Trump's New Tax Reform Plan Looks Kind of Familiar, Obama and Putin Point Fingers, Mars May Have Some Very Salty Water: P.M. Links

• 

  NASA

  Donald Trump released his tax reform plan, which is big on tax cuts within the U.S. but increases taxes from American businesses overseas. It appears kind of similar to Jeb Bush's plan. Guess which one is getting more attention?

• At the United Nations, President Barack Obama criticized Vladimir Putin and Russia for interventions in Syria and Ukraine. Putin responded by accusing the United States of fostering "violence and social disaster" in the Middle East rather than democracy. You know, it is possible for both of you to be engaging in terrible foreign policies. It's not contradictory.
• Is it time to start planning for a water park on Mars? It just might be.
• Missouri's attorney general could not find any evidence that Planned Parenthood had violated the state's laws on handling fetal tissue in the videos that have been released.
• The prison employee who helped two convicted murderers escape from prison in New York earlier in the year has been sentenced to up to 7 years in prison.
• Australia is threatening to deny singer Chris Brown a visa to perform there because of his violent history.

New at Reason.com:

• Grab Your Tinfoil Hats!
  Conspiracy theories still thriving in America.
  By A. Barton Hinkle
• In Trump, Sanders, and Pope Francis, a Warning About the Politics of Crowds 
  All three of these political stars of the moment are drawing big crowds by the dangerous old method of blaming a minority.
  By Ira Stoll
• Donald Trump Literally (& Hypocritically) Promises to Save Christmas
  "Remember the expression 'Merry Christmas?'… You're gonna see it if I get elected. I can tell you right now."
  By Todd Krainin, Nick Gillespie, and Meredith Bragg

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Guess which one is getting more attention?

ALL TRUMP ALL THE TIME

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

D' Ohbama!

[gaoxiaen]

Happy Festivus!

[OneOut]

Has Reason come out yet with a position on Trump's run for the Presidency ?

I'm just curious what their group position might be ?

Is Rand Paul still running ?

That is all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Australia is threatening to deny singer Chris Brown a visa to perform there because of his violent history.

Because his mayhem isn't beer fueled?

[Citizen X]

Australia only takes in violent sociopaths if they're sentenced to transportation.

[Ted S.]

Foster's: Australian for piss.

[Akira]

The blue can, yes... But the green can ("Foster's Ale") isn't too terrible. It's an OK option for getting hammered on weekly BBQ night.

[SoCal Deathmarch]

I guess they don't want another pimp on the barbie?

[db]

Swissy ought to take you out back of the woodshed for that one

[Antilles]

increases axes from American businesses overseas.

Great. That's all we need. More axes!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Axes of evil.

[Tejicano]

Maybe we should axe 'em what they think about it

[OneOut]

racist

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is it time to start planning for a water park on Mars?

Get your bass boat to Mars!

[Tonio]

Paging WarEagle, Mr. Eagle, please pick up the camo-colored courtesy phone.

[wareagle]

Don't blame me for a black man who can't dress.

[Mickey Rat]

So NASA is not planning to strand Matt Damon on Utopia Planitia?

[Overt]

+1 mutant breast

[OneOut]

But are the sea levels rising or not is the unanswered question.

When Obama said at his swearing in ceremony did he include the Martian seas as well as the American ones would stop rising ?

Is he inclusive or just another racist teabagger ?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Rich]

The prison employee who helped two convicted murderers escape from prison in New York earlier in the year has been sentenced to up to 7 years in prison.

In the *same* prison?

[R C Dean]

+ 1 briar patch

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I understand that comment is now considered racist, B'rer Dean.

+1 Something about fighting a tar baby.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Good luck holding her.

[That's A Bingo!]

Is it time to start planning for a water park on Mars? It just might be.

I'm waiting for Martian Springs bottled water.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Read my lips: No new axes.

[Just say Nikki]

The end is nigh. Right? I mean, it fucking better be.

Students are increasingly seeking help for, and apparently having emotional crises over, problems of everyday life. Recent examples mentioned included a student who felt traumatized because her roommate had called her a "bitch" and two students who had sought counseling because they had seen a mouse in their off-campus apartment. The latter two also called the police, who kindly arrived and set a mousetrap for them.

[brokencycle]

Classic cops trying to kill a harmless animal.

[Sapient Mulch]

They should have told the cop it was their new puppy.

[Irish ?s ESB]

two students who had sought counseling because they had seen a mouse in their off-campus apartment

This is hilarious. For those of us who aren't comically broken, we're going to basically be supermen in 30 years.

Imagine it: I will be able to gallivant across the land getting treated like a God-King when I show up and rid someone's home of a cockroach infestation.

[RBS]

And Dale Gribble shall inherit the earth.

[Mickey Rat]

I never thought I'd love to see the beginning of the evolutionary divergence of the Eloi from base Homo sapien stock.

[Mickey Rat]

"live" dammit.

[JWatts]

So do you "love" to see it too?

[ant1sthenes]

I just fucking hope they taste good, and not like hippy.

[John Titor]

This is hilarious. For those of us who aren't comically broken, we're going to basically be supermen in 30 years.

What Nietzsche didn't know is that the Ubersmensch will just be those of us who know how to open jars.

[Rich]

Many students, they said, now view a C, or sometimes even a B, as failure, and they interpret such "failure" as the end of the world.

Of course. *Every* child is above average.

[Irish ?s ESB]

If we're being honest though, thanks to grade inflation getting C's kind of is a failure.

[Rich]

+ 2.0

[Illocust]

No kidding. Even engineering employers view a kid without a 3.0 as suspect. I can't imagine how poorly it would reflect on a student to get a C in one of those course I used to take to blow off steam and have fun.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Yeah, a C pretty much only means that you showed up, and didn't completely bomb the exam. If you actually tried and got a C, there's a problem.

[Brett L]

Welcome to grad school.

[brokencycle]

I would have been grounded as a kid for a B or C. That being said, does anyone get lower than a B anymore?

[RBS]

At mock trial last year (I'm a scoring judge) I, and the other judges, gave a team the lowest possible score, since zero) was not an option. The director handed our sheets back to us and told us to change the scores because they were so much lower than the other team.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

...did you refuse?

[That's A Bingo!]

A domesticated animal retains the characteristics of its youth. It's as if society is domesticating itself.

[Ted S.]

When I was a freshman 25 years ago, the toilet in our half bath wouldn't stop one time we flushed it, so we wound up with water all over the floor. I called the emergency number since I figured it would be an emergency if it flooded the entire floor, but they told me to call Buildings and Grounds.

[OneOut]

Cool story Ted.

Did you not know how to turn off the valve at the wall so it wouldn't be an emergency ?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Much of the discussions had to do with the amount of handholding faculty should do versus the degree to which the response should be something like, "Buck up, this is college." Does the first response simply play into and perpetuate students' neediness and unwillingness to take responsibility? Does the second response create the possibility of serious emotional breakdown, or, who knows, maybe even suicide?

I think I've spotted the problem - adults are worried that if you even criticize a special snowflake, they will kill themselves.

[Illocust]

With how laws were going a while back I don't blame them. If one of these guys killed themselves and blamed something you said, you would not only go through immense emotional turmoil. You would also likely lose your job, have strangers harassing your from across the nation, and have the potential to be the trial case for some crusading prosecutor.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Well they keep saying they will "literally die."

[John Titor]

And if that were even remotely true, what would be the advantage of keeping such fragile people around? I mean, strictly speaking, in Darwinist terms, your species isn't going to go far if you decide to self-terminate after being exposed to a minimal amount of stress.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I interact with many students on campus, 5 days a week. Other than the stupidity that is endemic to 18 to 23 year olds by virtue of their prefrontal cortices not having yet been fully developed, I see no evidence of an epidemic of hyper-fragile college students who shriek at their shadows and need help wiping their asses.

All of these reports seem to me to be manifestations of a moral panic with a healthy dose of "get off my lawn"-ism.

[Florida Man]

Now that I think about it, I've never had to tell a kid to get off my lawn. I should thank the parents of some of the neighborhood kids.

[Restoras]

I think most people instinctively know to stay off of yards with a '77 Camaro sitting on cinder blocks and discarded appliances full of bullet holes.

[Florida Man]

It's the scent. It activates the primitive survival instincts in the reptilian part of the brain.

[Mad Scientist]

Hey, at least he classes the place up with old tubs and toilets for potted plants.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

You forgot the abandoned toilet used as a tomato planter.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That toilet is not 'abandoned'; why do you think those tomatoes are so big and ripe?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That, and the complete lack of anything actually resembling a lawn.

[Mad Scientist]

Jesse.in.mb is Florida Man's groundskeeper?

[jesse.in.mb]

I'd plow his fields.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pics? Thanks.

[Brett L]

Talk to your student advisors. My wife had endless stories of a) liars and b)good kids with pushy parents. I remember class a) from college. Never saw a parent in college. No, that's false. My roommate's parents showed up on move-in day and took us out to dinner.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I don't know, man. 30 years ago were there people freaking out because someone threw a mad scientist party and that was insufficiently affirming to the mentally ill?

[John Titor]

30 years ago were there people freaking out because someone threw a mad scientist party and that was insufficiently affirming to the mentally ill?

I'd argue that has little to do with students being 'fragile' and more with their desire to present themselves as morally righteous and superior to the 'heteronormative' view'. Honestly most of the university social justice complaining comes off as moral narcissism (Gilmore's term) rather than an actual substantial example of how fragile they are.

[Heroic Mulatto]

30 years ago people were freaking out that college kids were having a party at all as they hadn't figured out the whole just how exactly people got AIDS thing yet.

[Ayn Random Variation]

I was in college in the late 80's/early 90s, and from what I read now, I would be imprisoned and have 10,000,000 youtube hits today for what I did then. My friends and I were out of control.

One of the very minor things that comes to mind was when we hung a female mannequin out a window by tying the string from the blinds around its neck. I can't imagine the uproar that would cause today.

Another thing that comes to mind is when a "friend" woke up in the middle of the night in a girl's dorm room, walked out of the room naked to pee in the bathroom, then in a drunken stuper forgot which room she was in. So the "friend" kept trying doors until one opened. Screams, frantic RAs and apology letters ensued. Today, arrest and rape charges and predator lists would be the start of the repercussions.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, I employ and meet with dozens of students the same age range and this is also not my experience at all.

[Illocust]

A question for both of you. Which departments are the students you're interacting with in? A lot of time these special snowflakes are segregated off in specific majors, and they really can't handle interacting with the general population of students.

[RBS]

I think SF mostly meets with students he lures into the library.

[SugarFree]

Yes. The fools.

And I interact with the entire swath of majors. And most of the library grad students are English or Women's Studies majors, so I'm in the thick of it.

[Crusty Juggler]

I now imagine you as the equivalent to Malcolm Tucker in a library full of Women's Studies majors.

[SugarFree]

They all love me. I'm their Id unleashed. It's a role I play for a lot of the women in my life.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

FIND STUDENTS THAT FIT THE NARRATIVE THEN.

What are you good for?

[Suthenboy]

I needed to hear that HM. I don't interact with people that age much anymore so all I have to go on is what I read.

[Raven Nation]

I think some of it has to do with which schools one is talking about. *Warning: broad generalizations to follow.* A lot of the schools with these kinds of stories can be classified as relatively elite schools. They seem to be home to a lot more faculty with odd theories about life and students who "want to change the world" (which phrase makes me want to gag). Where I teach, most faculty want to be good teachers and publish in their field. The students want to get a degree to get a better job (yeah, problems with that I know). They have no interest - or time - to get freaked out about a lot of the higher education trends.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I think some of it has to do with which schools one is talking about.

I think there is some truth to that. My institution is basically a 2nd tier B-school with high populations of non-trads, military, and international students, FWIW.

[Raven Nation]

Mine is similar.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

This is no time for more of your sexcapades, HM.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*grumbles*

Never any time....

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

I interact with 15-20 year olds frequently - mostly males. While some are overly PC, imo, I'd say the accusation of hypersensitivity is overdone. This is a bit of a wag the dog situation really. The high schools and colleges began offering these services and the students took their cues from the professionals hired to "counsel" them. It's a bit of learned helplessness if you ask me - a bit of show and pretense.

These little shits will adjust quite nicely when the apocalypse arrives.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I interact with 15-20 year olds frequently - mostly males.

Go on.

[John Titor]

Struthers' threats to tuck us youngsters into bed are now becoming more understandable.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I still don't know what that 'give you zoobers on your tummy' thing she's always going on about means, but now that we know she's a closet freak I can only assume it is sexual.

[John Titor]

I had a tatted-up hoodrat give me a zoober in Toronto. Couldn't walk straight for a couple days.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Zoobers are raspberries on skin. When you blow out like a motor boat and it tickles......oh, never mind.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Get your filthy pornography out of the comment section, perv.

[John Titor]

I am intrigued and would like to know more. Could the mom in that video assist me?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Anyway to edit out the kids in that video?

[Irish ?s ESB]

LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE US DO, BERTRUM.

God, you show up and suddenly everyone's a despicable sex crazed lunatic.

[Heroic Mulatto]

In related news:

MMA Fighter Says She Can't Fight at Desired Weight Due to Size of Her Breasts

[Irish ?s ESB]

Would with extraordinary prejudice.

[Crusty Juggler]

Moar pix - for research.

[John Titor]

I think the more important question is that, with or without breasts, whether she'd be able to beat Mayweather in a fight.

[wareagle]

don't know if she would beat him, but she would distract him.

[Corning]

It is my large dick and balls that keep me out of MMA fighting and totally not my middle age, or smoking habit or complete lack of exercise and average to below average athletic talent....

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Like SF I'm interviewing them in my library for employment opportunities. Don't worry, I authenticate their birth certificates.

[GILMORE?]

" I see no evidence of an epidemic of hyper-fragile college students"

Your anecdotal evidence doesn't really do much relative to the dozens of OTHER anecdotes that suggest otherwise.

perhaps your school just has a more stable and insular culture that is less affected by these trends?

FWIW, Vanderbilt was pretty much entirely unaffected by the PC craze in the early 90s. I was still quite aware of its existence. My friends at Penn, Brown, Amherst, NYU, etc were surrounded by it and are still somewhat affected to this day.

"All of these reports seem to me to be manifestations of a moral panic with a healthy dose of "get off my lawn"-ism."

Simply because they're inconsistent with your personal experience?

I've had plenty of firsthand experience with recent-college grads, and 'these reports' generally confirm the impression i've gotten of a hypersensitive generation, ready to take offense (on behalf of others) at almost anything, who regularly claim trauma from trivialities.

[GILMORE?]

that said = i do completely believe that the dozens of anecdotes we hear every year about these kinds of super-retarded PC-sensitivity issues are generated by a population that probably represents 5-10% of the actual college population

Its not that I think that this 5-10% is so awful and deserving of the undue attention themselves... its that they are changing social-norms for the worse

while the vast majority may not suffer from the pretensions of the True-Believer SJW... they have grown to accept that POV as 'normal' and something to be pandered to and compromised with.

[Rasilio]

The other part they are missing is that no one is claiming that ALL students are this way. They are commenting on a growing trend of students becoming more fragile.

The types of incidents they cite simply never happened 20 - 30 years ago and now they are starting to become frequent enough to be noticeable and in some cases slightly problematic.

So if we have gone from 0% of students being so fragile they needed psychological counseling after seeing a mouse to say 4% of students being that fragile in a generation it is indeed a growing problem and yet it is still a relatively rare enough phenomenon that individuals inside the University culture may not personally encounter such individuals.

[Slammer]

Not only students, Dads too

[Hyperion]

Oh fuck it. The end is never nigh when the doomsayers say it is. I went out last night to see the blood moon, I couldn't see it because of the clouds and the world didn't end, again. I'm almost ready to stop believing these predictions of doom.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I have it on good authority that with CERN spinning up it's going to create a transdimensional portal that will free the Nephilim and destroy the Earth.

According to the Bible, the number twenty-three represents death. The Large Hadron Collider restarted on March 23rd. Six months later, September 23rd is the fall equinox. It is also the satanic holiday occultists believe that the veil separating the earthly dimension from the demonic realm gets progressively thinner. On that same day President Obama meets with the Pope in the White House. September 24 Francis becomes the first Pope to ever speak before a joint session of Congress. September 25th he'll be the featured speaker at the UN. Three days later, September 28th will usher in the final Blood Moon on the Jewish day of the day of atonement or Yom Kippur. The following day is the release of the movie "Lego Dimensions" that features a Hadron Collider. Keep in mind Satanists believe that numbers contain inherent power. Their lives are ordered by occult numerology. Their occult calendar is divided into four thirteen week segments, with each beginning on the Summer/Winter solstice and the Spring/Fall equinox. Through a global initiative of the UN, 2015 has been designated as "The International Year Of Light." Lucifer will come as an angel of light.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Once the abyss is open, man will be tempted to merge with their new god and form a race of hybrids known as the Nephilim. These Nephilim made their first appearance in the book of Genesis, when the dark angels had sex with women and produced a hybrid race of giants. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be before the coming of the son of man. What if these dark angels, that have manifested in the flesh, were to promise man a life extension? However, in order to be like their new god, he would be required to have to biometric chip implanted in his right hand that would change his human DNA to be like of the dark angels. Do you think most of the world would take the deal? If you answered yes, you're on the right track?.

[gaoxiaen]

Cool story, bro.

[Antilles]

Can't argue with that logic. I'm convinced.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Now the argument is that because of differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars, the end will actually come on October 6. No, really.

[Irish ?s ESB]

#FREETHENEPHILIM

#CERNPOCALYPSE

[Mickey Rat]

Do the students with the mouse problem not call the landlord? I realize going to Home Depot to take care of the problem themselves is out of the question.

[OneOut]

They sought counseling because they saw a mouse ? They sought counseling because they SAW A MOUSE ?

Their fathers should be horsewhipped and their mothers sterlized.

The cops should be fired.

[Rich]

Hey, how about that stock market?

[Restoras]

Record profits! Full employment! Shrinking deficits! Cheap oil! No inflation!

BUYBUYBUY!!!

[SoCal Deathmarch]

QE4 and negative interest rates will solve the problem.

[Florida Man]

I've been reading some investment books and it makes me cry to see Government bond rates use to be 6 percent. I checked last week and I-bonds are paying a whooping zero percent.

[Corning]

I checked last week and I-bonds are paying a whooping zero percent.

Which is way better then a savings account after fees and astronomically better then future stock prices.

[Juice]

I got out and into mostly cash a few months ago. It looks like that's where all the money is going lately. It's not going into bonds or gold or emerging markets or anything that I can tell. It all must be going into cash.

[Idle Hands]

God I love this election cycle so much.

[Idle Hands]

It is so fucking retarded it's rendered awesome.

[Restoras]

It's only going to get better, too. Or worse? Well, certainly more entertaining.

[Mazakon]

Australia is threatening to deny singer Chris Brown a visa to perform there because of his violent history.

Well they already have so many creatures that could possibly kill you, I'm sure they wouldn't want to increase that number.

[Tonio]

Ha!

[Crusty Juggler]

Those Kiwis are dicks.

[Tonio]

Kiwis are New Zealanders.

[Crusty Juggler]

I know, and the atrocities they committed during the second world war still stun me.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

What atrocities did Derek Zoolander commit during WWII?

[Antilles]

The only way to make income tax fair would be to make it regressive. Poorer people should pay for the handouts and freebies that they overwhelmingly benefit from. And such a system would provide a great incentive to make more money and stop being so lazy. Progressives practically have aneurysms whenever I propose this...

[Ted S.]

Nah, we should just make them work in our monocle factories.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm so confused by this. So instead of just getting rid of the freebies and having the poor people pay for their own food and healthcare with whatever money they have, you'd tax them, funnel the money through the IRS and then give it back to them (less the cost of "administering" the programs).

Also, why should some poor schmuck who is working and scraping by be responsible for paying for the asshole who just suckles at the teat of the state any more than anyone else should be responsible for the asshole?

Are you sure your progressives aren't having gelastic rather than apoplectic fits?

[Antilles]

I'm not seriously proposing this, just trying to make a point that it would be fairer than our current progressive income tax scheme, particularly for those with drive and ambition. In an ideal world, there'd be no federal income tax. States would collect taxes from their residents and then negotiate payments to the Feds to fund the military and other things specified in the Constitution. This would end the Fed's habit of extorting states to do their bidding by withholding funds.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm just gonna assume that my mal de d?barquement is interfering with my ability to understand what you're saying here and that you're not suggesting that state theft for wealth transfers is ok as long as the state goes after people you don't like and not the Randian ?bermenschen you prefer.

[Antilles]

I'm a hardcore Libertarian and oppose most taxes. Some taxes are necessary, but no one should be forced to pay for something they don't benefit from. Everyone benefits from roads, infrastructure, and the military, so I'm happy to help pay for those.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

You can't do that! States would immediately reinstate slavery, you monster!

[Ayn Random Variation]

Waves of rage roll over me every time I hear that a flat tax is unfair because a zillionaire shouldn't pay the same as a shit picker upper.
It's not the fucking same!! 10% of a zillion is more than 10% of a shit picker's wage. Argggggggggg

[Juice]

I'd be ok with a progressive flat tax. I mean that the rate would be progressive according to income, but there would be no deductions for anything ever.

Actually, I'd be better with zero income tax, as it is immoral.

[Mazakon]

College Mexican restaurant gets called racist for handing out sombreros

Pedro's Tex-Mex Cantina was handing out the hats at the school's Fresher's Fair as a fun little form of advertising. Unfortunately for them, however, the promotion backfired bigtime when horrified university officials stepped in and demanded that that the restaurant stop doing something so racist. According to an article in The Telegraph, the officials also took the sombreros away from students who had managed to get their hands on one before the ban.

[Rich]

the officials also took the sombreros away from students who had managed to get their hands on one before the ban.

Indian givers!

[Antilles]

I don't understand why "Indian Giver" is considered an offensive slur. Doesn't it refer to the white men who made deals with Native American's and then reneged? It's the reneggers who can't be trusted, not Native Americans.

[Just say Nikki]

You're wrong about what it referred to, so, yeah.

[waffles]

Okay. But I still don't see why it's offensive. It actually makes sense. Do we have another word for giving a gift and then expecting it back? Are Native Americans even from India? Does any of this matter? Why am I posting in all questions like Napolitano?

[Antilles]

Well, the term is totally confusing and misleading as-is. Without context it sounds like someone (who may or may not be an Indian) giving something to an Indian. Wouldn't "Indian Taker" or "Taker Indian" be more accurate?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

What are you getting all over the neggers for, too!

[Tonio]

Swiss, I need a ruling here...

[Antilles]

They can have my burrito when they pry it from my cold, dead hand...

[Rasilio]

Yeah well they can have my Burrito when they pick it out of my warm steaming dump

[Suthenboy]

Oh, for fuck's sake. It is England.

I also heard that water is wet.

[Notorious UGCC]

I saw an actual Mexican person advertising a Mexican restaurant by standing on the sidewalk with a sombrero and a what-do-you-call-it, poncho I think.

I never asked him what he thought about that part of his job.

[Juice]

I heard a woman once say, "Don't call them Mexicans. That's racist." Not shitting you.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It appears kind of similar to Jeb Bush's plan. Guess which one is getting more attention?

You'd think someone with Jeb's funding would be able to buy more airtime.

[Slammer]

Wolf-dog hybrid might not be euthanized

? Karma, a wolf-dog hybrid, might have a new chance to live following a special closed session of the Board of Supervisors today.

According to the county's website, the Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss new details in Karma's case. The husky-mix was declared vicious by OC Animal Care on June 1 for an alleged cat killing in Anaheim in 2012. On Sept. 9, Superior Court Judge Corey Cramin ordered the dog to be euthanized by OC Animal Care. The order is to be carried out by Oct. 20.

Karma was taken in by OC Animal Care on May 24 after her owners were arrested. Officials saw there was an open "vicious" investigation from 2013. Jennifer Hawkins, OC Animal Care's director and chief veterinarian, deemed Karma too vicious to go to a rescue and said she should be euthanized for the public's safety. Dogs that are deemed vicious and dangerous can be kept by their owners as long as specific requirements are met.

DNA tests done by UC Davis confirmed that Karma has partial wolf ancestry. The effectiveness of required rabies vaccinations in wolf-hybrids is unknown, experts say. Animal advocates say the .15 percent wolf marker is barely highter than what most dogs have which is closer to .09.

[Rich]

Horns, extreme piercings and leopard inkings take centre stage at Ecuador tattoo convention

Vampire Woman FTW.

[Antilles]

How does she sleep without her face snagging on a pillow?

[Rich]

Sleep?

[RBS]

Check out "split tongue" guy.

[Rhywun]

Ugh, no.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Where's River? We need her to take care of the Reavers!

[Mindyourbusiness]

"At the United Nations, President Barack Obama criticized Vladimir Putin and Russia for interventions in Syria and Ukraine. Putin responded by accusing the United States of fostering "violence and social disaster" in the Middle East rather than democracy. "

Pot, kettle, 24/7/365.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

President Barack Obama criticized Vladimir Putin and Russia for interventions in Syria

Pot. Kettle. Black.

(I know - RAYCIS!!!!)

[Raven Nation]

I think I need some kind of program or scorecard. Let's see: intervention in Libya = good. Intervention in Iraq = bad. Threatened intervention in Syria = good. Actual intervention in Syria = bad.

[GILMORE?]

The hilarious part is that Russia has its only Mediterranean naval base in Tartus, Syria... so its defense of the Assad adminstration is actually far more legitimate national interest than the US's covert-then-overt support for the rebel groups trying to overthrow it.

The US has tried to paint a picture where it holds some moral high ground... and its patently absurd. We pumped guns and money into the region for 2 years before ISIS became the main problem, and it absorbed many of the groups we were funding. Obama stopped talking about Assad in 2014 the same way he stopped talking about Afghanistan in 2011-forward. It simply draws attention to the mess he created and then decided to try to downplay.

[db]

Is it time to start planning for a water park on Mars?

Maybe because at these concentrations, damn near *anything* would float on it. However, you might want to look up materials that are resistant to perchlorate corrosion before you build that log flume...

[Sevo]

HDPE, pretty much.

[Tonio]

Polyethylene is the plastic used in many kayaks.

[Corning]

How well does plastic hold up in very cold very low pressure atmosphere on a planet with no ozone layer and no molten core and so no protective magnetosphere?

Also isn't mars mostly devoid of hydrogen at least on the surface and atmosphere...wouldn't that make the whole place have a low pH value? or at least chemically "hungry" for the hydrogen in the plastic?

[Corning]

"materials that are resistant to perchlorate corrosion"

is it a jackal?

[Corning]

"Guess which one is getting more attention?"

Reason's Bush establishment defence force activate!

[Cytotoxic]

Now try to find a way to drag GG into this. Your comments must only get more asinine.

[db]

I thought the Golden Girls primarily specialized in sexual preference reassignment therapy. Who knew they were an authority in American political dynastic theory?

[Corning]

Did you mention gamergate?

http://twitter.com/Jasperge107.....7075762176

Bonus Al Swearengen

http://twitter.com/SwearengenCD

"I want you to hunt down the cocksucker who first uttered the word "monetization.""

[Cytotoxic]

Slightly old, but still awesome: Pentagon confirms killing two senior Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria

One from ISIS, the other from Nusra. The world is a safer place.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/23092015

[Corning]

two senior Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria

Were they bigger fish then Suddam and Osama?

Cuz getting them sure fixed things great.

[Cytotoxic]

Sure did. Attacks in Iraq temporarily declined a great deal in Iraq after Sadaam was captured. Killing BL put a hole right in the top of AQ. Of course, this doesn't deal with the real base of the problem: states that sponsor anti-American terrorism.

[Contrarian P]

Gee...unfortunately the body count would beg to differ with you. Saddam was captured in December 2003. In the preceding 6 months civilian deaths from violence in Iraq averaged 594 deaths per month. In the following 6 they averaged 857 per month, not to mention the huge uptick in deaths that occurred later on in 2004 and continued through early 2008.

https://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

Or maybe you're talking about coalition forces? Previous 6 months average 55 per month. Following 6 average 67 per month. 2004-2007 had more coalition forces killed every single year than had died in 2003.

http://icasualties.org/iraq/ByMonth.aspx

Apparently your definition of "declined a great deal" is a rather bizarre one. Got any facts to back up your statement? Or are you just going to tell everybody how smart you are and declare victory again?

[Cytotoxic]

The decline was temporary and lasted only a few weeks. Of course, that will be washed out by averaging over six-months, something that would be difficult for a numerically and otherwise illiterate moron like you to figure out.

*Declares victory*

[Contrarian P]

Really? Where is your evidence for this reduction? If you looked at the link, the next month (January) after he was captured, the body count was higher for Iraqi civilians and coalition forces than it was in December when he was captured on the 13th, meaning your reduction lasted two weeks at the most, if it exists at all, which given your lack of supporting evidence is in doubt.

In other words, when confronted by evidence (and actual numbers and data, not some bullshit Twitter account), you backtrack to "oh, it really only lasted a few weeks". In other words, if it even happened at all, it may have been a statistical anomaly and had nothing whatsoever to do with Saddam's capture. Indeed, the evidence clearly suggests that the violence in Iraq escalated markedly after Saddam's capture.

In even shorter words, you're full of shit. Come up with some evidence or admit that you pulled an assertion right out of your ass.

[waffles]

Yesterday I went to the folsom street fair in San Fransisco. We have so much freedom in the country it's sickening. I think one of the greatest aspects of libertarian thought is that I can simultaneously harshly judge my fellow Americans while respecting their freedom to do whatever they want. Events like this highlight the awesome raw individuality of America. So while national politics may have jaded me towards the electorate every so often I am reminded of why I love this country.

[Just say Nikki]

Aww, jesse has a jealous.

[Antilles]

Until heterosexual couples can do these types of things in public and not get arrested, there's no real freedom.

[waffles]

The event isn't gay only. It's kink. Since your personal kink can be just about anything you could probably do whatever and not get arrested.

[Antilles]

I'd heard it was gay only, and a few years back someone posted pictures online (in outrage, of course) of some guys engaging in all types of sex acts that would get most people on the sex offender registry for life. Perhaps it's more toned down and mainstream now. Not my thing, but to each his (or her) own.

[waffles]

SF already has so much in gay events I don't feel the least bit like an interloper bringing my hetero self to events like this. I don't feel like the event was the slightest bit toned down. At least in terms of public display of sexuality it's definitely sluttier than burning man. It is remarkable that whatever "the Left" is in this country can simultaneously be all about freedom of expression while pushing for stifling censorship. I like being libertarian so I don't have to worry about cognitive dissonance.

[Antilles]

It sounds interesting. I'd go myself if I was a different person.

[Irish ?s ESB]

That's because the left is basically trying to create a world straight out of Alduous Huxley.

"Oh yeah, you want to fuck yourself into a coma and then do drugs? Cool cool - we're going to infantilize you in every other way though and eliminate all thought and speech that contradicts our narrative. Also, if you do anything we don't like, the laws will be written in such a way that they bankrupt and destroy you. On the bright side, if you want to do anal when you're whoring yourself out for crack money due to the absolute obliteration of your life for which we are responsible, fucking go for it, brah."

[Mad Scientist]

Whoring yourself out is trafficking, so that's off the table too.

[Antilles]

Whoring yourself out is trafficking

Only when women do it.

Although DHS taking down Rentboy was surprising. But I suspect they had other motives...

[Tonio]

Yes, the left may be trying to do that, but don't demonize the pervs who for the large part would be happy to be left alone. Unfortunately, many of us still remember Reagan's Attorney General Ed Meese and his porn commission. It is Republican policy that drove the perv community to the Democrats.

[Antilles]

SoCons always condemn what they consider "perversion," but it's usually (but not always) the Democrats who attempt to enact legislation to punish those who don't obey.

[jesse.in.mb]

Fun fact 1: the photo in waffles' link is a woman leading a man around on a leash.

Fun fact 2: THEY DIDN'T GET ARRESTED FOR IT

[Antilles]

Linked pictures don't show up on my work computer, and I was under the impression straight people weren't allowed to participate. Now I know better.

[jesse.in.mb]

Well as long as how you approach the issue is rooted in ignorance instead of malice, I guess it's ok.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Gays are the ones who have sex with sheep, right? Am I getting warm?

[waffles]

There was a sheep there. It was about 30 feet long and 20 feet tall. To board the sheep you have to climb in it's butthole. It also is a DJ stage with a kickass sound system. Oh wait, here it is. Between the playa and folsom this sheep gets around.

[Irish ?s ESB]

That is one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

[Antilles]

I reserve my malice for bad people who harm others. My insensitivity is pretty much all the result of ignorance. And I'm grateful when people set me straight. That might have sounded sarcastic, but it wasn't.

[Notorious UGCC]

City ordinances *require* women to keep their men on leashes.

[jesse.in.mb]

Ugh, I haz a jealous!

Stupid work retreat being on the same weekend as Folsom.

[Brett L]

Meh. I have seen things like that in Texas, contra the rube quoted in the article.

[waffles]

Yeah. I don't think SF has a monopoly on doing weird stuff in public. But when you take that away from them what do they have left? The city is a giant overpriced urinal. But it's fun to visit.

[RBS]

what do they have left?

\

Certainly not the Niners.

[Cytotoxic]

Excellent alt text.

[Sevo]

Repeat from AM links:
"President Obama tells the UN that America is committed to eradicating global poverty and hunger by 2030 in 'one of the smartest investments we can make in our own future'"
As good as Solyndra?

"Obama offered a powerful defense of a 15-year development agenda and will require trillions of dollars of effort from countries [taxpayers], companies [taxpayers] and civil society [taxpayers].
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2030.html

[DJF]

And next after he solves world poverty and hunger he will end poverty, hunger and violence in Chicago.

[Suthenboy]

"Obama offered a powerful defense..."

I am not even going to read that. Obama wishes for world peace. Uh huh.

[Cytotoxic]

For those so inclined, Silent Circle has released a phone called the BlackPhone 2 that is a true serious effort at phone security. End to end encryption with other blackphone users and 128-bit encryption at all times, amongst other plusses. Bad news: it's $800.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/th.....ckphone-2/

[Ted S.]

Always with the racist phones....

[Raven Nation]

Always with the negative vibes.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Most phones are close to that price. Issue is that most people aren't going to be using that exact phone, leaving the encryption pointless.

[Florida Man]

This

[Carl, Fighter of the Nightman]

Issue is that most people aren't going to be using that exact phone, leaving the encryption pointless.

That is not true; Silent Phone (Silent Circle's encrypted messaging and call app/service) can be installed on normal iOS and Android devices. Of course, unlike the also-well-regarded TextSecure and RedPhone (and Signal, their iOS counterpart), Silent Phone costs money.

[Cytotoxic]

Not if whole companies buy it up for secure communications between employees.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Presenting buys you a taser blast

[GILMORE?]

WHOO HOO, LOOK AT US, JAWBONING

What this country really needs to do is intertwine politics deeper into everything.

[Suthenboy]

How long until Daraprim is not available at any price?

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Uhh.... OK.

Shoreditch Cereal Killer Cafe targeted in anti-gentrification protests

Hundreds of protesters attacked a cereal cafe in east London on Saturday night, daubing the word "scum" on the shop window and setting fire to an effigy of a police officer.

Riot police were called in to defend the Cereal Killer Cafe in Shoreditch after it was targeted by a large crowd of anti-gentrification activists carrying pigs' heads and torches.

The owners of the cafe, which has been seen by some as a symbol of inequality in east London, said on Sunday that the attack left customers including children "terrified for their lives".

I dislike the idea of gourmet cereal as much as the next person, but these anti-gentrification people are crazy.

[SugarFree]

Their toast delivery start-up failed so they are taking it out on the cereal guys.

[bacon-magic]

Coo coo for cocoa puffs...

[Antilles]

Rather than use the euphemism "gentrification," why can't they be honest and call it was it really is: ethnic cleansing.

[Suthenboy]

What the fuck is gourmet cereal?

[Antilles]

A bowl of Cap'n Crunch that costs $8.

[bacon-magic]

Mars needs to be terraformed(sic?) and colonized. We should make it a libertarian paradise of freaks and geeks. There, I said it, ridicule me commentariat for the wistful believer in humanity that I am.

[John Titor]

Mars lacks a magnetosphere, which is kind of important when it comes to fending off sola radiation and other 'space weather'. Significantly lower gravity makes long-term colonization difficult as we don't fully understand its effects on long-term human growth. Might end up making the first generation of Martian children cripples.

[bacon-magic]

Or super tall people that can leap 100' at a time. Magnetosphere...not my field(yes I'm punny) but maybe that can be fixed by lobbing meteors at it or technology will rectify that or hell just rain on my parade why don't you.

[John Titor]

Cynics are required to make dreamers' dreams possible. You need someone who'll say "and how exactly do you intend to do *blank*".

[Rasilio]

Step 1, we need an atmosphere.

Solution grab a couple of large comets, tow them into orbit, break them up and drop them piecemeal onto the planet so the bulk of the voliatle gasses do not escape the atmosphere. As the atmosphere thickens it warms melting the frozen CO2 further thickening the atmosphere.

While this is happening you seed the planet with genetically engineered plants to convert the CO2 into oxygen.

Done right you should have a breathable atmosphere within 100 years or so.

The thick atmosphere will largely be enough to stop most damaging solar radiation but lower gravity and no magnetosphere means the solar wind will slowly strip that atmosphere from the planet so you'd need a plan in place to replenish the atmosphere periodically.

Further in the future it is possible we could develop the technology to put artifical magnetic shield generating space stations at the Mars - Sol L4 and L5 points and then another layer of them down at geostationary orbits. The L4 and L5 stations would be always on and you'd only turn on the Geostationary ones if you detected a large flare pointed straight at Mars

[bacon-magic]

I'm slightly worried about John, did he take on too much at the last crushing video?

[Irish ?s ESB]

This is the worst idea I've ever seen and why has Doctor Who become so terrible?

[John Titor]

I blame Moffat mostly. Man can write some decent episodes but my god he should never have complete control over a product. Russell Davies had his own problems but he was better.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

I will say that at this point it seems like Moffat is just fucking with his critics. Where did the Doctor get the tea in the last episode? Though I guess this goes back to Davies and his "timey-wimey" schtick as well, but every plot point is hand-waved away with "just go with it, time travel is confusing, the Doctor is that good."

[John Titor]

I think Moffat also tends to get ripped on more because he seems really incapable of writing moderately normal human beings. That soldier character from the last season was one of the most poorly written characters in 'New Who'. I mean, I don't expect Generation Kill-level realism or anything, but his entire character arc is just ridiculous.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Nah, Capaldi can make anything work.

[Juvenile Bluster]

I don't know but that website nearly gave me a seizure due to those moronic animated gifs.

[Corning]

So how long before Shawn of the Dead's Simon Pegg takes over as Dr Who?

[a better chipper]

So I've been in lurk mode lately, but had to share this.

A friend of my wife's has a downstairs neighbor who has twin girls that are 3 years old. One of them is yelling, so the friend goes downstairs to check it out. She asks the girl if everything's ok, and the girl is home alone. The mom took the other one to the dentist, supposedly.

The friend calls the police and the mom comes home a half hour later. Now that's absurd and wrong to do, but would you call the police? Me personally, I'd watch the kid til the mom comes home to hear what she has to say for herself. I just don't see how involving the police and most likely CPS will make this situation better.

In my mind, if one twin is having a serious medical (or dental, in this case) emergency and the other twin is taking 10 minutes to find her favorite pair of shoes, being obstinate, holding onto the door frame, yeah, I could see how mom might say "Fine! Wait here!" and attempt to call a friend or family on the way.

Since this will surely be a topic of conversation at the dinner table tonight, I'm curious to hear more of this crowd's thoughts? When, if ever, do you call the police in a situation like this?

[waffles]

As a woman it would be perfectly fine for me to watch a kid for a while. So in that instance it would be fine to just supervise and not call the cops. As a young man I would be afraid to supervise someone else's whelp because society has implanted a suspicion that I might be some kind of pedophile.

[Tonio]

As a young man I would be afraid to supervise someone else's whelp because society has implanted a suspicion that I might be some kind of pedophile.

Also, the difference between a caregiving situation initiated by the parent and a caregiving situation initiated by a third party. People are rightly suspicious of people trying to gain entry to their homes when the only person there is a minor child.

So, when do you call the police? Never. And that's a hard choice, but one that is forced upon us by the current reality. No good can ever come from police interaction. Never initiate police interaction.

Now, as to other remedies...calling the landlord, building superintendant, management company, etc. Frame this as a complaint about noise and/or property damage. "The kid in 3G is running amok, I saw the mother left an hour ago. I hear water running..."

[Irish ?s ESB]

That's far worse than most of these stories. I might have just waited with the kid to see what exactly was going on, but that woman very well could be an unfit parent if she doesn't have a very good excuse.

[a better chipper]

That's far worse than most of these stories.

I agree, so I spent some time today thinking 'where do I set the line on calling the police or CPS?'

Physical abuse on the one end and walking to the mail box on the other are the extremes, and I was deciding where this fell in the middle.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

It's unforgivable to leave a 3 year old home alone. That said, I wouldn't have called the cops. I too would have waited to speak with the mom. People do incredibly stupid things they later regret. Better to give her the chance to explain. In future, I'd keep on eye on her and the kids and would call CPS if she repeated the behavior.

[Suthenboy]

^This

[Florida Man]

Sounds like an opportunity for profit. Threaten to call DCF unless you can wet your beak.
/the only real libertarian answer

[Notorious UGCC]

The only *Florida Man* answer.

[BigT]

Threaten to call DCF unless you can wet your pecker.

/the only real libertarian answer

TWTANFL

[Suthenboy]

'Wet your beak'.

Is that floridian for dip your wick?

[TomInPA]

Having been on the receiving end of CPS I'd have to say if you see the parents waling on the kid and drawing blood or breaking bones. Your instinct, to watch the kid until the parent comes back, is just what I'd do. (Unfortunately that does open one up for accusations as well.)

We're being policed because it's so easy to offload the burden of policing onto someone else. And because we get in trouble if we do try to do things ourselves.

[a better chipper]

Yeah, I hadn't even considered that until Waffles brought it up above. No way I could do that without opening myself to some serious trouble. My wife could probably get away with that though.

[widget]

Situational ethics (more like conventions) are involved. A single man cannot watch a neighbor's young kids. But a single or married woman who knows the kid's mom can. A married man with kids about the same age can, but carefully. Gay men, married or single, are allowed to watch young girls, but not boys. Lesbian women should refrain from giving the temporary orphans tattoos, but other that that, it is OK. I would post the full matrix of proper behavior in this situation were it not to break the internet.

[Corning]

I saw a very effeminate man carrying a boy in a mall parking lot the other day and i distinctly felt that "Oh shit no" feeling even if it was for less then a second.

99.99999% sure he was the kid's dad. Still I did have that gut feeling.

No idea what that means if anything.

[Tonio]

That means you're prejudiced, Josh. Srsly.

Now, I'm using "prejudiced" in the most literal sense of pre-judging. And you've been posting here long enough that I know you're from a generation that was conditioned to think of homos like me as automatic child molesters. So while not harshing on you, I'm calling you out on your prejudice. And admitting that your worst fears could well be correct, just like you never know if that woman who is outwardly the perfect mom is not some psycho behind closed doors.

[Corning]

"that I know you're from a generation that was conditioned to think of homos like me as automatic"

I suspect it has nothing to do with conditioning. it could be innate in everyone.

The only conditioning would be empathy for stranger's children and maybe distrust of strange men....though distrust of strange men is just as likely to be innate.

For my entire life i have been taught to "think of the children". In the world which forged human instinct this is unnatural. Why the fuck should Kennewick Man give a rats ass for children who are not his, his tribe's or his kin's?

But if he saw a stranger holding one of his, his tribe's or kin's child he would care very much. Now if a modern man like me who has been conditioned to see strange children as there kin wouldn't the prejudiced be for unnatural worry of strange children's safety rather then unnatural suspicion of strange men?

[Corning]

"I know you're from a generation"

This is bullshit by the way.

The 70s 80s and 90s are not culturally distinct from the 80's 90's 00's

Broadband, Pokemon, Tower Records closing, iPhones and The Matrix did not flip a switch and create a generation of uber-moral super people.

[Corning]

I will say the biggest shift from cultural progressivism to not has been in the last 2 to 3 years.

And it has been in more in my 'tone' then anything.

[Corning]

"my biggest shift"

[Tonio]

Gay men, married or single, are allowed to watch young girls, but not boys.

Not necessarily, as in, gay men, as men, are always suspect. You know, deviants and all.

Now, if you're a gay couple with similar-age child(ren) maybe, but a big maybe. YMMV depending on geography. Also, if you were a couple with similar-age children you'd probably inherently know the mom well enough that she'd have banged on your door and averted the moral dilemma.

[widget]

I saw an obese Arab woman, with a 5 o'clock shadow, wearing a head scarf, shuffling down a sidewalk in Carpinteria, CA today. This was my first siting of such in Santa Barbara county. I am pretty damn sure my evil thoughts about this scene are correct.

[Ken Shultz]

"Is it time to start planning for a water park on Mars? It just might be."

We don't need a whole planet.

Just a really bitchin' interstellar cruise ship.

No, we won't get anywhere in our own lifetimes. But we'll get to spend our lifetimes away from authoritarians and progressives--and that's better than what we've got living here on Earth.

[pronomian]

Norquist's influential Americans for Tax Reform released its review that Trump's plan is "consistent" with the advocacy group's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge."

It's not perfect but a lot better than what we have now. It looks good for retired folk on a fixed income.

http://www.washingtonexaminer......le/2572929

[widget]

Trump's a heavy hitter so he might not know how most businesses work. He's C-corp guy, not an S-corp or LLC guy.

I don't like it, but there is a method to the madness in the algorithm the IRS uses to tax businesses. You cannot honestly avoid income tax by running an S-corp. There's a bridge to cross when starting a C-corp or moving from S-corp to a C-corp.

I hope I can say this correctly without being too technical. The owner of a C-corp will be taxed twice on retained earning if he cannot fully get the C-corp off the ground and running with investments. This places a much higher risk than there should be in CAPITALISM. You know, CAPITALISM, the idea of pooling resources among your fellows.

[Rockabilly]

Doesn't Putin know that only King Obama, Lord of the Drones, can intervene?