White House Trying to Save Trade Fast Track, NAACP Leader Outed as White, Shark Bites Teen in North Carolina: A.M. Links

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  The White House is reportedly launching a campaign to save fast track trade authority..

• Authorities in Boston have arrested a third man in a beheading plot allegedly hatched by a man cops shot last month.
• The parents of an NAACP leader in Washington state have outed her as white.
• Prison employees reportedly provided tools to the two convicts who escaped a New York jail this week.
• Israel rules out charging anyone in the bombing of four children on a Gaza beach last year.
• Dominique Strauss-Kahn was found not guilty in a vice trial in France.
• A shark bit a teenager in North Carolina.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

I say we boycott Reason until they post A.M. Links. WHO'S WITH ME?

[UnCivilServant]

Not me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

I have a question. I just bought a woodchipper. Do I feed the body head or feet first? And I should remove of all tags and badges correct?

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

"The preceding was from a Canadian. Please direct all extraordinary rendition missions toward the North Pole."

[Preet Bharara]

Mr. Firefly, you do understand that we have an extradition treaty with Canada? Please contact your attorney immediately.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's an attorney?

They have those in Canada?

[Preet Bharara]

We are not amused.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

Not even a little? Ah, c'mon man! Lighten up, have a brownie.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

Not even a little? Ah, c'mon man! Lighten up, have a brownie.

[Drake]

I think they wear funny wigs there.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

IT'S CALLED A TUQUE.

[BigT]

Barrister, barista, or just town drink. All the same.

[carol]

Depends. Do you like the person or not? One assumes that if you're feeding someone into a woodchipper that they have fallen out of favor but that might not always be the case. Please advise.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

Neither. Wood chippers are only good at shredding the Bill of Rights. A government poobah told me so.

[Bee Tagger]

Someone owes ENB an apology, I know that much.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I suppose I did jump the gun in assigning blame.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

She dropped the ball so badly that her links never even got posted. Fortunately a male was there to pick up the slack.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The parents of an NAACP leader in Washington state have outed her as white.

White is a color.

[Idle Hands]

FFFFFFFFISSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

[Idle Hands]

FFFFFFFFISSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

[wareagle]

but it's a privileged color so it does not count.

[UnCivilServant]

But not one recognized by a racist organization like that.

[Brett L]

Man, this has to be embarrassing. Like electing a trans-woman to the Presidency of your local NOW chapter.

[straffinrun]

She's an oreo with the creme on the outside?

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

So, bukkake?

[Enough About Palin]

No. A snowball.

http://assets.kraftfoods.com/r.....-56752.jpg

[wareagle]

reverse Oreo. Coming soon to a grocer near you.

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

Nabisco is way ahead of you, dude.

[Medical Physics Guy]

The slur in my day for this was "pigeon".

[WTF]

No one ever heard the term "wigger"?

[RBS]

Yeah, but if I remember middle school correctly that's mostly for white guys who think they can rap.

[CatoTheChipper]

I think that term died with Senator Robert Byrd.

[Lord at War]

Eminem ain't dead... He just went home.

/Tommy Lee Jones

[Illocust]

I think this is one of the biggest indications that things have changed from a racial perspective in the US. No one on the public stage cares if someone from a different ethnicity tries to pass as Caucasian, but we have multiple scandals of Caucasians trying to pass as another ethnicity.
Even the phrase "acting white" doesn't actually mean trying to pass as Caucasian, it just means working hard and seeking an education.

[Idle Hands]

I thought instapundit said it best: "It's funny, though, that with all the talk of white male privilege, the transitions seem to be toward black and female?"

[Princess Trigger]

J-Roc Represents!

[RBS]

+ 1 Jar of BooBerry

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

"White" is not a color. Neither is "black."

/Nicole

[gaijin]

Technically, isn't black the absorption of all color and white the reflection?

[Florida Man]

You just got sciened, bitch!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, flesh-colored isn't really white.

[Charles Easterly]

Anti-Albino!

[lap83]

and African Americans aren't vantablack

[Charles Easterly]

Vantablack is the new fuligin?

[lap83]

It's the blackest substance known on earth

[lap83]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vantablack

[Charles Easterly]

I didn't know that until I looked it up after reading your post, lap83. When I learned what it is it reminded me of fuligin. Fuligin is a color from Gene Wolfe's "The Urth of the New Sun" series, said to be "The color that is darker than black."

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

White is composed of all the colors, right?

[invisible furry hand]

White privilege!

[Don'tTreadOnMeChipper]

That's why I wear these....so I can tell who is really white...

http://eyeglass.com/bedspecs.h....._collector

[Charles Easterly]

They have an interesting selection of monocles.

[Tonio the Plant Fiber Shredder]

In pigment context white is the absence of color. In the context of light white is the presence of all colors.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

Look at the big pedant on Tonio!

[The Shrubber's Woodchipper]

In addressing public sentiment that she misrepresented her race, Dolezal said, "I can understand that. And like I said, it's more important to me to clarify that to the black community, and with my executive board, than it really is for me to explain it to a community that I quite frankly don't think understands the definitions of race and ethnicity.

That there...gold.

Is Reasonable not working for anyone else?

[RBS]

Wow.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

Way to miss the point of the story.

[BigT]

It's been done: Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. AFAIK he died from the dye he used to darken his skin.

[Enough About Palin]

John Howard Griffin died in Fort Worth in 1980 at age 60 from complications due to diabetes.[6]

It has been erroneously claimed that the large doses of methoxsalen (Oxsoralen) Griffin used in 1959 to darken his skin eventually led to his death from skin cancer. Griffin did not have skin cancer; the only negative symptoms he suffered due to the drug were temporary and minor. The worst, arguably, were fatigue and nausea.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_Griffin

[Marshal]

She must have pissed off dear mom. The next family visit might be touchy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The White House is reportedly launching a campaign to save fast track trade authority..

So they did learn its lesson from "passing" Obamacare.

[invisible furry hand]

My Little Pony, The Mad Max version

[Juvenile Bluster-fka Andrew S.]

I approve of this.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This is what happens when you dump criminals on an island.

[Charles Easterly]

Very creative.

[Lord Humungus]

NAACP leader and civil rights activist outed as WHITE by her parents who say she's been pretending to be black for years

An NAACP leader's parents have made a startling revelation: their daughter, for years a highly visible civil rights activist in Eastern Washington, is white.

Rachel Dolezal, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President and part-time Africana Studies professor at Eastern Washington University, has been misleading people about her ethnicity for years, her parents say.

Her mother even offered photographic proof. While today the 37-year-old divorcee currently sports tight, dark curls, her mom Ruthanne Dolezal showed KREM photos of the fair and freckled blonde daughter she once knew.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Why are they microaggressing her?

[grrizzly]

This is not micro.

[EDG chippin' WUD]

I'm shocked and dismayed that Eastern Washington U. even has an African Studies department. Go figure.

[RAHeinlein]

How else would they justify the tuition?

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

Anyone remember the Dave Chapelle episode of the Black White Supremacist? This is kind of the corollary to that, minus the supremacy but double plus the comedy.

[Medical Physics Guy]

The opening of Tarantino's True Romance rings a bell here as well. If Seinfeld is behind the times for resisting PC, what does that make Tarantino.

[Brett L]

It is hard to believe that probably diesn't crack the top five parts in Gary Oldman's career. "It ain't white boy day is it?"

[Monty Crisco]

FUCKING DEFINITELY CRACKS THE TOP FIVE!!
Shit, Drexl may have been his BEST role....

[Crusty Juggler]

Drexel, or as the Fed in The Professional. He really wanted his henchman to bring everyone.

[Charles Easterly]

"Benny? Bring me everyone."

"What do you mean, everyone?"

"EVERYONE!"

[Overt]

I thought Oldman's portrayal of a psychotic Ross Perot in The Fifth Element to be a masterpiece. It was like he looked that film- missing plot, tension or cohesion and trying to fill the void with oddball spectacle- and said, "I can match that."

Real man of genius.

[straffinrun]

What's next, Jesse Jackson isn't a rainbow?

[Lord Humungus]

oops - this was in the AM Links. (Not that anyone actually reads them)

[Charles Easterly]

Are those the things (placed annoyingly above the comments) which I have to scroll past in the morning?

[Illocust]

An article in the Root (black Slate) about five years back was an author relaying the story of how her mixed race daughter kept pointing out to the author that despite her wishful thinking the author was Caucasian not black. The author then went on and on about how she was black because culture or some such thing, and her daughter was simply too young to understand. That story always stuck with me, and seems relevant to this conversation.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Don't give Joan Walsh any ideas for her next column.

[Mike Laursen]

Well, it is really hard to find anything but white people in eastern Washington.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

62) I've been reflecting on the American Revolution and the early days of the Republic, trying to figure out what made the United States different. Really, there are dozens of things, but I think the single most important moment was when George Washington voluntarily gave up the presidency after two terms. This was so nearly unprecedented that his contemporaries referred to him as Cincinnatus, apparently having to go back to 460 BC to find a similar occurrence in world history. I think it was this, more than anything else, that signaled the United States was to be a true republic with limited executive power. (Contrast this with the egomania of FDR, who considered himself so indispensable that he broke the noble tradition to prolong his presidency for another two terms.)

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'trying to figure out what made the United States different.'

Largest manufacturer of woodchippers?

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

Contrast this with the egomania of FDR, who considered himself so indispensable that he broke the noble tradition to prolong his presidency for another two terms.

FDR was quite possibly one of the worst presidents in recent history. He has a constitutional amendment dedicated to him.

And there was the bullying of the supreme court and threatening to pack it in order to shove the "New Deal" down everyone's throats.

As for WW2, I think any average politician in the President's office would have made the right decisions anyway, and the military would have fought well.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Right, everyone acts like he fought the war himself.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Good luck breaking down the entrenched belief that FDR is in the top 3 or 5 of 'greatest' Presidents.

Better off trying to feed chunks of marble in a woodchipper I reckon.

[RBS]

For my big senior seminar paper I had to write as a history major my topic was basically the 3 best and the 3 worst presidents and why. I barely spent any time discussing anyone other than FDR as the worst. The professor who graded it awarded me an A, the only one in the class, because I was the only one who didn't just write what I thought he wanted to read.

[Emmerson Biggins]

How transgressive of your professor.

[Juice]

Wilson was worse.

[Shpip]

Contrast this with the egomania of FDR, who considered himself so indispensable that he broke the noble tradition to prolong his presidency for another two terms.

Well, one term and one month, anyway. God eventually got sick of FDR's shit and did in one stroke what the electorate wouldn't.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I saw what you did there. Very macabre.

[Charles Easterly]

Yes.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

Oh, FDR was a Progressive Messianic Asshole, One Each. No question. But to be "possibly one of the worst Presidents every" he would have to surpass Woodrow Wilson, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and our current Cross To Bear.

The Political Right has spent a lot of time and breath on the narrative that the New Deal was a horrible mistake and FDR should have kept his F'ing hands off. And there are arguments, but they ignore the simple fact that he had been elected to Do Something. Not Doing Something was a political impossibility. It's like saying George Bush should have done nothing in the wake of 9/11; pretty to think so, but unrealistic. Or Harry Truman should have simply blockaded a defeated Japan. Wasn't going to happen.

FDR has a towering unearned reputation and deserves a lot more spittle on his grave. But let's not go too far the other way.

[Spoonman.]

Woodrow Wilson actually caused World War II.

There's an inner-city school in Philadelphia named after him. I don't get it. Then again, there's a high school in Houston named after Mirabeau Lamar...

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

FDR is my second cousin, trice removed. Damn good thing he never showed up at a family reunion.

With that wheel chair and bum legs and all . . .

[Raven Nation]

Washington also refused to become the de facto leader of the country after the British surrendered despite being urged to do so by a number of his peers. His refusal shocked a number of European leaders.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

He had a dental appointment.

[invisible furry hand]

Man who survived having his penis chopped off died covered in blue paint in a 'sex game gone wrong'

more

[PM]

This is what happens when Florida Man goes on vacation.

[Florida Man]

July 3rd I start my "tour of the south" so FM news stories might be light for 2 weeks.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

Was a wood chipper involved in the chopping off?

[Brett L]

Jesus. I mean, at least he wasn't getting off on abusing others. But Goddamn. I'd rather meet STEVE SMITH.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Damn your speedy fingers!

[Charles Easterly]

Pssst, Swiss, gestern kam ein Typ mit einer Vorladung.

*gestures toward get away car *

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

STEVE SMITH LIKE GAMES!

[Juvenile Bluster-fka Andrew S.]

RIP Tobias F?nke, analrapist.

[Bee Tagger]

Prison employees reportedly provided tools to the two convicts who escaped a New York jail this week.

Oh, those two rock hounds?

[Fabi]

I've been known to locate certain items from time to time.

[invisible furry hand]

The Big Ass News (SFW)

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

Say this as fast as you can! I hear that some Assistant US Attorney from MiniLuv holds the current record:

How much wood would a wood chipper chip if a wood chipper could chip wood?

FULL DISCLOSURE: As an obnoxious asshat who represents the blowhard stupidity of Reason magazine's commenting peanut gallery, I hereby declare that my comments are typical internet bluster and hyperbole, hardly valuable to public discourse, and must not be construed as "true threats" in "interstate or foreign commerce" in violation of federal statute 18 U.S. Code ? 875. Any precious snowflake or federal judge offended by my worthless comments should see a plastic surgeon to graft thicker skin, or wait and pray for stem cell therapy innovations to grow said thicker skin. Because the word "trigger" is a part of the phrase "Trigger Warning" and may trigger a repressed fear of firearms in some people, no trigger warnings shall precede my comments.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

I love Injun's disclaimer.

[CatoTheChipper]

Ceterum autem censeo nos dividentque arbor scissionibus

N.B.: If you are so paranoid as to think this is a genuine threat, please consult a psychiatrist for help with your condition.

[Charles Easterly]

I am copying both Injun's and Cato's most excellent disclaimers for (in whole or ni part) future use.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

And what happened to the cherry tree, George?

Father, I cannot tell a lie. (points to wood chipper). Chip ate it.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama making bid to diversify wealthy neighborhoods

The Obama administration is moving forward with regulations designed to help diversify America's wealthier neighborhoods, drawing fire from critics who decry the proposal as executive overreach in search of an "unrealistic utopia."

A final Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule due out this month is aimed at ending decades of deep-rooted segregation around the country.

The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas while also taking steps to upgrade poorer areas with better schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores and transportation routes as part of a gentrification of those communities.

"HUD is working with communities across the country to fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all," a HUD spokeswoman said. "The proposed policy seeks to break down barriers to access to opportunity in communities supported by HUD funds."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Makes perfect sense. We all know that if you put poor people next to rich people the magical richeness will rub off on them and they'll stop being poor.

Of course, the people most opposed to this will be people in affluent liberal enclaves. Remember the freakout at George Lucas when he offered a chunk of his land in Marin County to be converted into Section 8 housing?

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

My best friend's parents were bitching to me a few years ago about how some developer bought land that abuts their tidy little Vermont subdivision, and was going to put section 8 housing there.

I told them their liberal cards have been officially revoked.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Has HUD ever, ever done a single thing that didn't turn into a gigantic clusterfuck?

[invisible furry hand]

Well, there was that one time HUD tried to organise a gigantic clusterfuck...

[Homple]

Nice.

[Brochettaward]

No, and they are one of the most secretly Orwellian of the alphabet soup of bureaucracies.

You build housing for poor people in affluent neighborhoods, the people with money will move. They are living where they are because they don't want to live near people of color and/or the poor.

Central planning is moronic and intrusive. On top of being an awful investment that always fails. Within a few years most public housing is as run down as the projects they were meant to replace. It's all one nice big boondoggle.

[straffinrun]

Bring back busing, boom, solved. Man, vote for me. Now, co mingle damnit.

[RAHeinlein]

We have a variation of "busing" going-on here in Ames, IA with low-income minorities from Illinois - housing, business grants, guaranteed voting blocks for certain council members...

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

YOU ARE WELCOME!

[RBS]

You build housing for poor people in affluent neighborhoods, the people with money will move.

This is basically what happens in Memphis. At the rate they are going my in laws will eventually live in Nashville.

[Suthenboy]

"Central planning is moronic and intrusive."

This is Obumbles we are talking about. Of course it is. He is a complete imbecile. He always has been exactly what we see now.

A great big thanks to every fuckin' idiot who voted for him.

[CatoTheChipper]

Thanks to these bozos, I now have a drug rehab halfway-house down the street in my suburban neighborhood. It wouldn't be so bad except they're permitted for twelve residents at any given time with a three-month average stay. I don't doubt that most of these guys are no problem. The problem is that they're running about fifty of them through the halfway-house every year. Even if 1% were dangerous, it's just a matter of time till something goes very wrong. It's already taken a hit on property values.

So, thanks HUD.

BTW, this is not really Obama's fault. The root cause is the ADA, which was proudly supported by GHW Bush and many Republicans.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

His wisdom knows no bounds.

[LynchPin1477]

Rich people will just move again if they don't like the neighborhood. So I foresee increased taxes on the sale of homes over some arbitrary amount that someone thinks is high.

[Homple]

Blockbusting resurrected.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas

Next up: White House Lawn converted to Section 8 housing.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Well now you're a pillar of society
You don't worry about the things that you used to be
You're a rag-trade girl, you're the queen of porn
You're the easiest lay on the White House lawn

[Medical Physics Guy]

I have a great new idea -- bus the kids to schools across town!

[MoriahJovan]

Srsly. Totes works.

[crab_apple]

This is stupid on many levels. But many rich neighborhoods are nowhere near jobs, which is where poorer lower income people need to be. So moving low income people off to some far away McMansion suburb won't help them. Unless they become maids or nannies for the wealthy, in which case he is just subsidizing labor for rich people.

[Lord Humungus]

I just bought one of the cheapest houses I could find in an expensive neighborhood - reason? The school system.

Not sure - short of giving thousands of dollars monthly - how they could even get poor people into this neighborhood. The taxes are high. The shops are expensive to shop at. Empty lots - which are rare - are worth a fortune. Old houses are bought up and then $400K houses are built on 'em.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Not to mention the locals probably have a lot of power to gum up the works so that the city never makes inroads. Probably plenty of lawyers in that neighbourhood, and a few stay at home JDs even.

[Chipwooder]

I followed a similar path - my neighborhood isn't a fancy one by any means, but most of the developments in the area are decidedly more upscale, which meant we got a helluva lot less house for the money. We bought a 1200 s.f. house over an 1800 s.f. house, and paid about 20K more for it too, and the reason is entirely school based. The houses are only a couple of miles apart, but the assigned schools are light-years apart. You pay a serious premium to get an ordinary middle-class house in our school district. Sucks that our closets are tiny and there's very little counter space in the kitchen, but the tradeoff is acceptable to us.

[Illocust]

Zoning laws will multiply even more in response.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This will end great. Yes, sirree.

What a nut case left-wing nut case this guy is.

Did I mention nut case?

And by nut case I don't mean good quality nuts either.

[Fabi]

If those poor losers move anywhere near me then I'll just toss them into the woodchipper where they belong.

I also predict the return of cross burnings.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Sod off, 'murican or wanna-be.

[Raven Nation]

drawing fire from critics who decry the proposal as executive overreach in search of an "unrealistic utopia."

THIS is the main criticism?!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. It really should be about the potential for increased woodchipping activity.

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

My real estate plans are to pinpoint a gentrifying area, that is just barely beginning to come around, and buy there. So many of them in NoVA - they're chock-a-block with small 1940's and 50's houses that were built en masse to accommodate the massive increase in size of the Fedgov during that time. It's a good thing schools aren't a consideration for me, beacuse then I'd be royally fucked, like my colleague who just bought 2500 sq feet for $600k.

[Bodica Slayer of Drones]

The residents of Atherton are not amused.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was found not guilty in a vice trial in France.

France will chase him round the Moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and round Perdition's flames before it gives him up!

[PM]

Mike Huckabee suspected

Police say a man dressed in women's clothing is accused of using a mirror to try to see into a women's restroom stall inside a Wal-Mart store in Woodbridge, Va.

The 53-year-old victim told police the man entered the restroom in the 14000 Worth Ave. store about 10:30 p.m. May 15, stood in front of the stall and tried to use a mirror to see into the stall she was using.

[Brett L]

I'm guessing the erection ruined his disguise.

[Crusty Juggler]

The parents of an NAACP leader in Washington state have outed her as white.

Would, but sadly can't.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

A shark bit a teenager in North Carolina.

Would a cop react the same way to a shark the way he would react to a dog?

FULL DISCLOSURE: As an obnoxious asshat who represents the blowhard stupidity of Reason magazine's commenting peanut gallery, I hereby declare that my comments are typical internet bluster and hyperbole, hardly valuable to public discourse, and must not be construed as "true threats" in "interstate or foreign commerce" in violation of federal statute 18 U.S. Code ? 875. Any precious snowflake or federal judge offended by my worthless comments should see a plastic surgeon to graft thicker skin, or wait and pray for stem cell therapy innovations to grow said thicker skin. Because the word "trigger" is a part of the phrase "Trigger Warning" and may trigger a repressed fear of firearms in some people, no trigger warnings shall precede my comments.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I smell a Jaws reboot.

[Crusty Juggler]

Makes me think of Michael Caine on Jaws 4: ""I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific."

[Lord Humungus]

Did a Connecticut Gun Law Work?

A new study says the state's 1995 gun-control measures (including requiring a permit to purchase a handgun and raising the handgun-purchase age to 21) cut gun homicides by 40 percent over the next ten years. There was no reduction in non-gun homicides. Apparently the researchers estimated what Connecticut's crime rates would have been without the law by looking at similar states. Unfortunately I don't have time to give the study the thorough treatment it deserves (I haven't even gotten my hands on the full paper, which is paywalled), but I was able to perform a quick reality check on its central claim.

First of all, forget "gun homicides." They can be a useful statistic sometimes, but at the end of the day we want to see a reduction in the total number of dead bodies. If gun homicides fall but non-gun homicides rise ? because killers choose other weapons instead of refraining from killing, for example ? we have not accomplished anything. Furthermore, gun homicides are two-thirds of homicides nationwide and about two-thirds of murders in Connecticut as well (even long after the 1995 law), so a decline of 40 percent is big enough that it should show up in the overall murder rate unless non-gun killings rose.

[PM]

When every state with liberal carry laws has lower murder rates it is coincidence. When the opposite is true, it's causation.

[Medical Physics Guy]

First of all, forget "gun homicides." They can be a useful statistic sometimes, but at the end of the day we want to see a reduction in the total number of dead bodies.

Forget the rest of the cherry tree, just look at this one cherry!

[Brochettaward]

Hey, if those laws can clean up the mean streets of Connecticut, imagine what they can do for Chicago!

[CatoTheChipper]

at the end of the day we want to see a reduction in the total number of dead bodies.

At the end of the day, I want to see a reduction in the total number of innocent dead bodies.

I really don't care much how many times firearms are used to stop robberies, rapes, and other violent crimes.

Suicides shouldn't count either.

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

They'll just arm themselves with woodchippers and special places in hell, anyway.

[The Wood Chipper 5000]

Hey, buddy, change your handle!

[Don'tTreadOnMeChipper]

I call for a "CHIP OFF"!

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

This is a variant on my usual handle Derp-o-Matic 5000

[Enough About Woodchippers]

Very interesting.

[Brett L]

OUTLAW COUNTRY!!. No really. Outlaw country pioneer shot in gunfight with bounty hunter.

[Crusty Juggler]

He told everyone he was not going back to jail...

[Slammer's Chipper Wood]

+7 Spanish Angels

[Don'tTreadOnMeChipper]

Yeah, I took him to the OR and we tried to save him, but to no avail. So why the fuck are bounty hunters shooting people for DUI's and missed court appearances? Perhaps there is a better way to see to 'justice'? WTF!?

[sarcasmic]

20 years ahead of the West - and it WON'T blow up 'like its predecessor': Brains behind Russia's new robotic tank reveals secrets of machine at centre of ?250BILLION military upgrade
New Armata T-14 tank was unveiled at Victory Day parade in Russia last month as part of muscle-flexing exercise
Now designers have revealed features including sensor to knock incoming shells of target and improved armour
Also claim the war machine has the capability to become fully automated - making it the world's first robotic tank
Armata is part of ?250billion military update in Russia which has seen defence spending jump 33 per cent

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

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

Looks like they are still storing the gun ammo in the hull. Turrets will still pop off when a little liquid depleted uranium cooks it off.

[Brett L]

A fully automated Russian tank. Their population crisis must be horriiftingly bad.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

+1 Vodka penis

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

That made me laugh a lot more than it should have...

[WTF]

Because the Russians would never lie about its capabilities.

[Brochettaward]

This x100. I'm to believe that the Soviets who were using ancient electronic equipment in their shitty tanks and MiGs have suddenly made some massive leap forward? The Iranians claim to have a 5th generation fighter superior to the F-22, as well!

Russia's only strength in war comes from its willingness to throw masses of people at the enemy to create a meat grinder effect.

[Pro Libertate]

I've seen some analysis of their military capability that is quite different than the way Russia is talked about by the media and some politicians. They're very likely not even the most powerful military in Europe. Of course, they could try to nuke their way to glory, but I rather think that's not a winning strategy.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

They're very likely not even the most powerful military in Europe

Well, wouldn't Russia be the most powerful military in Europe if it is the only military power in Europe?

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Poland is taking all this dead serious and arming.

[Pro Libertate]

I sure as heck would if I were Poland. I'm surprised they aren't thinking nukes at this point.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, I don't know for sure, but it sounded like the issue was with the technological status of the militaries. What the European nations lack in manpower and other numbers, they make up for by having much more advanced weapons. Not that I want them to test that, of course.

[Rasilio]

No they also know how to use their terrain to maximum advantage. The one thing however that they have never been able to successfully do is fight a successful offensive war against an enemy who was the least bit determined.

They got their asses kicked by Finland, they got their asses kicked by Afghanistan, and they only conquered Germany because they bled the German Army dry inside Russia.

Even today I would be leery of invading Russia but Nukes aside I wouldn't be too afraid of them if I were Europe because I am not sure that they could take out Germany forget the rest of the EU.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

The Bundeswehr is a sick joke right now - I wouldn't count on German doing much of anything.

I saw some of their "better" units in Afghanistan...bleech. 9-5 er's that just wanted to get back to base and get to the beer... security in their sectors was porous at best. They did have an excellent pirate radio rock station out of Konduz, however.

[Rasilio]

The Bundeswehr isn't what I was basing my assessment on.

First off, those 9-5ers would take their jobs a hell of a lot more seriously if they were trying to protect their families from experiencing the tender ministrations of the Russian Army.

Second, defense is inherently easier than offense

Third, regardless of what issues the Germans have with their military the Russians are worse

Yeah by sheer weight of numbers the Russians could probably take Germany at least initially, their ability to actually hold the territory however is suspect at best and the odds that they would have anything left to move on to France are slim at best.

And that is assuming the US stays out of the conflict

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe not even Poland. The trouble is, if they remain in financial distress, we may find out. These are not good times.

[BigT]

Crimea river.

[Careless]

They didn't become the largest country in the world by osmosis, you know.

[Don'tTreadOnMeChipper]

Meat grinders are so passe. We use wood chippers now.

[UnCivilServant]

"Of course it's fully automated comrade, err, friend. The computer's name is Ivan, the drive subprocessor is vyacheslav, and the firing control system is Vladimir."

[Timon 19]

9:20? Are you serious?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Gearing up to watch some Copa America action? Maybe even some Women's World Cup too?

[Ted S.]

Canada can't even beat a bunch of ferns.

[Raven Nation]

And the Kiwis are happy:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/spor.....d=11464233

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Herdman said he thought Canada were the better team.

"Statistically and in possession we dominated the match and had more chances than them. We had gilt edge chances but we didn't put them away. And that's they key to going far in this tournament.""

I will say it until I get a stroke. Ball possession is utterly meaningless for its own sake. You were NOT the better team if you didn't win. That goes for all teams who think this way.

[Brett L]

We probably have no idea of the effective forces the Russian military can mount because they don't know either.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

A riot is an ugly thing...und, it is just about time that we had one!

[straffinrun]

Yes, and stop calling me 9:20.

[tumescence chipper]

Not 7:01

[sarcasmic]

Charges dropped against black UVA student who was shoved to the ground and left bloodied after arrest outside Virginia bar
All charges dropped against University of Virginia student Martese Johnson whose arrest sparked national outrage
Johnson garnered national attention after video of March arrest went viral
The 20-year-old student form Chicago was arrested outside a bar on March 18
He was charged with public intoxication or swearing, and obstruction of justice without force.

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

[crab_apple]

I wish Virginia's ABC officers would stop assaulting people in my town.

[Chipwooder]

I wish ABC would cease to exist. Goddamned high liquor prices!

[Bee Tagger]

Popping up out of the Democrats' dug-out at Nationals Park with 24 White House beers on offer for the winning team, Obama was greeted with Republicans chanting "TPA, TPA!"

This is a weird sentence.

[Elspeth Flashman]

The subject should be first in the sentence to increase clarity. The clause at the beginning is way too long.

[straffinrun]

Seeking to increase clarity by placing the clause first in the sentence, the Japanese developed a language that is near impossible to understand.

[Ivan Pike]

The subject should be first in the sentence to increase clarity. The clause at the beginning is way too long.

cis-grammarians, where's Nikki??

[sarcasmic]

'Blacks should be segregated': Texas elementary school teacher fired for post about pool party video showing cop wrestling black girl to the ground
'I'm just going to just go ahead and say it...the blacks are the ones causing the problems ' fourth-grade teacher Karen Fitzgibbons wrote
Fitzgibbons was fired for her comments on Facebook after watching video of a white officer wrestling a black teenager to the ground in Mckinney
'I'm almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other,' she continued in her racist rant

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

American?

[Metall Holzhackmashine]

Are we going to later find out that the teacher is a black woman that identifies as a white woman?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And here I am tearing up about the Lost Boys in 'The Good Lie.'

[Michael]

Karen Fitzgibbons or Gibbons Fitzkaren?

[sarcasmic]

Watch incredible footage of Boeing Dreamliner shooting straight up into the sky instantly from take off as pilots prepare for air show
Boeing test pilots pushed the 787-9 to its limits in advance of its display at next week's Paris Air Show
The pilot pushed the $250 million aircraft almost vertical as it left the ground in Washington earlier this week
The Dreamliner can carry 280 passengers more than 8,000 miles due to its highly efficient design and engines
The 787-9 is 20 feet longer than its predecessor, allowing it to carry a greater number of passengers and freight

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2015.html

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

That's cool

[Rasilio]

When I was in the Air Force 20 some years ago we had a B1 come over and use our runway for some touch and go practice, which was kinda weird since we were a Fighter Base and had no facilities on the ground to handle a plane that big. The dude spent like 20 minutes practicing landingings and take offs and showing off it's maneiverability when he circled around.

That was freaking cool and every time he took off he stood the thing on it's tail and kicked in the afterburnbers and it was like an earthquake, you could literally feel the ground shake more than a half a mile away from the runway.

[Not an Economist]

This was in the early 90's. I was on an Air Force base on a day with low cloud cover. An aircraft (I later found out it was a B-1) took off using full power.

Every car alarm on base went off. It was hillarious.

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

Yeah, boyeeeeee - roll that beautiful wing flex footage.

[Lord Humungus]

Stingy, white and fat: Here's what the rest of the world thinks of Americans

A new video from a Korean student who goes by Sw Yoon will make you feel a mixture of pride, humiliation and shame because of your American heritage. In the short piece, entitled "How do you distinguish Americans?" Yoon interviews a number of international students about stereotypes they associate with Americans and American culture.

Basically, we're fat, we're loud, we're stingy, we eat at McDonald's and we don't carry umbrellas when it's raining. Seems right to me.

SALON.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I resent this. I always carry an umbrella in the rain.

[LynchPin1477]

Real men wear large hats.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

An Urban Sombrero?

[invisible furry hand]

Real men waterproof themselves

[straffinrun]

Real women get wet.

[crab_apple]

I'm too busy sitting on the couch eating potato chips being lazy to go outside in the rain.

[Crusty Juggler]

I resent this. I always carry an umbrella in the rain.

The great Bill Burr's response on what your guy friends think about carrying an umbrella. NSFW of course...also, drunk teenage fratboy humor.

[The Wood Chipper 5000]

"NSFW of course...also, drunk teenage fratboy humor."

You say this like it's a problem and/or criticism. Did you not read Ken and Virginia's description of this place?

[Lord Humungus]

Puerile!

[UnCivilServant]

I do NOT eat at McDonalds!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You eat at WENDY'S!

[UnCivilServant]

Not every... month week day

[LynchPin1477]

If Wendy was on the menu at Wendy's, I would.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

QUOTED FOR TRUTH.

[WTF]

You know the ginger in the commercials is not Wendy, right?

[Enough About Woodchippers]

Have you noticed that spokesmodels have big asses these days? Wendy has a good sized ass and the woman who does the AT&T commercials has a gigantic ass. I've noticed this in other commercials as well.

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

It's her inner babushka trying to get out. On the other hand, she's not flat chested either.

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

The AT&T girl.

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

Real Wendy or the fake Wendy in commercials?

[Rasilio]

Fake Wendy. I'd tap that all night long

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Fake Wendy!

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

Fake redhead!

[PM]

Student from a country that wouldn't exist without American largesse finds that Americans are stingy.

[WTF]

And apparently blissfully unaware that Americans consistently rank as the most charitable people world wide. Fucking idiots. People always complain that Americans don't know much about other people, but other people in other countries are generally completely ignorant about America and Americans. They just think they know something because of the pervasiveness of American entertainment media.

[Zeb]

A lot of Americans are pretty ignorant about the rest of the world. But at least most of them don't pretend otherwise. So much of the idiotic stereotyping of Americans comes from people who like to think of themselves as enlightened and worldly. Including lots of Americans.

[Raven Nation]

Exactly this. It took me about 18 months before I realized I didn't understand Americans. Then I had to start from scratch.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Cartoons, eh?

[Raven Nation]

Meh. Sit-coms, movies, etc. + seeing Americans in Australia i.e. out of cultural context, provided some confusion.

[invisible furry hand]

But now with the internet we have a much more accurate understanding of Americans. You are all naked and have misspelt tattoos

[Crusty Juggler]

This is all true.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

That is just Florida Man!

[Florida Man]

That is just Florida Man!

I have no regrats about any of my tattoos.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's not like there's a distorted view of Aussie's.

Aussie Rules Football (Hawthorn!), Croc Dundee and Outback steakhouse for example.

[Pro Libertate]

At least the first two are actually Australian. The last one is from Tampa.

[invisible furry hand]

A list of Australian inventions: wifi, gene shears, and spray-on skin

[Crusty Juggler]

Don't forget Ugg boots!

[Florida Man]

And is delicious.

[WTF]

Ugg boots is delicious?

[Florida Man]

Ugg boots is delicious?

Don't knock it til you've try it!
*takes bite out of boot*

[Crusty Juggler]

Have you seen Tom Brady in a pair? Dreamy.

[Brochettaward]

Not only that, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be called stingy by any Southeast Asian. Have you ever tried to bargain with a Korean shopkeep? You can't reason with those people.

[Zeb]

I'm not stingy. I'm cheap.

Maybe the Koreans saw stinginess as a good quality in Americans.

[Careless]

Southeast Asian? Korean?

He should have said Americans are bad at geography. That's certainly true.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

Yeah right. Americans are stingy. Remember this?

40% Paid For Radiohead Album - And Americans paid more for it...

Among users who paid for the album, Americans tended to pay a little more ($8.05) than their international counterparts ($4.64).

Apparently, close to double is a "little more" when it comes to Americans.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Obviously Radiohead will now pen an album about the evils of free-markets and voluntary payment because the Americans won.

Or something.

[Zeb]

It was 8 years ago. I don't think that's what their following album was about.

I really like Radiohead a lot, so I try to remain ignorant of their politics and ideas about economics.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There's time. Oh. There's time.

I'm just pissing. I have no idea what their politics are.

[Brett L]

Can't be worse than their music.

[Zeb]

$3.41 is a little bit of money if you look at it in absolute terms and not proportionally to the price paid.

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

In any case, if people want to compare Americans to the rest of the world, this is damning proof that Americans have a better sense of fairness and respect for an artist's labor.

I can't find the story I read several years ago. This link was about the only one I could find. But I remember that Europeans - those that the American Left holds up as progressive and civilized - were among the biggest moochers who downloaded the album for free.

[Zeb]

Well, what do they know? They all eat dogs.

[Ted S.]

Stereotyping immigrants/third-worlders? Horrible!

Stereoptying Americans? Virtuous!

[Medical Physics Guy]

In Scotland, there's rarely a point to carrying an umbrella in the rain, because the wind accompanying the rain is even worse.

[Florida Man]

FACT: Koreans have the smallest average penis size.

[WTF]

"It's true, this man has no dick."

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

Sounds like Germans, to me. Except for them, you have to add in lobster red skin (apparently sun screen isn't a thing in Germany)

[Brett L]

you have to forgive the Germans and Brits. The sun, to them is an abstract thing glimpsed theougj clouds occasionally. So they go to Spain and Portugal and get fried.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

The society of tippers is stingy. OK.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A shark bit a teenager in North Carolina.

The shark should have been in the ocean where it belongs.

[Enough About Woodchippers]

+ 1 candygram

[invisible furry hand]

Christian couple who say they'll protest-divorce if gay marriage is legalised actually can't divorce

more

[sarcasmic]

FLASHBACK: ABC's '08 Prediction: NYC Under Water From Climate Change By June 2015

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/s.....hange-june

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They meant metaphorically if you don't do something (anything!) now, Sarc. Learn to read prog-science properly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, it is pretty humid there today.

[Zeb]

I seem to remember people saying that snow would be largely a thing of the past too. Woops.

[Pro Libertate]

June's not over, denier.

[Florida Man]

How funny would that be? June 30, NYC spontanously floods.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

WE DIDN'T LISTEN!!

[sarcasmic]

'White Appreciation Day' at Colorado barbecue joint makes colorful statement

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....q-makes-c/

[sarcasmic]

As currency dies, Zimbabweans will get $5 for 175 quadrillion local dollars

http://news.yahoo.com/currency.....44646.html

[Certified Public Asshat]

This is what happens when the links are late, rapid fire of DM links from Sarcasmic.

[UnCivilServant]

I have a 100 Trillion Dollar note...

[straffinrun]

Then just tip the valet with the wheel barrow. (Not sure if you were going that way with that)

[UnCivilServant]

No, I mean I literally own a $100Trillion Zimbabwe note.

[straffinrun]

Thought you meant this

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Bah.

Frank Sinatra used to lob $100s around as tips - once in Chicago, he gave a guy a $100 bill and said "bet you never got a $100 tip before", but the man replied, "yes sir, I have" Sinatra was genuinely angry and questioned the man about it, as he was proud of his reputation as a big tipper.... The man replied "yes sir, I got one from you, last time you were in town."

[Bee Tagger]

A court in the northern city of Lille dismissed charges that the former International Monetary Fund chief's sexual escapades with prostitutes amounted to "aggravated pimping

I'm so annoyed I could just pimp!

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

*narrows gaze*

[Lord Humungus]

Something is rotten in Michigan: Poisoned water supplies, dissolved school districts and a massive unraveling of American democracy

Something is rotten in the state of Michigan.

One city neglected to inform its residents that its water supply was laced with cancerous chemicals. Another dissolved its public school district and replaced it with a charter school system, only to witness the for-profit management company it hired flee the scene after determining it couldn't turn a profit. Numerous cities and school districts in the state are now run by single, state-appointed technocrats, as permitted under an emergency financial manager law pushed through by Rick Snyder, Michigan's austerity-promoting governor. This legislation not only strips residents of their local voting rights, but gives Snyder's appointee the power to do just about anything, including dissolving the city itself ? all (no matter how disastrous) in the name of "fiscal responsibility."

If you're thinking, "Who cares?" since what happens in Michigan stays in Michigan, think again. The state's aggressive balance-the-books style of governance has already spread beyond its borders.

SALON

[Brett L]

Ah. Yes. The problem with a failed state was not enough state.

[Elspeth Flashman]

So many people have a sad b/c the state is now governed by a self-professed nerd who's not a pawn of the unions.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

aggressive balance-the-books style of governance

LOL

[Ted S.]

Numerous cities and school districts in the state are now run by single, state-appointed technocrats

Then marry the technocrats. Problem solved! 😉

[Crusty Juggler]

Was there a Reason HQ party last night or do the links have to go through a vetting process? If so, what is that vetting process like?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think they have to first pass it by the D.O, er, I mean a rigorous editing process because 7:01.

/exaggerated wink.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Israel rules out charging anyone in the bombing of four children on a Gaza beach last year.

I'm beginning to suspect no one will win the Arab-Israeli conflict.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Modern Europe was formed by mass migration from Russia 5000 years ago

[P]opulation-scale sequencing is answering long-standing questions about the Eurasian Bronze Age. This tumultuous period between about 3000 bc and 1000 bc saw new technologies and cultural traditions ? from the use of finely crafted weaponry and horse-drawn chariots to changes in burial practices ? spread across Europe and Asia, starting in the steppe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

The dawn of ancient population genomics is the result of cheap DNA sequencing and the rise of boutique lab techniques that can separate highly degraded ancient DNA from contemporary contaminants.

The sequences allowed the team to tackle questions that have vexed archaeologists for decades, says Allentoft. For example, researchers have disagreed over whether the cultural changes of the Bronze Age were the result of migration or simply the spread of ideas. Allentoft and his colleagues found evidence for migration, in the form of a massive shift in the genetic make-up of northern and central Europeans at the start of the Bronze Age. Before 3000 bc, their genomes resembled those of early farmers from the Middle East and even earlier European hunter-gatherers. By 2000 bc, their genomes looked more like those of people from the Yamnaya culture, which arose on the steppe around 2900 bc.

[Metall Holzhackmashine]

So I see Putin can now legitimize a claim over all of western Europe.

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Nice.

[tarran]

That woman sounds a lot like Jackie in the UVA case; it sounds like she wants to have people like her and deceives them by pretending to have experienced things that makes her likeable to them.

Plenty of people pretend to be a different race than they 'are'*. There is no reason why the NAACP can have members or even officers who aren't black. If she is fabricating the threats being made against her, though, that's a very, very bad thing. False allegations can wreck innocent lives.

* Of course with no objective definition as to what constitutes race, who's to say they are wrong?

[Woodchipper Society]

We might quibble about which individuals fit into which racial category. We might eschew or support the use of categories like "white" or "black" altogether. We might even disagree about the meaning of the word "race" exactly. I'll grant you all of that. But there can be no doubt that objective definitions do exist.

*One such definition I like; A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.

[Zeb]

But such definitions would not coincide very well with popular notions of race. For example, black as a race is absurd genetically. Sub-saharan Africa is more genetically diverse than the whole rest of the world. Biologically, I don't think it is a useful distinction. You need to talk about populations and not groups that share a few superficial characteristics.

Socially, whether it is good or useful or not, race is a thing. I happen to think it is a harmful notion that causes only bad things.

[Florida Man]

Socially, whether it is good or useful or not, race is a thing. I happen to think it is a harmful notion that causes only bad things.

But how will I take shared credit for things I didn't do or blame all my problems on others?

[Woodchipper Society]

Sub-saharan Africa is more genetically diverse than the whole rest of the world.

Race isn't a purely genetic category. And they could have the highest degree of diversity imaginable, but if a dark skinned person told you they had African ancestry, would you really not know what they were talking about?

The concept of race may well be harmful, but pretending it doesn't exist is naive and idealistic on par with the 'soviet new man' in it's willful ignorance about humanity.

[Zeb]

Isn't that what I said? Of course, skin color is an objective characteristic that people have, and that is mostly what we use to determine race. Socially, for good or bad, race means a lot.

[Zeb]

And getting past race is a bit more possible than creating the new socialist man. Everyon just needs to start fucking lots of people who look different from them. Then in a few generations no one will be able to tell what race anyone is.

[Woodchipper Society]

I'm a racist because I'm saddened at the thought of a world with no blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned hotties. Or at least I'm told that makes me racist. I don't care if it is, really.

[Careless]

Sub-saharan Africa is more genetically diverse than the whole rest of the world.

And yet, the population remains A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics., so it seems to coincide very well with popular notions of race. Try again?

Hint: you want to look at people with aboriginal American ancetry.

[Woodchipper Society]

The parents of an NAACP leader in Washington state have outed her as white.

Start your morning off right with the rich flavor of one hundred percent pure schadenfreude, by Identity Politics?.

[Lord Humungus]

Why Does Obama Want This Trade Deal So Badly?

The political battle over the enormous, twelve-nation trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership keeps getting stranger. President Obama has made the completion of the deal the number-one legislative priority of his second term. Indeed, Republican opponents of the T.P.P., in an effort to rally the red-state troops, have begun calling it Obamatrade. And yet most of the plan's opponents are not Republicans; they're Democrats.

Obama's chief allies in his vote-by-vote fight in the House of Representatives to win "fast-track authority" to negotiate this and other trade deals are Speaker John Boehner and Representative Paul Ryan?not his usual foxhole companions. The vote may come as soon as Friday. The House Republican leaders tell their dubious members that they are supporting Obama only in order to "constrain" him. Meanwhile, Obama is lobbying members of the Black Congressional Caucus, whose support he can normally count on, tirelessly and, for the most part, fruitlessly. "The president's done everything except let me fly Air Force One," Representative Cedric Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana, told the Christian Science Monitor this week. Nonetheless, Richmond said, "I'm leaning no."

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

The president's done everything except let me fly Air Force One

Wow. This is what it takes to get someone's vote?

If you bribe a voter on the street, it's a big crime.

It looks like getting a congressman's vote by flying him on Air Force One is not a bribe after all.

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

Well, I find this law impractical, too expensive, and morally offensive....but I got to ride in an airplane!!!!!

[Woodchipper Society]

That's how he apparently convinced a few Democratic holdouts to vote for Obamacare. Dennis Kucinich being one of them I believe.

[WoodchipsandDerp]

Dolezal said she does not consider her biological parents her real parents.

In addressing public sentiment that she misrepresented her race, Dolezal said, "I can understand that. And like I said, it's more important to me to clarify that to the black community, and with my executive board, than it really is for me to explain it to a community that I quite frankly don't think understands the definitions of race and ethnicity."

Subjective definitions are what all the cool people use

[Metall Holzhackmashine]

Ich bin ein Woodchipper! Thats how i self-identify now.

[Metall Holzhackmashine]

On a more serious note I think anyone who self-identifies as something other then what they are have a serious mental illness. It's one thing to be interested in Napoleon, to dress up as Napoleon for Halloween, or some reenactment of Waterloo, but the moment I wake up and actually believe I'm the living breathing Napoleon it's time to get me fitted for a straight jacket.

Liking the black culture, being a part of the black culture is all fine, but the moment you wake up and actually believe you are a black person, even though you're not, then I think you might have a screw loose.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think it's cute.

[Brochettaward]

If they aren't harming anyone, the hell if I care what their mental state is.

Though, the transgendered individuals I've met have been crazy little fascists in general who want their sex change paid for. They feel entitled.

I will also never understand having a sex change, but still being attracted to the opposite sex. Meeting a female changing over to be a man who was still attracted to men...It's hard not to question their sanity when you meet people like that.

[WoodchipsandDerp]

believe you are

The verb "to be" was stripped of definition in the late 90's. Shakespeare is gibberish

[Certified Public Asshat]

From the derpbook:

If you can't see the parallels between the Taliban and our Religious Right.......you are probably a member of the religious right...... and deep down you are most likely a terrible person.

Guy then links to this story:

It's official: Louisiana public schools are using the Book of Genesis in high school science classes

[Je suis Woodchipper]

you have awful friends.

[Certified Public Asshat]

An acquaintance, but yes, I wish I didn't know him.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So 'unknow' him.

[Certified Public Asshat]

One day Rufus, one day.

[Zeb]

I'm sure there are some parallels. But it seems like he is trying to say a lot more than that.

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

I also see parallels between the Taliban and the feminist/hyper-racial left.

[A Self-Identified $park?]

Rachel Dolezal - that was some epic fucking race trolling, congratulations. Unfortunately, the utter hypocrisy of the black community will be lost on just about everyone as they race to throw a white person out of their black organization.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Diana Ravitch: I believe in freedom of choice, but not if it means paying for poor people to have school choice

Parents should be able to send their children to the school of their choice, and they do; but the public should not be expected to pay for their private choices.

The public has a civic obligation to support public education. Even if you don't have children, you pay taxes to educate the children of the community. Even if your children are grown, you pay school taxes. Even if you send your children to private school, you pay school taxes. Public schools are a public responsibility.

If you don't like the public schools, you are free to choose a private school, a charter school, a religious school, or home school. That's your choice. But you must pay for it yourself.

We all pay for police and firefighters. If you want a private security guard, pay for it yourself. We all pay for public schools, even if we don't patronize them. They belong to the community. We do so to invest in the future of our society. It is a civic obligation.

[snip]

When it comes to education, there is a simple rule: public money for free, democratically controlled schools, private money for private, privately-controlled, and religious schools.

Wow, such sterling logic. I totally want this woman educating my progeny!

[Injun, nonviolent Wood Chipper]

When it comes to education, there is a simple rule: public money for free, democratically controlled schools, private money for private, privately-controlled, and religious schools.

HAHAHAHA.

Democratically controlled? Absolutely!

Like the lobbyist-congressman revolving door in DC, you have a union school board PTA revolving door at the local school district level.

[Je suis Woodchipper]

When it comes to education, there is a simple rule: public money for free, democratically controlled schools, private money for private, privately-controlled, and religious schools union or GTFO.

The above post has been edited for clarity.

[Certified Public Asshat]

And again, our comment section is frowned upon, but the Huffington Post's is an enlightening discussion.

[Irish Says Enough Woodchippers]

"If you don't like the public schools, you are free to choose a private school, a charter school, a religious school, or home school. That's your choice. But you must pay for it yourself."

So if you don't like the public schools, go fuck yourself unless you're rich or have some kind of scholarship.

[John]

So I guess Diane thinks that if someone doesn't like using condoms for birth control, that is fine but if you want to use something different like the pill you should pay for it yourself. Right? Education is just as much of a right as birth control and she thinks you should have to pay for that.

[Woodchipper Society]

She didn't make any philosophical point or ethical arguments. She just repeatedly stated "It's your obligation" and tossed in some woefully inadequate analogies that were similarly predicated on the "I'm right because I say so" argument.

[Irish Says Enough Woodchippers]

At least Ravitch avoided howling about KKKORPORATIONS this time like she usually does.

[Sevo]

"I believe in freedom of choice, but not if it means paying for poor people to have school choice"

Instead of paying them, how 'bout we let 'em keep their money and use it for education?

[Mazakon]

The parents of an NAACP leader in Washington state have outed her as white.

Next will be transspecies, which believe it or not, is a thing on Tumblr

[Woodchipper Society]

Behold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdofQpt70dk

[Mike M.]

Is Dellavedova-mania officially over now?

[Crusty Juggler]

I say we invade Australia just to be sure.

[Juvenile Bluster-fka Andrew S.]

But he was only praised because he's white! Otherwise, he'd be called a thug!

(there was actually a Salon article saying that the other day. I refuse to link it. You can look it up yourself.)

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Looks like it. The Cavs looked like an exposed team with injuries last night.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Are you referring to LeBron's penis?

[Mike M.]

It's really tough to play three games in five days with practically a seven man rotation.

It'll be interesting to see if the extra day off over the weekend helps the Cavs. Part of the problem though is that it looks like Steve Kerr finally found his optimal lineup.

[Crusty Juggler]

Iguodala is such a good, useful player. If he hits a few corner threes the Warriors are impossible.

But you are right, Kerr has made great adjustments. Putting David Lee in has helped.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's the key player as far as I can tell.

[KeithC]

It's not so much that as Bogut's been atrocious. Lee at least provides something offensively, even if he is a sieve defensively. Bogut's bread-and-butter is supposed to be his help D, but he's been useless on that end.

[Crusty Juggler]

Boxing out Thompson is not easy, so I like the idea of having Green work his ass off on Thompson and Iggy works his ass off on Lebron. Foul trouble for either of those two messes up the strategy, though. Lee cannot box Thompson, so they would be in trouble.

[KeithC]

That's a fair point. I just don't think Bogut has done enough on that end in any capacity (rebounding or help D) to justify playing him. Obviously you know you're not gonna get much from Lee defensively -- heck, any time he's on the floor, Cleveland runs a LeBron P-n-R directly at Lee -- but I think the offensive spacing gain is worth it.

In any case, it's cool to see NBA evolution in real-time. GSW had line-ups out last night where Green was basically the center. I think even Mike D'Antonti would blush at that level of small-ball.

[Crusty Juggler]

I think that shows just how good Green is, that he can at least play center well enough (even though Mozgov scored a lot).

With those small lineups, and even when Lee plays, every Warrior can pass very well (even Bogut is a good passer). I love it.

[Suthenboy]

Girl who lies about her ethnicity plants false flag.

"Although delivered to a post office box, there was no date stamp or bar code on the envelope, according to a police report."

Another batshit crazy lefty.

[gaijin]

OT: #R40CHI tonight!

We've taken care of everything...the books you read, the songs you sing

[John]

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/208458/

Can someone explain this to me. Is this a joke? Epic and frankly brilliant trolling? Or do these people actually exist? If they do, then yeah, the generation retard Prog movement is officially eating itself.

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

Pretty sure that's satire, but it's true scary that the SJWs have reached the point that we can't always tell anymore

[lap83]

It's hilarious is what it is.

[John]

It is absolutely hysterical. As woodchip says above, however, these people are beyond satire. So, even though it is absolutely brilliant trolling, it is impossible to tell if it is not real.

[Irish Says Enough Woodchippers]

He managed to get Wrongskin trending on twitter and black people were VERY upset with him because they didn't realize it was a joke.

[lap83]

the brooding hipster photo was a nice touch

[straffinrun]

If you really wanna feel black inside, honey...

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

I see what you did there

[Irish Says Enough Woodchippers]

Godfrey Elfwick is one of the greatest twitter trolls in existence. He once managed to get on a BBC radio program and explained to them how Star Wars is racist and sexist because an attractive young woman is chained to a horny space slug and the main villain is black.

[John]

That tweet alone is proof of his brilliance. And what makes it so brilliant is that it is the absolute rational consequence of what these clowns believe. If your sex doesn't match your genes, why does your race have to?

[Irish Says Enough Woodchippers]

When someone who didn't know it was a joke asked where he got 10%, he said that he was hanging out with 10 people and he was the only Wrongskin, therefore the number is 10%.

[John]

I love it.

[lap83]

That seems a lot more sophisticated than how real SJWs come up with their facts

[Zeb]

Being transsexual seems a lot more plausibly a real genetic or developmental thing than transracial. Unless you want to claim that blacks are inherently different mentally than whites. We know for sure that men and women are different in genetically determined ways, and that most of those sex-linked traits are on the X chromosome, which everyone has. Race is mostly a social phenomenon. Different groups of black people are far more genetically diverse than different groups of white people.

[lap83]

But being transsexual doesn't involve chromosomes or genetics. It involves the person's preference, basically.

[John]

Exactly. If you can be a man and prefer to be a woman or vice versa, why can't you be white and prefer to be black?

There there is not a single bit of scientific evidence of any genetic connection to transexuality or homosexuality. In multiple long term identical twin studies have sown pretty conclusive proof against there being a genetic factor.

[Zeb]

You can prefer whatever you want. I'm just saying that being transgender seems a lot more plausible as an inherent trait that some people have, whether it is genetic, developmental or something else.

[Careless]

In multiple long term identical twin studies have sown pretty conclusive proof against there being a genetic factor.

That's not true. There is some factor at play that makes identical twins significantly more likely to both be gay or straight, but it's far below 100%, so it's unclear how it's mediated

[John]

There is some factor at play that makes identical twins significantly more likely to both be gay or straight, but it's far below 100%, so it's unclear how it's mediated

Maybe. Or it is a statistical quirk of the studies. There haven't been that many studies done and the numbers of twins actually studied is pretty low. It is entirely possible they just got an above average sample.

Moreover, there could be a million other environmental factos that are creating the connection. Yes, I know some of the studies involve twins raised by different parents. But there is nothing to say there are not similar environmental facts we just haven't figured out.

The bottom line is, there is no proof that it is genetic. None. Just a bit of correlation and peculation. Sorry, that doesn't count as proof.

[Careless]

By that standard, there are a lot of things that are obviously genetic that we shouldn't be saying are genetic. Like heterosexuality.

[Zeb]

I don't think it is clear at all what exactly it involves. And just saying it involves a person's preference doesn't really say much. Preferences don't come from nowhere.

I don't claim to know how or why it happens, but it really does look like some people have something inherent about them that makes them feel like they have the wrong sex. I don't think "preference" really adequately describes it.

[Not an Economist]

I've read transsexuals who actually transition are not any happier after the transition then before. I'm wondering if there isn't a mental health issue being overlooked.

For the record there are some really weird body dismorphia issues out there (people who don't think the arm that is attached to their body is their's).

[lap83]

"I've read transsexuals who actually transition are not any happier after the transition then before. I'm wondering if there isn't a mental health issue being overlooked."

I've read that too. It's a human thing. People overestimate how much something will affect their happiness, whether good or bad. (i.e. lottery winners and amputees) After a transitional period they return to a baseline level.

I don't know whether it's a mental health issue, but at the very least it's not the prerequisite for happiness that some people think it is. Progs like to pretend that the people involved in their pet issues are somehow not affected by human nature.

[Je suis Woodchipper]

brilliant.

although isn't the main villain the wealthy, old, white "senator?"

[John]

Later in the prequals but not in the first one. And really, aren't the storm troopers just a metaphor for oppressed minorities taking on a white persona to get along in the white world?

[Je suis Woodchipper]

I was born in the wrong skin. I self-identify as someone with much less eczema.

[Woodchipper Society]

I too was born as a wrongskin. Fucking ass pimples.

[Raven Nation]

From the page:

"Ben Shapiro @benshapiro

#RachelDolezal must now pay slavery reparations to herself."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Hey, a comedian said something funny!

[straffinrun]

He could have said she has to now go fuck herself.

[Zeb]

God, I hope it's trolling. I like how the dude comes up with the 10% stat. How the fuck do you know that? What does that even mean?

The idea that transrace can even be a thing seems like it rests entirely on the ideas of racists. That there is something inherently different about the minds of black people that is inborn and not cultural. Which is fucking insane and idiotic. Why not just say "I like black culture and hanging out with black people?

Also very funny is that the NAACP fake black person basically has been going around in blackface.

[straffinrun]

Wonder if she'll claim this was just research for her new book "Black Like Me 2.0".

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

That. is. awesome. What makes it really fun is all the serious replies.

[lap83]

Shady as hell, but a part of me wishes I'd thought of it

This company will sell you fake credentials to get a real job

Her clients get jobs this way, she says, and to her, that's a good thing. "Some people see it as unethical, some people see it as fraud," she tells Business Insider. "But we don't see it that way, probably because we get to know the customers."

The company tagline is "serving disadvantaged job applicants since 2009!" That's one way of looking at it.

For between $100 and $200, the basic CareerExcuse plans get you between one and three fake, positive references from a job or jobs you've never had. (A premium "pro" service, which offers more established-seeming fake employment, costs extra.)

[Woodchip-o-Matic 5000]

I've served as a fake past employer for a number of friends. It was a lot easier in the days before the Google, but it's still pretty effective for entry-level and service industry type jobs.

[Rasilio]

Nah, it's not so hard, just use google to come up with the name of a company in that industry that went out of business and have your fake reference claim to have been a manager there.

They can't verify anything else because the company no longer exists

[WTF]

"Vandalay Industries!"

[Swiss Servator, Vorladung?]

Importer or exporter?

[John]

I love it. I hate our credential driven job market. And I hate how one bad job or boss or one mistake can ruin people's careers. This is wonderfully subversive.

[Lord Humungus]

Jeb Bush to take GOP nomination, predicts CFO Survey

The CFO Council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world and collectively manages more than $2 trillion in market capitalization across a wide variety of sectors. Of the 34 council members, 19 (or 56 percent) of the council responded to this quarter's survey.

More than 72 percent of members of the council surveyed earlier this month say Jeb Bush will in fact win the Republican nomination. Respondents were asked to choose who they think will garner the nomination, not who they would vote for.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker came a distant second, with 11 percent saying he will win. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida each received about 5 percent of responses. Ten other candidates received zero percent.

[Woodchipper Society]

Well he certainly comes across as mediocre to your average voter. They eat that shit up.

[straffinrun]

The greatest trick Jeb ever pulled was convincing people Rand didn't exist.

[creech]

Stop with the woodchipper cracks. It is triggering. My cousin married into the family that owns those orange tree trimming trucks and woodchippers you see all around the country. They are thoroughly nice people and would never use woodchippers for any criminal purpose.

[Lord Humungus]

Putin, once critical of Stalin, now embraces Soviet dictator's tactics

Only six years ago, President Vladimir Putin visited the Polish port of Gdansk, birthplace of the Solidarity movement that threw off Soviet domination, and reassured his Eastern European neighbors that Russia had only friendly intentions.

Putin spoke harshly that day of the notorious World War II-era pact that former Soviet leader Josef Stalin had signed with Adolf Hitler ? an agreement that cleared the way for the Nazi occupation of Poland and Soviet domination of the Baltics ? calling it a "collusion to solve one's problems at others' expense."

But Putin's view of history appears to have undergone a startling transformation. Last month, the Russian leader praised the 1939 nonaggression accord with Hitler as a clever maneuver that forestalled war with Germany. Stalin's 29-year reign, generally seen by Russians in recent years as a dark and bloody chapter in the nation's history, has lately been applauded by Putin and his supporters as the foundation on which the great Soviet superpower was built.

[lap83]

Are we ready to talk about crazy prog privilege now? Rachel Dolezal could never have landed such an esteemed position if she was just a regular crazy person.

[Loves Big Brother Kristen]

What's Rachel Dolezal's annual self-tanner budget, do you suppose?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Pretty high - she paid the Michael Jackson estate to get all the black he lost.

[Sevo]

"WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama made an 11th-hour appeal to dubious Democrats on Friday in a tense run-up to a House showdown on legislation to strengthen his hand in global trade talks."

Yeah, now it's all buddy-buddy.
If I thought for one moment this had anything to do with free trade, I'd be right there. But we all know this lying POS, and nobody should trust him with the money to go pick up the pizza.

[The Chipper Was One of Danger]

Hey guys, I haven't been here much since the Great Registration, but I'm swinging in totally by accident, and not at all to show support for people who are totally not getting rolled by a bunch of power-hungry cretins and vicious dogs.

Anyone want these old HnR jokes I have lying around? I'll trade a Lobster Girl for a kippered herring...

[adolphowisner]

My best friend's step-mother makes $85 hourly on the computer . She has been fired from work for nine months but last month her pay check was $17089 just working on the computer for a few hours. see it here
LINK HERE?????? http://www.BuzzReport20.com