Tonio]

As I said on an earlier thread about that NYT piece on the libertarian christian denomination - we're going to see a lot more of this as they realize they can't ignore us and can't laugh at us. They aren't quite debating use, yet. They are in a transitional phase where they pretend to debate us without actually engaging actual libertarians.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I've been really intrigued by this bizarre alliance between religious figures and the radical left in recent years. The ESBs of the world didn't seem to exist in American media until like 5 months ago and suddenly I'm seeing them all over the place.

Add to that the Ana Marie Cox article about Christianity and pretty soon Shrike is going to have to stop attacking conservatives as religious nuts because his side is going to be filled with the same sorts of people.

[John]

The far left has long since taken over and co-opted the big mainline Protestant denominations. They have not been as successful in taking over the Catholic Church. There are, however, significant elements within the Church, the Jesuits most notably, who are outright communists and have been for decades.

[Sudden]

I was golfing with a 70 year old Irish Catholic priest who had been in South America for most of his life. He said they sent him up to the states because they needed someone fluent in Spanish for the congregation (but I was wondering if he was a kiddie diddler). This was also right after the latest papal conclave. I asked him what his thoughts were about a SA pope. He said that the new pope was a fascist. In further conversations with him, it turned out he was a total marxist. I kept joking about how my rightward slice was just a way of balancing out his rampant leftism.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

^ I think it's hilarious how the far left Catholics in Latin America apparently really dislike the current Pope because he opposes outright liberation theology. He just isn't left-wing enough for them, even though American conservatives are complaining.

[Raven Nation]

And it's also kind of irrelevant since Christianity can fit most politics. I've been a Christian since my late teens (a few decades ago) and my basic theology hasn't changed. But politically in that period I've been Social Democrat, Socialist, conservative, Christian Reconstructionist (in that order), and now mostly libertarian whose also open to anarcho-capitalism.

[The Bad Captain Madly]

Heh. I'm old enough to remember when evangelicals were out knocking on doors for Jimmy Carter. The so-called "religious right" has never been anything more than fair weather friends to the conservative movement. Now they think they own it.

[Medical Physics Guy]

The British would like you to consider eight things you hadn't realised other people find offensive and upsetting.

[Lady Bertrum]

Darn, the residents of Air StripOne are easily offended.

[Dweebston]

Preferring dinosaur skellingtons in your natural history museum is closet climate denialism, apparently.

[The Other Kevin]

My FB feed is just lit up with opposition to the religious freedom bill. Even people who never post about politics. I think the R's in Indiana shot themselves in the foot. I know of nobody who supports it, or will admit to it.

I think people should be free to do business, or not do business, with whomever they wish. But from what I am reading, this bill only covers religious reasons. So, if the owner of a sign shop is pro-life, they can refuse to print signs for a pro-choice rally for religious reasons. But if the owner is pro-choice, they can't refuse to print signs for a demonstration against Planned Parenthood, at leas under this bill.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What if they belong to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice?

http://rcrc.org/

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This is the successor organization to the Clergy Consultation Service - "Founded in 1967, the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion was a network of clergy who referred women to safe (though still illegal) abortions. There were 26 ministers and a rabbi at the founding of the network, and more than a thousand when the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision made the organization unnecessary."

http://womenshistory.about.com.....ortion.htm

[John]

Tell them to blame it on the founders. They are the ones that made free exercise a right worthy of special protection.

[Stormy Dragon]

The bill also implies to individual employees, so if you own a bakery and are fine making gay wedding cakes, but your cashier decides they aren't, they can refuse to serve customers and you can't fire or punish them.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed into law the state's religious freedom bill, allowing businesses and individuals to discriminate on the basis of their religious beliefs"

Here is the bill Gov. Pence signed:

(Indiana legislature Web site)

http://ow.ly/KQSUD

And here is the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, signed by President Bill "clerico-fascist" Clinton after passing Congress on bipartisan votes. (the law was later amended in respnse to Supreme Court rulings in order to apply only to the feds, not the states)

http://www.justice.gov/sites/d.....03-141.pdf

OK, what relevant differences are there between the two Acts?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Exactly...no relevant differences.

[Warren's Strapon]

If you wait seven whole minutes to answer your own question, it automatically makes you correct.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

OK...it's been half an hour...

what relevant differences are there between the two Acts?

[Andrew S.]

Reason had an article about this the other day. There are no differences. It's just the "because evil discriminatory Indianans!" rant I keep getting.

[Winston]

Indianans

The proper term in Hoosier.

[The Other Kevin]

Thanks, that's a good reference.

[Stormy Dragon]

The differences between the two is section 9 in the Indiana act, which is not present in the federal act, and which allows individuals to sue other individuals for burdening their exercise of religion.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Good! It's a great start toward getting rid of some of this public accommodation bullshit.

[Stormy Dragon]

And here we have the typical fauxbertarian socon: public accomodation laws are bad, except the ones requiring public accomodation of religion.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

No, the bill restricts the government, not individuals, Sec. 9 makes clear that a government body (like a court or administrative agency) must respect religious freedom of a defendant if a private party is the plaintiff. But the private plaintiff in this scenario would be invoking, say, a public-accomodation law.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Thus, the plaintiff would be a private person, but would be trying to invoke *government* laws or regulations limiting religion.

Think of a private plaintiff demanding that the defendant make him (plaintiff) a cake.

[Stormy Dragon]

That's not what section 9 says, however, I see a section 11 addressing my specific concern was ammended into the bill since I read it last week, so I withdraw my complaint.

Although I note weirdly the Indiana legislative site doesn't indicate what ammendment added section 11, it just suddenly appears in the final version of the bill.

[RAHeinlein]

Apparently, the "fake" service animal crisis has reached fever pitch. Canine Companions for Independence is petitioning to DOJ to crack-down on the sale of "fake" service dog products.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31646970

[Tonio]

It was inevitable that this would be abused in this fashion. Just like handicapped parking spaces are routinely abused by family members who are not actively caregiving.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://tinyurl.com/pupspop

The Babylon 5 Wiki

[John]

http://www.popularmechanics.co.....e-by-isis/

Isis now destroying the real life Tattooine

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I call false flag. Look at those blast marks, only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.

[hamilton]

Yeah well sandpeople aren't gonna be too impressed by a beheading or two.

[Stormy Dragon]

ISIS managed to sneak up on Tatooine by moving single file to hide their numbers.

[Andrew S.]

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) gave his farewell speech on the floor of the House today, resigning and promising to "work tirelessly to make it up to" those he let down as a result of the allegations of misspending taxpayer dollars on personal things.

Oh, hey there, interesting related story: Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) was just released from federal prison today. He spent 17 months behind bars for using campaign funds on personal purchases. His full term isn't actually done. He's heading to a halfway house and may end up spending his final six months in house arrest.

This being Illinois, what are the odds that Jackson Jr. and Schock face off in the Illinois Gubenatorial election at some point down the line?

[Tonio]

I like the way you think, Andy.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

OK, I'm actually happy these two cops got their jobs back. And I hope their settlement was paid directly out of the salaries of the idiots that had them suspended.

http://www.northjersey.com/new.....-1.1295527

[Caleb Turberville]

http://tinyurl.com/qgh6ezl

Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age

[Caleb Turberville]

Oops, screwed up the link.

http://tinyurl.com/pkgrpzj

[John]

http://blogs.reuters.com/data-.....ff-campus/

Campus rape is a serious problem. But while public attention is focused on students carrying mattresses and the discredited Rolling Stone report about rape at the University of Virginia, the fact is that sexual assault is more common off campus than on.

Consider this: If you lived in Gallup, New Mexico in 2013, you were 47 times more likely to be raped than if you attended Harvard, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics. Yet chances are you won't see any protesters in New Mexico. Coverage of campus rape has likely increased for a variety of reasons ? the social media influence of the at-risk demographic, the ability of victims and supporters to articulate the problem and because it ? like any other type of violent crime in poor communities ? is more of a surprise. That's not to lessen one or the other; just a diagnosis of the arc of public attention.

A 2014 report from the Department of Justice called Rape and Sexual Assault Victimization Among College-Age Females, 1995?2013 found that non-students aged 18-24 were 20% more likely to be sexually assaulted than students. Also, as these Reuters graphics show, the severity of the assault was worse for non-students, the rate of completed rape as opposed to other kinds of assault being 50% higher.

[hardbodyFLA]

I used to hear Gov. John Chickenpooper (D-CO) offered as a 2016 presidential candidate. Lately the narrative seems to be "the democrats don't have anybody on their bench, its Hilary or Liawatha, who else could there possibly be?" So what happened to take the Hick off of the D's "Most Promising Candidates" list? I mean, he can't check off any griefer victimhood boxes, but he could still go in the primaries, no? And that's all the D's want, to have some jobbers in the primaries so it seems like Hilary overcame a bunch of credible challengers to win the nomination.

[Winston]

I don't know, has he reduced spending increases or not completely nationalized industries? Or did he get too little government control (and tax revenue) over legal pot?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Clintons probably have something on him.

[Sudden]

he can't check off any griefer victimhood boxes

Methinks you identified the problem right there. I would be willing to bet money that the Dems never run another cishetero white male in my lifetime.

[hardbodyFLA]

I'd make that bet as well. I also bet that they will have a white woman on their ticket for the next 4 elections, minimum. The Democrats are captive to the white prog woman demographic more than they are to any other. I don't think it'll work out for them in the end, but we'll see.

[paranoid android]

So what happened to take the Hick off of the D's "Most Promising Candidates" list?

The plot of House of Cards started with a Democratic governor of Colorado being elected President, and we all saw how that turned out.

[Sudden]

House of Cards worked out the same way every democratic POTUS works out. The first year is interesting. The second year is full of purging and overreach. And by the third year you realize its pretty awful and pray for a mercifully quick death.

[db]

Hickenlooper spoke out against pot legalization so he would be a downer for the Dems. He signed Colorado's retarded gun control laws, making him a serious liability for any scheme that requires capturing the gun vote.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Get drunk. Run a red light and stall your car on the tracks. Escape car before it gets totaled by the train. Get a week off of work. http://www.mysanantonio.com/ne.....136496.php

The worst part is that if this is what passes for a police officer, no wonder nobody respects them. She's the female Pizza The Hut.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hey, if she's able to escape her vehicle as a train bears down on her all while being drunk, she's fit enough for law enforcement.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

She's like Tyrone?

[Brett L]

And this is why The Wire is the most realistic cop show ever.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

At least she didn't run back to the car to get her boyfriend's high-school ring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lu4OCgOevY

[Winston]

Time for some more Guardian Derp on Greece:

pastendgame 2h ago

I think the era of austerity is over.
More rounds of QE will possibly come. Because there is going to be 'no other alternative'.
Cornered in a Japanese style dilemma, Europe will either face a long period of stagnation that may cause countries' debts to explore resulting in implosion and financial catastrophe or repeated rounds of QE in hope of instilling growth and demand in an under performing economy.
The stakes are too high otherwise.

We have to prepare for a change in the narrative.

Cause Japan was engaged in "austerity".

pastendgame 6h ago

'Compared to US, fiscal consolidation in Eurozone has gone faster. This has had recessionary effects.'

In other words, austerity has caused a recession in eu, while the US approach worked much better.
Time to admit this too.

[Lady Bertrum]

I love how they refer to not borrowing money that cannot possibly be paid back as 'austerity'. Most people call this reality.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I also like that they don't acknowledge that Europe had more 'consolidation' because Europe was more overextended and had less of a capacity to pay off their debts than America.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.sciencedirect.com/s.....039090258Y

"Fascinating rhythm: A primer on chaos theory and its application to cardiology"

[Libertarian]

"U.S. forces are assisting the Iraqis in trying to take control of Tikrit away from ISIS by providing air strikes."

Knock me over with a feather: you mean Obama hasn't abandoned Iraq? But the GOP told me he did.

To be read in quick whisper, like at the end of a car lease ad: Above statement not to be construed as support of the present administration. Denigration of current US administration is not an implication that opposition is correct. It is very possible, nay probable, that both "sides" are incorrect and/or liars. Significant down payment is due at signing.

[John]

He did walk away. He is just now begrudgingly coming back. I guess someone finally explained to him that destroying ISIS would help Iran.

[yet another dave]

I think there are some re-boots possible here, I for one would watch a modern version of HeeHaw Honeys... jus sayin

[Caleb Turberville]

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

"List of television series considered the worst"

[sloopyinTEXAS]

AfterMASH made the list at least.

[Caleb Turberville]

MASH: The French Indochina Years

[Winston]

I thought that was called Red Dust?

[GILMORE]

Manimal was awesome. Barney made like a billion dollars. Hard Copy, and other TV tabloids, were pretty hilarious. The Morton Downey Junior Show really should have at least been mentioned = he chainsmoked and cursed and spit on people. Here's Morton with Ron Paul on the topic of 'Drug Legalization', sadly pretty tame stuff, although the appearance of the Guardian Angels was always predictably entertainment. So was Ron's claims about the CIA being involved in drugs...which i guess had some currency (iran/contra, afghanistsan).

But = "Cop Rock", the musical police-drama, is always the correct answer tp, 'what was the worst television show, ever'

[Andrew S.]

I loved the Morton Downey Jr. show.

[GILMORE]

People credit "Donohue" as the birth of the modern day-time Talk Show that boomed in the 1990s... but Morton is what really explored the limits of "how stupid can TV really get".

He also probably deserves credit (*blame) for giving Al Sharpton an audience.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

There needs to be a list of worst shows to last more than two seasons.

I nominate Glee.

[Winston]

You Know Who Else nominated Glee?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The People's Choice Awards?

[Andrew S.]

That would be on the list of "Shows that really should have stopped before their last couple of seasons ruined the entire series".

Also there: Heroes (top on the list of "should have stopped after 1 season"), Battlestar Galactica reboot (though I'd say only the last half of the last season was bad), Dexter.

[Winston]

The Simpsons?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

The Simpsons is the rare show that would have been improved by eliminating its last decade.

[hardbodyFLA]

Isn't it closer to last 2 decades by now? (28 seasons, I believe, and it went to shit around 9 or 10)

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Wow, you're right. Season 9 was apparently 1997.

That's really weird.

[Winston]

Season 27 will begin in September. Odd though that apparently Fox hasn't ordered more episodes (unless I've missed something?) so Season 27 only has seven episodes. Fox usually orders 22 episodes each October and it is now almost April and it usually takes nine months to deliver an episode...

[paranoid android]

Red Dwarf.

I'd probably put Buffy on the list too.

[db]

Actually Buffy Season 6 was pretty damn good. It got really dark.

[db]

Season 4 was kind of stupid with the military attempting to responsive demons.

[db]

Ugh. *weaponize* demons.

[paranoid android]

Actually Buffy Season 6 was pretty damn good. It got really dark.

I dunno. The magic-as-drug addiction metaphor seemed really weak to me, though there were some episodes in that season that were pretty good on their own.

Season 7 was the pits, though.

[Raven Nation]

X-Files

[Jerry on the sea]

The Simple Life, Jersey Shore, Ugly Betty, The Montel Williams Show.

[Carl ?s the level]

I like that sitcoms are broken out into their own list.

[Sudden]

Top of the list should be:

Nicole

[CampingInYourPark]

Justin Amash retweeted
Manu Raju ?@mkraju 4h4 hours ago Washington, DC
Cruz and Rubio both vote to block Rand Paul amendment to increase defense spending but offset with spending cuts

[hardbodyFLA]

Rand Paul is just another bought and paid for politician. Sounds like some crazy smack dude. As dishonest as the day is long. Roll that beautiful bean footage!

[GILMORE]

+1 My Mom Earns $34546 a Month Working At Home From Her Computer

[Enough About Palin]

US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel's Nuclear Program

Obama revenge for Netanyahu's Congress talk? 1987 report on Israel's top secret nuclear program released in unprecedented move.

The timing of the revelation is highly suspect, given that it came as tensions spiraled out of control between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama ahead of Netanyahu's March 3 address in Congress, in which he warned against the dangers of Iran's nuclear program and how the deal being formed on that program leaves the Islamic regime with nuclear breakout capabilities.

Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document.

The 386-page report entitled "Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations" gives a detailed description of how Israel advanced its military technology and developed its nuclear infrastructure and research in the 1970s and 1980s.

http://www.israelnationalnews......px/193175#!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

These supposedly TOP.MEN. are so small minded and piddly, it is wild. And some people think these guys should be in charge of our lives. Fuck them.

[Jerry on the sea]

So what, Israel isn't a party to the NPT; Iran is of course.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Net Neutrality!!

[Cis-Gendered Shitlord]

Hey everyone. So I was debating some folks at FB about the baker who was forced into making cakes for a gay couple. I made the point that private business owners should be able to do what they please with their business, even though I did not believe that the bakers should have discriminated. Basically- while I didn't like what they were doing, I still believed in their right to do it.

Anyway, I bring this up because there seems to be a new kind of talking point the left keeps trotting out, as I heard this, or some equivalent of this, at least three times by three different people:

"See, here's the point, William. Government LETS business operate. It provides policing. It provides licensing. So if government is subsidizing business, as it always is whether indirectly or directly, then business has no absolute right to anything.

Any business that doesn't like it can try to form their own nation. If they can't, that's the rules of a collaborative society."

How delightfully authoritarian is that? Since you are so greatly enriched by the government's presence, then you have no right to complain about laws that it passes!

I called it the lefty equivalent of "My country love it or leave it." What do you guys make of this?

[Cis-Gendered Shitlord]

This one's even better:

Private businesses use roads, water, and electricity coming from the government. They process their taxes through the government. Usually, the building their office or store is in was built by someone funded by the government.

Build your own fucking shack and sell vegetables YOU grow and water from a well that YOU dig, pave the road to your shack yourself, and don't declare taxes, use your own currency, because the dollar is meant to recirculate and benefit society, and feel free to follow any private beliefs you want and kick anyone off of your business' property. Until then, you're benefiting from society, and you have to avoid discriminating against people purely based on beliefs, because that's how society works.

[Azathoth!!]

Here's the thing to tell them

Government has no money. Every penny they have comes from the citizenry.

This means that YOU pay the police, pay for the roads and other infrastructure--you even pay for the regulators that screw you.

It's not government subsidizing business, it's the citizenry subsidizing government.

[Plopper]

Nothing has made me happier than deleting my facebook account.

[Brett L]

Worse, deleting pics of your own ass gets you firef.

[Winston]

I thought the Dems were the party of legalization and not exploiting the fear of terrorism? I am Teh Disappoint.

[Pope Jimbo]

Tundra, a commenter awarded h/t is like a self-signed SSL cert. Works, nice to have, but generates more issues from the n00bs than it is worth. But I am blushing.

Yeah, fucking Dayton would be perfect. His recent rant about minimum wage should make him a god to the Warren acolytes.

http://news.yahoo.com/dayton-u.....47604.html

"They've earned it, they deserve it, the airline industry can afford it," Dayton said. "One of the things about raising the minimum wage at the airport is there's not going to be a threat to move it to South Dakota, China or anywhere else. It's our airport. It's a public entity, a public facility and it ought to better reflect our values as a citizenry."

[Steve G]

yep, odd how these incentives always come with unintended consequences.
But regarding dogs specifically, I'd considered this route after seeing one too many small dog owner get away with shit that no large dog owners could.

[Dweebston]

They canceled (or abridged in some respect) the service, were sued, and lost in court.

[John]

Well, you can't talk about that because a lot of that raping was homosexual priests getting it on with male teenagers. And gay rape is not as bad as rape rape.

[DesigNate]

I enjoyed the raping. Plus, it prepared me for what Warty does in his dungeon.

[Dweebston]

Well, that and all the raping.

Something like this?

[pan fried wylie]

Could we perhaps launch them into space?

Office - Jail - Space - Office...well, on the roof, as dust.

[Entropy Void]

Nuke from orbit?

It is the only way to be sure ...

[John]

There kind of is in the sense that our age of consent is artificially high. Some of those priests where no kidding deviants screwing with 8 year old boys. A good number of them, however, were just homosexuals with poor impulse control who abused their positions to get it on with sexually confused teenagers.

I am not going to condone either type. I will say however it was just as much of a homosexual priest problem as it was a pedophile priest problem. I would not consider the latter group, which was at least half or more of the bad priests, to be pedophiles. I would consider them homosexuals with low morals.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I've been to one Catholic wedding, and never again. The thing went on for HOURS. It was like Jesus was getting married too.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Could be cultural. This was a wedding between a hispanic woman and a secular hawaiian man. His family was in shock.

The icing on the cake was the 12 piece Mariachi band on the steps of the church after the ceremony.

[mauricegirodias]

I read Office Jail Space, and I was thinking it would be a combined sequel to Idiocracy and Mike Judge's other classic movie.

[Puddin' Stick]

Maronite Catholic? 😀

[Puddin' Stick]

Maronite Catholic? 😀