A.M. Links: FBI Investigates Hillary's Emails, Biden Weighs 2016 Run, Mets Beat Dodgers

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  • Credit: White House / Flickr.com

    According to a new report, the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and server is now focused on possible violations of the "gross negligence" subsection of the Espionage Act.

  • "Vice President Joe Biden has personally made a series of calls this week to Democratic strategists from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, asking a final round of detailed questions about how—not whether—to launch a 2016 presidential campaign."
  • The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers last night to advance to the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

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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. California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newson has put forward a gun control ballot initiative for the November 2016 state election.

    This is a winner to be sure!

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      Hello.

    2. perlchpr

      Enh. It is California.

      1. Suellington

        Fuck that greasy, coke fiend, Getty fellating ass clown.

        1. Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair

          Getty was the father. The son has his own fellatees.

  2. The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers last night to advance to the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

    Too soon.

    1. Citizen X

      It’s football season already?

      1. Restoras

        These are hockey teams.

        1. Citizen X

          I haven’t paid attention to hockey since Michael Jordan retired.

    2. Good! I only read Reason for the Sports section, anyway.

      1. straffinrun

        It’s pretty bad. They only cover two teams.

    3. gaoxiaen

      Who gives a fuck about Negro worship?

      1. Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper

        Louis FarraKHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!???

    4. Climate change explains all losses, everywhere.

  3. Lord Humungus

    Male brain is programmed to seek out sex over food

    Researchers have found that the male brain is hardwired to seek out sex, even at the expense of a good meal, with specific neurons firing up to over-ride the desire to eat.

    Intriguingly, women do not have the same neurons, suggesting that sex for females comes secondary to sustenance.

    Although the neurons have only been found in the brains of nematode worms, scientists at University College London say that it is likely that similar mechanisms are at work in humans.

    And it is proof that male and female brains are wired differently, a controversial subject, which has been argued by scientists and feminists for decades.

    1. Rich

      Although the neurons have only been found in the brains of nematode worms, scientists at University College London say that it is likely that similar mechanisms are at work in humans.

      Uh-huh. Are those scientists male or female?

      1. Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair

        You mean rapists or victims.

    2. Suthenboy

      “…argued by scientists and feminists for decades.”

      Because evidence and fact have no bearing on narrative and many feminists will tell you so.

      1. wareagle

        so you’re a science denier. Okay.

        /prog beta male

      2. WTF

        Stop mansplaining, you cis shitlord!

    3. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

      Now go fix me a sammich!

    4. Lee G

      I think those neurons die sometime around age 45

      1. OneOut

        Check your T-levels !

        1. Rasilio

          No he means they die when your wife turns 45 but I think he’s overestimating it by about a decade

    5. Restoras

      This is a surprise?

    6. “And it is proof that male and female brains are wired differently, a controversial subject, which has been argued by scientists and feminists for decades.”

      How is this controversial? And I always though that many feminists believed that men and women were biologically the same and differences were solely due to culture and patriarchy. Am I wrong?

      1. Old Man With Candy

        Don’t you have some babies to take care of?

        1. I guess. I need to train Reason to change her own diapers if she’s so hell bent on not potty training.

          1. Elspeth Flashman

            That doesn’t work too well either.

          2. sasob

            Not hard to potty train a toddler. Put her on the pot within 30 minutes after she has her first meal of the day. It varies some, but most people go at least once a day.

      2. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

        Am I wrong?

        Well, you’re a girl, so we’ll have to explain it for you.

        1. gaoxiaen

          Waste of effort.

      3. That’s been my takeaway from their blathering.

      4. Jerryskids

        The controversy stems from the fact that you have feminists on one side with their feelings and the scientists on the other side with their facts and the idea that facts trump feelings is just an arbitrary dicktate by the whiteheterocispatriarkkky. If I feel that feelings are more true than facts, who are you to deny the truth of my feelings? Biology is just another tired excuse for misogyny. Men and women are exactly the same except for any differences where women are superior to men. It’s not like you can usually tell just by looking at someone whether they’re male or female or that DNA samples would indicate any difference between the sexes or that men get pregnant any less often than women or that women aren’t every bit as capable of playing right tackle for the Chicago Bears as any male.

        1. And it’s not just a male-female false equivalence. All cultures are equal, except western culture, which is less equal. All ethnicities are equal in every way, except that whites are inherently racist, classist, sexist, oppressors. (which if you take a look around the world, the inverse of that claim seems to be closer to the truth)

        2. perlchpr

          You misspelled “womyn”.

          1. Knarf Yenrab!

            Eighth wave feminists–you know, real ones–employ womban.

    7. Illocust

      Alright, its an interesting study, but what it actually showed is that male brains are different than Hermaphrodite brains. Worms that could self impregnate did not consider a mate worth more than a good meal, while worms that had to impregnate other worms to reproduce considered a mate worth more than a good meal. No freaking duh.

      I do want to see this research go further and on bigger animals, but it doesn’t show what they claim it shows in the first paragraph.

      1. Rasilio

        Isn’t that the way virtually all science reporting goes?

        Make big controversial headline that bears only a passing resemblance to the actual science because clicks (or in olden times readers/eyeballs) are what you want and 99.9% of the people reading are not going to understand the actual science well enough to tell that your headline is bullshit

        1. Jerryskids

          And the “actual science” is very likely to be non-replicable. There’s either no way to tell if the study actually supports the conclusion the researchers claim or nobody is going to do any further studies to see if there’s something solid there. It’s encouraging that at least in a few places it’s becoming more of an open issue that a huge chunk of scientific research is actually useless garbage for a variety of reasons.

          1. Illocust

            They have identified neurons that appear in male worms that don’t appear in hermaphrodite worms. They have also demonstrated that male worms will head towards a mate even if they think it will starve them, while hermaphrodite worms will head away from a mate if they think it will starve them. They have not shown that the first thing is related to the second.

            1. Illocust

              And yes, this hasn’t been replicated, but the study from the articles summary seems to be good.

    8. Male brain is programmed to seek out sex over food

      That’s why I named mine Blood.

    9. Mickey Rat

      I like how the writer switches from the species generic term “male” to species specific term “women” when discussing where these neurons have and have not been found. It wonderfully confuses the fact that the study was only in worms. They have not found this neural structure in women because they have not looked for it in humans as yet and are merely speculating that the same holds true for more complex animals.

      But anything for a controversial headline, right?

    10. gaoxiaen

      Duh

    11. If I recall my dating days correctly, a good meal was sometimes the price for sex. They forgot about the drinks.

  4. …asking a final round of detailed questions about how?not whether?to launch a 2016 presidential campaign.

    You’d think he would know how by now.

    1. Citizen X

      This time around, though, he’s got to determine if he can straight up beat Hillary for the nomination without getting her indicted first.

  5. Rich

    the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address and server is now focused on possible violations of the “gross negligence” subsection of the Espionage Act.

    This can’t be right. The President said Hillary’s mistake did not endanger US security.

    1. WTF

      FAKE. SKANDUL!!!!

    2. Jerryskids

      Keep in mind that the whole point of these fake scandals is really the racist GOP focused on bringing down Obama by tying him to the scandals, so of course Obama is just covering his own ass. Oh wait, I’ve just been informed that the whole point of these fake scandals is really the sexist GOP focused on bringing down Hillary!. Nevermind.

    3. AlexInCT

      I think even the partisan FBI was pissed about that because it then calls into question whatever politically motivated conclusion they put out there whenever they feel people are not paying attention.

      Sad times….

  6. Monty Crisco

    You know, I hadn’t given Ben Carson’s INCREDIBLY CONTROVERSIAL statement that “the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed” any real thought. I thought that was somewhat obvious, but the VEHEMENCY of the outrage on the left to refute this seemingly unmissable reality has got me thinking that the left sees his statement as another extension of the 2A argument and they HAVE TO TRY TO ATTACK IT. Goddamn, have you seen the articles assailing him and this statement? From the NYT courtesy of History Professor Alan E. Steinweis:

    “Ben Carson’s statements about gun control are difficult to fathom?.The Jews of Germany constituted less than 1 percent of the country’s population. It is preposterous to argue that the possession of firearms would have enabled them to mount resistance against a systematic program of persecution implemented by a modern bureaucracy, enforced by a well-armed police state, and either supported or tolerated by the majority of the German population.”

    REALLY?!?! “PREPOSTEROUS”?!?! Just to “mount resistance”?!? For a history professor, he seems to have no knowledge whatsoever of the Bielski partisans?

    1. Monty Crisco

      “The failure of Jews to mount an effective defense against the Waffen-SS in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 provides a good example of what happens when ordinary citizens with small arms go up against a well-equipped force.”

      First off, this guy has already stated that the Jews did not have easy access to ANY weaponry, including swords. So what is his basis for attributing “small arms” to the Warsaw ghetto denizens?
      Yes, yes, the failure of a bunch of untrained and unarmed citizens forcibly confined to an easily surrounded and enclosed area to overcome the most elite forces of a massive military juggernaut is proof that resistance of any kind against murderous tyranny is utterly pointless.

      Seriously, this is the guy making asinine statements, not Ben Carson. This is maybe the stupidest thing I have ever heard, outside of the fever dreams of that fucking idiot PB?

      This really is how the left thinks?

      “If the United States is going to arrive at a workable compromise solution to its gun problem, it will not be accomplished through the use of historical analogies that are false, silly and insulting.”

      Who is really being silly here?

      1. The 2A is about hunting, nothing more.

        1. Citizen X

          With muskets, don’t forget.

          1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

            Nobody needs a Ky Long Rifle!

            1. Restoras

              That’s what she said?

              1. Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper

                So guns are icky, dangerous AND sexist.

                BAN THEM NOW!

                1. gaoxiaen

                  I want a BAR in case the police try to infringe on my 2A rights. Death to tyrants.

        2. robc

          Hunting tyrants is still hunting.

          1. Elspeth Flashman

            Right – tools of all types can be used for many things, not just their intended purpose.

          2. gaoxiaen

            But much more fun.

      2. wareagle

        and here we go again – a “workable compromise” solution. I wonder who is being expected to compromise and enter ‘workable’ as the newest weasel word, along with “reasonable” and “common sense” in a pre-emptive effort to paint anyone who disagrees with the speaker as some crazed gun-fetishist looking for the right opportunity to strike.

      3. Suthenboy

        Monty, the gun grabbers lie. Every single thing out of their fucking mouths is a lie, is intended to deceive in some way. They are incapable of telling the truth because the truth runs exactly counter to their goals.

        1. ant1sthenes

          We should always treat gun grabbers like a girl should treat a creepy guy who constantly tries to convince her she shouldn’t have pepper spray. A) Make sure you have some, B) make sure you get some more, and C) watch that fucker like a hawk.

      4. The “well-armed and organized military forces can kick your ass” is a weird argument.
        There are two ways I can respond:

        1. Being a total pussy and fearing inevitable defeat, I should just knuckle under to the ruling Party.

        2. I need bigger guns.

        1. straffinrun

          3. You need friends in the military who would turn the guns on govt thugs.

          I prefer 2 and 3 together.

          1. wareagle

            the part of this causes the left to sputter and stammer is when #3 is turned back on them: do you really believe that soldiers are going to willingly start gunning down fellow Americans?

            I’m not sure all cops and federal agents would do it, but I am almost positive military folks would have some resistance to it.

            1. straffinrun

              Not gunning down fellow Americans is a good thing, but would they turn their guns on those in their ranks who would?

              1. Restoras

                Or just frag the officers giving the orders to open fire?

              2. robc

                1861-65 suggests yes.

                Speaking of bad historical analogies.

            2. CatoTheChipper

              The events of July 1932 demonstrate that the US military will obey orders to kill non-violent citizens who refuse to comply with the State’s demands, even veterans. (Bonus Army)

              The events of May 1970 demonstrate that the US military will obey orders to kill non-violent citizens who refuse to comply with the State’s demands. (Kent State)

              The events of April 1993 demonstrate that the US military will obey orders to kill citizens who actively resist the State’s initiation of violence. (Branch Davidians)

              I’m sure there are many other examples.

              1. Esequiel Hern?ndez

        2. The same argument was posited by my lefty sister on Facebook. I asked if that is her argument for the legitimacy of the state: why bother? They will kill you if you resist. She cut me off after that.

          It did shorten my Christmas card list. Could it be that I was looking for that at least in my subconscious? Only The Shadow knows.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly

            I like to use the analogy of houses on the street. If all the other homes decide to come get your stuff, have you no right to defend yourself with arms?

            History is but about attacks on villages, castles and kingdoms. Has anyone learned anything from Lord of the Rings which is a good analogy of human warfare?

          2. wareagle

            I am coming to believe that the true value of FB is that it is a vehicle for distinguishing between actual friends and people you know but have no need for any more.

        3. The Last American Hero

          Using lefty logic, why should a victim resist a rapist? After all, the rapist is typically larger, stronger, armed and usually has the element of surprise. Might as well lie back and think of England, according to lefty-land.

          And of course, guns are the great equalizer when it comes to negating some of those advantages possessed by the attacker.

        4. gaoxiaen

          Or artillery.

      5. Restoras

        Freedom is scary to these people. They’d rather live under authoritarian rule than have to a) take responsibility for themselves, and b) have to deal with the random ‘unfairness’ that life constantly hands – everyone.

        They are all just the biggest bunch of pussies and wimps you’ll ever meet.

        1. Lee G

          Exactly this. Random uncertainty frightens the shit out of them. They would rather line up and die in an orderly fashion than deal with it.

      6. Old Man With Candy

        Even if ultimately defeated, I would want to die knowing I took a bunch of them out first. It’s better than going along meekly and powerlessly to the ovens.

        1. And just think, if the Jews were well armed prior to the Kristallnacht, even though the German state had the power to crush them or any other singular group, it may have changed their mental calculus and prevented the Holocaust from playing out like it did in the first place. But we’ll never know. We can never be sure how many massacres and democides have been avoided because the American people are heavily armed.

          1. Old Man With Candy

            Jews with guns is the deepest fear of the people whom the Left hates most. Ironic, but there it is.

          2. Notorious UGCC

            This leads into John’s point, in that the oppressive government won’t necessarily be able to start by unleashing the army. It starts out by having bands of untrained thugs – a party militia, for example – attacking people in the target group. These thugs are a lot easier to resist than professional troops.

            Or the government simply incites private violence and denies the target group protection against that violence. Thus criminals get the message that the target group is easy pickings.

            Civilian resistance can make a difference in either of these situations.

      7. Zeb

        How the fuck is it insulting to suggest that a group of people might have been able to defend themselves (even if it wouldn’t ultimately be effective) instead of just being herded into murder camps like animals had they had access to more arms?

        1. robc

          Men with “assault” rifles dont walk meekly into the gas chamber. They may still die, but it will be a fight.

        2. lap83

          Progs are insulted by the implication that they have something in common with Nazis

          1. Citizen X

            If the jackboot fits…

          2. CatoTheChipper

            It’s not an implication: it’s a fact.

            Most progs are, because of their childhood indoctrination, nationalists in the sense that they identify with their nation. They are also, of course, socialists, but are content to have a bunch of cronies owning industries that are controlled by the state’s industrial policy. This is called national socialism. Of course there is a difference: proggies pay lip service to democracy, which the NSDAP rejected in favor of the fuhrerprinzip. Of course, when their guy is in office, they operate under the principle of the fuhrerprinzip when they use “pen and phone” to usurp democratically elected legislatures.

            1. WTF

              Yet they are the first to call political opponents “fascists”.

              1. CatoTheChipper

                That is because most progressives are ignorant of both history and their own political ideology. Their political beliefs are formed by indoctrination and propaganda, and are merely learned responses rather than reasoned conclusions.

          3. Zeb

            Even though many of their most central policies are in common with Nazis. Minus the racist nationalism, genocide, authoritarian rule and extreme militarism, they weren’t so different from American Progressives.

            1. Mickey Rat

              Considering how much Obama does through executive orders and bureaucratic diktat and has been applauded for in that regard, I do not think they deserve a pass on authoritarian rule.

              1. Zeb

                They don’t get a pass. But we don’t have a dictator at this point. Let’s keep a little perspective.

            2. CatoTheChipper

              NSDAP was extreme progressivism. So extreme that it was of a different kind.

              Progressives are nationalistic, but in a different and less outrageous way than the NSDAP. Their arguments for R2P, “national interests”, and similar bullshit are so much nicer than the lebensraum argument.

              Most progressives approve of US military outposts dotting the planet, vast military expenditures, and military interventions that sow death and destruction and reap chaos and misery as long as they’re initiated by one of their guys. But its military sells itself as a nice military that only wants to make everybody safe.

              Progressives are also racist. But the difference in magnitude of progressive racism and NSDAP racism is a difference in kind, and NSDAP racism was infinitely worse.

              Progressives are also cool when their guys usurp the legislature and the law to advance a progressive agendum. That’s pretty much the definition of authoritarian. Here, too, the difference in magnitude is a difference in kind in most aspects of state authority. Progressives only want to restrict speech, religions, and assemblies that it regards as hateful or politically incorrect. It would never restrict good, progressive institutions.

      8. Brett L

        The solution is obiously private ownership of crew-serviced weapons.

        1. gaoxiaen

          +1 BAR

        2. I can recall some crew-serviced weapons. They were only really dangerous to the crew.

          Now crew served weapons…

          (and a BAR isn’t one of them)

      9. The Shrubber's Woodchipper

        More guns = more killings. How many German Nazis would have died if there wasn’t common sense gun control in 1930’s Germany? Gun control saves lives. QED.

      10. Rasilio

        Hmm, so I wonder if there are any other parallels we could draw from out there?

        Maybe something contemporary? In the middle east maybe? Are there any movements that started of as small groups of lightly armed civilians standing up against a well armed military force?

        I Swear I‘ve Seen something like this recently.

        1. Jerryskids

          The Israelis seem to be doing a terrible job of taking care of that Palestinian problem as well.

          1. Imagine if 500 years ago, a demographic group not in a position of power started going around stabbing men, women and children of the in-power group. They’re whole society would be wiped off the earth wholesale. The Palestinians are quite fortunate that their “oppressors” are bound by a popular moral philosophy (western) far more liberal than theirs.

            1. Slumbrew

              “The Israelis seem to be doing a terrible job of taking care of that Palestinian problem as well.”

              Are you suggesting that Israelis haven’t slaughtered the Palestinians wholesale because the Palestinians are armed?

              As opposed to what FS suggests – the Israelis are morally opposed to doing such a thing, but physically capable of doing so.

              1. Are you suggesting that Israelis haven’t slaughtered the Palestinians wholesale because the Palestinians are armed?

                No. If you’d bother to read the last sentence of my post you’d see why I argue the Israelis haven’t wiped out the Palestinians wholesale.

                1. Slumbrew

                  I was responding to Jerryskids – trying to, at any rate. We’re in agreement, FS.

          2. Imagine if 500 years ago, a demographic group not in a position of power started going around stabbing men, women and children of the in-power group because some religious figure told them to. They’re whole society would be wiped off the earth wholesale. The Palestinians are quite fortunate that their “oppressors” are bound by a popular moral philosophy (western) far more liberal and tolerant than theirs.

            1. skwerels!

      11. perlchpr

        Yes, yes, the failure of a bunch of untrained and unarmed citizens forcibly confined to an easily surrounded and enclosed area to overcome the most elite forces of a massive military juggernaut is proof that resistance of any kind against murderous tyranny is utterly pointless.

        And at that, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising held off the Nazis longer than the Polish Army did.

        1. CatoTheChipper

          There is another historical example that actually demonstrates the effectiveness of lightly armed European Jews in opposition to a hostile state.

          An impoverished remnant of surviving European Jews emigrated to British Palestine after the war. They joined up with a minority of Jews who already resided in Palestine. This lightly armed Jewish minority defeated the battle-hardened army of the British Empire as well as the hostile Muslim majority to form the nation of Israel.

          Disputations about the legitimacy of this action aside, this historical fact demonstrates to potential of lightly armed European Jews in opposition to the state whereas the the historical fact of the Holocaust demonstrates what actually happened to disarmed European Jews.

    2. WTF

      The Narrative must be defended at all costs, comrade.

      1. Monty Crisco

        You ain’t kiddin’, WTF.

        From Wikipedia:
        “On 18 January 1943, the Germans began their second deportation of the Jews, which led to the first instance of armed insurgency within the Ghetto. While Jewish families hid in their so-called “bunkers”, fighters of the ?ZW, joined by elements of the ?OB, resisted, engaging the Germans in direct clashes.[40] Though the ?ZW and ?OB suffered heavy losses (including some of their leaders), the Germans also took casualties, and the deportation was halted within a few days. Only 5,000 Jews were removed, instead of the 8,000 planned by Globocnik. Hundreds of people in the Warsaw ghetto were ready to fight, adults and children, sparsely armed with handguns, gasoline bottles, and a few other weapons that had been smuggled into the Ghetto by resistance fighters.”

        That sounds like they didn’t have many weapons, but that they DID, in fact manage to “mount resistance”.

        Hmmm, history professor on the left seeks to use disingenuous, ahistorical argument to promote political agenda of the left. I wonder if any academics in Germany in the 30’s did that?

        1. Suthenboy

          Not just Germany. The west, including the US, was just as full of the lying motherfuckers then as it is now.

          1. No, we actually inherited a great deal of the fascist academia and intelligentsia after the war. They merged with the American left in what would be a fruitful partnership. The progressive brand was a natural fit for the exiled fascists.

        2. Zeb

          And since most of them were going to be murdered in any case, it’s not as if they had anything to lose by fighting, even if it was doomed to fail ultimately. It’s not as if peacefully going along would have made the outcome better. Even in a hopeless situation, a lot of people will fight. And good for them.

          1. perlchpr

            I think a hopeless situation will make more people fight. There’s nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose.

        3. Mr Lizard

          I’m sure the proggies will be sorting out that Wikipedia entry in short order. Thanks for pointing out that oversight you bitter mysoginst, free range, clinger

    3. Uh, I’d rather die killing as many SS bastards as possible rather than be subjected to a concentration camp. It’s more dignified.

      1. RBS

        Well, that is the other part they can’t understand.

        1. Restoras

          So much this.

      2. gimmeasammich

        I visited Dachau a little over a month ago. Seeing the fake “brausebad,” the ovens, and the gate with the words “Arbeit Mach Frei” over the top was quite a reminder about the past. I would do whatever I could do stay the hell out of one of those.

    4. Jordan

      Didn’t the Iraqi resistance number about 1% of the country’s population? They managed to fight us to a stalemate.

      1. Only because the US military was constrained by rules of engagement.

        1. Jordan

          I don’t think going scorched earth on a country of 20 million would turn out well for us.

          Regardless, it doesn’t matter. If personal arms are only affective against an army constrained by rules of engagement, that’s good enough for me.

          1. Restoras

            The Afghans outlasted the Russians, despite (I imagine) taking heavy losses in fighters and non-fighters, and when going against an enemy not constrained by morality.

          2. Old Man With Candy

            It would turn out worse for them.

            1. Restoras

              OMWC – you are correct but at least they kicked the Russians out before turning on themselves.

              1. Old Man With Candy

                We seem to have been unable to learn from the Russians.

                1. Brett L

                  Or the British or the Macedonians or the Persians.

                  1. CatoTheChipper

                    Sure, but those guys were pussies.

                    The Arab caliphate conquered Afghanistan and forced its inhabitants to submit to Islam.

                    Genghis Khan conquered Afghanistan and let it remain under Islam in the Mongolian Empire.

                    Tamerlane conquered Afghanistan and established the Mughal Empire.

                    Of course, these were the bloodiest sons of bitches in history, and Afghanistan is now populated with their descendants. Well, them and the Pashtuns. So it is no wonder that Afghanistan has been the graveyard of empires.

          3. Monty Crisco

            The SS eventually “defeated” the Warsaw Uprising by essentially burning the entire ghetto to the ground. The jews, with almost NO WEAPONRY outside of a few handguns, weapons they could scavenge off of dead Germans, and firebombs, brought the Werhmacht to a month-long standstill. One of the commanders was just going to bomb the entire ghetto flat, but then another figured it would be more “efficient” to just get a massive conflagration going with their flamethrowers….

    5. Rufus J. Firefly

      Soooo. If the Kurds weren’t armed….do the math.

      1. In an alternate universe: “If the Kurds were armed, it couldn’t have prevented an ISIS takeover and genocide of their people. That’s offensive of you to say!”

    6. Just say Nikki

      got me thinking that the left sees his statement as another extension of the 2A argument and they HAVE TO TRY TO ATTACK IT

      I don’t think it’s so much about the 2A, because this is a longstanding international issue with respect to the Holocaust specifically. I think most people just see it as cruelly blaming the victim and can’t handle anything that suggests the Jews did anything wrong.

      1. Monty Crisco

        Yeah, but that is not what Carson is saying. He is not blaming the Jews, and he is not saying it is their fault that they weren’t armed (after all, Hitler saw to that). He is saying that things would have been different if they had been able to get arms, and – a la the Bielski partisans- I believe that is absolutely undeniable.

        1. Just say Nikki

          I know Carson’s not blaming the Jews, but it’s been a touchy subject for decades.

          1. Old Man With Candy

            What’s disturbing to me is how many of my relatives (and American Jews in general) are virulently anti-gun, despite so much of our families being wiped out.

            I got into an argument with my sister a couple years ago- she was visiting me in Texas (she lives near Baltimore) and was whining about how many people were armed. I pointed out that Austin was double the size of Baltimore, and the number of people shot in street crimes in a year was lower than the number of people shot in street crimes the previous weekend in Baltimore.

            It was a quiet dinner after that.

            1. Monty Crisco

              You should have pointed out that it was all those damn Republicans in control of Baltimore for so many years and all their conservative public policies that have caused all that violence in “Charm City”.

              1. Old Man With Candy

                I did point out the difference in the gun laws between the two cities…

            2. Rhywun

              NYC’s crime rate is not much higher than Austin’s.

              I think appeals to self-defense and natural rights are better than looking at crime statistics – which seem more affected to me by culture than by gun laws.

              Just sayin’.

              1. Old Man With Candy

                I limited my comments to street shootings.

          2. Monty Crisco

            The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is actually an amazing story of resistance when you consider the jews had no weaponry, no area to fall back to, and were going up against the toughest troops of the Wehrmacht. I think a healthy culture of gun ownership would have resulted in many similar encounters for the Germans with very different results.

            Say what you will, the Jews have learned that lesson. The American left, not so much.

            1. Old Man With Candy

              Say what you will, the Jews have learned that lesson.

              Israelis, yes. American Jews, not so much.

              1. Monty Crisco

                Yah, my bad. That is what I meant.

    7. Mesteve

      Guerrilla warfare has proven exceptionally effective against military super powers throughout human history.

    8. Homple

      Some years back I remarked offhandedly to a couple of my liberal friends that, had European Jewish families in the1930s been as well armed as rural Texas families at that time, there wouldn’t been much of a holocaust. They reacted as if I had suggested barbecuing their dog.

      I always wondered why they got so upset; i think Monty Crisco might have explained it.

    9. The Shrubber's Woodchipper

      They are arguing the right to self defense is negated by there desire for gun control legislation. Even if your government refuses to protect you or are actively trying to exterminate you, it is more important that your access to weapons is curtailed.

    10. EMD

      So … why bother? Just take your Zyklon B and shut up!

  7. Mike M.

    Jeb Bush cuts back on costs amid fears over his fund-raising ability.

    Former Republican presidential front-runner Jeb Bush is belt-tightening his campaign, as his staff continues to reassure its financial supporters amid a slide in national polls.

    Bush has switched from private jets to commercial flights in at least some situations, and has initiated a new round of cognizance that the millions of dollars he and his political action committee has raised be spent more frugally.

    The shift is intended to reassure Bush’s donors and fund-raisers that their support is appreciated and not being wasted on ‘extravagances’, according to Politico.

    It’ll all be over soon, Weigel.

    1. DJF

      He needs to save money so he can follow his true passion and become President of Mexico.

  8. Lord Humungus

    Peeing at Saskatchewan legislature disgraceful: Sergeant-at-arms

    Patrick Shaw, who is also head of security at the Saskatchewan legislature, says three party bus companies have been pulling up in front of the building late at night and allowing people to pee on it.

    Shaw says the first time it was caught on camera was about four years ago and he was shocked.

    The leaking has continued and Shaw says the bus company owners “don’t seem to care,” despite repeated requests to stop.

    “We’ve been met with kind of a jocular attitude, saying: ‘What can we do?”‘ Shaw said Wednesday.

    1. Citizen X

      Sic semper tyrannis.

      1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

        In urino veritas.

        1. Citizen X

          Sorry, i don’t speak Latin. “Sic semper tyrannis” is the only phrase i know, and that’s just because it’s on the state flag of Virginia, next to a boobie.

          1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

            And here I was looking forward to calling you an educated man. How am I supposed to really hate you?

            1. Just pay attention to his posts, that will provide you with plenty of reasons to hate.

              1. Citizen X

                It’s hatred all the way down.

            2. Restoras

              “Evidently, Mr. Ringo is an educated man.”

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

              1. Monty Crisco

                Fucking best role of Kilmer’s career…

                1. Brett L

                  Real Genius is obviously superior.

                2. The Last American Hero

                  You clearly have forgotten his turn as the Caped Crusader, Monty.

                  /ducks

            3. Now you’ve got me on wikipedia reading all the old west articles.

            4. Now you’ve got me on wikipedia reading all the old west articles.

              1. Monty Crisco

                Fucking awesome isn’t it? I was just doing that this morning for the Warsaw Ghetto.

                1. Clich? Bandit

                  Uhh are you all forgetting Willow?

                  1. Clich? Bandit

                    And Nikki, I showed my wife that T-Shirt: “I’m too Skeksis for this Shard” I think that will now be my x-mas gift…sweet.

    2. expat

      Somewhere between “absolutely certain” and “you can bet your life on it”

      1. expat

        Damn, wrong thread..

    3. Citizen X

      Now i’m thinking i may start my own party bus company for the express purpose of taking people to pee on government buildings. Lots of asparagus on the complimentary hors d’oeuvres trays, too.

      1. Rich

        “Smells like … victory.”

        1. Elspeth Flashman

          +1 Vietnam, I’m still only in Vietnam.

          1. WTF

            The horror, the horror.

          2. Lord Humungus

            I believe it was: “Saigon… shit; I’m still only in Saigon”

            1. Elspeth Flashman

              Sorry.

  9. gaijin

    the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address

    What are the odds that the ‘scandal’ is cleared up by the FBI, who will find no wrongdoing, just in time for next year’s nominating convention?

    1. Rich

      Pretty good.

      But there’s too much stink for it to go away.

    2. Drake

      If Biden enters the race: 0%

      If Biden doesn’t run: 100%

      1. Homple

        It looks like the Administration is steadily dialing up the pressure to force Hillary out while Biden has wrapped up his to-be-or-not-to-be soliloquy and will announce that he’s running.

        Interesting times ahead.

        1. Tonio

          I’m going to cut Biden some slack on this since he just lost his son to cancer. Campaigning for president is really gruelling even under the best circumstances, and this is not the best of times for him.

          1. jmomls

            *I’m going to cut Biden some slack on this since he just lost his son to cancer. *

            Classic mistake of ascribing human qualities to politicians.

            Biden never seemed to be bothered [e.g., still ran for senate] after his first wife was killed by a drunk driver, so why would this stop him from seeking higher office?

    3. What are the odds that the ‘scandal’ is cleared up by the FBI, who will find no wrongdoing, just in time for next year’s nominating convention?

      Zero. There’s an assload of civil FOIA cases looking for her email, also. The FBI and DOJ can’t make those go away.

  10. …is now focused on possible violations of the “gross negligence” subsection of the Espionage Act.

    It would be interesting, after all they did when Bubba was President, if this is what gets them in trouble for espionage.

  11. Lord Humungus

    We read Snooki’s Strong is the New Sexy so you don’t have to

    It’s mildly humorous in parts, painful to read in others. Here are some gems from Strong is the New Sexy.

    “Being too smart is a kind of stupid.”

    “You can’t down a six pack of light beer, and fit into your shorts the next day. So don’t even try.”

    “My taste has evolved, as I have, from trashy to classy.”

    “One day, we’ll buy equipment, but in the meantime, it’s a big empty space, waiting to be filled, like a vagina.” ? on her home gym.

    “I think that the government is totally aware of all this s?t, and keeps it from us so we don’t all hide in our closets all day long.” ? on vampires, mermaids and werewolves.

    1. Aloysious

      I’m angry at myself for knowing what a ‘snooki’ is.

      1. Lord Humungus

        I’m angry at myself for posting this – but here we are.

        1. Aloysious

          At least it wasn’t to schlong.com, so there’s that.

      2. Citizen X

        It’s a type of orc, isn’t it?

        1. Elspeth Flashman

          Yes, you’re right.

  12. Lord Humungus

    Hungary to decide on Croatian border seal-off on Friday

    Hungary will make a decision on Friday on a possible closure of its border with Croatia to stem the flow of migrants, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Brussels, public television M1 reported.

    Orban said he would call a meeting of the national security cabinet early afternoon which would discuss the situation and “make the necessary decisions.”

    Orban’s government has already built a steel fence to shut down the migrant route over Hungary’s southern border with Serbia. Hungary also has in place a border fence along its frontier with Croatia, and Orban said on Thursday that the border could be sealed off “within an hour if necessary”.

    1. Restoras

      Seal, baby, seal!

    2. WTF

      Walls don’t work!!11!!!!!

      1. Rhywun

        Well, Hungary’s fence along the border with Croatia doesn’t work – if the pictures of migrants breaking through it that I saw yesterday are any indication.

        1. WTF

          What do actual statistics say?

          1. Rhywun

            Oh, walls work. Ask East Germany. But what’s up there now along the various frontiers are not “walls”.

            1. Clich? Bandit

              only if you are willing to kill for breach. And even then they leak like sieves.

        2. Jerryskids

          Did Hungary hire illegal immigrant Syrians to build the fence?

    3. lafe.long

      Related:

      George Soros – Investor Criticized by Hungarian Politicians for Comments on Refugee Crisis

      Prime Minister Viktor Orb?n and Hungarian Minister J?nos L?z?r are among the leaders who have criticized Soros, who is a Hungarian-born American, for promoting liberal migrant policies for refugees.

    4. Rhywun

      Wouldn’t it be easier to just bus everyone across to Austria? It’s not like any of them want to stay in Hungary.

  13. Lord Humungus

    Amannnddda!

    The shocking new right-wing revolt: How conservatives, anti-choicers and white supremacists turned on “political correctness”

    “Politically correct” is a phrase conservatives use to demonize liberal efforts to stigmatize open expressions of bigotry. “It may not be politically correct to say so” is the phrase you usually hear right before someone says something overtly racist, sexist, or homophobic. It’s not usually used to refer to Republican efforts to hide the partisan nature of the fake scandals they generate to tarnish the reputations of Democrats and liberals.

    But the use of the phrase was nonetheless telling. For decades now, Republicans have benefitted by nurturing the conservative sense of victimhood, telling conservatives that, if it weren’t for those liberals and their political correctness, they could let loose with whatever vile opinion they secretly hold in their hearts regarding the proper place of women, LGBT folks, and people of color. After being told for that long that being told to hold your tongue is the worst possible oppression that any human being has ever faced, it makes sense that some conservatives are going to start chafing under Republican demands for self-censorship.

    1. Lee G

      demonize liberal efforts to stigmatize open expressions of bigotry

      If only that were all it was.

      1. Jerryskids

        Stigmatize – from stigmatos, mark of a pointed intrument, puncture, tattoo, brand. I.E., the wounds from having your ass crucified.

        1. Tonio

          They put the nails through the glutes? /totally not trolling Eddie

    2. wareagle

      stigmatizing is only okay when the left tries to do it.

      1. lap83

        I caught that too. They usually use that term in a negative sense to describe other people

    3. Monty Crisco

      “For decades now, Republicans have benefitted by nurturing the conservative sense of victimhood, telling conservatives that, if it weren’t for those liberals and their political correctness, they could let loose with whatever vile opinion they secretly hold in their hearts regarding the proper place of women, LGBT folks, and people of color. ”

      Stay classy, Salon.

      Salon.com- helping white males express their inner self-loathing for a decade….

    4. ant1sthenes

      “It may not be politically correct to say so” is the phrase you usually hear right before someone says something overtly racist, sexist, or homophobic

      Or uses the wrong pronoun, or commits a microaggression, or commits verbal attempted murder by disagreeing with a sinistro-nihilist about something.

      1. “It may not be politically correct to say so” is the phrase you usually hear right before someone says something overtly racist, sexist, or homophobic.

        Or truthful. Don’t forget truthful.

    5. Red Rocks Rockin

      The thing is, her observation has a ring of truth to it, even if she’s not fully aware of the implications.

      Passing laws against racism didn’t end racism, it just made it less mainstream. Most people who are racist don’t suddenly change their mind just because the government or even popular opinion tell them, “You can’t think like that!” Same goes for homophobia or misogyny.

      What has happened is that political correctness has created the “society of emasculated liars” that Theodore Dalrymple discussed. If you think that you’re going to risk losing your livelihood for expressing wrongthink, most people will make the rational decision to suppress those opinions in polite company and let loose in areas where they can remain anonymous without losing their jobs. So when guys with “fuck you” money like Phil Robertson or Donald Trump criticize political correctness, they end up garnering more support than shitlibs like Amanda ever expected. They’ve confused their victories in the Kulturkampf with an overall change in the hearts and minds of individuals, rather than a simple acquiescence by those people to the reality that the elite who have driven these changes aren’t on their side.

    6. lap83

      they could let loose with whatever vile opinion they secretly hold in their hearts regarding the proper place of women, LGBT folks, and people of color.

      I understand being offended by someone, but it’s like they have no ability to cope with it and move on with their life. I can’t help but wonder if something is broken, mentally.

  14. sarcasmic

    Shocking moment two cops wrestle innocent black college freshman to the ground and cuff him after ‘nervous’ woman called police because he opened door for her at a bank

    Jason Goolsby, 18-year-old freshman at University of the District of Columbia, claims he was harassed and assaulted by Washington DC cops
    Video of Goolsby being detained was posted on Twitter Tuesday and quickly went viral, sparking Black Lives Matter protests
    Goolsby was chased down by cops and handcuffed after he was seen loitering by a bank ATM
    The teen, who is black, said he held bank door open for a white woman with a stroller
    It is believed the woman then called 911 saying Goolsby and his two friends made her feel ‘uncomfortable’
    Police later determined Goolsby, a college music major, committed no crime and let him go without a charge

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..s-out.html

    1. Lee G

      I think that qualifies as a racist incident. Fitting that it happened in DC.

      And the comments do not disappoint:

      Running from the police IS a crime. He is not innocent.

      1. Notorious UGCC

        “Running from the police IS a crime.”

        So if the cops decided not to charge him, they ignored criminal behavior committed in their presence? Doesn’t sound all that likely.

    2. Brett L

      Fucking DC racists. They probably want to keep Dan Snyder’s team name the same.

      1. Monty Crisco

        EXACTLY THIS!!! Everybody knows that RACIST republicans outnumber democrats in DC by, like, 13 to 1!!!!

    3. Juvenile Bluster

      Wait, she called 911 because somebody made her feel “uncomfortable”? Really? Isn’t that a pretty bad abuse of the 911 system?

      1. straffinrun

        The bank needs to put in a “safe space”.

      2. Zeb

        Yeah, how come they didn’t arrest her?

        1. Probably the same reason well-dressed and/or nice-looking white females don’t get traffic tickets as much as everyone else.

    4. Rufus J. Firefly

      The comments are awful. At least getting thumb downed.

    5. The Last American Hero

      A music major? I think I know how this ends.

      1. CatoTheChipper

        Aspiring rapper.

        Free college tuition for all!!!!

    6. Rhywun

      Another reason not to hold doors open for women.

  15. sarcasmic

    ‘Officer, what are you doing?’: Cop shoots dead unarmed 17-year-old driving back from church basketball game after teen flashed his lights to signal fault with patrol car

    Deven Guilford, 17, was pulled over by Sgt Jonathan Frost in February
    He had flashed the deputy because he believed his car beams were on
    During traffic stop, Guilford ‘refused to co-operate with officer’s orders’
    This led to altercation, during which teen was fatally shot seven times
    Now, relatives have filed suit against Frost and Eaton County, Michigan
    Comes four months after the officer was cleared of criminal wrongdoing
    Moments leading up to shooting on M-43 filmed on Frost’s body camera

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..s-him.html
    Meh. He’s white. And Christian. Who cares.

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      Posted this yesterday.

      I think I have outrage fatigue again. I don’t even get mad anymore, I just shake my head sadly. It’s the same story, we all know what will happen, no sense in pretending it’ll go differently this time.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly

        But that is particularly evil.

        Cops are cowards when they do shit like that.

        1. ant1sthenes

          And we’re cowards for not hunting them down and making our communities safer. So it goes.

    2. Lee G

      Sounds like an HNR regular

      There’s a reason that kid was being so difficult. Scared kids are not born with a penchant for resisting police. Why was he on his phone….who was coaching him to resist on that phone? Someone close to him was either telling him to resist or his parents are like that. Poor kid…..he knew he was in trouble because he didnt have a license with him. Kid who acts like that….whiny and trying to get his way and being difficult….it obviously worked for him somewhere but not in the real world.

      1. Citizen X

        I’m not normally a vengeful person, but i’d not shed a tear if that commenter were to be the victim of a wrong-door no knock raid, get tazed, and shit themselves in front of their kids.

        1. Lee G

          Virginia_Girl, Williamsburg, United States, 36 minutes ago
          So many deaths or injuries would not happen if people just do what the police tell them to do. I am sorry they lost their son but maybe they should have told him to be polite and obey the police.

          From my town. I’m so proud.

          1. Citizen X

            I wonder if she’s ever left Ford’s Colony.

            1. Lee G

              lol

              Xeones, I presume.

              1. Citizen X

                You are correct, sir.

          2. Idle Hands

            Busch Gardens is better than Kings Dominion.

            1. Citizen X

              Amen.

          3. So PapaySF is a chick from Williamsburg?

      2. Brett L

        I always read these comments as: “I am a good party member! There is no ungoodthink in my mind! Big Brother is always first in my heart!”

    3. Apparently he had been watching YouTube videos of encounters where police overstep their bounds and become violent. That’s why he was filming, most likely.

      The shooter was driving an SUV possibly with its headlights misaligned. This was the second stop he had made that night because he didn’t like people flashing their lights at him to dim his high beams.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        I thought I read it was the third stop. Not like it matters, because there shouldn’t have been one, because it’s not fucking illegal to flash your high beams at someone.

        1. Lee G

          IT’S DISRESPECTFUL TO THE OFFICER. STUPID KIDS SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

          /Tulpa

      2. Lee G

        Notice how there is no option to let the “suspect” escape? Record his tags and follow him home with another officer if necessary?

        They simply cannot accept any response other than full and complete submission or they will perform an on-site execution.

        If the family put a hit on the officer, I would shed no tears.

        1. I hope that we find out what that cop did to his forehead after he murdered the kid.

          1. WTF

            Convenient the point at which the cop’s body camera footage cut out, no?

        2. CatoTheChipper

          If I were on the jury, I’d acquit or at least get a mistrial.

  16. Lord Humungus

    Obama’s Comments on Clinton Emails Collide With F.B.I. Inquiry

    Investigators have not reached any conclusions about whether the information on the server had been compromised or whether to recommend charges, according to the law enforcement officials. But to investigators, it sounded as if Mr. Obama had already decided the answers to their questions and cleared anyone involved of wrongdoing.

    The White House quickly backed off the president’s remarks and said Mr. Obama was not trying to influence the investigation. But his comments spread quickly, raising the ire of officials who saw an instance of the president trying to influence the outcome of a continuing investigation ? and not for the first time.

    A spokesman for the F.B.I. declined to comment. But Ron Hosko, a former senior F.B.I. official who retired in 2014 and is now the president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, said it was inappropriate for the president to “suggest what side of the investigation he is on” when the F.B.I. is still investigating.

    1. Rich

      Hosko … said it was inappropriate for the president to “suggest what side of the investigation he is on” when the F.B.I. is still investigating.

      Hosko is currently under investigation by the IRS.

    2. straffinrun

      I love the pic the Times choose to use for that. What is she a medusa? Don’t meet her eyes, just follow the shadow.”

      1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

        She is the anti-medusa. If you look her in the eyes, you will never get hard as stone again.

    3. Illocust

      Huh, so Obama has pissed the F.B.I. off. That’s not going to spell good things for him. He’s too lame duck to replace the head of their organization, and there are too many bodies lying around.

  17. Lord Humungus

    Well good…

    America’s cities are doomed: New York could be unlivable in a matter of decades
    An alarming new study finds hundreds of major metropolises along the Eastern seaboard are already beyond saving

    An alarming new study has found that, no matter what we do to fight climate change, it is already too late for more than 400 U.S. cities ? including Miami and New Orleans ? which will be overcome by rising sea levels caused by anthropogenic climate change. Under a worst-case scenario, New York could be unlivable by the year 2085. Most of the population in those cities live within five feet of the current high tide line.

    “Some of this could happen as early as next century,” said lead author Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central, a nonprofit climate news organization with offices in New York and Princeton, New Jersey. “But it might also take many centuries,” he added. “Just think of a pile of ice in a warm room. You know it is going to melt, but it is harder to say how quickly.”

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      Wake me up when a single one of these doomsday predictions turns out to be right.

    2. wareagle

      what’s the level after parody because that’s where this has gone.

    3. Brett L

      Wat? Somehow the Dutch overcame this problem with 16th century technologies. I’m thinking pumps and levies work fine. New Orleans also already deals with being below sea level.

      1. Zeb

        Or move. We have a lot more land than the Dutch. Sometimes cities die. Why should everyone int eh US be forced to subsidize the continued existence of a place like New Orleans?

        Sea levels, river courses and coastlines have all changed a lot during human history. One way or another we adapt very well to changes.

        1. Jerryskids

          Back when the only way to transport things in bulk was by water it made sense that ports would become the center of industry and commerce. Today you don’t necessarily need centralized production and distribution for a lot of things so there’s really no reason for many cities to exist at all. The “tragedy” of dying cities isn’t really a tragedy except for the parasite classes that feed on the wealth and power of the government.

          Sure, it’s nice to have all those nice things cities provide like professional sports, museums and zoos, opera and theater, mass transit and megamalls – except that the only reason that stuff is affordable is because you’re stealing a little bit of money from a lot of people to pay for it and nobody stops to wonder why the cost of living in the city is higher than in the country when economies of scale should suggest living in the city should be more efficient and therefore cheaper than living in the country.

    4. Lord Humungus

      Even if this was true – this is not beyond an engineering solution.

    5. Lee G

      overcome by rising sea levels caused by anthropogenic anthropomorphic climate change

      FIFY

    6. Mr Lizard

      I’m seeing a whole lot of features in this bug nest

    7. Suthenboy

      Watch for these ‘it’s already too late’ people to get shut the fuck down. If it is already too late then there is no point in carbon taxes etc. and so these people will be sent down the memory hole. You can’t run a scam if there is no chance of escaping doom.

      1. Brett L

        That’s Step 2. Step 1 is to invoke an irrational moral panic. Then it won’t matter that there is no rational reason for Step 2.

    8. Zeb

      “Some of this could happen as early as next century,” … “But it might also take many centuries,”

      IOW, we don’t fucking know.

      “Just think of a pile of ice in a warm room. You know it is going to melt, but it is harder to say how quickly.”

      Because the temperature in a room never changes. And the earth is just like a room.

      1. Brett L

        Evidently, this guy is no chemical engineer. Give me the size and temperature of the ice and the temperature of the room and I’ll get you a hard maximum in 2 minutes. Let me think for a little while and I can probably get you an excellent prediction. (I’d have to think about how much the surface area to volume was likely to change.)

        1. Clich? Bandit

          it IS an integral. I would fail but I know it is easily achievable.

    9. Monty Crisco

      Two hundred years ago, aluminum existed as a very expensive laboratory curiosity. Pure aluminum was a far rarer find than gold or silver, and prices during the 19th century reflected this. Early attempts at extracting aluminum from bauxite proved too laborious or expensive and were mostly nonstarters. Until more efficient extraction procedures were developed, annual US production of aluminum did not exceed about 93 kilograms (3,000 troy ounces). By comparison, US goldmines produced 93,300 kilograms (3 million troy ounces) of gold in 1853.

      Aluminum’s status as the world’s most precious metal attracted the interest of European royalty in search of the most conspicuous and costly modes of consumption. King Christian X of Denmark sported an aluminum crown.

      How was this possible? Aluminum is the 3rd most abundant element on earth so it was never really rare, but elemental aluminum, unlike gold, does not occur in nature and has to be separated. Until relatively recently, extracting aluminum from the bauxite ore in which it naturally occurs was a costly and difficult process. And prior to the advent of efficient chemical and electrical processes to separate aluminum from bauxite in the late 1800s, the shiny, flexible metal was more valuable than gold. Today aluminum has gotten so cheap that we use it for beverage packaging and then throw away the perfectly good refined metal.

      Human ingenuity is THE natural resource!

      1. Zeb

        I’ve been enjoying reading Ron Bailey’s new book. It has a lot of well researched example of that sort of thing in the chapter about “peak everything”.

    10. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

      I was in NYC in 1985, and that place was pretty much unlivable then.

      1. Zeb

        If a place was unlivable, wouldn’t no one live there?

        1. Restoras

          It’s very livable for top 5% and the bottom 5%. For everyone else it’s a struggle, without the benefit of having any nature to enjoy.

          1. Zeb

            I don’t want to live there. I just think it’s funny when people talk about NY as if it is so horrible that no one would want to live there, when the evidence to the contrary is rather strong.

            1. He did say in 1985, when it was very different from what it is now.

              1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

                ^^This, by the end of the Ed Koch era, NYC was a shit-hole.

                1. Zeb

                  Yeah, I know what you meant. But even then it was a major center of just about everything and people wanted or needed to be there.

                2. Lord Humungus

                  +1 Death Wish

                  1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

                    I’m not going back to NYC until Isaac Hayes takes over.

                    1. Slumbrew

                      I did not realize until just this moment that The Duke of New York was Isaac Hayes. It’s clearly been a long time since I’ve watched that.

          2. l0b0t

            Depends upon where one is located. After having kids, we fled Brooklyn (Crown Heights) for Rockaway Beach. We are on the beach, have a garage, a (admittedly tiny) yard, and can still hop on the A train and get to Manhattan in about an hour (I always drive though; the train smells like urine).

          3. I’m just fine with the amount of greenery in NYC.

        2. WTF

          Nobody lives there anymore, it’s too crowded.

    11. SugarFree

      it is already too late for more than 400 U.S. cities

      Then stop fucking whining about it.

    12. lap83

      New York could be unlivable in a matter of decades
      An alarming new study finds hundreds of major metropolises along the Eastern seaboard are already beyond saving

      For a split second I thought this was going to be about the effects of stifling regulations and nannyism. Ha, I’m so naive.

    13. Mr. Flanders

      Sounds good. I’m totally okay with all of these cities being under water – preferably with the people that live there too.

  18. Mike M.

    “Vice President Joe Biden has personally made a series of calls this week to Democratic strategists from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, asking a final round of detailed questions about how?not whether?to launch a 2016 presidential campaign.”

    When in the world did you become such a fucking pussy, Joe? You’ve been dreaming of this your whole life, and Hillary isn’t going away. Just man up and throw those hairplugs into the ring already.

  19. Rich

    While an Ohio man was on electronic monitoring in an abduction case, he had a 14-year-old girl dropped off at his home by taxi, held her captive for months and raped her

    Well, at least he was being monitored.

    Also, *awesome* helmet hair on the perp.

    1. Jordan

      The guy looks like a buzzy beetle from Mario Bros.

      1. Lee G

        That hair…. it’s… it’s… spectacular

        1. Nick Gillespie’s kid?

    2. Drake

      I can call a taxi company to have girls dropped off at my house?

      1. Citizen X

        So THAT’S how Warty makes a living.

        1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

          Warty takes in the girl and the taxi driver.

          /waste not, want not

          1. Citizen X

            Warty’s dungeon hath many rooms…

    3. Brett L

      Jesus. What the fuck. Why aren’t these the people who get shot for failure to obey?

    4. straffinrun

      He was arrested last week in Utah when he tried to run away after giving a fake name to drug task force officers conducting a routine stop at a bus station…

      Great, they caught the sleazebag, but what is this routine stop shit?

      1. WTF

        Papieren, bitte?

        1. Notorious UGCC

          What’s with that “bitte” stuff?

  20. Lord Humungus

    Raid on doctor’s office after possible fetuses found in car – Was he performing illegal abortions?

    Sources confirm 14 containers of human tissue, possibly fetuses, medical equipment and large amounts of Fentanyl, a drug used for pain and sedation, was found in a car owned by the doctor who works as an OB/GYN.

    The case started two weeks ago when the doctor was driving on 14 Mile west of the new roundabout at Orchard Lake.

    He hit a special needs child who was critically injured. Sources say the doctor was not under the influence and obtained a lawyer.

    His car was impounded as the accident was still under investigation.

    1. How can you perform illegal abortions if Abortiin is supposed to be a right? It is like saying someone is performing illegal speeches.

      1. Zeb

        You may have noticed that the law often does not respect rights. And that medicine is heavily regulated and credentialed.

      2. Drake

        Same way I go to jail if the MA cops pull me over and find an empty shell casing in my car.

    2. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

      14 containers of human tissue, medical equipment and large amounts of Fentanyl

      Maybe he was just getting ready to throw a party? Sounds like it’d be a real hoot.

    3. He hit a special needs child who was critically injured.

      Jeebus. Talk about your late term abortions.

      If we’re looking to string him up, having “large amounts of Fentanyl” in your car, even if you are a doctor, is a pretty good start.

  21. Lord Humungus

    Ah… the free market…

    Stocks Rise as Stimulus Bets Spur $4.1 Trillion Gain; Oil Climbs

    European shares rose with Asian stocks, extending a rally that’s added $4.1 trillion to global equities this month, as a run of weaker-than-estimated economic reports from China, Europe and the U.S. boosted speculation central banks will maintain stimulus measures.

    Energy stocks led gains in Europe as oil rebounded after a four-day decline. The Shanghai Composite Index had its best week in four months on optimism China will accelerate reforms of state-owned companies. The dollar strengthened, damping emerging-market currencies, before U.S. reports on consumer sentiment and industrial production. U.S. equity-index futures retreated.

    1. Mike M.

      Still waiting for the “Summery of Recovery” after six years.

    2. straffinrun

      The markets now rise on shitty numbers and fall on good numbers (not that there are many). I understand buying the dip, but this is no dip.

    3. I’ve got a fever. And the only prescription, is more bubbles.

  22. Rich

    Maybe we cannot blame late-night TV, endless Internet surfing, midnight snacks, good books, bothersome work deadlines and other distractions of modern life for encroaching on our sleep. Research unveiled on Thursday showed that people in isolated and technologically primitive African and South American cultures get no more slumber than the rest of us.

    Everything you know is WRONG!

    1. Lee G

      I wouldn’t sleep either if I were worrying about hyenas eating my face.

    2. Slumbrew

      Or maybe it’s just “busy people get less sleep” – the hunger-gatherer lifestyle takes a lot of work, can’t lay in bed until 9. I know I regularly got 8+ hours sleep when I had less on my plate. Just too much to do now.

      1. Slumbrew

        Yeah, plus “hyenas”.

        1. CatoTheChipper

          I wouldn’t get much sleep, either, if I had the type of mattresses, nutrition, booze, temperature control, and insect control that the typical hunger-gatherer has access to.

          Go backpacking in a jungle without any special equipment from REI if you think otherwise.

      2. Slumbrew

        “hunger-gatherer lifestyle”

        That right there is a sweet typo. “hunter-gatherer lifestyle”, obvs.

        1. Brett L

          John, is that you?

        2. Illocust

          I’m using that phrase sometime in the future. It really kills the romanticism of the idea, and I love it.

    3. Old Man With Candy

      Everything you know is WRONG!

      GREAT album. If I were to change to a new handle, it would have to be Nino the Great Mind Boggler.

    4. Zeb

      Seems like the wrong thing to compare to. There are lots of other reasons why a hunter-gatherer might also get less sleep than someone from, say, 18th century America.

      My guess would be that people without electric light and modern tech doo-dads would sleep earlier and wake later. And probably sleep a bit more in the winter. But probably not sleep for significantly more hours on average.

    5. lap83

      I think all of our unemployed might skew the average

  23. Lord Humungus

    Democrats’ 2016 strategy assumes America is lurching left. Are they wrong?

    One is that ? as was true in the Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush eras ? America remains a basically center-right nation, and Democrats cannot win nationally unless they are centrists. Obama’s electoral success, in this view, is mostly a combination of luck ? as in, he benefited from exasperation over George W. Bush, the timing of the financial crisis, and Mitt Romney’s missteps ? and his outstanding political skills. America may be trending leftward, but not that much, and not that quickly. Obama’s inability to govern once he lost his 2008-2010 Congressional supermajority shows that.

    1. Lord Humungus

      The competing narrative says that America really is becoming a much more progressive nation. The increasing secularization, or at least unchurching, of the U.S. makes America’s middle much more friendly to progressive social issues ? witness the stunning success of the same-sex marriage movement. The uncertainties associated with globalization and technological change, and the increasing atomization of American society, increase the demand for a safety net. The 2012 election, after all, was basically about ObamaCare, and Obama won. In this view, America’s changing demographic mix is creating an emerging majority “rainbow coalition” even as Republicans are locked in a deadly vicious cycle of relying evermore on supermajorities of the shrinking white vote to remain competitive nationally, turning off everyone else in the process. Obama really was a “New Reagan,” a figure who not only won political successes for himself, but also changed the political balance of power for the country.

      1. The 2012 election, after all, was basically about ObamaCare, and Obama won

        Sure, he won. Just like when a kid receives a D and says “I passed.” Obama won and yet lost the Congress yes again and part of the Senate. Then he lost the Senate in 2014.

      2. Citizen X

        Or maybe… politics is far more complicated than a left vs. right narrative could ever hope to model? Naw, that can’t be it.

    2. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

      ? and his outstanding political skills

      Did somebody actually use that fucking phrase? Because I’ve yet to see any evidence of ANY political skills.

      I’m all on board with the ‘luck’ portion of the equation, though.

    3. EMD

      “Obama’s electoral success, in this view, is mostly a combination of luck ”

      And great combination skin.

  24. Rich

    “An Act To Authorize the Carrying of Concealed Handguns without a Permit,” allows a person who is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm to carry a concealed handgun in the State of Maine without a permit.

    Anybody from Down East care to comment?

    1. Restoras

      Nobody lives in Maine anymore, except sarcasmic.

    2. Zeb

      Sarcasmic has mentioned that a few times. Good for Maine. If we didn’t have such a shitty governor in NH, we’d have the same deal by now.

      1. lafe.long

        NH needs to catch up to its neighbors on both sides.

    3. Places to move:

      1(t). Wyoming
      1(t). Maine
      3. Alaska

      1. AZ has “constitutional carry”, also. You can get a permit if you want. I have one, because with a permit I get FF&C for my CCW in NM and TX (where I drive, and want to be strapped while doing so).

  25. Jerryskids

    Probably already linked, posssibly upthread: Top French meteoroligist suspended for claiming global warming proponents suppress disssent.

    His outspoken views led France 2 to take him off the air starting this Monday. “I received a letter telling me not to come. I’m in shock,” he told RTL radio. “This is a direct extension of what I say in my book, namely that any contrary views must be eliminated.”

    If you mention extortion again, I’ll have your legs broken.

    1. I guess irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

      1. “It’s like Alanis and O’Henry had a baby and named it this exact situation.”

        1. Slumbrew

          God, I hope that show can pull out of its nosedive. Given Reed’s past-performance, I’m not optimistic – I’m looking at you, ‘Sealab 2021’

          1. Bobarian (Would Chip Her)

            This last season was a return to form, in my opinion.

            And the death of Harry Goz really hurt SL2021.

            1. Slumbrew

              “This last season was a return to form, in my opinion.”

              Huh, I may have to re-watch – I just remember thinking the jokes had gone to single-entendre (“look, my dick has actually gotten larger” type stuff).

              And, yeah, losing Goz hurt, but the last few episodes were just cringeworthy.

        2. EMD

          Alanis doesn’t know shit about irony.

          Also, Canadian.

    2. Illocust

      Damn, poor guy. Doubt his stand will do anything to change the true believers minds, but it should make great publicity for his book. He’ll probably get to retire fat, rich, and happy.

      1. Brett L

        Yes. I’m sure he’ll cry himself to sleep at night on huge piles of money.

    3. Zeb

      As far as the article says, he doesn’t seem to even be a “denier”. He’s just critical of some of the methods and the politics surrounding the issue.

    4. lafe.long

      Related:

      Freeman Dyson: Physicist Says President Obama ‘Chose the Wrong Side’ in Climate Change Debate

      Dyson said climate change “is not a scientific mystery but a human mystery. How does it happen that a whole generation of scientific experts is blind to obvious facts?” The Register reports.

      1. Jerryskids

        I saw that the other day and my only thought was “you poor, dumb, naive bastard. You really think just because you’re Freeman Dyson that you’re allowed to speak the truth, that that’s going to save your ass from the lynch mob? You just stuck the gun in your mouth and pulled the trigger.”

        1. lafe.long

          Of course… here’s Ann Reid* at HuffPo to tell Dyson why he’s wrong:

          Actually, tens of thousands of scientists, from multiple disciplines, in a vast number of studies spanning decades, have combined all their data and come to the conclusion — disturbing as it is — that the climate is definitely warming, that CO2 emissions from human activities are responsible, and that the consequences are likely to be both serious and increasingly difficult to prevent the longer action is delayed.

          *Ann Reid became the executive director of the National Center for Science Education in 2014.

        2. If the SJW hordes go after Dyson, his name recognition in the SF community might pull the Sad Puppies et al. and the Gamergaters over to brawl with the CAGW eco-goons.

          Which would be epic.

      2. Clich? Bandit

        His name is also in the news due to the possible discovery of a Dyson Sphere around a distant start. 1500 LYs away. Google kic8462852. I don’t think it is but hey, can’t rule it out yet.

  26. Lord Humungus

    Introducing The ‘Democratic Socialist’ Party
    Bernie Sanders is an extremist. So why do so many people in the Democratic Party sound just like him?

    In practice, of course, there’s not any difference between a Democratic Socialist and a Progressive Democrat ? Hillary’s preferred designation these days ? other than, perhaps, the speed at which one wants to work. (Ask her to explain the difference.) Sanders likes to stress the distinction between a Democratic Socialist and your commonplace authoritarian. But state coercion against individuals, even with the blessing of a majority, is still state coercion. Controlling the means of production, even if you attempt to achieve your goal with a combination of punitive taxation, fees, regulatory schemes, cronyism, and executive action, is still controlling the means of production.

    I’m not arguing that we’re there yet. We’re certainly not. But I’m asking: where does the Democratic Party end up on this ideological trajectory? At some point people are going to expect your policies to match your rhetoric.

    1. Old Man With Candy

      My wife saw him for the first time this week when we played the Debate Drinking Game. “Utterly humorless, what an awful way to be, he would delight in crushing anyone who disagreed with him.”

      1. Warty

        Hitler 2: Electric Jewbaloo

        1. WTF

          I larfed, you monster.

      2. I applaud your wife’s observational skills.

        His fans seem to revel in his abrasiveness. I don’t think anyone disagrees that he’d be an awful person to spend time with.

      3. Crow T. Robot

        For a nine year old, your wife is very astute.

    2. Notorious UGCC

      Remember when Democrats totally weren’t socialists, and that was just a right-wing smear?

      Now the line I hear is “but he’s a *democratic* socialist!”

      Basically, a democratic socialist is willing to leave office if a majority of the voters are against him. So mass starvation is probably off the table,* since voters tend not to like that.

      But any bad policy which the public can be induced to swallow will probably get passed.

      And in the American context, don’t forget all the wonderful things that can get accomplished by unelected officials, particularly judges, in a “democratic” regime.

      * See what I did there?

      1. Tonio

        But if you starve your enemies and feed your friends…

  27. Jackand Ace

    Let’s go Mets!

    1. Restoras

      The whole thing is up for grabs. Should be some fun baseball to watch over the next three weeks,

      1. Brett L

        Why? We’ve known for 30 years that 2015 is the Cubs’ year.

        1. C. Anacreon

          And, just as that movie predicted, we now have hoverboards. So the World Series result must also be true!

    2. Old Man With Candy

      Here’s your Mets fan.

      1. straffinrun

        I blame the window manufacturer.

        1. jmomls

          They shouldn’t even charge her with a crime, because 6 month olds can’t live outside the womb on their own anyway, amirite?

  28. l0b0t

    For our beloved regulars from the Great White North, an article y’all may find of interest.

    FTA –

    “Harper is the last of the neocon-types that ran the Anglosphere in the aughts. You remember these guys: we had Bush, of course; the British had Blair; and the man down under was John Howard. There was some flexibility among the cabal, but the ideological glue that bound them was free marketeering at home and aggressive interventionism abroad. Harper was the most junior member of this class and is the only one still around (within two years of his election, Bush, Blair, and Howard would all be out of office). In a larger sense, he represents a kind of globalization of conservatism within the English-speaking world, the supplanting of national political traditions by a fundamentally internationalist ideology.“

    1. Warty

      Blair is a neocon. Lulz.

    2. Brett L

      So you’d say this person was a National Socialist?

      1. l0b0t

        In the milieu of Neoreactionism, it can be difficult to discern which particular flavor of governance one advocates. Many abhor both National Socialism and Bolshevism as mob rule demotic populism, differing in ideological origin but similar in result. I tend to lean towards Moldbug’s Patchwork idea of thousands (or tens of thousands) of mini-states under individual corporate control; I’ve always been an-cap at heart.

  29. Sevo

    “Man cleared of child-molestation charges after 15 years in prison”
    […]
    “If he is found “factually innocent” in a hearing next month, Pohlschneider will be compensated about $766,500 for the time he spent prison.
    “I still find it hard to believe that someone could be convicted of a crime that never happened,” Pohlschneider said Wednesday. He told the Sacramento Bee that he feels “just kind of numb and a little relieved.”
    http://www.sfgate.com/crime/ar…..573334.php

    ‘Sir, have you ever been arrested?’

    1. Brett L

      I assume he will be filing a lawsuit againat the PA next. How in the world would you “determine from a physical examination” that someone was abused by two separate people of similar size? I mean, you could determine if there had to be two people present for certain injuries to occur, but beyond that, it is highly implausibe.

      1. Sevo

        The story reads like it was written after a 3-martini lunch (‘stopped at a Denny’s and got a haircut’?), so there’s no info on whether the lawyer was court-appointed. If so, it seems to me he’s got a claim right there (assuming they’re not legally immune)

    2. Brett L

      I assume he will be filing a lawsuit againat the PA next. How in the world would you “determine from a physical examination” that someone was abused by two separate people of similar size? I mean, you could determine if there had to be two people present for certain injuries to occur, but beyond that, it is highly implausibe.

  30. Rasilio

    “According to a new report, the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address and server is now focused on possible violations of the “gross negligence” subsection of the Espionage Act.”

    So, how about violations of the Federal Records Act and Freedom of Information Act?

    Oh right, those 2 laws protect the people and therefore aren’t important.

    1. Timon 19

      ??

      The “gross negligence” and “obstruction” aspects of this make it much, much more likely she will end up indicted.

  31. Warty

    On a mountain of poon
    By the light of the moon
    She lets loose all that love

    1. Officially my new jam.

  32. Agile Cyborg

    The modern Democratic party has been proudly vacuumed clean of divergent opinion poets and swash-buckling outliers which is fucking bizarre for a collectivist society that claims an ironclad embrace on multiculturalism and diversity.

    Republicans are liberty hypocrites generally but at least the party tries to avoid acting like a laser-guided ideology machete chopping the fuck out of alt thinkers and political pioneers.

    Liberty is a rat in the goddamn sterility factory of the DNC.

  33. Lord Humungus

    ho ho ho

    When Trump first entered the Republican race, his net favorability among Republicans was indeed terrible.

    “Taking into account name recognition, Trump’s net favorability rating (favorable minus unfavorable) of -32 percentage points stands out for its pure terribleness at this point in the campaign,” FiveThirtyEight.com data journalist Harry Enten wrote at the time Trump announced his bid in June. “Like his unfavorable rating, it is by far the worst of the 106 presidential candidates since 1980 who are in our database.”

    Enten went on to predict: “For this reason alone, Trump has a better chance of cameoing in another ‘Home Alone’ movie with Macaulay Culkin ? or playing in the NBA Finals ? than winning the Republican nomination.”

    Oh, how things have changed. Trump’s net favorability among GOP voters is now very similar to what Mitt Romney’s was at the same point in the 2012 presidential cycle.

    http://dailycaller.com/2015/10…..012-cycle/

  34. Bern-o-Matic 5000

    FUCK THE METS

    that’s all I’ve got this morning

  35. So, about the kid mentioned upthread who was shot by the cop: there are videos of him fighting people. I guess it was his hobby.

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ac_1434596805

    It appears he was as much of an asshole as Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. The kid also managed to give the cop who shot him a black eye. I think the cop went overboard when he shot the guy, but I would not have a problem if he had given him a wood shampoo.

    1. Some folks in the comments don’t think it’s the same kid.

    2. Brett L

      So you have a road rage incident where the rager ran his mouth got punched for it, and shot the person. The instigator will walk because he’s got a badge. Fuck everything aftet the question of “why in the world did you pull someone over for flashing their brights at you?”

      1. I agree the cop was stupid to pull him over, particularly since the cop himself said 2 other people had flashed him the same way.

        That said, the kid was the greater fool.

        1. The cop asked him at least 4 times politely for his license, etc and the kid refused.

        2. The kid lied about not having his license. First he says he left it somewhere, then he says he doesn’t have to show it.

        3. He argues with the cop.

        4. He yells at the cop.

        5. He orders the cop not to touch him.

        6. He hit the cop.

        7. He refused to put his hands behind his back.

        8. He kept fighting even after getting tazed.

    3. Troy muy grande boner

      So I’m guessing that many of comments think the pig is completely justified? That being a dick and not instantly getting on your knees when a pig opens his mouth lawfully authorizes summary execution?

      1. Here’s the video with a split screen of both the kid’s and the cop’s cameras.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwp2pPkXUac

        Judge for yourself.

        1. Troy muy grande boner

          OK. So this kid was being a prick. That doesn’t justify the pig murdering him. He was appears to have been murdered for failure to obey. I realize that this is no longer a constitutional republic of limited enumerated powers. And as such, we area a nation of men, not laws. But if we were, then it would be completely lawful and ethical to resist unlawful orders by the pigs. And just because pig opens his mouth or pulls you over, doesn’t make it lawful. And therefore, pigs would be forbidden, indeed punished, for escalating minor violations to the point of murder. That means, gasp, sometimes, the pigs would have to let people go.

        2. CatoTheChipper

          Fucking pig is a murderer and deserves a fair trial and a first-class hanging.

          Fucking pig’s bosses, police union boss, and state’s attorney empower and provide material support for a murderer, and are therefore accomplices in this murder and deserve fair trials and very long prison sentences.

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