Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Subsidies, Rules on Housing Racial Discrimination Claims, Whole Foods Accused of Overcharging: P.M. Links

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Credit: Jeff Kubina / photo on flickr The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold an interpretation of the Affordable Care Act (an interpretation opposite the actual law's wording) that allows subsidies for federal exchanges. Some Reason analysis of the ruling here, here, here, and here.
- Just prior to ruling on Obamacare, the Supreme Court also ruled that citizens can use the "disparate impact" racial discrimination claim to fight housing regulations and practices, meaning they don't have to prove racial discrimination is intentional in order to bring about a suit.
- A Kansas judge has blocked a ban on the late-term abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation.
- California's Assembly has passed a bill requiring school children to be fully vaccinated.
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be jumping into the race for president. A reminder from Ed Krayewski that Christie is awful on just about every issue of liberty, in case you didn't already know.
- Whole Foods has been accused of overcharging customers in New York. They've responded in denial of done anything wrong and have accused New York City's Department of Consumer of Affairs of trying to extract a "grossly excessive monetary" settlement out of them.
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The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold an interpretation of the Affordable Care Act...
LONG LIVE SCOTUSCARE!
Hello.
Apple bans Civil War games.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6.....erate-flag
Rotten apple.
*facepalm
I'm sure will remove all games with Nazis and Communists.
Cool story, bro!
Tim Cook. Wasn't there something else he stuck his nose in with his stupid opinion?
A gay wedding cake, I think.
Indiana religious freedom stuff
To be fair, it's easy to go full retard when you have as much of a headstart as Tim Cook's Apple.
California's Assembly has passed a bill requiring school children to be fully vaccinated.
Needle rape.
I bet you've heard that before.
If you are accusing me of plagiarizing you better have some proof or I'm subpoenaing Reason.
I'm accusing your penis of having a low BMI.
BURN
Burn.
Burn.
Burn.
If I am vaccinated and my children are vaccinated, why the hell should I care if the neighbors' kids are not?
So, those neighbor kids die from some avoidable (and yet horrible) virus. Big deal.
I never liked my neighbors or their crossed-eyed progeny in the 1st place.
Vaccines don't have a 100% success rate, so those kids could still get yours sick.
No, but they have a 98% success rate. I can live with that.
It's not nearly that high.
THEN WHY IS ANYONE BOTHERING WITH THEM AT ALL?
To get to you, a disease has to successfully infect every person in between the original vector and you. If a vaccine has a 50% success rate, and you come in contact with it directly, you're as likely to get infected as not. If it has to go through one person to get to you, your odds of avoiding it are twice as good. If it has to go through two people to get to you, your odds are four times as good, etc.
Some are. Some are a little less.
I can live with those odds.
The odds are good enough for me not care if my retarded neighbors don't vaccinate their vacuous, wormy progeny.
I care enough to vaccinate my daughters. I don't care if anyone else does.
Yes it is. Measles is the lowest and its 97%. The others are much much higher.
97% is a solid "A". Those are damn good odds.
It only works if we're all in
Like communism.
Like Social Security.
Fuck that shit.
More like the ACA.
If 80-90% of us get vaccinated, the 10% who are too sickly, weak, poor, or young to get vaccinated won't have to.
Fuck the ACA too
Well, at least they aren't making them get ultrasounds.
Whole Foods has been accused of overcharging customers in New York.
But that's why people shop at Whole Foods. To be seen paying too much for groceries.
Whole Foods has been accused of overcharging customers in New York everywhere.
They don't call it Whole Paycheck for nothing.
Their house brand tonic water is reasonably priced though.
Also, when they first arrived in NYC, they underpriced Gristede's, D'Agostinos and Food Emporium, all dismal holes in the wall, while delivering better and more relevant products.
I'm still trying to figure out how one gets overcharged. Was that gluten free deep dish artisanal cheese pizza listed at $19.99 and it was rung up as $29.99?
The Dept. of Weights and Measures says they were lying about how much food was in packages.
That's a way less fun story to be glib about. Way to ruin our hate time.
Jeez, you are the worst.
And I need more tonic water.
What do you want? If I start phoning it in, I'll lose the tiara. Probably to ENB or some bullshit like that.
Not while ESB lives!
I'm gonna jump the gun and call BS on this. Supermarkets are very careful about this sort of thing. And we're expected to believe that they didn't consider that NYC routinely sends goons around checking up on it?
Srsly, Rhywun. I am mad skeptical.
The story is really about their vendors mis-weighing and pricing pre-packaged goods, not stuff weighed in the stores. Also, some of the mis-pricing benefited the customer.
So, in part, it is BS.
Ah. Serves me right for not reading the article.
No, wait, what Jesse said!
They have the best price on chelated magnesium I have seen anywhere. And their hot food has been a decent alternative to other fast food places as there used to be a Whole Foods on my commute home.
But comparison shopping shows they gouge like crazy on a majority of their items.
What is chelated magnesium for?
My doctor put me on slow mag, but I always forget to take it.
It prevents teeth grinding and doesn't upset the stomach like regular magnesium supplements.
Whole Foods pizza is awesome. And it's 19.99 but it's also BOGO so it's really 9.995 you just have to stuff your face with pizza because that stuff is not as good the next day. Their dough is very chewy.
Not as reasonably priced as my house brand tonic water.
With all due respect to John Mackay, I have never shopped at Whole Foods and never will.
Honestly John - this whole 'natural' food cult gives me the heebie jeebies.
But you go on with your bad self - and make a bundle!!
I'm pretty disappointed in WF. I was psyched when a new one opened up about 6 blocks from my home, but as someone not that convinced organic and all its variants is all that beneficial, its been underwhelming.
It really is horribly overpriced and King's (a good regional story in the NE) has much better prepared foods, meats, and produce. I've been driving the extra 8 blocks. Suck it Whole Foods.
If it doesn't have added chemicals, it's not food IMHO.
Protip: They sell rendered duck fat. That alone is reason enough to set foot in there.
Not sure what I'd do with duck fat. Suggestions?
WF doesn't have 80/20 chopped meat. They're highest fat content is 85/15. I mean, WTF?
Not sure what I'd do with duck fat.
Cook your breakfast potatoes in it.
That's what bacon fat is for.
TBT: Reason commenters discuss which fats we should use for breakfast potatoes (02/26/13)
Cook all potatoes in it. It's the best fat for potatoes.
I also use it for high heat applications, where oil would burn.
I was born on a ranch. We had ducks.
Duck fat? Oh, hell no.
I know where those damn ducks have been.
Water is wet. News at 11.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be jumping into the race for president.
Get those Richter scales ready.
A reminder from Ed Krayewski that Christie is awful on just about every issue of liberty, in case you didn't already know.
Except the constitutional right to gorge yourself into a coma at all you can eat buffets!
Yourself? I doubt it. Himself.
But he's a government-hating Randroid teathuglican because of one canceled tunnel project and because he's on Team Red.
Disparate impact is a really dangerous doctrine, as it is based almost entirely on a logical fallacy: post hoc ergo propter hoc.
...meaning they don't have to prove racial discrimination is intentional in order to bring about a suit.
Throwing a bone to fellow attorneys?
There's money in them thar shills.
Yes. It's welfare for lawyers.
Alms, alms for an ex-lawyer.
http://www.christiantoday.com/...../49693.htm
"On multiple occasions he discriminated against students who were of different faiths and backgrounds," Captain Jon R Fahs wrote, adding that Modder was unable to "function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of the training command.
Modder said that he was praised in his last performance review, with Fahs referring to him as "the best of the best" and a "consummate professional leader" who deserved a promotion.
He believes the current accusations against him stem from complaints made by a gay assistant in his office.
"His five-page letter of complaint was unconscionable," Modder said of the lieutenant junior officer's grievances. "He said I had a behavioural pattern of being anti-discriminatory of same sex orientation."
Term limits for Supreme Court Justices!
Not sure what that'll do, given recent supreme court appointees.
You think it's bad now? Just wait when Hillary Clinton is POTUS and there is no Scalia counter-balance.
We're doomed
How, then, do we smack down judicial tyranny in our highest court?
Opt out. Off the grid (underground economy). Or an escape hatch.
It is bound to end and end badly.
Watch yourself! With threatening speech like that you're just asking for a subpoena
Simply saying you support ISIS gets you 8 days in jail
Apparently all he's been doing is tweeting his support for ISIS. So much for free speech.
Reasonable and justifiable limitations...
France seems to think this is the solution to extremism as well. The amount of people who think the world will get better by locking up thoughtcrime is depressing.
You know you guys don't have that up there anyway.
It takes some special evil lost and dark soul to support those barbaric murderers.
ISIS is beyond barbarism even.
I support the death penalty for this.
I'm sure a significant portion of Canada (at least Quebec) still supports the FLQ.
Nah. There never was a large majority. Not even for separatism 1995 notwithstanding. The FLQ are a despicable bunch of criminals. But hey, one got hired by a university. Then again it happens in the States as well where past commies and agitators like Ayer get nice gigs.
It's always been in the 25-30% range. Still a sizable number but in that figure I reckon at least half of those people think they have a right to keep the dollar, passports, St. Lawrense sea way (Crown corporation), and all other goodies that come with being, you know, CANADIAN and not Quebecois.
On top of that, I think the number is maybe 5-10% of hardcore, don't give a shit nothing to lose, damn les anglais, xenophobic morons who support it.
Lawrence.
And by those people I mean when it's explained to them they balk at the idea.
Also, the Natives include the Cree up north want NOTHING to do with Quebec. If there's one bunch who despise nationalists more than us, it's them. Of course, then there's the who Montreal secessionist angle.
It's pretty interesting as it is aggravating as it is pointless.
About those corporate profits:
http://www.tradingeconomics.co.....te-profits
Whole Foods overcharged me once on a zucchini. So justice requires they pay the city government a shitload of money.
If I go to their hot food bar and pick out stuff for dinner, it costs around 50 bucks to feed my family, which is why I don't do it. For some people, this is a feature, not a bug.
Is it any good at least for the price?
I was hungry and lazy on a few occasions, so I tried this stuff. It wasn't that good.
Yes. That's the formula:
1) Hungry
2) Lazy
3) Disposable income.
Their smoked beef short ribs are great. That's about it. I'll pay $10.99 a pound for those (fully cooked), if I'm really really in the mood.
I won't pay $10.99/lb for lettuce, veggies, potatoes, and rice from the salad bar, though. That's not something I'll do, ever.
Some of it is quite tasty. Some of it...meh. It's definitely expensive and a small voice in the back of my head always whispered "most of this shit isn't any better for you than fast food...you're just trying to convince yourself otherwise."
I think it often tastes worse than generic supermarket deli stuff. Every once in awhile my wife buys something absurd like 'cranberry walnut chicken salad' for 13.99 a quarter-pint, and I taste one bite and think 'blah.'
My guess is in the drive to be wholly 'organic' and 'healthy' they don't put salt in things that really need salt, therefore the lack of flavor. I'm betting that on a blind taste test most people would agree, but when they buy Whole Foods, they will inevitably taste the overpriced dollop and say 'Mmmmm! Exquisite!!"
You know what's really good? Buying hot food from the vegan section and adding meat to it. That's always a winner at Whole Foods.
Similarly, if I buy chicken broth that says "No MSG", it's time to get out my MSG shaker.
+1 ACCENT seasoning...
Wait, what? If you throw a zucchini at some dirt and look at it sideways you'll have lifetime zucchini in one season.
A special curtain has been installed in the SC state house to obscure the rebel flag:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/c.....0651971663
You know, we're pathetic. Seriously, fucking grow a pair, America. Not going to get real far rolling up into a ball and rocking back and forth every time you're offended.
Shit. Don't look at the comment below this.
You know, I think I'm getting triggered by the insanity. Reality-based community indeed. More like pussy-based community.
How do I sign up for this pussy-based community?
Sadly, it's not that kind of pussy.
"A special curtain has been installed in the SC state house "
Iron?
Body Parts Now Considered "Triggering"
...but what about marching with your tits out?
That's triggering in a, uh, different way.
Look upon the future and despair.
Jesus Christ. I'm not sure what is the more pressing question, Jesse: 1) How does one human contain so much stupid? 2) How exactly did you go about finding that?
1) I don't know, but it's painful to look at. 2) A friend of mine loves to hate SJWs and brought it to my attention.
All I know is I learned after purchasing a lovely recipe book that pomegranate is an oft-used ingredient in Lebanese cuisine.
This is why ISIS is winning.
They seem to know a thing or two about being triggered by offensive body parts....
Here is a screenshot of the report's cover page.
For fuck sake.. What's the matter with you! Put a trigger warning on that..
You could poke an eye out with that
PENIS
Mr. Lizard:
Your compatriots are helping the mammals. The Geico Gecko wrote this book, which purports to be a useful guide to life. I would have thought your kind would avoid giving us help?
Since we're all a bunch of boorish blowhards, I thought Reason commenters might want to learn
Rude hand gestures of the world
"Five fathers
Meaning: You have five fathers, i.e., your mother is a whore
Used in: Arab countries, Caribbean
If you are looking to get yourself deported from Saudi Arabia ? possibly amid a riot ? you can do no better than the Five Fathers gesture. The most inflammatory hand gesture in the Arab world, this sign accuses the subject's mother of having so many suitors that paternity is impossible to determine. To execute, point your left index finger at your right hand, while pursing all fingers of the right hand together. The insult is extreme and almost certain to provoke violence."
Used in: Arab countries, Caribbean, Epi's house.
This is exactly the how-to guide I was searching for before I went to Europe
I thought the chin flick was much more offensive than described in the article.
Bill Maher on the Left's Ironic View of the Muslim World
Yeah, I was afraid I was going to agree with him on something.
Even a blind squirrel.. something. something. broken clock..
Seriously, is the US undergoing a cultural revolution at the moment? Supremes ruling that the law means whatever the executive wants it to mean and the iconoclastic hysteria over the Confederate Battle Flag?
The revolution is not only televised, it is hella dumb, and perpetrated by mental children to boot.
Yes, Winston: We're in a Libertarian moment.
So in 50 years we will be in a one-party state that isn't as tyrannical and insane as their genocidal predecessors?
The times they are achangin' ???
Our Red Guards (SJWs) are in top form and ready for anything. As an aside, I'm disappointed that the term h?ngwe?b?ng is not used for the Red Guards in English. That's how they are called in Russian (and in Chinese, naturally) and it sounds very dirty.
It's worth noting that the average SJW has even worse fashion sense than the Chinese Red Guard.
Link: Bernie Sanders Join Efforts to Make DC the 51st State
Yeah I think I agree with this. No taxation without representation.
DC has a larger population than Wyoming yet they have no representation in Congress.
But they get all of that sweet government cheddar.
Why not Puerto Rico, Guam, or the USVI?
"I want to go back to San Juan..."
"I know a boat you can get on!"
"Everyone there will give big cheers"
"Everyone there will have moved here"
I like to be in America....
How about return DC residential areas back to the state the area they live in was originally from... instead of trying to rig another 2 team blue senators into the deal. If Maryland and Virginia get more congressional delegates so be it.
DC has 535 representatives in Congress many of whom are represented better than a congressman's home district. They are now the richest area of the country. If they work for the government, they can never be fired.
It would be better to not allow the Congress a permanent seat of government. Let them either work from home or move the area where they meet every session.
New Columbia isn't going to work tho because North Carolina already has the postal abbreviation NC.
It's cute that Tom Carper thinks anything remotely evoking the name "Columbus" will pass SJW muster.
It would have a better chance if they name it after Marion Berry.
Well, at least now we have setting for the next Bioshock game!
That racist fuck just triggered me.
Make DC a state and move the nation's capitol to nebraska. Break off Omaha, or Lincoln, or Spalding and make that the nation's capitol.
I wonder if the tit-suckers in DC would be willing to give up the tidal wave of federal money and just become an ordinary state?
Oh, you may soon see a startling article about how the Pope allegedly reaffirmed Catholic teachings.
He said that separation of spouses is called for "when it comes to saving the weaker spouse, or young children, from more serious injuries caused by intimidation and violence, by humiliation and exploitation, by lack of involvement and indifference."
http://www.religionnews.com/20.....tect-kids/
In fact, the canon law of the Latin Church says the same thing, and has for years and years:
"If either of the spouses causes grave mental or physical danger to the other spouse or to the offspring or otherwise renders common life too difficult, that spouse gives the other a legitimate cause for leaving, either by decree of the local ordinary or even on his or her own authority if there is danger in delay."
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P45.HTM
Not only that, the Council of Trent excommunicated anyone who denied that abused spouses had this option.
Of course, remarriage after separation, when the other spouse is still alive, is another question, and AFAIK the Pope never endorsed that, but be on the lookout for misleading headlines.
There *is* concern about a proposal floating in the upcoming Synod on the Family which would admit divorced-and-remarried couples to Communion. Supposedly, this would be simply a pastoral remedy, which doesn't recognize the new relationship. But as a backwards reactionary, I hope they reject the idea anyway. More as this develops.
Tonight you're gonna party like it's 1499!
Did you say 1499?
"August ? Polydore Vergil completes De inventoribus rerum, the first modern history of inventions."
The Swiss win their independence from Austria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=1499
The Swiss claim 1291.
Or those Christians could decide they are Protestants and don't have to ask permission of another Man to decide if they can have a positive relationship with God.
"local ordinary" = bishop
Filthy casual=???
Univision Severs Ties With Donald Trump and Beauty Pageants
So will Gone with the Wind be next? NY Post asshole claims he doesn't want it banned but says it should go the way of the Confederate flag and that it belongs in a museum, implying that he wants Warner Bros. to withdraw it from release. Considering what Warners did to the General Lee and Apple's reaction to Civil War strategy games, I can see that happening. Presumably the book should be withdrawn from circulation and all copies burned and Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer should be revoked.
I really want some trolls playing "earnest prog" to gather up lots of Civil War books, toss them on a pile, light it on fire, and put that shit on YouTube.
They've responded in denial of done anything wrong and have accused New York City's Department of Consumer of Affairs of trying to extract a "grossly excessive monetary" settlement out of them.
I will assume that settlement will go directly into the New York State treasury general fund, and not to the "victims". Because the state is the true victim, here.
I thought Whole Foods were the good guys offering their overpriced organics?
My first thought hearing about the whole story was extortion. It's a source of revenue. And how does it help consumers to make Whole Foods pay the government?
How does one go about 'overcharging' someone when there are tons of other grocery stores? You could buy your item somewhere else and if no one else has it you could just not buy it until Whole Food lowers the price.
Basically these customers are saying "I was dumb enough to buy goods that were more expensive because I'm a dipshit who cares more about status symbols than saving money. The people who let me make a fool of myself must pay."
The Dept. of Weights and Measures is alleging fraud regarding the amount of food in packages.
Yeah I noticed this when I actually RTFA.
Yes, overcharging was used correctly here, allegedly.
Nicole, we've been over this.
You can't expect me to read things and become informed before commenting on them.
"I only want to shop at the nicest grocery store with the best products. It's unfair for such store to charge me the highest prices though."
-Brooklyn hipster.
Doesn't going to Whole Foods say "overcharge" me in the first place?
2 LGBT leave Russian persecution to join ISIS
Yeah. Ima gonna guess that won't end well.
Yeah, I believe that's everyone's take on this.
I was completely unaware that anyone picked up the mantle of Ernst R?hm within ISIS.
About 4,000 years of history in the Middle East, Persia, and Southwestern Asia has taught us that it's not gay if the bottom doesn't have facial hair.
They'll be fine.
Now I feel like I should re-read Cleopatra's Wedding Present: Travels through Syria
There's a great bit in there when a bunch of older Syrian men are telling his Syrian man-friend that he's lucky to have a British guy with him because British guys will do things that women won't.
The author points out this conversation only went smoothly because they thought the Syrian was bumming the author and not the other way around.
Hmm.... it's almost like transgender isn't some inborn condition of feeling like the opposite sex as what you were born and may actually be part of a human's unending quest for identity in a postmodern world without any animating ethos other than victimhood.
Your Daily Dosage of Derp:
I seriously have to wonder about Antonin Scalia sometimes. His ranting dissent in King v. Burwell is absurd on its face. He accuses the court of ensuring that "words have no meaning," but he blatantly ignores the actual words of ?36B(b)(2)(A) of the ACA. Specifically, he ignores the word "the," confusing it with "a." His dissent rests on the following line: "Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is 'established by the State.'" The thing is, Scalia proves his intellectual inferiority here by missing the difference between "a" and "the." Indeed, if ?36B mentioned *a* state, Scalia would have a point. But it doesn't; it mentions *the* State, specifically. This leaves it open to interpretation: is *the* State referring to the individual state of the union, or does *the* State mean "the government," generally? If so, the HHS Secretary, as the official agent of the State (that is, the general government), indeed has not only the right but the *obligation*, per the terms of the law, to set up exchanges.
Continued:
Effectively, Scalia, in his dissent, countermands his own argument. The man is an intellectual featherweight posing as a law professor. I'm not at all against intelligent conservatives sitting on the bench (much though I might have loathed his opinions, William Rehnquist always had something interesting to say, like his majority opinion in Van Orden v. Perry, which makes some very important points). But Scalia is not Rehnquist, or Sandra Day O'Connor, or John Marshall Harlan. He's a charlatan and a fool, just like the guy who nominated him to the court in the first place.
Oh sorry, this was from a friend's Facebook post after the Supreme Court decision.
Too late. My brain has already attributed these comments to you.
Damn it!
It's been a tough day - between the ACA ruling, Confederate-gate, DC statehood, etc...this post nearly pushed me over the edge until I saw #3!
I know the feeling. It's been a day full of derp. Sometimes I wished we would just drop the fucking illusion and become a dictatorship. At least then, the mirage of choice would slowly go away.
+1 Philosopher King
I can't imagine it world take Lockheed long to put together a Death Star, if you wanted the illusion of choice to go away even quicker...
Only leftists can get away with calling minority justices "intellectually inferior" or "angry."
Who ever that is should be dizzy from all that spinning.
"The thing is, Scalia proves his intellectual inferiority here by missing the difference between "a" and "the." Indeed, if ?36B mentioned *a* state, Scalia would have a point"
Holy shit, this is the greatest Prog-Smug I've ever seen. Scalia is quite possibly the greatest mind currently on the court, even though I think he suddenly jettisons all of his alleged principles when it comes to the cops and pot. But Random Prog number 300,000 thinks Scalia is 'intellectually inferior.'
He also ignores the fact that the term 'the state' is actually defined in the fucking document and is defined as meaning a state, not the federal government.
Irish, I wanted to point that out to him but then I was like, "What's the fucking point?"
I will say, this at least isn't as bad as Matthew Yglesias claiming that words don't mean anything.
Which was brilliant.
If Matt Yglesias didn't exist, the Twitteriat would have to invent him. Same with Piers Morgan.
The odd part is the guy who wrote that rant thinks Yglesias is a great economic writer.
I SHIT YOU NOT.
Never mind that the ACA defines the word "State" as it is used within the ACA.
How does one go about 'overcharging' someone when there are tons of other grocery stores?
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE PRICE.
The Ministry of Plenty must set wages and prices, based on their absolute understanding of the national economy.
Dutch court rules that unicorn farts must replace fossil fuels:
"Dutch court orders Netherlands to cut carbon emissions faster"
[...]
"But it is not clear how the decision will be enforced and the government can appeal."
http://www.euronews.com/2015/0.....ns-faster/
Nor is it clear how the government is to do so.
Besides which, why stop at 25%? Why not just order, oh, a 150% reduction?
By "order", the court is "suggesting". It's unenforceable, every under Europe's fucked up laws.
Did H&R just do something to the commenting platform this afternoon? Because one of the Obamacare threads I read was only H&R's usually slow self, while the PM Lynx are monstrously slow: two minutes to show any text, and at least another 90 seconds to get the "reply to this" links to show up.
Oh, don't worry, its just the website being ported to NSA servers to save the DoJ time
Just because
Nothing like some Finnish metal to lighten the mood.
They fit the mood. Nothing like a long-haired Viking looking motherfucker screaming his lungs out to counterbalance all of the derp today.
The video is not available
Nightwish-Wish I Had an Angel
Spot the Not: Jim Demint
1. Religion and politics are inseparable because the values of our faith should inform what we value in our politics. They both seek to answer questions about the good life.
2. I'd like to see a Republican Party that embraces a lot of the libertarian ideas.
3. I've said it often and I believe it?the bigger government gets, the smaller God gets. As people become more dependent on government, less dependent on God.
4. Christianity is the glaze on the succulent ham of freedom, and capitalism is the little pineapple slice.
5. A free and stable Iraq will be a shining light against the shadow of Islamic extremism.
6. If a person wants to be publicly gay, they should not be teaching in the public schools.
"Religion and politics are inseparable because the values of our faith should inform what we value in our politics. They both seek to answer questions about the good life."
He definitely said this, but I don't see what's wrong with it. Clearly your religious values are going to impact how you vote and this commend doesn't argue in favor of the elimination of separation of church and state or anything.
"Christianity is the glaze on the succulent ham of freedom, and capitalism is the little pineapple slice."
I want to believe he said this. Please say he said this.
Oooooh. 2 or 4? 2 or 4?
I'm going to say 4 only because I can't see DeMint uttering the word "succulent" and because I can totally see him thinking "libertarian" to mean nothing but "MOAR PROFITZ."
4 is the Not. Prize!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLQI8X2R6Y
Spot the Not: books by Jim Demint
1. Faith, Freedom, Family, Flag: Forging Forward Fearlessly
2. Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right to Say It's Wrong
3. Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide Into Socialism
4. The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington, and Me
5. Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse
6. Falling in Love With America Again
1. He's not clever enough to alliterate that well.
Jeb Bush is leading in New Hampshire. Trump is #2.
We're doomed.
New Hampshire: Live Free or Compromise
I'll tell you that they're the only ones who seem to have spent any money in the state, as far as advertising...so what do you expect?
I still don't expect Trump high in the polls. What the f**k is that.
Hopefully, people trolling the pollsters.
Hilarious.
Citing Ben Affleck's 'Improper Influence,' PBS Suspends 'Finding Your Roots'
Name 'em and shame 'em!!!
Ben Affleck: Son of the Confederacy
Thom Hartmann was talking the other day about his ancestry. He said "thank god" he wasn't related to anyone who owned slaves, as though the shame of it would somehow have passed onto him.
I remember seeing an episode (the first and only) where Harry Connick jr. was beside himself when he found he had an ancestor who owned slaves.
These people really are special. As if they have a right to perfect ancestry.
It's not normal. It doesn't REFLECT on him.
I thought it would have gone without saying that he would've...
Did he express any regret about his father? Because if anyone deserved to be inched into a woodchipper, it was his dad.
What a fucken loser.
There was an episode of either this program or pre-curser that featured a black business mogul (cannot remember the dudes name). Turned out one of his great-grandfathers was a really success white business man who had owned slaves at one point. So his ancestor was a slave owner.
I learned that my great-great grandfather, a licensed whiskey distiller in Tennessee, owned a slave named Ben. After the War, Ben stayed on with the family, but did not accompany them when they resettled to another state.
Of course, being Southron Baptists, we were embarrassed that he was a slaveowner, and mortified that he was a whiskey distiller.
The slave of one of my ancestors was solely in charge of running one of two large mercantile businesses, while the Colonel ran the other. From the will of my ancestor's widow in 1783:
Freed eighty some years before the Civil War.
N.B.: This was in the north.
If it was in the North, then it wasn't real slavery, because slavery only happened in the south because Southerners hated black people and so made them slaves while Northerners loved black people and made them jazz musicians.
I also feel like this court ruling should be getting more attention:
Just prior to ruling on Obamacare, the Supreme Court also ruled that citizens can use the "disparate impact" racial discrimination claim to fight housing regulations and practices, meaning they don't have to prove racial discrimination is intentional in order to bring about a suit.
Yes, this is also disturbing.
Anyone ever play "No Greater Glory"?
All this talk about Apple pulling the plug on Civil War games makes me want to dig it out, again.
I played that. It was kind of fun but had several flaws. Overall, it was just mediocre.
Here's an idea for Reason's resident pollsters: "If you were given the power to unilaterally amend the US Constitution, which of the following amendments (provide the text, to prevent confusion) would you [eliminate/weaken/leave as is/strengthen] (multiple choice question for each amendment)?"
16, 17 and 19...just kidding about 19!
That was already a Common Core lesson:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/10.....mendments/
Common Core on the 2nd amendment:
"This amendment states that people have the right to certain weapons, providing that they register them and they have not been in prison."
http://www.thefederalistpapers.....-amendment
urge to woodchip rising...*
*purely hypothetically, of course
I don't recall seeing the word "certain" anywhere in the 2nd Amendment.
Random observation and thought: a while ago I read a story about a boy whose parents thought he had autism. Turns out his dog kept interrupting his sleep and the lack of sleep induced behaviors that gave the impression of autism. Could the apparent increase in 'autism' 'seen' in the last few decades really be an outbreak of bad sleeping habits?
"He wasn't listening to me, and he was so rude, he kept snorting in response to what I said."
What I have seen more scientific support for, is the idea that hyperactivity is basically just sleep and rest deprivation. People assume that with too little sleep, kids would be sluggish and sleepy, but the opposite is true. We are probably medicating thousands of kids who just aren't having their bedtimes enforced, or maybe just don't have bedrooms that are sufficiently dark and quiet.
Not necessarily. My kid had insomnia in the womb. He NEVER slept and for five months he didn't let ME sleep either. Then he was born and I was SOL.
Put him to bed at exactly the same time every night and he'd stay awake for hours and then get up at the crack of dawn.
Yes, he needs sleep, and he does much better when he has it, but we have to give him medication to knock him out.
lol. Precious shnookums needs the nitelite. Don't want them to be SCARED, do we?
I heard a PSA on the radio that any baby that doesn't smile a lot by 6 months may have autism or some such.
Basically, autism has been diluted to mean introvert.
My kid (the one that won't sleep) didn't speak until he was 18 months old. My then-childless SIL said he had a speech impediment. I recited a long list of geniuses who spoke late.
Now my kid won't shut up.
Please. Someone. Shut him up.
*curls up in fetal position in corner*
My folks thought I was retarded (this was okay to say at the time).
Turns out I just didn't have much to say.
I was reading books at 3, though.
My hand writing was so bad my teachers thought there was something wrong with my brain.
I'll never know. My study of the derp has left me deeply warped.
My hand writing was so bad my teachers thought there was something wrong with my brain.
There's a diagnosis for that! It's called dysgraphia and in the modern public school will get you a full-time special ed aid to write for you or an adaptive device paid for on the public dime, of course. It will also get you extra time on the SAT and standardized tests.
I learned to write legibly eventually. My handwriting was bad because I wanted to get my work done quickly, so I wrote as fast as I could.
According to tumblr, 97% of the population is quasi autistic and has mental illness and also might be wolfkin
Those not on the autism spectrum suffer from bipolar, ADHD, depression, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder or something double plus bad.
The good news? There's a drug for that!!11!!
There's also Social Security disability payments to be got.
I wish I had the time and smarts to figure out how to work that system. Alas, I am too busy being self-employed and paying taxes.
/bitter hissing crone chump
"any baby that doesn't smile a lot by 6 months may have autism or some such"
And if he smiles too much, he may have an exciting career ahead of him in sales, as a jury lawyer, or as a Congressman.
No.
The increase in people with autism is simply about the increase in the diagnosis.
Just as many people in the past had autism they just weren't labeled as such.
There are tremendous incentives for getting the diagnosis, so parents get the diagnosis.
My son as an Aspergers diagnosis (they don't diagnosis that any more). My son had the same general behaviors that one of my uncles exhibited 60 years ago. My uncle wasn't and would never have been diagnosed. He was just Odd Uncle Doug.
Yet I heard on a newscast/investigative reporting the other day that only 1 in 10 cases of autism is even diagnosed. Time to round up every kid and, from birth on, place them in the tender arms of the state as Newt Gingrich once suggested.
I'll admit to being pedantic at times, but I feel compelled to point out that the abortion procedure where the ban was blocked is called "dilation and curretage", or sometimes "dilation and curretation". Abortion is not what I think of when I read the term "dilation and elimination".
Which sounds pretty barbaric until you realize that it actually is pretty barbaric.
Every procedure removing tissue is gross. That's just emotion.
Well, killing will do that to ya, so...
WF packaged foods are too expensive, but I didn't need some ass hole city agency to tell me that. Their produce and other goods are really not that expensive.
I am excited to be getting a Wegman's soon though, because Wegman's is the best grocery store in the United States.
I disagree.
http://www.tipsysliquorworld.com/
Wegman's is coming to Brooklyn - I was beside myself. Being from the home of Wegman's I know all about them. They could *easily* put every shitty, dirty, disgusting supermarket in NYC (i.e. nearly all of them) out of business.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be jumping into the race for president.
That fat fuck isn't jumping anywhere.
Stories that sound like Onion articles: The Village of Whiteboro, NY has an official town seal featuring the town founder, Hugh White, strangling a native american
Whitesboro seal 'takes a little explaining'
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be jumping ...
EARTHQUAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!!
Hi Everyone,
Long time lurker here. Between the whole woodchipper situation and today's supreme court ruling I finally decided to register. I think I'm going to enjoy being on a government watchlist.
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I believe the State is quibbling about weights and measures. Not the per unit cost
No shit. Go to fucking Safeway. But I guess the revolution won't be complete until everyone can shop at expensive grocery stores.
The article says that the accusation is that on products that are priced by the pound, they were weighing them wrong and charging for a higher weight. If true that would be actual overcharging, not selling something at an agreed to price that some would think is too high.
Nailed it!!!
Exciting. I'll check it out. I'm saddened that Amazon doesn't have prime shipping on it.
This. I always cringe in horror at these stories and then say, well, just means less competition for my kid.
FIFY
Safeway seems pricey to me, certainly not a bargain. There's a california chain called 'Grocery Outlet' that I affectionately refer to as "the gross out". If they are carrying something you want it is often 40-60% cheaper than at Safeway though with a limited and cycling selection.
". But I guess the revolution won't be complete until everyone can shop at expensive grocery stores."
Cant afford pretentious foods at overpriced, over-hyped, gimmick store? FOOD DESERTZ1!!1!1 Unleash the Kraken..
When the revolution currently underway is complete no one will be able to shop at expensive grocery stores except those given special access cards.
The rest will be using a rationing card.
Interesting choice of words Jesus
Mexican grocery stores FTW! I have an El Super 2 miles from home, and I can get 4 lbs of onions for a buck there.
Food Maxx too. It is part of Safeway but gets all of the Safeway leftovers. The bakery products were so old they were covered in mold
Just watch out for the Horchata. When I lived briefly in SF area, the local Mexican grocery had gallons of Horchata whose main ingredients were non-dairy creamer and corn syrup. Sacrilege!
I will admit to being a complete fucking food snob. I consider Kroger, Giant and HEB slumming it. I'll do it. But I'll be awfully salty about it.
Oooh. I might stop at BevMo or Total Wine on the way home then...
Upscale? Jesse? Have you seen his lawn?
Ewwwww. Was rice too expensive or something?
Unintentional, my son
THERE'S A DROUGHT ON, MAN!
My lawn is actively depressing me at this point. I don't need you to rub it in.
Ah. Good point.
I was thinking more along the lines that these idiots are future bureaucrats and governmental leaders
I don't believe you.
HEB Central Markets are slumming ?
You must be some kinda prog overlord or sumpin.
I love HEB. They have the freshest produce and other local stuff and their store prepared items are the best I've ever seen at a grocery store.
HEB recently came out with a tortilla that is half corn and half flour.
Cooked right there at the store piping hot and fresh or taken home and reheated.
None better .
They even have a store brand ice cream that is almost as good as Blue Bell.
It's good enough that it is taking up the slack until Blue Bell gets back online.