'Clock Kid' Moves to Qatar, Paul Ryan Wants to be 'Unity' Speaker, Dems Block Sanctuary City Bill: A.M. Links

DonkeyHotey/Flickr

• Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan says he'll serve as House speaker if he can be a "unity candidate." On Tuesday, he agreed to run only if the 247 members of the House Republican Conference would rally behind him. 
• Fresh off a meeting with President Obama, Ahmed Mohamed—the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school when authorities mistook it for a gun—is moving with his family to Qatar.
• Democrats blocked a bill intended to crack down on sanctuary cities. 
• A police officer was shot and killed last night in New York City while pursuing an armed robbery suspect. 
• Apple and Dropbox have joined other tech companies in opposing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act that Senate Republicans are hoping to pass next week. 
• Is Ben Carson the most boring person running for president? Doesn't matter, he's still gaining in GOP polls, with support at 22 percent in the latest Washington Post-ABC News survey. Trump's support held relatively steady at 32 percent, while the only other GOP presidential candidate in the double-digits was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, at 10 percent. 

New at Reason: 

Brickbat: Does This Look Like 'Gub' or 'Gun'? — By Charles Oliver

Does Hillary Clinton Want Your Guns? The Democratic presidential candidate thinks Australia's mass confiscation of firearms "is a good example." — By Jacob Sullum

Forced Silence: Campaign finance rules and the politicians and prosecutors who manipulate them are a threat to freedom. — By John Stossel 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

…the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school when authorities mistook it for a gun?is moving with his family to Qatar.

DOES HE CARE NOTHING FOR THE OPTICS?

[Lee G]

The oppression was so bad he had to leave.

/salon

[straffinrun]

This looks like a gun that looks like it might be a bomb.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Meet the Trudeaus.

http://bit.ly/1MTfTlo

http://bit.ly/1PA2ZL0

[Lee G]

Blocked and broken. You have failed this comment.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://bit.ly/1M8gvF4

http://bit.ly/1XjNnwt

[Lee G]

“Castro’s leadership can be something of a burden, too,” he writes. “[Cubans] do occasionally complain, often as an adolescent might complain about a too strict and demanding father.” And it is true, he admits, that the people are given little or no freedom, and that the country is abjectly poor. That, however, is because the tyrannical United States tormented the small island state, forcing Castro into choosing totalitarianism as the surest means to defend his country from America’s merciless?imperialism. It is not, suggests Trudeau, Castro’s fault that he is a dictator.

You Canuckistanis are so lucky to have Trudeau.

[Illocust]

You’ve got to be kidding me. He seriously believes Cuba is only poor because it’s on the US border? Good lord, the stupid is strong with this one.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I wish it were a dream.

But it isn’t. Millionaire socialists who admire dictators. That’s who is running the ship.

[Lee G]

You guys just went full UK, never go full UK

[Monty Crisco]

Dude, he UNREPENTANTLY praised China’s dictatorship of one party – and called it a “dictatorship”!!!

[Zeb]

Ugh. Show that upskirt shot again. That’s what I want to know about Trudeaus.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://bit.ly/1KTbhtN

Also, it’s worth noting – aside from the fact the media is still popping a stiff over his election – the Trudeaus are what we call old money. They – starting with Pierre the Elder – inherited their wealth and basically lived off it gallivanting the world. To us, this is no biggie but to liberals and progs, this is a mortal sin. They hate inherited wealth, right? But when it’s their guy…

[Lee G]

“There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say we need to go green, we need to start, you know, investing in solar. There is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about: having a dictatorship where you can do whatever you wanted, that I find quite interesting.”

Someone should remind him of that comment in a few months when China goes into full implosion.

[PBR Streetgang]

He and Friemdan should hang out.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Their guy who has seen the light and has redeemed themselves in the eyes of Gaia.

[Rhywun]

My morning news guy in NYC – a Canadian – gave one of his trademark sardonic smirks as he was forced to report a story about how dreamy Junior is.

[Crusty Juggler]

You are a big Sam Champion fan, aren’t you?

[Rhywun]

Dunno if he’s a Canadian. I was referring to Pat Kiernan.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That’s the problem. People are unhinged focused on his dreaminess. They can’t help it. He can set up a gulag and they will still think it’s good for the middle-class.

They say Harper was a manipulator but so is Justin – worse even as he plays on your emotions.

My father this, my vision that.

Get bent. Here’s your Lego. Go build your Gulag kid.

[Rhywun]

Those quotes are really awful. How could you elect someone like tha-

[Rufus J. Firefly]

BECAUSE HARPER IS EVIL AND EATS BABIES. Besides, it’s not what Justin meant!!!!

Are you stupid?

[bacon-magic]

Congratulations on your country sticking to it’s monarchist roots.

[DJF]

There goes the USA chance this century of dominating the old digital clock parts stuck in a pencil case market!!!!!

[Tonio]

Optics? Apparently not; he’s an electronics hobbyist* not a photo or astronomy geek. /very lame joke

(*) And I use that term loosely since he apparently just de-cased an existing, working consumer clock which is totally lame since I was building electronics kits at that age.

[Illocust]

That’s what has been bugging me. Who shows off that they switched an electronics casing? Yeah, I’m thinking this was a publicity play by the parents.

[BigT]

It may have been a dry run to see whether there would be a response.

[Illocust]

I’m hearing something about the sister trying something similar a couple years back and not getting a response. Might me baseless rumor, but it points me towards attention whore not terrorist.

[Tonio]

Who shows off that they switched an electronics casing?

A clueless young boy. Or someone trying to start something. Hard to tell from what is publicly documented.

[Rhywun]

the NAACP said the family made the decision to leave the U.S. within the past 24 hours

Uh huh.

[creech]

Maybe they were so unimpressed by Pres. Obama that Dad said “Let’s get the heck out of any country that would re-elect this guy.”

[wareagle]

the NAACP. Faux victimhood in multiple colors?

[Rhywun]

Yeah, I don’t get why they’re involved. The whole story is just a clusterfuck of stupid.

[Rhywun]

Meet the brains of the family:

Ahmed’s sister Eyman said the Middle East won’t feel too different from the U.S., except that the family will be surrounded by Muslims like themselves.

“Qatar is in the Arab world, but it also feels like Texas. It’s like Texas in Qatar.”

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

I assume she was no fan of wearing a bikini at the beach.

[AlmightyJB]

Makes sense. They don’t bbq pig like real Americans either.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan says he’ll serve as House speaker if he can be a “unity candidate.”

Unity candidate means go along to get along. We had that.

[DJF]

But will he cry?

[Lord Humungus]

Freakishly Fast Asteroid To Buzz Past Earth On Halloween

A large asteroid first discovered by scientists only two weeks ago is set to scream past Earth on Halloween — the closest encounter our planet has had with an asteroid in nearly a decade.

While the asteroid, dubbed 2015 TB145, does not present a threat, it will come within 310,000 miles of Earth — nearly as close as our own moon — and zoom past at an “unusually high” speed of more than 78,000 miles per hour, according to NASA.

[Swiss Servator]

SMOD?!

[Restoras]

If only.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sounds like Earth needs to petition to get a speed bump put in.

[Tonio]

In space no one can hear you scream.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So then on Halloween when the Earth passes through the asteroid’s tail, the dead will rise?

[MetalBard]

No but cars and machines we come alive…

[Elspeth Flashman]

That might be cool.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Might be, but wasn’t.

[Restoras]

Shit – what’s the preferred firearm and round for zombies? 12 gauge and buck shot, or slug? .45 ACP?

[Citizen X]

A machete requires no ammo.

[Restoras]

Think I’ll be me a viking sword…

[MetalBard]

No but you’re going to look pretty silly when you accidentally get it stuck in a zombie’s skull and have nothing to protect yourself with.

[Citizen X]

That’s what the shotgun is for. And the axe. Come on, do you think i haven’t thought this through?

[MetalBard]

An axe is certainly better, not sure about the shotgun, you have to be close. Wouldn’t a semi-auto rifle work better? Maybe a pistol caliber carbine?

Of course if all civilization breaks down as a result, a bolt-action might be ideal. It has certain fuel economy which is important if you’re going to be away from new ammo supplies for awhile.

Or course in that scenario lack of food might be a greater danger then zombies, a shotgun would allow you to hunt birds, or deer with a slugs….

hmmm… I seem to have come full circle. Too many variables..

[Restoras]

The obvious solution is all of the above.

[R C Dean]

I was doing a little work that required some sledgehammering recently, and I actually thought “You know, this thing might the right tool for a zombie outbreak.” Skulls crushed, no problem, and no need to worry about ammo or getting it stuck.

[Lord Humungus]

One thing that annoys me about TWD – how easy people stab/slice through the skull. Not that I go hacking at heads everyday, but based on my own clumsiness, I’ve found my skull quite hard to dent.

[lafe.long]

Right?
The guy with the bo staff … (er… blunt stick) puncturing skulls with one hand/one shot bugs me the most.

[R C Dean]

I’ve seen staffs (the longer one, but still) put a very respectable dent in a 4×4. Its been awhile, but it was probably not much under a half inch. It was a two handed strike, if memory serves.

[some guy]

You just need to damage the brain. A small gauge rifle should be best with small gauge sidearm as a backup. You want something that has just enough power to pierce a skull, but doesn’t make too much noise, which attracts more zombies.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Fresh off a meeting with President Obama, Ahmed Mohamed?the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school when authorities mistook it for a gun?is moving with his family to Qatar.

I guess Texas wasn’t hot enough or religious enough.

[Monty Crisco]

AND THAT’S SAYIN’ SOMETHIN’!!!!!!

[Lord Humungus]

I blame STEVE SMITH…

Why Sweden Just Opened the First Male Rape Clinic In the World

ndeed, it wasn’t until 2012 that the FBI changed its official definition of “forcible rape” from “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will” to “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Despite the popular notion that men make up a relatively small percentage of victims of sexual assault, in 2013 the National Crime Victimization Survey released a statistic that shocked many: Out of 40,000 households surveyed about rape and sexual assault, 38 percent of victims were men. After the survey was published, Lara Stemple, a researcher with the Health and Human Rights Project at UCLA, told Rosin that the experiences of male and female sexual assault victims are “a lot closer than any of us would expect.”

“Anyone, male or female, who has been sexually assaulted, is, by definition, coming to terms with their sense of vulnerability,” said Peter Pollard, a spokesperson for 1in6, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of and support for male victims of sexual assault.

[Zeb]

“Anyone, male or female, who has been sexually assaulted, is, by definition, coming to terms with their sense of vulnerability,”

“By defininition”? I don’t think that means what he thinks it means. And if you count unwanted touching or kissing as sexual assault, as some seem to want to do, it’s far from true even ignoring the “by definition” nonsense.

[Rich]

Also, it’s pretty darned insensitive for a spokesperson for a sexual assault organization to be named “Peter”.

[Illocust]

Good on Sweden. I doubt it will go anywhere in the good old US of A though. It would defeat the point of all the campus Kangaroo courts if women suddenly started getting kicked off campus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Add in all those times the ladies didn’t get affirmative consent from me for every move they made, the percentage of male rape victims jumps considerably.

[MetalBard]

Not to mention some of the women you wake up next to after a night of drinking, no way I consented to that. I was drunk I was vulnerable..

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Add in all those times the ladies didn’t get affirmative consent from me for every move they made

Stop your bragging.

/rape culture

[Lord Humungus]

When I was in high school, I had a (ugly skinhead) girl who went around telling everyone that she planned to drug me at a party so she could have sex with me. I went to that party… and stuck to canned beer. I ended up making out with her friend Nicole, who was damn cute.

[MetalBard]

Skinhead girl? Couldn’t you have just told her you were Jewish or something?

[Lord Humungus]

I’m so Dutch that I make Germans look Jewish.

[R C Dean]

Good Aryan seed. I can see why she was after you.

[Citizen X]

I blame STEVE SMITH…

I believe blame is actually due to STEVE’s cousin, SVEN SMITHSEN.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…while the only other GOP presidential candidate in the double-digits was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, at 10 percent.

But when Trump gets done stopping Rubio at the border, he’ll absorb that 10 percent and become unstoppable.

[Monty Crisco]

“.. when authorities mistook it for a gun”…. um I think they mistook it for a bomb, no?

And, yeah, the optics are bad on that one. Making the Alex Jonesers look correct in hindsight…

[Zeb]

I’m pretty sure no one mistook it for a gun. Especially in Texas.

The optics may look bad to Alex-Jonesers and their ilk, but it sounds like the kid was offered a pretty good opportunity in Qatar. Let’s hope he hasn’t picked up too many Western habits that will get him in trouble there.

[MetalBard]

Hmmm if authorities mistook it for a gun would groups like Salon be singing a different tune right now?

[Zeb]

If my uncle had tits would he be my aunt?

[MetalBard]

I believe tits on you uncle are technically called moobs. Atleast I believe that is the medical name for them.

[Apple]

In 2015, yes. And if you suggest otherwise, may God have mercy on your soul.

[Aloysious]

Saudi prince accused of gay sex, threats, and fart-in-face demand

http://nypost.com/2015/10/21/s…..ce-demand/

A Saudi Arabian prince is accused by three female staffers of acting like a bizarre party boy ? engaging in a gay-sex act in front of them, threatening a woman’s life, demanding that an assistant fart in his face while others watched and declaring, “I am a prince and I do what I want,” according to a report.

Fart in face? Heh.

[Swiss Servator]

It’s good to be the King Prince?

[Lee G]

My brief interactions with a few of them (there are thousands of Saudi princes) while I lived in La Jolla would suggest that they are almost all assholes.

[straffinrun]

Ditka is your man, Prince

[Tonio]

In my experience arab guys from the ME are just weird about sex. Sometimes they hit on me on social media. Theyre all very inexperienced, pushy, and awkward. So that, combined with the spoiled prince thing…yeah.

[BigT]

Maybe that’s a result of segregating the sexes. Guys from all male schools here are often awkward around women.

(Glances sideways, stammers)

[Clich? Bandit]

I find the exact opposite to be true. Unless you mean guys who attend all male schools treat girls with more respect, then I agree. I have been in both situations and I have friends from both backgrounds and the ones from private Catholic school never had any trouble getting a date, and usually with the hotter chicks. I attribute it to the lack of rejections and social stigma of being rejected that you get in a mixed environment. They juts walk up to hot girls and ask them out…in public school that happens in about 3% of the cases. When the Boys school holds a mixer with the girls school it is not “left side of gym is guys and right side is girls with all the girls dancing and the guys picking their noses in the corner”. It is an actual mixer.

[BigT]

I went to an all male HS and have no sisters, 5 brothers. Talking with girls seemed unnatural and strained without daily interaction. Yes, I treated girls with a bit more respect, even put them on a pedastil and that was sometimes a positive with them. More thought I was immature or nerdy.

[Lord Humungus]

Gun control groups forging alliance with Black Lives Matter

Gun control advocates, frustrated by repeated failures to pass even moderate restrictions on gun ownership, are trying to forge an alliance with Black Lives Matter and the criminal justice reform movement in a strategy shift aimed at overcoming the lobbying power of the National Rifle Association.

The move marks a recognition that gun control supporters, often galvanized by mass shootings that claim mostly white lives, have tended to neglect the kind of gun violence that ravages minority and urban neighborhoods. In addition, advocates have usually allied with law enforcement even as they signal to white, suburban gun owners that the government isn’t after their hunting rifles ? a tactic that indirectly identifies urban minorities as the problem.

“The movement is too white, said Marc Morial, head of the National Urban League. “There’s no input from communities of color.”

[Monty Crisco]

Yeah, because there is NO historical precedent for blacks to support gun rights or anything.

Jesus wept…

[Chip the Chipper]

If they are that stupid, then fine. What a bunch of fucking retards. You would think a minority group would want to be protected from a majority.

[Rhywun]

To be fair, the Dems have been extremely successful at spreading their gun-grabbing message in inner-city “communities of color”.

[kbolino]

You would think a minority group would want to be protected from a majority.

In the places where black people get killed most often, they are the majority. The BLM folks seem to be either useful idiots or instigators. Unless they want everyone to just be servile to the police, or they want to have more bloody flags to wave around, gun control runs entirely counter to their stated aims.

[Rich]

they signal to white, suburban gun owners that the government isn’t after their hunting rifles ? a tactic that indirectly identifies urban minorities as the problem.

RACIST! It’s *guns* that are the problem!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. That won’t end well.

[Tonio]

“There’s no input from communities of color.”

That sounds like a “communities of color” problem not a gun grabber problem. Did these “communities of color” ever reach out to the grabbers, or are they expecting the grabbers to come to them on bended knee?

While this has the potential to be dangerous, I don’t think it will work out so well for the grabbers once they find the price of BLM movement support.

[R C Dean]

Why would communities of color want to support the revival of a Jim Crow law, anyway?

[Mazakon]

Is Ben Carson the most boring person running for president? Doesn’t matter, he’s still gaining in GOP polls, with support at 22 percent in the latest Washington Post-ABC News survey.

At least his soft-spoken demeanour might mean a return to the old way of doing the SOTU.

[bacon-magic]

He speaks softly but carries a big stick. And he uses it too…*smack *bop *pow /Yosemite Ben

[Palin's Buttplug]

Is Ben Carson the most boring person running for president?

He is a fine Christian man. That is what really counts.

[Rich]

“After careful consideration of all the generous offers received, we would like to announce that we have accepted a kind offer from Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) for Ahmed to join the prestigious QF Young Innovators Program, which reflects the organization’s on-going dedication to empowering young people and fostering a culture of innovation and creativity.”

Think Ahmed received generous offers from ISIS and AQ?

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Probably, but the student-teacher ratio is too high at ISISU, and al’Qaeda Tech’s football program has been terrible for years.

[Lord Humungus]

Singapore mega-church head guilty of embezzling $35 million

The founder of a popular Singapore church was found guilty Wednesday of misappropriating more than $35.5 million in donations to support his wife’s singing career in Asia before helping her break into the U.S. market for evangelization purposes.

Kong Hee, the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church, was found guilty with five other church leaders of stealing 24 million Singapore dollars ($17 million) designated for building and investment-related purposes through sham bond investments.

The State Court also found that they used another 26 million dollars ($18.5 million) to hide the first embezzlement from auditors. It is a rare case of corruption of such magnitude in the city-state, which has an image of being highly law-abiding and largely graft-free.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is that supposed to be a caricature of Ryan?

[Derpetologist]

Elizabeth: I think you mean QATAR, not QUATAR.

[Monty Crisco]

I think you mean “KumQUATAR”…

[Florida Man]

Don’t you shine a light on her!!!

[Zeb]

No, it’s “guitar”.

[Homple]

Wtong. Catarrh.

[Jerryskids]

Gutter.

[Swiss Servator]

Its not like you have to check the headlines or anything around here…

[Crusty Juggler]

Not one of ENB’s links led back to Gawker, and you know what means…

[Tonio]

Hitler?

[Tonio]

Hitler?

[Tonio]

Also, squirrels.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

thank you

[straffinrun]

Doh! Ah.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You play the QUATAR ON THE MTV!

[Restoras]

Maybe she meant Quato

[Lord Humungus]

Nice…

Marine Drops Out Of Race, Won’t Seek Pajama Boy Party’s Nomination

But today’s Democratic Party is generally hostile to the military and timid in foreign affairs. It wants to lead from behind, even if that means America trails after Vladimir Putin’s Russia, draw red lines it doesn’t intend to enforce and transform the military into a booted version of the Peace Corps.

This timidity has spread to the domestic front, where Democrats are terrified of firearms and even mere references to them, clamber for cradle-to-grave security over independence, demand the rich hand over their earned prosperity to those who haven’t earned it, and enable those who too easily get their feelings hurt or believe they have been aggrieved by nebulous forces to claim victim status. It’s a party of handouts and easy living at someone else’s expense.

As Webb’s departure shows, and polls confirm, the extremists in 2015 are the Democrats, not the Republicans. This is exactly why a socialist can generate such heavy support in the party. The roots have been severed.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Well put

[Zeb]

But today’s Democratic Party is generally hostile to the military and timid in foreign affairs.

I don’t know if “timid” is the right word. Seems more just directionless.

It wants to lead from behind, even if that means America trails after Vladimir Putin’s Russia, draw red lines it doesn’t intend to enforce and transform the military into a booted version of the Peace Corps.

Sort of. But still with lots of murder-drones. I don’t think the problem with Democrats is really lack of bellicosity (but I’m one of these silly people who thinks optional wars should be avoided), but lack of any coherent plan or goals.

[Just say Nikki]

clamber for cradle-to-grave security over independence

Get a fucking editor, people, you look retarded.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Yeah, someone should of caught they’re mistakes!

[Crusty Juggler]

You our right Bern.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Its true! Editors our awesome!

[SugarFree]

Only some sort of pajama boy would let someone edit anything they wrote, Nikki.

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

I’ve been awake for about 90 minutes and I’m already sick of the Back To The Future geekiness.

Hey, did you know that today – 10/21/2015 – is the date on the Delorean’s screen!?!? Neato!

[Crusty Juggler]

I wasn’t going to post a link about that. Nope.

[some guy]

Where’s my hoverboard and flying car? Also, why isn’t everything still styled like the 80’s?

[UnCivilServant]

Blame the EPA.

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

Also, why isn’t everything still styled like the 80’s?

Because of these guys.

[Lee G]

Don’t diss Crockett and Tubbs

[Crusty Juggler]

Also because of these guys

[IceTrey]

Forget that, I want my briefcase fax machine.

[MetalBard]

This might be a dumb question, but how come nobody is bringing back the Delorean? The generation that grew up in the 80s are finally getting enough money where they can start wasting it on nostalgic purchases.

[Just say Nikki]

Well, gull wings are kind of in again.

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

Not a dumb question, but kind of a dumb car. They are always available on Hemmings.

The motors are kind of shitty. They are a Renault-Peugeot-Volvo 6 that were fairly notorious for failures without any significant performance benefits.

Now, if you were to do something like this…

[Tonio]

Apparently they were for a time making new Deloreans using existing parts inventories. See the wikipedia article for details. Yeah, the engine was a dog, but dropping in a new engine is fairly easy.

[Restoras]

If they have money to burn on cars, they probably quickly discover the vast selection of far superior choices and buy something else. I’m not sure there has ever been a better time in history to buy a car just for the fun of driving it.

[GILMORE?]

My favorite Youtube Car Guy bought a Delorean but i’m not sure his project has gone the greatest

or, he finished the restoration, but almost never mentions it anymore, being more caught up building a Fox-Body mustang into a racing car

[Florida Man]

only other GOP presidential candidate in the double-digits was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, at 10 percent.

Get your money ready PB.

[Monty Crisco]

He will weasel out of it. He will hem, haw and equivocate. He is a troll and not a particularly good one…

[Palin's Buttplug]

Ol’ Jeb hasn’t sicked his ratfuckers the opposition yet. You know Pappy and Dubya are telling him “Git you a goddamn good ratfucker like Lee Atwater or Karl Rove, Jeb.”

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

PB YOU ARE SO RIGHT YOUARE THE GREATEST OF ALL OF US LIBERTARDIANS!111!!!! I L OVE YOU!!!!!

[Florida Man]

JEB! is going nowhere. It’s a Latino’s turn!

[straffinrun]

He meant J(im W)ebb!

[some guy]

I missed this one. What ridiculous prediction did PB make this time?

(I’m still waiting for gold to hit $600/oz.)

[Florida Man]

He bet Jeb gets the nomination. I bet Rubio. Loser pays $20 to Reason.

[Restoras]

It isn’t nice to take advantage of the mentally impaired.

[Lord Humungus]

Pistol-Packing Preacher Shows Changing Black Attitudes on Gun Control

Bishop Ira Combs Jr. leads the predominantly black Greater Bible Way in Jackson, Michigan, and has become a staunch advocate for guns in church.

“If they had security, the assailant would not have been able to reload,” he declared during a sermon weeks after the Charleston attack, according to Reuters. “All of us here are not going to turn the other cheek while you shoot us.”

Combs leads his services flanked by armed security, with several gun-toting guards scattered throughout the congregation like how the Department of Homeland Security deploys undercover air marshals on passenger airlines. The bishop calls it “law enforcement” for the church.

[Monty Crisco]

They probably need it. The north is the REALLY racist part of America. MLK said as much in interviews….

[Zeb]

And so it must be true 50 years later. (I’m not trying to say that there isn’t plenty of racism in the northern half of the US and I have no idea how it compares to the South).

[Florida Man]

Look Zeb, people don’t ever change. The south is still backwards and racist and the north still hates the Irish, so shall it be until the end of time.

[Monty Crisco]

Alright, all snark aside, I have lived in both and live in MD now, and I noticed FAR MORE virulently racist attitudes in the north than in the south. YMMV.

[R C Dean]

I went from Richmond, VA to Boston and back again in the late ’80s/early ’90s, and this was my observation as well.

[Zeb]

My father spent some time as one of those “northern agitators” in Mississippi in the late 60s. On returning to Long Island, where his parents lived at the time, people would ask him about all the bad racism and stuff down there. His response was to say that it wasn’t really so different, people were just more honest about it down south.

The most overt racism I’ve encountered has been in Europe. I’ve honestly encountered very little truly nasty racism in the US at all.

[R C Dean]

I don’t know that most blacks have ever been supporters of gun control.

There is a lot of lore in the black community about armed blacks standing off the KKK, lynch mobs, etc.

[Zeb]

Almost everyone is way to quick to assume that people who support a political party all agree with everything that every faction of the party thinks. Abortion and gay rights aren’t all that popular among black people overall either, from what I can gather.

[The Late P Brooks]

This is what sophisticated economic analysis looks like.

Last night, the Liberals and Trudeau surged to victory, largely on the strength of their economic platform. This is good news for Canada: Given the state of the world economy, it is absolutely insane that more rich countries aren’t running larger deficits.

How come? Because this is an incredibly inexpensive moment for governments to borrow money. In fact, it may be the best time in recorded history for sovereigns to load up on debt. Interest rates have been hovering around zero more or less since central banks cut rates during the recession, and given the many economic headwinds before us, it may be a long while before they rise much higher. At points this year, countries have issued bonds with negative interest rates?meaning investors are literally paying governments to hold their money because they can’t think of anything safer to do with it. In circumstances like that, when the global bond markets are basically shouting “treat yo’self” at just about every finance minister in the developed world, the only reasonable move for a government is to borrow and use the free or nearly free money to make investments that might help the economy grow long-term, like building or fixing up roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

Free money. The more you spend, the more you save!

[Lee G]

it is absolutely insane that more rich countries aren’t running larger deficits

I don’t think I have a sufficient vocabulary to fully express my feelings about this.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

No fuck you, cut spending should suffice. BTW, what ever happened to Pro Lib?

[Lee G]

Probably stalking Brian Herbert and preparing for jihad against him.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

True

[Brett L]

Put a fatwa on Kevin J Anderson while you’re at it and I’m in.

[Citizen X]

Even back in middle school i knew Kevin J. Anderson sucked. He is one of the worst writers i have ever read, and i read y’all’s comments HERE.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

If you want to cut spending it means you want the economy to contract because moar government spending means a growing economy.

/Keynes

[SugarFree]

“We got a credit card in the mail, Maw! We’re rich!”

[Brett L]

So, I’m sure they noted that part of the cheap borrowing “benefit” is to borrow money you would borrow anyways (for a mortgage or maybe a car) at a fixed rate for a set term. If the government had been, say, putting off a bond sale to finance highways and chose to sell a larger amount of bonds because their annual cost would be the same, that would be leveraging cheap borrowing for good investment. Selling more bonds to finance free shit with the intention of refinancing the debt down the road is like taking out a five year interest only personal loan.

[GILMORE?]

INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE!INFRASTRUCTURE! INFRASTRUCTURE!

its the magical word

[Lord Humungus]

CDC: Hangovers cost U.S. economy $249 billion in 2010

Those last few rounds at the bar and the resulting hangover costs more than the price of some Advil. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy $249 billion in 2010, largely from reduced workplace productivity and resulting health problems.

Binge drinking — five or more drinks on one occasion for men or four or more drinks on one occasion for women — was responsible for 77 percent of the financial toll on the economy. Two of every $5 of costs — more than $100 billion — were paid by governments, the CDC said. The 2010 data, the most recent available, is a marked increase from $223.5 billion in 2006. The economic toll from excessive drinking extends to workplace absenteeism, loss of productivity, car crashes, fires, property damage and death.

America – fuck yeah!

[DJF]

If only the USA would pass a Constitutional amendment to ban alcohol

[Florida Man]

I wonder what it is in the Czech Republic?

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

Possibly moot. Do they ever sober up?

[Florida Man]

Good point.

[Clich? Bandit]

I want to go to Prague for my B-day next year. I also am thinking of Budapest to include in the trip…I am looking at is because my trips all focus around Beer.

[UnCivilServant]

The CDC needs to be trimmed back to its mandate.

[Lee G]

Bureaucratic empire building, it’s not just for food stamps anymore.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

I was definitely responsible for a good deal of that lost productivity….

[Rich]

excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy $249 billion in 2010, largely from reduced workplace productivity and resulting health problems.

Ah, but this analysis does not count the *boosts* to the economy, largely from increased medical and automotive jobs and the creation of potential workers in all fields.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Plus bartenders, breweries, bottle manufacturers, replacement keys, window repair, late-night Taco Bell employees…

[Rich]

The list goes on and on. No wonder Russia’s economy is doing so well!

[Zeb]

Because the US economy owns your potential productivity.

[The Last American Hero]

Once again the CDC studying something other than bioterror and contagious disease. Somebody needs a budget cut.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

On the contrary, this data has been a boon in the gun control debate. Excessive alcohol use kills more people in total, causes more drunk driving deaths than people killed by firearms, and costs much more than injuries caused by firearms. I consider this to be money well-spent.

[Mazakon]

Female author of “The War on Men” gets dis-invited due to “angry reactions”

Irony alert. A student group at Williams College called “Uncomfortable Learning” that asked a conservative female author to speak on campus reportedly rescinded that invitation because ? wait for it ? students were too uncomfortable over the prospect of her speech.

Yes, the whole point of the “Uncomfortable Learning” group was to bring conversations to the elite private campus that ran against the grain of its left-leaning atmosphere. But the controversial speaker, author and cultural critic Suzanne Venker, explained in an op-ed for Fox News that she was disinvited because, she was told, her pending arrival was “stirring a lot of angry reactions among students on campus.”

[Lord Humungus]

(Blurred Out) PICTURES Naked Rollercoaster World Record attempt

The Naked Rollercoaster World Record attempt, all in aid of Southend Hospital’s Bosom Pals Appeal, will be some sight.

The Guinness World Record attempt hopes to raise thousands for the hospital’s Keyhole Cancer Appeal, which aims to raise ?600,000 for a new state-of-the-art laparoscopic theatre suite.

The “thrill-seekers” (as they’ve been described by organisers) will be turning up at Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea this Sunday (October 25).

[Lord Humungus]

Heavily armed drug cops raid retiree’s garden, seize okra plants

Georgia police raided a retired Atlanta man’s garden last Wednesday after a helicopter crew with the Governor’s Task Force for Drug Suppression spotted suspicious-looking plants on the man’s property. A heavily-armed K9 unit arrived and discovered that the plants were, in fact, okra bushes.

The officers eventually apologized and left, but they took some of the suspicious okra leaves with them for analysis. Georgia state patrol told WSB-TV in Atlanta that “we’ve not been able to identify it as of yet. But it did have quite a number of characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant.”

Indeed! Like cannabis, okra is green and it has leaves.

[Florida Man]

I have an app on my phone that identifies plants. Maybe get that next time Lou.

[SugarFree]

Too busy putting squirrels down their pants for the purposes of gambling.

[Crusty Juggler]

Like you haven’t packed a fat okra bowl and smoked it like a boss.

[DJF]

“”””but they took some of the suspicious okra leaves with them for analysis””‘

They want to test out the latest okra receipt they saw while watching the Ellen DeGeneres show

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

THE WAR ON GUMBO MUST END!!!!

[Rich]

the suspicious okra leaves

Nice band name.

[some guy]

Apparently these cops have never seen cannabis or okra plants before, because they look nothing alike.

Also, this seems a little late for okra, even if it is Georgia…

[Citizen X]

Also, this seems a little late for okra, even if it is Georgia…

See? Suspicious!

[Homple]

“Also, this seems a little late for okra, even if it is Georgia…”

More proof of global warming.

[Zeb]

So anything with a palmate leaf is suspicious? You would think that the people on the drug suppression task force might have some slight idea as to what cannabis plants look like.

I can think of about 10 plants that look a lot more like it than okra does.

[Citizen X]

+420 swamp hibiscuses

[Rhywun]

Maybe they were high on seized drugs at the time.

[Citizen X]

It was a placebo effect, though. You don’t actually get high off of oregano seized by shaking down that dude outside the middle school.

[Brett L]

If GA boys don’t know what okra looks like, it may be time for a Chinese-style farm-work re-education plan.

[Lord Humungus]

23andMe launches new consumer test service to check for genetic disorders

The launch is a major step for the company, which in 2013 was ordered by the Food and Drug Administration to stop selling its Personal Genome Service because the regulatory agency had not approved the tests it offered.

The Personal Genome Service, launched in 2007, analyzed a broad menu of genetic links to disease, including a predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer, certain heart conditions and Alzheimer’s.

23andMe said it is still working with the FDA for approval of those tests, as well as analyses that can predict a person’s response to specific drugs.

Tests for inherited genetic risks of breast cancer, and drug response, are already available in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So if the Cubs get swept tonight will that proof of the Curse of Marty McFly?

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Fuck the Mets.

[Restoras]

They’re screwed if Murphy’s bat goes cold.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Yeah, he’s pretty much carrying the offense at this point.

I’m really shocked they’ve made it this far, though. Their starting pitching was starting to get a little wobbly in September. I thought some of the young guys were starting to wear out and, given how terrible their bullpen is, that’d be it. Obviously, I was wrong on that point.

[Restoras]

I’m shocked they got past the Dodgers but it seems that Kershaw and Greinke are not necessarily lights out when it comes to the playoffs. Good pitching always beats good hitting, and given the caliber of the Mets’ starting rotation, even if they are a bit wobbly they are still well above average and have gotten clutch hits, heads up plays (Murphy stealing third while the Dodger defense was gamboling about the infield after a shift) and some key defense (Granderson stealing a home run). I didn’t watch all of last nights game but early on the home plate umpire seemed to making a lot of questionable strike calls.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They were solid though. It’s the Dodgers hitting that was pathetic.

And yes.

Fuck the Mets.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Conyers man gets DUI on motorized wheelchair at grocery store

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/c…..-gr/nn6hj/

[Zeb]

I believe that in many states DUI laws apply anywhere, not just on public roads (which seems terrible enough on its own, why the crap shouldn’t I be allowed to do drunken donuts on my own property?).

If it applies to powered wheelchairs, that would seem to mean that people in wheelchairs can never legally get drunk and move around at all. Seems a bit, uh, problematic.

[SugarFree]

In Kentucky you can get a DUI while riding a horse on your own property.

I asked your question of a state trooper giving a “Driver’s Education” course I had to take years ago to keep from getting points (which was nothing but a 4 hours rant about drunk driving.) He scoffed, refused to answer and asked if I wanted to fail the class.

[Zeb]

“This class isn’t about learning or thinking, it’s about compliance and fear.”

What if the horse is drunk and the rider is sober?

[SugarFree]

I was too afraid to ask. Four more hours of that boring shit would have killed me. I went the wrong way down a confusingly signed one way street. Of course I needed to be yelled at for four hours about DUI.

[Citizen X]

Four more hours of that boring shit would have killed me.

Probably literally, what with the diabeetus, unless they could give you some crackers or something.

[SugarFree]

I have an emergency plan for boring meetings that I haven’t had to use yet. I’m going to groan, pitch over into the floor and yell “MY PANCREAS!”

[Citizen X]

Damn, that’d almost make the impending foot loss worth it.

[Brett L]

In FL, you’re only eligible for a DUI on horseback if you are affirmatively controlling the horse. If, for example, your reins are tied around the saddle horn or otherwise not in your hand, you can beat the rap.

[Zeb]

So if the horse is driving, it’s OK? Is there a DUI BAC standard for the horse, I wonder?

[DrZaius]

Georgia law specifically says motorized vehicle in the DUI section. Not sure about the private v public areas, though. I have a hard time believing that a wheelchair can be defined as a vehicle the same way a bicycle has been.

[Lord Humungus]

Obamacare saved my a**: Really, it literally saved my a**

ObamaCare, with its insurance exchanges and extended coverage. ObamaCare, with its subsidies, patient protections, and its elimination of the pre-existing condition. ObamaCare, with its terrible fucking website that made it infuriatingly difficult? but not impossible? to sign up. For less than the price of the ‘catastrophic’ insurance I was denied, I was able to get coverage comprehensive enough to cover a 90-year-old with one lung.

Best of all, I was able get that colonoscopy.

I drank the syrup. I spent a day on the toilet. I got violated by a doctor whose career choices I find baffling. But it was all worth it.

Because the doctor found and removed two sessile polyps from my colon, both of which were precancerous.

So you can rant to me all you want about the deficient, unconstitutional, big-government, communist health care forced upon us by a leftist dictator; believe me, it will fall on deaf ears. It’s the only thing remotely Canadian about this country, and that is nothing to be “sorry” about. The Affordable Care Act saved me thousands of dollars this year, and will have saved me hundreds of thousands down the road. Also worth mentioning: it potentially saved my life. At the very least, it saved my ass.

[some guy]

So they found one guy that it helped. No matter how hard they try, they just can’t seem to write a law that is 100% bad…

[Lee G]

It’s all about the anecdote.

[straffinrun]

Obamacare really f***ed me in the ass. Oh, you mean the right anecdote.

[some guy]

It’s all about the anecdote

Next on Morning Things Considered…

[Lee G]

Always good for getting my blood boiling first thing in the AM

[Zeb]

And they burned up that strawman. I don’t think anyone is claiming that no one anywhere gets insurance for less and personally benefits from the whole thing. Obviously if you spend a bunch of money and subsidize things, some people are going to come out ahead. That’s not the issue at all. It’s like saying a war was successful because a bunch of people got killed. No, that’s just what happens when you have a war.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

“At what cost?” That’s a question they never consider.

I’m sure PPACA has made plenty of winners. How does that justify screwing over the losers?

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

Because colonoscopies didn’t exist before O-Care? Because if something isn’t covered by insurance, you can’t have it?

Dude, I’m happy for you and your ass polyps, but you are really dopey.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Three months ago, I submitted my forms to get a lousy screw removed from my knee put in during an ACL surgery 25 years ago.

I haven’t heard back from anyone.

Welcome to Canada.

Now with extra Commie Pinko Derp with a Shiny Toy government.

[Zeb]

I was able to get coverage comprehensive enough to cover a 90-year-old with one lung.

Unless you are a 90 year old with one lung, why is this a good thing?

[The Last American Hero]

Why would the career choice be baffling? Prostate cancer is a leading killer, and is treatable. Just because the method of diagnosing the disease is somewhat undignified shouldn’t deter doctors from becoming experts at it.

[Zeb]

Way to ruin the joke, dick. Putting stuff in people’s butts is funny.

[crab_apple]

You mean to tell me that this doctor is profiting from healthcare by responding to market demand?! Really gross, man.

[Tejicano]

Hey, at least somebody is happy to be getting it in the ass from O’care.

[crab_apple]

WHERE WAS MY SALON TRIGGER WARNING?! Now I have precancerous polyps in my brain.

I like how the guy cares so little about his life that he wouldn’t have paid out of pocket for a colonoscopy. If he values it so little, I don’t know why I should care about paying for his anal probe.

[Jerryskids]

So you really don’t give a shit about what it cost anybody else, Obamacare saved you a few bucks and that’s all that matters to you. Livin’ the American Dream – I got mine, you can rot in Hell. But you wanna know why the government is so concerned about you having a healthy asshole? Because it’s assholes like you that make turds like them possible.

[CatoTheChipper]

Free shit brigade likes free shit.

Meanwhile, the people who don’t get the ObamaCare free-shit subsidies get to pay outrageous premiums plus additional taxes to pay for the freeloaders’ subsidies.

The bitch says he saved a lot of money on a colonoscopy, which costs around $2k. Meanwhile, I’m paying about $7k in premiums for the cheapest ObamaCare policy in the market.

[Palin's Buttplug]

George W. Bush slams Ted Cruz in meeting with Republican donors

http://trailblazersblog.dallas…..nors.html/

Lil’ Taco will be next.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

OMGOMGOMG THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!11!!!1111 YOU ARE TEH AWEZOMEZ!!!11!!!111

[Rhywun]

Stay classy, racist.

[Monty Crisco]

He can’t help it. He’s a prog. OR – as he chooses to frame it – “classically liberal”.

[Lord Humungus]

Star Wars lets Princess Leia age realistically: Is this an alternate Hollywood universe?
Carrie Fisher’s older and wiser character tells us maybe we’re ready to let actresses age

A few years ago, when the vicious cracks about Fisher resembling Jabba the Hut (actual sexist BS trolling entertainment story) were hitting peak cruelty, she became a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

But even as she dropped fifty pounds ? and seemed to hint at some other changes when she said of her fellow “Star Wars” cast members that “We all look a little melted. It’s good to see other melted people” ? she’s maintained her sense of humor and realism. As she observed a few years ago, “I swear when I was shooting those films I never realized I was signing an invisible contract to stay looking the exact same way for the rest of my existence.”

In an April interview, she reiterated the sentiment, saying of her early sex symbol image, “I didn’t like that, because you have to live up to something there.” And in an interview with Palm Beach Illustrated, she jokingly replied to a question of what Leia would be like now by tartly saying, “Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home. I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle.”

[MetalBard]

Well as long as she retires that slave costume.

[The Last American Hero]

She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts. Han’s made a few very special modifications himself.

[Rhywun]

maybe we’re ready to let actresses age

Because women hate looking attractive to men.

[Monty Crisco]

Privileged , patriarchal, cis-shitlord!!

[Brett L]

So my understanding is Star Wars VII is basically a young woman’s coming of age story? Just like her Uncle Luke, but with fewer daddy issues? Hunger Games in the SWU?

[lap83]

Why is everyone focused on her age? Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford both look like wrinkly, grizzled Mr Potato Men. Newsflash: everyone who remembers the 70s is now old.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

And Hamill gets just as much shit for how bad he was looking before he slimmed down for the movie.

At least he gets just as much shit from me. Both of them were hard to look at. I applaud both, and perhaps the work of some talented surgeons, for looking the way they now do for the movie.

[lap83]

They are both probably a lot healthier for it, which is the important thing.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

So, what, does Salon think we all expected them to reverse her age somehow? To digitally make her look younger or something?

God that place sucks.

[Jerryskids]

Strategically-placed lens flare. Epileptics beware, the Han/Luke/Leia scenes look like they were shot with a strobe light.

[Derpetologist]

Reorganizing the Military: a Fantasy

-Put the aviation units of the Army, USMC, and Navy under the control of the Air Force
-Put the USMC’s armor and artillery units under the control of the Army
-Put the Special Forces units (SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers etc) under the control of the USMC

This way, the Army fights on the land, the Navy runs the ships, the Air Force does the flying, and the USMC is the quick reaction force; no more redundant programs in multiple branches.

[Lee G]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I can’t even begin to imagine the screaming and pissing and moaning that would generate.

[Derpetologist]

I know it has pretty much zero chance of happening, but that’s the way I’d do it.

If the USMC is the quick reaction force, as they say themselves, their structure should reflect that. It’s silly to have both an Army and an Army Junior.

And it’s silly to have both an Air Force and the Navy’s Air Force Junior.

And so on.

[Lee G]

Cut the overall DOD budget and force reorganization that way. They’re overcomplicated because the budget allows them to be.

[R C Dean]

Stripping the USMC of its armor and artillery would make it pretty useless in modern warfare, which is all about closely coordinated combined arms. Good luck getting the army to closely coordinate with a rival service.

You can probably make a better case for stripping it of its aircraft, except that the USAF has little to no interest in ground support, and would be pretty useless in that role for the Marines.

The proliferation of Special Forces is pretty silly. Why we have underwater demolitions teams fighting in landlocked deserts has always been a mystery to me.

[UnCivilServant]

Or, better yet, we dissolve the USMC as the most useless duplication, Put the ground support aircraft under the Army, since the Air Farce whines whenever it has to play its most important role, but give them the carrier-based aircraft as a consolation.

[Restoras]

Put the ground support aircraft under the Army, since the Air Farce whines whenever it has to play its most important role

I think this is the best idea. The Army can fly the A-10 and the Air Force can wash it’s hands of it. Why the Air Force hates the A-10 is beyond me but whatever.

[The Last American Hero]

They hate the A-010 because it’s boring, dangerous, and slow and they all want to be Tom Cruise and Lou Gosset Jr.

[Restoras]

As much as it’d be cool to fly an F-22, or even an F-15 or F-16, the A-10 is totally bad ass. I’d fly it in a heart beat.

[Zeb]

Or fire the assholes in the Air Force who won’t do what they are told. Isn’t that supposed to be what the military does? What it’s told to do?

[Mickey Rat]

The Air Force is the most useless duplication. The most common use of airplanes is as tactical and logistical support for the strategic branches (Army and Navy). The Marines semi independent status is easier to defend than the Air Force’s independent status.

[some guy]

no more redundant programs in multiple branches

What’s the point of having multiple branches, then?

[UnCivilServant]

The only reason there are still multiple branches was that when the consolidation legislation was being put forward, the Marines knew they were getting axed and lobbied zealously to have the law written as to mandate their existance and minimum size.

[Lee G]

I would just start with eliminating about 75% of the brass across all the branches.

[Restoras]

Also a good idea – I think there are way to many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

[UnCivilServant]

Along with the “up or out” law (yes, that stupid idea was written into law)

[Lee G]

Didn’t know that. Interesting.

[some guy]

I’m not sure how I feel about “up or out”. On the plus side it prevents some stagnation in ideas and makes sure that there is always room for the next generation of leaders. It also prevents too much power from accumulating to a specific person, just because they have been running their office very effectively for 20 years (This can certainly be a problem on the civilian side). On the minus side you encourage even more politicking and end up kicking out a lot of good Majors and Colonels just because they can’t or won’t play the ambition game.

[Raven Nation]

A good sign that an army has been around too long is that it starts getting top-heavy with officers.

Haldeman, Forever War

[MetalBard]

Yeah good luck, every branch wants their own special forces, airplanes, ships, etc. I’m surprised the janitors at the pentagon don’t have their own special forces unit.

[UnCivilServant]

I’m surprised the janitors at the pentagon don’t have their own special forces unit.

They do, it’s just highly classified.

[Jerryskids]

“Mopping up after the shit hits the fan” has been the Battlin’ Broomhandlers motto since aught dickety.

[The Last American Hero]

Sounds like the premise of a good book. A grizzled group of veterans that takes on the jobs nobody else will. The jobs too dirty for the other units….Navy Plecostomus.

[Tejicano]

I’m not sure how the quick reaction force would ever get anywhere quickly if it had to wait for helicopters running on an Air Force schedule.

The biggest problem in running a military is the coordination between the elements (read about the aborted mission to rescue the American hostages in Iran, 1980). Things run smoother and fewer people get killed when the different elements (land, air, sea) are part of the same organization and accustomed to working together.

[straffinrun]

On Tuesday, he agreed to run only if the 247 members of the House Republican Conference would rally behind him.

The dwarfs. They’re rallying!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Reynolds in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/…../74186596/

“…If we’re seriously worried about flooding from higher sea levels, then we want to make sure that areas that will be flooded in the future won’t be developed now. We want to limit the investment in buildings that will be swamped, and we want to limit the number of people who’ll have to move. And we want to encourage people who live in those areas now to move away in the near future, before they’re flooded….”

[Rich]

Obviously the solution is to build everything — including the roads and “infrastructure” — on stilts.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What about a wall to block the rising tides?

WALLS!

/Les Nessman.

[UnCivilServant]

I don’t think it would be cost effective to install half an inch of wall along the coast to match the potential rise in water levels.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Cynic.

Racist.

[Citizen X]

Yeah, that’s really no good for those poor minorities who own all the beachfront real estate.

[The Last American Hero]

It would also serve as a first line of defense when the Kaiju attack.

[Clich? Bandit]

Hire Shinra to build it like Midgard.

[Zeb]

Stopping subsidizing flood insurance would be a good start.

Whatever the deal is with climate change, sea level rise is something that happens, and fairly small rises can expose new areas to flooding and alter shorelines. I very much doubt that large areas are going to become permanently or very frequently flooded. But some coastal areas with large populations are going to have to deal with this sort of thing eventually.

Or I guess we could all keep paying them to rebuild every few years.

[Jerryskids]

John Stossel said this 20 years ago.

[Aloysious]

Cliff Pennington became the first position player to pitch in the postseason

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/…..postseason

kewl.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. Because the Jays bullpen is atrocious.

[Crusty Juggler]

To my fellow fans of the television program Fargo: this song has been in my head since I watched the show yesterday.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Nice.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Yeah, that was pretty great. My parents picked out it as Ives pretty quickly.

[Derpetologist]

Derpy’s Army Countdown: 4 weeks

Motivational Thought: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail; they will be satisfied

Motivational Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7HPQM0Jgg

[Derpetologist]

Fun Fact: the origin of the word condom is uncertain. It may have been named after its inventor.

[Tundra, well-chilled.]

Jimmy?

[lap83]

Prof. Elactic?

[lafe.long]

North Charleston, South Carolina: Woman Bites Off Attacker’s Tongue During Sexual Assault, Police Say

When the suspect started forcing himself on her, she said she “bit his tongue as hard as she could until she heard it snap.”

NCPD officials say the suspect was found at a Waffle House on Northwoods Boulevard after his mother called 911 due to her son “not having a tongue and needing medical assistance.” He was transported to Trident Hospital.

Police say the suspect was identified, and his tongue was located by crime scene and placed into a bag of ice.

[Crusty Juggler]

I may be in the minority here, but I am sick and tired of this secret war on rapist’s tongues. It has got to stop!

[Illocust]

Yeah, if you’re going to rape someone don’t stick anything you value into their mouths. Seriously it’s rape 101, why do we even bother sending you people to college?

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

The best way to prevent rape would be vaginas fitted with teeth.

[SugarFree]

Do your kegals, ladies. Just wrench it right off.

[SugarFree]

I hope they gave her the tongue. It’s hers now.

[Citizen X]

I have a really, really hard time feeling bad for this kid. You wanna be an actual violent sexual predator? Have fun living without a tongue, douchebag!

I hope it gets infected and his jaw rots off.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Yeah, no sympathy from me. Scumbag got what he deserved.

[AlmightyJB]

Now that’s a happy ending.

[bacon-magic]

*narrows lips

[Griffin3]

… common sense jaw control …

[lafe.long]

New Record Speedrun for Super Mario Bros.

Seems that a new world record for the classic NES Super Mario Bros. has just been done ? today, the speed run was completed by a Twitch TV streamer named Darbian who completed the game in 4:57.627 ? just a few seconds shy of five minutes, and just a few hundredths of a second faster than the previous record holder, Blubber, who completed his legendary run in 4:57:69, back in 2014.

[MetalBard]

Damn… I still haven’t ever beat it. I’m assuming he beat without taking advantage of the various warp tunnels that let you skip levels.

[lafe.long]

The video of the whole run is at the link.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Gotta use the warp zones if you’re doing it in under 5 minutes.

[Rhywun]

I *hate* speed-runs. The mindless repetition required for this kind of thing takes a special brain.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

As a kid, my brother and I only had like five or six video games (this was back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, when they were still pretty expensive), so we got pretty pro at the NES and Super NES Mario games. We used to have all sorts of competitions like speed runs, go through the entire game without power-ups, etc. Videos like this tend to make me pretty nostalgic.

[Lord Humungus]

Not that anyone cares – but no (Salon or other) links from me Thursday/Friday. I’m off to Detroit to do some gambling, fine eating, and to see IAMX play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNmc71b7iE

and there was much rejoicing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ask USPS get into Postal Banking? Sanders likes it!

http://www.theatlantic.com/bus…..ks/411589/

Thoughts?

[Zeb]

First make it be a completely independent corporation without government subsidy and see if it survives.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Oh, that’s a brilliant business model. Make loans and banking services for a part of the population that’s going to have a very high default rate (which is why regular banks won’t work with them in the first place). I’m sure this would have no negative consequences and would easily be economically feasible.

[Rhywun]

would easily be economically feasible

Well, you are I are going to pay for it, so yes?

[Tonio]

I haven’t read Sanders’ plan, but european postal banking is only savings accounts, not loans. There is no reason to get the USPS into that.

[Tonio]

OK, I just read the linked article and it does a classic bait-and-switch. The cassus belli for this is the predatory payday lenders, yet nowhere in the article does it mention postal banks giving loans. The only proposed USPS banking services the article explicitly mentions is savings; the article also implies they would do check cashing services.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

4:57.627 well spent!

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Argh. That was meant as a reply to lafe.long’s comment. I blame the squirrels

[Sevo]

Woman gets $25.00 rent increase, needs fed assistance:

“East Bay housing officials fear impact of federal voucher cut”
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bay…..580425.php
(paywall alert)

Actually, her Section 8 assistance is to be cut by $25/month, and ‘she might have to move’. She’s been getting the assitance for 20+ years, and there’s no note of any physical problems. Maybe she should, oh, get a job…

[Rhywun]

I couldn’t get behind the paywall but I’m guessing this is all white people’s fault.

[The Late P Brooks]

Filed under lamentations of teh womynz.

My tribe???the technophiles, the Internet enthusiasts, the conference-speakers???is thrilled about Uber. I’m not. I know I’m swimming against the tide here, but I’m going to say it: I don’t think Uber is a good idea for American cities.
Before I drown under a flood of angry responses from around the Internets, hear me out: This fight is about public values. When it comes to city-wide transport and communications networks, serving everyone at a high basic level fairly???including drivers???is more important than permitting a single company to make enormous profits from a substitute basic private service.

What a succinct exposition of social justice.

Fuck you, entrepreneurial innovation!

[Zeb]

Yes, nothing is more fair than a tightly controlled system where you have to have a ton of money or the right crony connections to be permitted to drive people places for money.

[Rhywun]

permitting a single company to make enormous profits from a substitute basic private service

So… whatever benefits the drivers and riders might perceive are to be ignored because someone is making a dirty profit. Oh, and nice implication that we want a monopoly – that’s not a strawman or anything.

No, I’m going to file this under epic stupidity.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

If only Uber would stop forcing drivers to work for them!!

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

serving everyone at a high basic level fairly???including drivers??

And what imaginary high-functioning, well-compensated universal transportation service is this writer referring to?

[Crusty Juggler]

That was absurd. The author’s wikipedia page.

[Illocust]

It’s driving some people insane how popular Uber is, and I can understand why. It’s a large scale multi year story about private business breaking down a government monopoly for the public good. Everything about it goes against progressive values, and they can’t do anything to stop it because it is such a extreme case of government failure that the population revolts when they try.

[Brett L]

Did taxis suddenly become a public utility?

[Brett L]

Also, we held a vote and this guy is out of the tribe.

[OldMexican]

Re: The Late P Brooks,

[…] serving everyone at a high basic level fairly???including drivers???is more important than permitting a single company to make enormous profits from a substitute basic private service.

“This is not a simple objection, Mandrake. This is a Moral Crusade to restore our precious bodily public values!”

[Tonio]

Your proggie hypocrisy of the day, folks: Lewiston, ME, resident Joe Dunne invokes the wrath of proggies by daring to compare a proggie mayoral candidate to Ho Chi Minh. Because mayoral candidate Chin is of Chinese descent, Dunne is predictably labelled as racist. Local rally protesting Dunne is held; protesters chant “we won’t tolerate hate.” People post pictures of Dunne on FB and encourage private businesses to deny him service. Proggies have no clue whatsover how hypocritical their actions are.

[Rhywun]

To be fair, there are plenty of Chinese autocrats he could have used. Not sure why he reached for a Vietnamese one.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

People always go for Hitler, Stalin, or Mao when complaining about the tyranny of local politicians. I think he was trying to be original. You don’t get many Ho Chi Minh comparisons.

[Rhywun]

I think he probably was just being racist but making a federal case out of it is hardly warranted.

[OldMexican]

Fresh off a meeting with President Obama, Ahmed Mohamed?the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school when authorities mistook it for a gun [sic]?is moving with his family to Qatar.

This story sure evolves with every re-telling, doesn’t it???

[Rhywun]

I will kind of miss the trolling though. Only Putin is better at making Obama look like an idiot.

[Krokko]

James Woods lays into the Bern:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/20/…..index.html

[lap83]

Awesome! And, yeah, Moron is probably the word that best describes Sanders. Someone his age should know better.

[Tonio]

That’s a good question, but there is no way of knowing whether he’s really that stupid/delusional, or whether he knows it won’t work and planning to use that not-workingness as a pretext for going full communist. I suspect the latter, but it’s more important to combat scocialism than to speculate about ultimately unknowable personal motives.

[Rhywun]

Nah, Bern seems sincere to me. It’s the oily machine politic weasels that run places like NY that worry me more. They want to go full-on commie not because they believe any of that claptrap, but because it will give them immense power.

[Rhywun]

Woods, who best known for his roles in movies such as …

I just knew this would be followed by a list of crappy movies I have never cared to watch instead of the real answer.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Breaking: Joe Biden will not run for president.

Alt headline: Hillary will not be prosecuted