Justices Get Testy During Lethal Injection Arguments, Orioles Play to Empty Stadium, Hillary Clinton Calls for Vague Justice Reforms: P.M. Links

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  Credit: Nrbelex / photo on flickr

  Questioning during the Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of some drugs used for lethal injections in Oklahoma turned aggressive today. Justice Sonia Sotomayor flat out told Oklahoma's attorney that he had been dishonest in his briefs, and she didn't trust what he said.

• The civil unrest in Baltimore has resulted today in an Orioles-White Sox game where no spectators were permitted. Who lost? Baltimore residents who have had to subsidize the stadium and team owners, obviously.
• Today Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton called for criminal justice reform, vaguely, and without much detail, perhaps because new policies would contradict her tough-on-crime comments from back in the 1990s.
• In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations. They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws.
• Christopher Scarver, the man who beat serial killer/cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer to death while they were both in prison in 1994, is speaking out about why he did it.
• In order to avoid having to permit messages some folks might not like (such as an ad criticizing Islam with a quote saying "Killing Jews is worship"), New York's metro authority has decided to ban all political ads entirely from subway trains and buses.
• The assassin's veto wins another round: Surviving Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed. He drew the Muhammed that appeared on the cover of the magazine the week after the murder of his co-workers.   

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Today Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton called for criminal justice reform...

Because she's not noways tired of pandering.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Suck it, Fist.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

But I hear Fist attends all of the cocktail parties.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

That's fine. I'm an unapologetic beer drinker. He can enjoy his Midori Sours.

[Sudden]

Ya, fancy beers. Some of us drink swill because we support rape culture.

[jesse.in.mb]

Speaking of fancy beer...

[Sudden]

I will attend this. Or I'll be in China. Coin flip at this point.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I've been mentioned in posts, and I've been quoted in two print editions. You need to up your game. Maybe get retweeted by Shackford or something.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm not on the tweeter thingy.

But I'm sure the whole office is talking about me RIGHT NOW.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm not on the tweeter thingy.

I can't help you if you won't help yourself.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I was in a print edition years ago, but under my real name.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fine, but top this.

[Rich]

That's amazing! Fist's picture is actually in the dictionary.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Kizone Kaprow made a fake google plus account spoofing me. YOU TOP THAT.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Braggart

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kizone Kaprow made a fake google plus account spoofing me.

That's the ultimate flattery, to be sure.

[fish]

I like your other entry.

fist
Also found in: Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.
fist (f?st)
n.
1. The hand closed tightly with the fingers bent against the palm.
2. Informal A grasp; a clutch: had a fortune in their fists and let it go.
tr.v. fist?ed, fist?ing, fists
1. To clench into a fist.
2. To grasp with the fist.
3. Vulgar To insert the hand into the rectum or vagina of (someone) as a means of sexual stimulation.

[Raven Nation]

I don't think I've seen HnR commentators quoted in the print edition recently.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Depends what your definition of recently is. Maybe TCMann, Brooksy and I closed it down.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, that seems about right: nothing in the last three I believe. I know, it's one of the first things I check.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations. They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws."

Hey! Da fuck did I do?

[yet another dave]

Pure BS Canadian law couldn't supersede US laws, in the US.

[Whahappan?]

Yeah, no shit, her campaign is pathetic. If she wins the nomination, much less the presidency, we're fucked. And deservedly so.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

The civil unrest in Baltimore has resulted today in an Orioles-White Sox game where no spectators were permitted. Who lost? Baltimore residents who have had to subsidize the stadium and team owners, obviously.

Who lost? Not the Brewers, for once.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Did the residents really lose? The place wasn't destroyed at least.

[C. Anacreon]

What I really want to know is what Cal Ripken thinks about all this. No one else in Baltimore is important (except Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer, of course).

[Old Man With Candy]

Ahem. RICK FUCKING DEMPSEY!

[Libertymike]

Raymond Berry?
Johnny Unitas?
Lenny Moore?
John Mackey?
Eddie Murray?
Billy Ripken?
Mike Cuellar?
Bert Jones?
Elvin Hayes?
K.C. Jones?
Roger Carr?
Wes Unseld?
Earl the Peral Monroe?
Phil Chenier?
Mike Riordan?
John Dutton?
Stan White?
Chris Hinton?
Earl Morral?
Don Shula?
Ted Machriboda?

[C. Anacreon]

Chris Hinton, now you're talking. His name proudly adorns the stadium walls at Northwestern's Ryan Field (nee Dyche Stadium) as one of NU's all-time greats, probably only surpassed by Otto Graham.

[Old Man With Candy]

You left off Frank Kush.

In reality, Baltimoreans still worship Artie Donovan, but I was trying to stick to baseball.

[Libertymike]

Artie was a character. A good one.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Ray Lewis seems to still have a lot of fans in Baltimore.

[Sudden]

Samardzija lost because he's a shitty human being. Ubaldo Jimenez won, thereby propelling a fantasy beisbol team called "Hanging Dong" to a lead in a very hotly contested ESPN Fantasy Beisbol league.

[HeteroPatriarch]

What's wrong with Samadzija?

[Sudden]

See: Royals vs. White Sox brawl. Lorenzo Cain is one of the nicest guys in baseball and Samardzija was trying to fight him. That's all you need know.

[Injun, as in from India]

In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations. They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws.

+1 Canadian Right=Wing Conspiracy

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

As it turns out, no such laws exist.

The Clintons reflexively lie about everything, and can't even think 5 minutes into the future.

[Rich]

Another day, another self-inflicted wound.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

They're almost daily at this point. I'm running out of popcorn.

[Rich]

It's great. Death by 1000 cuts.

[Hamster of Doom]

This implosion will be visible from space.

I can't wait.

[perlhaqr]

A thousand Canadians?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations. They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws.

Eh?

[Fist of Etiquette]

In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations.

Do you want a leader spending all her time filling out paperwork or do you want a doer?

[Medical Physics Guy]

"America needs a leader, not a reader." - Herman Cain

[PH2050]

"Don'ters don't. Doers do.

Nut up and be like Wu."

[BiMonSciFiCon]

In other Clinton news, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose more than 1,000 foreign donations. They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws.

The Federalist has a good response to this. I fully expect every major news source to hold the Clinton Foundation accountable.

[John]

That is not what the laws say. And there is no evidence that anyone other than the Clinton Foundation right now ever thought they did say that.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

It's kinda funny. The Clintons, who apparently have very little respect for American law, despite one of them serving as president and the other as senator and SoS, are suddenly scrupulously adhering to Canadian law.

"Okay."

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

If they ever get caught, they have to be able to run somewhere.

/keeping their options open

[Tonio]

I fully expect every major news source to hold the Clinton Foundation accountable.

Give him a big hand, folks, he's here all week. Tip the authors, try the socons...

[Sudden]

It would kill you to provide a link, wouldn't it?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Sorry, got distracted by work. Here you go.

[Brett L]

I'm to understand that the Clinton Foundation can't find or purchase the services of any of the Big Four to audit their books for common acceptable accounting practices? Okay. Sure.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

If you were the big 4, would you take them on as a client? I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole.

[fish]

I think they should immediately engage the services of the Arthur Anderson accounting firm....they'll get this cleared up in a jiffy.

[Injun, as in from India]

The assassin's veto wins another round: Surviving Charlie Lebdo cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed. He drew the Muhammed that appeared on the cover of the magazine the week after the murder of his co-workers.

I don't blame him. How many of us would do ir?

This is Islamophobia - the fear of getting killed by the followers of Islam.

[Tonio]

Nice...

[bacon-magic]

He should stick to his guns...and by that I mean go get some guns and if a islamist looks at him funny. BAM. Then say "You should have let me stick with the pen, it hurts less."

[paranoid android]

Questioning during the Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of some drugs used for lethal injections in Oklahoma turned aggressive today. Justice Sonia Sotomayor flat out told Oklahoma's attorney that he had been dishonest in his briefs, and she didn't trust what he said.

But really, isn't it the anti-death penalty activists' fault that he had to lie?

[Catatafish]

I'm not a fan of the death penalty as it's currently applied but the use of obscure drug cocktails (or gas chambers, or electric chairs, etc.) seems to be more an attempt to sterilize the existence of a state-sponsored killing. If you're going to have it, own it. Cattle gun to the brainstem. If your so queasy about the methods, maybe you shouldn't be killing people in the first place?

[Tonio]

The obscurity of the drug cocktails is because the pharma companies won't sell the executioners' preferred drugs to the government. So they're finding alternatives. This is further complicated by the AMA's prohibition on its members participating in executions, which includes advising them about those drugs. And the fact that the state isn't particularly motivated to make it a good ending, just a reliable one.

I don't trust the state with this power because they will surely abuse it. You cannot bring an innocent man back from the grave. This is why I oppose the death penalty.

[Mickey Rat]

You are against the death penslty on principle, and that is a respectful position to hold, but what happening here is similar to antigun activists getting around the 2nd amendment by banning ammunition.

[Hamster of Doom]

Fortunately, we're talking about government killings and not codified rights.

[paranoid android]

We're also talking about private entities voluntarily declining to do business with the government, so no one is "banned" from doing anything. It's an almost, but not entirely, completely inapt analogy.

[thrakkorzog]

Not exactly. Part of the reason the pharma companies stopped selling the drugs was due to pressure coming from European governments who are anti-death penalty. So the companies were either forced to stop manufacturing a niche drug, or possibly lose access to sell their products in parts of Europe.

So it's a bit more complicated than a company deciding that it couldn't sell death penalty drugs because of their conscience, but because of other, larger state controlled markets refusing to do business with them.

http://www.csg.org/pubs/capito.....e65_4.aspx

[Raven Nation]

I don't trust the state with this power because they will surely abuse it.

See: the slowly erupting shitstorm against the Indonesian government.

[Catatafish]

Yeah, I'm basically of the opinion that unless there's an actual video of someone committing a murder, it's not enough to have the state commit the irreversible.

[HeteroPatriarch]

What about when video lies, like when it is depicting police brutality?

[Rabban]

For the state not to kill someone like say, Jeffery Dahmer, is immoral. To let a known monstrous killer live out their days (or in this case attempt to) in a tax payer funded rape hole is immoral.

[Libertarian]

Sonia Sotomayor is an anagram of Soros mania, too. Coincidence?

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

It is also 'Oration Says Moo'.

Kinda makes you think, huh?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...New York's metro authority has decided to ban all political ads entirely from subway trains and buses.

But they'll still accept straight pride posters, right?

[Tonio]

Yeah, I think they're going to lose on that if anyone sues. But then they can say they tried...

[Libertarian]

Were those "Alien Nation" posters considered political?

[Heroic Mulatto]

They were, but they were very ineffective at getting their message across as very few Americans cab read Tenctonese.

[Injun, as in from India]

"I believe in stuff, I promise."Credit: Nrbelex / photo on flickrQuestioning during the Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of some drugs used for lethal injections in Oklahoma turned aggressive today. Justice Sonia Sotomayor flat out told Oklahoma's attorney that he had been dishonest in his briefs, and she didn't trust what he said.

If you like your supreme court brief, you can keep your supreme court brief! Period!

[John]

The assassin's veto wins another round: Surviving Charlie Lebdo cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed.

Gary Trudeau and Penn Gillette approve.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Penn Jillette agreed with Trudeau? What did he say? Bummer if true.

[John]

I thought he did. But maybe I am mistaken. If so, I take that back.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I think you're confusing Penn's opposition to Indiana's RFRA law with opposition to 'Charlie Hebdo'.

As far as I know he has not said anything critical of drawing Mohammed.

[Warty]

Penn has said that he won't go after Muslims because he has a family. And he's said that that's the worst criticism of Islam that he can think of.

[Catatafish]

He went wishy-washy over freedom of association (and potentially compelled speech) during the Indiana kerfluffle.

[John]

He also admits to being brutal to Christians while never saying a word about Islam because he knows Christians will never do anything to harm him.

So yes, he does approve.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So much for taking it back, huh?

[John]

That is because there is no reason to. He does exactly what this guy is doing. So why wouldn't he approve?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You tried to lump him together with Trudeau.

Trudeau said 'Hebdo was irresponsible to criticize Islamists'

Penn said, according to you, he was himself afraid to criticize Islam the same way he does Christians. That doesn't imply he would 'approve' of this guy relenting to similar fears. He likely understands but 'approves?'

You're just doing your usual, slandering a well known libertarian figure because he criticizes your Socon allies, and this board is so lousy with conservatives you almost didn't get called on it.

[John]

Yes, because both him and Trudeau would approve of this. The fact that it is for different reasons doesn't mean they both are not together in the group of people who approve. So the original statement is still true; both Trudeau and Penn Gillette approve of this.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You don't understand what the word 'approves' means.

My Waffle House doesn't permit me to carry there. I don't want trouble so I don't, and my friend told me he did the same for the same reasons. I had to understand. But I didn't APPROVE. My gun control classmate who has written an email urging Waffle House to keep prohibiting carrying APPROVES of us not carting there.

[John]

No Bo I know exactly what it means. You don't seem to understand what any word means. If someone does exactly the same thing you are doing, it is a reasonable assumption that you approve of it. If Penn Gillete doesn't approve of refusing to satire Islam out of fear of murder, why does he refuse to satire Islam out of his fear of murder.

You really seem to try very hard to lose the same argument as many times as possible.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Wow, you really don't get it.

When you follow a law you don't like and think unjust, do you approve of it? You might secretly wish you would defy it. You might applaud those who do, thinking, I wish I had the guts to do that. But you don't because, well, life. Now, when someone shared the exact same thing you don't say 'good for you!' You probably look down, sigh, and say 'well, that's a shame but I understand.'

That's light years from Trudeau on this. And that's why we have different words for things.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

There's certain parts of where I live that I don't walk down at night. I should. I feel fairly confident in my ability to protect myself, and bad actors shouldn't prevent the law abiding from doing what they want. Yet, in the end, I don't want the trouble so I don't.

If someone told me they don't as well, for the same reasons, I sure can't be said to 'approve' of their decision. I'd think it was a darn shame, but I'd understand.

[Enough About Palin]

FFS, John, wipe your ass.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Gun control classmate?

That's a course?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

She's a classmate who's pretty outspoken about that (among other things).

[Libertymike]

What does she think of Justice Holmes' Lochner dissent?

[HeteroPatriarch]

John means never having to take anything back.

[BakedPenguin]

I've listened to a lot of Penn. I can't recall him ever being "brutal," unless you consider any criticism "brutal". Link?

[John]

http://mahoundsparadise.blogsp.....islam.html

You do go after Christians, though?Teller and I have been brutal to Christians, and their response shows that they're good fucking Americans who believe in freedom of speech.

Brutal is his word not mine. So if you disagree, take it up with him.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

He also seems to be praising Christians in your excerpt.

Here he is saying the world would be better off if Islamists became evangelical Christians.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PWQswyCYY

[John]

Sure he does. He praises them as being nice people who don't hold the fact that he is such an asshole to them against him.

The fact remains that he admits his shows are brutal towards Christians but don't say anything about Muslims because he is afraid of Muslims and not Christians. He is a coward and a hypocrite. If he can't make fun of all religions, he shouldn't make fun of any of them. Just going after the ones who won't murder him just makes him look like a bully and makes threats of violence that much more effective.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

John, when are you going to start publicly criticizing Islam and Muhammed? Anonymous blog comments not counting.

[John]

I do all of the time Bo. And moreover, I don't make a living satirizing religion and don't claim it to be my mission in life to debase people of their religious views.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You criticize Islam and Muhammed giving out your actual, full name and about where you live? Because that's Penn's situation.

If you don't I guess you're a coward and hypocrite?

[Raven Nation]

Sarah Silverman made a similar comment a few years back.

[Marshall Gill]

Here, let me praise you, Bo. Your posting here is a miniscule fraction less tiresome than Mary's.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yawn.

[perlhaqr]

I dunno if that's true. The Bo and John show could qualify for a Tony Award. (ba dum, ching!)

[Old Man With Candy]

Then why are you feeding MNG's new identity? He ran away crying a few years ago and is afraid to use that handle again, now assuming the persona of a fake lawyer with Asperger's- but he's still a worthless troll. Do not feed.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It speaks volumes about the incredible odd dynamic of the commentariat here that a major libertarian figure can be slandered by an admitted non-libertarian and not only does only one person counter it and defend the libertarian, but that guy is called the troll.

[trshmnster the terrible]

It's a reputation economy, Bo. John has a reputation of being (mostly) willing to argue straightforwardly. He has his quirks and foibles, but isn't on a quest to annoy and "beat" everybody else. (tl;dr: wrong opinion but right technique is better than wrong opinion and wrong technique)

[Carl ?s the level]

John has a reputation of being (mostly) willing to argue straightforwardly.

You could have fooled me.

[paranoid android]

It's a reputation economy, Bo. John has a reputation of being (mostly) willing to argue straightforwardly.

Must've been alternate-universe John in this thread, then:

http://reason.com/blog/2015/04.....5uh0z:EvK7

I'd say John is capable of having discourse straightforwardly, when he's sure everyone mostly agrees with him.

He's also shown himself to be completely unable to accept that the people who disagree with him might be arguing in good faith, with his inane accusations of "social signaling" and so forth against even the mildest pushback.

[John]

There is that Android and then there is the possibility that you are signaling and just hate to have it pointed out.

I mean the fact that people go insane with denunciations over a simple sarcastic remark about how anyone could possible be afraid of Muslims is no indication of any over compensation or fear of being called the RACIST.

I can't suffer stupidity and insincerity Android and will call it out every time I see it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

John, you're troll feeding here. You basically just gave Bo a 64oz bottle of Gatorade and an entire bottle of Adderall.

Now we're all going to suffer.

[paranoid android]

There is that Android and then there is the possibility that you are signaling and just hate to have it pointed out.

Uh-huh. So when a no-kidding reactionary racist type like American shows up with his typical spiel about how all the non-whites are ruining everything that's great about America--are the people who tell him to get lost just social signaling, too?

[Rabban]

To a degree yes, but the assent it pretty much unanimous.

[expat]

He clarified is thoughts in Penn's Sunday School after that interview. It is worth a listen. The Athiest Penn and the Libertarian Penn were clearly in conflict on that issue. Crazy Penn won out.

[John]

Why would the atheist Penn ever come in conflict with the Libertarian one? There is nothing about being an atheist that requires you to be an oppressive, intolerant shit bag that I am aware of.

[Brett L]

There seem to be a decent number of principled libertarian atheists on this very board.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yep. As has been impressed upon me in my time reading from the Book of the Commentariat, there are atheists and there are anti-religionists. Penn always struck me as being in the latter group, even if not rabidly so. I would argue that atheist libertarianism is not contradictory, but anti-religionist libertarianism often is.

[Raven Nation]

Oddly, he's good friends with Glenn Beck.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It's one thing to not like religion, and criticize it and try to talk people out of it. It's another thing to support using coercion against them because you think their beliefs silly or bad.

[trshmnster the terrible]

It's one thing to not like religion, and criticize it and try to talk people out of it. It's another thing to support using coercion against them because you think their beliefs silly or bad.

Agreed, and that's where I think the line is drawn. There is an impulse in atheist (and I assert, anti-religionist) Penn to correct the wrongthinkers. This impulse is what puts atheist Penn at odds with libertarian Penn.

The impulse isn't just about religion, it's about all choice. I think it's a Buddhist philosophy (don't quote me on this) that negative emotions are manifestations of a desire to see change in the world around you. The discipline to control your emotional reaction to people choosing the "wrong" path defines greatly the worldview you will espouse. The more you let your emotions rule you, the more you want to impose change on the world (totalitarianism) the more you control your emotions, the less you want to force change on others (liberty).

[John]

Here is the thing Trshmnster,

If you actually believe that this world is all there is and there is nothing after it or beyond it, you should envy the religious in some ways. Here you know the horrible truth and have to deal with it every day. Meanwhile, there are all these people running around who have convinced themselves there is more waiting for them after they die. Unless you just hated them, why would you feel compelled to dispel them of their illusion? It makes them happy and what the hell difference does it make?

I guess you could say "but religious people do all of this harm". Okay. But not all religious people do and a lot of atheists do harm as well. So why not try to convince people not to do harm? Why make it such a point to dispel there illusion?

In the end, I think atheists who really have a bug up their asses about religion, the Freedom from religion types, are if you gave them a truth serum not really atheists at all. I think they are theists who for whatever reason hate God and over compensate.

[Zeb]

That's pretty much how I look at religion. If it makes you happy, that's great. It probably would be nice to have that kind of faith.

The one argument for the more anti-religion stance is that many religions can be seen as cons from a non-believer's perspective. And many are cons even from a believer's perspective. It's not too far from something like homeopathic medicine. Unless you are a true believer, homeopathy is obviously just some made up nonsense. And the people practicing it are ripping off gullible people. Now, I don't think most libertarians would ban homeopathy (or religion), but I don't think you would disagree that people are right to try to convince people that it is bullshit. That doesn't seem to different from the situation with religion. I suppose the big difference with religion is that the good, legitimate ones use at least some of the money they extract from their followers for good, charitable things. But in the whole broad world of religion, there are a whole lot of people just lining their pockets with suckers' money too.

[John]

But Religion isn't medicine Zeb. You would want to try to convince people not to buy into snake oil because doing so causes them harm. What harm is caused by a mistaken view of the universe? None really. It is like trying to convince someone to stop being a Cowboys fan and become a Redskins fan. If you honestly believe there is no God and only nothingness after death, then there are no opinions less important than your opinion of the metaphysical state of the universe.

If I actually were an atheist, the last thing I would do is try to wake theists up from their belief. I would also have no worries in life beyond what made me happy. I wouldn't be immoral, I would be amoral in that every decision I made would be based on upon how I felt the decision would affect my happiness. That doesn't mean I would rape and murder. Doing those things don't make me happy. It doesn't necessarily even mean I wouldn't adopt some moral code. I might, if abiding by one made me happy for doing so.

Of course no one ever lives that way. No one just floats along in the world as if it has no meaning. People naturally gravitate to bigger meanings and truths. I would argue that they are gravitating towards the God they know is there. They just don't like him. So they dress him up in call him things like "truth" or "beauty" or "meaning".

[Zeb]

That's why I don't go around trying to convince people that their religious belief is false. I have evangelical Christian family who I love very much and I would never try to convince them they are wrong to believe what they do. It wouldn't do anyone any good.
I presented that argument because I think that is more or less why Penn criticizes religion. Religion may not divert people from medicine that actually works, or toward things that are harmful. But it does try to separate people from their money, and that is also a harm. But like I said, most main stream religions are pretty honest about what they are doing with the money and why they want it, so in those cases I don't consider it a scam or harm. But you can't deny that there are religious scams that do actually harm people as well.

[Libertymike]

Zeb, it was the AMA and other allopathic organizations and individuals who actively and ferociously lobbied government to keep chiropractic illegal - with success for decades. Not the other way around.

It was the AMA and big medicine that fervently lobbied to do the same with homeopathy. Not the other way around.

Those who will use force to limit the choices of others are just plain nasty. Those who do so with the additional objective of making theirs' the only choice are several orders more evil.

[Zeb]

Well, fuck the AMA. I'm sticking with allopathy, but if people want to try other things, I don't think anyone should stop them.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But religion has done good by people in history. Homeononsense, not so much.

[Zeb]

It seems to make some people happy. And the placebo effect is a real thing. From an outsider's perspective, it's not all that different.

Gimme a break. I'm a pretty religion-positive atheist I think. And as with the mayonnaise issue, I just want people to be happy.

I can accept that religion does good for a lot of people. I'd like religious people to accept that to a non-believer, it looks pretty wacky.

[Libertymike]

John, truth be told, do you think that Bo is MNG?

[John]

I am not sure Mike. I could see it, but I don't think so. Others however are convinced of it.

[Libertymike]

Correct me if I am wrong, but you and MNG went at it many times, right?

But, if I had to guess, I would say that you respected him, for the most part, yes?

If Bo is MNG, I would have to admit to being a little disappointed.

[Zeb]

The John/MNG exchanges got pretty tiresome, but I'd say MNG was a more honest and intelligent debater most of the time and made no claim to being a libertarian.

[Zeb]

People convince themselves of some weird shit. It's not that hard to believe that there are several people in the world willing to invest that kind of time in being whatever the hell Bo thinks he is being.

[trshmnster the terrible]

In the end, I think atheists who really have a bug up their asses about religion, the Freedom from religion types, are if you gave them a truth serum not really atheists at all. I think they are theists who for whatever reason hate God and over compensate.

I'm not willing to go that far. I will say that I believe that everybody worships something, and (whether or not that makes them atheists) they have a more visceral reaction to competing objects of worship that hit close to home rather than the distant ones. When atheists are surrounded by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, they hate being surrounded by a society that caters to God as an object of worship.

This is also why (in the other thread), I think it's perfectly natural that (largely atheist) left-libertarians have more dislike of Christians than Muslims.

[Pan Zagloba]

Some members of PEN agreed with him.
Penn Jilette was all "serve the pizza, christians" but not anti-Hebdo.

[John]

Not anti-Hebdo but certainly cowardly about criticizing Islam. So he would definitely approve of what this guy is doing.

[Zeb]

Penn seems like the kind of guy who doesn't think it's his place to approve or disapprove of other people's decisions like that. I feel the same. They French cartoon guy has reasons for what he wants to do. It's none of my concern. Trudeau, on the other hand, went out of his way to disapprove of people drawing Mohammed cartoons. Now that is something worth expressing disapproval of.

This has been a seriously fucking stupid argument. Penn is being rational. French cartoonist guy is being rational. Maybe they are being cowardly too. What do I care? Trudeau is being a censorious prick. So what if Penn in some sense agrees with Trudeau that it is OK for the French guy to stop doing Mohammed cartoons? It, in fact, it OK for the French guy to stop doing Mohammed cartoons (sorry I can't bother to find his name). I think he's been brave enough already.

[John]

I don't think Penn is scared of Muslims. Bill Maher goes after Muslims. He hasn't had to go into hiding and doesn't strike me as particularly courageous. Gillette doesn't go after Muslims because he is too worried people might think he is racist for picking on brown people. He is a fucking phony.

And the US is not France, yet. No one that I am aware of in the US has been murdered for saying bad things about Muslims.

[Zeb]

Maybe. I like Penn as far as I know about him, but I don't know enough about him to judge how much of a phony is. I'd tend to agree that he is being over-cautious, but that's far from the awful shit Trudeau said.

[paranoid android]

Serious question, John: if someone bought you the adspace, would you agree to have your face, real name, and home address appear on a giant billboard alongside pictures of Mohammed and statements like "Muslims are savages"?

[John]

No because I do not think Muslims as a group are savages. Would I agree to say something like "Muhammad is a false prophet"? Yes I would.

[John]

On second thought, no I would not. Not even the "Mohamad Is a false prophet" sign The reason I would not is because I don't as a general rule go out it intentionally attack peoples religion. I wouldn't participate in such a sign about Jews or Hindus. It is not that I have a problem with Joe at being unwilling to take on Muslims. My problem is that he is willing to attack everyone's religion but Muslims. If you would just stop talking about religion altogether I would have no problem. Or if you was willing to go after every religion equally I would have no problem.

[paranoid android]

Do you likewise have a problem with the Pam Gellers and Ayaan Hirsi Alis of the world, who extensively critique Islam but not Christianity and other religions?

[greasonable (was sthgrau)]

Bill Maher does not have a family.

[widget]

Perhaps Marie Le Pen will take up cartooning.

[Zeb]

Le pen is mightier than Le AK-47?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm wearing my Reason - Free Markets, Free Minds t-shirt at work today (under a nice, crisp shirt of course). So far no dirty looks or angr...oh dear, someone just gave me the middle finger.

[John]

He probably thinks it is some kind of weird Maple Leafs' shirt.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I wore the Reason beanie a few months ago. Didn't get shit from anyone, but that's probably because I look scary in it.

[Sudden]

but that's probably because I look scary in it.

FIFY

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Scary sexy

[Mad Scientist]

Surely the finger flipper isn't Canadian.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Aren't you the boss? Squash that shit.

[Pan Zagloba]

That's just how they say "Hello" in Montreal.

Yes, Rufus has been flipping off Fist for months now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I know, right?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Stop bitching and moaning you fucking baby.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hey! You're right!

I gotta be mean, right?

Wait until I see my mother again. I'll give her a piece of my mind.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Remember, you can't hit a woman, but you can shake the shit out of her.

[perlhaqr]

Sounds messy.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Christopher Scarver, the man who beat serial killer/cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer to death while they were both in prison in 1994, is speaking out about why he did it.

Of course the Post will talk to a guy who is mentally ill and suffers from delusions of grandeur. He killed Dahmer because God told him to do it.

[John]

Of course the Post will talk to a guy who is mentally ill and suffers from delusions of grandeur.

They will talk to Al Gore won't they?

[Tonio]

Why is that any more or less delusional than, say, mutilating your children because your god tells you to do that?

[Atanarjuat]

He also hated Dahmer and was disgusted by him. The guards knew that and he thinks that's why they were left alone together. That's actually a story that should be reported.

[TwB]

Enough of the sad, crazy shit going on in the world. Here's a joke for your Hump Day pleasure:

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is looking extremely satisfied, and takes out a cigarette and begins to smoke. The egg is looking frustrated and pissed off. He takes one look at the chicken, rolls over and pulls the blanket over him and says, "I guess we answered that question!"

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I approve of this chicken-egg bestiality joke.

[Mickey Rat]

I think that is pedophile bestialty.

[Sudden]

Oral arguments to allow such arrangements will commence in 2017

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Of course. I don't know how I missed that. The egg is underage and unable to consent.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I would have the egg smoking.

I'M JUST SAYING.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

SHE DIDN'T FINISH

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm assuming she. Although it could be a gay bestiality joke.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But an egg smoking is sooooo funny!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That was beautiful. Poultry in motion.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Eh, I didn't think it was anything to crow about.

(just kidding I definitely laughed)

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'll be watching you like a hawk.

[Tonio]

I call a fowl on that one, GMSM.

[Old Man With Candy]

Robin the cradle.

[Enough About Palin]

Actually, the egg came millions of years before its product evolved into producing chickens.

[SugarFree]

So... buttsex?

[Enough About Palin]

Are you propositioning me again, Sug?

[SugarFree]

No?

[Sudden]

This.

I always wonder what kind of simpleton thinks the chicken/egg thing is some impossible rhetorical question.

[Overt]

The common interpretation is what came first, the chicken egg or the chicken, not eggs in general.

And the fact remains that it is a basic exercise in classification philosophy. Was the egg that the first chicken hatched from a chicken egg or the egg of its parent?

[Sudden]

Yay! Joke time:

Fred was driving home from one of his business trips, in Northern Arizona , when he saw an elderly Navajo man walking on the side of the road.

As the trip was a long and quiet one, he stopped the car and asked the Navajo man if he would
like a ride.

With a silent nod of thanks, the Indian got into the car. Resuming the journey, Fred tried - in vain - to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo man. The old man just sat silently, looking intently at everything he saw, studying every little detail, until he noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Fred.

"What in bag?" asked the old man.

Fred looked down at the brown bag and said: "It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my wife."

The Navajo man was silent for another moment or two. Then, speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, he said: "Good trade . . ..."

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That's good, I'm going to use it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Navajo man. Why did he speak with an accent? How was he dressed? Did he do a rain dance?

[Sudden]

Think Inuit in warmer climates and fill in the details from there.

[Warty]

"You're not really coming here to hunt, are you?"

[thrakkorzog]

So a guy walks into a bar in Alaska, and tells the Bartender, "I came up here to work the local oil wells, but nobody around here respects me. I've worked oil rigs in Texas, Saudi Arabia, anywhere there's oil and a paycheck, but my Alaskan coworkers won't give me the time of day."

The Bartender looks at him, and says, "Well if you want respect around here, there are three things you have to do. First you have to drink an entire bottle of Whiskey in one sitting. Second, you have to bed an Eskimo woman. And third, you have to kill a Polar bear with your bare hands."

So the guy thinks it over, and after a few beers, decides to get it over with and chugs an entire bottle of Whiskey, then wanders out into the snow.

Three days later, he staggers back into the bar, covered in cuts and bruises, and says "OK, two down, now where's that Eskimo woman you want me to kill?"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Who lost? Baltimore residents who have had to subsidize the stadium and team owners, obviously.

So where does that put them in the standings?

[Rich]

Thousands of new Lerner emails found

"The IRS will continue to cooperate with the Inspector General and the congressional committees to complete work in this area, and we look forward to the results to determine what additional steps the IRS can take to ensure that we continue to improve our processes," the agency said.

You can "improve your processes" by having certain people incarcerated.

[Tonio]

If I may...[clears throat] PHAKE SCANDUL!!1!

[Injun, as in from India]

David Clarke: The Sheriff as Rebel

Clarke is dramatically out of step with his colleagues and with what is typically expected from African-American males.

What is expected? Tow the elitist progressive line, or be branded an Uncle Tom. Simple.

[John]

Yes. The last thing anyone wants is a black man with a mind of his own.

[TwB]

Very interesting guy, Mr. Clarke. And he's not saying anything radical, either. It's common sense.

[John]

There are few things more radical or subversive in 2015 America than common sense.

[Free Society]

The whole Uncle Tom caricature of blacks existing outside of the hivemind is more destructive form of racism to blacks than any white nationalist groups or 'white privilege'. For one thing, it teaches blacks not to do anything that could be perceived as "acting white", like studying, speaking clearly, or otherwise trying to better one's lot in life through careers other than sports and music. Kudos to those that escape the cultural trap, their achievements become all the more impressive.

[John]

It is one of the most insidious and evil things white people have ever inflicted on blacks.

[Free Society]

White progressives have certainly done so.But nowadays I think it's more common for it to be coming from other blacks. You'll scarcely find a white man in existence who would complain that a black man is educated and well-spoken. But you'll find no shortage of black men to ostracize other black men for exactly that.

[John]

For sure. But those blacks who do that are encouraged and rewarded by Progs.

[Tonio]

Surviving Charlie Lebdo Hebdo cartoonist...

Scott Shackford, please note typo...

[grrizzly]

At least I found a relevant link.

[Tonio]

???

[Tonio]

Oops, nevermind, I see now.

[Scott S.]

Figures I was making sure I got the guy's name right.

[waffles]

They're blaming it on Canadian privacy laws.

BLAME CANADA!

[jesse.in.mb]

BLAME CANADA!

Like we weren't already doing that anyway.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I love how in the aftermath of 9/11 conservatives - and I think even Hillary - blamed Canada's 'lax' border controls.

Yeah. Like WE have ALL those INTERESTS in the Mid-East. Noooo, let's blame CANADA those left-wing, pinky, bleeding-heart liberals who use TOASTER STRUDELS for guns!

/takes deep breath.

Where was I?

[waffles]

Where was I?

Oh I dunno, taking the blame? Taking it good and hard?

[Puddin' Stick]

~1/3 of Canadians own guns...

[Puddin' Stick]

I mean, Canada has about 1 gun per 3 residents.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Are you gonna apologize?

[Free Society]

Initiate War Plan Red

[grrizzly]

Really? Charlie Lebdo?

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: Facebook genders

1. Pangender

2. Neutrois

3. Hermaphrodite

4. Two Spirit

5. Neither

6. Other

[trshmnster the terrible]

5... Neither implies a choice between two.

[Sudden]

3 since it is an actual sexual condition that occurs in a state of nature and not the nether reaches of fucked up psychotic SJW minds.

[Derpetologist]

Winner!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbNFJK1ZpVg

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's screwed up.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Top notch, derpetologist! Good find!

[Catatafish]

5. Agree with trshmnster.

[IceTrey]

The cartoonist shouldn't have drawn himself into a corner.

[Hey Nikki!]

New York's metro authority has decided to ban all political ads entirely from subway trains and buses

Because decisions about what's political are toootally not political.

[John]

Mrs. Suderman today.

But of course, I no longer need to remember phone numbers. I have a cell phone for that. For any other knowledge I need handy, I have a computer. For anything I need to learn, there's Google. In some sense, this means that I have a better memory and wider knowledge than I used to. But if I'm cut off from these tools, I am suddenly a moron.

http://www.bloombergview.com/a.....c-mistakes

Suddenly?

[paranoid android]

Is there some point to be made about this, or do you just get off on belittling people?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

John really doesn't like Megan.

I, for one, like her. She writes in a way that might actually change a mind or two.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Oh, and I always rely, without fail, on her annual kitchen gift guide.

[Pan Zagloba]

She's a gateway drug. It was her writing that led me to Reason, after all.

I do wish she'd stop being so mealy-mouthed when it comes to Democrat bullshit. And stop calling Weigel, Klein and Sadbeard "my colleague"

[Tonio]

Well, she, and the other crypto-libertarians, sympathizers and fellow-travelers in the media have to be very circumspect about that or they'll be purged. We take what we can get, even if those people aren't perfect allies.

[NebulousFocus]

She really goes out of her way to not call bullshit on obvious bullshit (eg Johnathon Gruber). It's tiresome.

[John]

No. Not really.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

John has a bizarre hatred of Megan McCardle far in excess of anything McCardle has actually done.

[John]

If anything is bizarre it is your desire to constantly defend her. What do you care who likes her or who doesn't? What do you have a crush on her or something?

[Hey Nikki!]

Irish is taken; he has eyes only for ESB.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

No, Epi is the one attracted to ESB. I just enjoy her witty, effervescent prose.

[Idle Hands]

She's a good writer who stops just short of chastising anyone in order to appeal to a broader readership and in the process maybe changes some minds. She really is undeserving of your scorn.

[Carl ?s the level]

Yeah but she probably goes to cocktail parties.

[John]

I think she is a terrible writer who has no clue how the world actually works. Her column on the problems of child support a couple of weeks ago is a classic example of why she is so irritating.

This column from last week is a great example of why she is so irritating.

http://www.bloombergview.com/a.....ch-a-break

McArdle has no idea how the system actually works. The system creates an incentive for custodial parents, usually but not always women, to be irresponsible. There is no requirement that custodial parents work to support their children. Worse still, their partner's income is only a factor in welfare eligibility if they are married. There are hundreds of thousands of women out there who have children by various men, live with but don't marry other men, collect welfare as if they have no income even though their boyfriend may have a good income, and then collect child support from the father(s) of their children and those men have to pay the government back for the welfare. And McArdle tells me this system encourages responsibility and family structure?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

I don't know that saying 'hey, your hatred of McCardle is overblown' is evidence that I am 'constantly defending her.'

I mention her only some of the times you mention her because I think your hatred of her is completely unwarranted. Given that I only mention her after you've attacked her for no reason, which of us has the obsession again?

[John]

She voted for Obama twice, supported tarp and holds all kinds of nitwit opinions as illustrated above.

[grrizzly]

What's bizarre about it? McCardle has voted for Obama like twenty times.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Surviving Charlie [Hebdo] cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed.

That's fine, but I don't know if he's being honest about the reason.

[Rich]

What, about his hands having been chopped off?

[Rich]

"The sobering reality is the synthetic drug epidemic didn't begin, and doesn't end, with flakka."

This from an *expert*.

[John]

I thought there was an opiate pain killer epidemic? And a meth epidemic? How the hell is anyone finding time to take synthetic drugs?

[Rich]

The sobering reality is the drug epidemics didn't begin, and don't end, with the synthetic drug epidemic.

[Hey Nikki!]

Pun...intended?

[Rich]

It's just her little way of sticking it to The Man.

[Brett L]

it started with Cocaine? Morphine?

[Brett L]

Synthetic drug epidemic? WTF? Unless you're smoking opium poppy tar or pot, its probably synthesized. Cocaine might just be extracted and purified. Erowid is a bitch to get to on my phone.

[Atanarjuat]

There are drugs designed by chemists to get you high but allow you to pass drug tests. You can buy them in sketchy places on the internet. I have a friend who does this. I think at least some mimic common drug molecules like THC and khat. Seriously, I heard there is synthetic khat. There are also psychedelics.

A lot of drugs that people I know use are from natural sources. Mushrooms, hash, pot, coke (extracted and refined, most likely). The "research chemicals" are viewed with suspicion, rightly, IMO.

[gaoxiaen]

That's because it starts and ends with jenkum.

[jesse.in.mb]

Today Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton called for criminal justice reform, vaguely, and without much detail, perhaps because new policies would contradict her tough-on-crime comments from back in the 1990s.

It was the '90s, we all did regretable things in the '90s. I mean, remember MC Hammer pants?

[Aloysious]

I mean, remember MC Hammer pants?

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Aloysious]

How did I end up here?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!

[jesse.in.mb]

Now I'm actually curious if there are pictures of me in my black and white paint-splotch hammer pants...

I will do some research when I get home.

[Sudden]

I pictured you as a Z Cavariccis guy

[jesse.in.mb]

At 8 or 9 years old?

[Sudden]

You had older siblings right? My older sister was gaga over Z Cavariccis in HS since all the cool kids on 90210 were rocking them.

Besides, I thought all gay kids were tre fashionista

[jesse.in.mb]

No older siblings until I was 9. MC Hammer pants went away after that and it was all baggy knee length or longer shorts and tshirts until highschool.

[Sudden]

Admit it, you had several pairs of JNCOs with the stovepipe pantslegs.

I may have. But I was also doing hallucinogens at raves so I had an excuse.

[jesse.in.mb]

I don't think I owned any clothes that weren't grey or beige until 2000 or 2001. Maybe some browns and forest greens. I dressed to hide in plain sight.

[Catatafish]

A few years ago I did a purge of my stuff to donate to charity and found an old pair of Skidz. Those were probably $40 in 1990 and basically were nothing but pajama pants.

[Hamster of Doom]

Forget the pants. I successfully destroyed every picture of myself taken in the 90's, because the HAIR, oh mah gawd.

I must say, though, in the 80's my father permed his hair because thought it made what little was left look thicker. Even my former pink-and-white fauxhawk doesn't top that.

[Enough About Palin]

"I mean, remember MC Hammer pants?"

I remeber talking to him on the telephone.

[Jerry on the sea]

Did you leave your name and number?

[PapayaSF]

I have one of these stashed away in a box somewhere. I saw it in a clearance store and had to have it as a collectable investment. Someday I'll sell it and retire.

[TheZeitgeist]

Surviving Charlie [Hebdo] cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed.

Not surprised. How many times can one draw caricatures of a kid-touching camel fucker before burning out?

[Tonio]

Justice Sonia Sotomayor flat out told Oklahoma's attorney that he had been dishonest in his briefs, and she didn't trust what he said.

Damn, that must have been withering getting lectured from the bench at the highest court in the land. IIRC, SCOTUS can hold counsel in contempt, but I don't think they have done so since the 1800's.

[Marshall Gill]

I am confused. I don't know what passes for legal language but was she accusing him of perjury? Claiming that he falsified statistics or something? It sounded to *me* like some kind of bizarre threat. How is this anything but theater? She thinks he is lying but will let it pass? I can't prove you have lied but you look shifty? Or, you have lied in front of the high court but who cares it is just a charade anyway and I am not going to do anything but call you a poopy head?

It seemed to me that she simply doesn't like his position and was threatening him about challenging her already decided views. What an absolute joke.

[Tonio]

No, perjury is witnesses who lie under oath. He was neither a witness, nor under oath; he was an attorney arguing for one of the parties.

[Cytotoxic]

Another "American Empire" myth put down:

In his forthcoming book, Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War, Gibson rejects claims that the US backed Iraq's 1963 coup and says the US was more supportive of Kurd forces in their 1970s battles with Baghdad than was previously thought.

"There is enough evidence available today to question whether the US was behind the coup," Gibson said, after six years of research in which he has interviewed a dozen officials and studied more than 100,000 pages of archive files.

"There is no question that parts of the US government were opposed to the Kurdish intervention, but Kissinger showed no interest in scaling back US support for the Kurds and, on more than one occasion, increased US assistance to the Kurds despite resistance from the CIA," Gibson said.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/290420151

Kissinger: what a great man.

[John]

The CIA was behind most of the really idiotic things the US did overseas in the last 60 years. What a sorry organization.

[Cytotoxic]

The CIA seems more incompetent/impotent than anything else. Couldn't even kill a Castro.

[John]

That is exactly what they are. One thing they never do, however, is provide any useful intelligence.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I know. It was wrong what they did to Bourne.

[Injun, as in from India]

Dedicated to our trolls:

A tale of 2 recoveries - Reagan vs Obama

[Mike M.]

Yep. Policies really do make a difference, and Obama's crony socialism is the absolute worst.

Oh, and suck it Weigel!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But...stock markets!

[Injun, as in from India]

Please remove "thuggish" from the newspeak dictionary. The President has spoken.

[Rich]

Is it still OK to use "th*ggish"?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What about...niggish?

I like that word.

[Enough About Palin]

Nope, but thugga is just fine.

[Rich]

Dammit, EAP! 8-(

[Heroic Mulatto]

Thuggee

[Rich]

*** can't, um, beat 'em ***

Hoodielum?

[Rich]

Very well. No more nigglers. It's settled. Don't renege.

[Free Society]

Don't be a renegger.

[Old Man With Candy]

Nuggers?

We really need better and fresher ethnic pejoratives, the old ones are getting tired.

[Rich]

At least *rearrange* them.

[jesse.in.mb]

Person of color will be offensive soon enough. Just let the euphemism treadmill do its thing.

[Old Man With Candy]

When will "fruit" come around again?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

But not white

[Rich]

Fed: All calendar references removed

However, many market participants believe the Fed is still on its course of tightening, though the timing remains a question.

YA serious question about our Central Bank: If their steering of the economy is so open and sure-handed, why must people *guess* about what they will do? Why don't they just *say* "When X reaches Y, we will do Z"?

[TwB]

Because $ isn't in the alphabet

[Hey Nikki!]

That Jeffrey Dahmer murder story is creepy, people. You should read it.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yeah, it's fucked up... there are very few people who need whacked on the noggin until the grey stuff comes out, but Dahmer was one of them.

[Mad Scientist]

The creepy thing to me isn't Dahmenr being murdered by Scarver, it's Dahmer continuing to act like a psychotic weirdo around a bunch of other known murderers.

[Injun, as in from India]

Republican Lawmaker Claims Foul Play After Explicit Photos of Him Surface From Gay-Dating Site

"Boehning said before he voted against the anti-discrimination bill on April 2 a Capitol employee told him a fellow House lawmaker who supported the bill said Boehning would be targeted for retaliation if he didn't vote for it?

He also voted against a similar bill in 2009 and would have in 2013, had the proposal not died in the Senate before a House vote."

[TheZeitgeist]

That is awesome.

[Mike M.]

Damn, for just a brief moment there I thought it said "Boehner". Crap!

[John]

So did I.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

TOP. MEN.

[Brett L]

or is he a bottom?

[Hamster of Doom]

Damn your nimble fingers!!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

His handle is actually "top man". Seriously

[Brett L]

Everyone lies on dating sites.

[jesse.in.mb]

Eh, if I pull up Grindr right now the nearest person to me is a 31 year old Latino fellow with the handle "Top on the DL" he's ~433 feet away and does not have a public photo.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Only one way to find out

[jesse.in.mb]

At least he dealt with it with relative aplomb.

[Mike M.]

Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke joins PIMCO as senior consultant.

I guess they obviously learned the big lesson of Bill Gross' recent tenure: you can't beat the Fed, so you may as well co-opt them!

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: wacky town names

1. Boring

2. Intercourse

3. Disco

4. Loafers Glory

5. Pahrump

6. Durpville

[SugarFree]

Bah. Kentucky has "Monkey's Eyebrow."

[SugarFree]

A selection:

Barefoot, KY
Bear Wallow, KY
Big Bone Lick State Park, KY
Big Beaver Lick, KY
Cut Shin, KY
(88) Eighty-Eight, Ky
Grannie, KY
Gravel Switch, KY
Marrowbone, KY
Oddville, KY
Penile, KY
Pig, KY
Possum Trot, KY
Rabbit Hash , KY
Raccoon, KY
Shoulderblade, KY
Stamping Ground, KY
Tyewhoppety, KY
Vortex, KY

[Fabi]

Very nice. Although let's not dismiss:

Bug Tussle, AL
Lick Skillet, AL
Frog Eye, AL
Burnt Corn, AL
Slick Lizard, AL
Veto, AL
Smut Eye, AL
Scratch Ankle, AL
Boar Tush, AL
Screamer, AL

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Here's Canada's submission: http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/places.html

Excerpt:

Newfoundland:

Bacon Cove
Bareneed
Berry's Head
Blow Me Down
Come By Chance
Conception Bay
Cow Head
Cupids
Deadman's Bay/Cove
Fogo
Foxtrap
Goobies

Quebec.:

Asbestos
Cadillac
Chapeau (hat)
Crabtree
Drapeau (flag)
Mayo
Poisson (fish)
Rivi?re-Trois-Pistoles (3 Pistols River)
Saint-Loius-du-Ha-Ha!

[Winston]

How can you forget Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump?

[Fabi]

One of those is right down the road from me. Although I guess I can't say which until after the prize has been awarded, huh?

[Hamster of Doom]

6.

[Old Man With Candy]

My grandfather used to be the postmaster of Boring (MD).

[Old Man With Candy]

Also, Maryland has Accident and Secretary.

[Hamster of Doom]

Every other state is just jealous of Washington, who went with names that outsiders can't pronounce.

[Derpetologist]

#6 is the Not. Kentucky is the champion of wacky town names.

[Almanian!]

My uncle lived in Pahrump. there's nothing there but dirt and some shitty casinos.

[gaoxiaen]

I figured that 6 was a red herring.

[Winston]

How can you forget Fucking, Austria?

[Almanian!]

What does fucking Austria have to do wi.....

Wait, you know who ELSE was from fucking Austria....

[Winston]

Captain Von Trapp?

[Hamster of Doom]

Wolfgang Puck? Incidentally, he has the best name ever.

[gaoxiaen]

3.

[Derpetologist]

Every cliche and buzzword crammed into a 6 minute speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LIAI2tEApc

Sounds a lot like various bosses I have had.

[jesse.in.mb]

I don't suppose you've seen Weird Al do it in 4:30...

[Enough About Palin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFwRNp7NQ-Y

[Medical Physics Guy]

Audi claims they can make diesel from carbon dioxide and water. Breakthrough or pandering for government green $$$? I suspect the latter. Some interesting critical comments at the bottom.

[Brett L]

Its basically Fischer-Tropsch process but you electrolyze CO2 and H2O rather than using methane to get your hydrogen and carbon supply. Its totally possible that they have some highly selective catalysts making this "fairly" cheap, but its 1.5?/l to take to market and regular diesel costs 1.5?/l after taxes. So the "competitive" is only true of a hoghly skewed market. Note that electrolysis is energy intensive and neither pure water nor pure CO2 are free. Cheap but not free.

[Old Man With Candy]

Note that electrolysis is energy intensive

Second Law, anyone?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yeah, diesel has a high btu per gallon. That energy has to come from somewhere.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"'My pastor is going to have a fit': America's 'mom of the year' who chased her son home from riots reacts to nationwide praise and reveals she recognized him from his baggy sweatpants

"Toya Graham, a single mother-of-six, said she 'just lost it' when she saw her 16-year-old son Michael at Monday's riots carrying a rock

"She said of her son: 'We made eye contact. I was saying ''how dare you do this?'''

"She traveled to New York for interviews on Wednesday after being applauded by moms across the US and the Baltimore police chief

"Her pastor called her 'Mom of the century' on Wednesday for her actions"

Wait - single mother of *six*?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z3YjaXZAfm

[Rich]

DON'T JUDGE!

[Libertarian]

Hey, you can't become "mother of the year" without breaking a few eggs.

[Tonio]

Well played.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Hipsters can't work their Apple Watches if they have wrist tattoos

Trigger Warning: Autoplay video

I find this inordinately hilarious.

[Winston]

The assassin's veto wins another round: Surviving Charlie Lebdo cartoonist Renald Luzier says he will no longer draw the figure of Muhammed. He drew the Muhammed that appeared on the cover of the magazine the week after the murder of his co-workers.

Lebdo, really?

Also I recall Reason hated it when someone called the Charlie Hebdo killers' actions "understandable".

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If by Islam you mean those aspects of the religion praised in paragraph 3 of Nostra Aetate, then I like it.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/.....te_en.html

If by Islam you mean murder, enslavement, concubinage and hostage committed against non-Muslims, imposition of dhimmi status, blowing up Jews, Christians and those Muslims the Islamists happen to dislike - then Islam sucks.

Which is it to be - the reverence-for-God-and-do-good version of Islam, or the explody, slaver, sheep-fucking version?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

hostage *taking*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Did you hear that, Islamists? I insulted you, not Islam in general, but since you think you're the *sole* legitimate representatives of Islam, then by *your* standards I've insulted Islam.

Come and get me, you sheep-molesting sons of bitches.

[Winston]

sheep-molesting

How popular is Shaun the Sheep in Wales and the Middle East?

[TwB]

Oh, the things you find in your grandparent's attic:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...../26562501/

[Winston]

How about a copy of London After Midnight?

[PapayaSF]

A classic film fan, I see.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Kind of wish they didn't tell anyone because what are the chances Uncle Sam comes in and demands they hand it over?

That always seems to happen when someone literally finds treasure.

[Lady Bertrum]

Executive order 6102 doesn't apply to gold coins with historical value (collectible coins) - those minted in the US prior to 1933 are subject to confiscation with reimbursement set at $20 per/oz troy.

The coins are Spanish so should be safe, but, WTF, people? Why don't people keep their mouths shut when they find treasure? Why do they need to immediately alert the media?

[Libertarian]

My money is on "hoax."

Wikipedia on Jose Gaspar: Though he is a popular figure in Florida folklore, no evidence of his existence appears in writing before the early 20th century.

[Pro Libertate]

I've heard that Gaspar is questionable, at best, but there's no doubt that pirates were here and in other places in Florida.

[Winston]

Freddie Gray would still be alive if he drank Dracula's blood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwPsiNhdQw

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes, but then we'd have this on our hands.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Nicole mentioned her so you should blame her for this: Elizabeth Stoker Breunig discusses the Vatican's plan to take from the rich and give to the poor as a means to combat climate change.

I feel like the very act of posting this makes me a troll.

[Carl ?s the level]

I bet she voted for Obama twice, supported TARP, and holds all sorts of nitwit opinions like that one.

[Warty]

I hear she doesn't have the balls to criticize Muslims, but she's brutal to Christians, too.

[Carl ?s the level]

Good point. I'll send my self-driving car to pick you up and we'll have a few cocktails.

[John]

Doesn't that bug you at all Warty? There is nothing more socially acceptable and easier to do in the entertainment industry that go after Christians. To make a living doing that while also claiming to be an atheists who rejects all religions but not touch Islam is appalling. Bill Maher goes after Muslims. He doesn't strike me as particularly courageous.

When if comes down to it, I don't think Gillette is afraid of Muslims. I think he is afraid of his friends in the entertainment industry thinking is a big meanie racist for picking on brown people. I think he is a fucking poser and a hypocrite.

[Warty]

You think he's more afraid of Hollywood ostracism than assassination? Well..ok then.

[John]

I don't think he is afraid of assassination. why would he be? Nothing has happened to Bill Maher. This isn't France. There is no reason to think he would be in any real danger. And he goes after GMOs. There are environmental nuts who are violent too.

[Warty]

I don't know. I believe he's said that the most credible death threats he got were after the Bullshit episode that trashed Mother Theresa. And you're right that it would be nice if Bullshit had done an episode about how Mohammed was a fraud, but Showtime was afraid to air it and Penn and Teller were afraid to film it, and that's too bad.

[John]

At this point who in entertainment doesn't get death threats? I didn't know he got those over the Mother Theresa episode. That hasn't seemed to have stopped him from going after Catholicism has it?

[trshmnster the terrible]

When if comes down to it, I don't think Gillette is afraid of Muslims. I think he is afraid of his friends in the entertainment industry thinking is a big meanie racist for picking on brown people. I think he is a fucking poser and a hypocrite.

I doubt that. If that was the case, the anti-GMO nuts would be out of bounds. I think, just like everybody else, Penn has a few liberty blind spots. I don't know his backstory, but he seems to come from a progressive point of view that evolved into libertarian. I think that most left-libertarians are soft on Islam and hard on Christianity.

[John]

I think that most left-libertarians are soft on Islam and hard on Christianity.

I agree and I think that is PC horse shit.

[Rich]

Elizabeth Stoker Breunig

[Warty]

The Bloomberg pick your-own-adventure game sucks, but it's a blast nonetheless.

[Catatafish]

I appeared to be in constant disagreement with approximately 85% of respondents.

I think that's a good thing.

[Lady Bertrum]

Hillary looks like a man.

[Derpetologist]

More like a post-menopause Leslie Knope, or Emperor Palpatine after a sex change, or Leslie Knope and Emperor Palpatine combined together after being put in one of those teleporter booths from The Fly.

Yeah, it's definitely that last one.

[Lady Bertrum]

She looks like she has facial hair (shudder).

[Lady Bertrum]

And not that light downy facial hair some old women have, but dark curly pubic hair - on her face.

[Libertarian]

Was Hillary talking to herself to avoid reporters' questions?

http://www.breitbart.com/big-g.....ore-riots/

Someone earlier today on the comment boards said Hillary has one snafu per day. I'm beginning to think that estimate is low.

[Pro Libertate]

Well before the total scandalpalooza, I felt she committed too many gaffes to win the nomination, let alone have a chance in hell at the White House. She's really quite awful at politics.

[Libertarian]

We keep hearing about how "smart" she is, but I haven't seen any evidence of that, yet. (unless you consider the fact that she's got a shot at the White House despite her lack of good judgement as evidence)

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, she's shown no signs of great intelligence. Old Billy seems pretty intelligent, but his personal and professional corruption fucks that up, too.

[Warty]

Bits is bits

[Mad Scientist]

Penn's not looking too good in this video. I've never seen his brow so furrowed.

[Warty]

He deflated. It's not a good look.

[GILMORE]

yeah. Some people need to stay fat.

they think they'll live longer by slimming down? but they gets so stressed by the metabolic change they end up dying of cardiac arrest sooner anyway.

[Warty]

People lose a ton of muscle when they drop weight like this. Frailty might not be as bad for your health as obesity, but it's not good for you.

[Raven Nation]

Al Sharpton slimmed down was just weird.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He looks like Mr. Mackey.

[Agile Cyborg]

I knew an actual Mr. Mackey in high school in the 80's. And this story will likely never be repeated in real world now days.

Mr. Mackey HATED a huge white bully in late 1980's at Libbey High School. Blacks were running at 80% control but the rare powerful bigbull white rhino was respected and hated by 80's Toledo Crips n this school- dude was a rare white massive motherfucker that gangsters even feared... and I was a grade ahead of this white big boy... oddly the blacks hated and oddly feared this massive white boy and so. did.I. sort of. I was a powerful geek in high school. I worked out late at night in the hood in my friends dilapidated house for years... I was pure muscle geek in 1988. Pure fucking muscle... but apathetic and never furious. Only reactive. I sat in lunch that day as an 11th grader and this white rhino in the savanna decided to get frisky and start throwing around milk jugs. All over the fucking cafeteria in hood this motherfucking white ass motherfucking rhino went all africa on shit and my ass got up on the fucking table and I fucking pointed my motherfuking finger in his face and said if you keep fucking up my lunch I will kick your motherfucking ass and severely break every fucking bone in your goddamn body you rotten dick fuck!!! And he sat down in humiliation... and all the adults on the edges of the cafeteria smiled quietly and never bothered me ever.

[C. Anacreon]

Whenever I see Penn I think the suits he inevitably wears always look uncomfortable and itchy, like bad Sunday School clothes from childhood. Sometimes I even get a shiver imagining what it must feel like to have his suits on. I wonder if he's ever put on a t-shirt and sweat pants.

[Lady Bertrum]

They need to make sure their blood sugar is low regardless of weight.

high blood sugar = inflammation = heart attack

[The Real Jose]

"The Air Force has spent $50 million of that money so far, Hyten said, although how that money was used is unclear."

http://spacenews.com/u-s-air-f.....ent-effort

[Libertarian]

The DoD has been officially deemed "un-auditable." Nothing should surprise us.

[Pro Libertate]

Say, is that a Nazi salute? I didn't know she was a Nazi. She is from Illinois, so maybe I should've suspected it.

[Agile Cyborg]

This tip will not apply to many because all you motherfuckers are awesome muscle pods...

But, I invest considerable energy in fucking working out at least fucking 5 times per the 7. And I am admittedly struggle on the occashional months...

Seriously, man, over 35, fuckin hot wife, swinging ass bitches ... my 43 year old wife looks fucking 25 clothed or naked and I have a responsibility to work this white ass lump of fucking gangsta.... so I do this. I build this fucking muscle machine. I can pose some fucking muscle shit and I will crank some gangstahs... fo sho... most ya''ll niggas prob don wonna wrestle dis tight ass fly honkey...

but...slow down, niggas... slow down... this honkey gets a little lazy and tired on the occasionals and all... I don't have a genetic black brother body (my best friend who is white and has the best cocaine and mushrooms in Florida does and he's 48) though I will fuck like an original OG... But, too be fair I'd say us white middle-upper middle class white husbands with a couple of kids are the fucking pasty-ass motherfucking lazy ass irritated shits of the world who hate working out. I look good. I'd lick my ass and suk my cock and feel all over this altar of manhood but BUT.. this shit got lazy on the occasion...

[Agile Cyborg]

I found my well-to-do ass sitting on a lazy boy in the woods and flipping the ps4 console and be like fuck this shit let's stroke the fat cock off to midgets in the ferns... never found midgets in the ferns but a few months back I discovered a secret to making hot aging men of all races get excited about brutal weight lifting.... This is NOT for you horrible shitty gods of weights most of us know who weight lift like a hit of heroine or goddamn crack... Leave me be you fucking god of pump!!!!

So, I look reasonably good. Nice body. tight. Muscular. Knowing full well I need to clean off some love handles and shave fat off for the burger moons. But, I came across this technique one night when we had the kids watched by granma... and I'm outta my mancave and my blonde hot wife is exercising on the fucking bike and her ass is rippling so tight across the seat and her hair and I wandered over and slid her tights down off her ass and her back and ass and asshole beneath her blonde hair made my cock turn into a ironmaiden and she glanced back with eyelids heavy with corporate makeiup and said, "baby, you need to cum because you are distracting my thang"... and I smacked my fat naked cock on her ass floating over that fucking bike seat and my big-bang banged a cream puff of space cheese right on her bouncy mafia curves...

[Agile Cyborg]

So, if you can get past all those hills and valleys of what the fuck....turn the TV on, play the ps4, bring up Hamster.com type in hot girl exercising, take your clothes off. and get motherfucking doing push-ups and curls and flys with that hot russian babe sitting on that mat stretching out her pussy lips and ass cheeks and legs and get your motherfucking pasty ass white boy bodies tight as fuck, bitches.

[Agile Cyborg]

You brosupermans will get muscles in 3-5 months after this porn routine, bros. just saying... After months of pushing weights to naked girls my chest is the biggest its been since I was 22.... and my biceps.... You better bring some Baltimore Swat team....I will fuck you up, well up to a point... I never hurt people I love and I love everything reason and reason comment gods

[grrizzly]

Hockey?

*ducks*

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Turn in your Russian passport immediately.

[John]

When I was at GW, there was a black law professor whose name escapes me at the moment who claimed that since the police did such a horrible job protecting people in the inner city from crime, they had a constitutional right to arm themselves and form militias to protect themselves. That guy was awesome and would leave the Prog professors in stuttering shock.

[grrizzly]

I even subscribed to the NHL Gamecenter Live this season and the Bruins decided to miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The Kings are done, I fear.

The players keep getting into trouble. We have a wife beater and a candy raver now.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yeah, that's funny! However, there may be a grain of truth to it. Brain chemistry issues can be amplified by ingesting certain chemicals, so perhaps his psychosis is sensitive to sugars?

I'd be interested in a professional's opinion of his claims.

[Raven Nation]

This is why I have some sympathy for the early days of the Black Panthers and Stokely Carmichael in LA. No real policing, corrupt & racist PD. Do it yourself. Of course, it went sideways quickly and badly.

[Sudden]

Fuck that. Join the Blackhawks bandwagon instead. We have the horribly mutilated face of overweight Polish women. So we clearly focus more on hockey.

[jesse.in.mb]

I wonder if he can get Dan White's expert witnesses to speak for him.

[Rich]

a grain of truth to it

Paging Swiss ?.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Rufus joins in for the heck of it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Follower.

[thrakkorzog]

It makes sense if you consider that he would likely lose his job if he changed the letter after his name from D to R. Considering that Sheriffs should be apolitical, all things being equal he's better off calling himself a Democrat than a Republican.