A.M. Links: GOP Presidential Debate, Obama Says It's Iran Deal or 'Some Sort of War,' Jon Stewart Exits Daily Show

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    The first Republican presidential primary debate is happening tonight at 9pm ET. Stay tuned to Reason.com for coverage and analysis.

  • According to President Barack Obama, either the Iran nuclear deal goes through or the U.S. will face "some sort of war."
  • "A psychological firm paid to evaluate troubled Baltimore police, including a lieutenant charged in the killing of Freddie Gray, is under investigation by the city and has been put on probation by the state police for cutting corners in its mental health screenings of officers."
  • Ferguson, Missouri, is expecting massive protests this weekend to mark Sunday's one year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson.
  • Jon Stewart will host his final episode of The Daily Show tonight.

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Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).

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  1. Stay tuned to Reason.com for coverage and analysis.

    Send in the clowns.

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      Hello.

      “According to President Barack Obama, either the Iran nuclear deal goes through or the U.S. will face “some sort of war.”

      Ha, ha. This guy. As if this was not a likely scenario prior to his vain legacy project.

      1. Sounds like extremist rhetoric to me.

      2. The Shrubber's Woodchipper

        I see another Nobel Peace Prize in his future.

      3. I read that as a threat by Obama.

      4. Hasn’t Iran already claimed that the U.S. has violated the terms of the deal thus making it moot? Or are they simply positioning themselves for more concessions?

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          They will play Obama/Kerry like a fiddle.

          Watch.

          1. Will?

  2. Mazakon

    The first Republican presidential primary debate is happening tonight at 9pm ET. Stay tuned to Reason.com for coverage and analysis.

    Yeah, I have something important to do at that time.

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      I have an early flight tomorrow, and thus cannot consume the amount of alcohol it would take to watch the GOP debate without committing suicide.

      1. That amount of alcohol would surely kill you anyway.

      2. Zeb

        I listened to the NH thing they had the other day and surprisingly just got bored and not suicidal. And Rick Perry kept forgetting words, which was amusing.

  3. Mike M.

    Looks like it’s official: the Clinta Nostra is being investigated by the F.B.I.

    1. Zeb

      Oh, that would be awesome if she ends up indicted.

      As a bonus if that happened Biden would pretty much have to run. Which would at least make the election more entertaining. The Democrats running so far are the dreariest and dullest bunch I’ve seen for a long time (not to mention their horrible policy positions and records).

      1. The Last American Hero

        Bunch is a word for more than one. They aren’t having a primary campaign, they are having a coronation.

        1. Zeb

          I suspect the dynamics will change a bit if she is indicted. Which probably isn’t all that likely, but isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility.

          1. JWatts

            There’s no way the Justice Department will indict. They’ll quietly write a recommendation not to prosecute and then file the FBI’s investigation somewhere in a very large warehouse and forget about it.

            1. AlexInCT

              Actually, I suspect that just like the DOJ did when it investigated itself, they will find Hillary innocent and tell us all the mater is closed. Justice depends a lot more on who you are and what political outlook you favor these days, than on actual justice and law.

      2. John

        She violated federal law in ways that have gotten even important people like Sandy Berger indicted. She committed multiple felonies. The only issue is will the Obama mob decide to take her down.

        1. Zeb

          Oh boy, I hope they do. I’m not holding my breath, but it would be both proper and just and very entertaining.

          1. John

            What she did was truly beyond the pale. All big political appointees leak classified information or mishandle it. And that is generally ignored. But to set up your own private server? That is just unimaginable even by government standards.

            1. Rufus J. Firefly

              It’s uber-arrogance.

              It’s almost as if she wanted to be a parallel President.

              How anyone could support or vote for her at this point is beyond me to comprehend.

              Her turn my ass.

        2. TwB

          But she’s Hillary fucking Clinton, John. The woman is made of teflon. Someone else will fall instead. I swear, that is what will happen. It’s a shame, because Hillary needs to be in an orange pantsuit, but I doubt it actually happens.

          1. Restor-woodchipper-as

            Not only will nothing happen to her, nothing else will happen to anyone at all. They are all part of the government, they are all on the same team. Why would you take down a fellow team member? It just makes the whole team look bad.

            1. General Petraus to the cortesy phone.

              1. Zaytsev

                His real crime was embarrassing Obama.

                1. JWatts

                  And being a target of other administration allies. MoveOn.org, etc

      3. PBR Streetgang

        But if Hillary is out there would be no woman and its a woman’s turn. So….Michelle?

        1. Zeb

          Fiorina?

          I guess she’s not a real woman.

        2. Rhywun

          So….Michelle?

          Sweet merciful crap don’t even joke like that.

          1. Let the Wookie win.

            1. C. Anacreon

              Certainly not unprecedented on the world stage. I can hear Michelle singing “Don’t cry for me, America!” now.

          2. bacon-magic

            Richard Simmons on steroids. “Come on America! Our cities are burning, but we need to get you into shape first!” – spandex-ed el Presidente de Fitbit

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      Good.

    3. Drake

      They are the very definition of a Racketeering Organization.

  4. …for cutting corners in its mental health screenings of officers.

    Sounds like someone should be investigated for failing to screen the screeners.

    1. Number.6

      Those responsible for investigating the people who have just been investigated have been investigated.

      1. Nice.

  5. PM

    Strike the source: RIAA targets BitTorrent protocol to block pirate content

    If you can’t shut down the websites, go for the software.

    uTorrent client creator BitTorrent has been asked to put a stop to the software being used to download and share pirated content.

    BitTorrent is a protocol used to share large amount data across the web. Files are split up and shared amongst users, and piece by piece, built up again on a system gradually.

    Clients, such as the firm BitTorrent’s uTorrent, can be used to load metadata files required to stitch together files, as well as list ‘seed’ and ‘leech’ users who are offering a file or downloading one.

    As a way to share the ever-increasing size of files, the protocol is extremely useful — but has become insolubly linked to copyrighted content theft, a constant battle BitTorrent has endured.

    1. Ragnar Danneskj?ld will not be stopped.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly

        Who is that?

        The Scandinavian Rodney Dangerfield?

        1. He was a philosopher who became a privateer. Alone he defied the might of the United States RIAA and of all the People’s RIAA’s of the world to be, as he famously said, “the friend of the friendless.”

        2. expat

          The Ayn Rand version of the “Dread Pirate Roberts”

        3. Rhywun

          “I d?n’t get n? respekt!”

          1. *opera applause*

    2. Those motherfuckers

    3. Rhywun

      Face it, RIAA (and MPAA) – your business model is dead.

  6. …either the Iran nuclear deal goes through or the U.S. will face “some sort of war.”

    Sounds like a red line situation.

    1. Mike M.

      Why didn’t he just say so in the first place? That settles it.

    2. gaijin

      So The One is threatening to start a war if he doesn’t get his way? Nice.

      1. Mike M.

        It’s the rare false choice-blackmail combo.

        1. This Machine Chips Fascists

          The feds do this to the States all the time. Why do you think the drinking age is 21 everywhere? Sure, they threaten with buck$ instead of bombs, but what’s a POTUS to do when his legacy is on the line?

          1. Rufus J. Firefly

            You can drive a car and join the sicko rat race that make up the highway of madness at 16. Join the military and kill the yellow man at 18. But can’t drink until 21.

            Retarded.

            1. This Machine Chips Fascists

              MADDness!

  7. Lord Humungus

    ‘Weaponized weed’ triggering nude, psychotic rampages in NYC

    NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton warned Tuesday about the rise of what he called “weaponized marijuana” ? synthetic pot known as “K2? or “Spice” on the streets ? which makes users psychotic while giving them superhuman strength.

    The drug, which cops say is prevalent in the homeless community, is a cheap high that also increases body temperature, leading users to strip naked.

    “A better term for it might be weaponized marijuana,” Bratton told reporters at a press conference at police headquarters.

    “A number of individuals, when under the influence of this drug, are relatively impervious to pain and also have significant enhancement of their physical strength,” he said.

    1. PM

      Weaponized weed’ triggering nude, psychotic rampages in NYC

      Good band name AND debut album title.

      1. Seconded.

    2. gaijin

      while giving them superhuman strength.

      You know who else had superhuman strength?

      1. Superhumans?

        1. bacon-magic

          Welcome back. My answer to superhuman: someone who donates a body part so another may live.

        2. Greg Loves His Woodchipper

          Harder than you think, it’s a beautiful thing

      2. Citizen X

        Warty?

        1. Well…yeah.

      3. Mr Lizard

        Your mother?

    3. Lee G

      which makes users psychotic while giving them superhuman strength.

      PCP is back?

      1. Just say Nikki

        PCP went away?

        1. Citizen X

          I didn’t know you liked to get wet.

          1. Medical Physics Guy

            Relax, Dave.

            1. Cyto

              Dave? Dave’s not here…..

          2. Just say Nikki

            Wouldn’t say I like it.

            1. She LOVES IT.

              Wakka wakka.

      2. Rufus J. Firefly

        Who thinks Winthorpe whenever PCP is mentioned?

    4. They’re going to run out of ramped up terms here if they’re not careful.

    5. that’s some weapons-grade bullshit.

      1. Just say Nikki

        I think you mean weaponized bullshit.

        1. *golf clap*

          1. Welcome back LTC. Division surgeon says for you to “drink water, take Motrin, move out, and draw fire.” Light duty, run, ruck, and march at own pace and distance x3 days.
            Airborne!

            1. Apply Army footpowder liberally to the affected area and here’s your shaving profile.

              “Swiss Servator, brach schwanz!”

              Only kidding! Glad to see you back alive, even if it’s dialing in from a bathtub full of ice.

              1. Yeah, how did I end up in this hotel room in Manilla?!

                1. I snort-larfed on all of the above. Will be submitting both of you for AAMs immediately.

    6. Mike M.

      “A number of individuals, when under the influence of this drug, are relatively impervious to pain and also have significant enhancement of their physical strength,” he said.

      Not even Stan Lee is this creative.

    7. The article calls it a “chemical-laced substance.” Everyone knows that chemicals are bad.

    8. REEFER MADNESS, REEFER MADNESS

    9. In League with the Dark Ones

      The police are so desperate for drug-based civil asset forfeiture that they’ve weaponized weed?

  8. Jon Stewart will host his final episode of The Daily Show tonight.

    From hell’s heart, he stabs at Fox News…

    1. John

      Lets just hope they get White House approval for the script in time for taping. It is not easy to get something to the President you know.

      1. Do they record live? I’m sure they’d like to be able to get in some analysis of the debate.

        1. John

          I don’t think so. I think it is a same day as broadcast tape delay. If they recorded live, they would have to air honest edits of the interviews.

        2. Just say Nikki

          They record at like 5 in the afternoon or something.

    2. I think he will be gone for a year, wait for the show’s viewership to drop under the new guy, and then come back in 2017 to criticize the newly elected Republican president.

      1. John

        Probably. And God it will be fun watching that show whither on the vine.

        1. Rhywun

          The new guy looks just as smug and arrogant. The audience should eat it up.

    3. TwB

      So after JS signs off, is he immediately appointed to Obama’s staff? What are the odds, 5 to 1?

      1. He will be a shadow staffer, not an actual one, in order to preserve is veneer of a non-partisan comedian.

        1. JWatts

          So, really no different than he is now.

          Jon Stewart: “My meetings with the President weren’t secret. I told my mother.”

          1. What's that smell?

            All though its been said many times, many ways,….. Jon Stewart’s a dickhole.

  9. Lee G

    Today is the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

    Bomb bomb bomb… bomb bomb Iran Japan

  10. Lord Humungus

    94 charged with disorderly conduct at ‘Beer Olympics’

    “Ridley Park police did not receive a single call in reference to this large, underage party in a twin home on a dead-end street. The offenders themselves alerted police to their actions,” Morris said.

    He credited an “alert and proactive” officer from neighboring Prospect Park Police Department for providing the information leading to the big bust.

    Morris said Prospect Park Officer John Shemeluk learned through social media that the party was dubbed “Beer Olympics,” and it was for students and alumni of the Ridley and Interboro school districts.

  11. Mazakon

    According to President Barack Obama, either the Iran nuclear deal goes through or the U.S. will face “some sort of war.”

    So will Tel Aviv. The miracles of this deal seem to know no bounds.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      He’s working that appeal to emotions and fear hard.

      He know how to play this game like he did with the shut down.

    2. The fear mongering here is just amazing. I can’t figure out why this Iran deal is necessary to prevent war. What was happening prior to these negotiations that made it appear we were on the cusp of war?

      1. Idle Hands

        The best part of the presidents speech was when he accused any critics of the deal as basically caucusing with Iranian hardliners who are also unhappy. It would be like Neville Chamberlain accusing the critics of his policy of appeasement as secret Nazis.

        1. John

          He basically accused his critics of treason. Obama is the smallest most pathetic immoral person ever to hold the office. He is just a horrible human being. The only solace is that after he leaves office he is going to get increasingly bitter and angry. That is how it always works out for assholes like him.

      2. Rufus J. Firefly

        From what I’ve read and heard about ‘the deal’ there’s absolutely little in it that would prevent a war. It’s asinine to believe this with such a regime.

  12. “some sort of war”…like a “kinetic military action” ?

    1. CatoTheChipper

      Or, maybe an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort”, a la John Kerry’s threat to pinprick Syria.

    2. Swissie! Welcome back!

      How did it go?

      1. Went well…I am tired beyond description but ok. Switching to oral meds from Mr. Pain Switch…so we will see how that works out. I saw a picture of the polycystic kidney they pulled out of my buddy….*shudders* it looked like a baby shuggoth.

        I think Uncle Warty’s Deadlift You Fanned Fool program helped a lot. I was up and walking so fast the cute nurse called me a rockstar.

        1. Damn-ed Fool….stupid phone.

        2. Warty

          Excellent. I’m glad to hear it.

          1. Once I get cleared to lift again, I may be soliciting advice from you!

        3. Stay ahead on your pain meds, don’t wait until you are hurting.

          1. No kidding…I waited a bit long yesterday evening….I shan’t be making that mistake again.

        4. Happy to hear you’re doing well!

    3. DEG

      I am happy to see that you are back and posting!

  13. Bee Tagger

    has been put on probation by the state police for cutting corners in its mental health screenings of officers.

    Oh good, we’re focusing on the right thing.

    1. The Shrubber's Woodchipper

      ‘It’s not our fault our officers are psychotic. Procedures were followed.’

  14. John

    A divided Fourth Circuit has ruled, in United States v. Graham, that “the government conducts a search under the Fourth Amendment when it obtains and inspects a cell phone user’s historical [cell-site location information] for an extended period of time” and that obtaining such records requires a warrant.

    Tulpa has a sad.

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      Unfortunately, when this case gets to SCOTUS, Roberts will say that it’s just a tax on the cell phone user.

    2. In League with the Dark Ones

      But what is “an extended period of time”?

  15. Lord Humungus

    Lamp post destroyed by urine falls in street, just misses driver

    The three-story-tall lamp post at Pine and Taylor streets snapped around 6:30 Monday and landed on a nearby car, almost crushing the driver. No one was injured.

    A perfect storm of conditions rusted out the base of the pole, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission officials say, and caused it to fall. At the time, the lamp post, which was already old, was damaged by urine and weighed down by an oversized banner.

    “We believe there was some contribution of dog or human urine on the base of the pole,” PUC spokesman Tyrone Jue said. “It has actually been an issue for us in the past. We encourage people and dogs alike to do their business in other places, like a proper restroom or one of our fire hydrants, which are stronger and made out of cast iron.”

    1. Elspeth Flashman

      So you’re asking me to pee on a hydrant?

    2. If someone went to Mr. Lebowski for money to replace the lamp post:

      “I just want to understand this sir, every time a rug lamp post is micturated upon in this fair city, I have to compensate the person?”

      1. Citizen X

        “Do you have a job, sir?”

    3. 0x90

      Don’t whiz on the electric fence…

  16. Bee Tagger

    According to President Barack Obama, either the Iran nuclear deal goes through or the U.S. will face “some sort of war.”

    War, what is it good for? Some sort of nothin’!

    1. Say it again!

      1. Citizen X

        Good God, y’all.

  17. Lord Humungus

    Study: More Sex Could Make You Less Happy

    When it comes to sex and happiness, it’s about quality, not quantity, according to a new study. In fact, too much sex can actually make you less happy.

    Researchers at Carenegie Mellon University wanted to see if there was a “positive correlation between sexual frequency and happiness.”

    What they found was that happy people are happy by nature ? whether they are having frequent sex, or not. In fact, the study found for some couples frequent intercourse actually decreased happiness and lowered their sexual desire and enjoyment.

    STEVE SMITH have a sad.

    1. Zeb

      I imagine if you plotted it it would be something like some sort of 3D Laffer curve.

    2. Not buying it.

      1. Careless

        Because it’s BS as reported. What they found was that if they told people to have more sex than they wanted to have, some of them were unhappy with that.

        1. I didn’t think you could be serious, but you are.

          The researchers recruited 64 married, heterosexual couples and told half of them to double the frequency of sexual intercourse for 90 days. The other group went about their lives as usual.
          In their daily journals, the group that increased the frequency of sex reported a decrease in happiness and sexual pleasure. Both men and women said the “additional intercourse wasn’t much fun.”

          Hey guys – you should have twice as much sex as either of you actually want to have and you should do this within the confines of a scientific study. What’s that? The forced science sex wasn’t particularly enjoyable?

          HAVING MORE SEX MAKES YOU LESS HAPPY

          1. Lead researcher George Loewenstein told the New York Times, “It seems that if you’re having sex for a reason other than because you like and want sex,” you may undermine the quality of that sex and your resulting mood.

            If you’re having sex you don’t actually want it doesn’t make you happier. Science.

            1. Citizen X

              Coercion makes people unhappy? Who knew?

              1. Certified Public Asshat

                Careful, we don’t receive government funding to study such things, so we do not know for sure.

            2. straffinrun

              They love fucking science.

              1. *narrows gaze*

                1. straffinrun

                  I wish to appeal the *narrow gaze* on that one. Welcome back, though.

            3. Restor-woodchipper-as

              I can attest to this. My ex and I had ‘baby-sex’ – in other words, we wanted kids so we had to have sex at certain times, and then had to have a lot of it. It sounds stupid but it took all the fun out of it. It ruined our sex life for a long while.

              1. Rhywun

                Stupid question: does that really increase your chances any? Doing it randomly seems to work quite well already.

              2. Elspeth Flashman

                We had lots of baby sex too, for a few years. I wouldn’t say it ruined anything (my sex drive is pretty high as is) but it took some of the fun out of it. That and the stress of fertility, etc.

            4. Rasilio

              Wait, so if they didn’t want it does that mean the scientists raped the women in those relationships?

              * we all know men always want it and therefore can’t be raped

    3. Idle Hands

      All this proves is too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is hardly enough. Also it might not effect Steve Smith as it seems to applies to having frequent sex with only one partner, not frequent with strange holes.

    4. Medical Physics Guy

      In fact, too much sex can actually make you less happy. […]

      It’s a CORRELATION *bangs head on table*

  18. The Late P Brooks

    “or some sort of war.” As if we don’t have that right now.

    President False Choice strikes again.

    1. Rhywun

      I think it is remarkable that a sitting president is threatening the American people with a war like this.

      “Pass my radical green agenda or I will nuke your town.”

  19. John

    Vanity Fair writes what may be the most nauseating paragraph written this century.

    Except among members of right-wing media, the idea of making Chelsea Clinton uncomfortable feels wrong. Our national instinct is to protect and revere her?to treat her more like royal progeny than an adult who has taken on a position of global consequence. The coddling is not simply because she’s the daughter of two political superstars who are loved and feared and protected by their own omert??although that’s certainly part of it. It’s also because we witnessed the public humiliation she went through as a teenager by virtue of being President Clinton’s daughter, and because, in spite of all that, she appears to have emerged as a decent, serious young woman. The resilience was moving. As Anne Hubert, a friend from Stanford and now a Viacom executive, puts it, “People are rooting for Chelsea. They want her to be doing well.”

    http://www.vanityfair.com/news…..t-daughter

    1. Lee G

      an adult who has taken on a position of global consequence

      Yes, Chelsea’s contributions to humanity have been astounding and humbling to the rest of us mere mortals.

      1. John

        How does anyone over the age of 12 and who doesn’t have a gun to their heads write that shit with a straight face? Are they really that mentally stunted that they believe that shit?

        1. Lee G

          Political idolatry isn’t new unfortunately

          1. John

            No its not. But it also isn’t always or maybe ever this pathetic.

            1. It also normally isn’t directed towards the do nothing relatives of the political idol. You didn’t see people genuflecting before the altar of Roger Clinton.

              1. John

                Exactly. Idiot sons and daughters are not generally admired.

              2. Citizen X

                Hey, i pour out a can of Schlitz nightly for RC.

                1. Why, thank you, Citizen.

              3. Idle Hands

                Uh, Billy Carter says hello.

                1. Billy Carter did not get fawning articles like that.

                  1. Idle Hands

                    I was being facetious.

        2. Just say Nikki

          Well, the writer admits he/she does have a gun to his/her head.

          she’s the daughter of two political superstars who are loved and feared and protected by their own omert?

          1. John

            So when Hillary finally crashes and burns, will the long knives finally come out for Chelsea? Can we dream?

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      Oh, Vanity Fair you weirdos.

    3. Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?

      Because Janet Reno is her father.

      1. John

        Best political joke ever!!

      2. TwB

        I almost spit out water all over my desk. Thank you.

      3. Old Man With Candy

        What do you get when you cross a crooked lawyer and a crooked politician?

        Chelsea.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Free-form punchlines:

          Why did Chelsea cross the road?

          1. Old Man With Candy

            To get the $85,000 check for her speech.

          2. straffinrun

            It was the off ramp to “serfdom”?

          3. JWatts

            “Why did Chelsea cross the road?”

            I’ve got know idea, but I’m sure it was a fairly short limo ride.

      4. You know, it hurts when I laugh…ow.

    4. Michael

      It’s also because we witnessed the public humiliation she went through as a teenager by virtue of being President Clinton’s daughter…

      It’s almost as if her father’s behavior may have had something to do with it.

    5. Chelsea Hubbell is super serial

    6. Troy muy grande boner

      This sound like something a stalker would write.

  20. Alright people, I paid $8 for airline WiFi so make it good today.

    1. Lee G

      No you make it good. We want you to earn your Florida moniker by conducting yourself in a manner appropriate to your swamp trailer heritage. If you’re not mentioned on CNN by 10:30am, consider yourself a disgrace to Florida Men everywhere.

      1. Jordan

        Best start streaming pr0n at full volume. And not that pussy Bangbros shit. I’m talking tentacles, feces, and bukkake.

        1. Great, now I have that song “a few of my favorite things” stuck in my head.

        2. Lee G

          Snorting some lines on the fold-out tray while pulling out a python from his carry-on

      2. I’m on my way to Vegas. Stay tuned.

        1. Drake

          “A Florida Man in Las Vegas…”

          Awesome start to a headline.

          1. This Machine Chips Fascists

            “The night was sultry…”

            1. Lee G

              You always bring me the unsalted nuts….

      3. expat

        Seems he made Fox News. Close enough?

        http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015…..e-cruiser/

    2. What’s the deal with airline peanuts?

      1. What’s the deal with airline wifi? It keeps closing the comments when I comment.

      2. Private Chipperbot

        Delta? The medallion upgrades now include free booze for the flight in the economy seats. Be all you can be, Florida Man.

        1. SW. It sucks but it was cheap. More money for hookers & blow.

          1. I was surprised by how easy to obtain both of these things are in Vegas. You step onto the strip, you don’t necessarily know anyone and escort service fliers are up everywhere and dudes on the street would literally say to me “looking for blow? I know a guy”. I didn’t partake of either, but I felt good knowing that I could.

            1. In League with the Dark Ones

              I didn’t see that when I’ve been in Vegas.

              But then, I could go to a brothel and the hookers would disappear.

        2. Jordan

          Delta has those delicious speculoos cookies. On the downside, their employees constantly harass you to sign up for their credit card in the airport.

          1. Restor-woodchipper-as

            Yes, those cookies are yummy! I always ask for more.

    3. Rufus J. Firefly

      We crumble under pressure.

      1. *stares expectantly at the firefly*

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Your best hope is if Agile shows up.

          But I think he’s sleeping.

          1. Citizen X

            He crashed pretty hard and has been unconscious since Tuesday afternoon. Somebody should probably check on him.

  21. Mazakon

    Think Progress: We Are Cecil the Lion, the Koch Brothers are the Dentist

    The anti-science, pro-pollution Kochs spend tens of millions of dollars hiring very expensive hunting guides to help lure these species from their protected areas. These guides include the Tea Party and leading climate science deniers and conservative politicians.

    1. John

      If they honestly believe that it is a life and death struggle, then aren’t they implicitly advocating for the death of the Kochs?

      1. Certified Public Asshat

        Of course.

    2. Juvenile Bluster

      If this ends with the Think Progress writer being shot and his pelt displayed, I’m ok with this.

      (Eliminationist rhetoric or true threat? Take your pick!)

    3. PM

      The only thing more embarrassing than the analogy is the fact they’re a full week behind the outrage brigade. That’s a thousand years in internet time. I thought the left was supposed to be good at the internet?

    4. Rufus J. Firefly

      The title is frightening. I’m too scared to read the article.

      “Jim Wright ? Brighton, Michigan
      Is this really how stupid the writers have become on here?”

      There’s hope.

    5. Idle Hands

      Serious question can anyone think of a family that his been more randomly maligned in the history of the United States than the Kochs? I mean it’s completely random and it seems to come out of nowhere. It’s gotten to the point where you have had a sitting Senate majority leader disparage them on the floor of the house. Their crime seems to be running a successful business and they also are some of the most philanthropic people on the planet, or at least the top 1% if you will. When and where did these attacks originate? It just seems to have come out of nowhere.

      1. The Last American Hero

        I’m pretty sure guys like JP Morgan and the Rockerfeller family took a few lumps back in the day.

        1. John

          They were at least incredibly important and historic figures. The Kochs are just ordinary rich guys. The obsession with the Kochs is no different than the Nationalist French obsession with Dreyfus.,

          1. Medical Physics Guy

            I have never read Alinsky but it strikes me as that type of tactic. Put a face on the enemy or something.

            1. This Machine Chips Fascists

              Paging Emmanuel Goldstein

        2. The Rockerfeller family is still apparently behind their share of conspiracies from what I can see on the internet.

        3. Private Chipperbot

          Benedict Arnold?

      2. Zeb

        I’ve never been able to figure that out either. I’m trying to think of when it started.

        1. John

          Name a single super rich person who is overtly libertarian or right wing and willing to put their money behind such causes other than the Kochs? I can’t think of one. The reason why the left has gone so insane about the Kochs is they want to make it clear to any other rich person thinking about putting their money into right wing causes to know that doing that means being vilified and slandered.

          1. Zeb

            Yeah, I’m sure that describes it pretty well. It probably helps that the Kochs aren’t terribly high profile personalities and their companies aren’t super well known. That way people can ignorantly project everything they hate about the right onto them, despite their being pretty liberal on many social issues.

          2. CatoTheChipper

            Frederick Smith, founder of FedEx, is one.

          3. PM

            Name a single super rich person who is overtly libertarian or right wing and willing to put their money behind such causes other than the Kochs?

            Not quite to the extent of the Kochs, but Peter Thiel has been known to chip in.

          4. Rufus J. Firefly

            The really bizarre thing is Soros has been far more active politically for the left.

            1. PM

              That’s more or less the reason the Kochs exist as an issue. The right was hammering the shit out of Soros as a Bond villain (which isn’t terribly inaccurate), and the left needed a similar foil with which to tu quoque the right. The fact that they’re in the chemical industry is icing on the cake.

          5. Old Man With Candy

            Jeff Bezos.

            1. John

              Bezos owns a leftwing newspaper. Sorry but allowing the Volkh guys to preach to the unconverted doesn’t count for much.

              1. Old Man With Candy

                Not to mention hiring Balko, which is not exactly chopped liver. And donating large sums to pro-gay-marriage efforts, which I know makes your anus twitch.

          6. Old Man With Candy

            John Mackey.

          7. Number.6

            I’m thinking that if we were having this conversation 15 years ago, you’d have Richard Dennis, who was a commodity trader and very vocally anti-War on Drugs, but he was a more private individual who wasn’t so clearly philanthropic, but he was certainly a 1%-er for at least a while.

            The Kochs simply fit a convenient profile.
            * Koch Industries based in ‘flyover country’ and are therefore uneducated knuckledraggers
            * Extract, manufacture or sell ‘old school’ products that in leftyworld would be sold by a noble working man. They are therefore destroying American Small Businesses
            * Endow foundations and causes just like those monocle-wearing, mustachioed robber barons that Howrd Zinn writes so eloquently about
            * They run a *privately owned* empire, which by its very nature, keeps the snouts of ‘the noble poor’ out of the trough (That’s also why Cargill is hated, but not as much, because the senior management at Cargill is less visible)
            * Alinsky Rule 12
            * Their businesses are explicitly at odds with green activism and ‘social justice’ (the latter because they exploited natural resources in Venezuela, and the Carribean – which I guess makes them look like Dr. No)

            The Kochs are a unifying locus for all the disparate victim groups that the left needs to keep unified. They’re Goldstein incarnate, and if they didn’t exist, the left would have to have invented them.

          8. In League with the Dark Ones

            John Schnatter

          9. In League with the Dark Ones

            Tom Monaghan

        2. Idle Hands

          At this point I think it’s the most breathtakingly subversive, brilliant and daring marketing scheme ever undertaken. All the sudden I see Koch Industry commercials and advertisements everywhere.

        3. Rhywun

          I had never heard of them a couple years ago – then suddenly they were the left’s worst nightmare. Someone got that ball rolling.

          1. Citizen X

            When lefties start yellin’ bout the Kochs, i like pointing out that the Kochs also have pushed for marriage equality and sentencing reform, and fund pretty much all of PBS.

      3. CatoTheChipper

        It’s straight out of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. It’s Rule #12:

        RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

        1. ant1sthenes

          It would be interesting to see a comparison between alinsky’s tactics and cult tactics.

        2. Lee G

          In other words, Alinsky’s tactics are perfect for intellectually bankrupt, amoral assholes.

        3. Rhywun

          Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.

          It does? Maybe in a less-free society but I don’t see the Koch’s hurting all that much.

      4. When and where did these attacks originate?

        It’s basically “2 minutes’ hate”.

        That’s what it is.

    6. The Last American Hero

      So they’re a big dumb animal that is lured by bait from the Tea Party to get slaughtered in the court of public opinion?

      They are a semi-domisticated predator that would gladly eat the people that love it for lunch?

      They are amongst the last of a dying breed, genetically incompatible with the modern world and will soon be extinct or only seen in a zoo/museum?

      I’m not sure what the hell this metaphor is supposed to mean.

    7. Careless

      Damn, almost made me spit out my coffee.

    8. What incredible a$$holes.

      Charles Koch is a pacifist who says that growth is not in the production of bombs, and that GDP counts poison gas the same as penicillin.

      Yet, these scoundrels demonize him.

      It’s more like Koch is Cecil, and ThinkProgress is the dentist.

    9. That’s some powerful derp.

    10. Don Mynack

      Someone was paid to write that? Oh, it’s ThinkProgress. Probably not.

    11. In League with the Dark Ones

      So Think Progress is anti-gay, pro-Drug War, pro-police militarization, and pro-incarceration?

  22. Lord Humungus

    Americans say racism is a bigger problem today than at any point in the past 20 years

    The Pew numbers reflect some of this. Americans are divided on the extent of the racism problem in this country. 73 percent of blacks call it a big problem, compared to 44 percent of whites. Democrats (61 percent) are also considerably more likely to see a major problem than Republicans (41 percent).

    Of course, Pew notes that in 2010 only 17 percent of Republicans called racism a big problem. After a brief flirtation with the notion of a “post-racial” society after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Americans of all stripes are coming back to the realization that racism is a problem with roots that go far deeper than laws that explicitly discriminate. As a country we carry racial baggage that makes its weight felt everywhere from our Google searches to our political discourse.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      Well, it’s clear what needs to be done: War on Whites!

      1. Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker

        There’s been a war of whites in academia, and progressive politics for decades now. Hell there was even an article linked here a few days ago about a college professor denying that the Irish were ever discriminated against.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Yeah, I saw that.

        2. The Irish were at first the preferred slave of English colonies. Eventually, Irish women were being forcefully bred with African slaves “to create a more robust breed suitable to the climate of the West Indies”.

          Just kidding, all the centuries of anti-Irish racism were a myth. In fact, all the history of racism against any white population is a myth. In fact, all of history where non-whites were being enslaved by non-whites is a myth, only Europeans ever enslaved people. Science. Fact.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly

            It’s all part of the degenerate ‘whites can’t be discriminated against’ narrative.

            1. Arizona_Guy

              http://thefreethoughtproject.c…..e-talking/

              I read that article the other day. In the comments, a white woman mentioned a native man assaulting her.

              Someone’s reply: “Poor [name] had her privilege shaken”

    2. John

      It is almost like electing a black President who built his coalition on dividing the country along racial lines was a bad idea or something.

      1. PM

        Post-racial America is everything we dreamed it could be.

        1. Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker

          Post-melting pot America. I swear it’s almost like people are encouraged to de-assimilate nowadays. Rediscover your roots and find away to blame all your problems on whitey.

          1. Lord Humungus

            but I like being white! #racistwhiteteabaggerlibertarianhnrcommentator

            1. but I like being white!

              That’s such a terrible thing to say. Any form of contentment or pride in European ancestry is bad. Any kind of blackness or browness is to be celebrated as well as preferred for job and school applications. Fuck they deserve their own month, even if it’s the short one.

              But you sir, are the racist.

              1. Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker

                Sadly you’re not exaggerating this sort of attitude exists, and is common in academia. Frankly I don’t understand it, and I find it quite creepy.

                1. It’s not just common in academia, it’s common everywhere. Whites who don’t properly prostrate themselves in guilt are shunned and castigated as blasphemers against the faith of Anti-Racism (Anti-Whitism).

              2. Just Jason

                Hi folks–been lurking for a while and thought I’d share something. I went to HS in the 90s in San Jose, CA. I, a white male devil with blue eyes, was in the minority in school. There were many clubs that were basically “No Whites Allowed Clubs” like the Hispanic Cultures Club (or whatever the hell they called it), some student La Raza Club, an African American Club, Vietnamese Club, etc. While we weren’t technically barred from entry, it became clear quickly that they didn’t want white people there. So a few students tried to make a “European Cultures Club,” and all hell broke loose. They were calling us Nazis in the school newspaper with the approval of the administrators. Yes, we were racists simply by either wanting to participate or, when that was not going to happen, having our own club. I saw even more of it in college. I was told by teachers that I was racist simply because I was white as if you can be born “racist.” I had a social studies teacher in 10th grade talk about nothing but how evil and stupid white people are. He would give lectures on racism and colonialism and everyone in the class would be looking at me, the one white guy there like, “well, what do you have to say for yourself, fucker?!?!?!”

                1. So a few students tried to make a “European Cultures Club,” and all hell broke loose. They were calling us Nazis in the school newspaper with the approval of the administrators.

                  Well of course. Your race is the worst race ever and though many “anti-racists” won’t admit it, they’d be happy to see all the white people disappear or at the very least, grind them under the boot of the multicultural state. That is of course, until they experience Zimbabwe-like economic calamity when there are no more whites to invest their human capital into the production of wealth. Unfortunately for them, their anti-white ideology prevents them from actually seeing the absolutely enormous contribution that white male heterosexuals have contributed to the well-being of mankind historically and up to the present day.

                  1. Just Jason

                    And what’s funny is, they don’t get that they are manufacturing their own enemies. I mean, not like “enemy” enemy (at least, not in my case), but just someone who is no longer as sympathetic. I never had a problem with other people when I was younger, but once I got into high school and was treated like I was subhuman, and when it continued in college, and when it still happened occasionally in the army, and when it happens in subtle ways in the workplace, I have to say that it has changed my views a little. If I wasn’t hostile before, I was at least a little bit after all of that. Oh, but I’m the bad guy, so…

                    I mean, I’m just crazy to make deals, right? I don’t want to hate on anyone, but it’s kinda hard when someone hates you first.

                    I don’t know. They literally drew a swastika with our caricatures in the school newspaper, and nothing else happened.

                    And if they had bothered to get to know me, they’d know I’m cool as shit. Oh, but no. It was always, “fuck you, white boy.”

                    K. Have fun with that. Whatever.

                  2. In League with the Dark Ones

                    Your race is the worst race ever and though many “anti-racists” won’t admit it, they’d be happy to see all the white people disappear or at the very least, grind them under the boot of the multicultural state.

                    Have you been to tumblr?

            2. Schei?e Schau

              Minor Threat lyrics come to mind…

              GUILTY OF BEING WHITE!

              1. I’ve only served
                19 33 years of my time!

    3. Idle Hands

      Call me when people throw bananas on a football field or you know when the top cop in the US isn’t a black women and her boss isn’t black man.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly

        I stand by my assertion that European racism is far worse than American racism.

        And Canada has its own racist past that still exists.

        Remember. America, as the biggest name in the family, is the most scrutinized nation on the planet. It’s an open book and lets itself be transparent for all to see.

        There’s sort of a grotesque, as a result, ‘See? Those Americans aren’t as civilized as we are’ even though there’s shit on their own faces.

        It’s a weirdism.

        Lucky for Europe and Canada, eh?

        1. Every time people claim America is uniquely racist or sexist, I like to point out that a) Europe is probably a more racist continent than the United States and b) in America we have serial rapists who are actors, like Bill Cosby. In Europe, they have serial rapists who are managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

          1. a) Europe is probably a more racist continent than the United States

            Based on personal anecdotal experience, I think Europe IS more racist.

            I am a brown-skinned immigrant and I have _always_ felt welcome in America.

            1. There is a Southern State that allowed segregation 50 years ago which now has a black senator and an Indian-American governor.

              Racism does not seem to be a major issue in America when that can happen.

              I also think a lot of black Americans only know about their personal experiences and don’t really know much about the rest of the world. This isn’t because they’re black, it’s because they’re Americans and we’ve never been a country where most people paid attention to the rest of the world.

              As a result, black people who say “Oh, America is super racist!” don’t generally compare it to other countries. If they did, they’d see America’s supposed racism is virtually nonexistent if you compare it to 80% of the world, and isn’t even particularly pronounced when compared to Europe.

              It’s all relative and the failure of Americans to compare themselves accurately to the rest of the world gives us a skewed view of things.

              1. And if you expand that to include the private sector, you have people like Ursula Burns (Xerox), Ken Chenault (American Express), Jerry Yang (Yahoo), Vinod Khosla (Sun), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), etc. succeeding in life.

                1. Well Asians, which I would include Indians in that, are honorary whites. They’re successful, educated and driven and since we all know that those are characteristics of a person saturated with white privilege.

                  1. Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker

                    Honorary whites AKA assimilated. Just like the Irish, but don’t worry I’m sure there are Progressives busy trying to undo all that. Embrace your victimhood.

            2. LoneWaco

              I think America is the most racist place on Earth except for everywhere else.

          2. CatoTheChipper

            errrr, Bill Clinton, who was actually President.

        2. I stand by my assertion that European racism is far worse than American racism.

          Absolutely. Having traveled far and wide, I don’t think there is any population on Earth that is more racially sensitive than Americans. It’s the product of entire generations of children being indoctrinated with collective guilt or collective victimhood. The social signalling regarding anti-racism in this country could be an entire academic field of study if only it weren’t so racist to acknowledge it as social signalling. That and the damn Africana-Latina Transgender Studies department gets all our grant money…

          1. Ein Barde und ein Holzhacker

            I think being indoctrinated with collective guilt or collective victimhood, is whats going to give racism a huge comeback in this country. I mean it’s got to fuck up a kid when they’re raised on that shit right?

            America was best off racially when we just didn’t give a shit about it, now I feel like the pendulum has swung to far, and we’re more obsessed with it then ever.

            1. Raising children on multiculturalism is a recipe for disaster. We’re taught all these mutually exclusive concepts about race and culture and somehow this is supposed to make us all better off. We are supposed to be color blind, but we’re also supposed to acknowledge the victim class and hate the oppressor class. We’re supposed to acknowledge that all races are equal, but some races need preferential treatment. We’re supposed to believe that everyone’s culture is equal, but quite clearly some cultural norms and practices produce better outcomes than others. And when they don’t produce equal outcomes, we must believe that there is some kind of national conspiracy of white people causing it.

              But this is par for the leftist course, logical inconsistency meets wishful thinking.

              1. Hyperbolical (wadair)

                To me, what you’ve described is Progressivism. It seems chock full of contradictions and lies. For example, most progressive policies produce the opposite effect of what is proposed. And most progressive claims mean the opposite of what they say.

            2. Once you make collective guilt/victimhood the currency of privilege and power, then everyone is going to be looking for a taste.

              Since collective guilt/victimhood about race is racism, I would say, yes, we have been on a trajectory to more racism for some time.

              1. Just not the kind that progressives are comfortable admitting actually exists. Thus they invent theories of race like that “you cannot defintionally be racist against white people because white people historically derp derp derp…”

    4. Mike M.

      Bitter clinging ratfucking teabaggers to blame.

  23. Lord Humungus

    Jonah Goldberg: Taxpayers Who Find Abortion Repellent Shouldn’t Be Forced to Subsidize It

    Yes, yes, we’ve all heard that no federal dollars go to Planned Parenthood for abortions. But this is an accounting fiction drafted to do the work of a moral distinction. If the federal government were funding churches or businesses that opposed gay marriage ? or sold Confederate flags ? it’s doubtful liberal critics would credit such defenses.

    Defunding Planned Parenthood is not the same as repealing the right to abortion. Indeed, the point here isn’t to say that all abortions are indefensible. Rather, it’s that people who think they are indefensible shouldn’t be compelled to pay for them.

    1. Jordan

      Nor should taxpayers who don’t find abortion repellent.

      1. straffinrun

        I want some abortion repellent? Does it come in lotion or spray can?

        1. Vaginal suppository

          1. straffinrun

            Oh, there. Let me just reach up and…. Can I get a hand?

            1. *confused look*
              …
              *starts clapping*

            2. How about a narrowed gaze instead?

      2. Rhywun

        Nor should taxpayers who don’t find abortion repellent.

        ^ This. I have no opinion on abortion but I sure as hell don’t want to pay for them.

    2. John

      All it takes is a single rider from Congress. And Conservatives should be going after any corporation that donates to them. It would not be that hard to bankrupt them. Doing so would deprive the prog political machine of millions of dollars and give some of the worst people in America a very big sad. There really isn’t a downside here.

      1. The Last American Hero

        War on the Weminz worked pretty well in 2012 with Mittens and his binder full of women.

        I don’t think enticing Team Blue to declare War on the Weminz II the Electric Bugaloo would go so great in 2016 when the Team Blue candidate’s primary selling point is that she has a vagina.

        1. John

          A lot of women are not pro choice. And the ones who are vote Democrat anyway. I don’t think the war on womenz is going to play again in 16. It is not clear that it played very well in 12. Romney won the white vote and even white and independent women. The Democratic coalition is based on minorities and stupid white people. War on womenz is not likely to get the turnout they need.

          1. Zeb

            I don’t think war on wimmens changes anyone’s vote, but from talking to people in 2012, i got the impression that it did work to get people to vote who might not have.

            1. John

              And I bet most of those people realize it was a lie and that Romney wasn’t like that. I think they shot a lot of credibility over that.

              1. Zeb

                I hope so. They know damn well that Romney is very moderate. But a lot remain convinced that if any Republican gets elected the sky will fall.

              2. It wasn’t a lie. Romney himself admitted to keeping binders full of women locked up in his office.

            2. Yep, it’s not about changing minds, it’s about mobilizing the base. You think Lena Dunham can swing undecided voters? She was used to make sure people who already think like her remember to vote.

      2. CatoTheChipper

        Republicans couldn’t even manage to cut the National Endowment for the Arts after its grants for pornographic and sacrilegious art became notorious. This was after they had won majorities in House and Senate for first time in 40 years.

        The GOP is utterly useless to actually do the sort of things that they promise to limited-government conservatives and libertarians. Even with solid GOP majorities, the Federal Register grows, spending grows, and deficits grow.

        1. Drake

          Couldn’t, wouldn’t, won’t cut spending.

          Should be the Republican motto.

        2. John

          You can’t do anything without a veto proof majority. Unless democrats are willing to turn on Obama, what do you propose they do?

          1. Lee G

            If they were to eliminate actual programs, what would they run against? They just want their campaign issues, they’re not (for the most part) interested in actual cuts. McConnell made that clear with the Ex-Im Bank.

          2. You can’t do anything without a veto proof majority.

            You can’t do anything easily without a veto-proof majority.

            If you are smart enough, and mean enough, you can do a lot.

            TweedlemMitch and TweedleBoner go out of their way to make sure Obama’s proposals pass over the objections of the Republican caucus, and enthusiastically participate in emasculating any opposition. With that kind of leadership, the Repubs could have every single seat in Congress and not accomplish a fucking thing.

        3. Zaytsev

          We will know they are serious when they repeal baseline budgeting.

          Until then they’re full of shit.

          1. Mike M.

            The problem is that the left has figured out that all-or-nothing scorched earth politics works in their favor, because they have the scum in the media on their side. Therefore, there’s no incentive left for them to compromise on anything.

            All the democrats have to do is say “give us everything we want or we’re shutting the entire government down”. And the republicans simply can’t win that battle.

    3. Can we use this line of argument for everything the government uses with tax dollars?

      1. The Last American Hero

        Yes, but all we’d have is a good, but not great military and some fucking awesome national parks. Hey, you might be on to something.

      2. Just say Nikki

        No, only the controversial ones. lolol

      3. Warty

        I’ve long thought that on your tax return you should be able to apportion which programs your tax money goes to. If you’re going to have half your income stolen, it would be nice if it doesn’t go to things that you find morally abhorrent.

        1. Idle Hands

          Who would fund the research at area 51?

          1. Idle Hands

            The animal crossbreeding and monkey masturbating studies I’m okay with.

          2. Citizen X

            I think it’s high time SOMEBODY funded my attempts to prove the myth of the male orgasm.

        2. Idle Hands

          I find taxation immoral so I would probably not fund the IRS.

        3. Idle Hands

          I find taxation immoral so I would probably not fund the IRS.

          1. Idle Hands

            or the squirrels.

        4. Rufus J. Firefly

          I proposed this notion in a poli-sci class back in the early 90s.

          I swear, people musta had heat-attacks in class it was so silent after I made the comment.

        5. PM

          Call it the affirmative consent of the governed.

  24. Lord Humungus

    Japan Heads Toward Nuclear Unknown With Post-Fukushima Restarts

    Japan is about to do something that’s never been done before: Restart a fleet of mothballed nuclear reactors.

    The first reactor to meet new safety standards could come online as early as next week. Japan is reviving its nuclear industry four years after all its plants were shut for safety checks following the earthquake and tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima Dai-Ichi station north of Tokyo, causing radiation leaks that forced the evacuation of 160,000 people.

    Mothballed reactors have been turned back on in other parts of the world, though not on this scale — 25 of Japan’s 43 reactors have applied for restart permits. One lesson learned elsewhere is that the process rarely goes smoothly. Of 14 reactors that resumed operations after four years offline, all had emergency shutdowns and technical failures, according to data from the World Nuclear Association, an industry group.

    1. They should just live in the dark. Only 25 years ago Japs were Stone Age people.

  25. Careless

    The first Republican presidential primary debate is happening tonight at 9pm ET. Stay tuned to Reason.com for coverage and analysis.

    Fuck no, I won’t.

    1. I have a device called a time lens which allows me to see into the future. Here is what it showed for the upcoming debate:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wstIBq2H0z8

      1. Careless

        Needs more feces throwing

        1. Private Chipperbot

          I just posted not enough feces, but my internet shit at the same time. Well played.

  26. Over at Bishop Hill, Andrew Monford has analyzed the FOIA disclosure that Greenpeace has been trumpeting as proof of the negative impact of ‘climate change deniers’ and demonstrates that it paints the green movement’s captive public servants in a terrible light.

    they tell ministers that the parliamentary questions were “an attempt to undermine the general recognition by the scientific community that the rise in global surface temperatures over the last century is significant”. So while the statistics showed that the warming was not significant, there was a “general recognition” among scientists that it was. And they must have been telling ministers this in the full knowledge that the “simple linear model” is recognised by statisticians on all sides as being wholly inadequate therefore seems wholly culpable. This is astonishingly culpable.

    I think we can see that DECC officials were unconcerned about the science. What actually concerned them was that an honest response might give “ammunition to the sceptics” (as someone once said). Seen in this light, what Greenpeace has revealed is as damning an indictment of the integrity of DECC officials as you could ever hope to find.

    1. John

      It is long past time to end this nonsense. The entire thing is a hoax and should be dismissed from public debate.

      1. Zaytsev

        Dennniiiiiiieeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzz

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      They’ve had their kick at the can. This shit has to stop.

  27. Lord Humungus

    Salon:

    Bernie Sanders is no Barack Obama: Even if he wins Iowa & New Hampshire, he’s unlikely to dethrone Clinton
    The Sanders surge is all the rage following another neck-and-neck poll. Let’s keep things in perspective here

    Of course, it’s not unprecedented for a challenger to close gaps of 13 or 28 points, so it would be foolish to dismiss Sanders’ chances of pulling off upsets in New Hampshire or Iowa. Both states place a premium on retail politicking, and shoe-leather campaigning in the two states has vaulted candidates like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, John Kerry and John McCain from also-rans to front-runners. What’s more, both states’ Democratic electorates are heavily receptive to the strongly progressive message conveyed by Sanders, who has galvanized activists by decrying income inequality and corporate influence. The two states are also very white ? Iowa is 92.5 percent white, and New Hampshire is 94 percent white ? and white liberals are the core of Sanders’ base.

    1. Careless

      Sanders v Trump, the closest we’ll come to SMOD

    2. John

      Hillary’s plan is to delay any indictment until after the election and get Trump to run as a third party allowing her to win with the 45% that is likely her ceiling. She has no chance in a two way election against even the worst Republican Candidate and I think she knows it.

  28. Jordan

    Both morning radio shows I normally listen to were discussing the theater shooting in Tennessee this morning. It really pissed me off because both were acting like it’s the end of the world and WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING. They discussed metal detectors, backpack bans, etc.

    Really? Do you guys not realize that your drive to the theater was vastly more dangerous than actually sitting in the theater?

    1. Mazakon

      They discussed metal detectors,

      I’ve long thought that this was one of the things gun controllers would need in order for their gun-free zones to have any backbone. Which would inevitably turn more schools into TSA replicas.

    2. Restor-woodchipper-as

      If they want to get rid of these types of shootings the only solution is to let everyone open carry that wants to.

      The mother-fucking genie is out of the bottle and it will never ever go back in. You’ll never ever get rid of guns and the only way to stop the minisculely microscopic portion of the population that carries out these attacks is by having an openly armed populace.

    3. They discussed metal detectors, backpack bans, etc.

      And it also never occurs to them that if you have metal detectors in one location, a would be mass shooter will just go somewhere that doesn’t have metal detectors.

      Or they’ll just open fire out by the metal detectors. And unless you have men with guns on the premises of every movie theater (which is retarded overkill based on unlikely events) how will that situation be any different?

      1. And think about it, after a few years of these essentially ungaurded metal detectors going off everytime someone walks in with keys in their pocket, people will be desensitized to the detector’s alarm. It will be the functional equivalent of having no detectors at all, except that consumers will be paying more.

      2. No point in banning backpacks if you are going to let women walk around with purses.

  29. Lord Humungus

    Salon:

    The insidious violence of #AllLivesMatter
    As the defacement of a Sandra Bland mural reminds us, the hashtag is little more than racism disguised as inclusion

    Whereas #BlackLivesMatter is at the crux of what’s one of the largest social movements of our time, #AllLivesMatter is a hypocritical at the very least, and offensive at most. Even outside of the context of black lives, #AllLivesMatter also sweeps other issues of oppression under the rug?all for a fa?ade of inclusion. For example, even as black people are disproportionately jailed and shot by the police, Muslims and Middle Eastern-looking people are racially profiled while flying, and LGBT people continue being attacked because of who they are.

    It takes nothing away from anyone else, or their life’s struggles, to affirm the importance of black lives. But that’s what people who use #AllLivesMatter seem to believe. They’re wrong.

    1. Lee G

      Shorter version: Don’t ride our identity politics coattails.

    2. Zeb

      It could be that. Or it could be that a few racists dickheads use it to annoy and the vast majority of people really think that all lives matter and it is stupid to make it all about race.

    3. Rufus J. Firefly

      Haven’t read the article, but I don’t know if there’s a publication who has take projectionism to the heights Salon has.

      They seem to know everything and absolutely fuck all.

    4. The Shrubber's Woodchipper

      The idea that, regardless of race, all men are created equal is racist.

    5. sarcasmic

      If you don’t feel that blacks need special treatment, then you’re racist. Duh.

    6. BearOdinson

      Muslims and Middle Eastern-looking people are most definitely NOT racially profiled while flying. And precisely which LGBT people are being attacked because of who they are?

      Of course, NOONE on the left even questions these premises. They are a priori correct and anyone who even remotely departs from the party line is a racist/Islamophobe/Homophobe.

      As everyone’s favority LGBT person said: “Christians and Republicans and Nazis! Oh my!

    7. even as black people are disproportionately jailed and shot by the police,

      True enough.

      Muslims and Middle Eastern-looking people are racially profiled while flying,

      Pretty sure this is false.

      and LGBT people continue being attacked because of who they are.

      Really? Examples, pls.

      1. Frankjasper1

        For the black thing…i dont think the jailed means much. If they did the crime they are doing the time. Not sure it has to do with race.

        For pullovers and police stops i think so

  30. Yesterday, I went to a presentation by a Pakistani priest about Christian persecution in Pakistan. Christians are about 2% of the population there. 100 or so years ago, most were Hindu untouchables. They converted in the hope of bettering their lives, but persecution persists. They are often called Chuhras, which is what Hindu untouchables were called. The word is meant as an insult. Since they are still thought of as unclean, most work as street sweepers and garbage collectors. It is almost impossible for them to get any other kind of work.

    Since they are a small and powerless group, they are frequently attacked under the color of law. Pakistan has harsh blasphemy laws. People who want to attack or rob Christians simply accuse them of blasphemy. The police do little to protect accused blasphemers.

    There is a church in Peshawar that is disguised to look like a mosque. They only way you can tell is by the cross on the roof. Most churches in Pakistan are disguised this way. The priest said that one day, a man went up to fix the cross and was shot dead. Later, another fixed the cross, but was shot dead when he climbed down. The same church has also been attacked by suicide bombers.

    1. The audience was small and the priest had some trouble getting his computer and the PowerPoint to work, so I helped here and there. I gave him my email and cell afterwards in case he needs help again. I also offered to help him outwit Pakistan’s internet censorship. The Pakistani govt suppresses information about attacks on Christians and blocks YouTube.

      The last thing the priest said is that ISIS has established cells in Pakistan and they have vowed to exterminate the country’s Christians.

    2. Lee G

      I admit to being racist against Pakistanis. They’re cultural and moral degenerates.

      1. A Pakistani physicist named Abdus Salam was the first Muslim to win a Nobel Prize. However, because he was part of a Muslim sect held by many in Pakistan to be heretics, the word “Muslim” was erased from his tombstone

        Salam was buried in Bahishti Maqbara, a cemetery established by the Ahmadiyya Community at Rabwah, Punjab, Pakistan, next to his parents’ graves. The epitaph on his tomb initially read “First Muslim Nobel Laureate”. The word “Muslim” was later obscured on the orders of a local magistrate, leaving “First Nobel Laureate”.[106] Under Ordinance XX,[107] being an Ahmadi, he was considered a non-Muslim according to the definition provided in the II Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. Eventually, vandalism left only his name on the headstone.[108]

        “Scientific thought and its creation is the common shared heritage of mankind.”

        -Abdus Salam

      2. Zeb

        How collectivist of you.

        1. John

          So it is impossible to make any judgements about culture or nations? None? So if for example someone were to say “the Romans were horrible they had prisoners fight to the death for entertainment”, that would just be “collectivist”? Whatever the fuck that means?

          1. Zeb

            No. I agree that their culture is largely quite fucked up and the country is a giant mess. That’s still no reason to pre-judge any individual Pakistani, most of whom just want to live their lives, take care of their families and make money just like everyone else.

            1. Lee G

              Oh I know, I’m just admitting to not giving the average Pakistani the benefit of the doubt. Given the opportunity to judge them as individuals, I would gladly do so. But if I’m choosing between a child care business run by Pakistanis and one run by Mormons, I know which way I’m going to decide.

            2. most of whom just want to live their lives, take care of their families and make money just like everyone else.

              Be careful when you say most of whom. Opinion polling indicates that most Pakistanis advocate violence against non-believers, death to adulterers and blasphemers and the list despicable beliefs that are extremely common goes on and on.

              Of course each individual should be judged on his own merits. As a cultural group Muslims, and Pakistanis in particular, are not good people. Which is a shame, but it’s pretty irrefutable that barbarism holds sway in that society.

              1. Zeb

                I still don’t think that makes most of them bad people. They may answer survey questions like that, but it’s actions that matter. And how many answer that way simply because that is what is expected? I don’t think you can expect most people who just want to keep their heads down and avoid trouble to buck the dominant culture on principle. It’s too bad in a way as that’s the only way to improve things, but it’s a big potential sacrifice in a culture like that.

                1. I still don’t think that makes most of them bad people. They may answer survey questions like that, but it’s actions that matter. And how many answer that way simply because that is what is expected?

                  Enough to where those disfavored groups, like Christians and gays and others, face very real threats of death or worse from just about all of their neighbors and even members of their own family. Isn’t Pakistan the honor killing capital of the world? This is a country where it’s not exactly uncommon to kill your daughter for having been raped. Even if it’s only 20% of fathers and brother and cousins willing to do this, and that’s a conservative estimate, that’s a huge proportion of the population. There’s really no way to argue that that society is not morally degenerate.

                  And remember to a certain extent people get the government they deserve. If you doubt that, ask yourself why it would be inconceivable that a middle east style dictator doesn’t sweep to power in Australia or New Zealand. There’s a reason that law and culture does not reach Pakistani levels of severity in Ireland, or Canada or Japan. That reason is that those societies, as a whole, would never tolerate such norms and practices as acceptable, unlike the Pakistanis who find such cultural practices, law and politics to be within bounds of their political culture and general philosophy. They, as a society, accept such human interaction as legitimate.

                  1. When it comes to dealing with people, we all start from a baseline/default assumption. Good people are willing to let individuals prove themselves as better (or worse) than that baseline.

                    Its hard for me to argue that initial skepticism toward somebody from a degraded culture like Pakistan isn’t defensible. Naturally, if they deal with you and others as a civilized person rather than a Christian-beating, honor-killing Muslim fundie, then you should absolutely treat them as a civilized person. You can even make that your default assumption, if you like. But its defensible to be wary of someone based on their background.

                    1. Naturally, if they deal with you and others as a civilized person rather than a Christian-beating, honor-killing Muslim fundie, then you should absolutely treat them as a civilized person.

                      I agree completely. If one’s skepticism or bias against Pakistanis is based on a well founded perception of their cultural norms, it becomes automatically inapplicable in cases where an individual Pakistani is shown not to be an adherent or practitioner of those cultural norms. I consider myself a pretty fair person, but I just don’t believe in fairy tales about noble savages or the cultural equivalence of all mankind.

                2. John

                  They may answer survey questions like that, but it’s actions that matter. And how many answer that way simply because that is what is expected?

                  Zeb why don’t you test that theory out by going to Pakistan and start handing out bibles. See how long you live.

    3. From the Pakistani newspaper Dawn::

      ‘India to embrace persecuted Pakistanis’

      India plans to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant citizenship to undocumented migrants who fled religious persecution in Pakistan and Bangladesh, The Hindu said on Wednesday.

      It said the migrants include not just Hindus but also Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and Jains. There was no mention of Ahmedis in the published list or of Muslim sects facing the wrath of religious bigotry in the concerned countries.

  31. Lord Humungus

    Kevin Williamson: Why Sweden Isn’t Venezuela

    Talk to a Bernie Sanders voter about “socialism” ? and they can be very insistent about using the word ? and you’ll get paeans to Sweden, which is not a socialist country but a country with large, expensive welfare state. The distinction is not trivial: There is relatively little in the way of state-run enterprise in Sweden; the Swedish government is in fact only a 60 percent partner in the postal service. The Swedish government is, alas, in the casino business, albeit in a more transparent way than American government is. On the Heritage economic-freedom rankings, Sweden isn’t that far behind the United States. It has very high taxes, but taxes are not the only burden that governments put on the economy, not necessarily even the most important, and Sweden outscores the United States on a number of important metrics: free trade, property rights, freedom from corruption, investment freedom, monetary policy, etc. The United States’ small edge in the rankings comes mainly from relatively low taxes and a much less regulated labor market.

    1. straffinrun

      There’s a lot of white privilege in that Homogenous country.

      1. Homogeneity you say? We can fix that with some multiculturalism and we’ll get multiculturalism by fabricating a right to immigrate and obliterating the right to free association.

  32. Children of the Derp: The Derpening

    There was a call yesterday for someone to dive into the Derpbook comments about the mom-shaming busybody. Here are the choicest turds from that septic tank:

    Mona Bigdeli Good job! Part of me wants to call and find the employee who wanted to make their sale so bad and just cuss him out. You should send this video to the Sprint company and find the employees name. Sprint will make the employee face their consequences and train their other employees to watch for babies in the car.

    Athena Mata This lady works with animal rescue?!? Really?! Her fb is deactivated now probably because people were contacting her. Either way I hope she gets what she deserves. You did an awesome job

    Kay Kasper GOOD FOR YOU…next time call the cops before you walk in so they are on their way before she can leave…thats what i did…mother was cited for child endangerment

    Raoul Duke Mom shaming should become a thing. Help expose these people and let them know it’s not ok.

    Abel Butler Horrible parents these days never ever for one second leave a baby unattended no matter how close fuck that some of you people are still sugar coating it that baby could of even been kidnapped she’s in there trying to get a fucken phone that’s plenty of time for her baby to be gone in a blink of an eye fuck that I would of called the cops then showed the video of their response

    1. All those comments had hundreds of likes each. Hundreds.

      Somedays, I feel like the exterminator from Arachnophobia:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fmcemEkAKc

    2. Careless

      Sprint will make the employee face their consequences and train their other employees to watch for babies in the car.

      Awesome

    3. Zeb

      Holy shit. Especially the one who wants to fuck over the Sprint employee too.

    4. Rufus J. Firefly

      Evil, evil, evil, self-righteous fucks.

      1. Medical Physics Guy

        The people most vulnerable to this new totalitarianism are poor people. But these commenters don’t seem like the most articulate folks and frankly I wonder how well off they could be. Are they remotely aware that people in their circles are much more likely to end up jailed for this than those better off?

    5. Raven Nation

      Wonder how many of them know someone who lost a kid this way? Or is this all “informed opinion” based on what they read somewhere?

    6. Mona Bigdeli, Athena Mata, Kay Kasper, Raoul Duke Mom, and Abel Butler should kill themselves.

    7. Horrible parents these days never ever for one second leave a baby unattended no matter how close fuck that some of you people are still sugar coating it that baby could of even been kidnapped she’s in there trying to get a fucken phone that’s plenty of time for her baby to be gone in a blink of an eye fuck that I would of called the cops then showed the video of their response

      Never put your child in it’s own crib and leave the room, that’s child endangerment. Don’t lay him in his play pen while you take a dump, that’s child endangerment. Fucking retards rule the world.

  33. Lord Humungus

    FBI investigation of Hillary’s emails is ‘criminal probe’

    “It’s definitely a criminal probe,” said the source. “I’m not sure why they’re not calling it a criminal probe.

    “The DOJ [Department of Justice] and FBI can conduct civil investigations in very limited circumstances,” but that’s not what this is, the source stressed. “In this case, a security violation would lead to criminal charges. Maybe DOJ is trying to protect her campaign.”

    Clinton’s camp has downplayed the inquiry as civil and fact-finding in nature. Clinton herself has said she is “confident” that she never knowingly sent or received anything that was classified.

    yeah… I’m sure this will go nowhere…

    1. “I’m not sure why they’re not calling it a criminal probe.”

      I have a pretty good idea. Naturally, it will take probably 15 months at least for the “investigation” to wrap up.

      If she wins, then, nope, nothing to see here, move along.

      If she loses, well, we’ll see.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    A Watched Baby Never Boils.

    1. *comes out of narcotic fog…sees this comment and quickly pushes pain med pump button*

      1. bacon-magic

        Quick! More meds…he didn’t even narrow gaze.

        1. Number.6

          Oh, he’s just trying to get to compete with Agile Cyborg

  35. Mazakon

    Obama to argue for restoration of the part of the Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court struck down 2 years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the law

  36. Private Chipperbot

    Is there going to be a Reason fantasy football league this year? I’d like to take Manziel back to the promised land again.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      I wouldn’t mind a weekly football pool. No time for FL.

      1. Private Chipperbot

        Fanball or whatever it’s called might be fun. I’ve never played but it’s the one where you pick your players for the day with a salary cap. Whoever has the best team that day wins.

  37. Lord Humungus

    1967: Woody Allen vs William F. Buckley

    saw this a few days ago – actually a good match up in wits. Also noted: the kids are dressed nicely and can talk quite well.

  38. Notorious G.K.C.

    “Ferguson, Missouri, is expecting massive protests this weekend to mark Sunday’s one year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson.”

    Yes, focus like a laser on the one thing the Ferguson police got right, and ignore the findings of a grand jury and of Obama’s Justice Department.

    What on earth is the matter with these protesters?

    1. straffinrun

      It’s darn hard to loot more than a year supply of diapers at a time.

    2. the one thing the Ferguson police got right

      Remember: Wilson had no idea Brown was a robbery suspect when he stopped him on the street.

      Also remember: Wilson changed his story, and key parts of his story are not consistent with some of the physical evidence.

      I wouldn’t be so pleased with Wilson’s actions that night if I were you.

      1. Notorious G.K.C.

        All I know is there were two investigations, one by the Obama/Holder justice department, and they refused to bring charges. Were Holder and Obama engaged in some sort of cover-up to disrespect black lives?

        And “gentle giant” Brown knew that Brown was a robbery suspect when he got stopped. And witnesses – black witnesses from Ferguson, AFAIK – saw Brown attacking the cop.

      2. bacon-magic

        Remember:
        If Holder could have nailed him to a wall, he would have. Sheesh give it a rest. Mike Brown was the aggressor, he died, end of story. Now if we are talking Eric Garner, they need to charge those cops with murder.

      3. Brown was killed for failure to obey an order to not walk down the street.

        Failure to obey always escalates until the target either submits, is dead, or is beaten into submission.

        Did he fail to obey? No question. Did he have opportunities to submit? Indeed he did. Did he deserve to die for failure to obey an order to not walk down the street? I don’t think so.

        Was he an idiot? You bet. Probably even the aggressor when the trigger was pulled.

        But I don’t see any reason to say that the Ferguson police got this one right.

        1. Notorious G.K.C.

          What about the witnesses who said Brown attacked the cop?

  39. Medical Physics Guy

    Sadly the UK continues to destroy free speech as fast as it can.

    1. Truly sad to see this happening where classical liberalism was born.

    2. straffinrun

      He earlier claimed it included “some of the most offensive, xenophobic and racist comments I have read in a British newspaper for some years”.

      Therefore it must be punished by the govt. Bollocks.

      1. If the UK had been on this trajectory in the 1980s, it would have banned “The Satanic Verses”.

        1. straffinrun

          The press was too busy taking on the Iron Lady at that time.

  40. So, the Mrs. and I are now at week 30 of her pregnancy. We started our birthing classes. That our child is now capable of surviving outside the womb now is exciting with a bit of terror mixed in.

    Stories about children being harmed bothered me before, but now I cannot read them without feeling like getting punched in the nuts because I just picture whatever happened now happened to the sonogram image that is Skippy B. Needless to say I spent most of the evening last night trying to devise a warning system for our cars to alert us if the baby is left in the back seat.

    On less depressing thoughts, is the J Sub D Fantasy Football league going to continue? I’ve been in the middle of moving back to the States for the past month so not keeping up with H&R.

    1. Warty

      Nothing will prepare you for how disgusting the birth is. It looks like she shits out a big purple raisin covered in blood.

      1. PM

        As any honest OB/GYN will tell you.

        1. Warty

          My woman did not shit herself. I was so proud of her.

        2. Rufus J. Firefly

          “WillStrop2008 1 week ago
          Women have given birth naturally for millions of years, not simply thousands”

          Never change Youtube commenters. Never change.

      2. Jordan

        That’s for sure. If I had to do it over again (and my wife wouldn’t murder me), I’d sit in the lounge.

        1. sarcasmic

          They offered to let me cut the cord, but I had to sit down. I was basically in shock.

          1. Warty

            I cut the cord. It wasn’t so bad, really. Surprisingly.

          2. straffinrun

            When my son was born they offered me the scalpel and asked if I wanted to cut the cord. I said no, but I’ll slit her throat. (Womyn in labor can be such bitchez).

            *Just a joke, I have a lovely wife.

        2. Rhywun

          So is that the expectation now, that the father has to stay in the room?

          1. Number.6

            Has been for a while.

            I was *strongly* advised to be in the room throughout the delivery to provide ‘spouse support’.

            I told the staff that if I fainted, they should just shove me under the bed until the whole sordid episode was over. Just watching the administration of the epidural was enough for me.

            1. In League with the Dark Ones

              Just watching the administration of the epidural was enough for me.

              It made my spinal tap scar twitch.

              1. Number.6

                All the way to 11?

      3. Nothing will prepare you for how disgusting the birth is. It looks like she shits out a big purple raisin covered in blood.

        I want to leave the world the same way I came in: naked, screaming and covered in someone else’s blood!*

        *not mine, don’t know who said it first.

        1. Citizen X

          Well i want to die the way my grandfather did – peacefully, in his sleep. Not yelling and screaming, like the passengers in his car.

      4. Lord Humungus

        My wife-o had a C-section… didn’t see much from where I was standing. I did get to cut the remnant of the cord which I thought was a strange ritual considering it was no longer connected to anything.

        I would have preferred to be in the waiting room sucking down a few packs of cigarettes ala the old days.

    2. So, the Mrs. and I are now at week 30 of her pregnancy.

      You can probably get top dollar for parting out that baby fetus parasite.

  41. Sevo

    So among the loathsome inhabitants of SF, several stand out and one is that crony Tom Steyer. Now it turns out it’s not enough to fund ‘green’ politicos and get the resulting contracts; he wants to “repair” the gasoline market in CA. As in have the government control the price of gas.

    “Steyer to CA politicians: Time to act on gas prices”
    […]
    “Billionaire activist Tom Steyer wants the Legislature to fix what he calls California’s dysfunctional gasoline market, with drivers here paying $1 more for a gallon of regular than other Americans.”
    (paywall warning)
    http://www.sfchronicle.com/bus…..ate-result

    1. Oh yeah, Tom!

      Price controls! They’ll work differently this time round!!!!!

    2. I would love for Californians to do exactly what he proposes.

    3. Also, I don’t understand how he’s a billionaire other than being connected and selling his hedge fund to wealthy people. Sure, his “big success” was his hedge fund doubling its $300M investment in an Indonesian bank after holding it for seven years but a billionaire that should not make him.

      Can someone who’s read More Money than God explain it to me? Thanks.

      1. Number.6

        One of the wealthy people was Steyer himself and his management team.

        When you run a small, nimble hedge fund making 1% management and 25% incentive fee, and (in the case of Farallon, senior staff were encouraged to keep the bulk of their own assets in the fund), the incentive fee can soon mount up.

        Incidentally, many funds are run like this in their early stages and maintain a fair chunk of afiliated capital.

      2. Number.6

        Oh, and the real key to Steyer’s success was in getting Yale to invest with Farallon. He broke the ice and started getting endowments comfortable with hedge fund investing.

        To achieve that, he had to offer to run a portion of Yale’s portfolio for peanuts, but it made hedge funds palateable to institutional investors, which typically dwarf high- and ultrahigh-net worth assets.

        Being a trailblazer in that area, meant he got on the radar for CalPERs, Harvard, all the really big names.

        I would expect that north of 80% of Farallon’s current AUM is institutional and pension fund money.

        1. *GILMORE*

          “I would expect that north of 80% of Farallon’s current AUM is institutional and pension fund money.”

          Well I’m sure that his pumping hundreds of millions into political donations is totally about ‘The environment’ though

          1. Number.6

            You mean his wrongthink is particularly bad, because he’s rich?

            The point I was attempting to make is that hedge funds are no longer exclusive clubs which send out ivory-and-orphan-tooth inlaid monocle cases to their clients at Yuletide.

            If you look at the typical breakdown of the asset base of most of the larger and/or long-lived hedge funds (usually the two go hand in hand) – it’s institutional (endowments, foundations, pension plan) money. Hedge funds are mainstream investment vehicles, who participate in lobbying, just like GE, Monsanto, SEIU, the Teamsters, the NRA and TIAA-CREF.

            1. Number.6

              Most hedge funds get their break into getting institutional money based on being covered by fund consultancy groups – which are basically used car salesmen. So once a fund has 7-10 years of satisfactory returns, has a relatively compelling story and makes an effort, they can usually get in front of a fund consultant like Cambridge Associates.

              Schmooze with the consultant a bit, spend some T&E, and be prepared towork the relationship, and you get the business. If that works well, the consultant will push you a bit more aggressively with their clients.

              Is there scope for a bit of ‘influencing’? Sure. But really, from what I know of the industry, Farallon would have got most of that business just by doing its job. Steyer’s activism might have helped open doors, but Farallon’s returns would have been what won (and kept) the assets.

  42. sarcasmic

    I’m guessing he wouldn’t find Pulp Fiction to be funny either.

    1. sarcasmic

      Oops, wrong thread.

  43. John

    Poll shows Americans overwhelmingly support religious rights over gay rights.

    http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015…..ay-rights/

    Oh noes!!!

    1. foghornleghorn

      John please stop. Yes there are some groups that will make some noise about churches and pastors not marrying gay people. That’s all it will be is noise. No one is going to throw pastors in jail for it. Besides a few incidents even the crazy ass Europeans aren’t doing that and they take this shit way more seriously than Americans do on the whole.

      Outside of the big northeast cities and the west coast, nobody gives a fuck. The people in aforementioned places are all crazy anyway, so what would you expect?

      If a baker or photographer doesn’t want to serve gay customers, all they have to do is give another reason. I’m booked up or something along those lines would probably suffice.

      I wholeheartedly support religious rights as many in my family, including my wife are religious. But I think you’re worrying about boogeymen right now. I don’t think it will ever come to what you’re thinking.

      1. So, if religious people lie about and hide their religious beliefs, they have nothing to worry about?

        Yeah, that’s the kind of country I want to live in.

        No one is going to throw pastors in jail for it.

        If the pastor violates “civil rights” laws, and refuses to submit, then he will, indeed, be thrown in jail at some point under the “failure to obey” clause.

        We jail people, hell, even kill them, for not paying parking tickets.

        1. We jail people, hell, even kill them, for not paying parking tickets.

          That’s a feature of statism. The smallest disobedience commands a death sentence if compliance with the ever increasing penalties is not forthcoming.

        2. foghornleghorn

          No, I don’t want the religious to have to hide it either. I was just offering a possible solution based upon reality.

          I want anyone to be able to anyone to go fuck themselves for any reason at all but that’s never going to happen.

          Reforming the Civil Rights Act is as much political suicide as saying you want real Medicare reform. Try to do something good with Medicare and old people will fuck you up. Try to right the wrongs of the CRA and young progressives will probably kill you in all honesty.

          If it comes to loggerheads as you say, then I would side with the religious over the gays. I have many personal reasons for this and a lot about the gay rights movement has pissed me off but then again a lot about religion has pissed me off as well. Still though, I’d support religion over gay people, if that was the only option given to me.

    2. Rhywun

      most of the rest said both are important

      I.e. more than said one is more important than the other.

      Nice omission there.

      1. At some point, given our current unfree association laws, you have to choose, because we have put gay rights and religious rights in conflict.

        1. Rhywun

          Do you really think the entire civil rights apparatus can be dismantled? Because that is what is going to be required.

          1. No, I don’t. That’s why I think your right to freely exercise your religious beliefs is about to get . . . constrained.

            As a direct and foreseeable consequence of expanding gay rights in our zero sum legal environment.

            1. 0x90

              I wonder what’s to stop it being argued, eventually, that a tendency toward religiosity is something inherent, and not a choice.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    “Billionaire activist Tom Steyer wants the Legislature to fix what he calls California’s dysfunctional gasoline market, with drivers here paying $1 more for a gallon of regular than other Americans.”
    .
    Steyer wants Californians to be able to burn the same gasoline as the rest of Americans? Good for him.
    Wait, that’s not his plan?

  45. Here’s my gift to you all:

    Mexican Weather Girl Fannia Lozano

    Mexican Weather Girl Lluvia Carrillo

    Let’s say my visit to Monterrey allowed me to get reacquainted with the current cadre of weather hotties.

    1. ?Ay, caramba!

  46. The Late P Brooks

    most of the rest said both are important

    I.e. more than said one is more important than the other.

    Nice omission there.

    .
    “Overwhelmingly” don’t give a fuck?
    That can’t be right.

  47. straffinrun

    Know who else wasn’t mentioned enought tonight?

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