Indiana Continues Consuming Entire News Cycles, Clinton's Email Scandal Continues, Jeb Bush Supports Mass Surveillance: P.M. Links

• Indiana Gov. Mike Pence held a press conference today saying he wants to adjust the newly passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act to make sure it can't be used by businesses to deny services to people.

• The Department of Justice announced this afternoon it is going to restrict the use of asset forfeiture in "illegal structuring" bank deposit cases to wait until charges are filed or additional criminal activity is determined. These are the cases where small businesses were getting caught up because they were making frequent deposits under the threshold to report the deposits.
• The State Department responded to a Freedom of Information Act request for four years' worth of Hillary Clinton's email communications about drone strikes during her time as secretary of state. The Associated Press put in the request and got all of four e-mails in response. Also, Clinton accidentally sent a response on a personal matter in one of them.
• Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush thinks National Security Agency surveillance is just swell and blames disapproval on bad public relations by President Barack Obama.
• The Obama administration today announced plans to cut greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade. No doubt lobbying has already started for subsidies and regulatory capturing for any business looking to cash in on the process.
• The fight between McDonald's and labor unions over the nature of franchises, and whether the corporation could be held responsible for what happens at them, is playing out at the National Labor Relations Board this week. The outcome of this fight could have very huge, and potentially very bad, implications for the future of franchised businesses.
• Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde are haunting your neighborhood. You can now play Pac-Man layered on top of Google Maps.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence held a press conference today saying he wants to adjust the newly passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act to make sure it can't be used by businesses to deny services to people.

So the religious can kiss their newfound rights good-bye?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Each time I see 'There are no comments' I get anxious and don't even dare.

[DEG]

Have a drink. It's relaxing, and it's just about 5 PM.

[Sudden]

Only 2 out west. Cursed East Coasters getting to drink earlier than I can.

[some guy]

Cursed West Coasters getting to stay up later drinking than I can.

[Sudden]

BUT WE DONT HAVE A LATE NIGHTS LYNX THREAD SO YOU ALL SUCK

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I should walk around the daycare with a drink in my hands like Julian from Trailer Park Boys.

[DEG]

Teach 'em how to handle their liquor early.

[robc]

Screw 5 PM, its 4 PM somewhere.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Each time I see 'There are no comments' I get anxious and don't even dare.

How about for the rest of the week I wait until at least someone else has commented?

[Rich]

*** waits for yet another backlash due to yet another misperception ***

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm really tired by the Republicans' deer-in-the-headlights approach to these issues. They should have figured up their approach and talking points by now.

[NidhoggRocketman]

They aren't the stupid party for nothing.

[R C Dean]

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence held a press conference today saying he wants to adjust the newly passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act to make sure it can't be used by order businesses to deny provide services to people regardless of the wishes of owners or employees.

Yee-haw! Its the libertarian moment, amirite?

[The Other Kevin]

"Indiana law amended in a way to make all sides happy. Libertarians hardest hit."

[some guy]

Indiana law amended in a way to make all two sides happy. Libertarians hardest hit.

[Michael Ejercito]

so, if a photographer disagrees with Roman Catholic theology, he would not be able to use the adjusted RFRA as a defense against a religious discrimination claim if he refuses to photograph a Catholic baptism?

[Rich]

This shit is going to get *truly* bizarre before it's all over.

Mark my words, there will even be legislation again "frivolous testing".

[Invisible Finger]

That sounds like school reform.

[Puddin' Stick]

You mean I'll have to stop refusing to serve Klansmen again?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush thinks National Security Agency surveillance is just swell and blames disapproval on bad public relations by President Barack Obama.

He thinks any policy disagreements are due to poor messaging? He's presidential material for sure.

[Ted S.]

He's racist because he's blaming it on Obama.

[Trouser-Pod]

Well, he is pretty much saying that Obama isn't articulate enough.

Racism, fo sure.

[Catatafish]

"The Obama administration today announced plans to cut greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade."

President Obama is going to stop talking for ten years?!

[Mike M.]

If only we could possibly ever be so lucky.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

What, is he going to incentivise fracking?

[Rich]

The Department of Justice ... is going to restrict the use of asset forfeiture in "illegal structuring" bank deposit cases to wait until ... additional criminal activity is determined.

Well, that's easily done.

[R C Dean]

Convict first, seize later.

Not super complicated, is it.

[rts]

Amazon tests delivery drones at a secret site in Canada ? here's why

But in the company's home country, it's had a hard time getting approval to do the tests it needs to make that a reality. U.S. rules on drone testing are restrictive and waits for approval are long.

So Amazon is conducting outdoor flight tests in Canada instead, something that many companies dealing in drones are starting to get interested in.

...

U.S. permits have requirements that don't exist in Canada. For example, in the U.S., the drone operator must have a pilot's licence. They also ban operation of a drone that the pilot can't see directly at all times, something that Amazon deems essential to automated drone delivery.

[Ted S.]

They're testing in Canada because the country is empty and there's nothing to hit.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Except NDP derps.

[Brett L]

I assume this is how the next Justin Bieber will make it to America. To the border with shotguns!

[Catatafish]

Mental image of an emaciated little imp whose balls haven't dropped yet clinging to the skids of a 5 horsepower drone.

[db]

Canada leads the world in remotely operated Ski-Doo technology.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Indiana Gov. Mike Pence held a press conference today saying he wants to adjust the newly passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act to make sure it can't be used by businesses to deny services to people."

Wasn't this law passed in multiple states and even defended by Holder and the Obama administration at the Federal level? Did I read correctly it was originally singed into law by Clinton in 1993?

Are progs this deliciously hypocritical and ignorant?

[Andrew S.]

Yes, and yes, and how the hell did you not know that already?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

IT WAS RHETORICAL!

[Rich]

It's rhetorical questions all the way down, right?

[Elspeth Flashman]

It was rhetorical, but there should be some delicious butt hurt as this develops. (Pardon any extra comments, commenting seems to be "broken" here.)

[The Other Kevin]

According to some sources, there are some differences that make it totally, completely different this time. Some of the notable differences:
- passed in a red state
- passed in 2015

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Also, the first one was passed to protect peyote smoking Indians so it's okay since we're protecting non-Christians.

[PapayaSF]

Maybe you're being funny, but peyote is eaten or made into tea, AFAIK.

[Zeb]

Perhaps "reptilian" is better applied to the left than the hard right. Seems like a lot of progressive leftists just react to whatever comes into their field of view before any thought happens.

[C. Anacreon]

Wasn't this law passed in multiple states and even defended by Holder and the Obama administration at the Federal level? Did I read correctly it was originally singed into law by Clinton in 1993?

According to the administration's flack yesterday on TV regarding this point: "If you have to go back to a 22-year-old law to justify this action you are really reaching."

You can't make this stuff up.

[db]

It was written like, a hundred years ago by crusty old white.men! Your argument is invalid, duh.

[Homple]

In cursive, no less.

[Not an Economist]

Apparently, intentions matter far more than the text.

And, reading between the lines, it is okay to discriminate against people, as long it is the right sort of people.

[Brian D]

Apparently, intentions matter far more than the text.

Of course. That's what the government is trying to tell SCOTUS about Obamacare.

[Puddin' Stick]

The progs have their knickers in a twist because someone might refuse service to a Klansman.

[Brett L]

The greenhouse emissions thing is just taking credit in advance for the trend that is already emerging. Better chemistry and more efficient logistics virtually guarantee that emissions will fall by at least 15% in that period based on present trends.

[Fist of Etiquette]

... for four years' worth of Hillary Clinton's email communications about drone strikes during her time as secretary of state. The Associated Press put in the request and got all of four e-mails in response.

They were old lady spam messages to everyone in her address book specifying her New Years resolutions. That's the only time she uses email.

[Pro Libertate]

Fucking presidential. She has that tattooed on her ass.

[Brett L]

Paging Dr Free!

[Catatafish]

It's up for debate whether she ever did, in fact, fuck the president.

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, so she got the SoS gig that way? Obama is one strange dude.

[RBS]

To which Clinton wrote, "No-sorry! Also, pls let me know if you got a reply from my ipad. I'm not sure replies go thru."

Is it wrong to expect the Secretary of State to at least write like a professional adult?

[Bam!]

Only if you're sexist.

[Rich]

She may be old, but she's *hip*.

[Shirley Knott]

Old, and badly in need of a 'hip' replacement.

[Rich]

I'm hoping Congress will be able to give her a smirk replacement.

[R C Dean]

Sorry. Mecha-Hillary is not something I want to ever even see, much less be ruled by.

[Puddin' Stick]

She cleverly included one personal email about a hip replacement and now all four e-mails are covered under HIPAA.

Smartest woman alive! 😀

[Pro Libertate]

That's one of the asymmetries between left and right team players. The leftwards ones are always imputing these virtues or other characteristics to their candidates and politicians, often when they're obviously contrary to fact. Kerry is a fucking super-genius, remember that one? And they do it all of the time. There's a little of this on the right, but at least they know they're lying.

[RBS]

Like Hilary is a badass.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, um, right. She looks like someone's grandmother who just had cataract surgery trying to figure out how to use a phone.

[Xeones]

I've figured out the real difference between partisan Democrats and partisan Republicans:

Democrats are stupid but desperately want to appear smart. Republicans are stupid and don't care.

[robc]

Democrats are stupid but desperately want to appear smart. Republicans are stupid and don't care.

Congratulations, you win one internet.

I have heard libertarians "insulted" as intelligent elitists.

Um....okay.

Or maybe that was craft beer drinkers. But either way.

[kilroy]

I thought she said using multiple devices was too inconvenient. All the pictures show here carrying a BlackBerry, or something that's certainly not an iPad.

[Pro Libertate]

She has a DARPA-provided transformaphone. It's all devices in one.

[Puddin' Stick]

BlackBerry, seriously?

[Invisible Finger]

the most NSA-proof phone she could get at Best Buy.

[Puddin' Stick]

So, she had at least 1 AD server, at least 1 Exchange 2010 server, and a BES server over at Internet NJ?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"The Obama administration today announced plans to cut greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade. No doubt lobbying has already started for subsidies and regulatory capturing for any business looking to cash in on the process."

And poor people's lives will be shittier by 28%.

[Pro Libertate]

How will they do that? Slaughter 28% of the population?

[Brett L]

There's always worse.

[Pro Libertate]

We should be grateful that they're not slaughtering 29%.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

By cutting energy?

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, I see. Using the Stalinist model of depriving some citizens of something like food, only this time, energy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes.

Africa is a perfect example. Western environmental laws kill Africans.

Literally.

[Pro Libertate]

If they decide to sock the corporation with all of the liabilities associated with franchisees when the corporation had nothing to do with any wrongdoing, then why on Earth would a company have franchises at all?

[Catatafish]

An idyllic return to mom and pop restaurants throughout America. Strict controls on how many of said restaurants can be owned by any single mom and pop. Nothing in the use of the phrase "mom and pop" should be deemed to prohibit "mom and mom" or "pop and pop" ownership structures.

/derpyderp

[PapayaSF]

Nelson Algren rolls over in his grave.

[Pro Libertate]

So megacorps that can absorb shitloads of liability, with a 100% robotic workforce at the local store level.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There's still the franchise investment model and it's benefits for rapid expansion.

[Mazakon]

Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush thinks National Security Agency surveillance is just swell and blames disapproval on bad public relations by President Barack Obama.

Wasn't it already known that he supports the NSA surveillance and data collection?

[R C Dean]

Conservatarians! Totally a thing! Woot!

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, I recall reading about that a while back. He's in my NO WAY I'M VOTING FOR THIS ONE bucket. And I actually mostly liked him as governor.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The outcome of this fight could have very huge, and potentially very bad, implications for the future of franchised businesses.

Touchscreen menus?

[Pro Libertate]

No employees, no lawsuits by employees.

[Rich]

Asked whether he laughed or cringed when he saw the video of Vice President Biden getting up close and personal with his wife at his swearing-in, Carter replied: "I laughed. They know each other extremely well. We're great friends of the Bidens."

Mrs. Carter, what say *you*?

[Xeones]

Biblical knowledge, eh?

[R C Dean]

Her body language doesn't exactly say "Great to see ya, Joe! I always enjoy your touchy-feely thing. A little to the left, there, big boy."

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

At list he didn't sniff a little girl's hair this time.

[Rich]

How do you know he didn't have some tucked up his nostrils?

[Sudden]

This is the man who told us about how when the markets crashed in 1929, FDR came on TV....

Let's cut the guy some slack. He's obviously senile and was only put on the Obama ticket so that racist white people had a reason to vote.

[R C Dean]

Senile? Hard to say.

Brain-damaged? Its a medical certainty. He's had some ministrokes, if memory serves.

[PapayaSF]

Unbelievably, there are people in my FB feed who think Biden would make a good president. I kid you not.

[C. Anacreon]

I'd play with their minds -- say to them yes, you've always thought of the 'Uncle Joe' types as great leaders -- Biden, Stalin.....

[Sudden]

On October 28, 2014, the Royals lost the world series and rather than see all my former collegiate classmates from the Bay Area celebrate on facebook I deleted my facebook so I wouldn't have to put up with it.

Best decision I ever made.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Eww! /teenage girl.

[HeteroPatriarch]

What else is Carter going to say? Biden is powerful, vindictive and crazy and Carter's job may depend on his continued good graces.

[Lady Bertrum]

What's the name of that medieval tradition where the local lord get's the first crack at every bride? Like in Braveheart?

Kinda like that, then?

[Lady Bertrum]

jus primae noctis

or

droit du seigneur

[C. Anacreon]

She looked more like Princess Buttercup did when the General who'd raped her in college was getting his promotion on House of Cards.

[Lady Bertrum]

NO SPOILERS.

[robc]

Wesley is the Dread Pirate Roberts.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1.....files-area

"Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous" - Buzz Aldrin

[Brett L]

How bad ass was that? They gave him a PhD for proving that you could rendezvous in space and then he got to go fucking do it.

[Brett L]

Sorry. "Proving how". I'm pretty sure the two body problem was well solved.

[Pro Libertate]

It's entirely bad ass. He should've taken his dissertation to the Moon and left it there.

[db]

Fuckin' A. That's a transorbital mic drop for sure.

[C. Anacreon]

Perhaps some day he'll be remembered more for this than for being a drunk.

[Pro Libertate]

I don't know that people are as aware of that as they used to be. I figure he'll be remembered for (1) being with Armstrong when the Eagle landed, (2) slugging that Moon Hoax idiot, and (3) hunting down sloopy to avenge Armstrong's mailbox. I'm talking history here, not pop culture.

[C. Anacreon]

I didn't know about the slugging the moon hoax guy. Is there video?

[Pro Libertate]

Why yes, yes there is.

[db]

IIRC, that was his doctoral dissertation, right?

[db]

It's good to hit Refresh.

[Caleb Turberville]

Yeah. I could check, but I'm not sure if it was before or after he was accepted into the Astronaut corps.

[Brett L]

After.

[The Other Kevin]

If only there were a way to boycott *hearing* about Indiana. I'd be on board, and I fucking live here.

[Rich]

Ladies and germs, I give you "The Indiana Trigger Warning Act of 2015"!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's amazing how a state governor (Connecticut) would actively ban his employees from going to another (Indiana).

It's mind-numbingly stupid in its pseudo-self-righteousness.

[R C Dean]

How long until the SJWs start whining and crying about racist the name "Indiana" is?

I mean, you might as well call it "Negroiana", right?

We should start a petition to rename it "Native Americaniana".

Tell me this is more ridiculous than banning clapping in favor of jizz hands.

[Rich]

"Native Americaniana"? Are you insane? It has to be something in the non-written language of the aboriginals.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I was think it needs to be very bland and generic.

[Heroic Mulatto]

"Niger" always bothered me to.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Too, even.

[Rich]

You're probably pronouncing it wrong. Remember, it rhymes with "queer".

[kilroy]

The sheriff is near.

[C. Anacreon]

An African-American physician colleague said it's now supposed to be pronounced Nee-Zhair. He's the only one I've heard say it that way, though.

[Heroic Mulatto]

An African-American physician colleague said it's now supposed to be pronounced Nee-Zhair. He's the only one I've heard say it that way, though.

Yes, that's how you pronounce it in the original French, but we don't pronounce China as "zhonghua" either.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Pronounce it with a French accent. It seems to work.

[R C Dean]

As in "zere is a boog in nee-zhair!"

/Peter Sellers off/

[Zeb]

All of the Native Americans I've met seem to be happy being called and calling themselves Indians. Though I think many would rather be identified with their actual tribe since "Native American" is not a single ethnic group.

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, but you forget, SJWs don't care about the people purportedly offended, they just care about being offended on their behalf.

[Pro Libertate]

I bet that really comes up.

[C. Anacreon]

They've also always been embarrassed at another use of the Indiana name, this old joke that probably won't even make any sense to the young'ns on the board:

Where did Prince Charles spend his honeymoon?

In Diana.

[Rhywun]

Indiana, please.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/.....tasy-books

"Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books"

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

It's NPR so I'm willing to bet Handmaiden's Tale cracks the top 10.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Ugh - Handmaid's Tale at 22.

I was off by 12 spots and spelled the name wrong. I have been greatly shamed.

[Pro Libertate]

I looked. While I like some of the books at the top, and a couple are great, the stupid was so evident that I stopped looking.

What's the deal with Ender's Game being treated as one of the best science fiction novels ever? I like the book fine, but it's not even remotely up to, say, Dune standards. . .which, incidentally, it beats out on this list.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Dude, the fucking Belgariad was 41st - ahead of The Once and Future King, Small Gods, The Forever War, The Road...The Belgariad beat out a McCarthy novel.

I read The Belgariad when I was like 12 and thought it was kind of dumb then.

[Brett L]

If you read it as a 12 year old, it was transformative. As an adult it is merely adequate.

[Pro Libertate]

I read it as an adult.

[The Laconic Esq]

I re-read it as an adult. Recently.

It's perfectly cromulent. This time I was more aware of how it takes every single fantasy trope and just smashes them together in a big pile. Which is fun.

[Pro Libertate]

I think we were talking about Ender's Game.

[mauricegirodias]

You can never move to Canada now.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm going to be deeply offended if I follow that link, aren't I?

[Rich]

Yes. Zamyatin's We didn't even make it.

[Warty]

It's actually not that bad. The Foundation trilogy at #8 is the worst pick of the early ones.

[Warty]

And the Wheel of Time at 12. DID RAND EVER FIND THE BOWL????

[R C Dean]

It takes a hell of a lot to get me to bail on a series once I've started.

And I bailed on Wheel of Time. And never looked back. Fuck me, but it got really tedious.

[DEG]

I'm a stubborn idiot. I'm going to finish it.

Except for the prequel. I draw the line there. I learned from my mistake with the Brian Herbert abominations.

[NidhoggRocketman]

The prequel is actually pretty good. It's just about how Moiraine and Lan met and how they and Siuan got started looking for The Dragon Reborn. And unlike the "other" Dune books, it was written by Jordan himself.

[Warty]

When did you bail? I think I jumped ship in the 7th book, maybe. When they were looking for that stupid bowl to fix the weather.

[Brett L]

5 or 6. Whenever the one character he managed to kill off wasn't really dead, I put down the book and walked away.

[R C Dean]

When did you bail?

I've been trying to repress those memories, so fuck you very much for triggering them.

Probably part-way through one of the books. They all blur together - some chick with a bad attitude kept pulling her own hair, right?

Mother have mercy, there are more than 7 of those things?

[Warty]

I think there are like 13. Shudder.

[NidhoggRocketman]

14

[NidhoggRocketman]

14

[Catatafish]

I've only gone through book 3. Continue?

[Warty]

Absolutely do not continue.

[Catatafish]

Much obliged.

[NidhoggRocketman]

It depends. I like the story but it is very drawn out. It doesn't bother me though because I love long epic tales. It's really up to the taste of the reader.

[Peachy rex]

IMO, it's very good through 5 - 4 & 5 are my favourites. 6 is pretty good. Then it starts to spin circles... slow, lazy, mind-numbing circles. It finally gets going again towards the end, but I find Sanderson's writing style rather off-putting, so I never read the three he wrote.

The prequel is actually quite interesting, though about ninety percent of the action happens in the novella it was expanded from. So unless you're really interested in the background, you can just *that* instead.

[Pro Libertate]

Shut the fuck up. I'm using psychohistory to predict your comments for the next ten thousand years.

[Warty]

Wasn't Tulpa a fan of the psychohistorians?

[Pro Libertate]

I'm sure he was. So is Krugman. I don't give a fuck. I like Foundation.

[Warty]

PRO KRUGPA

[Pro Libertate]

Go back to shutting the fuck up. While watching The Road Warrior as I have commanded.

[Ted S.]

It's science fiction; who cares? :-p

[Catatafish]

*furiously punches Ted's balls and runs away*

[mauricegirodias]

Wait, Wicked makes the list but Wizard of Oz doesn't?

/If you've not read it, the musical isn't the worst date you'll have with a gal... the book is just awful, grad student trying way too fucking hard.

[Catatafish]

I only made it 20 pages into the first Mistborn book and put it down. The writing was God awful. Based on that impression alone I don't understand how it beats out the Hyperion series.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I'm reading that series now and the writing is very, very bad. It's an incredibly easy read though, so I just read it on the train to work when I want something to occupy myself but don't necessarily need to be able to think about what I'm reading.

[Catatafish]

Maybe I'll pick it back up. I think I got all of them on sale on my Kindle sometime last year. The quality of the writing was so poor in contrast to how glowing the fan reviews were of the series and Sanderson himself.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

If you don't like the writing, don't bother picking it back up.

It does not improve. I just got the series for cheap and it's okay train reading.

[Catatafish]

I don't see The Black Company, Olympus/Ilium or any of the Expanse novels on this list.

*folds arms across chest and begins stamping feet*

[R C Dean]

In all seriousness, the Black Company books were seminal/inspirational for a shitload of later writers.

Plus, they are entertaining as hell.

Not having them is pretty bad.

[Brett L]

Wheel of Time at 12. There's a whole lot of sunk cost fallacy in NPR's audience.

[Warty]

41
The Belgariad
by David Eddings
Edding's five-volume epic fantasy follows young farmboy Garion as he is drawn into a quest for a stolen mystical orb, and the rich world of prophecy and power that surrounds it.

I read these as a kid. I loved them. They're utter, unmitigated, awful shit.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

^ THANK YOU!

I didn't even like them when I was a kid, though.

[Warty]

I even read his other series, the one about the knight and the princess frozen by a spell or some stupid shit. It was garbage, and I knew it, and I loved it.

[mauricegirodias]

I read that and the Mallorean (sequel series) when I was 11. But I was fat, lonely and unloved in those day.

/Still fat and lonely, but now I have a dog.

[kilroy]

Ditto. Unreadable after puberty.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy just slipped in at #100

[Brett L]

Given how prescient the 3rd book was with regards to collectivists taking over academia and policing, it should place higher.

[Puddin' Stick]

NICE comment.

[Warty]

46
The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien
These creation myths of Tolkien's Middle-earth, for those who found The Lord of the Rings too breezy and slight: In the author's characteristic Beowulfian prose, he recounts the legends of the world's beginnings, the downfall of its gods and men, and the events that changed the face of Middle-earth forever.

No one has ever read this.

[DEG]

My name isn't "No one".

[Heroic Mulatto]

My buddy is such a Tolkein fanatic that in college, he did.

[Rich]

Lord knows I *tried*.

And I have never been able to make through SIASL.

*** ducks ***

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I own the book but never read it. Like Atlas Shrugged and The Life and Times of St. Pepper of Avalon.

[Zeb]

I've read it several times, actually, and rather enjoyed it. It's not the least readable thing in the world by a long shot.

[Rich]

That may very well be Principia Mathematica.

[Pro Libertate]

They have (I have), but it has no place on a list like this. That's like voting for a Brief History of Time on a nonfiction list, which, while reasonably accessible, seems to have been read by 1% of the people who bought it.

[Catatafish]

False.

[The Last American Hero]

I highly recommend the Tolkien Professor podcasts on this book.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Who's "No one."

I had the text sewn into my brain to save time.

[Warty]

NONE OF YOU HAVE READ THE SILMARILLION NO ONE HAS READ THE SILMARILLION SHUT UP SHUT UP

[BuSab Agent]

HAVE TOO!!!!

[Not an Economist]

This is from 2011.

[Pro Libertate]

It was wrong then, too.

[Warty]

54
World War Z

...No.

62
Wizard's First Rule
The Sword Of Truth Series

These got dumber as time went on, but the combination of dominatrixes, gang rape, and ham-fisted Ayn Rand plagiarism was influential on a young Warty.

67
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

83
Consider Phlebas
The Culture Series

This is below David Eddings's garbage, huh?

All right, that was fun. Much less horrible than most lists of this type.

[Lady Bertrum]

Neil Gaiman at 10 and Rothfuss at 18. Color me surprised - pleasantly surprised.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My buddy told me Obama's foreign policy is easy to pick holes in because it's 'nuanced'.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Was he serious?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes.

[GILMORE]

Perhaps you should ask him to explain the "Nuance" of US middle eastern policy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He did. He seems to be under the impression that because he's telling Bibi to fuck off that it's a good thing. Very nuanced.

He's from Massachusetts. I have to keep that in mind.

[GILMORE]

Clearly, US antagonism with both Israel and Saudi Arabia bodes well for US negotiations with Iran.

Because Iran will be sure to take us seriously when we are clearly losing leverage over the 2 nations most hostile to Iran in the region.

[Invisible Finger]

I so much want the Bruins to get swept by Montreal in the first round.

[R C Dean]

Here's the best I can do, to account for all the facts as I know them:

We want to establish a regional Sunni power and a regional Shiite power. For the Sunnis, we've been trying for the Muslim Brotherhood in various countries. For the Shiites, its Iran.

Once we have these two regional powers established, it will cut down on internecine strife in the Middle East, so we can get down to doing serious diplomacy with the people who matter.

Its the only plausible explanation for our unbroken support for the Islamist nutters in the Brotherhood and the ongoing sub rosa support of Iran, and our willingness to undermine and even overthrow existing governments - to make room for our chosen dance partners for the whole region.

[Pro Libertate]

That's dumber than my idea of restoring the Ottoman Empire. To be fair, my idea is pure genius.

[R C Dean]

I didn't say it was dumber than a bag of rocks.

Its just the only "strategy" that makes sense. The alternative, of course, is that there is no strategy, and we are watching our President and State Department getting taken for a ride by a bunch of Islamist nutters.

[Pro Libertate]

Your alternative seems to me to be the correct assessment. This administration has shown so many times that it operates on a tactical, not strategic, basis, and its ends are purely domestic politics, not national security.

[Invisible Finger]

The Shiites get a whole country and the Saudis have to share with a bunch of brotherhoods just because they're Sunni?

[PapayaSF]

This is kind of like Imperial Rome thinking it's a great idea if the Visigoths and Ostrogoths are established as two regional powers.

[Redmanfms]

One of those words progs use to proclaim loudly that they are full of shit.

[Jackand Ace]

"The Obama administration today announced plans to cut greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent over the next decade."

Good, as we join Mexico and the EU in their efforts.

"No doubt lobbying has already started for subsidies and regulatory capturing for any business looking to cash in on the process."

Whatever lobbying effort does take place, it won't hold a candle to the lobbying effort from oil and gas lobbying dollars, will it?

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indu.....E01&year=a

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

"""""Good, as we join Mexico and the EU in their efforts."""""

Yes! We too can have just as dynamic an economy as the European Union and Mexico. Who wouldn't want to follow those two icons of economic prosperity?

Why do you hate poor people, Joe?

"""""Whatever lobbying effort does take place, it won't hold a candle to the lobbying effort from oil and gas lobbying dollars, will it?"""""

Shut the fuck up, Joe.

[Ted S.]

NEEDZ MOAR """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" MARKZ!

[GILMORE]

Don't make fun of poor Jackand

He's just celebrating the Natural Gas revolution which has cut US Greenhouse emissions by more than the Kyoto protocols demanded, despite no US participation.

And our future reductions will clearly come with the increased expansion and uptake of fracking nationwide, and a continued transition from Coal-Fired to gas fired electricity generation.

Why, in order to reach his goals, Obama needs only 'get out of the way' of existing progress! And how is that not something to celebrate?

[Zeb]

Fracking bad. Booga-booga!

[widget]

It's the Kulaks first, then you, comrade Jackand.

[Catatafish]

I have so many bags of dicks from which thou should eat, Jack.

[Warty]

You're trying real hard, aren't you joe? Did you try this hard to save your marriage when your wife left you? Did you try this hard to find a less humiliating job when you were reduced to being a substitute teacher? Did you try this hard to tell yourself that no one notices how high the lifts in your shoes are?

[Sudden]

Of course that $13.8bn that it attributes to Koch Industries is included as a petrodollars lobbying even while the Koch money is largely directed towards more wide-ranging libertarian and conservative positions, not specific to petrol.

[Pro Libertate]

Like NOVA. I just don't get how people don't see that and at least pause and go, "Huh, the Kochs fund that? Doesn't seem all pro-oily."

[Sudden]

They only want kids to get interested in science so they can buy them off to RAPE MOTHER GAIA!!!11!1!!!!!

/derp

[Pro Libertate]

It must really be liberating to ignore reality the way they do.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde are haunting your neighborhood. You can now play Pac-Man layered on top of Google Maps.

It's tax season.

*Plays Pac-Man anyway*

[GILMORE]

"The Associated Press put in the request and got all of four e-mails in response"

The even *better* part??

they were, in sequence =

From = [e-mail]
To = America

"Fuck"

From = [e-mail]
To = America

"You"

From = [e-mail]
To = America

"That's"

From = [e-mail]
To = America

"Why"

[R C Dean]

I just noticed this:

Why does Hillary use her initials from her maiden name (Hillary Diane Rodham) in her email, rather than the initials and name she uses in public?

[Rich]

"That's private, and will remain private."

[Sudden]

Well, it is on the clintonemail.com domain name so her married name is included.

[R C Dean]

Well, that server was used by lots of people who aren't Clintons.

Its just weird, is all. She's been married and using the HRC name for decades, but she uses her maiden name for her emails?

[C. Anacreon]

Not only that, apparently there's 21 other users on her private email server with the initials hdr, so she had to be hdr22.

[Rhywun]

Hodor!

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, she can't very well use her legal name on Bitchdykegrandmaslookingforass.com.

[PapayaSF]

+1

[Puddin' Stick]

What I'm wondering is why someone hasn't hacked her server and released all her emails?

[HeteroPatriarch]

What server?

[R C Dean]

Someone has, I am quite confident.

They are just hanging onto those emails, in case she is elected President and they need the leverage.

If we're lucky, its just the NSA. If we're not lucky, its the Russians and Chinese as well.

[Pro Libertate]

It's probably all three and a hacker named Mike in Athens, Georgia.

[R C Dean]

The commander of the Basij militia of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that "erasing Israel off the map" is "nonnegotiable," according to an Israel Radio report Tuesday.

The Basij is a religious volunteer force established in 1979 by the country's revolutionary leaders, and has served as a moral police and to suppress dissent.

The force holds annual maneuvers, sometimes with regular Iran units.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/i.....egotiable/

No reason to worry about this guy having a nuke, is there?

For some lulz, it appears that the virus of judicial activism has even infected Iran!

In January, a draft law that would give greater powers to the Basij to enforce women's compulsory wearing of the veil was ruled unconstitutional.

Apparently, they haven't gotten the word that their job is to defer to the legislature.

[Sudden]

Also, Clinton accidentally sent a response on a personal matter in one of them.

Allow me to be the first to say "bullshit" to her inclusion of a personal email as "accidental." I guarantee that she purposely put a personal email in there as a means of validating her lying presser where she claimed that she had all these personal emails she had received on her email as SoS. Narratives are all that matter to these people and they'll fake whatever they need to in order to serve the narratives they construct.

[GILMORE]

I really appreciate how the "Best Case Scenario" regarding Hillary's email during her time as Secretary of State?...

...is that - in reality - she was blithely unaware of anything going on anywhere, and only very occasionally emailed people about 'drone strikes'... and only then in the context of redecorating her bathroom, and was entirely disengaged from the actual business of running the Foreign Relations superstructure of the United States Government. ""Libya? Thats the one between Tunia and Morocco? or is that the other one. OMG I can never remember""

And that if we accept that version of reality, that we're *still* supposed to think she'd make an excellent President.

[Sudden]

I vaguely remember when a nerdish friend of mine was running for class president back in 8th grade. He was running against a popular, big breasted girl with lots of friends while he was a bookish nerd with few friends but more than his share of ideas (most of which were garbage anyway). He asked me to vote for him. I told him I wasn't going to vote in the school election because school elections were vapid popularity contests (ok, so I didn't use the word vapid in 8th grade) and that I was saving my first vote for an office that people took seriously: like POTUS.

And now that I'm an adult I realize how childish it was to think elections are anything more than a popularity contest at any level.

[Pro Libertate]

Sadly, there is no popular, big breasted candidate for the presidency.

[Sudden]

I'm writing in Sofia Vergara so that when my proggie friends ask who I voted for I can tell them the person not born in the US and watch them fall into a state of apopolectic shock thinking I voted for Ted Cruz.

[Pro Libertate]

I think she'd be good for America.

[GILMORE]

"Pro Libertate|2015/03/31 17:52:49|#5194605~new~

Sadly, there is no popular, big breasted candidate"

removes hat. places hand over heart.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

A WILD MICHAEL HIHN APPEARS

[Heroic Mulatto]

He has no style; he has no grace.
Michael Hihn has a funny face.

[Sudden]

why do u talk to it irish?

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: I am not encontering reality b/c of a combination of cold meds, ibuprofen, and white russians.

[Elspeth Flashman]

* encountering*

[Heroic Mulatto]

Until you don clothing of the opposite gender and try to storm the gates of the NSA complex, I don't even want to hear it.

[Pro Libertate]

Suddenly, I have insight into how that attack must've been instigated.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Investigators are looking into whether the men were under the influence of drugs following a night of partying, a federal law enforcement official said.

A man reported his car stolen from a hotel not far away from NSA Headquarters and said he had been with two men who had taken his car. Cocaine was found in the vehicle. The Howard County Police Department confirms that a Ford Escape reported stolen in Howard County, Maryland, is the vehicle involved in the incident.

It's a hell of a drug.

[Pro Libertate]

So Rick James isn't dead? Or, well, wasn't?

[Sudden]

Of all the times I have done cocaine, never once has it inspired me to cross dress and attack the most corrupt institutions of the surveillance state.

[GILMORE]

psst. Wanna party?

[Sudden]

Subversive transgenders attacking the NSA headquarters? Perhaps the most Reason worthy story that does not contain some combination of buttsecks, Messikens, and bath saltz.

[Pro Libertate]

So it was commenters from here. I knew it. Who is missing?

[Heroic Mulatto]

If I ever decide to go out Dorner-style. After publishing my manifesto in pieces on the Hit and Run boards, I'll snort several lines of bath salts off the asses of the Mexican transvestite prostitutes I'll sodomize before the ensuing gun battle that will result after crashing my car through the doors of Pizzeria Uno corporate HQ.

Just for you all.

[Elspeth Flashman]

You win HM. My style is to shave my head, Annie Lennox style, put on a white dress shirt and tie, and drive the most powerful car I have access to into something at top speed.

[Heroic Mulatto]

But what song would be playing on the car's radio?

[Elspeth Flashman]

God that's a good question. It must be "Back in Black" by AC/DC.

[GILMORE]

"what song would be playing on the car's radio?

WHATEVER THIS AWESOME SHIT IS OMG IM PEAKING

[Elspeth Flashman]

I can do lots of things on a bet, if someone else drives (can't have a DUI on my record.)

[The Laconic Esq]

I'm right there with you, sister. Except substituting something more manly for the White Russians.

[Elspeth Flashman]

what? this is so manly. or maybe I need some shots.

[Pro Libertate]

Bourbon.

[lap83]

+1 scotch and +1 beer?

[Sudden]

White Russians were officially accepted as manly beginning in 1998 with the release of The Big Lebowski

[Elspeth Flashman]

Shut the f*ck up Donnie.

[Mr. Bourgeoisie]

"This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!"

[PapayaSF]

The best humor contains truth.