Greeks Reject Terms for More Loans, Trump Says Americans 'deserve a wall', Comet Could Be Home to Alien Life: A.M. Links

ESA

• Voters in Greece overwhelmingly rejected the terms offered by its creditors in order to keep borrowing money. The prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, called it a "brave choice." The finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who clashed with European negotiators, resigned, as Greece looks to reopen talks with its creditors.
• The American people "deserve a wall," Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said in an event in San Francisco, where an illegal immigrant deported multiple times has been accused of murder. A lawyer for Trump, meanwhile, claimed NBC was in breach of contract for dropping the Miss Universe pageant over Trump's previous comments about Mexican immigrants. Rick Perry became the latest Republican to distance himself from Trump over his "offensive" comments.
• A suicide bomber in the Nigerian village of Potiskum killed four congregants and a priest in a local church, bringing the death toll in the country this week to 200.
• More than a million people are expected to attend Pope Francis' Mass in Ecuador, his first in South America.
• The comet Philae could be home to alien life, according to scientists who landed a probe on the celestial object.
• The United States defeated Japan, 5-2, in the Women's World Cup final.
• The last episode of HBO's True Detective gives new hope to fans of Game of Thrones' Jon Snow.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Voters in Greece overwhelmingly rejected the terms offered by its creditors in order to keep borrowing money.

Never pour money on a Greece fire.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

*narrows gaze*

[Ch?d Whipper]

Nice.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The United States defeated Japan, 5-2, in the Women's World Cup final.

Several Japanese players remain on the pitch, convinced the match isn't really over.

[straffinrun]

Maybe one will show up on a Gilligan's Island rerun someday.

[The DerpRider]

I think they need to give out more trophies. I'd have been sitting in the stands with a beer if it took that long from the end of the match to get into the damn locker room.

[Timon 19]

That's pretty standard these days: Top 3 scorers, best goalkeeper, top 2 or 3 players overall, best young player, sometimes best defensive player.

[Rhywun]

You just won the World Cup - you're not really giving a shit about getting to the locker room.

[The DerpRider]

To go crazy and celebrate and have a beer? Hell yes. You can't strip down and get wacky in front of everyone in the stadium.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The last episode of HBO's True Detective gives new hope to fans of Game of Thrones' Jon Snow.

Rubber swords?

[Fist of Etiquette]

NO SPOILERS

[Rhywun]

MTV News is the on the case!

... What the hell is this, TMZ?

[Warty]

I find myself really interested in Mexican weather lately

[Rich]

?Ay, caramba!

[SIV]

"They're not sending us their best"

[Charles Easterly]

You, Sir, have my sincere appreciation.

[Agammamon]

*quickly google's 'Mexican meteorology schools'*

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

You could set your beer (or 'beeh' as may be appropriate) on that shelf.

[PH2050]

Sweet Baby Jesus. Definitely the optimal lumbar angle!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The comet Philae could be home to alien life, according to scientists who landed a probe on the celestial object.

Finally. It's about time humans probed aliens for once.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

Bah, that is just one Auric and Pro L' are lining up for an "insurance" deal.

[Auric Demonocles]

Coverage for biological factors is extra.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

You know who else deserved a wall?

[UnCivilServant]

Hadrian?

[Drake]

Pink Floyd?

[Rich]

Fortunato?

[Auric Demonocles]

Jon Snow?

[gaijin]

pharmacy customers in SD?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Bar patrons in Utah?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Aaron Bruno?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Fobert Frost?

[Charles Easterly]

Constantinople?

[WTF]

George Bluth?

[X[redacted]s]

The nomadic horsemen of the steppes?

[DrZaius]

Charlie Brown?

[a better chipper]

South Dakota?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Georgie Best?

[cavalier973]

China?

[BigT]

Berliners?

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

The buyers of this sign?

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Deserve's got nothing to do with it.

[Anomalous]

Vietnam War soldiers?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The comet Philae could be home to alien life, according to scientists who landed a probe on the celestial object.

For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nerd.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

One of only two episodes, I believe, where Bones gets laid.

[expat]

I am for you Grand Moff

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's That Which Survives, dummy.

[Charles Easterly]

And you labeled Grand Moff a nerd?

[Fist of Etiquette]

YES I DID.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

What about "The Man Trap"?

[BuSab Agent]

Bones didn't get laid, she just wanted to suck his salt.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Anyone here familiar with the fringe theory that viruses and pandemics come from comet dust from outer space? I always thought it was extremely far-fetched, but if they discovered life on a comet, well that changes things a bit.

[Rich]

Ah, but where does the life on comets come from?

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Primitive life could originate on comets or comet dust, and then be seeded down to planets like Earth. Which is another origin of life theory. It's different from the other panspermia theory where life begins on a planet, and then gets blasted off into space from a major impact.

[Sandi]

In any event, it's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

[Agammamon]

Not really enough free energy for complex life out in the Oort cloud.

And a virus is still pretty complex compared to 'non-living' replicators.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

What about when kryptonians whack off?

Sperm of steel are hard to stop.

[X[redacted]s]

Smaller comets, duh.

[Lord Humungus]

Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016

Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans ? market leaders in many states ? are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

gee who would have predicted this?

[UnCivilServant]

*raises hand*

[commodious spittoon]

You don't count. You're not Top Men.

[gaijin]

Yay! I had a 40% increase this year. So really, 20-something for next is like a reduction using .govmath.

[sarcasmic]

Same here. My paychecks have steadily decreased over the last three years as health insurance rises faster than my pay rate.

[lap83]

If you want your pay level you can keep your pay level

[Certified Public Asshat]

President Obama, on a trip to Tennessee this week, said that consumers should put pressure on state insurance regulators to scrutinize the proposed rate increases. If commissioners do their job and actively review rates, he said, "my expectation is that they'll come in significantly lower than what's being requested."

Oh, not his fault.

[All-Seeing Woodchipper]

Strictly out of curiosity, I wonder how, specifically, He proposes consumers go about "pressuring" state insurance regulators?

Welcome to BureaucratCare. Prepare to marvel at the unrivaled efficiency of a government unleashed from the constraints of profitz.

[Doctor Whom]

Not my Obot FB friends. Either that, or they've forgotten how not to lie.

[Lee G]

It's working!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The last episode of HBO's True Detective gives new hope to fans of Game of Thrones' Jon Snow.

They know nothing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Biggest red herring in the history of smoked fish.

[Warty]

Does anyone think that Jon Snow is really dead, like dead-dead? Anyone?

[UnCivilServant]

Who?

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

They'll bring him back.

[gaijin]

Melisandre could make a dead man come...back

[Fist of Etiquette]

She flashed her goods once and Snow didn't bite.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

He wasn't a stiff at that time ....

[Lord Humungus]

boooooo

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

*narrows gaze*

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Ah, I feel like a real member of the Commentariat now.

Vielen Dank, Herr Schweizen.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

She'd give a direwolf a bone.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

The book was ambiguous, the show really made it look like there was no chance of him living.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

But the book brought Caitlyn Stark back... then did almost nothing with her.

Couple mentions of guerrilla warfare in the country.

[commodious spittoon]

If the rt+ls=js theory is correct, there's no way Snow dies so ignominiously.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I think the biggest issue with a potential Jon Snow death isn't even rt+ls=js, it's that in the books AND the show, he's the main character driving the entire plot on the Wall. if Martin killed him off for good, it strikes me as very short-sighted because there's no other characters in that location that have nearly the same level of audience investment. Sam's gone to study maestering, so who's left? Dolorous Edd? Alliser Thorne? Please.

I understand the arguments that Martin is trying to portray a world that's more like real life in that the main characters are in constant legitimate jeopardy of being killed. But it's stuff like this (as well as Brienne potentially being killed) that shows Martin thinks he's being cute by constantly killing off, or appearing to kill off, characters people give a damn about. It's more self-indulgence than competent storytelling.

[commodious spittoon]

Did you get the feeling in DoD that Martin began hacking off branches to make the story manageable? At this point I wouldn't be surprised if he killed off Snow to shut down the northern plots until he's ready for the Others invasion.

[commodious spittoon]

^DwD

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

He wouldn't have needed to if he hadn't sprawled the plot in Feast and Dance...
The TV show is actually better because it had the sense to prune some of that crap.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Did you get the feeling in DoD that Martin began hacking off branches to make the story manageable?

I've said before on here that Martin badly needed an editor with the balls to rein in his excesses after Storm of Swords and keep him on task. A lot of the stuff in FFC and DWD could have been compressed into a single novel and not lost the narrative flow of the epic. There's a reason that the narrative structure in the first three books (which were released within a four-year span) is so tight, and it's because Martin was dwelling on a lot of extraneous bullshit that didn't actually advance the plot in a meaningful way. A more competent editor would have forced Martin to have actually finished the books by now, but it's been damn near 20 years since GoT was published and he still has two books to go.

I don't think Martin began hacking off branches, per se, as I think he allowed the story to drive him rather than the other way around and now he's put himself in a bit of a public relations pickle because the TV team is going to take his series in directions that he probably never envisioned. And that's his fault, not theirs.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I hope not!! /teenage crush-girl.

[Lord Humungus]

Wisconsin Officially Drunkest State in All Measurable Ways; Washington, D.C., in Close Second

According to an analysis from detox.net (via The Daily Beast), 65.03 percent of Washington, D.C., residents had consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days from 2011 to 2013. Wisconsin beat them, only slightly, at 65.33 percent. They also led the charts with the highest percentage of heavy drinkers (two or more drinks per day): Wisconsin with 8.7 percent and D.C. with 8.03 percent.

In the binge-drinking category, however, North Dakota beats D.C., but only barely: 23.9 percent of North Dakotans consumed more than four beverages in a single night, while 23.5 percent of D.C. wretches do the same. (Wisconsin, of course, beats both with 24 percent.)

Wisconsin is a cold place with perhaps very little to do besides drink (and binge drink). Washington, D.C.'s alcoholic tendencies more than likely come from the seemingly infinite stream of open-bar happy hours, made all the more enticing by the high stress loads, insecurity, and self-loathing endemic to politics.

[sarcasmic]

Two drinks a day is considered to be heavy drinking? And four in one night is now binge drinking? Last I checked it was five.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

I thought EU considered 4 drinks a day to be moderate drinking. Ah the benefits of kicking out all the Puritans centuries ago.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Last I checked four drinks was considered pre-gaming?

[Drake]

So drunk they think DC is a state.

[gaijin]

a state of inebriation of course

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Isn't Sandra Lee from WI?

[crab_apple]

COCKTAIL TIME!

*grabs vanilla vodka*

*GLUG GLUG GLUG*

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

So THAT'S how Walker won ...

[straffinrun]

If your drunk, that lazy eye looks seeeexy.

[R C Dean]

As a former Wisconsin resident, this surprises me not at all.

Two drinks a day is heavy? Fuck me, my just-got-home-from-work double automatically makes me a heavy drinker?

And the nightcap makes me a daily binge drinker?

[invisible furry hand]

Drink out of a President's head

[Fist of Etiquette]

Four scotches and seven beers ago...

[Warty]

The American people "deserve a wall,"

The evidence before the court is
Incontrovertible, there's no need for
The jury to retire.
In all my years of judging
I have never heard before
Of someone more deserving
Of the full penalty of law.
The way you made them suffer,
Your exquisite wife and mother,
Fills me with the urge to defecate!

"Hey Judge! Shit on him!"

[Lord Humungus]

Cops responding to shots fired find armed 'pirate'

Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies responding to "shots fired" reports on the old Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon Monday night found a man in full pirate costume packing operational black-powder pistols in holsters on each hip.

Jamie Spiering, 58, was also allegedly armed with a sword and two knives. Spiering, who said he is an entertainer, told deputies he was on the bridge with friends for sunset. He said there were no projectiles in the pistols, and that he had fired them toward the water.

But witnesses told a different story, said Deputy Becky Herrin, the Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. They said Spiering fired one shot in the direction of cars traveling on the functioning Seven Mile Bridge, which runs parallel to the old bridge, now only used by pedestrians.

[gaijin]

find armed 'pirate'

Well at least it wasn't a dread pirate.

[Agammamon]

Of course he was armed, he's a *pirate*. You don't go far in your pirating career by asking nicely.

[Lord Humungus]

Once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and then it's nothing but work, work, work, all the time.

[Charles Easterly]

+1 iocane powder immunity

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Yellowbeard: Betrayin's all part of piratin'. If you don't know that you're not even close to being a pirate, "Prawn of my loins", my foot!

Dan: What?

Yellowbeard: You're either born a pirate or not! It's in the blood Dan, and it's not in your blood or you'd have betrayed me long ago!

/Best Pirate movie ever

[Charles Easterly]

Thanks, Bobarian, I had forgotten about Yellowbeard. Now I'll have to watch it again.

[R C Dean]

They said Spiering fired one shot in the direction of cars traveling on the functioning Seven Mile Bridge, which runs parallel to the old bridge, now only used by pedestrians.

Lemme guess: he fired at the water on the same side of the old bridge as the new bridge. Some hyperventilating nitwit sees a cloud of black powder smoke and assumes he was pointing at the other bridge.

In the complete absence of any corroborating evidence, and even though the discrepancy is easily explained, our pirate friend is convicted and spends years in prison.

But that's OK. All the cops got home safe.

[Lord Humungus]

Counterfeit popsicle stick gang busted in Turkey

Istanbul police raided an office building in the Sultangazi district following complaints by an ice cream firm that they had received back more popsicle sticks than they originally produced.

Thousands of fake popsicle sticks with a "free" mark on them were seized along with the machines used in production. Suspects Ahmet A., 35, and Cem S., 27, were sent to court in connection with the case.

The suspects are accused of collectively exchanging the fake popsicle sticks in some markets and selling ice cream to other markets at half-price. It was revealed that the popsicle stick ring had been producing and distributing fake sticks on the market for three years.

[invisible furry hand]

Suspects Ahmet A., 35, and Cem S., 27

Poor bastards couldn't even afford a surname. No wonder they were counterfeiting popsicles.

[straffinrun]

Instead of "free", they could've marked them "Jesus Christ".

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Looks like a couple of cool customers.

[Auric Demonocles]

Rolled my left ankle for the second time in a week this morning. God damn it, I'm pissed off. I took pretty much all of last week off from working out, and now I'll need to take this whole week off too.

[a better chipper]

For a little bit in high school, I had an ankle issue that caused me to roll my ankle for really no reason. Even a jab step playing basketball would be enough to turn it and put me on the floor. It was truly pathetic. Turned out it was the ligament that goes over the top of my foot, near the base of my ankle was kind of out of place from a previous sprain.

Anyways, one visit to the chiropractor fixed it. Not sure if your injury is at all similar, but thought I'd share just in case. Sorry, man.

[invisible furry hand]

Similar problem here. My physio got me doing isometric exercises like these to strengthen the muscles to stabilise the joint because the ligaments were fucked from a really bad sprain. They worked.

[invisible furry hand]

For fuck's sake:

Smoking is already banned at children's playgrounds, public transport stops and stations, sports fields, public swimming pools and entrances of public buildings.

The changes to the Smoke-free Environment Act 2000 mean smoking will be banned in the outdoor areas of hotels, clubs, restaurants and cafes. The ban extends to areas within four metres of eatery entrances.

[Warty]

I was going to find the clip of Marge Schott saying that Hitler wasn't all bad because he built roads, and say something about how Hitler wasn't all bad because he didn't like smoking, but I couldn't find the clip. Instead, let's all enjoy Billy West as Marge.

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

At least it's only smoking and not the tobacco bans around here that also include smokeless and vaping. Because secondhand chew kills thousands every year.

[R C Dean]

At least it's only smoking and not the tobacco bans around here that also include smokeless and vaping.

Wouldn't be surprised if "smoking" is defined to include vaping.

If its not today, it will be shortly.

But, nope, that slope isn't slippery at all! What a fallacy!

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

What's the problem with banning smoking in bars and restaurants? They can just step outside.

Where is a smoker supposed to go now? Not the park, or near a school or any public buildings. Do they need to walk to an industrial zone before they can light up?

[Lord Humungus]

German line hardens after Greek referendum 'No'

With opinion towards Greece hardening in Germany's ruling coalition following the landslide rejection of European bailout terms in a Sunday referendum, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman indirectly raised the prospect of a Greek exit from the currency bloc.

"Greece is a member of the euro. It is up to Greece and its government to act so that this can remain the case," Steffen Seibert told a government news conference. "It depends now on what proposals the Greek government puts on the table."

You know who else had to harden their lines...

[Drake]

Quarter Flash?

[PBR Streetgang]

Awesome.

[RAHeinlein]

Ron Jeremy?

[Free Society]

Pike fishermen?

[gaijin]

Maginot?

[straffinrun]

The NY Jets?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Lot's wife.

[Sandi]

Marcia Gay Harden?

[Charles Easterly]

Nice.

I thought she was brillant in "If I Were You."

[invisible furry hand]

She is also terrific in Miller's Crossing

"I bet you think you raised hell"

[Warty]

LOOK INTO YOUR HEART

[invisible furry hand]

What heart.

[Charles Easterly]

"She is also terrific in Miller's Crossing"

I agree.

"Okay, Verna. But until then, let's get stinko."
"Let's do something else first."
"Yeah. Let's do plenty."

That was the first movie I saw her in. I think she did a great job in "The Maiden Heist" as well.
In truth, I've liked her in everything I've seen her in.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

Coke dealers?

[X[redacted]s]

The Scots at Stirling Bridge?

[cavalier973]

The Jello Company?

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

Cardiothoracic surgeons?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Thanks, Obama. Health insurance rates jumping up? again
...Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see that the requests are scaled back.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans ? market leaders in many states ? are seeking rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 25 percent in North Carolina, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee and 54 percent in Minnesota, according to documents posted online by the federal government and state insurance commissioners and interviews with insurance executives.

The Oregon insurance commissioner, Laura N. Cali, has just approved 2016 rate increases for companies that cover more than 220,000 people. Moda Health Plan, which has the largest enrollment in the state, received a 25 percent increase, and the second-largest plan, LifeWise, received a 33 percent increase...

[Lord Humungus]

'Vicious' fox traps eight people in Cambridgeshire sports club

Panic reigned, with a woman being bitten, a man falling off his bicycle as he was chased and a pest controller being pursued back to his car.

Club chairman Bruce Staines, who was chased around the car park, said he had "never seen anything like it".

Mr Staines admitted he "tweaked his groin" trying to get away from the marauding animal and back to the safety of the club.

"None of us could get out. When we tried to use a side door, the fox heard and came haring round there."

[Rich]

Mr Staines admitted he "tweaked his groin" trying to get away from the marauding animal

TMI, Bruce.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

The thrill of the chase got to him?

[Jay Dubya]

They are talking about the same foxes that are the size of a house cat and weigh 10-15 pounds? Or are these some sort of monstrous GMO fox?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Bigger than a cat, but not much bigger. Google said 31 lbs. Nat Geo said 24lbs.

Something you can stomp to death, if it is trying to trap you.

[R C Dean]

I've seen a fair number of foxes in the wild, and unless they are built out of depleted uranium, they didn't way nearly that much.

[Lord Humungus]

Greece crisis: This is what will happen if Greece runs out of money and has to reinstate the drachma

"We don't have the capacity," Varoufakis told Australian public radio network ABC. "In order to impress upon the world that [joining the euro] was not a temporary phenomenon we smashed the printing presses! So we have no printing presses."

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

They should just buy....wait a minute...

[Lee G]

Greece is a side-show. China is a financial Chernobyl right now. P/E ratios on the Shanghai market are still averaged out at 250:1 and margin lending increased five fold over the last year.

It's going to be a shit-show of epic proportions.

[Theoretical Bi Irish]

And just like Japan another East Asian threat to American supremacy will have been eaten alive by its own bizarre economic policy.

[Jay Dubya]

The US is the greatest threat to the economic supremacy of the US.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Movement To Rename Schools Honoring Confederate Leaders Widens To Reach Progressive Woodrow Wilson
...How much of a racist was Wilson? He was such a racist that AlterNet, the activist-progressive news outlet, labeled him as America's most racist modern president....

[Drake]

HA HA - Progressives always end up eating their own.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

I argued with a Prog friend at work about renaming schools named after Confederate leaders. He asked me "If you were black would you really want your daughter attending Robert E Lee middle school?"

I responded "I don't know, but if you were Japanese would you want your daughter attending any of the many schools named after Roosevelt?"

He is a big believer in FDR and didn't have a reply after that.

[Sandi]

Beautiful.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Earl Warren" would also have been an acceptable punch line.

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

Warren whatever can be repurposed as being named for Fauxcahontas just like King County in Washington was renamed for MLK.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Very nice.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Maybe people will realize anyone with enough power to have had a building named after them is a complete asshole. You don't get into those positions without being the World's Greatest Douchebag.

Or, not.

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

I was thinking about trolling my local paper with a dump Wilson letter. Beaten to the punch.

[Lord Humungus]

Oakland CHP Officer Rescues Possum on I-880

California Highway Patrol rescued a possum on I-880 on Friday, after receiving multiple calls from passing drivers.

CHP responded right away and Officer Wood was able to catch the possum before it got hit, said Officer Sean Wilkenfeld of CHP Oakland. The rescue took place on I-880 near 7th Street.

After being transported off the freeway, the possum was safely released into a wooded area.

[chipper me timbers]

Different story if it had been a dog

[WTF]

*BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!*
"Sorry, I thought someone said there was a dog."
- Cop

[Rich]

Nine dead, 53 injured in Fourth of July weekend shootings

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

[gaijin]

Chiraq

[Free Society]

Good job Chicago.

[CatoTheChipper]

This wouldn't happen if only Chicago would adopt commonsense gun control laws.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

All Four Democratic Presidential Candidates Support 'Sanctuary Cities' [VIDEO]
All four of the Democratic candidates for president have expressed support for sanctuary cities, a controversial policy that is being blamed for the recent release of a five times-deported illegal alien who allegedly murdered a woman in broad daylight in San Francisco.

...Sanctuary city policies, which are on the books in about 140 cities, are coming under scrutiny following Wednesday's shooting death of 32-year-old San Francisco resident Kate Steinle.

Steinle was walking on Pier 14 with her father and a friend when 45-year-old Francisco Sanchez allegedly shot her. The Mexican national, who was last deported in 2009 and had a rap sheet that included seven felonies, was in ICE custody as recently as March following an arrest for felony re-entry...

[Free Society]

Of course the government agencies involved bear no liability whatsoever.

[Napoleon Bonoparte]

Looks like somebody's narrative is about to get complicated.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

He's a Trump False Flag Operation, obviously!

/Sarcasm

[Juvenile Bluster]

The opening to True Detective last night was the most David Lynch thing ever that wasn't directed by him.

Also, best episode of the season.

Though I don't buy the ending. A couple of LA cops have a chance to legally shoot someone in the back and they don't do it?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The opening to True Detective last night was the most David Lynch thing ever that wasn't directed by him.

That wasn't an Elvis impersonator, it was a Conway Twitty impersonator. A ton of people don't get it.

Also, best episode of the season.

Not saying much, admittedly. But yes, everything was more tightly focused. Even the storyline involving Officer Closeted McHomo.

Though I don't buy the ending. A couple of LA cops have a chance to legally shoot someone in the back and they don't do it?

Well they actually do want leads in this case.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

But they could've accidentally shot an overpass bum, and that would never fly in LA.

I will say that this episode finally got me on the Rachel McAdams bandwagon. She's always been adorable, but I didn't get the obsession some folk have on her (it's The Notebook nostalgia, I think?). But she's such a hot, tough cookie in this show, and it's reminding me that I've never disliked her performance in anything I've seen.

[invisible furry hand]

Squirrels use nuts to solve puzzles

[Rich]

As opposed to humans, who rely on nuts to make major decisions

[straffinrun]

As opposed to men, who....

[Rich]

Why do men give their penis a name?

They don't want most of their decisions being made by a complete stranger.

[Lord Humungus]

Salon:

Let's abandon the Democrats: On TPP, workers' rights and income inequality, they are as bad as GOP

The reason for using state power to create progressive change is simple? the vast majority of victorious social struggles in American history have been won only after they forced the government to codify their demands into law. The labor movement triumphed when massive strikes pressed the federal government to level the playing field between workers and corporations in the 1930s. The civil rights movement could not achieve its basic goals without the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The women's suffrage movement needed the Nineteenth Amendment to succeed, and the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s takes an important legal tool away from the women's movement today. Environmentalists forced corporations to reduce their polluting of American water, soil, and air only when the government mandated it. Gay marriage proponents require legal transformations, and they are winning because of their brilliant strategy.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Yes abandon the Democrats, split the retarded socialist vote into as many pieces as possible. Of course then that would give the Republicans complete control, and that isn't good either.

Damn why do both major parties have to suck so bad?

[tarran]

Because voters prefer sucky people they like to competent people they hate.

[Free Society]

Because hardly anyone at all is any kind of expert in the proper function and use of social institutions, philosophy or ethics. Granted, some of those politically retarded people might be neurosurgeons or master carpenters, there's just no realistic hope that all of those same people can be made capable of making non-retarded political decisions. Thus why democracy is a popularity contest between pathological liars to see who is best at hiding their inner sociopath from the idiot majority.

[straffinrun]

You think a job that requires no real ability other than being able to lie without a hint of shame or guilt would attract the worst people in society? Unpossible.

[Suthenboy]

Because smart, sane, and competent people are too busy having a real life and wouldn't take a job in politics if you coerced them at gunpoint?

[Lee G]

the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s takes an important legal tool away from the women's movement today

Tool to do what? Legally speaking, women have at least an equal footing today. I suppose they want Title IX instituted in every household and business.

[Chipper Chipping Rodrigue]

And the institution formerly known as due process.

[Free Society]

The United States defeated Japan, 5-2, in the Women's World Cup final.

I've never met anyone who gave a shit about women's soccer.

[UnCivilServant]

I've never met anyone who gave a shit about women's soccer.

I don't count internet acquantances as 'met'.

[straffinrun]

Meatspacist!

[Jordan]

To be fair, I don't give a shit about any sports.

[Jay Dubya]

I second this (bowel) motion.

[Sandi]

I took a shit on women's soccer once.

[Jordan]

Sandi! Where the hell have you been? We've missed hearing about your adventures in defecation.

[Marshall Gill]

Indeed, I was very curious if Sandi had shit on mattress girl. She sounds like she is up for anything.

[Sandi]

Wow, Hi! Glad you're not dead, like Suki!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It was a mercy killing.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

I knew a German guy who had women's soccer shit on him once.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Mooommm, you'd tell me if you played women's soccer?

/Cartman's voice

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

I love that YouPorn has a category simply called "German".

[RAHeinlein]

BBC receives a dose of their own medicine - must pay for pensioner "free TV license" benefits:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entert.....s-33400935

[tarran]

... but ... but ... but, I thought they were independent of the government!

[invisible furry hand]

Arshid Ali Khan loses monkey god status after operation to remove tail

[Jordan]

He can still go Super Saiyan though, right?

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

*polite applause*

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

This, right here, is much nerdier than any Star Trek reference.

[Lord Humungus]

My sexless soul mate: When men and women really are "just friends"

Stacy was different. We struck up a conversation right away and had an instant connection, but it wasn't romantic or sexual. It was the same connection our boys had, who'd spend the next two hours taking turns on the slide and searching under trees for sticks together.

When it was time to go, Stacy pulled out her phone and said, "We should have a play date. What's your number? I promise I'm not hitting on you."

Nearly every Monday and Wednesday since, the four of us have met for play dates at the park, the zoo, or each other's apartments. The boys play while Stacy and I have the kind of conversations we couldn't have with our toddlers, about our pasts and presents, our hopes, and our anxieties.

But the world didn't respond to our friendship with such ease. The old adage says friends make the best lovers. Harry and Sally, Carrie and Big, Zack and Miri ? we see it on TV and in movies all the time ? and everyone seemed primed to believe it. As Harry famously said of opposite-sex friendships, "The sex part always gets in the way."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

She must be hideous.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The Rational Male: Hats Off to the Bull

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Her response was an incredulous, "So you think all feminism is about is limiting dick?!"

It was of course the type of simple dismissive I've come to expect from the fem-powerment generation, but it sums up the dynamic pretty well. It's always been my take that feminism in all of its waves has always been another social arm of the Feminine Imperative; which has always been an imperative driven by the best interests of optimizing women's Hypergamous choices.

So yes, feminism is in fact about 'limiting dick' by socially, legislatively, personally and psychologically facilitating the selecting out and opting in on what best serves a woman's short term and long term sexual strategy needs ? throughout her entire life, not just around her Epiphany Phase. She needs the Alpha bull for his raw sexuality, dominance and confidence, and she needs the Beta comfort, investment and reliability that her bull is unwilling or unable to give her.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Alphas, Betas, dominance, comfort, blah blah blah. Whatever happened to just being a normal guy who didn't give a shit about this stuff?

[Free Society]

Alphas, Betas, dominance, comfort, blah blah blah. Whatever happened to just being a normal guy who didn't give a shit about this stuff?

Mainstreamification of feminism

[John]

What is sorry about that is that men buy into it. That whole dynamic is to reduce men to a state of animals. I loath men who talk about "being the alpha" more than I loath women who do. I won't kid you, there is a part of me that enjoys physical violence and intimidation and would love living in a world where you could deal out violence to settle disputes. My rational mind, however, realizes how insane that is and how such a world would lead to a brutish and short life no one who wasn't a sociopath would ever want to live. My value as a person, man or woman, goes well beyond whatever ability I have or don't have to physically intimidate and bully other men.

As a side note, the people who claim to be "alpha's" are in my experience always nothing but douche bags who have never been in a junior high fist fight much less witnessed actual violence. They basically run through life depending on the good will and common sense of other men to rise above their petty idiocy. When the day comes when the finally run into a man who lacks such good sense or lets his temper get the better of him, these self professed "alpha" are going to be whimpering in a corner trying to find their cell phones to call 911 for the cops to come and save them.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

As a side note, the people who claim to be "alpha's" are in my experience always nothing but douche bags who have never been in a junior high fist fight much less witnessed actual violence.

This is next to alpha male in the dictionary. Seriously These are the guys that go around tooting their alpha horns.

[John]

Pretty much Kristen. I look at my two older brothers as classic what I would consider "alpha males". They are both very nice and good people but I would never get into a physical confrontation with either of them. When they both once agreed that I was the one in the family who had the worst temper, I considered it one of the greatest compliments to my masculinity I have ever received.

Yet, I seriously doubt either of them even know what the term means and would consider the entire concept ridiculous if you told them. The whole thing is just absurd.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

My squeeze is, I guess, an alpha. He's super independent and self-assured, but never, ever has to say it out loud (and like your brothers, probably doesn't even think along those lines - he just is what he is and is very self-accepting).

If I were a man looking for a fight, I'd give him a wide berth. He just has the look of someone who would beat the dog shit out of you if antagonized (and he has...he has a great story about a fight some frat boys picked with him and a couple of his friends back in their punk days in Minneapolis).

[John]

Kristen,

Here is the thing, if you have ever been in a fight or been around people who are actually violent, you know that the last thing you ever want to get into is a fight, no matter how tough you are. A fight ends in one of two outcomes for you, jail or injury or death. That is it. You want to know where being a tough guy alpha leads you? Trayvon Martin. There is a touch guy alpha. He wasn't going to put up with some creepy white guy following him and disrespecting him. So, he circled back around and kicked his ass. The only problem was that creepy white guy had a gun and was terrified and murdered him. That is the thing, you go around getting in physical confrontations with people and you will eventually run into to someone who you either don't want to meet or is terrified enough of you to do something desperate.

Even if Zimmerman not had a gun, Martin would have gone to jail for assault. I guarantee you the last thing that went through Martin's mind before he died was how he wished he had just gone to his uncle's house.

[lap83]

For "alphas", it's like the modern era never happened. For "betas" it's like the past never happened. They're all idiots. A smart man knows what aspects of civilization and humanity have changed and what aspects never change.

[R C Dean]

The funny thing is (well, one funny thing, anyway), is that in a pack, the beta males are the ones just one step below the alpha, and they are the most aggressive, nasty mofos around because they are trying to hang onto that spot and knock off the alpha. Every alpha is just a successful beta, who can ramp it down a notch once he's out of the beta scrum.

What we call "beta" males are really gammas. No-hopers in Darwin's lottery.

Carry on.

[John]

RC

The term you are looking for is toady. As that great American story teller Jean Shepherd put it, "the playground was divided into three groups;, bullies, toadies and the rabble that was their victims".

The people who claim to be "alphas" and their toadies are nothing but stunted children who never moved on past the playground.

[Free Society]

Imagine, if women had to actually pay the cost of their own personal choices. Instead we live in a world where they get paid incentives be single moms, they get hefty divorce settlements by virtue of their vagina and ooodles of pandering from politicians who apparently have many of them convinced that they are being oppressed because they don't make as much money as men. When it comes to pay, they actually do pay for part of the costs of their choices, so naturally that's a problem that must be dealt with.

[John]

This is why women support the welfare state so much. Go back to the old way where they couldn't throw a man in jail for refusing to support them, they would look at this issue much differently.

[Free Society]

There's a pretty strong correlation between women being given the right to vote and that country in question veering off into socialist policies almost immediately after that development.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

In my experience, conversations with toddlers are generally more interesting than conversations with their parents.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Not Everyone Likes the Fourth of July-Themed Al Jazeera Video that Mocks Americans as Fat, Gun-Toting Racists

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Yes, because Ay-rabs never tote guns. I'll give them props on their emaciated physiques, though.

[Jay Dubya]

I watched the video and read the article in your link. I couldn't find anything factually incorrect in the video. Rather than address the points raised in the video on their merits, the Blaze article in the link regurgitates a series of Youtube and Facebook comments criticizing the video with such mind-numbing garbage as: "Yea because the middle east is a so great place to live in?! Come on Aj+ you gotta stop bashing only America" and "This sort of seems mean spirited to be honest".

The Blaze then goes on to reprint anti-Al Jazeera talking points we first heard from the Bush administration during the early years of the Iraq war: Al Jazeera is the state-owned media of Qatar and Qatar is a muslim country with significant social problems. Presumably we are supposed to take away from this ad hominem that nothing Al Jazeera says could be anything but poisonous propaganda.

[Jay Dubya]

The Blaze hit piece concludes with another Youtube comment that mentions two lawsuits brought against Al Jazeera: one by disgruntled former executive Shannon High-Bassalik "accusing the company of discriminating against female and non-Arab employees" and the other by an un-named former staffer who claims "he was subjected to "anti-American" and "anti-Semitic" remarks in the workplace and that executives were biased against women". These accusations could certainly be true, but The Blaze tells us nothing but the accusation. There is no context, supporting evidence, or even a quote from High-Bassalik for that matter.

[Jay Dubya]

Left out of all of this is any mention of the 2003 murder of Al Jazeera foreign correspondent Tareq Ayyoub by the US military when they bombed the AJ offices in Baghdad. Omitted was the 2001 bombing of the Al Jazeera field office in Kabul. Also omitted is the kidnapping and 7 year long detention of AJ camera man Sami al-Haj in Guantanamo Bay. Omitted was the leaked memorandum documenting the minutes of a meeting between George W Bush and Tony Blair in 2005 in which they plan a third bombing of an Al Jazeera field office in order to attempt to murder journalists.

[Jay Dubya]

Al Jazeera has problems with objectivity - as does every news outlet on the face of the earth. Quite a few of these issues are amplified by the fact that they are a state-owned media operation, an arrangement that is preposterous to principled libertarians (and many journalists). Al Jazeera is not alone in this arrangement. Does the Blaze point out that the BBC is "state-owned" when quoting or relying on the work of the BBC, for example?

The status of journalism would be enriched with a thorough discussion of the many problems with state-owned media. Part of this discussion should rightfully include the shameful situation among the United States Washington Press Corps; a group whose unfettered deference to authoritarianism is more appropriate for a dog that pisses itself each time its master enters the room than a serious check on the power of the State.

[Jay Dubya]

What is not valuable is to attempt to discredit what has often been some of the best journalism of the middle-east with jingoistic nonsense. What is even worse is defensively poisonous ripostes like that submitted by the buffoon "Kristen's Vermeer" above, who somehow believes that stating that "Ay-rabs tote guns" is an explanation for the high gun ownership rate among citizens of the US. I am a firm supporter of the second amendment. When questioned as to the validity of US gun ownership rates I respond with the importance of protection from totalitarianism rather than an impotent attempt to shit on brown people.

[Azathoth!!]

You buy them kneepads at Costco?

Gotta be buying them in bulk given how often you're down on your knees.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

I'm in London atm, and watching the Greek news is quite annoying- "far right wing" is prepended to anything related to statements from German officials.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

I'm in London atm, and watching the Greek news is quite annoying- "far right wing" is prepended to anything related to statements from German officials.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

I'm in London atm, and watching the Greek news is quite annoying- "far right wing" is prepended to anything related to statements from German officials.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

3? Fucking mobile.

[Matrix]

Racism in America is timid compared to most other countries in the world. Go to Latin America and tell me how bad racism is in the US. Go to Africa and then come back and criticize about how bad our racism is. Go to Asia... go just about anywhere else. American racism, while still a problem, is very modest compared to most other places in the world.

[WoodchipperFocus(ed)]

This x1000. I lived in Singapore for three years and now live in India. The US is the least racist country on the planet. (Yes, the US could still improve...)

[Longtorso, Johnny]

3 Areas Where You Must Train Women How To Treat You
Training women, especially indirectly and without them ever suspecting it, should become the cornerstone of how you interact with the opposite sex. Like a missile homing in on its target, your mind must constantly reorient itself to the task of bending a particular woman to your indomitable will....

[tarran]

Men with mommy issues are about the most pathetic creatures there are.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

My dad used to treat my mother very poorly - inconsiderate, unkind, demanding, unappreciative, etc. Growing up in that environment and seeing how much it hurt my mom, I vowed to never treat women that way. I'd be the 'nice' guy.

It was a bad move. Women don't like or want nice guys.

[Warty]

True. What women want is guys who pay con artists for behavioral algorithms that make them act like assholes.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Just because Warty flunked out doesn't mean they're wrong.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

A lot of sad men in the world who are apparently missing something called a "personality" that might make women interested in them.

After a while it just gets sad making fun of social retards with a chip on their shoulder because they can't get laid without conning a woman. Most of them must experience a ton of self-loathing.

[Warty]

Remember, the fake personality that the PUA con artists tell them to adopt is an improvement over their real personalities. Let that sink in.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Why Pretty Girls Hate Being Asked Out on Dates by Nerds
...When someone asks you out on a date, they are basically saying that they think your standards are low enough to voluntarily go out with them. If the asker clearly has high dating market value himself, his advances don't indicate that he thinks you have a low dating market value. But if you get asked out on a date by someone with a low social status, and other people find out, then others might reasonably downgrade their estimate of your dating market value, especially if the person doing the asking is a shy, cautious nerd....

[lap83]

Why would you want to go on a date with someone who evaluates every conversation based on relative social status?

[Warty]

Because of half-thought out bullshit evo-psych reasons, lap.

(This would be the right time to neg you, right? I still haven't really figured out this negging business.)

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I took a shit on Warty once.

[John]

In fairness to girls not wanting to be asked out by nerds, men are just as bad when it comes to low status women. That old joke about how screwing a fat chick is like riding a moped, really fun until someone sees you doing it, is old and a joke because it represents a truth.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

A lot of sad men in the world who are apparently missing something called a "personality" that might make women interested in them.

The big problem is that a lot of these guys (nerds, especially) have been brainwashed by the media and feminism in general into thinking that acting like a subservient wuss and putting women up on a pedestal is the secret key to unlocking eternal happiness with thine maiden faire.

The reality is that relationships are a huge crapshoot--more will fall apart than stay together--and ultimately, the guys who have no trouble attracting women are typically 1) self-confident enough to actually be rejected numerous times and don't turn every little thing into a dramatic production when they are dating someone; 2) take nominal care of their health, so women might actually envision themselves having sex with them; 3) are capable of having a conversation that doesn't need to be propped up by relentlessly parroting lines from the detritus of pop culture; 4) are financially secure.

[John]

Exactly that Red Rocks.,

It has been a while since I was single but the one thing I learned while I was is that you cannot anticipate or try to cater to women. All you can be is yourself and not worry about it. First, trying to put them on a pedestal never works and not just because they won't respect you. You can't tell what even putting them on a pedestal means. Some women will get offended if you so much as hold their hand on a date, others will think you are cold and distant if you don't. Some women expect you to pay for shit others are offended. You can't tell which are which until it is too late. All you can do is be yourself do what you think is appropriate and not give a shit if they think otherwise. Lastly, even if you could get them by putting them on a pedestal, you wouldn't want to because keeping them then requires you stop being yourself and always worry if you are doing what they want. And that is no way to live.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

1) self-confident enough to actually be rejected numerous times and don't turn every little thing into a dramatic production when they are dating someone; 2) take nominal care of their health, so women might actually envision themselves having sex with them; 3) are capable of having a conversation that doesn't need to be propped up by relentlessly parroting lines from the detritus of pop culture; 4) are financially secure.

Nailed it. #1 especially. Men have a pretty hefty social burden in that they're still general expected to make the first move and risk rejection. It's the ones that are OK with this that are the most attractive.

[John]

Kristen,

Yes men are expected to make the first move and risk rejection. Rejection is not a problem. You eventually grow up and get over that. The problem is the feminists are making you risk being arrested for making the first move. So much as leaning over and kissing a girl who doesn't want it is a sexual assault that will get you expelled in most colleges. So college men are behaving rationally and risking it less. The result from what I can tell is a lot of very horny, frustrated and unhappy women.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

This seems like kind of anon-sequitur. We were talking about "nice guy syndrome" and "alpha males", not how feminists are changing the college dating scene.

There are many, many, many, many men who fly off the handle when rejected, even older ones. It's the men that don't do this that are the most attractive to women. That's all. Nothing more complicated than that.

[John]

There are many, many, many, many men who fly off the handle when rejected, even older ones.

That is just a sign of how immature these men are. One of the biggest aspects of growing up and to learn to understand and handle rejection. Doing that involves having a measure of empathy and understanding that someone turning you down is not a reflection on your value as a person. It also involves having respect for other people's wishes and lives and realizing the world doesn't owe you conforming to your wishes. Those are two things that, at least as a guy, you generally lack when you are young but (hopefully) gain when you get older.

[tarran]

The result from what I can tell is a lot of very horny, frustrated and unhappy women.

Dear Diary, Jackpot!

[tarran]

Red Rocks, you have nailed it.

It was amazing how much better my dating life was post divorce than pre-marriage.

On paper it was worse: I faced far more rejection as a divorced 40+ single dad than I did as a fit young naval officer in my 20's. But... I stopped agonizing over each relationship and didn't fear breakups the way I did before.

And as a result I got through the n-1 rejections in pretty quick time to find someone who thinks I am the bee's knees.

[John]

The biggest reason it was better Tarran is that after being divorced you realized being with the wrong person is much worse than not being with anyone. When you are single, you often don't realize that.

[tarran]

after being divorced you realized being with the wrong person is much worse than not being with anyone.

Very true. /shudder

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

A lot of sad men in the world who are apparently missing something called a "personality"

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[lap83]

"It was a bad move. Women don't like or want nice guys."

For the record, I've never heard a genuinely nice guy say this.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Look Lap83, if a guy buys you dinner and pretends to care about what you say, don't you know you then owe him a 5 minute roll in the hay?

Because that's what human relationships are all about, perfunctory gestures followed by mediocre sex.

[Warty]

"I'm a nice guy! Why won't these stupid fucking cunts let me fuck their stupid dirty whore cunts???"

[invisible furry hand]

I am giggling like a fool at that

[lap83]

I thought it was funny too, but I was ashamed to admit I had been successfully negged

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

If someone could get a PUA on video saying that, it would get a million hits on YouTube within 36 hours...

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

There are a jillion Tumblrs with text & email exchanges to this effect.

[Suthenboy]

I once worked with a guy who would say exactly that kind of shit. He would go on and on about what a great guy he was and them complain that those "fuckin' bitches" weren't interested in him.

[Lord Humungus]

Women don't like or want nice guys.

I think the majority of them don't want pushovers. And visa-versa. I had a handful of girlfriends who were spineless and frankly boring. It didn't last long since I prefer a bit of a nemesis in a relationship. Not that I want all-out fighting, but some reasonable disagreements can bring better solutions to life's problems. You have to work as a team, but also feel free to criticize (without being mean about it).

/and that's the end of my story

[Warty]

Have a reasonable career, a reasonable amount of money, live in a reasonably decent and clean place, be in reasonably good physical condition, be pleasant, and you'll have all the pussy you could ever want. Or you could skip the hard self-improvement parts and pay some asshole to tell you how to insult women into fucking you.

[Lord Humungus]

btw, thanks for the workout tips. My long-ass monkey arms are starting to get some bulk and good definition. Shoulders going well too.

I've also noticed a number of women - from teenage gals to middle-aged ladies - checking me out. At least to the point where I don't feel as invisible as before 🙂

Or maybe they are staring at my fucked up hair.

[Warty]

It's amazing what being huge does to our monkey brains, isn't it? When you're the hugest guy in the room, you're pretty much automatically calm and confident, and women definitely notice it. Especially when you have a big huge muscley ass. Chicks love man-ass.

[WTF]

Yeah, I've noticed they seem to like a muscley ass better than they like big biceps.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Biceps are things dudes notice in each other. Women like asses, as you said.

Also non-chicken legs and a reasonably broad chest.

[R C Dean]

I've also noticed a number of women - from teenage gals to middle-aged ladies - checking me out.

Dude, check your zipper. [taps side of nose knowingly]

[Sudden]

Or you could skip the hard self-improvement parts and pay some asshole to tell you how to insult women into fucking you.

In fairness to red pill/manosphere culture, it's far more about self-improvement these days than particular tactics or strategies. There's also some major misunderstandings about "negging" largely because socially maladapted guys new to "game" don't understand how the dynamic of demonstrating selectivity and instead they end up outright insulting a woman.

[X[redacted]s]

Women want confident guys. Confident guys can be nice, or not.

[Sandi]

Respond to her tantrums by doing your own thing

"Say, you're *cute* when you're mad!"

[Sandi]

I took a shit on a woman-training article once.

[UnCivilServant]

You really need to invest in indoor plumbing.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I took a shit on indoor plumbing once.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

Try "in", next time!

[lap83]

I want to set up a dating site to con pickup artists and feminists into dating each other.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

"wewillworkoutourissues.com"?

[R C Dean]

"BonerKiller.biz"

[Sudden]

It already exists. It's called OKCupid.

[commodious spittoon]

The comet Philae could be home to alien life, according to scientists who landed a probe on the celestial object.

Has Trump made a statement yet?

[Rich]

LOL

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Who is doing the anal probing??!?! WHO IS DOING THE ANAL PROBING!?!?!

[WTF]

Vanneman.

[thrakkorzog]

"We've been doing this probing for 50 years, and all we've learned is that one in ten people like it."

[Agammamon]

The American people "deserve a wall," Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said in an event in San Francisco. . .

Yes we do. And Trump would not like where I would suggest building that wall.

[John]

If people don't like it that Trump is resonating, they need to ask themselves why. The reason he is doing so well is he is the only person talking to the majority of Americans who do not want open borders. And if the pro open borders people don't like that, then they need to blame themselves. The open borders' advocates offer nothing to those who object but condescension, derision and charges of racism. Sorry but "they took our jerbs" and "you have a moral obligation to suffer for the good of Mexicans who want to come to this country" and "only a racist would object" doesn't exactly make people feel like their views and interests are being heard. And that is literally all the open borders people ever say when arguing their point. You can't tell a huge group of people in society "go fuck yourself you low skilled ignorant racists". Democracies don't work that way. And if you don't talk to them and show some willingness to compromise and let their views be heard, someone else will. And chances are you are not going to like that person. Trump is a noxious buffoon. But our political class by refusing to even consider opposing interests on immigration, has ceded the entire field to him. Worse still, Trump isn't going to get elected and if this continues, the next guy is going to be much worse.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It doesn't matter what "they" think. The goal is to import enough new voters to make "them" not matter:

Labour's 'secret plan' to lure migrants
The release of a previously unseen document suggested that Labour's migration policy over the past decade had been aimed not just at meeting the country's economic needs, but also the Government's "social objectives".

The paper said migration would "enhance economic growth" and made clear that trying to halt or reverse it could be "economically damaging". But it also stated that immigration had general "benefits" and that a new policy framework was needed to "maximise" the contribution of migration to the Government's wider social aims. ...

[commodious spittoon]

You know who else wanted to relocate people to meet social objectives?

[Aloysious]

Tulpa?

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

The College Board?

[UnCivilServant]

The Senate and People of Rome?

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

+1 ager publicus

[X[redacted]s]

Sapa-Inka Atahualpa?

[WTF]

FDR?

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

zing!

[Mike M.]

A goal which more or less has already been reached.

Of course, this could all be reversed if "they" would start having children once again. But it doesn't look like that's happening any time soon.

[John]

That is the Democrats' goal. The Republicans are just cowards and greedy. They are happy to take the payoff from various crony capitalists even if that means being out of power. For most of the GOP leaders being in control isn't a good role for them anyway. It requires taking responsibility and risking their comfortable life of stealing.

Our political class is largely thought not entirely make up of two kinds of people; hard core leftists who are downright ruthless and evil and bent on transforming the country into a easily lead third world kleptocracy and small minded, weak men with poor imaginations who just want to get along and live a comfortable life from small time corruption.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Homeland Security Working Overtime to Add 'New Americans' by 2016 Election
President Obama's amnesty by edict has always been about adding new Democrats to the voter rolls, and recent action by the Department of Homeland Security provides further proof. Sources at the Department of Homeland Security report to PJ Media that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is reallocating significant resources away from a computer system ? the "Electronic Immigration System" ? to sending letters to all 9,000,000 green card holders urging them to naturalize prior to the 2016 election....

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Woah there!! Is that some skepticism I hear about open immigration being an absolute good? Get ready for the very predictable calls of nativist, and racist.

[tarran]

If people don't like it that Amanda Marcotte is resonating, they need to ask themselves why. The reason she is doing so well is he is the only person talking to the majority of Americans who do not want to be raped. And if the due-process people don't like that, then they need to blame themselves. The due-process advocates offer nothing to those who object but condescension, derision and charges of sexism. Sorry but "check your privilege" and "you have a moral obligation to suffer so that falsely accused aren't troubled" and "only a sexist would object" doesn't exactly make people feel like their views and interests are being heard. And that is literally all thedue-process people ever say when arguing their point. You can't tell a huge group of people in society "go fuck yourself you fugly man-haters". Democracies don't work that way. And if you don't talk to them and show some willingness to compromise and let their views be heard, someone else will. And chances are you are not going to like that person.

John, why don't you get a cup of coffee and think about what a stupid argument you just made.

[John]

Sure, it is called a false equivalence Tarran. It also comes with a side of begging the question. Your analogy only works if you consider people who object to open borders to be the same as radical feminists.

I am sure you think that. I,however, don't agree and that is the entire question really. And yes, if you assume the other side is wrong and evil, your arguments flow pretty easily. No kidding.

Beyond that even if you believe that it doesn't change the reality on the ground. You can't tell the majority of the country that their views are evil and don't deserve any hearing in public life in a Democracy. If the majority of Americans agreed with people like Marcottee, you damn well better believe we would have to address their views and concerns or not be surprised when someone really horrible did.

You are one of the smarter people on here. But when it comes to open borders you allow your ideology to completely blind you.

[tarran]

You are one of the smarter people on here. But when it comes to open borders you allow your ideology to completely blind you.

John, bluntly, you are out to lunch.

You seem to be arguing that we open borders guys are controlling the discourse and repressing arguments by using an emotional mau-mau technique.

Your argument continues by asserting that trump is saying what people believe but are repressed from saying by some variant of political correctness. Furthermore, you are saying that political correctness is preventing politicians from catering to that group thus allowing an opening for a bufoon like Trump to take up their standard.

Almost every step in your chain of reasoning is not correct.

First, you and I have had this debate on numerous occasions, and you know I make far more substantive arguments than shrieking "racist". Most open borders types of a libertarian persuasion will make similar substantive arguments.

Second, we aren't the guys in charge! Sure, Obama is doing his combination of shutting down discussion while engaging in some weird anti-colonialist scheme to import more people who will vote Democrat, but OBAMA ISN'T AN OPEN BORDERS GUY!!!!!!111

[tarran]

Third, there are plenty of politicians using anti-immigration rhetoric to get support, including Ron Paul back in the day (if you like I can dig up the flyers he sent out for the 2008 congressional election)! That's why we have a border fence, and a beefed up border patrol whose exploits are feted on the National Geographic channel and watched adoringly by people like one of the VP's of my employer.

Fourth, people wanting to manage, control, limit or heavily constrain immigration are all over the cable news; their editorials are regularly published in papers and policy magazines.

Bluntly, I think you are using a populist vs intellectual paradigm to describe something where it doesn't apply.

[John]

You seem to be arguing that we open borders guys are controlling the discourse and repressing arguments by using an emotional mau-mau technique.

Yes they are. No political candidate other than Trump is saying what the majority of the country wants; shutting off the borders and deporting every single illegal in the country. That position has been completely run out of mainstream politics even though it is one that is supported by huge numbers of voters, if not a majority of them. Worse, anytime someone advocates for it people like you respond by calling them racists.

The Democratic candidates are just like you and think anyone who objects to open borders is evil. And the Republican candidates either agree or just skirt the issue in hopes people like you will call them racists. And open borders people are in charge. There are more foreign born people in America today than at anytime since the civil war. If that isn't "open borders" just what short of kicking the natives out of the country altogether is?

[Theoretical Bi Irish]

John's point is not a bad one. Mark Steyn said (and I agree with the sentiment) that if you don't let reasonable people discuss a subject of interest to voters, then the discussion will be had by unreasonable people.

In France, the rise of the National Front is largely related to the fact that no other part is even willing to discuss the issue of immigration.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's not just France--there are quite a few nationalist parties throughout Europe that, while not having achieved majority influence, are beginning to make headway due to concerns over the stability of their welfare states and the general ethnic and social changes being wrought by mass immigration and refugees. And they're beginning to make headway because the ruling class which largely supports immigration is being increasingly seen as condescending and out of touch.

The same thing is going to happen in the US, just on a different scale. It isn't just general anxiety about jobs, crime levels, what have you--it's the sense of increasing social atomization that's driving it. More population, more urban density, less connection with neighbors and communities. All the gushing rhetoric about "that awesome _____ food!" that's typically trotted out in response doesn't even begin to maturely address those concerns.

[Azathoth!!]

If people don't like it that Amanda Marcotte is resonating......

But she's not.

And your argument falls apart there*

*well technically it really fell apart in the middle, your 'check your privilege'.says the opposite of what you intended--you needed to go with something more like --'Sorry but "#notallmen' and "MGTOW" doesn't exactly make people.....'-- See? that would have worked. And then you switched back..........?

But, seriously, you should have caught yourself when you said Marcotte was resonating with anyone.

[tarran]

But our political class by refusing to even consider opposing interests on immigration, has ceded the entire field to him. Worse still, Trump isn't going to get elected and if this continues, the next guy is going to be much worse.

Yes, John, because the U.S. immigration system definitely operates as if the open borders guys are running the show... They hand out visa's like hotcakes!

I predict your entire comment is probably the most deranged thing I am going to read this morning.

[John]

Yes, John, because the U.S. immigration system definitely operates as if the open borders guys are running the show...

Under Obama it does. He has basically said he doesn't have to enforce the law. More importantly, you and people like you's attempts to marginalize any objection to open borders as evil and racist has shockingly resulted in those who support such feeling marginalized and disenfranchised. And people who feel as such are willing to listen to anyone who they feel like gives them a voice. So go ahead and call anyone who thinks we should close the borders, evil racist, stupid and unworthy of a public hearing. Good luck with that.

[tarran]

More importantly, you and people like you's attempts to marginalize any objection to open borders as evil and racist has shockingly resulted in those who support such feeling marginalized and disenfranchised.

Except we open borders types haven't been doing that. Most of us anyway. I guess cytotoxic is but he doesn't count because nae truu Scotsman would ignroe Scotchtoberfest...

But when you have congressmen and presidential candidates proposing a jacked up border patrol, when proposals to build a wall are supported by most candidates standing on a stage for a Republican Primary debate, you guys aren't marginalized.

Obama is being a lawless jerk. The congress is permitting him to act that way. It makes you feel impotent. That is not our fault. And every moment you spend lashing out at us is a moment spent wasting your time beating a wall until the chicken plucks itself.

[John]

Having a border patrol and stopping people from coming in and deporting the illegals who are already here is how you close the borders. Your idea of compromise seems to be "we make no effort to stop anyone coming and then grant them legal status once they are here". You claim to be so reasonable but then in the next breath call any of the efforts that are actually necessary to control immigration racist and evil. And you are no better than Cytoxic on this isssue, though not deranged. You have said under no uncertain terms that my assertion that people have a right to control the border is retarded and racist.

You do nothing but contribute to the problem Tarran. I don't debate you on the substance of this issue because there is no point. You start with the assumption that people have no right to control their own borders and anyone who claims otherwise is evil and racist or as you have said "has a retarded position". So what is the point of discussing it with you? No amount of facts or reason is going to change your assumption and as long as you start with that assumption, your position is never going to change no matter how reasonable you otherwise are.

[tarran]

Ok, so we have moved on from your original argument that we Open Borders guys are shutting down political debate leaving a substantial disenfranchised population of people who turn to any savior who will give them a voice, to discussing the uselessness of debating us because we see borders as evil. You concede that there is a border patrol, and it is in fact enforcing some (but not all) immigration laws. You are now upset that many of we open borders types view the whole enterprise as evil

John, your whining (and it is whining, whether you realize it or not) is noted.

Here's the thing, I do consider restricting people's freedom of movement evil when it's not grounded on private property concerns.

So what?

Christian bakers consider gay marriage to be evil - and some ever express that conviction; would you care to join me and we'll whine how it's their fault that public accommodation laws have just undergone a huge expansion?

Should priests be censured for decrying adultery as a sin?

I say something is evil, you say it isn't. You've frequently made your case as to why immigration restrictions aren't evil. We have frequently made our case as to why it is.

Demanding that I not say that it is evil when I consider it truly to be evil isn't going to fly; it amounts to nothing more than an attempt to whiningly set the parameters of a debate so your feelings aren't hurt.

And so while I note your demands, I have no intention of acting on them.

[John]

Yes Tarran, you think people have no right to control the borders. I get that. Others disagree. In fact the vast majority of the country disagrees.

Once again, there is no point in debating this. We will just talk past each other. I don't compare an illegal from Mexico to bakers who live here because I don't assume he automatically has a right to come here in the same way a business in the US has a right to serve whomever they please. You do. Everything you say is just a repeat of your basic assumptions that borders are not legitimate. You never reconsider or debate that assumption. You just take it and then make false analogies and claim anyone who doesn't make that assumption is wrong.

And no, actually closing the borders and doing something about the illegals who are here, beyond giving them citizenship, is not on the table. People like you have ensured that no candidate, sans Trump, is honest enough to support that. Don't bitch and moan to me about how Trump is getting traction. People like you have left the field open to him.

[SIV]

Getting away with murder

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Psychopaths

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Choice quote

He found the officers' statements right after the shooting especially troubling.
"She's D-O-A (dead on arrival). I got her right between the eyes," Simpson tells an eyewitness, who was a former emergency medical technician who wanted to render aid.
But instead of checking to see if Small was alive, the officers discussed their marksmanship.
"I hit her right in the face," Sasser remarks on the recording.
Simpson replies, "I watched the bridge of her nose. I pulled the trigger and I watched it hit her at the same time."

[sarcasmic]

"That was one of the worst days of my life," recounted Simpson.

Yet on that day...

"She's D-O-A (dead on arrival). I got her right between the eyes," Simpson tells an eyewitness, who was a former emergency medical technician who wanted to render aid.

But instead of checking to see if Small was alive, the officers discussed their marksmanship.

"I hit her right in the face," Sasser remarks on the recording.

Simpson replies, "I watched the bridge of her nose. I pulled the trigger and I watched it hit her at the same time."

Yeah. Worst day of his life. Suuuuuuure....

[straffinrun]

Judge Lisa Godbey Wood concluded that Small's death was not 'necessary', but that the officers did not violate her constitutional rights

I must be missing something here.

[The Shrubber's Woodchipper]

'life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness,' is in the Declaration, not the Constitution.

[UnCivilServant]

nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

does appear in the constitution though. That was not due process by any stretch of the spin doctor's imagination.

[straffinrun]

How did I miss this Judge's name? With a handle like mine, I'm not going there.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

I'd like to thank Facebook's asshole "trending topics" for spoiling last night's this morning's race for me.

That crash was unreal, though. And it was the #3, too.

[commodious spittoon]

Eh?

[R C Dean]

Same here, Kristin. Had it all cued up on the DVR, and bam, saw it on the news news at the same time Mrs. Dean saw it on Facebook.

Unbelievable that the driver in the car that was actually dismembered (I've never seen an engine and tranny knocked out of a race car and left smoldering on the infield before), walked away without a scratch.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Seriously - that thing was pretty much just the driver's cage.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Anyone familiar with Alaska's salmon spawning migration? Why did I see dozens and dozens of fish jump the falls every minute on one day, and now there are hardly any? Has it not reached its peak yet? Or is the peak just the one day?

Link: http://explore.org/live-cams/p.....ooks-falls

[commodious spittoon]

Peak Salmon is always five years away.

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Ah lawdie, that made my addled brain giggle.

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

*opera applause*

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

Whoa whoa...that's not your line!

[Swiss Servator, rudert schwer!]

That was good, not narrowed gaze worthy!

[SugarFree]

Mexican salmon took all the prime jumping spots.

[X[redacted]s]

They're not sending their best salmon.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Global warming?

[Galactic Chipper Cdr Lytton]

Dammit! There goes my morning. Thanks Kristen.

[Mike M.]

The quiet crisis of America's disappearing workforce.

Employment: Will the last worker in America please raise your hand? We ask this because Thursday's Labor Department report for June found yet another record collapse in the number of working Americans.
Over the past year the number of working-age Americans who have dropped from the civilian labor force has risen by 1.5 million. During Obama's presidency, the population of these Americans increased by nearly 16 million ? while the labor force grew by under 3 million.
The labor force participation rate for those 16 and over dropped from 65.7% at the start of the Obama presidency to just 62.6% last month. If this rate would have remained steady, the labor force would have been nearly 14 million stronger.
Hello! Is anyone in Washington paying attention to a trend that's becoming a national emergency?

[R C Dean]

Over the past year the number of working-age Americans who have dropped from the civilian labor force has risen by 1.5 million. During Obama's presidency, the population of these Americans increased by nearly 16 million ? while the labor force grew by under 3 million.

You can't have an economic expansion if your labor force is, on net, contracting. And a net contraction of 13 - 14 million (probably more, if you go by full FTEs) is huge. Systemic. Structural.

We'll see if Obama's string of economic "good luck" (no technical recession or actual catastrophe on his watch) continues for another year and change.

[John]

http://taxprof.typepad.com/tax.....efell.html

Tax prof has a pretty interesting brake down on Christian college's chances of keeping their tax exempt status. It seems to be about fifty fifty.

Libertarians all say they didn't want this, well, now you can fight it. Understand, the moment you stand up and fight this you are immediately going to be called intolerant, evil SOCONs by all of the right people. The fact that you are not SOCONs and are just standing up for someone's right to be unpopular and different won't matter. You people call me a SOCON all of the time. The fact that I don't even attend church and have utterly libertine values and political positions on things like prostitution, gambling, porn and drugs doesn't matter. Because I think people have a right to be SOCONs makes me a SOCON. Well, be prepared to have the same thing happen to you. This will not be like fighting for food trucks, uber and pot. You won't get to be cool or popular and be seen as sticking it to the man. This is going to be standing up for a really unpopular group. And that is most definitely not cool and won't be seen as sticking it to the man.

[commodious spittoon]

Hate beliefs aren't protected beliefs.

[X[redacted]s]

If you like your social conservatism, you can keep your social conservatism.

Why do ANY colleges have tax-exempt status?

[commodious spittoon]

If you like your social conservatism, you can keep your social conservatism to yourself.

FTFY.

[R C Dean]

Personally, I'd be up for doing away with tax exemption altogether. But if you are going to have it, apply it on a content-neutral basis.

We all know where this is going. And its gonna suck, big-time, once the precedent is well and truly set that you can't be tax-exempt unless your political positions are double-plus goodthink.

[sarcasmic]

The fact that public-accommodation and anti-discrimination laws are not going away made SSM and those laws a package deal. Something about foreseeable consequences...

[John]

Something like that. But that rule doesn't apply when gays are involved. Imagine if there was a constitutional amendment floating around that ended the drug war but also repealed the 2nd Amendment. Everyone wants to end the drug war, right? I somehow doubt many Libertarians would sign up for that means of ending the drug war if it meant repealing the second amendment. A court recognized right to marriage is exactly analogous to that. The public accommodation laws are what they are and are not going to be repealed anytime soon. So getting gay marriage via a court recognized right, rather than through state legislatures meant gravely endangering religious liberty just as surely as my hypothetical amendment would end the drug war at the price of ending gun rights.

[straffinrun]

At least I can freak out my SOCON friends by supporting them now after I pissed them off by changing my FB profile pic to the word "polygamy" with a rainbow sepia background.

[John]

You won't freak them out. The people who are going to freak are your gay friends, if you have any, and your prog friends. They are going to kick you to the curb. I leave it to you to determine whether that is worth it. The chances are pretty good it is too late to help these people and you will get kicked to the curb in a losing cause. I don't give them much of a chance of winning.

That will not be all bad, however. Hopefully it will make them more committed and a more subversive and militant movement. Oppression has a way of doing that.

[straffinrun]

90% of my friends are Asian. They just ignore all this culture war shit. The progs may have the West overrun, but most their nonsense just elicits blank stares here.

[John]

It is interesting how gay marriage is totally a fight among white people. I don't have many Asian friends but I have a fair number of black friends and none of them give a fuck about gay marriage. I can't say they are against it or for it since none of them have ever expressed an opinion or seemed to care one way or another. It is similar with my Hispanic friends, though several of them are pretty serious Catholic and are very much against.

[straffinrun]

It's the new white man's burden. You see the bright-eyed, newly graduated white people come over here and praise the ancient nature of things. "Oh, these temples are so wonderful. And your grandparents are so adorable! Married 50 years, that's so sweet." Then you see them a year later after they've tried to sell feminism or racism or whatever prog cause is hot and they look like beaten schoolchildren. It really is a beautiful thing to see.

[Rhywun]

They just ignore all this culture war shit.

There doesn't seem to be a middle-ground between "Eastern" pretend-gays-don't-exist (or worse) and "Western" prog culture wars. If there is, I haven't seen it.

[John]

We had one for about 30 years in this country. It was basically, leave gays alone and stop throwing them in prison and in return they don't demand people accept them if they don't want to. That peace ended in the 90s with first don't ask don't tell and then gay marriage.

To me the worst aspect of all of this is the end of privacy and the rise of the idea that your sexual preferences define who you are. We seem to have lost the idea that anyone, gay or straight, could ever be expected to keep their private life private or do anything but openly proclaim how wonderful their personal choices are.

[Rhywun]

We seem to have lost the idea that anyone, gay or straight, could ever be expected to keep their private life private

On what planet did straight people ever "keep their private life private"?

[John]

Planet earth Rywun. People never used to advertise their sex lives or private lives to the world. For centuries there were couples who were sexless, allowed each other to have affairs, or did all sorts of things privately and never talked about it and were entirely discreet. And there were also people who just never got married or were asexual. Today those people are now pegged as gay because it is unthinkable that someone might not spend their lives obsessed with sex.

The gay movement has more than anything served to make one's sexual proclivities the definitive aspect of their nature. And that is not a good thing.

[Rhywun]

Today those people are now pegged as gay because it is unthinkable that someone might not spend their lives obsessed with sex.

I don't even know what to say to this, it's so delusional. For one thing, this was WAY more common back when gays (actual gays, not the ones in your head) were closeted.

The gay movement has more than anything served to make one's sexual proclivities the definitive aspect of their nature.

As usual, you're conflating homosexuality with homosexual sex. Gay people don't just wake up in the morning and say "Oh, I think I'll have sex with a dude today".

[John]

As usual, you're conflating homosexuality with homosexual sex. Gay people don't just wake up in the morning and say "Oh, I think I'll have sex with a dude today".

Oh really? If that is not the case then why do so many of them think they are not really married if they don't have government sanction? Why are so many of them so concerned that someone might not bake a cake for their wedding? They don't want to be left alone, they want positive acceptance. If they didn't define their entire existence by their sexuality, they wouldn't be so obsessed with people accepting their sexuality.

[Rhywun]

I know you want to believe that gay people are really just straight people in disguise who decided they wanted to be a little kinky that day, but in the real world sexual orientation is defined by sexuality. This is the same for gays and straights whether they "act" on it or not. When a man and a woman get married the expectation is they will have sex that night - everybody knows this. I don't understand why you're pretending that straights aren't all about sex too.

[John]

For one thing, this was WAY more common back when gays (actual gays, not the ones in your head) were closeted.

Sure it was. And people just never asked. And not all of those people were gay. But now anyone who doesn't get married, doesn't fit neatly into some neanderthal version of sex roles is now "gay". If you don't believe me, look at how strident gay rights advocates have been in outing public figures. If you are gay and don't want to make it your public persona, fuck you, you are being outed because your sexuality defines who you are.

There is nothing delusional about it. It is the truth. You just don't like it.

[Rhywun]

If you don't believe me, look at how strident gay rights advocates have been in outing public figures.

Honestly, I don't give a shit what "gay rights advocates" are doing. They don't speak for me or the vast majority of gays I know.

[straffinrun]

Rhywun, scroll up to SIV's link "getting away with murder" and check out the judge's name. Made me laugh.

[Auric Demonocles]

You people call me a SOCON all of the time.

You shouldn't listen to Bo.

[Lord Humungus]

Wise words.

[John]

It is more than Bo. And I don't listen to it anyway. It just amuses me.

[tarran]

Understand, the moment you stand up and fight this you are immediately going to be called intolerant, evil SOCONs by all of the right people.

My gosh, you mean like they've been calling me already?!? /sits back and smiles as he dreamily recalls half his Facebook friends unfriending him en masse after the Newtown massacre.

[Charles Easterly]

Nice Alt-Test, Ed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMh1TKSoJYg

[Sevo]

"The [Greek] finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who clashed with European negotiators, resigned, as Greece looks to reopen talks with its creditors."

Yeah, even Tsipras got fed up:
" the premier reacted after Mr. Varoufakis told a U.K. newspaper late Sunday that Greece might introduce a parallel currency and electronic IOUs similar to those issued previously in California. Mr. Varoufakis quickly backtracked on his comments to The Daily Telegraph but his prime minister had had enough, say the people familiar with the matter."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/gr.....1436162284

And, just the guy you want to 'help' you get more money:
" "For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today," he continued. "I shall wear the creditors' loathing with pride."
Greece's Ministry of Finance confirmed his departure in a separate statement."
http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/0.....index.html

And I'm sure the valiant Greeks will have his back when they open the last can of Alpo they found hidden in the kitchen cabinets.
BTW, over in the all-Greek thread, poor commie-kid finds the predictions of starvation 'not tasteful', but as a commie, he must find starvation itself and murder very pleasing.

[John]

Here is what the best piece of tragic comedy of the entire Greek situation. They are likely going to end up getting kicked out of the EU and electing a no kidding socialist/communist government. When that happens, dreaded austerity will come in the form of mass poverty and it being a crime not to show up to work, even though you are being paid in worthless script.

The Greeks are about to find out the hard way that the Left doesn't really mean a single word it says. It is about power. It doesn't care about unions or people losing their pensions or anything else.

[Sevo]

Agreed.
Obviously 60% of the Greek voters are too dumb to understand they're traded away "austerity" in favor of "poverty", and they're going to find "austerity" was much preferable.
But they'll do it with PRIDE, which is real tasty if you cover it with enough goat gristle.

[tarran]

The Greeks are about to find out the hard way that the Left doesn't really mean a single word it says. It is about power. It doesn't care about unions or people losing their pensions or anything else.

You know, people have been getting that lesson, good and hard since Bismark's time. Yet the lesson never seems to penetrate the zeitgeist.

[Sevo]

"You know, people have been getting that lesson, good and hard since Bismark's time. Yet the lesson never seems to penetrate the zeitgeist."

The chimera of free-shit!

[lap83]

I don't know if this was posted yet, I read it last night. It's pretty stupid.

"Greece just taught capitalists a lesson on what capitalism really means" http://www.businessinsider.com.....z3f7XpTFfV

Capitalism means perpetually loaning to deadbeats, apparently

[John]

Glenn Reynolds called this whole thing perfectly; this is just Hillary Clinton in the form of the EU versus Bernie Sanders in the form of the deadbeat Greek government.

[Sevo]

"Capitalism means perpetually loaning to deadbeats, apparently"

Or starving the mymnins and the chillens!
Grasping at straws.
Taught Merkel a thing or two! Right. I'm sure she is quaking in her boots right now, so much so that she scheduled a dinner meeting with Hollende this evening. The Guardian claimed that constituted an "emergency meeting"; she was busy watering her garden earlier in the day.
And capitalism took such a body slam that the world markets are.......
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/asia/
Pretty much yawning. Hang Seng lost 3% (?), Nikkei and CAC -2%, all others not even close.

[Derpetologist]

AM Derp round-up

-Watched Chris Matthews the other day speculate aloud about the possibility of universal healthcare. He and the guests spoke about how it polled and not a moment was given to debating whether the idea was practical or even possible.

-Greece has decided to base their economy on a song from Dire Straits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD6Obi7Cag

-Stossel interviewed a socialist college professor on his show last week. She claimed communism had only been tried in a few countries and was not given a fair chance to work, as in Chile. It reminded me of the time a prog told me that China's rising prosperity was from their one child policy and had nothing to do with market reforms.

[Derpetologist]

Oh, I forgot to mention I watched Showtime's US History according to Oliver Stone. Apparently, Gorbachev was the real hero of the Cold War and he would have succeeded in reforming the USSR into a true worker's paradise if not for that monster Ronald Reagan. And if only the Fairness Doctrine had stayed, that terrible Rush Limbaugh would not have been able to gin up so much trouble among the yokels of flyover country.

[John]

The college professor is actually insulting Communists more than anyone else. I would love to take a trip to hell and inform Lenin, Mao, Pot, Ho, and various others they were not real communists and didn't give communism a fair chance. As evil and horrible as those people were, whatever their crimes, not giving communism a fair chance or not really being committed communists were not among them.

[Derpetologist]

There was a time when about 1/3 of humanity lived under communism in about 20 countries. But for some reason, progs pretend it was just a handful of places.

[John]

No true Scotsman is a way of life for these people.

[lap83]

It's not real communism when they don't like the outcome, it's the failure of capitalism, duh!

[Azathoth!!]

You know what always gets me?

It WAS 'real communism' and they were going to BURY us.............until it collapsed.

[Bill Dalasio]

The comet Philae could be home to alien life, according to scientists who landed a probe on the celestial object.

Alien life schmalien life. We all know the really important story was the scientist's shirt!

[Derpetologist]

And what about the boobs on his pin-up girl shirt? Were they true boobs or merely dwarf boobs?

[Kristen?s Vermeer]

This weekend my Facebook feed was overtaken by a handful of friends in Chicago for the Grateful Dead.

Am I the only person in the world who thinks they're talentless hacks and not even the best garage band on the block?

And I'm not talking in John-terms about the political leanings of the band members and fans. I mean, if they had legions of buttoned-down Republican fans, they'd still suck ass. Right?

[Derpetologist]

Anne Coulter likes them for some reason.

http://www.mediaite.com/online.....h-we-know/

[lap83]

I don't like them, but I think the only people my age who like them are hippies

[John]

No Kristen you are not. I wouldn't go quite as far as you do, but they are vastly overrated. My complaint about the Dead is that they were basically fakers. They did all of these kinds of American music but they didn't do any of them particularly well and didn't combine them to produce anything that interesting. As far as I am concerned Willie Nelson and the outlaw country movement in the 1970s did everything the Dead tried to do much better because they understood the music they were making in a way the Dead never did.

They were not talentless. They were very good musicians. If you listen closely to their meandering jams, they can be pretty interesting in that the various musicians in the band will just one after the other try out different songs and riffs either to see the rest of the band join in or disregard it and go onto the next suggestion. That took real talent and skill. The result, however, just wasn't that great.

You should, however, give them credit. Whatever you think of the Dead, they are leaps and bounds ahead of the jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic that came after them. The Dead were at least nice guys who had some fun doing what they were doing. The bands that followed were just over earnest arrogant douche bags.

[UnCivilServant]

I can't even name on song they performed without looking it up. As far as I can tell, they're famous for being famous.

[John]

The other thing I will say in their defense is that the culture that surrounded them, while a bit whacked, is the kind of odd ball counter culture that would never be tolerated in today's America. The idea of a bunch of people dropping out of society and traveling around following some band and living at odds with most of the cultural norms of the day is unthinkable. Sure, you could have something that looked like that today, assuming you could keep your head down from the DEA. And in fact there is something that looks like it in the form of festivals like Bonaroo and such. But it only looks like it, because these festivals are following popular mores not breaking them. To do something as subversive as the Deadhead culture today would be like having a roving band of pot smoking, confederate flag waving Jesus freaks or something. And such a movement would be crushed today.

[R C Dean]

if they had legions of buttoned-down Republican fans

Back in the day, they did. I knew craploads of buttoned-down Republican college students who were big fans.

[John]

And you know what? The deadheads accepted them. Like I said, you couldn't have a group like that today.