Mystery Planes Above Baltimore, Unpredictable Elections in U.K., Unarmed Man Killed By Cop in Venice Beach: A.M. Links

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  Revolution: Still/Flickr

  Why are those mysterious planes flying above Baltimore?

• Brits are at the ballot box today. While no party is expected to win a majority of the vote, the Conservative Party is likely to "edge out Labour," according to Quartz, while "the anti-immigrant UKIP is likely to get thumped."
• Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says he saw no "extraordinary circumstances" to justify the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a police officer outside a Venice Beach bar on Tuesday night. The man, 29-year-old Brendon Glenn, later died at the hospital.
• Radley Balko: "This isn't 1968. Baltimore isn't Watts. And Hillary Clinton isn't Michael Dukakis."
• Several major tornadoes tore through the Plains states Wednesday night. So far no deaths have been reported, but major flooding and home damage has been seen. 
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is planning to bypass the state legislature in raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Brits are at the ballot box today.

Don't they have a queen or something?

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

She is not the subject of the election...

[gaijin]

^nice

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

We are not amused.

[Ted S.]

What do their millennials think?

[Injun, as in from India]

This election is to vote for throne sniffers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is planning to bypass the state legislature in raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers.

The touchscreen menu lobby got to him.

[Catatafish]

He's receiving legal advice from his brother.

[freespeechbutt]

We can only wish.

[gaijin]

a pen and phone...is there anything they cannot do?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Save an economy.

[Elspeth Flashman]

repeal punitive drug laws.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

Reclassify MJ as schedule II

[Rhywun]

What about non fast-food workers? Let them eat cake?

[Tonio]

Good point. This is clearly a wedge strategy. Once they change the MW for fast food workers they will predictably discover that raising wages for fast food workers (however they define those) just isn't fair to other workers.

[Rhywun]

I suppose it's possible they're using "fast food worker" as a stand-in for any minimum-wage earner. It wouldn't be the first time.

[wareagle]

why would anyone think that the democratic process requires something as gauche as a legislature.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm beginning to think that one-man executives are just too risky in political systems, because this kind of extra-constitutional crap (if that's what it is--assuming he lacks the legal authority to do this, which I don't know for a fact in this instance) is inevitable.

[Catatafish]

"Why are those mysterious planes flying above Baltimore?"

Chemtrails in da hood!

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

+1 Infowars, Urban edition.

[Tonio]

Tinfoil time!

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

Yeah! Check out my new foil fedora!

*preens*

[Pope Jimbo]

Sigh, you hipsters and your fedoras. First it was the new Hamburglar, now it is Swiss.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/0.....amburglar/

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

rabble rabble

[Tonio]

Oh, that's quite stylish.

[Injun, as in from India]

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is planning to bypass the state legislature in raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers.

Fast food companies, however, can get away with paying only seven dollars per hour. Like the New York SAFE act, you know.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why are those mysterious planes flying above Baltimore?

If people are smart it's a mass migration out.

[SusanM]

Another heroic blow against political correctness

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/p.....s-shrugged

[freespeechbutt]

And to think we used to play smear the queer.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Or cowboys and indians.

[Zombie Jimbo]

They seem a little butthurt about this.

[SusanM]

Ha

[Zombie Jimbo]

I was going for a narrowed gaze, but that was even better.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

*narrows gaze anyway*

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The game's creator, Randall Herman, a California based game developer and shoe promoter, is a self-described Christian. Herman launched a failed Kickstarter campaign in 2014 on behalf of a skateboarding shoe company with a mission statement that read, in part:

to promote the words and teachings of Jesus Christ through quality footwear.

You can't make this shit up.

[Rhywun]

And then he went to NY for dinner.

[wareagle]

hey, it takes comfortable shoes to preach the gospel. Just ask the Mormons. Although none of those guys ever looked comfortable with their shirts and ties, and bikes.

[Enough About Palin]

The fuck is a shoe promoter?

[Catatafish]

Well then.

[SugarFree]

Bright clothing, impractical footwear, travel in dense packs... Where's the challenge in hunting gay guys?

[Brett L]

For a challenge you hunt lesbians in sensible shoes. and earth toned plaids who shoot back.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

What kinda bait ya use?

[SugarFree]

The last known bottle of Zima.

[Lord Humungus]

I missed the SF humor. *checks pancreas is still working*

[Ted S.]

Zima: because zhit happens.

[Rhywun]

I liked Zima. ... What?

[SugarFree]

I never understood the market for it, because a half-pint of cheap vodka and a two-liter of Sprite was far cheaper.

[Rhywun]

Where I was they were practically giving it away - I recall it was a buck fifty a six-pack at one point.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Zima was a big fave for me. I think the year was 1994? I always liked gin and tonics, and this was the beer equivalent, to my taste buds.

[Pope Jimbo]

What about Redneck Rampage?

All you did there was kill rednecks. Was that some hate crime I need to atone for?

[SusanM]

I don't suppose that's much better - or worse, depending on how you look at it. What bothers me about stuff like this is when people like this get called the assholes they are pull this "Aw, man, it's just satire - you're just too PC to dig my groove, man" to make them seem cleverer than they are.

Offensive humor is an art few have mastered. Howard Stern, Sam Kinison, Mel Brooks, Parker Stone - to name just a few who come to mind - knew how to push boundaries and taboos and do so with wit and craft. It's pathetic, if nothing else, when used as an excuse for stupidity.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And Hillary Clinton isn't Michael Dukakis.

I want to see her drive a tank before I make a judgment.

[Jordan]

Dad Calls Cops on Son to Teach Him a Lesson, Cops Shoot Son Dead

A father's attempt to teach his son a lesson for taking his truck without permission ended in tragedy Monday after a local police officer shot the teenager dead.

James Comstock told the Des Moines Register he called the police on his son Tyler after the latter took the former's truck in retaliation for refusing to buy him cigarettes.

Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson reportedly spotted the lawn care company vehicle and pursued it onto the Iowa State University campus, where a brief standoff ensued after Tyler allegedly refused orders to turn off the engine.

McPherson eventually fired six shots into the truck, two of which struck Tyler who was later pronounced dead.

[gaijin]

Wasn't this story published last year?

[sarcasmic]

There's so many of these incidents it's hard to tell anymore.

[Jordan]

2013 actually. Odd, I didn't notice that.

[Catatafish]

My nuts had just healed from that story. Thanks a LOT, Jordan!

[Drake]

I bet the kid still hasn't stolen a thing since - so it worked.

[Monty Crisco]

lmfao

[Monty Crisco]

Also- THIS IS SOME WARMED OVER SHIT, JORDAN!!!

Make sure the meat you throw us is FRESH, goddamit!

[Tonio]

That's because you anti-cop bigots look for any excuse to tear down our working-class heroes who are the thin blue line between civil society and lawless chaos.

[Andrew S.]

15 years ago, when I was a nacent libertarian, I still would've thought that calling the cops on your kid to teach them a lesson was a good idea.

Now? It's pretty much the definition of child abuse, isn't it?

[sarcasmic]

More like attempted murder.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

Lessons were taught, firearm was discharged, fatality occurred.

[Jordan]

Going home safely was achieved.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

Always the key!

[Ted S.]

Never, ever, ever call the cops.

[straffinrun]

People denigrate security as wannabe cops. I'd call the wannabe before the is anyday.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Because of this policy, McPherson was under scrutiny when audio of the incident was released by news organizations. In the audio, a man who the audience assumed was a dispatch officer can be heard saying, "We know the suspect, so we can probably back it off."

The voice on the audio was not a dispatch officer.

Perhaps he should have been.

[Free Society]

The guy calls up the the most dangerous and unaccountable people that you can reach by phone, and has them chase down his son. Fuck him.

[KeithC]

Should've called J Walter Weatherman instead.

[PBR Streetgang]

Everybody learned an important lesson here.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

So when is des Moines going to explode in riots?

[Injun, as in from India]

Brits are at the ballot box today. While no party is expected to win a majority of the vote, the Conservative Party is likely to "edge out Labour," according to Quartz, while "the anti-immigrant UKIP is likely to get thumped."

Remember earlier presidential elections when British newspapers made fun of Americans for voting for "right wing" candidates. It's now our turn to make fun of them.

[Raven Nation]

Charlie Cooke had an interesting piece yesterday on the elections in Scotland. The polls are suggesting that the Scottish National Party may win all the seats in Scotland, taking them away from Labour. That's a huge political earthquake. It may also prevent the Labour Party from taking power as they have been pretty vocal about not forming a coalition with the SNP.

[UnCivilServant]

Also of note - UKIP is on track to get more votes than SNP, but get a tiny fraction of the number of seats because of the distribution of those voters.

[Injun, as in from India]

I was talking about this in particular - the Daily Mirror cover after the re-election of GWB in 2004. I did not support Bush, but it's not like Kerry would have been any better. But according to the Brits, voting for the turd muffin over the sh1t sandwich makes you "so DUMB".

[Raven Nation]

I got your original comment. I was just gloming off it to make a separate point about the British elections. I'm kind of like a thread parasite.

[Tonio]

Even if SNP doesn't win a majority, under the parliamentary system they'll be part of any governing coalition and there will be a price for that.

[Rhywun]

Surprise... it all boils down to Thatcher. They will sink their economy and impoverish generations so long as they can stick it to her.

[freespeechbutt]

Baltimore isn't Watts and Hillary isn't Michael Dukakis? Damn, they all look the same to me.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Damn, they all look the same to me.

RAYCISS!!1!1

[Fist of Etiquette]

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says he saw no "extraordinary circumstances" to justify the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a police officer...

So two weeks, NO PAY.

[Poppa Kilo]

Bad cop! No doughnut!

[Xeones]

Well, ok. ONE donut. But not one a those jelly-filled ones!

[Injun, as in from India]

^THIS. Sad but true.

[straffinrun]

Under ordinary circumstances? Good shoot.

[sarcasmic]

Murder charges against Freddie Gray cops may be DROPPED because police findings don't support the case, say officials
Baltimore City State Attorney charged six officers over death of Gray
Separate police probe of case says manslaughter is most serious crime
Defense lawyers are arguing that arrest for knife possession was legal
'If this case falls apart, will Baltimore burn?' one official asked

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

'I am determined not to allow a small handful of bad actors to tarnish the reputation of the overwhelming majority of police officers who are acting with honor and distinction,' she wrote in a letter to the new U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

Wait a minute. I thought the police said the officers did nothing wrong. So they're not a handful of bad actors. They're representative of the overwhelming majority of officers. Doesn't that mean they're all bad actors?

[gaijin]

'I am determined not to allow a small handful of bad actors...

So Mariska Hargety, Kent McCord, Erik Estrada, Steven Segal and Kevin James should apologize?

[Ted S.]

If there were only a "small handful of bad actors", the good actors would have drummed them out ages ago.

[some guy]

Exactly. Any officer who does not reject and call for the resignation of "bad" officers is also a bad officer. The blue wall of silence belies a lack of professionalism because transparency is a key element of professionalism.

[some guy]

Police did admit that they didn't get medical help for Grey quickly enough. That's about all they admit, though. Everything else from the arrest up to the severed spine was a-ok because FYTW.

[Tonio]

Murder charges against Freddie Gray cops may be DROPPED because police findings don't support the case, say officials

That didn't take very long. We all knew that was coming. Duly noted that they haven't been officially dropped, yet, but they are going to pre-announce that for several news cycles to minimize the chances of more rioting when it actually does occur.

[Rhywun]

police findings don't support

Police findings.

"You find anything, Joe?"
"Nope. Let's go get some donuts."

[Brett L]

From the "it must be Texas" files. 2 Republicans join 3 Dems in approving legal weed in committee . The most conservative aye vote said the following:
Simpson, a deeply conservative member supported by the tea party, sponsored the bill. In an opinion piece published last month, he explained that, "I don't believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix."

Somewhere Bill Hicks is smiling.

[Injun, as in from India]

God didn't make a mistake with gay men either. Will SoCons agree gradually over time?

[Brett L]

Yep. Another political generation at the most.

[Catatafish]

You've already made a logical leap for them, Injun. Most SoCons think people are gay by choice, not by Creator.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

(or would "cricket clap" be more appropriate?)

[sarcasmic]

How about a piccie of me! The animals who muscled in to make ordinary family snaps wildly funny

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....funny.html
I larfed.

[UnCivilServant]

Some of the mammals knew what they were doing, others - not so much.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

I cannot decide if the ray or the seal is the best one.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The mountain goat, you can almost read its thoughts. I believe it involves Steve Smith.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

"Ram Rape Leaves Photog Unfocused"

[Zombie Jimbo]

I love the Quokka, the Australian rodent. It is the only smiling animal in Australia that isn't trying to kill you.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

That is what you think! It is just distracting you with the smile while 7 or 8 of its buddies slip around behind you...

[Atanarjuat]

A very ugly mug-shot: Lauren Parker, 30, poses happily for a picture at San Diego Zoo

Ouch.

[SugarFree]

That moose is straight up drunk.

[Catatafish]

"Instances of 'photobombing' have soared among in recent years thanks to ever-present cameras and the ease of posting pictures online."

Ummmm...this clearly overlooks the possibility that animals have achieved a higher state of consciousness and we are currently taking pictures of OUR FUTURE MAMMAL OVERLORDS.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

Don't the moose already run Canada?

[UnCivilServant]

Not really, the Moose are merely muscle for the Beavers.

[sarcasmic]

America's oldest veteran celebrates his 109th birthday with milkshakes, cigars and whiskey, saying it's the booze that kept him going
Richard Overton, who served during World War II, turns 109 on Monday
Celebrated with an early party on Sunday in his backyard in Austin, Texas
Says the key to long life is an Irish coffee and 'staying out of trouble'

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

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

I say that we cannot take any chances on this being the solution to long life...so its Irish coffee for me, for the rest of my life!

[sarcasmic]

Clear toilet bowls, drawers that don't open and an Oval Office-themed bedroom: The ultimate interior design fails revealed
Spring is the time for people to start sprucing up their houses
Homeowners flock to DIY stores in anticipation of redecorating
But FEMAIL show you examples of homes that would be better left alone

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....ealed.html
See? This is why we need occupational licensing!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The clear toilet is for those that are proud of their movements.

[Ted S.]

I kind of like the idea of a clear toilet.

[UnCivilServant]

My first thought was that it would help diagnose clogs - though you'd have to be diligent about cleaning it because any stains are going to show.

[sarcasmic]

Six women who never thought they'd EVER wear swimwear collectively lose 22 STONE ahead of summer... and pose in their beachwear to celebrate
Weight Watchers invited six members to showcase results of new lifestyle
Six women hated their bodies and never wore swimsuits
Each of them feels like a new woman after losing weight

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....brate.html
If that's what they look like after they lost weight...

[freespeechbutt]

I hoping those are pictures of the weight they had lost.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

With that warning, I shan't be clicking that.

[Warty]

Kids interview bands. These are incredible.

[TwB]

Man, Violent J has really let himself go. Not that he was ever fit per say, but still.

[Lord Humungus]

The south will rise again, apparently on prom night: The giant parenting fail behind this viral flag-waving photo

As Fox 31 in Denver first reported, when a photograph of a group of local prom-goers showed up in the Facebook feed of local CU Boulder student Mairenn Digeorge, she was stunned at the image ? five teen females and three males posing with rifles and surrounding a large Confederate flag. The caption was, "The south will rise again." While reporter Chris Jose notes that the photo depicted no law-breaking, the wisdom of flaunting a message with such racist and threatening implications, surrounded by guns, is questionable to say the least.

But one of the parents of the kids in the photo was surprised about the picture too. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said, "When he got out there he was surprised that guns were brought out and the Confederate flag was brought out. There were other parents there fully supporting it and taking pictures." She added, "I think in their immaturity they kind of think it is a cowboy thing, but to have parents feed into it and support it is really upsetting to me."

[Ted S.]

The academia types like to claim art should be transgressive. But look what happens when it transgresses against them.

[Pro Libertate]

Perhaps they should view it as Confederacy Chic, like all of the communist stuff they feel nostalgic for.

[Rhywun]

But one of the parents of the kids in the photo was surprised about the picture too.

Doesn't matter. The guilt must be purged, three generations up and three generations down.

[Lord Humungus]

Police: Anne Arundel County police officer bites man's testicles

An Anne Arundel County police officer faces an assault charge after he bit another man's testicles in a fight over a woman on Cinco de Mayo, according to charging documents released by police Wednesday.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

"Mr. Flaig had blood shot eyes, slurred words and a strong odor of (alcohol) coming from his person," charging documents stated.

I love that. To be clear, the strong odor coming from his mouth was alcohol, not balls.

[Catatafish]

Fireballs?

[Catatafish]

*ducks*

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

*Flings empty whisky bottle*

[Catatafish]

*cries fishy tears at bottle's emptiness*

[Rhywun]

I think he has to eat the giant mushroom first.

[Brett L]

I mean, teabagging a cop is definitely worth it.

[Lord Humungus]

Goodbye to all that: Hillary ditches the caution that helped doom her 2008 campaign

There's also an obvious political calculation: in 2016, Clinton will be less worried about reassuring and winning over skeptical white working class voters than in 2008. That's because she's no longer trying to reassemble the (Bill) Clinton coalition, but hold together and expand the Obama coalition. She hopes years from now people will call it the Hillary coalition.

I wrote yesterday that Clinton's mass incarceration speech, plus her immigration stand, told me that she'd rejected the wisdom of advisors who'd theorized that she could "expand the map" in 2016 by winning working class whites, especially in places like Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri. It was widely dismissed as a pipe dream, and her moves on immigration and criminal justice show that she agrees: She's not going to pander to white voters with cautious stands on immigration and crime.

Her earlier embrace of gay marriage was a sign she knew Democrats had won the culture wars, and that she shouldn't worry about reassuring older white evangelical voters she shared their notion of family values. She's now making the same move on immigration and criminal justice.

[SugarFree]

The first American citizen that Hillary Clinton will order killed in a drone strike has already been born.

[Citizen Nothing]

Nice.

[straffinrun]

She's pro life, so maybe not technically born yet.

[Steve G]

...and the first American citizen that Chelsea Clinton will order killed??

[creech]

Obviously, her handlers have sat down with an state electoral chart and figured out there is a huge number of electoral votes that will go to Hillary even if she pulled up her dress during the debates and revealed a hammer and sickle tattoo on her belly. Then there are more than enough purple states where voters won't care about tattoos as long as they get the free shit Hillary promises them.

[crab_apple]

So, when the candidates basically admit that they have no principles and are saying whatever the fuck they think people want to hear, why is it that we are surprised when they do none of that or the opposite of what they said they would do once they are elected?

She doesn't believe in immigration, she doesn't believe in gay rights, she doesn't believe in any of the fucking shit she says. The only thing she believes in is that she deserves to rule over all of us.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Universal theme parks planning to introduce Nintendo characters and attractions

Want to play a life-sized version of Mario Kart? Universal Studios may soon make it possible.

Nintendo and Universal Parks & Resorts are working to create new attractions featuring Nintendo games and characters, the two companies announced Thursday. That could bring characters such as Mario, Link and Donkey Kong to theme parks including Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, as well as Universal Studio parks in Japan and Singapore.

The news is only the latest sign that Nintendo is looking to expand revenue-generating opportunities from its creative portfolio. Two months ago, Nintendo announced its first plans to make games for smartphones and tablets in a deal with Japanese mobile game maker DeNA Co.

Also on Thursday, Nintendo reported that it turned a profit for its fiscal year that ended in March ? its first in four years. Still, the company attributed the results in part to the weak yen.

I'd love to take out someone in first place with an actual blue koopa shell!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I feel the urge to bust out my N64 now.

[Jordan]

I think Nintendo is going to go the way of Sega in a few years. They've just dropped the ball too many times recently. They're announcement of jumping into mobile development only further solidifies that in my mind.

[TwB]

Agreed. The game cube fucked them first, then they had a bit of a resurgence w/ the Wii but the Wii U has not done so hot at all, at least here in the states. It seems like Nintendo will become just another game developer w/out an actual console to sell.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The game cube was pretty solid and the controller was good. Releasing it with no big games and the mini discs which third party developers wanted no part of, was really stupid.

[Rhywun]

They're just not releasing enough of their top-selling titles - something like 2 or 3 years into the Wii U and still no Zelda or Metroid title? WTF.

Oh, and way too much focus on mobile shit.

[Mock-star]

Slate wrote a hit piece, full of herpity derp, on Bernie Sanders.

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....l_for.html

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Of course they zero in on the one issue Sanders is good on.

None of these views are particularly shocking for a Vermont representative: Sanders' deep-blue state has both high gun ownership and incredibly lax gun laws, and it's perfectly logical for the senator to support his constituents' firearms enthusiasm. And a close friend of Sanders once said that the senator "thinks there's an elitism in the anti-gun movement."

You don't say? Weird how he recognizes that about gun control but not about....everything else he believes in with government controlling every economic decision in your life.

[Warty]

Incredibly?

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

They forgot that Vermont (with high gun ownership and incredibly lax gun laws) has one of the lowest murder rates in the country.

It's almost like, stay with me here, access to firearms is not a major guiding factor when it comes to crime rate.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Holy fuck, they're running a hit piece on Sanders because he's not leftist enough on gun control?!?!

I especially love all the pro-Bernie Sanders posts in the comments by conservatives saying things like "Well, I guess Sanders isn't totally bad! He's at least right on this one."

I don't think the article had quite the effect the writer intended.

[Tonio]

Yep. Enjoy the spectacle of the left eating itself. [passes popcorn to Irish]

[Ted S.]

I think it's just conservatives tweaking the lefties who read Slate.

[Heedless]

Yeah, it's the equivalent of all the lefty love for McCain, right up until he was a serious political threat.

[Lord Humungus]

probably covered while I was gone but hey...

Obama Administration: Times Square's Iconic Billboards Must Be Removed Or Else

"We're going to let outsiders who sit in a cramped room and have nothing to do with our city as far as partaking in it on an everyday basis change something that means something to the whole entire world? That makes total sense, just like everything else the federal government does," said Keith Watson of Flushing.

The edict comes from a 2012 law that makes Times Square an arterial route to the national highway system. And that puts it under the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, which limits signs to 1,200 square feet. It took the feds until now to realize that Times Square was included, Kramer reported.

"I love the signs. I think they're just fantastic and they're a part of New York. It would be really, really bad for New York if they were down," Midtown resident Fran Weisfeld said.

[UnCivilServant]

That law is bullshit, you can't drive highway speeds through Times Square - there's simply too much crap in the way. There's no way it can be an 'arterial'.

[Tonio]

Lots of arterial (under that definition) highways are not high speed. Try taking US Route 1 through most east coast cities; stoplights every block.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hey, if that ditch in my backyard is a navigable waterway under the jurisdiction of the EPA, then Times Square is a highway.

[Tonio]

Not under EPA jurisdiction because "navigable" but because "wetland" I believe. But you do raise an interesting point about original intent versus living law. Back in the day "navigable" meant navigable for things like canoes, rowboats and batteaux which were the majority of boats at the time. They were working boats and people used them for transport, and for fishing. Today, those are all recreational uses but the canoe and kayak community benefit from those waters being designated navigable which gives us right of passage on those waters, often to the inconvenience of the owners of adjacent lands.

That "navigable waters" thing may even pre-date colonial law, and be a feature of Common Law. Anyone?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Here's the EPA Clean Water Act jurisdiction guidelines. It's connected to a navigable waterway. The second guideline is so broad that technically my urine stream is federally regulated.

Clarification that small streams and streams that flow part of the year are protected under the Clean Water Act if they have a physical, chemical or biological connection to larger bodies of water downstream and could affect the integrity of those downstream waters. Agencies would be able to evaluate groups of waters holistically rather than the current, piecemeal, stream-by-stream analysis.

Acknowledgment that when a water body does not have a surface connection to an interstate water or a traditional navigable water, but there is a significant physical, chemical or biological connection between the two, both waterbodies should be protected under the Clean Water Act.

Recognition that waterbodies may be "traditional navigable waters," and subject to Clean Water Act protections, under a wider range of circumstances than identified in previous guidance.

Clarification that interstate waters (crossing state borders) are protected.

[Tonio]

Thanks, Scruffy. That's disturbing in its broadness.

[Tonio]

Thanks, Lady Bird Johnson (Mrs LBJ) for the HBA. But this is going to set up a lovely fight between the preservationists and sign owners vs. the anti-billboard people and mindless statists.

[orders more popcorn]

[Rhywun]

Here's a better article.

I'm still searching for which highway route Broadway is supposedly part of. US 9 goes down Broadway but it heads into NJ far north of Midtown. Otherwise... they're making shit up again.

[Lord Humungus]

The Bankruptcy of Republican Thought
Democrats have a legitimate economic agenda. The GOP has ... repeal Obamacare?

Myerson is right that the Democrats, including liberal heartthrob Elizabeth Warren, don't have all the answers. But the CAP report shows that the left is not bereft of ideas to address rising income inequality, which include raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing paid sick leave and vacation time, and expanding the EITC. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute projects that raising the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020, which Senator Patty Murray and Representative Bobby Scott proposed last week (and Obama supports), would boost the wages of 31 million Americans, more than a quarter of the workforce. President Barack Obama has included many of those policies in his "middle class economics" agenda, even though some are more likely to help the poor. But the CAP report does include distinctly middle-class proposals such as universal pre-k, principal reduction for underwater homeowners, and income-based repayment to make it easier for college graduates to pay back their student loans.

[Pro Libertate]

Giving away more shit you can't pay for is not an "economic agenda." It's theft and fraud.

[Dark Lord of the Cis]

Does UKIP have any positions other than anti immigration?

[Brett L]

UK out of EU?

[UnCivilServant]

They have a full party platform, most of which (except the 'save the NHS') are actually fairly good.

[Brett L]

I imagine the NHS in the UK is like Social Security in the US. Impossible to fix, but impossible to kill.

[UnCivilServant]

The difference is, the NHS is killing Brits, while SS is merely robbing us.

[straffinrun]

If somethings gonna fall anyways, give it a push.

[Tonio]

+1 Scout Leader

[Drake]

Is that a bug or a feature?

[Lord Humungus]

there's this thing called the internet...
http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015

[UnCivilServant]

They set the PDF to full page scrolling, so my mouse wheel skipped five screens trying to get to page two. I had to go to the effort of clicking a button to switch to continuous scroll, I can no longer support them.

*scoff*

[UnCivilServant]

More seriously on the first few real policy points I see some positive entries:

By the end of the next parliament, UKIP will:
? Raise the personal allowance to at least ?13,000 so people can earn enough money
to cover their basic living costs before the state starts to take income tax out of their
pay packets. This will take those on minimum wage out of tax altogether
? Abolish inheritance tax. Assets bought out of taxed income should not be taxed
again when their owners die. We will strike out the hated 'death tax.' It hits the middle
classes hardest, those who have worked to provide for their dependents, because the
wealthiest almost always manage to avoid paying it
? Raise the threshold for paying 40 per cent income tax to ?55,000 and introduce a
new intermediate tax rate of 30 per cent on incomes ranging between ?43,500 and
?55,000. A tax originally designed for high earners should not be levied on middleincome
earners such as school teachers and senior nurses
? Increase the transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners
to ?1,500.

[UnCivilServant]

Then they turn around and whine about 'corporate tax dodging'. sheesh.

[Andrew S.]

They have some good points, though they are indeed terribly anti-immigrant and xenophobic.

Though at least they're better than George Galloway's party, which is apparently doing this: http://www.politico.eu/article.....k-ge2015/. Surprisingly, I haven't seen anything about their intolerance in the larger media.

[UnCivilServant]

The same larger media that isn't even pretending to be unbiased?

http://www.breitbart.com/big-j.....g-to-them/

[Lord Humungus]

Wary of bond 'cliff,' Fed plans cautious cuts to portfolio

The Federal Reserve is sketching out plans to prevent an abrupt contraction in its massive balance sheet next year, when some $500 billion in bonds expire and risk disrupting markets and the U.S. economic recovery.

Though it ended a stimulative asset-purchase program last October, the Fed is still buying mortgage and Treasury bonds to replenish its $4.5-trillion portfolio as holdings mature. The central bank has said it will keep reinvesting until some time after it begins raising interest rates later this year.

Asked publicly and privately about the longer-term strategy, Fed policymakers say they are in no rush to shrink the portfolio, suggesting they will seek to avoid a "cliff" - a disruptive end to reinvestments that might come if bonds are simply allowed to run off through maturity or prepayment.

[straffinrun]

The Fed doesn't want to disrupt markets? I had to stretch my uvula through the gap in my front teeth to keep from choking on my own gag reflex. BTW, welcome back, Lord.

[TwB]

I don't think the Fed will raise interest rates this year. I think they are too spooked about what's going to happen w/ Greece over the next few months. But should the Fed raise interest rates? Hell yes, but only about 25 or 50 basis points at first. Interest rates cannot stay at zero forever and the Fed knows it. The Fed can QE all it wants to but at some point, the stock market will have an adjustment and take a small dive. When it will happen is anybody's guess at this point.

[straffinrun]

Would you tell a crack addict to cut it down from 20 rocks a day to 19 at first and then see how it goes?

[Lord Humungus]

ISIS Is Running a 5-Star Hotel in Iraq

No doubt if you motor there from Baghdad or Erbil, braving frontlines, dodging airstrikes, navigating Shia militias, and talking your way through checkpoints manned by crazed abduction-minded jihadis, you should find a warm welcome with open?or possibly cocked?arms at this five-star palace in Iraq's bustling, second-largest city.

In the absurdist determination to establish a modern caliphate, to fashion an earthly jannah (paradise) for those making the hajj to the Islamic State, the local jihadi ministry of propaganda has announced it has re-opened the Ninawa International.

Back in June 2013, the 265-room hotel with swimming pool and bowling alley was described by a visitor on TripAdvisor as an "amazing 5-stars hotel with affordable room rate" where you can enjoy the luxury life.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

"Iraq's bustling, second-largest city"

*al-Basrah looks up, shrugs, goes back about its business*

[Lord Humungus]

Scientists identify new species of penis worm

Let's get this out of the way first: The penis worms are a group of marine invertebrates named for their penislike shape. All species of the tubular animals, which can reach lengths of 39 cm, have an extensible mouth called a proboscis that is lined with sharp hooks, teeth, and spines. Some species still exist today, but during the Cambrian period, about 500 million years ago, they were among the most common organisms on the planet, and are preserved en masse in the Burgess Shale?a famous deposit of fossils in the Canadian Rockies.

[Catatafish]

Is that...Warty's dick?

[SugarFree]

Well, it does have a handle...

[Tonio]

Best not to think about that, Catatafish.

[SugarFree]

It looks like the cesta for a horrifyingly erotic round of jai alai.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Again with the blaming of Canada.

[Bobarian (sexbot hand model)]

which can reach lengths of 39 cm, have an extensible mouth called a proboscis that is lined with sharp hooks, teeth, and spines.

Warty envy?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Emeryville, California to become city with highest minimum wage in the country

Emeryville, a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area, has given initial approval to the nation's highest minimum wage by setting baseline pay at $16 an hour in 2019, with gradual increases leading up to that level.

The 5-0 vote on Tuesday by the city council in Emeryville, a community of about 10,000 residents, follows moves by several major U.S. cities to sharply raise their minimum wages.

The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009. Labor and religious groups have despaired of wringing an increase from the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress and have instead pressed local governments in liberal-leaning areas to enact their own increases.

The Emeryville proposal faces a final approval vote on May 19. It would take effect on July 1, when the minimum wage would rise to $14.44 an hour for businesses with at least 55 workers and $12.25 for smaller companies, city documents show.

It would increase gradually every year until it reaches $16 for all businesses in 2019.

"Just as our workers are creative enough to make a living off of minimum wage and support their families, I think our businesses will be creative enough to make it work and we'll all lift up together," Emeryville City Councilwoman Dianne Martinez said at the meeting on Tuesday.

Yeah, it'll be magical.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I think our businesses will be creative enough to make it work

Oh, just wait and see.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

A moving van is "creative"???

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

By 2019 Emeryville will be the first city in the nation to have fully automated fast food counters and grocery store checkouts.

[Tonio]

For the few businesses that stay there, that is. The proggies will achieve their dream of a Walmart- and fast-food-free utopia.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Sort the comments by social ranking and weep:

David Fuller ? Top Commenter
Conservatives have been telling us for years that increases to the minimum wage will kill jobs and produce inflation. And every time it is raised, here is what actually happens: workers have more money, they spend more, the economy gets a boost, inflation is modest, and tax revenue increases along with it.

Basically, everyone wins, and the sky never falls. The B.S. about "trickle down" has been proven false by the fact 99% of wage increases have all floated magically to the 0.1%, and not the rest of us. Why? Trickle down IS bull****.

Raise minimum wages in as many local and state levels as possible, and watch those areas do better economically.

These people are mind-numbingly stupid and yet so smug about it.

Paul Mason ? Top Commenter ? Seattle, Washington
If you can't do it, you should go out of business. Buh - bye.

I think inevitably that's going to become the mainstream rhetoric of this movement. Which will be awesome.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Wow, that David Fuller guy is an absolute moron. I'd like him to point to one instance where raising the minimum wage did literally any of the things he's claiming it did. He provides no evidence for his assertion.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

He seems to think that because raising it a quarter every decade hasn't caused the economy to crash, doubling it within a few year period likewise won't have any effect.

I mean if they want to be honest like the last person and flat out say that they're fine with killing businesses that don't "deserve" to stay open because they can't pay the living wage, fine.

But right now they're stuck on the fantasy that raising the wages will have zero negative effects or present any kind of trade-offs.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

Especially laughable given that there are countries like, for example, Venezuela where they raise the minimum wage annually and it hasn't particularly worked out for them.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

As long as inflation outpaces the hikes the effects will be minimized. Our financial system is so dependent on mild inflation that any alteration to the system would be traumatic when a little bit of deflation would benefit low paid workers. It's a system that the Keynesians devised and it is going to be impossible to exit it without disaster.

[crab_apple]

They are such cowards - it's obvious they don't believe their own bullshit or else they would make the minimum wage with all of its magical good effective immediately. Also, why a different rate for businesses of different sizes? Are they saying that some businesses might have difficulty paying for the hike? But I thought those businesses shouldn't be allowed to exist!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'I think our businesses will be creative enough to make it work'

I'm sure they will.

[crab_apple]

Why wait? Why not make it effective now?

[Lord Humungus]

MSNBC Pundit Makes Racial Remark About Ben Carson That She'd Probably Never Say About Obama

On MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," pundit Michelle Bernard threw a verbal haymaker at Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson:

"?it is so surprising, particularly coming from Ben Carson?he drank the Kool-Aid. Ben Carson is Horatio Alger?conservatives said 'We love you,' and he thought 'Oh, they love me. So now I'll just say everything negative I can about Barack Obama.' It's horrible."

Bernard went on to say:

"?People are going to say 'Who is the real Ben Carson?' The person who probably went to Yale and the University of Michigan for medical school because of affirmative action and because of social problems, and didn't end up like many of the black men we see in prison today in Baltimore?where he came from?because of these same social problems."

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

The affirmative action comment is especially horrible because Carson is one of the most respected surgeons in the country.

[TwB]

Jesus fucking Christ. Not than I'm all for Ben Carson but my god woman, you think he got into Yale and UM just because of affirmative action? And not because he's insanely smart and worked his ass off to get to where he is?

[UnCivilServant]

She doesn't believe people from "underpriviledged" groups capable of achieving anything on their own, otherwise she wouldn't have been cleared to be a pundit on MSNBC.

[Tonio]

+1 Bigotry of Low Expectations

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Several major tornadoes tore through the Plains states Wednesday night. So far no deaths have been reported, but major flooding and home damage has been seen.

And the tolerant, loving left predictably chimes in.

[Injun, as in from India]

I've been on the receiving end of leftist tolerance myself, for daring to challenge their preconceived notions about economic interventionism and especially socialism. I just stopped talking politics with most people because there is no point.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Talking politics with leftists is like watching The View for the high level of discourse.

[crab_apple]

Nope, nope, nope. I will not engage. *grumbles and gets back to work*

[sloopyinTEXAS]

When a judge says what this officer did was reasonable after his victim's wife called 911 because he was acting strange, we are pretty much fucked as a society.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Alexander said King, a 20-year veteran, had extensive training on recognizing mental illness and medical emergencies and acted according to that training.

Extensive training: Shoot the fucker

[Andrew S.]

Always nice to see my hometown in the news!

And my mother wonders why I'm teaching my daughter not to trust police officers around here.

[Pope Jimbo]

Honeywell is getting some legal flack from its employees over the new wellness programs they've instituted.

The EEOC said that ?Honeywell's new program creates up to $4,000 in penalties for employees unless they and their spouses take blood and medical tests that can identify smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and other health problems. They include the loss of $1,500 in company contributions to health ?savings accounts, a $500 medical plan surcharge, a $1,000 tobacco surcharge and a $1,000 ?spousal tobacco surcharge.

http://www.startribune.com/gov.....280726482/

Since they are a private company they are free to do what they want. I'd be interested to know if they start losing employees who frown on being subjected to intrusive tests.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Number 1: You should not be receiving health insurance from your employer.

Number 2: You should not be receiving health insurance from your employer.

It is a system that is guaranteed to create perverse incentives and reduce labor mobility.

[Pope Jimbo]

Totally agree Scruffy. If you just bought health insurance like car insurance, I'm sure there would be companies that offered low policies for people willing to undergo random testing. I'm sure there would also be companies that just gave you a policy and that was it.

Similar to the way there are a few car insurance companies that will give you lower rates if you put in a black box to monitor your driving habits.

I think that Honeywell is going to lose some employees over this, but I see where they are coming from. I'm sure that they are looking at their premiums and want to do whatever they can to lower them.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The health insurance system we have is an artifact of tax policy. It has absolutely nothing to do with how to best deliver the product.

[Injun, as in from India]

And yet, the left will be thrilled at such intrusive tests done by the government under the guise of single payer healthcare.

The road to serfdom is paved with good intentions and cheery smiles.

[Lord Humungus]

My company - in addition to the newly added random nicotine/drug testings - has health credits where you can get an extra $3 per week if you belong to a gym, get a physical, sign a no tobacco pledge, etc. I see the Honeywell penalties as the logical extension of this train of thought.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm back... and not very rested.

South Carolina was great - hung out on the beach, rode/drove around in a Mustang convertible, ate some great ($$) food, went to Fort Sumter, visited the Yorktown CV-10 aircraft carrier, did a bunch of shopping - the wife liked the Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores *kaff*, visited the Charleston museum, and got to go through my favorite graveyard in the world.
http://static.panoramio.com/ph.....290045.jpg

And then we returned, where I flew off to Washington DC to a software conference. Highlight was the trip to the Smithsonian air museum which the hosting company had rented out with plenty of food/booze. Did the flight simulator with the best-looking gal in my company where she laughed and screamed while I did too many barrel rolls.

Takeaways: I still hate going through TSA. The Charleston Airport is a dump right now. In a week I saw more interracial couples in SC than I do here in Michigan in a year. And there's no place like home.

[TwB]

If you fly even a handful of times each year, I recommend getting the TSA pre check clearance. Totally worth it. Short lines, you don't have to take off your belt/shoes, etc.

[Lord Humungus]

Oddly enough my wife, who never flies, got pre-checked on our way out to SC. But my son and I didn't. On the way back home, we were all pre-checked.

And then going to DC and back I wasn't pre-checked. Don't quite understand the system there,

Thankfully I only have to fly once in awhile. It isn't the airplanes I hate, but the hours of waiting. Esp living in a mid-sized city where there aren't many direct flights.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

In a week I saw more interracial couples in SC than I do here in Michigan in a year.

This is unpossible. Shriek has personally assured us that SC is just as much of a racially divided hell hole as Ballmer, and Botard the Hotard corroborated his observation.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

If none of you followed the Natasha McKenna case, you should start.

Here's the latest insane development. This is just a travesty.

[Catatafish]

You may have linked to the Abel Martinez case again, Sloop.

[Andrew S.]

Wrong link, sloopy.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Sorry, guys.

Here you go: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....0481406348

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Background: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

The whole thing started when she called 911 to report that she had been assaulted. So they arrest her and torture her to death.

[Catatafish]

"The medical examiner's report as quoted by police did not define "excited delirium." An abstract of a 2011 medical journal article said characteristics of the term include acute distress and sudden death. The description said the term is sometimes associated with death in law enforcement custody."

Of all the deliriums one can have, this must be the worst.

I mean, Jesus Christ, you have someone cuffed and shackled already. How is using a stun gun on them anything but the very definition of sadism?

[Pope Jimbo]

I read that in the same voice as "We only need one pin Rodney"

https://youtube.com/watch?v=J6SBtg9VQ9M&t=44

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The Daily Show mocks Cruz and Rubio as "WASPs" of Latino world

Adressing Hispanic outreach in the upcoming presidential election, the Daily Show's Senior Hispanic Correspondent, Al Madrigal, passed over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's overtures to the Latino community while promoting GOP's greatest Hispanic asset: Jeb (pronounced "Yeb") Bush.

While host Jon Stewart expressed a belief that Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio would be the party's ace in the hole with the Latino community, Madrigal dismissed them out of hand.

"Eh. I guess those guys are technically Latinos," Madrigal explained. "I mean there is a lot more to being Latino then just being Latino. Mainly because they're Cuban. Really a small, and I gotta be honest, snooty subset. They're like the WASP's of the Latino world."

Madrigal then pointed out that Cruz "is actually from Canada."

Ha ha ha, that's some hilarious prog racism right there. It'll be a glorious day indeed when the race baiting blows up their smug, punchable faces.

[Injun, as in from India]

Obama is technically half-black, but I digress...

[Tonio]

How dare they be successful and non-victimy?

[Doctor Whom]

When people stray from the herd, explain them away with a no-true-Scotsman. I've received this treatment a few times.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh my God. The comments.

[Tonio]

Puerto Rico's Government-owned electrical utility PREPA gives away lots of electricity, wonders why it keeps losing money. Residential rate-payers angered at having to subsidize others.

But only some of the customers are paying. Nearly a third of PREPA's accounts receive subsidized rates that require them to pay little or nothing. That includes many large users. City governments and hotels are officially exempt from paying.

Maeso says others, including the schools and the island's train system, simply don't pay. The rest of PREPA's customers pick up the tab.

[Swiss Servator, Switzier!]

"Prepays" .... heh.

[Tonio]

I think it's more like "pray paas"

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I can't put my finger on it, but I'm pretty sure this is racist against Orientals.

[Mike M.]

Don't you know that the word "Oriental" is racist, and also betrays a pro-Occidental bias? Time for your re-education.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Time for your re-education.

::sigh:: What time do I need to show up for orientation?

[Citizen Nothing]

Also, Dude, "Chinaman" is not the preferred nomenclature.

[Private FUQ]

I'm guessing "slant eye" is off the table as well?

[Xeones]

THE CHINAMAN IS NOT THE ISSUE.

[The DerpRider]

Welcome to being part of Detroit's water and electric system. Rates go up explicitly for people who can pay because others cannot.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's the shoplifting premium

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Can a few of the pedants give a ruling here? IS it considered a use of the passive voice when a police officer is charged with "accepting sexual favors from a minor in exchange for not filing drug charges against her" instead of the more active "he forcibly raped her under color of law"?

Just curious.

[Warty]

It's not using the passive voice, but it is, you know, just slightly lying.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I just hope this is a recap of the story I posted about the same thing a few weeks ago. But I'm pretty sure that rapist piece of shit acceptor of sexual gratuities in lieu of criminal charges was from Illinois.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

The Romans fucking overthrew their monarch over this bullshit. We probably won't even see a peep from the locals here...

[Elspeth Flashman]

Passive voice? yes, or as close as you can get to it.

[Xeones]

Passive voice was achieved.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I wonder if this officer will still get his pension. After all, since he only got 20-33 months SUSPENDED for multiple counts of sexual assault agaimst 13 year olds, they ought to let him keep getting paid by the taxpayers as an additional "FUCK YOU".

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: deep thoughts...from Salon headlines

1. Nightmare libertarian project turns country into the murder capital of the world

2. Rand Paul's dystopian America: 6 things to know about the war-mongering, faux libertarian

3. Fight Back! Quick answers to shoot down libertarian propaganda

4. Libertarianism is for petulant children: Ayn Rand, Rand Paul and the movement's sad "rebellion"

5. What would the Founding Fathers have thought about our libertarian crazies?

6. Why it doesn't matter that the Kochs are social liberals

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Probably 2. They've mocked his dovishness from the left as "unrealistic" in the past.

[Elspeth Flashman]

#1.

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

As a possibly deranged Salon connoisseur, I actually remember number 1 because it's about Honduras. 3-6 sound like every Salon headline ever. I'm guessing 2 because they wouldn't call Rand Paul a 'faux-libertarian' since libertarian is the worst thing they can think of.

[Catatafish]

2. I don't know if Salon has jumped the shark yet with Rand by calling him "war-mongering." They never cease to amaze though.

[straffinrun]

2.

[Derpetologist]

#3 is the Not.

[sad trombone]

6 is my favorite. You see, it doesn't matter that the Kochs support gay marriage and ending the drug war because they give money to people like Scott Walker.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Eh. I guess those guys are technically Latinos," Madrigal explained. "I mean there is a lot more to being Latino then just being Latino.

Yeah, you gotta be a Democrat, amirite?

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: deep thoughts...from critics of libertarians

1. He always pictured himself a libertarian, which to my way of thinking means "I want the liberty to grow rich and you can have the liberty to starve".

2. I am hard put to find something to say to people who still think libertarianism has something to do with liberty. A libertarian is just a Republican who takes drugs.

3. One of the more pretentious political self-descriptions is "Libertarian." People think it puts them above the fray. It sounds fashionable, and to the uninitiated, faintly dangerous. Actually, it's just one more bullshit political philosophy.

4. Free spirits, the ambitious, ex-socialists, drug users, and sexual eccentrics often find an attractive political philosophy in libertarianism, the idea that individual freedom should be the sole rule of ethics and government.

5. What is corrupting government is the libertarian notion that if you have a lot of money, you should be able to buy politicians. If you have a lot of money, you should be able to buy public opinion. If you have a lot of money, you should be able to buy up all your competition and put them out of business. That's what's corrupting this government.

6. Libertarianism is just noxious stew of racism, crackpot economics, and juvenile rebellion. They read Ayn Rand books as teenagers and get brainwashed into worshipping greed and themselves. A trip to Somalia would cure them of their delusions.

[Andrew S.]

I'll go with #4. It's the least condescending. The rest are probably from Salon articles.

[Tonio]

They don't care about being condescending, or about being accurate. They're not trying to win us over, but to use us as bogeymen. We are their Emmanuel Goldstein.

[Catatafish]

I want to say 5 because that seems to be more in line with GOP criticism. Then again, this is just a more wordy "KOCHTOPUS."

[Derpetologist]

The speakers in order are: Isaace Asimov, Bob Black, George Carlin, Robert Locke, Thom Hartmann, and me.

Bob Black is a real nut. He wrote a book calling for the abolition of work, which to me sounds about as likely as abolishing money.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

BREAKING: Federal appeals court rules NSA phone program illegal

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday the National Security Agency's controversial collection of millions of Americans' phone records isn't authorized by the Patriot Act, as the Bush and Obama administrations have long maintained.

The ruling by the three-judge panel in New York comes at a delicate point in the national debate over government surveillance, as Section 215 of the Patriot Act is due to expire next month and lawmakers are haggling about whether to renew it, modify it, or let it die.

The court's ruling came in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union arguing the data collection should be stopped because it violates Americans' privacy rights. A lower court judge ruled the program was constitutional, and the civil liberties group appealed, leading to Thursday's decision.

"The text of (Section 215) cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and...does not authorize the telephone metadata program,'' the court wrote.

The court declined to address the issue of whether the program violates Americans' rights, because, they found, it was never properly authorized by existing law.

Yay!

[Old Man With Candy]

A decision certain to be ignored. How many divisions does the appeals court have?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

So they "modify" the law by changing one word in the text and then continue the entire program unimpeded and let somebody go through the years-long process of challenging it.

Wash-rinse-repeat forever.

[Old Man With Candy]

Don't know if anyone posted this already, but I (in my sick way) chuckled at this remake of The Dianne Linkletter Story.

The Dangers of Drugs

[Warty]

Here's a cheery headline for a beautiful morning. Man shot dead on Cleveland's West Side was wanted for sledgehammer attack

[sloopyinTEXAS]

If they shot you dead, how are YOU AROUND TO WRITE THIS COMMENT??!?!?!?!?!

Mind. Blown.

[SugarFree]

He merely molested the sledgehammer; it was attacked in a separate incident.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Actually, he accepted sexual favors from the sledgehammer in lieu of destroying it.

[SugarFree]

Rowr.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

You know what happens when you establish black markets?

You end up with birds being stuffed into water bottles.*

*Which should win an award of some kind for ingenuity instead of result in criminal charges.

[radar]

Here's a fun one - someone named Tanya Cohen says that America's biggest embarrassment is that this doesn't happen:

"In any other country, people like Phil Robertson and Donald Sterling would have been taken before a Human Rights Commission and subsequently fined and/or imprisoned and/or stripped of their right to public comment for making comments that incite hatred and violence against vulnerable minorities. But, in the US, such people are allowed to freely incite hatred and violence against vulnerable minorities with impunity..."

Then there's this gem:

"There isn't a single person in Australia who thinks that there should be absolutely no legal protections against hate speech. If anyone ever went to Australia and said that there should be absolutely no legal protections against hate speech, they would be physically attacked and told to leave the country for their own safety. No, I'm not exaggerating in the least. "

And the punch line:

"I have always been a major champion of the unalienable right to freedom of speech."

There's lots, and lots, and lots more - christ, this bint needs an editor.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/tany.....te-speech/

[Catatafish]

Watching the contortions these people have to put themselves through to maintain their "liberal" front while at the same time literally defending the use of thought police would be hilarious popcorn fare if it wasn't so utterly terrifying.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

christ, this bint needs an editor.

No, she needs to watch the atrocities of the 1930's through 60's on an endless Ludovico-style loop.

[Tonio]

+2 Lidlocks for her glazzies

[Viscount Irish, Slayer of Huns]

It's her third article on this subject and she got shit on for writing all three. I'm still not sure she's real and think she might be a troll.

[radar]

Yeah, now that I actually looked at the links at the bottom, she appears to have even more than three on the subject. Trollish indeed.

[Brett L]

You know what screams freedom? A Human Rights Commission that decides who is free to speak. Fuck off slaver.

[Free Society]

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says he saw no "extraordinary circumstances" to justify the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a police officer outside a Venice Beach bar on Tuesday night. The man, 29-year-old Brendon Glenn, later died at the hospital.

I guess he wasn't black enough to be receive the Black Unarmed honorific.

[Entropy Void]

It's still morning somewhere, right?

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....onal-duel/

[adolphowisner]

My mom makes $70 every hour on the computer . She has been fired from work for 9 months but last month her pay was $18079 just working on the computer for a few hours.
See here. ?? ????????? http://www.jobsfish.com

[Poppa Kilo]

Release the Kraken!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Winter is coming.

[The Last American Hero]

Thunder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e5J116IM6M

[some guy]

Well, not anymore.... Just give them a few months to order up a new one.

[double ham fisted]

+1 and that's why you always leave a note

[Pope Jimbo]

Agreed. I know a few people at Honeywell too. They are all bitching about it, but none of them are willing to leave.

I guess I've always been willing to leave companies and go on to new things, so I don't get the reluctance so many people have to just move on.

I also think you hit it on the head when you said that since they didn't smoke they don't really mind that much. I'm guessing that they won't be so happy when they start testing for too much cholesterol or other things that maybe they do partake in.

[Pope Jimbo]

Because it is so scientific?

[Emmerson Biggins]

That kind of shit doesn't make you leave a solid job at a big company all by itself. (Well at least for the vast majority of the kind of people that get a solid job at a big company). But when you get a sniff of another possible job, it definitely takes away any sentimental type feelings you might have, and you are much more likely to just give your two weeks and bolt.