Ohio Says No to Legal Weed, Maine Liberals Reject $15 Minimum Wage, Atheism on the Rise: A.M. Links

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  Houston voters last night rejected the much-hyped Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, while Ohio voters said no to legal weed, and voters in the overwhelmingly liberal city of Portland, Maine, rejected a proposal to raise the mimimum wage to $15 per hour. See more on statewide-race result here and here. 

• Nine percent of U.S. adults now say they don't believe in God, up from 5 percent in 2007.
• More than half of black millennials say they or someone they know has "experienced harassment or violence at the hands of police." 
• British Muslims are increasingly afraid of their government. 
• More evidence that humans empathize with robots "in pain." 
• Cato Unbound editor Jason Kuznicki reviews Harry Frankfurt's new book On Inequality.
• Welcome to China's ghost cities. 
• Men who do more housework have better sex, says science. 

New at Reason: 

Brickbat: Parking Violation —By Charles Oliver

Donald Trump Finally Sees the Light On Foreign Techies: After maligning Rubio, he now says they are economic assets and shouldn't be sent packing. —By Shikha Dalmia

Camera-Shy Cops Can Relax: The exoneration of the officer who killed Zachary Hammond shows police have strong defenses against viral videos. —By Jacob Sullum

Embracing Uber Would Be Good for New York" The taxi cartel claims jobs will be lost, but the numbers don't add up. —By Jared Meyer

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Men who do more housework have better sex, says science.

That French maid's outfit does the trick.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

"voters in the overwhelmingly liberal city of Portland, Maine, rejected a proposal to raise the mimimum wage to $15 per hour. "

Good for them. But something tells me it won't be the end of that.

[AlmightyJB]

There was just a study done earlier this year that said the exact opposite.

[Notorious UGCC]

see below for my creative attempt to reconcile those studies.

[Zeb]

Hmm. Maybe they are both terrible studies that don't really mean anything. I think I'm going to go with that assumption.

[Pope Jimbo]

French maids are fine for most of the house. The problem is that when they get to the gun cabinet they drop the vacuum and throw their hands up in the air. I always have to dust them myself.

[Sapient Mulch]

I always have to dust them myself.

The maids?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

108) Sometimes I'll hear somebody say that human attraction is malleable, that standards in female beauty change over time. Often they'll offer up as proof that art from the past shows overweight women as being attractive. Well, hairstyle or clothing fashions do change, but I think there are some basics to attraction that are pretty static.

So what about the art? I think this is a misconception, due mainly to a fellow named Rubens. Going through art history, I see a lot of chicks that would still be considered pretty attractive today?Botticelli's Venus on a Shell, say, or Goya's Maja paintings.

But then there was Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens was one of the most prolific painters in history (according to Wikipedia, there are 1,403 known paintings), churning out vaguely-mythologically themed crap at an incredible rate. He also had quite a thing for the heavier ladies, apparently. Art museums are stuffed full of his works (ha!), and it's my belief that he is almost solely responsible for the idea that guys in centuries past dug extremely portly women.

[Mongo]

More men are into chubby chycks than is commonly acknowledged. I have a few pals who are turned off by slim and slender.

[wareagle]

I have long held that men would take ten pounds too many over ten too few.

[Rasilio]

This.

I don't mind a girl with a few extra pounds but there is absolutely nothing attractive about a woman who is so skinny she looks like a corpse

[The Last American Hero]

Corpses are bloated.

[Suthenboy]

My father used to have an acquaintance that published a fatty porn magazine. The mag had a huge circulation. This was 40 years ago so I don't remember the numbers. I am tempted to say he sold over 100k / mo.

If chubby women weren't attractive to anyone there wouldn't be any. That is how evolution works.

[Free Society]

If chubby women weren't attractive to anyone there wouldn't be any. That is how evolution works.

No I wouldn't be so sure. In regards to sexual selection, after the age fertility has been passed, sexual selection has almost no influence on how people age.

Secondly, we're mammals. When human evolution was in full swing, i.e. when we were dying younger and more easily and more often, genes that helped you squirrel away fat had a very specific purpose; to allow you to live longer between meals. Obesity is a byproduct of a vestigial gene that conferred an advantage before we had the division of labor like we do now. Long story short; plump looking women were not produced by sexual selection.

[The Last American Hero]

Or, you know, there are dudes that prefer slim and trim, but would still like to get laid on a regular basis/have determined they don't exactly look like Brad Pitt.

[DJF]

Is Picasso (50,000 plus pieces of "art") responsible for why guys like women with two eyes on the same side of the face?

[Rich]

"Oh, boy!"

[UnCivilServant]

He's not saying that Rubens made people chubby chasers, but gave historians the impression that the artist's own proclifities were widespread.

[Lord Humungus]

So John is our Rubens?

[Pope Jimbo]

Paul Reubens maybe

[Zeb]

I don't think you can put it down to Rubens. The standards for attractiveness have a lot to do with culture. In a lot of places, big fat butts are considered very attractive on women. And as Mongo points out, attraction to skinny women is hardly universal even in cultures where that is the norm for attractiveness.
I don't think "extremely portly" was ever particularly desirable, but a bit more meat on the bones was definitely desirable. Which makes a lot of sense in a time where food scarcity was much more of a concern than obesity.

[Rich]

In a lot of places, big fat butts are considered very attractive on women.

"What do you mean, 'in a lot of places'?"

[Lord Humungus]

I like larger butts - up to a point

[Rich]

Yeah, I draw the line at being able to walk with the butt supporting a glass of water.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I like larger butts

You cannot tell an untruth?

[Trshmnstr, terror of the trash]

His fraternal compatriots cannot refute his assertion.

[Auric Demonocles]

There does seem to be a lot of buzz for them, though it's something I personally don't get at all.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I have always heard that this was also associated with wealth - at least a bit. If you saw a lady who was a bit heftier, that also meant she had the leisure to not work as hard as a thin peasant, and was thus again more desirable.

[soflarider]

Now it's commonly the other way around.

[Tonio]

FWIW, paleolithic figurines of women uniformly depict obese women. It is unknown whether that was stylistic (ie, easier to scratch a few lines into an egg-shaped rock than to sculpt a more slender elongated figure) or an actual depiction of the women of the day. Also unknown whether it was an accurate depiction of the normal woman of the day, or depicted an unattainable ideal (well-fed).

[lap83]

I think there is a consensus that it symbolized fertility. Even in the middle ages otherwise thin women would often be depicted with a baby bump.

[Auric Demonocles]

a bit more meat on the bones was definitely desirable. Which makes a lot of sense in a time where food scarcity was much more of a concern than obesity.

Similar to the recent change in how tans are viewed.

[UnCivilServant]

Tans are and will always be unattractive.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's not what was commonly thought back when tan meant "poor worker" and not "beach going athlete".

[UnCivilServant]

A tan signifies two things - someone who is too stupid or unable to stay out of the sun, and someone who is not a true redhead.

[R C Dean]

Eh, its all about the total package.

Some women wear tans very well - your outdoorsy, athletic types. I know some of the commentariat are instinctively unattracted to women who can outrun them, but hey, that's on you.

[Lee G]

instinctively unattracted to women who can outrun them

That's called choosing your prey wisely.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

instinctively unattracted to women who can outrun them

Which, considering the amount of time many of us spend on this site, means almost all women.

[Pope Jimbo]

Doh! I can't even blame a lack of refresh. Just prematurely posted.

[Pope Jimbo]

"instinctively unattracted to women who can outrun them"

That's just being smart. If you can't catch them, why even bother with them?

[Rasilio]

While the ideals of beauty may never have looked like the women on reubens paintings they were by a considerable margin larger than today because slightly larger women are less likely to die in childbirth and also having a few extra pounds is an indication of coming from a family of wealth and status.

Also most skinny women from those eras were skinny because they were usually malnourished (and often endured borderline starvation conditions) whereas women from a wealthy background had much better nutrition which would tend to make them more attractive even with the few extra pounds.

[gaijin]

human attraction is malleable

Something every bartender observes nightly

[Swiss Servator]

+ gimme another

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

A 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nine percent of U.S. adults now say they don't believe in God, up from 5 percent in 2007.

That church is recruiting fast!

[some guy]

It gets a lot of help from the other religions.

[Lee G]

9% of US adults now willing to admit they don't believe in God, up from 5% in 2007

[Rhywun]

9% of US adults have no intention to enter politics.

[Lee G]

So true

[Tonio]

And that's the ones who are willing to admit that, and doesn't count the agnostics.

[Free Society]

It might. Agnostics technically don't have a belief in god, otherwise they would be some sort of theist or deist et cetera. They're also known as 'weak atheists', what distinguishes them is that they don't make an affirmative claim like "there is no god".

[AlexInCT]

maybe they too spent sme time in a foxhole?

[Pope Jimbo]

Obama has really alienated a lot of people hasn't he? 4% is a lot. Good thing Tony and Shriek still have the faith.

[wef]

Flynn effect.

[ant1sthenes]

Yeah, but it doesn't mean that they aren't religious.

[Bee Tagger]

Men who do more housework have better sex, says science.

This sounds like the format of one of those "Confucious say" things that FoE loves so much but without the wordplay.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Man with feather duster tickled pink.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Confucius say, man who goes through airport metal detector sideways is going to Bangkok

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

You bang my cock now!

[Rich]

Confucius say, many man smoke, but Fu Manchu.

[AlexInCT]

I call bullshit...

[Juvenile Bluster]

Remember a few months ago when that cop in Illinois was shot? All the outrage, all the blaming of the "war on cops"?

Yeah. It turns out he committed suicide.

[Monty Crisco]

You can bet there will be no walking back of the utterly histrionic pronouncements from the copsuckers on that one...

[Juvenile Bluster]

I have a feeling the argument is going to be that a career cop was driven to suicide over the war on cops and the lack of respect for cops nowadays.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, that's an easy one to spin. Of course, why he felt the need to try and frame three random "perps" for the crime will be a little harder to explain.

[Scarcity]

Easy actually - no benies for the wife if he killed himself

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Of course, why he felt the need to try and frame three random "perps" for the crime will be a little harder to explain.

Pigs gonna pig?

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

See! That proves it, then! Even cops are waging the war on cops!

[Crusty Juggler]

I am glad those massive manhunts were worth it.

[SugarFree]

I pegged it for a suicide the first time they showed his wife on the news.

[RBS]

SIV to come gloat in...

[Fist of Etiquette]

More than half of black millennials say they or someone they know has "experienced harassment or violence at the hands of police."

But what do the millennials think?

[lap83]

Black millennial opinions matter!

[Rich]

"You know Michael Brown, right?"

[Auric Demonocles]

I have "experienced harassment or violence at the hands of police", and am about as pale as you can get without being albino. (For the record, it was the former, not violence)

[Mongo]

I have experienced both. Two of the incidences I took to the officials (one in court and the other to the city's civilian review).

[Whahappan?]

How many years did you get, and how much were you fined?

[AlexInCT]

Did you drop the soap?

[Bee Tagger]

Welcome to China's ghost cities.

This better not be an exchange student type of deal. The last thing we need is Chinese ghosts roaming around our corporeal cities.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Ghost xenophobe.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Kids could use 'em to stay on base when they're playing baseball with too few players.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Who you gonna call?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"British Muslims people are increasingly afraid of their government."

Just the Muslims?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Yeah chopping people's heads off in public, loud mouth idiotic Imams spewing hate on TV and Rotherdam does tend to make people a tad uneasy, no?

[Zeb]

Yeah, I'd be even more afraid of the government if many my coreligionists (if I had a religion) were doing everything they can to make people hate us.

[Monty Crisco]

Those poor muslims, being oppressed under a heavy-handed government that constantly tries to interfere with how you live your life, seeks to police your thought, and disproportionately punishes you for seemingly innocuous "offenses".

Life under sharia law would be much better...

[Zeb]

Do all British Muslims want to live under Sharia law?

[Monty Crisco]

Well, are they fucking muslims or not?

[Zeb]

Yes, British Muslims are in fact Muslims. That's a fine tautology you have there. Not sure what I'm supposed to do with that information.

[Scarcity]

No no, he asked if they're fucking muslims. Now why he thinks who they're sleeping with is important is beyond me.

[Tonio]

I believe only a minority (!), but what is disturbing is the much larger percentage who wouldn't object.

[Zeb]

Yes, that is disturbing. I'm still not going to make assumptions about individuals simply because of their religion.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, it's not like religion is a voluntary belief system, or something.

[Zeb]

That's easy to say, but not really how things work. Most people just have the same religion as their parents. And in many Muslim countries it is far from voluntary.

In countries where there is more religious freedom, you are right, it is technically voluntary. It is also voluntary whether you agree with and follow every tenet of your religion. So the fact that people voluntarily remain Muslims is not a reason to assume that they share the beliefs of every other Muslim. So it is still unreasonable to judge every individual based solely on their Muslimness.

[Suthenboy]

Fuck 'em. They bring it on themselves. If it were me they would all be going back to dumbfuckistan.

[Zeb]

I love how so many people turn into raging collectivists when Muslims are being discussed.

Yeah, every single Muslim in Britain deserves whatever they get because of what some Muslims do. It's just impossible that some of them are just decent people who want to live their lives without bothering anyone.

[Monty Crisco]

Gee, wonder if that is due to muslims being so reasonable and individualistic? Christ, they're practically BUDDHISTS!!!!

[Zeb]

And here is another fine example of what I am talking about.

I don't think much of Islam. It's pretty bad as religions go.

It is still collectivist idiocy to declare that every Muslim deserves whatever they get because of the actions of some.

[ant1sthenes]

The problem is that Islam is an ideology, and the ideology is fundamentally incompatible with enlightenment culture, and not very good at getting along with any other culture (the results of which can be seen around the globe as Muslims attack basically every other culture they come in contact with, and tend to ruthlessly terrorize and mistreat minorities and dissidents in their own societies).

It's true that many Muslims are good people, but they're almost always bad Muslims. There were good Nazis and good Communists too (particularly since affiliation with those parties wasn't especially voluntary, not unlike being a Muslim in a Muslim society), but it doesn't mean shit for condemning the belief system.

[Zeb]

Condemn the belief system, great. I think everything you say about it is true.

That doesn't make it reasonable to condemn every person who is nominally an adherent to the belief system. The "bad Muslims" are still Muslims and if they are tolerant and decent people, the don't deserve to be lumped in with those who are doing bad things.

[R C Dean]

I guess the question is, why?

Because they are afraid the government won't allow them to engage in quaint cultural practices which are illegal for non-Muslims? If so, I have no sympathy,

Or because a minority of their co-religionists are acting like real assholes and generating a backlash? If so, I hope they are extending themselves to reign in their asshole co-religionists. That will give their complaints a lot more credibility. Otherwise, they are serving as useful idiots, at best, and co-conspirators at worst.

[ant1sthenes]

While I doubt they can realistically reign in people they likely have no direct affiliation with, they can at least create a hostile social climate for them, the same way the pro-life movement did for their extremists did when they saw how much terrorism was hurting their cause.

There's no such thing as a lone wolf Islamic terrorist -- he might not get material support from others, but he's almost certainly been primed for years by a large subculture to believe that his actions are justified and even heroic.

[Zeb]

"Rein in"

Like a horse.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Don't feel bad about the IRS. Revenue Canada can be just as evil. The sad story of Irvin Leroux:

http://business.financialpost......vin-leroux

[Bee Tagger]

More than half of black millennials say they or someone they know has "experienced harassment or violence at the hands of police."

Where are millennials participating in all of these polls? Is BuzzFeed secretly conducting public policy polls on the backend of their quizzes?

[Juvenile Bluster]

You won't believe these 10 poll questions we have for you! Number 6 will shock you!

[Bee Tagger]

More evidence that humans empathize with robots "in pain."

"Lose the airquotes, assholes" - robots

[Fist of Etiquette]

...voters in the overwhelmingly liberal city of Portland, Maine, rejected a proposal to raise the mimimum wage to $15 per hour.

Someone values their local restaurants more than living wages.

[Crusty Juggler]

More like Oh-High-No.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

/gives Crusty a noogie.

[Crusty Juggler]

Houston voters last night rejected the much-hyped Houston Equal Rights Ordinance,

More like here-no.

[Bee Tagger]

Cato Unbound editor Jason Kuznicki reviews Harry Frankfurt's new book On Inequality.

Well, hot dog, I relish the opportunity to read this!

[some guy]

Houston voters last night rejected the much-hyped Houston Equal Rights Ordinance

If I had a nickel for every time I found myself on the third side of a fight between two idiots...

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Fine. More for me.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Wait. What happens to 'Deadliest Catch'?

Meh.

To think once upon a time officials refused to close Amity Island.

Now it's all diet, climate and moral panics all the time.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'll admit that I'm suspicions. The wrong kind of people go crabbing.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Yeah like my ex-girlfriend!

Hey-ho!!!!

[Zeb]

Isn't Deadliest Catch king crabs in Alaska?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

And other species/types.

[Pathogen]

Dungeness crab? Kinky.. Well, if you're into that sort of thing.. who am I to judge?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's delicious. Way better than that east coast shit.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Boy West coasters are nasty early in the morning.

This is what happens when the Lakers suck.

[Pope Jimbo]

To be fair the Lakers have always sucked (at least since they left Minnesoda).

Now they are just bad.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

*looks down at fingers, counts rings*

[Pope Jimbo]

BULLSHIT!

Laker (CA) fans can't count.

[Rich]

Mississippi man 'bombed a Walmart store after the chain stopped selling the Confederate flag'

Leonard was caught half-an-hour later when his silver Mazda, adorned with stickers of the Mississippi state flag and the Confederate battle flag, as well as bearing the state flag on a flexible pole, ran a red light near the store.

Well, at least he was driving a Mazda.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I was once driving around Knoxville with a native of that not-so-fair city when he said, "Another Mazda! Knoxville sure is a Mazda town."

I could only agree.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

His car ran a red light, eh?

Where was he at the time?

[Pathogen]

No.. he was busy, bombing a Wal-Mart..

[Rich]

Nice catch.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Well done, Texas and Maine. Ohio slavers, fuck off, slavers.

[UnCivilServant]

Ohio's item also had a built-in monopoly clause, so there's probably a segment that would like legalization but not in the hands of a monopoly.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Ah. That makes sense, I guess. It probably makes more sense to legalize and fight the monopoly later, though.

[Tonio]

From a harm-reduction strategy, yes. I'm sure the prohibitionists were happy to have the anti-monopolists as allies, though.

[JWatts]

"It probably makes more sense to legalize and fight the monopoly later, though."

Sure, let them grow into a billion dollar a year industry with a locked in market, hundreds of retained lawyers, and it will be easy to break the monopoly. Umm, no. Better off writing a not completely stupid piece of legislation and pushing that through.

I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to legislation, but this was a poisoned pill.

[R C Dean]

I tend to agree, in much the same way medpot has proved to be a Bootlegger/Baptist poison pill in CA.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

I'd prefer the scenario you described over spending billions of dollars running people through the court system, locking them up, militarizing the police force, and stripping citizens of their civil liberties to prevent them from voluntarily engaging in a victimless act.

[Scarcity]

But on an issue that is so rapidly changing to the point that pot is likely to be legal in most of the country within the next 5-10 years, do you really want to support the establishment of a new version of the 3-tier distribution system of liquor just to save a few years? I can see a moral case to answer yes (real people's lives will be ruined in those few years) but I also have to recognize that the monopoly, once established, is most likely permanent

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

I get your point and I can't say you're wrong, necessarily. I think you are right that we will be facing full on legalization throughout most of the country within a decade. It does make sense, on the one hand, to hold off on granting a monopoly when, in a few years' time, a more economically liberal ("liberal" in the "liberty" sense, not the proggy sense) would emerge.

I've become convinced over the years that the War on Drugs is truly evil and I view its advocates with nothing but disdain. To me, the benefits of reducing the suffering and abuses of power that are going on at this very moment outweigh the costs of the monopoly. Not everyone sees it that way, and their point is valid. In an ideal world, we could end that right now without the monopoly, but that's not what Ohio voted on.

[Lord Humungus]

Woman Gets Poem From Her Ex's New Girlfriend, Sends Him Pile of Horse Shit

Amanda Chatel, who documented her tale of loss and feces on YourTango, writes that she knows that sending her ex horse poop puts her directly into the "crazy" category. And while Chatel recognizes that her actions might have been a tad extreme?I tend to disagree, as receiving a poem from the person your husband left you seems far worse than feces?she says it could have been much worse: before she took to Google to find revenge, she'd considered sending her own poop through the mail. This, by the way, is considered a criminal offense. You know what's not a criminal offense, though? Having someone ship poop for you.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

So lazy. Send your own poop, crazy lady.

[JWatts]

You didn't read the comment. Sending your own poop is illegal. Ordering horse poop off the internet is if not legal, pretty untraceable. Of course, then she wrote about it on line. So her stupidity did win in the end.

[Lord Humungus]

Swedish penis pastries sell like hot cakes

Hanna Larssons Konditori launched its new addition on Monday morning, adding to the assortment of cinnamon buns and other traditional Swedish breads and cakes more commonly found on its shelves.

By the afternoon the penis pastries were already going down a storm. The Expressen tabloid reported that customers had picked up some 50 of the sweets before noon and shop assistant Linda Thoresen told The Local that she had sold "maybe 20 or 30" since she had started her shift just after lunch.

"They have been very popular. It's a bit unusual and people have laughed at them and thought they were funny," she said.

I'm feeling othered.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Crusty says: 'I never tasted penis like this before!'

[Crusty Juggler]

A trigger warning should have been provided with this comment.

Phallic pastries are not a laughing matter.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Cream filled?

[Sapient Mulch]

It's Crusty, I'm thinking custard and cheese.

[Rich]

going down a storm

What's that in American?

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

They need to offer this in both vanilla and chocolate

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

And semen.

[Rich]

"And for even more fun, try our Penis Pasties!"

[commodious spittoon]

Shorter article: Swedish pastry shop sells 80 cookies.

[Elspeth Flashman]

A whole new brand of selfies will emerge.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I'm feeling othered.

Is this cause your penis looks like a pastry and "people have laughed at them and thought they were funny"?

Because that's why I'm feeling othered.

[AlexInCT]

Are you saying that you get told "Oh, it looks like a dick, only smaller" a lot?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"Men who do more housework have better sex, says science. "

Cooking dinner seems to work for me. And I get to decide what to have for dinner.

On the menu for tomorrow.

[Lord Humungus]

Backlash Against U.S. in Iran Seems to Gather Force After Nuclear Deal

Anyone who hoped that Iran's nuclear agreement with the United States and other powers portended a new era of openness with the West has been jolted with a series of increasingly rude awakenings over the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, the eve of the 36th anniversary of the student takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran, state television announced the arrest of a Lebanese-American missing for weeks ? after he had been invited here by the government. He has been accused of spying.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, said the "Death to America" slogan is eternal. New anti-American billboards in Tehran include a mockery of the Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph that symbolized Marine sacrifice in World War II. And an Iranian knockoff version of K.F.C., the chicken chain widely associated with the United States, was summarily closed after two days.

[wareagle]

seriously, who in the sane world believed that new openness would follow? My my my, the bubble in which these people live.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

I take it proggies are going to adopt the position that this is somehow Bush's fault?

[R C Dean]

Anyone who hoped that Iran's nuclear agreement with the United States and other powers portended a new era of openness with the West

Was a fucking moron.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

^This, but Obama and the media sycophants were more focused on getting "a deal with Iran" as part of Barry's legacy than, you know, making sure the deal was good.

At least we still have that arms embargo against Iran. Oh, wait...

[Suthenboy]

His every attempt at a legacy has produced a giant steaming pile. So there, he has his legacy. Just stop already.

[some guy]

For the sadists amongst ye: A glossary of LGBTQIA+ related terms. You might learn something. For example, do you know what an Ursula is? Do you identify as Neutrois? Are you sizist (I'm looking at you, Warty)?

Have fun.

[Juvenile Bluster]

MSM: an abbreviate for men who have sex with men; they may or may not identify as gay.

but... but... isn't that the definition of "gay"?

[SugarFree]

There is no such thing as "straight," just gays that haven't found the right guy yet and sleep with women to fool themselves.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I dated a really hot Portuguese girl in university and she insisted 'all guys - included me -fantasized about having sex with another man.' I laughed and tried to explain that was retarded but she wasn't swayed.

Yes, she was liberal. Very.

[SugarFree]

I think she was angling for a Devil's Threesome.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

But you did it anyway, right?

[commodious spittoon]

Sounds a little bit like she wanted a cheeky threeway with her close friend Todd.

[Auric Demonocles]

I had several friends in college who said the same thing. The most adamant was bi, so I think that might have been just personal projection. (foolishly, I did not take her up on her hints about me and my bi girlfriend)

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Don't remind me of not working my opportunities.

God I'm slow.

[commodious spittoon]

You sit there and you think about what you've done.

[Raven Nation]

Or think about you've not done, as the case may be.

[Drake]

I assume that any man who says "in university" is gay.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Me too. And it's Rufus, so it holds true.

[Suthenboy]

True. The straight phrase is 'at university'.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Not if you don't identify as gay.

Jesus, JB, stop being such a retrograde homophobic TEATHUGLIKKKAN.

[Juvenile Bluster]

::hangs head in shame::

Do you think that if I went to get lessons from PC Principal, everything would be forgiven?

[Zeb]

Might be bisexual. Or on the down low. I don't think that there is an official definition for "gay".

[Auric Demonocles]

A guy who is attracted exclusively to guys.

[Rhywun]

Or a woman who is attracted exclusively to women.

[Zeb]

Yeah, I guess that is probably it.

[Rich]

Allosexism: The system of discrimination and exclusion that oppresses asexual people.

"Psst. Don't hire that person. Xi doesn't put out."

[commodious spittoon]

They're ripping off homeopathy now?

[Juvenile Bluster]

If you really hate life, you can also checkout their pronoun glossary

[Rhywun]

"My pronoun is co."

I shudder to think what that means.

[Lee G]

Co-dependent lunatic

[Griffin3]

I just skimmed the article, and noticed "bears" were in there but not "twinks". That thar is some sort of discriminatory, eh?

[Tonio]

There isn't really a twink community per se as they are the norm for gay males.

[Suthenboy]

I haven't found that to be true. I have known a number of fairly masculine gay guys. In normal socializing you wouldn't know they were gay. I remember one guy who was pretty masculine and a big, tough son of a bitch.
Whenever anyone would call him gay in an insulting manner he would respond " The only thing I like better than fucking is fighting. Which is it gonna be motherfucker?". Invariably they would back down.

[Rhywun]

I see they helpfully threw in "general social justice terms" too.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Same Gender Loving: a term used by some African American folks who love, date, have attraction to people of the same gender.

I thought that term was "bein' on the down low"?

[Rich]

Nine percent of U.S. adults now say they don't believe in God

What percentage of those believe they're going to Heaven?

[Notorious UGCC]

"Men who do more housework have better sex, says science."

Wait, two years ago Scientific American was reporting that

Men Who Do More Housework Have Less Sex.

Well, I suppose these two results can be reconciled by saying that men who avoid housework may have sex more often, it's because their women are pushovers who resent their exploitative attitude, and therefore are unenthusiastic about giving their lazy men any sexual pleasure.

[UnCivilServant]

Or... the deprived rate the few times they get their henpecking spouse/partner into the sack higher as a defense mechanism.

[Notorious UGCC]

Oh, I see:

"The team's findings oppose those of a study reported by Medical News Today in 2013, which suggested husbands who help out with what are deemed traditionally female household chores - such as doing the laundry or washing the dishes - have less sex than those who leave all the chores to their wives.

"In addition, the study found no association between the amount of housework a man did and the sexual functioning between them and their partner.

""[That study] didn't ring true," says Dr. [Matt] Johnson. "It didn't fit with my intuition and background experiences as a couple's therapist.""

Dr. Johnson is "a family ecology professor in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta in Canada."

[Notorious UGCC]

Oh, and as for the earlier study reported in Scientific American:

"married couples in which men take on a greater share of the dishes, laundry and other traditionally female chores had sex less often than average, which in this study was about five times a month....

"The study has its skeptics. Its data were gathered between 1992 and 1994, making demographer Sharon Sassler of Cornell University wonder about their relevance today. "In the past two decades," she says, "who gets married has changed considerably." Today most couples cohabit before marrying, and a large proportion of the women in those couples, Sassler argues, are not satisfied doing a disproportionate share of so-called women's housework. According to Sassler, frequently those couples do not marry, making the set of couples who would qualify for the NSFH today profoundly different from the set in 1992."

The more recent study is of German couples "who have been in a relationship over a five-year period" (AUTOPLAY).

So apparently we're comparing married couples with couples who aren't necessarily married.

[Notorious UGCC]

So let's try this on for size as an explanation for the supposedly contrasting studies: Some women are turned on by men who do housework, other women prefer men who build decks.

[Notorious UGCC]

And the women who prefer deck-builders are more likely to prefer marriage over roommate-with-benefits relationship.

[Notorious UGCC]

Seriously, consider the population of women who believe in marriage and the women who just slide into open-ended "living together" arrangements. The former may be more traditional in their orientation.

[Suthenboy]

I do a lot of housework. I build decks, furniture, repair plumbing, mow grass, wash the cars, bath dogs...etc. In short there is no work around the house that I don't do. I also cook like crazy.

I have lots of good sex.

[AlexInCT]

Does it sometims even happen with a partner?

[Rich]

a family ecology professor in the Department of Human Ecology

Okay................

[Zeb]

In Greek, "ecology" literally means study/knowledge of the house. So it isn't completely nonsensical.

[Zeb]

husbands who help out with what are deemed traditionally female household chores - such as doing the laundry or washing the dishes - have less sex than those who leave all the chores to their wives.

But do men who leave all the chores to their wives have more sex with their wives?

[ant1sthenes]

Sure, it makes sense. Since the men are doing the women's work for them, they expect some compensation.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Forget running the vacuum honey, let's just f*ck.

[Elspeth Flashman]

That would work for me . . .

[Crusty Juggler]

I am taking notes.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

There's just no time, woman!

[Suthenboy]

Your comment made me think of this:

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

[Lord Humungus]

Who Will Pay for Climate Change?

But insurance companies are starting to worry that climate change will upend the curves. Munich Re began studying global warming in 1974, when, in response to a global surge in natural catastrophes, it founded what it called the Joint Office for Natural Hazards. Known today as the Corporate Climate Center (CCI), the operation involves in-house geologists, geographers, hydrologists, and other scientists who research climate change and then model the ways it might affect the frequency and force of the natural disasters for which Munich Re sells surety.

Peter Hoeppe, a meteorologist, heads the CCI, and his group has concluded that, for the next few decades, climate change will remain fairly easy to predict and thus to insure. Beyond 2050, though, absent massive cuts in global greenhouse-gas emissions, "We may run into a situation where we have abrupt changes, and things become uninsurable," Hoeppe told me. Abrupt changes is scientific euphemism for major disasters that Munich Re can't foresee. That translates into premiums set too low to cover unexpected claims?and, more specifically, losses that could wipe out an alarming chunk of the company's profits.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Like all those massive hurricanes we were warned about after Katrina? Or the flooding of California?

[Rhywun]

Well, if insurers can't predict the climate 35 years from now we might as just start forking over much higher premiums now. As I work in the industry, I am OK with this plan.

[Suthenboy]

What a bunch of lying, fucking horseshit. Lying fucks.

There has been no surge in natural disasters nor have the ones we have had been more severe. Goddamn fucking liars and thieves.

[In League with the Dark Ones]

Berkshire-Hathaway is the largest stockholder of Munich Re.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin.....mpaign=New Campaign&utm;_term=*Morning Brief

Tahir: What did you do this week-end?
Bub: The usual.
Tahir: Pray all day and all of the night?
Bub: No. Burn American flags and chant 'death to America'. I tell ya, I'm getting too old for this shit. I lose my voice to easily, the price of sandals are nuts and I can't keep running to Mr. Cunningham's hardware store for American flags.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

too.

/growls.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: Obamacare Is Dead

Many of Obamacare's failures came fast and early. Strike one: "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." Strike two: Obamacare will save "the average family $2,500 a year on their premiums." Strike three: Obamacare will add "not one dime" to the deficit. We all knew that was coming, just as we knew that people would respond to the very strong incentives not to buy insurance by not buying insurance.

Other failures took longer to become manifest. The architects of Obamacare are deeply distrustful of the role of for-profit companies in the health-care business because, in their nearly pristine ignorance, they falsely believe profits to be net deductions from the sum of the public good rather than measures of the creation of real social value. So they created incentives to set up co-ops, nonprofit enterprises that would administer Obamacare plans in particular states and jurisdictions. It was obvious from the beginning that if Obamacare's perverse incentives created insurance pools that were older and sicker rather than younger and healthier, these co-ops wouldn't be economically viable: You need lots of young, healthy insurance subscribers to offset the costs associated with your older, sicker subscribers.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Seen on Facebook yesterday:
"OMG my premiums went up 50%! Obamacare is a failure! We need to switch to Single Payer!"

THIS IS OBAMA'S LEGACY. Congrats, guy.

[Lee G]

We need to switch to Single Payer!

As much as hate to say it, single payer would be an improvement over this clusterfuck if they carved out space for a private option. The gold standard would be a truly free market in medical care, but I don't think we're going to get that. The GOP has had the opportunity to defund this steaming pile of shit, but they have not done so.

[JWatts]

"The GOP has had the opportunity to defund this steaming pile of shit, but they have not done so."

It took the Presidency, 60 votes in the Senate and a House majority to write the law, it will take the same to remove it. With less than that, you are just nibbling at the edges.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

From DAY ONE, Limbaugh called it. It was all about single-payer.

[ant1sthenes]

I think the intellectuals behind it probably understood the likelihood of destroying private healthcare and intended it, though many of the politicians who voted for it were probably too stupid to think that far ahead.

Democratic socialism in action -- deliberately create poverty, death, and chaos in order to destroy the existing system and replace it with one that gives socialists power over their fellow man. The only real question is whether that chaos results in socialism as planned ("someone save us, for inexplicable and foreseeable reasons we need single payer!"), or fascism ("the socialists destroyed the system and ruined lives to gain life and death power over you. Give us control of the state, and we will make our healthcare great again, and make the socialist traitor pay for his crimes against society").

[Jordan]

OBAMACARE IS THE FREE MARKETEST LAW EVER, AND IT CAN FIT ON THE BACK OF A COCKTAIL NAPKIN AND AFFECTS LITERALLY NOBODY!

/shriek

[Suthenboy]

"...they falsely believe profits to be net deductions from the sum of the public good rather than measures of the creation of real social value."

That is the heart of it right there, and not just regarding Obumblecare.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Say, where's PB today? Doesn't feel like showing up here to gloat?

[Suthenboy]

After listening to Bill Maher the other day I was half convinced that shreek is Maher. Maybe he is busy recording a new show.

[Lord Humungus]

YouGov Poll: What the World Thinks of Capitalism

THE BAD NEWS FOR CAPITALISM

? There is an almost universal belief that the world's biggest businesses have cheated and polluted their way to success ? with barely ten per cent of respondents in all seven countries surveyed thinking big businesses are 'clean';

? Contrary to overwhelming evidence substantial majorities in all seven of the nations surveyed agree that the poor get poorer in capitalist economies;

....

THE GOOD NEWS

? For all of the negativity towards capitalism, more people in all seven nations believe that the free enterprise system is better at lifting people out of poverty than government;

? Although doctors, teachers and charity workers may be more admired than business leaders in popularity surveys there is a widespread recognition that entrepreneurs and business leaders are just as important to society;

[Rasilio]

The thing is they are largely right.

One thing most libertarians overlook is that free markets are not the only form of capitalism and since the word has become toxically associated with big business and big government cronyism we might need to abandon the word so that we can clearly articulate a message that we favor free markets and not whatever it is we have today

[JWatts]

No, you simply state, I'm in favor of free markets. That cozy relationship between company and government is cronyism. Ergo, it's not a free market.

If you want you can use the phrase "free market" capitalism to be specific.

[ant1sthenes]

I'd go with Smithianism, since it implies a market-based alternative to a mercantilist/corporatist system.

[Suthenboy]

In short, people don't know what capitalism is.

[Drake]

In Nothing Left to Cut News, Michelle Obama's Middle East vacation important diplomatic trip was disrupted by sandstorms.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....4-06-40-48

[Rich]

Obama was on a two-nation visit to the Middle East to promote a girls' education initiative

Why do you hate girls, Drake? WHY?!

[SugarFree]

Men who do more housework have better sex, says science.

I'm sure their husbands were very giving.

[Lord Humungus]

VW Sinks Deeper Into Woe as Scandal Spreads to More Cars

...the automaker said some gasoline cars -- not just the diesels that have so far been the focus of investigations -- had worse-than-reported emissions, sending its stock down as much as 11 percent Wednesday. VW's supervisory board issued a sharply worded statement saying it was "deeply concerned" and would meet soon to consult on "further measures and consequences."

Because CO2 can't be filtered out like diesel emissions, "in a way it's a bigger issue," Philippe Houchois, an analyst with UBS Group AG, said on Bloomberg TV. "It seems like the board itself is getting into a higher level of emergency."

Volkswagen said an internal probe showed 800,000 cars had "unexplained inconsistencies" in their carbon-dioxide output, a key measure of fuel efficiency and the basis for taxation and emissions regulation in Europe. It's unclear how much overlap there is between those vehicles and the 11 million the company had earlier said would need to be recalled. VW estimated the new finding means it will need to add at least 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to the 6.7 billion euros already set aside to repair dirty diesels.

[Drake]

The whole "scandal" amuses the hell out of me. GM got a slap on the wrist for killing a bunch of people with their shitty cars.

VW faked out some Regulators - so now they will be destroyed!

[UnCivilServant]

Well, th regulators care more about their authoratah than the lives of some plebs.

[The Late P Brooks]

Ben Sasse made what sounds like a reasonably interesting speech on the Senate floor yesterday. I don't think any of us would consider it remarkable, but...

What is really interesting to me is the variance in the reporting about it. NPR made it sound as if he was all alone in the Senate, spouting a bunch of irrelevant nonsense. The Christian Science Monitor report referred to an interested and appreciative audience.

And- Those NPR commenters are quite a perspicacious lot. "TeaPartyTeaPartyTeaParty!!"

[wareagle]

and there is a good example of what Ted Cruz was driving at in the last debate in telling the CNBC folks that people don't trust the media.

[JWatts]

I listened to an NPR report this morning on the movie "Truth", the underlying Bush National Guard records, and associated scandal. They even interviewed Dan Rather. Not once in the entire story did they state that the "records" in question were fabricated. If you didn't know anything about the subject, you would assume that Dan Rather was fired purely for political reasons.

[AlexInCT]

That's the agenda of these people.. tell a lie - uncontested - often enough, and it become the truth...

[Lord Humungus]

School shootings, mass killings are 'contagious,' study finds

The study, published in July the journal PLOS ONE, found evidence that school shootings and mass killings -- defined as four or more deaths -- spread "contagiously," and 20% to 30% of such killings appear to be the result of "infection." The contagion period lasts about 13 days, researchers found.

Researchers gathered records of school shootings and mass killings from several data sets and fit them into a mathematical "contagion model." The spread they found was not dependent on location, leading researchers to believe that national media coverage of a mass shooting might play a role. On average, mass shootings occur about once every two weeks in the United States and school shootings happen about once a month, the study said.

gee ya think?

[Rhywun]

I smell an opportunity for the CDC here.

[Jordan]

Some delicious american socialist tears in this thread.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Swiss Servator|11.4.15 @ 8:28AM|#

"Revolutionary Mortgage Deadbeats Front"

PWNED

[Swiss Servator]

*bows*

[Monty Crisco]

That was good stuff. Holy shit, is amsoc a bigger, more deluded douche than I could have imagined. God, it may be parody...

[Lord Humungus]

Embattled San Francisco Sheriff Loses Re-election Bid

With more than 90,000 votes counted, Hennessy had 62 percent compared to just 31 percent for Mirkarimi.

The San Francisco sheriff's office has been in the spotlight since a Mexican national in the country illegally was charged in the fatal shooting of a San Francisco woman this summer.

Prior to the shooting, the man was released from Mirkarimi's jail even though federal officials had requested that he be detained.

Mirkarimi vigorously defended the city's sanctuary policies, which generally prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with immigration officials.

[Juvenile Bluster]

SF also rejected the anti-airbnb legislation. Maybe there's hope for that city yet.

Seattle might've even passed it for derpiness.

[Rhywun]

Not sure where I stand on airbnb but this sticks out:

Under current San Francisco rules [residents] must register with the city and pay a 14% hotel tax on what they earn from those rentals.

"We want our cut."

The battle was not just over housing, but in many ways a referendum on the changes tech money has brought to famously tolerant San Francisco in the past years, raising prices and turning a more working- and middle-class city into one with prices closing in on New York.

Oh lord... SF hasn't been "a more working- and middle-class city" for decades. And it has been more expensive than NYC for a couple decades too.

[Lord Humungus]

Proposition F: San Francisco voters reject anti-Airbnb legislation

San Francisco's citizens have narrowly voted against controversial proposals to restrict short-term home and apartment rentals, handing a victory to companies such as Airbnb.

The failure of "Proposition F" is a victory for the company which has been targeted by affordable housing advocates and tenants' rights attorneys, though it won by a tighter margin than expected with 55% of votes.

Airbnb, which is currently worth at least $25bn, spent more than $8m defeating the measure, canvassing neighborhoods with volunteers and populating billboards in a campaign orchestrated by Washington political operative Chris Lehane.

[Lee G]

ANARCHY

[Juvenile Bluster]

Don't worry, it looks like they'll get their law, even if the public doesn't want it.

At North Beach's Club Fugazi, the Yes on F campaign mingled with supporters of Aaron Peskin, the apparent winner for the District Three seat on the Board of Supervisors. A Peskin victory would give six votes, a majority, to the board's progressive wing, increasing the chances that the supervisors will tighten vacation-rental rules.

[Not okay]

Everytime I go back to Maine I'm struck by the retarded politics. As soon as you cross the border there is a sign that says "Maine, open for business" followed by 50 miles without a business or much else.

Somehow progressives in Maine got the idea that they are NY or Seattle, or anything but a frozen tundra of bumpkins with an economy based on trees. There's always some Walmart getting rejected to build because it wouldn't fit in with the beauty of all the broke ass people fleeing.

Beautiful place but infested with people who seem determined to preserve it like its a Rockwell painting. At least they got this right.

[Drake]

Yep - they possess none of the geographic or demographic advantages of a NY or Boston, but the liberals like to act as if they do - then wonder why nobody wants to do business there. Meanwhile, the backwoods, inbred, creepy half of the population votes for guns rights and the dole. Makes for bizarre politics.

[Zeb]

Where do you enter Maine that there are no businesses for 50 miles?

[Drake]

Been a long time since I've been there - but I remember a whole lot of nothing along the turnpike until I was close to Portland.

[sarcasmic]

That's because you're on the highway. Take Rt 1 and you'll see nothing but businesses.

[Rasilio]

There are businesses there, they just aren't visible from the highway.

Rt 1 is on average only about 5 miles away from the Turnpike all the way from Portsmouth to Portland running along the coast and has thousands of businesses along it including a major outlet mall area just over the border

[Not okay]

Trick question, there's only one road in Maine.

[sarcasmic]

Can't get thaya from heeya.

[Zeb]

There are remarkably few roads going into Maine and very few major east-west roads.

[Irish ?s ESB]

It's been a long time since I've graced you with ESB's rambling stupidity, so here she is talking about how awesome Twitter changing their like function is. She is the most vapid and uninteresting political writer on the planet.

""And they also give us insight into the emotional registers of other people. The heart, which Twitter suggests is more universal than a star, seems to me to actually be less so. It has more in common with emoticons used mostly by young women, like the red, fluttering Tumblr heart (which also signals a "like"). In that sense?and in a very small way?the glittering heart infuses into popular, mainstream discourse a way of communicating that is more often than not denigrated as silly and frivolous. For some, especially those not accustomed to heart-y levels of enthusiasm, the button may even offer a new way of feeling. (Which seems ridiculous, until one considers that the Facebook 'like' has spread beyond its original platform to other parts of the internet, and is also percolating into real-life communication and art. Life imitates the internet.)"

Ugg.

UUUUUUUUUUGH

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

[Lee G]

I think that paragraph needs more hyphens, parentheses, and quotation marks.

[Irish ?s ESB]

"Furthermore, the heart's ironic use seems to fit well with the "lol nothing matters" ethos of the internet at large, meaning that if you're not in the market for a fancy new mode of self-expression, you can still use it to communicate that all of this is meaningless, which may just make this the most versatile icon ever used on Twitter."

The "LOL nothing matters" ethos.

The LOL. Nothing matters. Ethos.

FUCKING KILL ME

[Lee G]

Is this existentialism applied to internet ramblings?

[ant1sthenes]

Say what you want about the tenets of nihilism, at least... no, nevermind.

[Crusty Juggler]

You have a strange fetish.

[Lord Humungus]

That hurts me eyes - and brain - just to read. It's like Vogon poetry.

[Monty Crisco]

LMFAO...

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Are you her only reader? Maybe if you stop, she'll get fired.

[Irish ?s ESB]

It was shared on twitter 134 times!

134 times!

Admittedly one of those was mine because I was making fun of it. It is highly possible her only readership is hate readers, I'm just not the only one.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

For some, especially those not accustomed to heart-y levels of enthusiasm, the button may even offer a new way of feeling.

What the fuck does that even mean?

[Irish ?s ESB]

THE NEW WAY TWITTER LETS YOU LIKE TWEETS WILL OPEN UP NEW VISTAS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

IT PROVIDES US A NEW WAY OF BEING, AS IF WE MEDITATED UNDER THE YOGI AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN.

[lap83]

I glanced at that, saw "glittering heart" and almost died of apathy

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

I'm not really interested in your apathy

[Crusty Juggler]

Men who do more housework have better sex, says science.

Are we still clinging to the idea (or gender norm) that some women are not lazy slobs? Women can be lazy slobs too.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Maybe that's because men who do more housework are less sedentary and therefore have better sex because they aren't 50 lbs overweight.

[Lee G]

Plugging the Roomba in gets me totally ripped.

[Irish ?s ESB]

It's indicative of less sedentarism. It means you're less lazy.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Plugging the Roomba in gets me winded.

[Juvenile Bluster]

SF initiative to put 18-month moratorium on market-rate housing in the Mission District defeated

I had to read this twice to make sure it actually said what it said. I'm not even sure how this could've worked. The apparent solution to a lack of affordable housing was... to create an even worse housing shortage?

An initiative that would halt construction of market-rate housing in the Mission District for 18 months lost at the polls Tuesday after an impassioned campaign that set the desire of many residents to preserve their neighborhood against the economics of a fast-growing city.

The impetus behind Proposition I was the loss of working-class residents, Latinos and families who have been priced out of the area or evicted as well-paid tech workers flock to the neighborhood.

The measure's proponents wanted to use the construction break to come up with a long-term plan to address the displacement. Opponents argued that halting construction would have been the wrong move when the city is facing a severe housing shortage and would have made the neighborhood more expensive.

With 100 percent of the precincts counted, the measure fell short 57 percent to 43 percent. An unknown number of mail-in ballots have yet to be counted.

[Rhywun]

The display of contempt in that city for anyone who isn't authentically non-white or poor enough is really something to behold. And I live in NYC so that's saying something.

[Elspeth Flashman]

So voters in the bigger city that my suburb is attached to approved a $175mil millage to improve their consistently-ranked-last school system. And I am sure that throwing lots of cash will really solve the problem (I'm being sarcastic).

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My city did that about 12 years ago.

......and they built a new $30 million administration building.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Gotta fund that union pension and pay for their legal defense, otherwise the children won't learn.

[Lord Humungus]

Trunk and disorderly! Herd of 50 drunken elephants ransack village after gulping down 500 LITRES of alcohol in shop

The animals destroyed a shop stocking Mahua and ruined crops in Dumurkota, east India, after drinking 18 containers of the alcoholic drink.

However they were not satisfied after the drinking session and ransacked adjoining huts to find more of the liquor, according to local reports.

...

Unfortunately these animals live in close proximity to man and they recognised the smell of the drink,' police spokesman Asish Samanat said.

He added that the elephants were similar to a drunk human in that they were 'aggressive and unreasonable', but they were 'much, much bigger'.

[Notorious UGCC]

That's why they pay police spokesmen the big bucks. (rupees?)

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

CA ski resorts are opening this week.

That is all.

[The Late P Brooks]

Was there really anybody, anywhere, who seriously believed the buckeye state would pass that marijuana bill?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Michigan has two ballot proposals for casual use of MJ coming up in the 2016 election cycle. I'm not sure how it will pass, because MI is a red state that's run by the blues. But the last MJ initiative, for medical use, passed by 100% of counties. The only difference in the two proposals right now is that one says "let's let the licensing board take care of this," and the other one says "no, we need a separate licensing board to control it."

[Rhywun]

because MI is a red state that's run by the blues

I don't think red or blue means much when it comes to MJ law. If our party system allowed for expressions of greater or lesser authoritarianism, then we could make some predictions.

[Notorious UGCC]

Not now, honey, I'm trying to get these dishes sparkly clean!

[Notorious UGCC]

Alternate joke: "Hey, baby, did you read that new housework study? Be a dear and check the oven, I think my frozen pizza is ready."

[Notorious UGCC]

Alternate alternate joke: "Yeah, when we do the housework we'll definitely share it."

[Notorious UGCC]

Oops -

"Share the *what* work?"

[Lee G]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTBAhYE-_bw

[The Late P Brooks]

Plugging the Roomba in gets me totally ripped.

Now I have an image in my head of a warning sticker which should be on every Roomba.

[UnCivilServant]

Warning: Roombas cannot tell one human from another, and if abused will attack anyone within range.

[lafe.long]

Ben Sasse: Freshman Nebraska Senator Says 'People Despise Us All' in 1st Floor Speech

"Each of us," Sasse said, "has an obligation to be able to answer our constituents' question: Why doesn't the Congress work? And what is your plan for fixing the Senate in particular? And if your only answer is that the other party is fully to blame, then we don't get it, and the American people understandably think that we are part of the problem, not the solution."

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Well said. I would quibble, however, with the characterization of the Senate as "not working." If the two sides are as polarized as they are and, as a result, nothing is being accomplished, that means the Senate is functioning exactly as designed.

[Irish ?s ESB]

So yesterday a) Portland refused a $15.00 minimum wage law, b) Ohio voted against giving a 1990's pop star a ridiculous constitutionally mandated weed monopoly, and c) Houston said "No thanks" to an onerous 'anti-discrimination' law.

A rare victory for sanity.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Those are all pluses. David Vitter secured a spot in the Louisiana gubernatorial run-off, though, so it's not all wins.

[Suthenboy]

Vitter is the best of the lot.

Ponder on that for a while.

[Monty Crisco]

All fair points.

[lafe.long]

Joe Ganim: Bridgeport, Conn., Re-Elects Former Mayor Convicted of Corruption to Same Job

"Some will call this a comeback story. For me it is a city that I never left," Ganim, who served seven years in prison and was released in 2010, said on Tuesday. He defeated six other candidates.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Some will call this a comeback story. For me it is a city that I never left,"

In other words, don't call it a comeback, I've been here or years.

#mamasaidcleanyouout

[Notorious UGCC]

here *for* years

[Lord Humungus]

Former Presidents With Criminal Records

In a little-watched speech at an NAACP banquet in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday, Hillary Clinton addressed "the box"?the section on job applications that requires applicants to indicate whether they have a criminal record. Specifically, she boldly (?) claimed that under an HRC presidency, "former presidents won't have to declare their criminal history at the very start of the hiring process."

Was it a gaffe? A Freudian slip? A softening liberal opinion of the Bush family? A subtle tip of the cap to Ulysses S. Grant's reckless horse and buggy rides?

Maybe all of the above. But it's also the right thing to do! Former presidents deserve a fair shake on the job front, just like the rest of us.

[Notorious UGCC]

Andrew Jackson was able to explain his criminal contempt conviction based on disobeying a judicial order and locking up the judge.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

Andrew Jackson also murdered a man in cold blood, but that wasn't an impediment either.

[JWatts]

"Andrew Jackson also murdered a man in cold blood, but that wasn't an impediment either."

I haven't read that.

[Hank Phillips]

Me neither. Was the victim dressed in a red coat in Louisiana? Was it the wannabee assassin with damp powder in both pistols?

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

She's got dirt on Jimmy Carter, but she wants to make sure he's still employable and not a leech on our welfare system.

[Sevo]

Run a rotten business in SF? Well, if you do it long enough, the voters will now pay you to do so:

"Prop. J: Measure to help save longtime 'legacy' businesses passes"
[...]
"While the No on J camp didn't run an active campaign or raise money, opponents of the measure, such as retired Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp, said it could create a pool of tax-funded patronage money that could be doled out to local businesses in exchange for political support. He called it "one of the worst rip-offs under romantic guises I have ever seen."
To qualify for the legacy program, a business must be nominated by the mayor or a member of the Board of Supervisors and then be approved by the Small Business Commission."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....609193.php

I'm going out on a limb here and predicting that any business not owned by a voter registered D isn't gonna get a penny.

[Jordan]

Jesus christ. That may be the most blatantly cronyist piece of legislation ever.

[Sevo]

Not sure.
SF requires developers to pay for 'remediation' when they build a new structure. Supposedly, it was to promote those gawdawful collections of scrap-iron known a 'public art'.
Well, it turns out it can also fund 'neighborhood meeting places' which just might employ those who campaigned for a certain supervisor who represents the district in which the development is to occur.
There is an upside: Once this was determined to be a valid use of 'remediation funds', there were fewer scrap-iron piles around.

[Lord Humungus]

Hansen's Massive 1988 Forecast Fails

In 1988, James Hansen told Congress that the Midwest will have frequent episodes of very high temperatures in the current decades, predicted 3 to 9 degrees warming by 2025, and predicted 1 to 4 feet sea level rise by the middle of this century.

In fact, the exact opposite occurred. The frequency of hot days in the Midwest has plummeted over the past century, with 1988 being the last really hot summer.

Temperatures have risen just over 0.2 C since 1988, and that is mainly due to the current El Nino. Next year will probably be cooler than 1988. Hansen's forecasts missed by more than 2000% so far.

NOAA says that sea level is rising 1.8 mm/year. That is a rise of less than two inches since 1988. Hansen's forecasts missed by more than 1000% so far.

[NewYorker]

To be honest, did you really think that they will raise minimum wage? I was hoping too, but deep down inside I knew that this was not going to happen. My friend even started looking for reliable resume writing review company as he wanted to renew his resume to apply for a better job. I guess he can hold on to this move. I am lucky to have a well-paid job, but you never know what can happen the next day, especially when you live in the United States of America.

[Sevo]

NewYorker|11.4.15 @ 10:15AM|#
"...you never know what can happen the next day, especially when you live in the United States of America."

I do!
You get spam-bots! That's what happens the next day.

[Lord Humungus]

down, tricky spambot, down!

[The Late P Brooks]

CA ski resorts are opening this week.

The weatherman predicted an inch or two over the last thirty six hours.

I'd say at least a foot at my house.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Apple Weather said "Partly Sunny" yesterday. Meanwhile, we had a thunderstorm that temporarily closed LAX.

Here's "Partly Sunny"

[commodious spittoon]

I see some sunny.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I see some jerk

[commodious spittoon]

Yeah? Well, the jerk store called...

[The Late P Brooks]

I am lucky to have a well-paid job, but you never know what can happen the next day, especially when you live in the United States of America.

I feel your pain, anonbot.

[lap83]

I briefly thought about going to this, glad I didn't
http://deadspin.com/nearly-twi.....1740428523
nearly twice as many people as live in Kansas City attended Royals parade

Just the thought of being in the midst of that makes me want to crawl into a corner

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

But think of all the eligible young hot men that were there!

[lap83]

I already own one and he doesn't like parades either, so it works out.

[commodious spittoon]

You wouldn't want to crowdsurf that sea of faces?

[The Late P Brooks]

Can you say, "VAPORWARE"?

There's a new stealth bomber joining the U.S. Air Force and it will be one incredible aircraft. In war, this strike aircraft can fly deep into hostile areas ? undetected ? where it can unleash serious munitions against an enemy.
The Air Force announced Tuesday that it chose Northrop Grumman to build the next generation long-range strike bomber. The Air Force has not yet chosen a name for the aircraft, which folks are referring to as "B-3".

The new strike bomber will start deploying in about a decade. The aircraft is expected to replace the nearly four-decades old B-1 as well as the legendary B-52 Stratofortress that has served the country for about six decades.

This new bomber will be fully loaded with lots of technologies and next-gen innovations that are cloaked in secrecy. It may even withstand nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) and still operate.

And all for the low, low price of $500,000,000!

[commodious spittoon]

Hopefully it's made of teflon like the F-35.

[Rasilio]

And maybe someday they'll be able to explain why a manned strike bomber is more efficient than what is essentially a C-5 firing long range stealth cruise missiles or air launched sub orbital ballistic missilesfrom outside of the enemy's radar range.

[Frankjasper1]

What one is the c5 you are referring too?

[Lee G]

I can say PORK PROJECT

In fact, I can even say GRAFT, CORRUPTION, KICKBACKS, and COST OVERRUNS

[Suthenboy]

I am envisioning something like the spanish warship that wouldn't float.

Every crony gets a contract to build some gadget to put on it until it is so heavy it can't get off of the ground.

[Frankjasper1]

500 mill seems like a bargain....wasnt b2 like 2billion a pop

[LoneWaco]

there was a case here in DFW this week. the people called the media and showed them the evidence. maybe they called the cops too. who knows.

[lap83]

Men who do more housework have better sex, says science.

This is a bit misleading. Here's a quote from the study

The results showed no association between the amount of housework a man did and a couple's sex life.

"In any relationship, the amount of housework is going to mean something different based on the couple's context, based on their own expectations for what each partner should be doing, and their comparison levels of what happens with other couples they know," notes Dr. Johnson.

However, compared with men who reported making an unfair contribution to household chores, those who perceived a fair contribution to household chores engaged in more frequent sex with their partner, and both partners reported their sex being more satisfying.

Basically, men had a pretty good idea of whether they were helping enough and making their partner's happy. The quantity was less important than the perception.

[lap83]

partners*

[The Late P Brooks]

A conundrum

A gay couple in Pennsylvania is drawing attention to a little-known legal limbo facing some same-sex couples in the wake of national legalization of gay marriage: they can't get married because they're technically father and son.

Nino Esposito and Roland "Drew" Bosee first met on Easter Sunday in 1970 and have been partners roughly ever since, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. They live in western Pennsylvania, where for many years Esposito was a teacher and Bosee worked as a freelance and technical writer, but where same-sex marriage has been legal only since 2014. In 2012, two years before that court decision legalized gay marriage in the state (and before a Supreme Court decision legalized it nationwide), Esposito, now 78, legally adopted Bosee, who is 10 years younger. It was a common strategy at the time for same-sex couples in Pennsylvannia to provide some of the legal protections of marriage, such as hospital visitation and inheritance rights.

I blame Gillespie.

[Old.Mexican]

they can't get married because they're technically father and son.

They're legally father and son, not technically. Technically, my son is my son because I fathered him, regardless of how many times I reject my paternity. "Technically" means according to the facts or to a strict meaning and going by a STRICT meaning, technically those two homosexuals are NOT father and son because the older guy did NOT father him.

[Bern-o-Matic 5000]

This was a common strategy for estate-planning and tax-planning strategy in the dark pre-gay-marriage era (i.e., earlier this year).

Esposito should not have been in love with his son. Now he is reaping what he sowed.

[lap83]

Not to sound insensitive, but didn't they realize when doing the adoption the downside of not being able to "officially" marry each other if gay marriage did become legal?

[Notorious UGCC]

Yeah, as I read further into the story it got a lot less interesting.

[ant1sthenes]

See, the conservatives told you that if you legalized gay marriage, people would try to gay marry their kids, but did you listen? No.

[Old.Mexican]

Cato Unbound editor Jason Kuznicki reviews Harry Frankfurt's new book On Inequality.

Kuznicki's review is a good read and a very good analysis of Frankfurt's assumptions.

[GroundTruth]

Nine percent of U.S. adults now say they don't believe in God, up from 5 percent in 2007

Hallelujah!

[Hank Phillips]

I could have won some money on that fake Ohio election if such betting were legal. Of course decriminalizing election betting would open the door to actuarial science and make faking the election results a LOT stickier. Better for "both" political parties that elections be opaque to individual verification and appraisal by mathematical induction.
The bright side is the door is now open to honest decriminalization with no gangland cartels other than the ones already working ethanol, opiates and caffeine substitutes.

[Tate]

I make up to $90 an hour working from my home. My story is that I quit working at Walmart to work online and with a little effort I easily bring in around $40h to $86h? Someone was good to me by sharing this link with me, so now i am hoping i could help someone else out there by sharing this link... Try it, you won't regret it!......

http://www.4CyberWorks.Com

[MarisolMoore]

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go? to tech tab for work detail,,,,,,,

---------- http://www.4cyberworks.com

[Juvenile Bluster]

Well played.

[Restoras]

I miss the days of joke handles. Good times.

[Jordan]

Conservative butthurt detected.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

What, the woodchipper handles and monocle gags ain'ts 'nough for you?

[Mongo]

I miss the joke handles too. It was the Wild West of commentating.

[Certified Public Asshat]

In real Nick Gillespie news, he is having a back and forth with Iowahawk on Twitter

[ant1sthenes]

I wish they would have aliases as a core feature. Like, your real handle stays what it is, but you can override it with a joke handle. They should be non-unique (so, e.g., everyone can be Spartacus) and clearly identifiable as aliases, to prevent spoofers from actually fooling (intelligent) people.

[UnCivilServant]

Those got stale a while back.

[Drake]

No offense to Nick, but my money is on Iowahawk.

[commodious spittoon]

Church Lady ?@QuiteDirect
@nickgillespie @iowahawkblog Why the hell do we still have communal bathrooms? It's 2015! We have drywall.

Amen.

[Zeb]

William M. Briggs ?@mattstat 1h1 hour ago

@iowahawkblog @nickgillespie This is the problem with libertarianism. It necessarily drifts left into authoritarianism.
2 retweets 6 likes

Does anyone actually know what "libertarian" means?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"William M. Briggs ?@mattstat 1h1 hour ago

@iowahawkblog @nickgillespie This is the problem with libertarianism. It necessarily drifts left into authoritarianism.
2 retweets 6 likes"

Whaaaa?

[Raven Nation]

Pity not all those participating have the same intelligence as Nick & IowaHawk:

"William M. Briggs ?@mattstat 2h2 hours ago

@iowahawkblog @nickgillespie This is the problem with libertarianism. It necessarily drifts left into authoritarianism."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Totally.

My life changed (well to the extent a moron like me has a life) after I saw the Sistine Chapel. God can't prepare you for shit like that.

[Rhywun]

There's a special place in hell for a sourpuss like you.

[Lee G]

The whole issue is retarded, it's up to the owner of the bathrooms to set an acceptable use policy.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Chinese drywall?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Drywall is really easy to drill through.

[Rhywun]

Beware. I tried to make this point yesterday but I got accused of being some sort of bathroom dictator.

[UnCivilServant]

It's called the infernal bureaucracy. I'm practicing by working in the corporeal bureaucracy.

Also, you've failed to file attachments C, E and WZ to your Form EVL-57. You'll have to start over with a new EVL-1a(i)

[In League with the Dark Ones]

I do not find UnCivilServant listed with the people who talk in the theater.

[Lee G]

But it chafes

[Rhywun]

*smacks forehead*

I forget you're already in hell. Carry on.

[gaijin]

Do you work Saturdays to complete your TPS reports?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You only wanted walls from the waist up?

[commodious spittoon]

It's like the luddites inveighing against self-checkout, Rhywun, they're denying the cold austerity of our glorious impersonal future. I dream of popping out to get a bagel on a chilly Sunday morning in February and having to deal with nobody else: driverless taxi, self-serve storefront kiosk, and relieving myself in total isolation.

[commodious spittoon]

Alternatively, save yourself a bundle.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

They have portable ones now that are cheap and accurate.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Jinx! You owe me a Coke.

[UnCivilServant]

No, the last weekend work I did was at midnight to do some prod database maintenence.

We don't do TPS reports. Though there is a three-week lead time on a change request now.

[Lee G]

That's the beauty of twitter, there's always someone dumber than you to make you look better by comparison.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Wait for it to go on sale. You can get it half off.

http://www.amazon.com/Anova-Cu.....B00UKPBXM4

[JWatts]

"...it's up to the owner of the bathrooms to set an acceptable use policy...."

Lol, that's cute. So, last century.

[commodious spittoon]

That's actually pretty sexy.

[Crusty Juggler]

would.

[R C Dean]

How so?

Or is letting people run their businesses they way they want without having to truckle to armed goons enforcing the privileges of fashionable minorities now "conservative" as opposed to "libertarian"?

[Suthenboy]

Good grief. It isnt complicated.

The premise behind the co-ed bathrooms is that it doesn't really matter if someone with one type genitalia used a bathroom for people with the other kind of genitalia, right? If it doesn't matter then let them use the bathroom for people with their own kind of genitalia.

As for private bathrooms it is up to the owner of the bathroom to set policy.

[Contrarian P]

White Indian happened. It was like the Wounded Knee of the interwebs.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Unlike good, solid conservatism, which does not drift into authoritarianism.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

"How so?"

Gillespie's not a Democrat, for one.

The user (Winston?) is perennially butthurt that Nick actually expects the Republicans to promote small government now and again, and doesn't hold Democrats to the same standard. And in this case, Nick, like Scott, is criticizing the conservative idiots who panic that some dude will go into the women's bathroom and perv out, rather than making any freedom of association/small government arguments.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Jesse has one.

I have the one that takes up the counter. It's annoying to have to get out the ladder and put it away in the high cabinets.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Make the hole bigger.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

relieving myself in total isolation

Isn't that what the driverless taxi is for?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

No drifting required (on social issues)?

[Drake]

Next thing you know, people will only bake certain kinds of cake.

[AlexInCT]

Glory?