Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog Split, Robert Conquest Dies, Which Republicans Made the Cut? P.M. Links

• 

  Muppets

  Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split, proving that love is an empty, meaningless concept. Bert and Ernie are still together, though. The new normal!

• Al-Qaida or ISIS: Who's worse?
• India's crackdown on porn has come to a premature end, har har.
• Famed anti-communist historian Robert Conquest has died.
• The Fox News Republican debate lineup is set and unlikely to change, according to FiveThirtyEight.
• Ozy ran an interesting profile of Marginal Revolution blogger Alex Tabarrok. (Also, what is Ozy?)

New at Reason

• Marijuana Taxes and Restrictions Recreate Prohibition by the Back Door
  As marijuana is being legalized around the country, control freaks try new ways to control, by J.D. Tuccille
• 'Free speech is not about being sensitive,' Says Chapman University President
  Jim Doti speaks out on campus free speech issues and the value of a liberal arts degree, by Nick Gillespie and Amanda Winkler

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Al-Qaida or ISIS: Who's worse?

Who wore it better?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Caitlyn

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

'Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split"

It's about time.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Next, Cats and Dogs will be living together.

[bacon-magic]

Miss Piggy is now dating a Kardashian. One of them, it doesn't matter which.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

And Miss Piggy is the one that looks more lifelike?..

[AlmightyJB]

So Miss Piggy is single now? /John

[Chipper Morning Wood]

First date present: Sarah Palin glasses.

[AlmightyJB]

That's funny

[C. S. P. Schofield]

It's like the old Vegas joke about a Maitre 'd and a Pit Boss.

Take an A-Qaida operative and an ISIS follower up to 40,000 feet and throw them out of the plane; who hits the ground first?

Who cares?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Fox News Republican debate lineup is set and unlikely to change...

Just like the GOP itself.

[Injun, as in from India]

Famed anti-communist historian Robert Conquest has died.

Commie death panel got him.

[rts]

Fluoridation finally corrupted his precious bodily fluids.

[Heedless]

He was the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

[Injun, as in from India]

I fouled up. That was a very irreverent comment on my part. Sorry.

[brady949]

"Al-Qaida or ISIS: Who's worse?"

The muppets are worse than both.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

+1. Rush is pretty awful, too.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who raped and murdered your child hood? The both of youz.

[bacon-magic]

Hello Rufus. I loved Beeker, the chef, and the cranky old guys in the opera box(?).

[Rufus J. Firefly]

...and Animal!

[Animal]

Huh? Do I know you?

[Crusty Juggler]

I once dated a young lady who had Beeker eyes; she is now in the NYPD.

[FreeToFear]

Statler and Waldorf, fwiw

[Atlas Slugged]

Statler & Waldorf

[Private Chipperbot]

How dare you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4nJ1YEAp4

[Private Chipperbot]

Squirrel!

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

[Protagoronus]

Good article here on progress with using young blood to treat aging.
A few economic misconceptions of course, but cool research.

The business [buying plasma from patients] is completely legitimate, but if young plasma is proved to have anti-ageing effects, the risk of backstreet operators setting up will soar.

Only if you try to stop the business from being legitimate that is...

In a rough extrapolation from the mouse studies, Nikolich estimates that the globe's entire plasma supply would be sufficient for only half a million of the world's 15 million Alzheimer's patients.

Completely ignores that supply is not a static number if you let a market function.

Bonus: one of the researchers is named Rando.

Rando is concerned that pumping pro-youthful proteins into people for years could end up giving them cancer.

[Warty]

Of course the blood of virgins gives you eternal youth. I bet the people who immured Elizabeth Bathory are feeling real dumb now.

[Root Boy]

Vampires will be happy to know.

It's enjoyable when science comes up with things that at least tangentially are linked to creepy legends. Just need more werewolf and zombie things to come true.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Can my own plasma make me younger?

[Protagoronus]

No, but they theorize they could target a few proteins with antibodies, which could make your own plasma stop making you older.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the risk of backstreet operators setting up will soar.

I have said for years that we should be harvesting from the Backstreet Boys something useful for a change.

[WoodchipperPatriarch]

Rando is concerned that pumping pro-youthful proteins into people for years could end up giving them cancer.

Classic Rando.

[Jumbie]

So that's why the Jews have been kidnapping babies all these centuries.

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

[Slammer]

What's green and smells like bacon?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Kermie's penis?

[Jimbo]

That's funny

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Frogs don't have penises.

[Jimbo]

Fuckin Nerd!!! Way to ruin a good joke.

[Hamster of Doom]

Apparently this. Personally, I have a doubt.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There's no such thing as a 'super food.'

[Hamster of Doom]

I dunno. Pizza is pretty super.

[crab_apple]

Anything that actually tastes like bacon is pretty super. Like those creepy soy bacon bit things.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I shoulda known you folks would have interpreted it that way.

Fine. I concur.

[bacon-magic]

Blasphemy. Burn the heretic!

[Tonio]

Why do you hate hucksterism, Rufus? Labelling something a superfood allows you to charge more for it and sell more of it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I should get in on that racket.

[Libertymike]

Don't you know the story about Arnold and Franco's bricklaying business?

Realizing that they were not securing as much business as he thought that they should have, Arnold decided to inject a little bit of hucksterism:

The pair would change the name of their business from "Arnold and Franco, Bricklayers" to "European Bricklayers".

Result? Business dramatically increased.

Oh, yes, they did this while they were training for the Olympia.

[Tonio]

What, you mean you're not already? Srsly, Roofie, you should get on that, or at least do some feasibility work.

1) Research demand for and competition in crunchy childcare.
2) Retool image and raise rates. Use words like "sustainable, eco-friendly, etc." Some actual supply and service adjustments needed.
3) Raise rates.
4) Profitz!
5) Donate some of new profits to pro-freedom causes.

[Adans smith]

I'm thinking of bacon wrapped frog legs

[Fist of Etiquette]

#FreeTheBacon

[Ted S.]

This seems appropriate

[CatoTheChipper]

Green beans cooked with bacon grease.
Cabbage cooked with bacon grease.
Zucchini cooked with bacon grease.
Spinach cooked with bacon grease.

Basically any green vegetable that tastes good.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Don't forget bacon chocolate.

[commodious spittoon]

Kale? Arugula?

[Crusty Juggler]

Fun fact: Kale and Arugula are the names of two of my children.

[Suthenboy]

Whut? Why would you eat any of that if you can have black beans or baby field peas with pork neck bones and jalepenos?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ozy ran an interesting profile of Marginal Revolution blogger Alex Tabarrok.

I'll take "The Rapists" for 200...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Suck it, Trebek!

[Injun, as in from India]

India's crackdown on porn has come to a premature end, har har.

And the premature end included a Bollywood song-and-dance sequence.

[Root Boy]

Now that would be some entertaining porn. Maybe I'd make it to the end of a movie for once.

[TheZeitgeist]

Aishwarya Rai in any porn would instantly be high art.

[Injun, as in from India]

+1 Sunny Leone

[Woodchipper Terminator T-1001]

+69 Kagney Linn Carter.

[Mike M.]

Baltimore turns to the feds for help in dealing with their explosion of violence.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I was at Camden on Sunday.

Lovely park. Didn't see any violence except for the scorching heat.

[Root Boy]

The awesome gun and knife laws in MD kept you safe.

[Ted S.]

It was only hot by Canadian standards.

[Agammamon]

Any place that has liquid water is hot by Canadian standards.

[PapayaSF]

+1

[B. Woodrow Chippenhaus]

The Canadian term is 'molten ice'.

[Mike M.]

The cops do a good job of making sure that the tourist areas around the stadiums and the Waterfront are safe, but the rest of the city is a pretty scary hellhole.

[Drake]

Sounds like Newark. Walking from the train to the Prudential Center there is a corridor of cops in the evening protecting money paying concert / game spectators from the rest of the city.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Baltimore protects the Inner Harbor area because it's all they have to get tourists to go there. Rest of the city's fucked though. Will be there this weekend myself.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. We noticed what you both said too.

It's all a mira-gee.

[Juvenile Bluster]

This is what I get for reading down to the bottom of the comments and then coming back to post. Always refresh first, boys and girls!

[Injun, as in from India]

Social Security: Doling out money we don't have to people who shouldn't be getting it.

Social Security Administration Overpaid $371.5 Million in Disability Benefits

These overpayments are cause for concern, as the Social Security's Disability Insurance Trust Fund is expected to go broke by 2016, according to SSA's 2015 annual report.
...
To test SSA's internal controls, GAO randomly selected 20 beneficiaries for review. In all 20 cases, SSA's controls failed to detect and prevent overpayments. In seven of the cases, SSA did not detect overpayments for more than a decade, and each of these individuals received $100,000 in overpaid benefits.

One of these seven individuals received FECA benefits in the 1980s and was approved for disability benefits 14 years later in 1994. The GAO found that this individual received $200,000 in overpayments for more than 20 years.

Financial reality is going to catch up in less than a year. $5 says the fix will call for removing the cap on the payroll tax so that taxpayers can get mugged even more.

[Injun, as in from India]

The SSA's "internal controls" rely on beneficiaries to self-report overpayments.

HAHAHA! Some good controls you have there.

"SSA officials told us that if beneficiaries do not self-report benefits, there are no system prompts that would alert SSA staff to ask beneficiaries if they are receiving any workers' compensation benefits, including FECA payments ," states GAO. "SSA officials agreed that relying on beneficiaries to self-report benefits presents a challenge in identifying overpayments related to the concurrent receipt of FECA benefits."

Okay. Let's say you create those system prompts. What if the beneficiaries lie?

[Root Boy]

I've been assured many times by bleeding hearts that nobody would lie about a disability and it's all made up nonsense by rethuglicans that moochers exist.

It just is not possible.

[BearOdinson]

And no woman has ever lied about being raped. And no one has ever committed voter fraud.

Fucking Republicans.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

The SSA's "internal controls" rely on beneficiaries to self-report overpayments.

*begins taking notes*

How would one apply for SSA?

Asking for a friend.

[Harold Falcon]

IF you mean SSDI just claim you have fibromyalgia. It's a fake disease with made up symptoms that you can easily pretend to have.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

If a corporation had the same "internal controls" that our government has, each one of its directors and officers would be in jail.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Al Gore said all of that money is locked in a box somewhere waiting for me.

[Hamster of Doom]

We're all trust fund babies now.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What do you call it when you end up owing money?

[Hamster of Doom]

I saw that in a movie once! See, this guy, her accountant or whatever, took all her trust fund money and fled the country to live in Brazil or something. But it's okay, because she ends up with a job as a big-name stylist at the end.

[Rich]

Unfortunately, the rising sea has covered it forever.

[Warty]

Remember when SS was going to go bankrupt in the distant future. Ah, the cruelty of time's arrow.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

The Schutzstaffel?

[Just say Nikki]

$5 says the fix will call for removing the cap on the payroll tax so that taxpayers can get mugged even more.

Mugged? That money goes into my personal SS account. I even get statements in the mail about it.

[Injun, as in from India]

I even get statements in the mail about it.

Say what you will about Charles Ponzi, at least he had the decency to mail monthly statements printed on glossy paper.

[Mad Scientist]

This will shorty be followed by means testing, so the people who pay in the most will get diddly squat in return.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Not only do I foresee the removal of the cap, I have a feeling they're going to try to raise it above 6.4% 12.8% at higher incomes.

[crab_apple]

Thanks for the reminder -- the idea that the tax is split between employee and employer is garbage. It's a 12.8% tax on your salary for the privilege of working.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Oh, I'm sure they'll up it to, say, 7.5%, and say "We're just upping one measly percent for rich people! Isn't that worth it to make sure social security is available for all, long into the future!". I'm guessing maybe 5% of the population who aren't self-employed realize that the true tax is 12.8%, not 6.4%.

[DesigNate]

Of course, their definition of "rich" is anyone making over 40k a year so...

[C. Anacreon]

Amazingly enough, I often see this in people who should absolutely know better. We often recruit doctors who will be comparing our full benefited position to other offers which are cash only. I will point out that as an employee with us, they are saving something like 8% they'd be deducted out of their cash-only gig, because of the combined employer share of Medicare and Social Security. I've been told there's no such thing, and why am I trying to say that my lower paying job is actually equivalent to the higher paying cash job? By doctors.

[In League with the Dark Ones]

the idea that the tax is split between employee and employer is garbage

I tried to explain it to a leftist once -- no matter how it's paid a employer-matching tax is a tax on employing a worker. It went forever and no matter how it explain it, the response was, "Nope, it's a tax on the employer."

[Injun, as in from India]

AND don't forget means-testing.

They will mug you more - higher rate with no cap - and will hold back on giving you the money if, God forbid, you have the temerity to work hard and succeed in life.

[TheZeitgeist]

First will be payroll tax on cap-gains (finish what Barrycares started), then the IRA's, next will be the 401(k)'s, in that descending order of available liquidity/political pain ratio.

[PapayaSF]

"But the reason Social Security is going broke is that Republicans starting stealing money from it!!" ? Facebook progderp.

[CatoTheChipper]

FICA-taxing IRA distributions and pensions is a clever backdoor way to means-test Social Security benefits. I've been predicting that for decades to start in about 2020, which corresponds to when I become eligible for benefits.

The bastards could even FICA-tax Roth IRA distributions, and say that they are keeping faith with the implicit promise not to income-tax the Roth.

[Marshall Gill]

The bastards could even FICA-tax Roth IRA distributions, and say that they are keeping faith with the implicit promise not to income-tax the Roth.

Could? How about will. It is only a question of when.

[Hamster of Doom]

India's crackdown on porn has come to a premature end, har har.

Crackdown got the smackdown.

[In League with the Dark Ones]

The cock block go cock blocked?

[In League with the Dark Ones]

got

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split, proving that love is an empty, meaningless concept."

I had no idea they were together.

[Hamster of Doom]

Dude. They got married, yo. It was one of the high points of my childhood.

She totes tricked him into it.

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Rape Culture!!!

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

I still cry every time I watch it.

Seriously. I may be sick.

[Mickey Rat]

Somebody finally clued her in that male frogs have no external genitalia and therefore are not "body breeders".

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split, proving that love is an empty, meaningless concept.

The love is gone

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't believe in the mixing of the races anyway. Good for Ernie and Burt, though.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Species, dude, species.

You Speciest piece of shit!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm just looking out for the purity of all races and specieses.

[Mr. Paulbotto]

You know who else was looking out for the purity of all races?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think it's just me.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

Avery Brundage?

[WoodchipperPatriarch]

What? Burt is yellow and Ernie is orange, how's that not race mixing?

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

[Insert Boehner joke here]

[Fist of Etiquette]

India's crackdown on porn has come to a premature end...

India rethought rather having sex take place unwillingly on buses than willingly onscreen?

[jesse.in.mb]

Bert and Ernie are still together, though. The new normal!

Kinky them being cousins and all.

[waffles]

That's just a filthy rumor.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yeah. That's just a filthy, sexy rumor.

[jesse.in.mb]

First cousin marriage is totes legal in NY state.

[Ted S.]

It's not as if their sex is going to produce disabled offspring, anyway. 😉

[waffles]

Like you know anything about how muppets procreate.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Where do you think Elmo came from?

[Mickey Rat]

Is he not Grover's bastard?

[Ted S.]

Q: What's the last thing they do with Elmo dolls before leaving the factory?

A: Give them two test tickles.

[bacon-magic]

That tickles...tee hee.

[Ted S.]

Apparently, you've tried procreating with a muppet.

[jesse.in.mb]

Fisting isn't procreative sex, Ted.

[Dark Lord of the wood chipper]

...And that is where babies come from, for machines.

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Like you know anything about how muppets procreate.

From my trash can I certainly hear a lot of noise from the Bert and Ernie residence once the lights go out. Lots of mattress noise and headboard banging followed by a rubber ducky squeak.

[jesse.in.mb]

I had that conversation with a friend once.

"...and that's why your lesbian twincest porn isn't really all that dirty."

"Huh, I'd never thought of it that way...it seems less hot now."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bert and Ernie are still together, though.

I thought they were cousins.

[Injun, as in from India]

They did a cousin marriage and produced Bernie in 2016.

[bacon-magic]

+23 deodorant

[Injun, as in from India]

How does this compare to Glenn Beck's question to Keith Ellison back in the day: "Prove to me you're not with the terrorists."

But kids...

Glenn Beck, BAD.
Alisyn Camerota, GOOD.

'mmmkay?

CNN Asks Activist Behind Planned Parenthood Videos if He's a 'Violent Extremist'

"Your critics? critics of your organization I should say? say that you're not journalists as you purport to be on your website, but rather you're violent extremists," Camerota said to Daleiden.

"They say that you are operating under the guise of investigative reporting, but really you're trying to shut down all Planned Parenthoods and women's access to things like birth control and other services they provide," she continued. "Do you have any ties to Operation Rescue?"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I just found out my father - an old immigrant and long time liberal voter- listens to Limbaugh. 'E'buon' as he put it.

Go figure.

[PapayaSF]

Lots of liberals watch Fox news and listen to Limbaugh.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I would just like to reassure your thirteen viewers that I am simply filling the gap in investigative journalism left by today's cable and network news."

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

#REKT

[Derpetologist]

Spot the Not: unintended consequences

1. In Hanoi, under French colonial rule, a program paying people a bounty for each rat tail handed in was intended to exterminate rats. Instead, it led to the farming of rats.

2. In British India, colonial officials paid a bounty for dead cobras. People began breeding cobras to collect the bounty. Officials then quickly canceled the bounty, which resulted in countless cobras being set free. The cobra population became larger than before the bounty.

3. From 2007 to 2010, Maryland had a tax just for millionaires. It was projected to increase revenue. Instead, the state collected $1.7 billion less than before and had a net population loss of 31,000.

4. In Ireland, an campaign to get to people to pledge not to drink alcohol led to an increase in people sniffing gasoline.

5. in 1990, congress passed a luxury tax on planes, yachts, and jewelry that was projected to raide $31 million in revenue. Instead, it cost $24.2 million in lost revenue and unemployment benefits for the more than 100,000 people who lost their jobs as a result of the tax.

6. In China, Mao launched a campaign to rid China of sparrows which ate grain and reduced harvests. Sparrows were nearly wiped out, but their absence led to an explosion in the locust population, which led to even greater crop losses than from the sparrows.

[Injun, as in from India]

1 and 2 sound like standard government stupidity and unintended consequences of poor incentives.
3 sounds like standard government stupidity.
Same thing for 5 and 6.

I'm going for 4.

[CatoTheChipper]

Same here: #4.

[Root Boy]

2 or 4. Heard of 3, 5, and 6. Not sure about 1, but believable.

[tarran]

I've heard of 2.

I'm with you that it's 4.

[Protagoronus]

I know 6 is at least partially true, but not sure about the locust piece. Going to go 4.

[Hamster of Doom]

3 and 5 happened. I'm going to go with 1, just to be contrarian.

[Ted S.]

1 and 2 are too similar. I think the other four are definitely real. I'm going to go with 2.

[Pan Zagloba]

I saw a variant on #1 in a Terry Pratchett book, but I'll follow the herd to 4.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Do we ever get the answer to these things?

[Root Boy]

Derp-man must be using his infrared vision to penetrate the depths of Slate or Salon, so he's busy right now.

[Hamster of Doom]

Sometimes.

[Derpetologist]

4 is the Not, although I based it on a similar incident: The Irish Ether Drinking Craze

"During the second half of the 19th century, ether was in vogue as a recreational drug in some places, becoming especially popular in Ireland, as temperance campaigners thought it was an acceptable alternative to alcohol.[2][3] Indeed until 1890, when it was classified as a poison, more than 17,000 gallons of ether were being consumed in Ireland, mostly as a beverage."

Prize for the winners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYBCZcPEzDM

[Derpetologist]

Cheap, quick, and no hangover afterwards? No wonder ether was so popular. However, before you head out the door to score some, it's worth mentioning a few of the downsides. These include a truly awful smell and taste, coupled with a strong burning sensation while the foul stuff is going down. Plus, it makes you drool like a Saint Bernard dog on a hot summer day, not to mention stimulating truly monumental burps and farts. These aren't normal emissions-they are laden with highly flammable ether vapors. You can imagine what happened when an ether drinker would light up a pipe and belch or sit down by an open fire and break wind. Severe burns at either end of the alimentary canal were a common hazard.

link

[PapayaSF]

Interesting, thanks.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"In Ireland, an campaign to get to people to pledge not to drink alcohol led to an increase in people sniffing gasoline."

That's the not - an Irishman wouldn't give up alcohol, not even if his government recommended it, and certainly he wouldn't exchange it for huffing fumes.

[Jumbie]

I know about 2, but never heard about the release of the cobras. Are you sure about that part? Why woudn't the cobra farmers just kill the cobras instead of releasing them into their communities?

[In League with the Dark Ones]

Cobra effect has cites.

[DesigNate]

4

[gaoxiaen]

4

[Injun, as in from India]

Now that the Planned Parenthood defunding vote has failed in the Senate, I call for a dollar-for-dollar match to the NRA, i.e., $500 million per year.

After all, the 97% of the NRA's services involve gun safety education, which helps prevent gun massacres. The remaining 3% also don't involve murder.

The 3 Percent Dodge

By Planned Parenthood's math, a woman who gets an abortion but also a pregnancy test, an STD test, and some contraceptives has received four services, and only 25 percent of them are abortion. This is a little like performing an abortion and giving a woman an aspirin, and saying only half of what you do is abortion.

Such cracked reasoning could be used to obscure the purpose of any organization. The sponsors of the New York City Marathon could count each small cup of water they hand out (some 2 million cups, compared with 45,000 runners) and say they are mainly in the hydration business. Or Major League Baseball teams could say that they sell about 20 million hot dogs and play 2,430 games in a season, so baseball is only .012 percent of what they do.

[Mazakon]

Chris Wallace: Somebody will have a "fat, juicy ball for Trump"

"And you can be sure there will be a moment ? whether it's in my questioning or Bret's or Megyn's, where somebody is going to give him a fat juicy ball right in there so he can go after [Jeb] Bush and see how he responds to it. It's sort of like playing three-dimensional checkers."

[Mazakon]

Didn't mean this as a reply, just misclicked.

[Woodchipper Terminator T-1001]

Is 'phrasing' still a thing?

[Illocust]

Clever tactic on their part. Is anyone actually convinced that PP is anything but an abortion provider, though?

[Just say Nikki]

Is anyone actually convinced that PP is anything but an abortion provider, though?

Probably some of the women who go year in, year out for pap smears, breast exams, STD tests and birth control are convinced of that, yes.

[Illocust]

I'm from a working class background. No one I know uses PP for that. It's not worth being seen entering the place.

[Just say Nikki]

I'm from a working class background too, and ever since high school, about half the girls and women I've known used it for that. Who would even see me entering the place anyway? Lots of them don't actually offer abortion services and never get protested. Not that I've ever seen an abortion protester at an actual clinic in my whole life either.

People can shout until they're blue in the face about how they're "really an abortion provider," but there are a lot of women, and men, who have used them for other services, and they're not going to buy it.

[John]

Yes PP makes big money off the birth control racket. One of the best things the Republicans could do to harm them is make birth control over the counter and take away the PP racket of giving state funded exams to poor women wanting birth control.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

Indeed. For some strange reason the Democrats are vehemently opposed to otc birth control pills. I wonder why?

[Just say Nikki]

Not exclusively poor women. I went for years because they were right around the corner.

[John]

Sure. But you wouldn't have gone had birth control been OTC.

[Just say Nikki]

No, of course not. I'm just saying it's not only government $.

[John]

I bet you got it at a reduced rate and they collected some kind of subsidy from the state.

[Just say Nikki]

No, I didn't. I subsidized poor people when I went there, indirectly and directly.

[John]

How do you know Niki? Did you inspect their books? They just charged you more than poor women. I doubt you were subsidizing anything. I bet they pocketed the money they made from you and then charged the government for the services to the poor women.

[Mad Scientist]

Nikki, don't you know John's conjectures outweigh your experience? You really are the worst.

[Just say Nikki]

Do you want me to believe, with no evidence, that they submitted fraudulent claims to my insurance provider?

[John]

No Nikki. I am not saying they didn't charge you. I am sure they did. I am saying they didn't use that money to subsidize anything. They just charged you and kept the money and charged the state for the work they did for poor women.

[Just say Nikki]

They take donations. I used to make donations with my copay. If you want to believe they "pocket" all donations and use state money for all their services, well, okay, but money is fungible.

[John]

Nikki,

Why didn't you just cut out the middle man and write a check to the local Democratic party instead?

[Mad Scientist]

Right? I mean, the personal is the political. Every grievance monger knows this.

[jesse.in.mb]

There's a DNC/D&C pun that needs to be made but won't work in text.

*shakes fist at sky*

[Just say Nikki]

I've got it, jesse: Because the DNC doesn't do D&Cs;!

[lafe.long]

Nikki, this has been my experience as well.

Out in the puckerbrush, they don't even have a "clinic" on site. They DO have big bowls of free condoms, though, and lots of pamphlets on STDs, birth control methods, and women's health "wellness" exams.

[BearOdinson]

So what you are saying is that you need to go to a place that receives millions of dollars of tax payer funding simply to get your bc and pap smears?

NO SOCIALIZED MEDICINE! (Except for MY birth control and MY pap smears)

So much for libertarianism.

[Warty]

So what you are saying is that you need to go to a place that receives millions of dollars of tax payer funding simply to get your bc and pap smears?

How long did it take you to learn to walk again after your stroke?

[Just say Nikki]

How long did it take you to learn to walk again after your stroke?

It's hard to get good physical therapy when you refuse to go to healthcare providers that also accept Medicaid, dude.

[Mad Scientist]

So much for libertarianism.

Drink!

[jesse.in.mb]

NO SOCIALIZED MEDICINE! (Except for MY birth control and MY pap smears)

You are aware that ALL of your medicine is socialized from the government grants that make aspiring doctors get for their residencies, to the fact that EVERYONE is penaltaxed if they don't buy into the insurance system.

Do you pay cashmonies for your doctor's visits? Do you think your 15$ copay covers the cost of the staff at your doctor's office...?

[jesse.in.mb]

grants that make aspiring doctors get for their residencies

speaking of recovering from a stroke...

grants that aspiring doctors get...

[Irish ?s ESB]

"So what you are saying is that you need to go to a place that receives millions of dollars of tax payer funding simply to get your bc and pap smears?"

I must have missed the part where Nikki argued they should continue getting government money. You should do me a favor and point to the part in the conversation where she said that.

[Drake]

PP might be referring them out for breast exams, but they aren't doing them on premises.

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/.....ammograms/

[Just say Nikki]

A breast exam is not a mammogram. They absolutely do breast exams.

[Overt]

Go on....

[Just say Nikki]

From your link:

Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses conduct breast exams and refer patients to other facilities for mammograms.

[Derpetologist]

Epic Pandering: Ted Cruz cooks bacon on hot rifle barrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaZGaJrd3x8

[mad.casual]

Now I'm wondering if you couldn't fashion a meat grinder onto something like an M1917 or the M2 and have a meat-cooled machine gun.

I'm sure it's been done somewhere in Texas.

[Trouser-Pod (The blowhard)]

I'm sure it's been done somewhere in Texas.

God, I love that phrase. And, hate it a bit, too. Maybe it should be our state motto.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is it Canadian bacon?

[jesse.in.mb]

In other news, the MPAA continues to be monstrous.

the studios are asking for one court order to bind every domain name registrar, registry, hosting provider, payment processor, caching service, advertising network, social network, and bulletin board?in short, the entire Internet?to block and filter a site called Movietube. If they succeed, the studios could set a dangerous precedent for quick website blocking with little or no court supervision, and with Internet service and infrastructure companies conscripted as enforcers.

[Injun, as in from India]

Wow. That is truly insidious.

[mad.casual]

But, given crap like The Pirate's Bay and RealDVD and parallels like Snowden and Wikileaks, not entirely unforeseen.

[PapayaSF]

I continue to be amazed at the extent and sophistication of online music piracy. Specialized search engines like mp3clan.com, mp3skull.cr, and mp3olimpz.com are amazing. And I just discovered a new one: song365.co, which is quite extensive and has had 320kbps versions of nearly everything I've ever looked for.

But the real fun is all of the blogspot.com music blogs. (Owned by Google!) Here's a good one. For any musical niche you can think of, there are bloggers digging up, raving about, and posting rare and obscure items online, for free. Maybe the record companies don't care so much about out-of-print items, old DJ mixes, and such things. But there are a lot of blogspot blogs that have new stuff, too....

[Rhywun]

I use soundike. It's so cheap it might as well be free, like 10 cents a song. And they have damn near everything I've looked for, as long as it's not top 40 shit.

[PapayaSF]

Well, if I'm going to pirate songs, I'm not going to pay some guy in Russia for the privilege... You know that's not really a "legal" site from the artist/copyright p.o.v., right?

[Injun, as in from India]

Climate Moron Of The Day

the land in the district ? where the Lincoln Memorial was built on silt dredged from the Potomac River ? is expected to fall 6 inches or more during the next 100 years, raising flood fears and adding to worries about the effect of rising sea levels on low-lying cities across the USA. "It's ironic that the nation's capital, the place least responsive to the dangers of climate change, is sitting in one of the worst spots it could be," Paul Bierman, a geologist at the University of Vermont in Burlington and senior author of a new paper about Washington's descent, said in a statement. "Will the Congress just sit there with their feet getting ever wetter?"

...

The Lincoln Memorial is thirty feet above the River.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Live is filled with inexplicable ironies, contradictions, and mysteries.

[Hamster of Doom]

Look, we can't be bothered to fix Social Security because it's just going to take such a looooooong time for it to crash down around our ears and borrowing trouble is silliness. If they expect people to worry about something that, back of the napkin math, means a loss of five feet every thousand years, they're going to have to adjust expectations in re: attention span.

[John]

So this half wit doesn't understand that all buildings slowly sink? The concepts of weight, pressure and time are apparently above his pay grade.

[Mickey Rat]

Especially buldings with much stonework built on landfill?

[John]

Yeah, a giant stone building built on a former tidal basin is sinking. It must be global warming!!

[Mickey Rat]

On facebook this weekend my sister-in-law posted sbout the heat wave in Iran. Apparently Iran roadting this summet is proof of climate change, but freezing our asses off on the NE the past two winters is just passing weather.

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Is this based on the study that started with the disclaimer that "THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CLIMATE CHANGE" ??

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Guys, I don't know if I can take 15 more months of election coverage here. We're barely into election season and this place is already a huge downer.

I can't wait to be blamed for whoever is elected next year.

[RBS]

Look on the bright side, I'm pretty sure this is Bo's first election while being a "participant" at H&R.

[Slammer]

Bocialists don't vote, they have worker-delegates and stuff.

[Tonio]

You mean student senate doesn't count?

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

+1 School Colors on Friday

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

I better start stocking up on popcorn.

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm almost decided on Trump 2016.

The American Republic is in a slow-motion death march, so we might as well have a laugh watching it.

[creech]

Trump v. Biden. I'd have to go out and buy a popcorn machine!

[fish]

Trump v. Biden. I'd have to go out and buy a popcorn machine!

...and then fill your pool with all your freshly popped corn....that's how popcorn worthy a Biden v Trump election would be!

[JWatts]

But what if Biden jumps in. Nothing could beat the hilarities of a Biden Presidency. ....

Well right up to the point where he accidentally gets us in a nuclear war anyway.

[gaoxiaen]

+1 Bedford Incident

[John Titor]

And you can't escape to Canada, we've just gone into election mode too. The woolly mammoths mounts are being spray-painted with the party colours for the duel to the death.

[Mike M.]

Republican freshman representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida diagnosed with the whopping cough, urges parents to get their kids vaccinated.

Gee, thanks a lot, Congressman.

[Rich]

Fun fact: He's a Juggalo.

[Jimbo]

You are the reason we need the Gov't protecting the internets!

[Rich]

😎

[Tonio]

Whooping, even.

[Mike M.]

Dammit. Yep, that too.

[gaoxiaen]

Are you sure he's not Italian?

[Juvenile Bluster]

She who shall not be named with a great article on the restoration of 2nd amendment rights to ex-cons.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Never! The whole point of stripping felons of gun rights is so that, when eventually everything is made a felony, we can finally have sensible gun control.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Everyone knows that if you become a felon because you engaged in fraud or something, you clearly have to be stripped of your gun rights even though your crime didn't even involve a gun.

Sort of like if you go streaking and end up on a sex-offender registry, it's imperative that we make it illegal for you to live anywhere near a school, even though your crime did not involve sex with children.

It's just logical.

[John]

I don't have a problem with "felons" losing their gun rights. The problem is who we are defining as "felons". And if you are a thief, fuck you. I don't care if you lose your gun rights. Don't steal.

[Mickey Rat]

Dumbing down the consequences of a felony because we have dumbed down what counts as a felony seems to be a ridiculous answer to mess we have created for ourselves, It bandages over the effects rather than dealing.with the cause.

[John]

Yes it does.

[Overt]

Why not both? If we agree that the right to self defense (which is the basis of the 2nd amendment) is important, why should some 40 yr old man who got in trouble as a teenager be denied the ability to defend his family with a handgun?

I agree that people should pay hard for breaking the law. But lifetime loss or infringement of this right? That is a punishment that far exceeds a shoplifting, tresspass, or drug charge.

[John]

Yes it does. But that just means those things should not be felonious

[Mazakon]

Iran accuses US of breaking deal

[Injun, as in from India]

The US and Iran are headed for war in a few years.

We will have Team Red controlling the Congress and the Presidency, and we will see the excesses on one-party rule again.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

One party to rule them all, and in the darkness bankrupt them.

[RBS]

That didn't take long.

[Irish ?s ESB]

"Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split, proving that love is an empty, meaningless concept. Bert and Ernie are still together, though. The new normal!"

See? Gay marriage does destroy straight relationships.

And of course a Cosmo would approve.

[Derpetologist]

Today in etymology trivia: I looked up the etymology of jiggaboo the other day. Turns out its derived from chikabo, a word found in many Bantu languages that means "to bow in submission, like a slave". In Swahili, a similar word shikamoo is the standard greeting when addressing an elder/superior. A Tanzanian told me it's something the Arab slave traders started. They forced the slaves to bow before them. In Swahili, the greeting means "I am beneath you". The response is marahaba. It's from the Arabic word for "welcome", but I was told the real meaning is something like "you have said very little".

"I am beneath you."

"You have said very little."

Egalitarianism is not a universal value.

[Slammer]

Egalitarianism is not a universal value

The jig is up!

[Rhywun]

Jigga, please.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Hahahahaha:

Kelly Osbourne attacked for racist Trump remark about Latinos on The View before melting down during commercial break, sobbing backstage and apologizing

Perez said that, according to the poll, 55 percent of Latino voters agreed that Trump's comments about Mexico were 'insulting and racist and have no place in a campaign for president.'

Osbourne offered: 'If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet Donald Trump?'

A silence fell over the studio audience and you could see the other co-hosts were taken aback. Then Perez mumbled: 'Oh, that's not... oh, no!' as she shook her head in disbelief.

[Rich]

"It is my hope that this situation will open up a conversation about immigration and the Latin community as a whole. By the way I clean my own fucking toilets."

?Ay, caramba!

[Certified Public Asshat]

I'm not racist, I clean my own toilet!

Also, I like the Gilbert Gottfried tweet.

[fish]

Loser! I bet you even polish your own monocle too!

[Woodchipper Terminator T-1001]

I thought it was pretty awesome to hear GG read 'Fifty Shades of Grey' aloud........

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

[Antilles]

She's a woman on the Left and therefore incapable of being racist. This will be forgotten within hours and she'll face no negative consequences. Now, if a Conservative woman had said such a thing...

[Mazakon]

Apparently, there's already walkback about being upset with her comment.

Rosie Perez ?@rosieperezbklyn
My apologies @KellyOsbourne, I took your point wrong-#Trump #Latinos. My bad. You're heart is so pure & righteous. I adore you. @TheView

[Antilles]

Since Rosie Perez speaks on behalf of all Hispanics, all is forgiven! Evidently you can say any ignorant/hurtful thing so long as your heart is pure and righteous. So, Republicans and Libertarians better stay quiet since we're the most hateful people on earth.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"You're [sic] heart is so pure & righteous."

That's the key. Lefties can say the dumbest, most racist things, but their hearts are pure so it's OK.

In contrast, conservatives *don't* have pure and righteous hearts, so if they say "God bless you" there's a media storm on this unforgivable insult to the atheist community.

[Antilles]

Never forget, intentions are more important than actions!

[*GILMORE*]

"I didn't mean it like that!'"

JUST DONT JUDGE ME OMG

[RBS]

I didn't see anything about it on social media, so, yeah.

[Root Boy]

Very true. Rosie Perez apologized to her for assuming she was a dipshit.

But hey, Hollywood types probably only know their gardeners and maybe JLo, so what do you expect?

[RAHeinlein]

Nope - pretty sure Tidy Bowl Man is white.

[Agammamon]

Mr. Clean, however, is ambiguously ethnic.

[Agammamon]

Of course she broke down and cried.

You do something like this and all your liberal 'friends' will be running to join the feeding frenzy. There's nothing a Twittermob likes to do more than tear off flesh of the living.

[Juice]

Jesus Christ, she's not saying that all Latinos clean toilets. She's saying that everyone that cleans toilets is Latino. See the difference?

[Trouser-Pod (The blowhard)]

So, Kelly is really Father Ted?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Anti-porn loony Gail Dines spoke at TedX.

I want to find video of that so badly, but the description is hilarious enough:

Popular culture bombards us with hyper-sexualized images of idealized women and men, conveying powerful messages that influence sexuality. In her TEDx talk, Dr. Dines opens a discussion about how hyper-sexualized media shape the attitudes and choices of young women and men. Masculinity and femininity are formed by pornified images that spill over into our most private worlds. Dr. Dines and her organization, Culture Reframed, call mainstream hardcore internet pornography the major form of sex education in the Western World. Culture Reframed is the first to name pornography "the public health crisis of the digital age."

Public health crisis.

[Slammer]

I thought a public health crisis is when someone won't pay for your birth-control. I'm confused now.

[Just say Nikki]

TEDx: for when TED talks just aren't terrible enough.

[John]

What will our decedents think of us when they see TED talks and learn that no they were not a long running comedy show but that people actually took them seriously? I am embarrassed just thinking about it.

[Just say Nikki]

Well, at least they'll understand why someone just nuked it from orbit.

[John]

Seriously, who besides adolescent boys who have never had sex, thinks actual sex is like it is shown in porn movies? Are there weirdos who just want to jerk off to porn and don't want to have real sex? Sure. But the world has always had weirdos. They just self identify now thanks to the internet.

And maybe someone should suggest to Dr. Dines that if men had more access to actual sex, they wouldn't find porn so appealing. If she thinks porn is this bad, maybe she should consider legalizing prostitution so men who lack the physical desirability or social skills to get willing partners can still have access to real sex and don't have to resort to porn.

[Mad Scientist]

We need a national conversation about common-sense wierdo control.

[PapayaSF]

Next, Culture Reframed takes on the hyper-romanticized images purveyed by romance novels and chick-lit, which shapes the attitudes and choices of so many women.

[fish]

I was so disappointed when I discovered the porn music didn't actually play in the background during the act of love!

[Irish ?s ESB]

Speaking of, Tedx talks are fucking bonkers. Here's a list of 12 hilarious Ted x talks.

Included: How to tie your shoes.

Playing Invisible Turntables

Gaming can make a better world

They also invited a Chinese Communist who gave a talk about the virtues of the Communist Party and there's also the infamous Vortex Based Mathematics which is total pseudoscience.

[Warty]

Marko Rodin has discovered the source of the non-decaying spin of the electron. Although scientists know that all electrons in the universe spin, they have never discovered the source of this spin. Rodin has. He has discovered the underpinning geometry of the universe, the fabric of time itself. He has done this by reducing all higher mathematics ? calculus, geometry, scalar math ? to discrete-number mathematics.

With the introduction of Vortex-Based Mathematics you will be able to see how energy is expressing itself mathematically. This math has no anomalies and shows the dimensional shape and function of the universe as being a toroid or donut-shaped black hole. This is the template for the universe and it is all within our base ten decimal system!

Oh. All right then.

I wonder how the timecube guy is doing these days. Let's see...looks like he's doing great.

No man on Earth has no belly-button,
it proves every believer on Earth a liar.

Children will be blessed for
Killing Of Educated Adults
Who Ignore 4 Simultaneous
Days Same Earth Rotation.

[Krokko]

I love the timecube site... What a tour down the rabbit hole.

[Warty]

MIND=BLOWN

Numbers have temporal, spatial and volumetric qualities. For example, physics is the base ten number system. In other words numbers have bilateral or mirror symmetry and line up in stratified layers of horizontal planes. This is the same as physics' parity. There are nine simple multiplication series (one series for each discrete number 1-9) in Vortex-Based Mathematics. These multiplication series are based upon reducing all products to single digits via horizontal addition forming meaningful number sequences.

Oh, this is great shit. Inject it into my veins.

[Crusty Juggler]

The only one that I have seen and really enjoyed or learned anything useful from was when Mike Rowe spoke.

[*GILMORE*]

The "why I chose the gun"-one wasn't half bad

(head of Dutch military explaining why sometimes, there really are assholes who need to get shot, and a bunch of hipster beta-male douchebags aint going to cut it. Sorry)

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Boooo! Your link sucks and you should feel bad!!!!

What is dumb about this TED Talk is not the ideas behind it, but the speaker's blindness to how his conclusions could be used for ill in education policy. Though Mitra's central findings are hard to argue against, the implicit conclusions of his study are problematic. At best, this TED Talk advances the idea that kids can use the Internet on their own. Great, just set up some search filters. But, at worst, this piece feels like fodder for anti-union Tea Party types who believe the Internet and time is as effective an educator as a teacher. There are some positive lessons here. Putting technology in the hands of poor children is a great idea. In the absence of good teachers, technology looks to be a great stopgap. The implication that technology is our savior from the backwardness of traditional education, however, doesn't feel very smart at all.

Go fuck yourself random writer at a blog I've never heard of before!

[Irish ?s ESB]

Yeah, that was full retard. The one about tying your shoes is gold though.

[Akira]

I was about to post Nick Hanauer's bloviation TEDx talk about "inequality", but I see it's already on that list:

"Hanaeur's central claim is that the notion that the rich are job creators is wrong-headed. We're pretty sure that everyone but the rich and your Sara Palin-obsessed aunt already knew that. Talks like this illustrate just how dominant FOX News and their compatriots have been in public discourse. Economists have told us time and again trickle-down economics doesn't work and that oligarchy is a bad thing. Yet, here we are watching the idea of relative equality once again being framed as revolutionary."

Just about the only thing I can agree with in that video is the basic premise that rich people should not be paying LESS in taxes than people of lesser incomes (whether or not that actually occurs is another debate). Other than that, it's just prog talking points one after another.

Oh, but I suppose if I disagree, I'm obsessed with "Sara" Palin and brainwashed by FOX News (moar like FAUX news, rite? LOLOLOL)

[Injun, as in from India]

Gail Dines should take Indian citizenship, head out to Khajuraho with Indian politicians, and smash the Khajuraho sex temples there.

These jerks have instincts similar to ISIS.

[Rich]

Masculinity and femininity Pizza delivery and visits to the emergency room are formed by pornified images that spill over into our most private worlds.

FTFY

[Root Boy]

Don't leave out the plumber and lonely housewife.

It's not like porn absorbs peoples everyday fantasies and puts it on tape.

[gaoxiaen]

That's why I do free pool cleaning.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pornified, you say?

[Pan Zagloba]

Today, in Accomplished Female Athletes of Eastern and Central Europe, we have Olga Kharlan, a Ukrainian saber fencer. She's a twice World Champion, five times European Champion, and a bronze medal winner in 2012 Olympics. In addition, her team won European Championship twice, and World Championship twice. Not surprisingly, she ended 2013-2014 season ranked as #1 in the world.

[Tonio]

Paging Episiarch!

[jesse.in.mb]

Paging Episiarch!

DON'T DO IT.

[*GILMORE*]

"Also, what is Ozy?"

Uh, they seem to be a "NEW-New-Media!" site that isn't at all different from the old-new-media or even the Old Media. Which last i checked was really just media.

They seem to be aiming somewhere between "not as dumb as Buzzfeed" but "less 'pretentious asshole'-ish than Vox"

I'm not really feeling quite the 'breath of fresh air' that is promised.

"These days, libertarianism itself isn't as fringe as it once was. Indeed, even though Paul's poll numbers are sinking, the Moment he heralded in modern American politics hasn't yet had its death knell rung: The ideas championed by the anti-governmentalists ? from medical marijuana and gay marriage to Silicon Valley's radical deregulationist philosophy ? are increasingly accepted as standard everywhere. Tabarrok's role is to bridge the world of the wonks and the Burning Man sorts alike; it's nowhere clearer than in this scene ? he delivers his talk with enthusiasm that brightens the dismal science, dressed in D.C.-friendly attire (a dark gray suit and button-down) ? overdressed among the casual-hip crowd at the fringe libertarian conference Voice & Exit in Austin, Texas. One foot in each world: a powerful stance indeed."

This is novel, insightful hard-hitting stuff...

Didn't Brian write a book about burning man...10 years ago?

[*GILMORE*]

"Al-Qaida or ISIS: Who's worse?"

According to the NYT "picked" comments, the answer to this question is BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

[Derpetologist]

Pot, Mexicans, Ass Sex, and Trump: the 4 horsemen of the reasonocaplypse?

And lo, I saw the Trump riding a pale woodchipper, and Derp followed him.

[Trigger Hippie]

Okay, I've been lurking around this blog off and on for over two years now and I just have to ask: Sugarfree and Warty, same person? Partners in crime? Alter egos? What, exactly? I've had the pleasure(made the horrible mistake) of reading Sugarfree's blog and am aware of Warty's adventures, but have never actually seen him or Nutrasweet, or anyone else here for that matter, acknowledge them as the same person or different people altogether. Please, an inquiring mind wants to know.

[Mad Scientist]

They are separate entities. Terrible, reeking, horrible, separate entities.

[*GILMORE*]

This may help explain

[*GILMORE*]

"Sugarfree and Warty, same person? Partners in crime? Alter egos? What, exactly?"

lol

One is the artist. The other is the muse.

[Protagoronus]

Every commenter except for you is a sockpuppet of Fist, who is a sockpuppet of the Jacket, which is worn by Nick.

[jesse.in.mb]

which is worn by Nick

My tacky short sleeved button up shirt would like you to know that that is a VERY hominid-centric view of their relationship and it is offended.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I won't take responsibility for the things you post and I am no man's wholly-owned subsidiary.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

One word: Twincest.

[John]

This is why Postrel hates us Mrs. Struthers.

[Irish ?s ESB]

She doesn't hate LB/Lady Dalrymple/Struthers - she complimented her in print. Called her ladylike and everything.

[John]

No kidding?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Reason Magazine Subpoena Stomps on Free Speech

The Reason commenters expressed heartbreak and rage. "Damn, it's painful to read that letter. A life sentence for providing a platform for people to do what they do regardless -- just making it easier," Lady Bertrum wrote in the first response. "The rightness of his worldview bumping up against his naivety and arrogance is awful."

Unfortunately, such ladylike responses aren't typical of Reason commenters, who often sound like drunk teenage boys trying to one-up each other.

I resent that. I haven't been teenage in 6 years.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

It's funny that this meme that Reason commenters are somehow beyond the pale compared with the rest of the internet is going around. I find reason comments far more nuanced and intelligent then what you find on other news website.

Other website engage in far more personal attack, and petty name calling then we do. While we talk far more about ideas.

So why are we considered so bad here? Because we have no problem using words like "fuck".

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Have you met Warty yet?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Other website engage in far more personal attack, and petty name calling then we do. While we talk far more about ideas.

I have not posted one comment here that didn't include a personal attack, you fucking lying goon.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

You fucking potato eating mick prick. Go back to sucking off the pope you Irish Catholic fuck!

[John Titor]

Unfortunately, such ladylike responses aren't typical of Reason commenters, who often sound like drunk teenage boys trying to one-up each other.

"Hold my internet beer and watch this, Irish!"

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

I haven't been teenage in 6 years.

Oh, Good God. You are an infant. Let us know when some hair sprouts on your naughty bits. I'll bake you a cake and buy you a copy of Are you there God? It's Me, Margaret

[*GILMORE*]

PWNED NOOOOB!!

[Irish ?s ESB]

Oh, Good God. You are an infant.

I am a 25 year old man.

[John Titor]

We're the same age Irish? I thought you were at least in your 40s.

[Irish ?s ESB]

"We're the same age Irish? I thought you were at least in your 40s."

I'm not sure if this is a compliment because it means I'm super mature and worldly or an insult because it makes me sound old.

The 'at least' part makes me think it's an insult.

[John Titor]

Wasn't really meant to be either compliment or insult, more that your writing style makes you seem a fair bit older. Maybe I've just been overexposed to what people in their twenties post on Facebook or something.

[Tonio]

Irish, I am over twice as old as you are. You are closer to my granddaughter's age than my age. You are an infant.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Granddaughter? What am I missing here?

[Rhywun]

Crazy. I thought Irish was older and you were younger. God bless the internet.

[Rhywun]

Crazy. I thought Irish was older and you were younger. God bless the internet.

Gah, threading. That was for Tonio.

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

So is Pajama Boy

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Millennials unite! To the polling station!! (I haven't been teenage in 7 years)

[See Double You]

*fist bumps Irish, Trshmnstr*

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

I am a 25 year old man.

Millennials unite!

Okay, Sweeties. *Gives Irish and Trshmnstr zoobers on their tummies, tucks them into their race car shaped toddler beds, turns out the light and leaves the room*

[Derpetologist]

Haven't been teenaged since 2004.

"tucks them into their race car shaped toddler beds, turns out the light and leaves the room"

Without reading them a story?! What kind of monster are you?

[See Double You]

What about meeee?!

*sobs while clutching teddy bear*

[lap83]

She obviously hasn't heard her talk about Hillary's cankles

[lap83]

She obviously hasn't heard her talk about Hillary's cankles

[lap83]

goddammit

[Warty]

Struthers isn't LB.

[Irish ?s ESB]

She's not? What happened to LB?

Struthers writes like LB. I am so embarrassed now. What a faux pas.

[Warty]

EVERYONE POINT AND LAUGH AT IRISH

[Irish ?s ESB]

I call bullshit. LB disappeared, Struthers is here, talking about twincest is something LB would do.

Unless you have evidence that one libertarian woman vanished and was immediately replaced by another, both of whom are willing to joke about twincest, I don't believe you.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Open your third eye, Warty, and ponder.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

And by "third eye" I mean your actual third eye, not your anus.

[RBS]

I mean your actual third eye, not your anus.

Too late.

[Warty]

Apparently I'm wrong.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Here's the real shock in that comment section:

RAHeinlein|8.3.15 @ 8:49PM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

And, your names do tend to follow a pattern - I'm a fan, so an honest observation from a fellow libertarian female.

A woman named herself Robert Heinlein. I would not have guessed that one.

[RBS]

She must be in to older dudes and spankings.

[Crusty Juggler]

This is a chatroom for Canadians, chicks, and Warty.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, RAHeinlein - our commenter - is herself a writer of fiction novels. I think she's linked a blog previously that referenced her work.

[Tonio]

Yeah, and Hazel Meade on here is a guy. Go figure.

[See Double You]

Huh? I thought Hazel explicitly stated she was a woman. Or did Hazel go all Caitlyn?

[Crusty Juggler]

There are a lot of Canadians that post here, and gay men, and ladies. I imagine all the lurkers and readers are my people, the white nerds.

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Is a third eye like a Jap's eye?

[See Double You]

He can't. He's third eye blind.

[Warty]

I am SugarFree and I am not, just as I am Warty and I am not. Open your third eye and ponder.

[jesse.in.mb]

What is the sound of one Warty raping?

[*GILMORE*]

and if there is no one in the dungeon to hear it, does it make a sound?

[Agammamon]

Well, if there's no one in the dungeon to hear it, the police are certainly not coming to your rescue.

And while we always say 'don't call the cops unless you want someone dead', even if that someone ends up being you, you're still better off.

[Restor-woodchipper-as]

Open your third eye and ponder.

This means something different to Warty than it does to everyone else.

[Just say Nikki]

"Third eye" isn't a synonym for the head of your dick, Warty.

[Warty]

Who told this broad she could talk?

[Mad Scientist]

I am Spartacus!

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

By "third eye" you mean anus, right?

DON'T DO IT!!

[Juvenile Bluster]

It's a clear trap, people.

[Slammer]

SugarWart LOL

[Agammamon]

Like the Catholic Godhead, Episiarch, Warty, and Sugarfree are the three who are one.

[Trigger Hippie]

*reads all comments in the thread pertaining to my question, feels ever-so-slightly fucked with, puts hands hands in pockets, kicks a few rocks and shuffles away with a wry smile and a strange sense of contentment and inclusion*

[Trouser-Pod (The blowhard)]

a wry smile and a strange sense of contentment and inclusion*

And, it never gets any better. The end.

[Derpetologist]

1 year of US bombing fails to make a dent in ISIS:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/.....kes-syria/

[John]

Gee it is almost like Obama is just putting on a half assed show to look like he is doing something and doesn't really give a shit if we win or something.

[Derpetologist]

I like the part about 7,000 strikes, which includes many missions in which no bombs were dropped. That's like a guy counting each phone number as a notch on the bed post.

[*GILMORE*]

in seriousness =

The point is simply to 'contain' them. we want Assad to collapse and someone we-prefer to be installed. at which point we'll happily bomb them for real.

re: Iraq, similar deal. We're fine with them being a 'consistent problem' for the Shiite jerks running Baghdad, as long as helping them gives us leverage with them, and the ability to make demands.

[*GILMORE*]

You are under the mistaken assumption anyone is actually trying, rather than doing it simply to give the optical impression that "some stuff is being done"..... maintaining a very-clear distance from the idea of "We're Actually Still @ War In Iraq"...because, like we're totally not. Because Obama & Hillary solved all that shit.

[Paul.]

Indignation industry, looking for new markets, finds new area of discrimination:

Office temperatures favor men:

A new study says most office buildings set temperatures using a 1960s model based on men's faster metabolic rate. It says "gender-discriminating bias in thermal comfort" should be reduced because slightly higher temperature levels can combat global warming.

http://www.seattletimes.com/na.....g-at-work/

[TheZeitgeist]

Turn temps up until the girls feel need to start ditching threads just to stay comfortable. When the obvious ploy is exposed, tell whoever to check their privilege because you're doing this for the women.

[Root Boy]

I won't know how to respond until they tell me how trans people fit in. And also, are black women colder than white women or warmer. Maybe someone will tell us we just need to put people in different rooms depending on their sex and race..........

[See Double You]

Everything must be done with an eye toward global warming.

"Tie your shoes double-knotted to combat global warming."

"Buy only green marbles, not red marbles, to combat global warming."

"Read every other newspaper article from right to left to combat global warming."

[Antilles]

Why did God give women two sets of lips? So they can piss and moan at the same time.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Oh Breitbart, you crazy fucking racists: TWO DEAD, FIVE INJURED IN PAIR OF SHOOTINGS OUTSIDE RAP CONCERTS

Let's be honest - why would Breitbart even report on this other than because it's RAP CONCERTS!?!? Especially given the comments:

At a Rap concert? Really? Hard to believe!

You only go to rap concerts to shoot people or get shot since it certainly is not music or worth listening to.

It must have been a white person doing the killing because blacks never kill blacks.

Kneegrows being kneegrows.

Ghetto Trash Culture----what else is new?

It goes on like that for a while...like, a long time.

This literally is not a news story that should be of any relevance to Breitbart. It is so obvious that the only reason they posted it is because it's black people and their mouthbreathing whitetrash commenters would eat it up.

[John]

Consider it balance. If there were shootings outside country and western concerts, you don't think the major media wouldn't be wetting their pants over it?

[Irish ?s ESB]

There is no way on Earth Breitbart as it currently exists wouldn't be freaking the hell out about black people regardless of the left's actions. Left-wing racism hardly justifies the same nonsense from Breitbart.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Exactly. We are not better off when one side engages in retardation because the other side is also retarded.

[*GILMORE*]

Proof = Cops Kill Tripping White Man Who Attended Goofy-Jam-Band Concert

He was 'hogtied', and asphyxiated

"Troy Goode, 30, a chemical engineer from Memphis, died Saturday at a hospital two hours after police arrested him in a parking lot at a concert by the band Widespread Panic in Southaven, about 15 miles south of Memphis

Goode had ingested the psychotropic drug LSD and was acting erratically....[Police] restrained him while attempting to arrest him for disorderly conduct, Edwards said.

The statement did not specify that Goode was hogtied, but a video taken by a witness and distributed by Edwards shows a man identified as Goode face down on a gurney with his arms and legs tied behind him and his arms attached to his legs.

Goode, who has asthma, was complaining that he could not breathe while he was face down with a strap holding his head to the gurney pad, Edwards said."

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Ugh... It's getting to the point that anytime I hear of someone shooting a cop I'm just going to assume it was self-defense.

[John]

So the only way not to be racist is to ignore shootings involving black people? The shootings happened didn't they? Unless they are lying, why is Breitbart being racist? And further, doesn't the media's total unwillingness to cover black on black crime and only cover white on black crime necessitate someone in the business of calling out the media mention black on black crime?

[Warty]

...

[Irish ?s ESB]

John. Come on.

Breitbart is obsessed with black crime, particularly any time a black person harms a white person. They don't really give a shit about the opposite, but if a black guy shoots a white guy, Breitbart goes into crisis mode.

Furthermore, this is a single, local crime with no broader importance to politics. Why would Breitbart waste time talking about this particular crime when it has nothing to do with the purpose of their website?

Oh, I know! Because it's Negroes shooting each other at a rap concert!

Please. This is Breitbart's game and the reaction of their commenters pretty much cements the point.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

In John's defense Breitbart might just be reacting to the mainstream media doing the exact opposite. Countering the mainstream media retardation with their own form of retardation.

Thats giving them the benefit of the doubt of course.

[Crusty Juggler]

That is why Cytoloxic and I call it "breittard." You see, because it combines Breitbart and retard.

[PapayaSF]

I think that's much of it. It's to counter the #BlackLivesMatter stuff, the idea that masses of blacks are dying because they are murdered by white police, etc.

[John]

Breitbart is obsessed with black crime, particularly any time a black person harms a white person. They don't really give a shit about the opposite, but if a black guy shoots a white guy, Breitbart goes into crisis mode.

Okay. What is wrong with caring about that? And since the media goes insane every time there is a white on black crime and won't cover black on white crime, what is wrong with Breitbart calling them out by covering black on white crime?

You seem to think even pointing out facts that reflect poorly on black people is the RACIST. Sorry but the facts are what they are and pointing them out is just telling the truth.

Furthermore, this is a single, local crime with no broader importance to politics. Why would Breitbart waste time talking about this particular crime when it has nothing to do with the purpose of their website?

Because there purpose is to act as a counter to the major media. The major media takes local murders that are white on black and makes them major stories. The only way to counter balance that is to take black on white murders and make them major stories.

Again, no matter what your prog friends have told you, it is okay to mention uncomfortable facts about sacred brown people.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Well I don't think pointing out facts that reflect poorly on black people is the issue, but rather it's when you obsess over those facts that it starts to look bad.

[John]

Well I don't think pointing out facts that reflect poorly on black people is the issue, but rather it's when you obsess over those facts that it starts to look bad

[John Titor]

Well I don't think pointing out facts that reflect poorly on black people is the issue, but rather it's when you obsess over those facts that it starts to look bad.

Indeed, there's a difference between "look, statistically blacks have a higher crime rate than whites and that's due to a ton of different factors including culture, economics, location, etc." and "look at how violent black people are after practicing a part of their culture and I refuse to hold anyone but blacks to this standard." If a story came along with the same elements, but, as John suggested, at a country concert, do you really think Breitbard would be conveying the same tone?

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Indeed, there's a difference between "look, statistically blacks have a higher crime rate than whites and that's due to a ton of different factors including culture, economics, location, etc."

This is PC news in a nutshell. Replace "very fucking obviously" with "statistically" and then claim rank speculation as fact.

[John Titor]

This is PC news in a nutshell. Replace "very fucking obviously" with "statistically" and then claim rank speculation as fact.

Is this meant to accuse my position as being 'PC'? Because I don't know any 'PC' media that would be willing to recognize that black crime is partially cultural, and not in the 'whites keeping blacks down' kind of way.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Because I don't know any 'PC' media that would be willing to recognize that black crime is partially cultural

That must be a Canadian thing.

And then the PC speculation that's just nonsense. Location? Blacks happen to live close to the club, where folks need shootin'? Economics? Too poor to vacation in Bermuda, so they had to go to the club, where folks need shootin'?

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Put it this way: imagine the article that contains "look, statistically men have a higher crime rate than women." It's going to be some batshit crazy propaganda, right? What's the difference? They're both obvious facts that everybody knows. The difference is that PC demands one and not the other.

[John Titor]

You seriously think that MSNBC would randomly announce one day that black crime has something to do with a black culture that partially glorifies violence/crime and denigrates education? Or something along those lines, rather than 'blame whitey'?

Location? Blacks happen to live close to the club, where folks need shootin'?Economics? Too poor to vacation in Bermuda, so they had to go to the club, where folks need shootin'?

When you're in a shitty, poor environment where the majority of people 'succeed' through crime (even the non-violent kind) it doesn't surprise me when you go with what you know. Hell, I've experienced this shit, but in a rural white dirt-poor context. Lots of young men who certainly could have been more successful (and had less criminal charges thrown at them) had they had more exposure to something other than the local drug trade (marijuana-cocaine swaps at the border, a timeless border tradition). I was the faggot who read books, stayed in school, and worked my ass off to get into a good university. Personal responsibility and your own choices are ultimately a deciding factor, but how you're incentivized is important.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

You seriously think that MSNBC would randomly announce one day that black crime has something to do with a black culture that partially glorifies violence/crime and denigrates education?

I don't watch TV news much so I'm basing this on a few hours spread over many years. I'm sure Chris Matthews and Sharpton would (black preachers talking about this is a national pastime at this point). I'd bet that Maddow and Hayes and that fat white guy would. They don't seem to have bought in to the craziest SJW stuff.

As to location and opportunity, I don't buy it. There's so many blacks in inner cities that "inner city" is a euphemism for black. There's perhaps nowhere on earth with more opportunity than American cities. And so we're at 'perception of opportunity and location.' Well ... how does black violent crime rate compare to West Virginia, a hopeless depressing place if ever there was one. You can maybe take the "super" off "super massive" but that's it. On to the drug trade: there's counties in Kentucky where most residents are or have been large-scale pot growers. I've seen and read plenty of stories about them and none have mentioned large-scale violence. Frankly, this libertarian assertion that the drug war leads to random violence is absurd. The drug war explains the occasional turf war, not shootouts at the club.

[John Titor]

On to the drug trade: there's counties in Kentucky where most residents are or have been large-scale pot growers.

Perhaps because there's a lot more money (and violence) in other, stronger substances in urban areas than shitty Kentucky ditch weed in rural ones? (note: admittedly I'm basing this on my limited use of American marijuana, which was terrible and in Alabama).

There's perhaps nowhere on earth with more opportunity than American cities.

Skilled or unskilled labour? Union or non-union? Entry level or experienced? Sowell's black unemployment rates data may disagree with you. Of course that's heavily influenced by minimum wage laws and Great Society programs.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Perhaps because there's a lot more money (and violence) in other, stronger substances in urban areas than shitty Kentucky ditch weed in rural ones?

Ditch weed is Mexican. There's some really good quality Mexican, near KB levels for schwag prices, but that's in south Texas. Anything that makes it to Alabama is going to be terrible.

I doubt there's more money than massive grow fields. And even if there were, nearly all of the drug war related violence (in the US) is local gangs shooting each other over neighborhood control or just general 'disrespect.' The idea that most drug war violence is in any sense rational is pure fantasy.

Skilled or unskilled labour? Union or non-union? Entry level or experienced?

Everything. And public transportation to get there. And education opportunities for all interests and abilities. And if an opportunity opens up in a suburb, it doesn't matter which one because they're centrally located. The American ghetto is basically the inverse of the banlieus.

Sowell's black unemployment rates data may disagree with you.

Opportunity isn't the issue. You should talk to some business owners/hiring managers over drinks the next time you're in Alabama.

[Azathoth!!]

When you're in a shitty, poor environment where the majority of people 'succeed' through crime (even the non-violent kind) it doesn't surprise me when you go with what you know

Except this doesn't happen.

The stats show it. MOST black people are law abiding. MOST black people who succeed do so without resorting to criminality. These are facts.

In fact, they are facts that people throw in Breitbarts face when it goes on about black crime.

sorry 'bout the necrophilia.

[John Titor]

Because there purpose is to act as a counter to the major media. The major media takes local murders that are white on black and makes them major stories. The only way to counter balance that is to take black on white murders and make them major stories.

The only way to counter insane fear-mongering about race relations is to publish articles that encourage insane fear-mongering about race relations! Truly this isn't a cycle of stupidity.

[John]

No John. How about just telling the truth that there is a ton more black on white crime than white on black crime? How about that? I don't see how you can tell that truth without actually talking about black on white crime.

It is not "fear mongering" if it is true, even if your beloved Prog friends call you the RACIST for telling it.

[John Titor]

How about just telling the truth that there is a ton more black on white crime than white on black crime?

Except that's not what the actual article frames, instead it's fuel for CULTURE WARRIORS such as yourself to jump up and down and talk about how it validates your views.

It is not "fear mongering" if it is true, even if your beloved Prog friends call you the RACIST for telling it.

"It's not fear mongering to point out black violence after a black culture event, obsess over it, but of course never hold any non-black person to those standards."

And again John, cut back on the delusions. You know very little about me, and shockingly you're rather poor at understanding or empathizing with others. So you lecturing me on what 'my beloved Prog friends' think really just shows what an utter child you're being.

[John Titor]

Oh, I know! Because it's Negroes shooting each other at a rap concert!

I await the Breitbart article that suggests New York cops need to up the calibre on their handguns again because Negroes that get high on marihuana/cocaine/crack can't be stopped with 'normal' bullets.

[John]

I think you will be waiting a long time John. In the mean time they will likely continue to cover stories that makes you feel uncomfortable because it makes you feel all privileged and the RACIST or something.

[John Titor]

I think you will be waiting a long time John.

I was referencing a history thing, just replace Breitbart with other yellow journalism. Already happened.

And I love how you instantly flip into screaming about how we're doing this because 'RACISM!' and 'PRIVILEGE!' every time someone criticizes a right-wing group for their obvious bias. Do yourself a favour and stop talking to your imaginary progressives and interact with the actual people you're arguing with.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

this is a single, local crime

wut

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I have no idea what Breitbart is up to. Maybe they're racists.

I know that lots of non-racists have expressed concern about black-on-black crime.

Someone with *good* motives ought to cover the issue, because it is a bit of a problem.

[John]

That is racist GKC, straight up.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I suppose the correct way to cover the issue is by portraying it as the result of white neglect. Then you can tell all the crime stories you want, knowing that you're bolstering your case against the Honky Oppressor.

[mad.casual]

Someone with *good* motives ought to cover the issue, because it is a bit of a problem.

I'd wager with the existing/progressing government involvement and/or political climate it can't be done.

MLK Jr., Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Ghandi could all rise from their grave for a press conference on the issue and as soon as they got through with their statement, the questions about black families, illegitimate children, social justice, income inequality, oppression of women, and the modern progressive stance of the Pope/Church would ensue.

[Rhywun]

I'm reminded of singing this in elementary school music class over and over again. Gen X was raised by hippie boomers.

[bacon-magic]

There must be balance in the force, otherwise, something something good it not is.

[John]

So these stories should just go unmentioned?

[Just say Nikki]

Are you suggesting there is some other reason to go to a rap concert other than shooting someone? CRAZYTALK

[Warty]

RAP? I CALL IT CRAP!

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Exactly if it's not metal then frankly I don't understand it, and yes I'm ok with that.

[bacon-magic]

Crap is the amalgamation of country and rap.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Oh god, Jesus fucking weeps. Is that an actual thing? Thats it I'm moving to Finland.

[Warty]

MY NAME IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIID

[Crusty Juggler]

I now have coffee down the front of my shirt. Thank you.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Does he rap? I thought he just played some sort of trailer park rock.

[Crusty Juggler]

He was just a rap guy, and then he became a rap-rock guy, and now he is a rap-country guy (we can probably blame Sheryl Crow's vagina for the country).

[AlmightyJB]

I think Kid Rock is Hilarious and I bet Sheryl Crow has a mighty fine Vagina.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Dude!

[Crusty Juggler]

He went even more downhill after the midget died. RIP midget.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

These punk rockers rappers can't even sing or play instruments! It's just an excuse for young people to shoot each other.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

In Breitbart's defense, this wouldn't happen at a Rush concert.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Maybe not, but remember the people who got burned to death at that Great White concert?

Great White, heh.

[lap83]

Some of the comments sound racist, sure, but how is reporting on it racist?

Btw, I used to live several blocks away from a concert venue. I usually avoided walking past it when a rap concert was going on because there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of violence reported at those events the next day. Does that make me racist? As if the culture and race are the same thing. That is absurd.

[Crusty Juggler]

Does that make me racist?

Yes.

[lap83]

Because there's something inherently African-American about listening to rap?

[lap83]

Because there's something inherently African-American about listening to rap?

[Crusty Juggler]

No. Rap is for everyone, if my generation has taught me anything. I am sure the sight of a thirteen-year old juggler listening to the some Wu-Tang was amusing.

However, by the standards which things are considered racist today, admitting to avoiding a venue where a lot of black men are gathered would probably be considered to be racist.

[lap83]

I meant to post this above, but it works here.

[See Double You]

Are the double posts a running gag or are the squirlz genuinely after you?

[lap83]

I have nightmares

[lap83]

I have nightmares

[lap83]

gahh!!! ok I'm finished

[Derpetologist]

When a truly genius commenter appears, you will know them by this sign: all the squirrels are in a confederacy against them.

[See Double You]

I'll admit it's pretty easy to double post.

[The Late P Brooks]

Open your third eye and ponder.

Will it improve my pitching?

[lafe.long]

Don't remember seeing this here:

Denver DA charges man with tampering for handing out jury nullification flyers

Denver prosecutors have charged a man with seven counts of jury tampering after they say he tried to influence jurors by passing out literature on jury nullification on Monday.

Mark Iannicelli, 56, set up a small booth with a sign that said "Juror Info" in front of the city's Lindsay-Flanigan Courthouse courthouse, prosecutors say.

[Antilles]

Appalling, but not terribly surprising. The real crime is that most jurors are unaware of this important tool to reign in overly-ambitious prosecutors and power-hungry judges. Jurors need to know jury nullification is an option, and should be used whenever someone is being charged with a victimless crime. I know I will if I get put on another trial where the accused hasn't harmed or endangered anyone else.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I wonder what would happen if a guy had a booth saying "don't hand out jury-nullification literature - it's a crime!" with accompanying pamphlets of what not to say.

Of course, he'd be arrested too, but at least it would be funny for a few minutes.

[mad.casual]

Not to mention Jury Tampering = Felony. So, as above, you can/do lose 2nd Am. Rights for handing out flyers accurately 'splaining people's rights.

Just keep repeating the narrative that Russia is backwards because they (only) oppress flyer-toting homosexuals over there.

[toolkien]

I knew Kermit and Piggy converting to Judaism was going to be a problem... they couldn't eat each other anymore.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Booooooooo.

[Slammer]

Fill in *narrows gaze* for Swiss

[Trshmnstr doesn't recycle]

Hopefully his kidney reduction surgery has gone well.

*narrows gaze in Switzy's honor*

[*GILMORE*]

TATANKA, BITCH = Buffalo Gores Woman Taking Selfie

[Juvenile Bluster]

Tatanka?

[*GILMORE*]

Ta-TANk-AH!

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Tatanka? Why am I picturing a Russian dominatrix?

[Derpetologist]

Bison tosses man into tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNvTHOrTf_Y

he must have missed the sign.

[Root Boy]

Was he taking a selfie (recent Bison revenge story had that angle, mom with her six year old)?

[Derpetologist]

The video is from 1992, so no.

I got stuck in a herd of Bison in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Must have been 50 of the guys surrounding my car. They got off the road after a while and I drove away.

Great park. I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

[Root Boy]

Cool. Been there, great park. Camped and rock climbed.

[Derpetologist]

The lack of realism among many highly educated people has been demonstrated in many ways.

When I saw signs in Yellowstone National Park warning visitors not to get too close to a buffalo, I realized that this was a warning that no illiterate farmer of a bygone century would have needed. No one would have had to tell him not to mess with a huge animal that literally weighs a ton, and can charge at you at 30 miles an hour.

There's a Sowell quote for every occasion.

http://www.creators.com/conser.....05-29.html

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

http://robrhinehart.com/?p=1152

Feces are almost entirely deceased gut bacteria and water. I massacred my gut bacteria the day before by consuming a DIY Soylent version with no fiber and taking 500mg of Rifaximin, an antibiotic with poor bioavailability, meaning it stays in your gut and kills bacteria. Soylent's microbiome consultant advised that this is a terrible idea so I do not recommend it. However, it worked. Throughout the challenge I did not defecate.

In lieu of showering I sprayed myself with AOBiome's custom skin bacteria blend. Body odor is caused by the emissions of proliferating skin bacteria, as unique as a fingerprint. The Nitrosomonas eutropha taking over my skin now metabolizes ammonia into odorless nitrite and nitric oxide. Success! I wish I had a strain that excreted lipases, as my hair was still greasy.

[Derpetologist]

Endangered feces?

/Emily Litella

[*GILMORE*]

The Lion-Killing Dentist should run as Trump's VP

Discuss

[Bam!]

Caitlyn Jenner for VP, obviously.

[John Titor]

Only if he skins the lion and wears it Hercules style throughout his entire term.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

The Lion-Killing Dentist should run as Trump's VP

Only if he skins the lion and wears it Hercules style throughout his entire term.

I larfed.

They need to do a version of this song as their theme song during the campaign.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

I want to eat a lion now. Not sure if that is relevant.

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

In fact I'm adding to me bucket list. Eating every apex predator on every continent. Because I'm the fucking apex predator wherever I'm at.

[See Double You]

Some poster commented the other day that eating meat from carnivores is generally a bad idea re parasites.

Kinda like eating human flesh...

[Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker]

Our ancestors invented something centuries ago to take care of that problem. I believe they called it "cooking".

[See Double You]

Sure. You just have to cook it 'til it's thoroughly charred.

[AlmightyJB]

I like my cow still kicking.

[Raven Nation]

http://www.exoticmeatmarkets.com/

[*GILMORE*]

"Exotic Meat Market offers Alpaca Brain, Llama Brain, Goat Brain, Lamb Brain, Zebra Brain, Coyote Brain, Bobcat Brain, Lion Brain and much more"

Also

"Exotic Meat Market offer Alligator Hot Dogs; Antelope Hot Dogs; Elk Hot Dogs; Red Deer Hot Dogs; Alpaca Hot Dogs; Llama Hot Dogs; Camel Hot Dogs; Lamb Hot Dogs; Goat Hot Dogs; Venison Hot Dogs; Water Buffalo Hot Dogs; Bison Hot Dogs; Rabbit Hot Dogs; Wild Boar Hot Dogs, Yak Hot Dogs and Kangaroo Hot Dogs.

Yeah, but why make all that effort when you can get them all-in-one in your local supermarket?

[*GILMORE*]

I secretly wish there's some odd family of rich people in Hollywood who, instead of being like the macrobiotic-vegan Gwyneth Paltrow's of the world, feed their kids exclusively on "wild animals"

"UGH! Mom!! Not Coyote brains again!"
"Its good for your spleen! You kids should be thankful!! people in africa get eaten BY coyotes all the time"
"Mom those are *jackals*"
"Whatever! Its *good protein*, not like that synthetic crap from the supermarket....Billy, stop picking at your camel dog"

[Crusty Juggler]

I feel like The Pretenders have been under-appreciated.

[AlmightyJB]

They get some love at the Rock and Roll hall of fame in Cleveland. No surprise.

[*GILMORE*]

Not by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

[AlmightyJB]

Whatever that repetitive keyboard thing going on in the background is it's annoying as hell. Wouldn't be all right otherwise.

[AlmightyJB]

would be all right otherwise

[*GILMORE*]

Its the signature of Hipster rock = like regular rock & roll, but with one very-annoying synth tone added for distinction

That said, i think she's the best/most interesting rock & roll singer of the 2000s by a long shot

[Winston]

Where has everybody gone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKiCV6CG4Sc

[Voros McCracken]

Kermit is sad

[Crusty Juggler]

Oh, and baseball nerd legends post here.

I have not seen that before and it is fantastic.

[The Late P Brooks]

AP

President Barack Obama says underrepresentation of women and minorities among the nation's startups is hurting business.

Yeah. That's the problem.

[Raven Nation]

It's kind of depressing to read that statement and know there are a lot of people out there who will see it as a profound piece of wisdom.

[*GILMORE*]

Illustration = what startup companies complain about the most

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have split, proving that love is an empty, meaningless concept. Bert and Ernie are still together, though. The new normal!

I haven't been this bummed about a celebrity breakup since the Captain and Tennille got divorced.

Love couldn't keep them together. 🙁

[Napoleon Bonaparte]

It could be worse.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

You....you monster!

[Rhywun]

My childhood just flashed before my eyes.

[Raven Nation]

That was weird. Married for 39 years, he was 72, she was 74 and then you divorce? According to their Wiki page, she seemed unable to deal with his Parkinson's.

[Rhywun]

Damn, Muppets got serious.

[0x90]

Another post from the hard-to-believe-it's-not-satire blog that Sidd Finch linked above: How I Gave Up Alternating Current.

I am electrically self reliant. My home life runs comfortably on a single 100W solar panel. [...] Of course, solar would have been prohibitively expensive and complicated had I not reduced my consumption to a fraction of what the average home uses. Here is how I did it.

First, I never cook. [...] I utilize soylent [i.e. hipster Ensure] only at home and go out to eat when craving company or flavor.

Next, I switched from beer to red wine. I buy with Saucey so I don't have to use awful retail stores.

For coffee and tea I use a butane stove. It is much cheaper and more energy efficient than a Keurig, which can use $160 of electricity / year.

I think it was a bit presumptuous for the architect to assume I wanted a kitchen with my apartment and make me pay for it.

The streets were originally made for people. The automobile's takeover has destroyed more than millions of lives (cars have killed far more Americans than war and AIDS combined), it has trampled the prime conduit of community in our cities and exiled us to the indoors to sit in front of televisions.

[0x90]

(continued)

All of my scars are either from cooking or driving. I noticed I have not collected any new ones lately.

When I want some real computing power I SSH or RDP in to an EC2 instance and have all the power I need.

I enjoy doing laundry about as much as doing dishes. I get my clothing custom made in China for prices you would not believe and have new ones regularly shipped to me. [...] Thanks to synthetic fabrics it takes less water to make my clothes than it would to wash them, and I donate my used garments. [...] For now a few new t shirts and jeans per month is not very offensive. I certainly buy less clothing overall than a typical consumer.

In Los Angeles climate control is leaving the windows open. [...] Even in less temperate locales I wonder if we really need to define our environment to within single degree Fahrenheit.

I was finally able to fully ditch my ISP and Wi-Fi router and use an LTE hotspot. T Mobile provides unlimited data if you're on their network so since my apartment is near one of their towers it works almost as well as cable.

The first space colonies will have no coal power plants. I am ready.

[Paul.]

So he outsources all of his energy usage to other people. Check.

[0x90]

I don't think it inconceivable that through these methods, he may actually have doubled or tripled his net usage.

[Rhywun]

In Los Angeles climate control is leaving the windows open.

Well, lah-dee-dah. Try living through a NYC blackout, asshole.

[0x90]

It's not easy to pick a favorite, but I really like the part where he has all his clothes custom-made in China, and then donates them, unwashed, after having worn each garment for about ten days.

Which we can reasonably surmise, given his obsession with avoiding water usage (i.e. "it takes less water to make my clothes than it would to wash them", along with his other blog), and the statement that he "only" purchases "a few new t shirts and jeans per month." Which, incidentally, is "certainly less than the average consumer."

[lap83]

No this was after I moved to Kansas. The only thing I was afraid of in Minneapolis was hypothermia.

[Crusty Juggler]

I am not sure by whom I was referring, but it seems like they are rarely spoken about.