A.M. Links: GOP Presidential Debate Tonight, Chicago Police Unions Fight to Destroy Records, Saudi Arabia Announces Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism

• 

  CNN

  The next Republican presidential debate happens tonight in Las Vegas.

• Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records.

• Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of an Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism.

• Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion in a general court-martial.

• "San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik sent at least two private messages on Facebook to a small group of Pakistani friends in 2012 and 2014, pledging her support for Islamic jihad and saying she hoped to join the fight one day, two top federal law enforcement officials said Monday."

• A man in Thailand is facing a prison sentence of up to 37 years after insulting the king's dog on social media.

New at Reason

• Brickbat: The Praying Dead By Charles Oliver

• Apocalypse 2016 The leading candidates to replace Barack Obama think America is going to hell. By Matt Welch

• Threatening Gun Rights Confirms Americans' Worst Fears Without Improving Safety Gun controllers advocate the imposition of laws that have already failed on people who won't obey them, to address crimes already decreasing in prevalence. By J.D. Tuccille

• Leave Satoshi Alone! This month saw journalists engaged in yet another failed attempt to discover the identity of Bitcoin's creator. By Andrea Castillo

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The next Republican presidential debate happens tonight in Las Vegas.

Maybe it will stay there.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

[Lord Humungus]

is it me you're looking for?

[Clich? Bandit]

My friend, how are ya.

[BigT]

Are all you Canucks getting rich off the Chinese?

[EMD]

It's me.

I've thought about us for a long, long time

[Just a thought not a sermon]

124) Somehow I never read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, despite reading Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers multiple times in middle and high school. Making up for that deficiency now. Two points:

First, I am extremely impressed by Heinlein's vision of privately-administered justice. He really shows how it would work in practice, and makes our current system seem so clunky. Of course, a judge would be someone mutually acceptable to both parties, the fee would be negotiated, the defendant chooses whether he wants a jury or not, based partially on if he wants to pay, with payment perhaps scaled to parties' income. Poor judges don't get repeat business, competition keeps prices low, balancing of interests ensures justice is achieved.

Two, if I were to read more Heinlein, what next? In high school I read SF voraciously (Herbert and Pohl were my favorites), but largely gave it up in college.

[Pat (PM)]

Jeez man, spoiler alert.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The Planet of the Apes was earth the whole time.

[SugarFree]

Oh my God, I was wrong
It was Earth, all along

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I love you, Dr. Zaius!

[DrZaius]

I love you too, DoM.

[robc]

Its a frickin sled.

[Old.Mexican]

Re: Pat (PM)

In the Crying Game, the girl was really a dude.

[Old Man With Candy]

You've got the best ones for sure. Avoid at all costs his later stuff, which showed symptoms of brain damage.

The juveniles are fun, especially Citizen of The Galaxy. Beyond This Horizon, The Green Hills of Earth, If This Goes On are all very, very good. It's a pity that the definitive novel about Nehemiah Scudder was never written.

[Rich]

Tunnel in the Sky

[Old Man With Candy]

Fine book, that. Not my personal favorite, but compared to shit like Farnham's Freehold, Time Enough for Love, and Glory Road, it's Shakespeare.

[Tonio]

To follow up on OMWC's remark, Heinlein did have a brain tumor removed and it affected his writing. Not all of his late period works are without merit.

[SugarFree]

Double Star, The Puppet Masters, and Door Into Summer are also fine reads, if not really political works as such.

[Old Man With Candy]

The cool thing about Door is that it perfectly anticipated AutoCad.

[Krabappel]

The Cat Who Could Walk Through Walls was terrible.

[Old Man With Candy]

And Pohl was indeed god-like. Ditto Kornbluth. Fine taste you have there. Simak is delightfully American in a Stephen Vincent Benet sort of mode.

[Tonio]

TMIAHM is the best exposition of libertarian principle in any of his works, followed by ST. He has a large body of juvenile works which is not a slam, I'm using the publishing industry term; these were books written for boys: Between Planets, Farmer in the Sky, Red Planet, etc (most of those were originally published by Scribner). The juveniles are quick reads and have some liberty principles but you can skip those if you're looking for more substance.

For I will Fear No Evil, The Number or the Beast and The Cat who Could Walk through Walls compromise his mid- and late-period adult works.

Stories and Novellas from his early and mid periods with liberty commentary: If This Goes On, The Roads Must Roll, Coventry, and the eponymous story collection The Green Hills of Earth.

Best wishes. I'm doing this quickly and from memory having read him voraciously as a boy and young adult.

[Old Man With Candy]

I will Fear No Evil, The Number or the Beast and The Cat who Could Walk through Walls compromise his mid- and late-period adult works.

And should be avoided at all costs. Friday had a few flashes of his early work, but was still pretty lame.

[Old Man With Candy]

Also, I can't remember the name of the book where most of the narration was about the protagonist washing dishes, but avoid that one as well.

[SugarFree]

The only third phase book worth reading is Job: A Comedy of Errors.

[Old Man With Candy]

That's the one. It was awful. You should be ashamed.

[SugarFree]

You should be ashamed.

[UnCivilServant]

"The Cat Who Could Walk Thorugh Walls" rates as the only book which caused me to chuck it at a wall with great force mid-way through.

[SugarFree]

Fun fact: Starship Troopers was written as part of the juveniles, but the publisher refused to publish it under that imprint.

[tarran]

Another fun fact: Heinlein had a huge fight which he lost in Red Planet over gun control. The publisher was apalled at the notion that the kids could pick up fire arms without adults giving a whit and then use them on other human beings; hence the weird scene where the kids were forced to take solemn oaths before they were entrusted with the guns.

[SugarFree]

Red Planet was the first Heinlein I read, given to me in the third grade by my saintly school librarian. They had a partial set of the Scribner's illustrated hardbacks, the first editions that came with no dust covers so they wouldn't show wear and tear so acutely.

I have Between Planets, Citizen of the Galaxy and Have Spacesuit in those Scribner's first editions.

[some guy]

Why start with a book when you can start with an (awesome) movie? The Goonies.

Think about it. The kids are making money to preserve what they love. The cops are useless. It's all about individual liberty, personal responsibility and pirates.

[some guy]

This was supposed to be a response to SugarFree below. Squirrels.

[RAHeinlein]

For libertarian sermon topics - The Notebooks of Lazarus Long.

Methusaleh's Children introduces Lazarus.

The Past Through Tomorrow is a great collection of "future history" stories. Orphans of the Sky is a fun read and worthwhile from a societal construct perspective and as part of the future history.

[robc]

For non-Heinlein, more modern libertarian SF, I strongly recommend Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky.

Short synopsis: Fuck off, slavers!

[Limpee Wiltstock]

I'd say GLORY ROAD, based on what you're talking about. In my view it's second only to ROCKETSHIP GALILEO. As for Pohl, he was one of the best writers I've ever read, in any category. The guy was a fucking master, and practically started out that way. Anybody serious about being a really good writer sho?ld spend some time studying his work and his apparatus of techniques and their manly methods of execution.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records.

The first step to admitting you have a problem.

[Lord Humungus]

Guy invents the 'World's Worst Smell'

"We package Liquid ASS in a bottle small enough to hide in the palm of your hand. The bottle dispenses our nasty elixir in a thin, invisible, silent stream, thus equipping the prankster with stealth and speed," reads a product description, per the 99% Invisible podcast.

Available for $10 on Amazon, it's now used by the US military to harden medics to the smell of a torn intestine leaking waste. Yes, it's that bad. Metro describes the scent as "the most appalling smell known to humanity," adding the product lets you "recreate the smell of festival toilets, a soiled [diaper], or a burst sewer in the comfort of your own home."

something something Warty's "workout" room

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

STEVE SMITH SWEATY TAINT.

[BigT]

For my money butyric acid is the worst smell. But this newcomer is much more likely to cause confusion since it imitates some other common foul odors.

[Bee Tagger]

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion in a general court-martial.

Is this for the sweeps episode of Serial?

[Lord Humungus]

I listened to the first episode of Serial concerning Private Bowe. Bergdahl said that he left because he wanted to cause a "dust-up" so problems with his platoon could be examined.

All I could think was "You left your camp/position without permission. You put your comrades in danger when they went looking for you. Call it what you want, but it was wrong to do that. It was also an idiot move considering where you were."

[gaijin]

"He Serialized with honor and distinction"

[widget]

Do you want to see Angela Merkel nekkid.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BGmoGP0CEAAWjG_.jpg

Not bi, just curious.

[Rich]

NSFW or the Eurozone.

[Lee G]

PB will be along shortly to rant about BOOOOSH

[Zeb]

They look healthy.

[DJF]

Saudi Arabia going to fight terrorism? What are they going to do bomb themselves?

[gaijin]

They are going to blow up the US...cause that's where all the sleeper cells are.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

+ 911 drone strikes

[Pat (PM)]

Drunk driver attempts to hide from police in nativity scene

TADCASTER, England, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A British driver used a nearby Christmas decoration to hide from police after crashing his car while driving drunk on Saturday morning.

North Yorkshire Police shared a photo to Twitter showing a black Mini Cooper crashed into a metal railing. The post stated that the driver fled the scene, hiding in a nearby shed which was housing a nativity scene.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I'm going to file this trick away in case I ever need to use it.

[Certified Public Asshat]

He stole it from Home Alone.

[EMD]

Uh, it didn't work.

[Elspeth Flashman]

But did she pose like one of the wisemen? The story doesn't say.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Jackass.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

And upon being detected, she repositioned the sheep so that they were humping each other

[Monty Crisco]

Old white guy explains why old white guys are evil, the GOP is evil and Donald Trump basically IS Timothy McVeigh:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....party.html

The man who is ostensibly worried about fascism (weren't all those guys leftists to begin with?!?)
"argues" in a manner that doesn't invite "argument". Check this:

"There's no serious counterpart to this on the liberal left."

"The line from all this to the rise of Donald Trump, based wholly on his immigrant-bashing rhetoric, is direct and indisputable."

"And yes, this is very different from why black people voted for Obama as black people, and if you even need me to explain that, you're totally lost."

Such and such is indisputable! IT is all settled already!! If you even EXPECT me to explain something SO obvious, you are completely lost!! WHO NEEDS FACTS when unexamined bluster is my MO?!?!?
Jesus, Tomaskey is such a dick?But I'm sure PB can get behind him?

[Free Society]

Tomaskey is singularly awful, knowingly engaging in every fallacy he can find. Which means he will have a long and fruitful carrier in journalism.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I got into it in the forums of an FEE gun control article yesterday with someone who was so deeply invested in the Progressive "debate" tactics I'm still not sure that I wasn't being trolled. His argument can best be summed up as, "It doesn't matter that there are no facts to support gun control legislation as a remedy for mass shootings, or even that there's a mass shooting problem in particular; the emotional response evoked by imagining what such a thing might be like should be enough to drive you to want to give up any right to self-defense you think you have."

Wake me up when a self-proclaimed Progressive is willing and able to engage in polite, rational, open-minded debate, because I've never seen it or anything near to it.

[Free Society]

Progressivism is a species of sophistry. It sort of makes sense that progressives only know how to engage in sophist reasoning and debate. That's why they're progressives, they don't know how to think rationally.

[Monty Crisco]

ACTUAL NYT COMMENTER ON GUN CONTROL:

You say: "If guns are illegal, only crooks will have guns."

Not likely. In Australia where guns are now illegal, the black market street value for a gun is $35,000. If you have a weapon worth $35,000, you don't need to break into a house.

If you still want a weapon, then get a cross bow. It will kill the burglar just as well, without the pyrotechnics.

[Mindyourbusiness]

In Australia where guns are now illegal, the black market street value for a gun is $35,000. If you have a weapon worth $35,000, you don't need to break into a house.

And no one would ever think about smuggling in guns!

Jeezus.

[Lord Humungus]

Angela Merkel to 'drastically decrease' number of refugees coming to Germany

The German chancellor, who will address a congress of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) today, has faced criticism from allies within her party after she refused to place a cap on the number of refugees accepted, a figure expected to total 340,000 this year.

"At the same time we took on board the concerns of the people, who are worried about the future, and this means we want to reduce, we want to drastically decrease the number of people coming to us," she told radio station ARD.

Ms Merkel was recently named TIME person of the year but her global standing has not translated into broad home support. While she does not face any rivals from within her own party, her popularity has fallen as she has repeatedly welcomed refugees to Germany.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I don't understand leaders who ignore the will of the people.

340 000 is a huge effen amount of people to admit. If the people are uncomfortable with it maybe officials and pundits should quit calling people xenophobes for their concerns and consider maybe, just maybe, it's a tad problematic.

[Free Society]

If the people are uncomfortable with it maybe officials and pundits should quit calling people xenophobes for their concerns and consider maybe, just maybe, it's a tad problematic.

HERESY. Your penance is three Hail Clockboys and you must drink 5 Cosmopolitans to purify your yokel soul.

[Suthenboy]

"I don't understand leaders who ignore the will of the people."

They see the people as cattle. Cattle don't get a say.

[Illocust]

Of course she isn't, they literally have nowhere to put all these refugees, and apparently their welfare system means they'll be supporting them for a long time to come.

[The Last American Hero]

They could put them on the next plane to Saudi Arabia. It's closer to home.

[UnCivilServant]

Unless it's a negative number (a very high magnitude negative number) the problems won't go away.

[Rich]

Lucas warns fans not to spark terror alerts with their lightsabers

"we're putting yellow tape round the handles of our weapons. That's so everyone can see we're part of the group and we can still take our blasters and our lightsabers without scaring people."

"Got that, terrorists? YELLOW TAPE!"

[Pat (PM)]

Something something, gathering of 72 virgins...

[Pope Jimbo]

Maybe if you used the yellow tape to add some bacon to your light saber?

[gaijin]

round the handles of our weapons toys.

fixed

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

round the handles of our weapons toys flashlights.

Fixed.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records."

Strangely, this may be a good sign, as they can see the population will no longer tolerate what it used to. The first thing the Stasi did after the Wall fell was to burn their files as fast as they could.

[Drake]

Authorities have discovered images of ISIS flags and severed heads on the cellphones of hundreds of asylum seekers crossing into Norway

http://www.infowars.com/hundre.....ir-phones/

[Old Man With Candy]

Infowars is a highly reliable source.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Wait, have to catch my breath.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Drake]

You can translate this.
http://www.nettavisen.no/nyhet.....70286.html

[Free Society]

I love it when people shit on a story on validity grounds, but have no clue who the source is. The first two words of the article are hyperlinked and read "Nettavisen reports..." I don't suppose you have some indictment of a Norwegian news outlet that will make you laugh just as hard?

[DJF]

They just have pictures that Norwegians don't have. Another win for diversity.

[Suthenboy]

How long before it sinks into those idiot's heads that they have invited a 5th column into the homes of their children?

There aint no idiot like a useful idiot. At least ordinary stupid people have some sense of self preservation.

[Tonio]

Probably at the moment their own heads are separated from their bodies.

[Free Society]

They'll never realize it. They'll be long dead by the time the negative effects of this population replacement begins to more visibly destroy their children's prospects. This is part of why it's so irresponsible and unjust to engage in this massive social engineering experiment.

[Drake]

Norwegians of all people ought to understand Fifth Columns.

[CatoTheChipper]

American Progressives have long said the US needs to become more like Europe.

The European Left seems intent on making Europe more like Lebanon.

[Bee Tagger]

A man in Thailand is facing a prison sentence of up to 37 years after insulting the king's dog on social media.

Are you sure the man isn't dyslexic and didn't just insult the king's religion? I'm sure that carries a lighter sentence.

[Lord Humungus]

Kim Kardashian eating her placenta after son's birth

"I'm really not this holistic person or someone who would have ever considered eating my placenta," she writes on her website.

"I actually thought (sister) Kourtney would have soooo (sic) done this, but I don't think she did and when I say 'eat my placenta,' I mean that I'm having it freeze-dried and made into a pill form - not actually fry it like a steak and eat it (which some people do)."

"I heard so many stories when I was pregnant with North of moms who never ate their placenta with their first baby and then had postpartum depression, but then, when they took the pills with their second baby, they did not suffer from depression," she continues. "So I thought, 'Why not try it? What do I have to lose?'

just my respect! *cries into pillow*

[SugarFree]

I hope she chokes on it and somehow takes the rest of her hideous clan of California hillbillies with her.

[Old Man With Candy]

Placenta Helper: Make that special occasion a special occasion!

[gaijin]

^nice snl throwback

[Fist of Etiquette]

Half-swallowing the pill while driving the lot in a school bus to a photoshoot, perhaps, crashing and killing them all? That's how The Partridge Family ended, you know.

[The Last American Hero]

If they'd ended that show with a horrific bus crash and a newspaper headline declaring them all dead, we'd still be talking about that finale.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Good. I'm not the only one to see these people for what they are: Trash with coin.

[Tonio]

As the descendant of hillbillies I resent the comparison with those...people.

[Lee G]

Damn straight. Real hillbillies prevent PPD with white lightnin'.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Agreed. I respect hillbillies.

[SugarFree]

They are--at the very least then--city goats.

[EMD]

You just hate successful people.

[Rich]

'eat my placenta'

That's like 'bite me', right?

[pan fried wylie]

don't have a cow, man.

[Mickey Rat]

Do it right or do not do it!

[SugarFree]

The irrepressible C. Anacreon wondered last night what book he should give his son as an introduction to libertarianism...

Might I suggest a collection of my work, handsomely bound in the ever self-renewing foreskin of Warty Hugeman?

I am working on my Kickstarter page. And Warty is hard at work too...

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Good Lord.

Out of curiosity, how old is his son and what was the consensus answer?

[SugarFree]

13, but nothing was really settled on.

[SugarFree]

I was disappointed that Heinlein wasn't mentioned. He was my personal path.

Tunnel in the Sky, especially, but Red Planet, The Rolling Stones, Citizen of the Galaxy, and (maybe) Have Space Suit?Will Travel still hold up for a modern audience.

[Old Man With Candy]

See my comments above. We have some overlap.

[Old Man With Candy]

How old is his son? Depending on the answer, I might be able to give him a REAL introduction to libertarianism.

[widget]

And Warty is hard at work too...

Perhaps you meant he's hard to work with.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Genius is always misunderstood.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The greatest donation gets to write the foreword for it.

[Idle Hands]

The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America.

/jk

[Pope Jimbo]

Bound in foreskin? That is genius!

Small enough to bring with you everywhere. Rub it a bit, and wallah, you get the large print edition for gramps to read.

[some guy]

Why start with a book when you can start with an (awesome) movie? The Goonies.

Think about it. The kids are making money to preserve what they love. The cops are useless. It's all about individual liberty, personal responsibility and pirates.

[CatoTheChipper]

The Philosophy of Liberty is an introduction to libertarianism that takes all of eight minutes.

[EMD]

Most movies are incredibly libertarian.

[Warty]

It's not self-renewing. Do you know how much jelquing it takes?

[SugarFree]

At least it grows back.

[Bee Tagger]

Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records.

Yeah, yeah, we all go through that phase where we think it would be cool to get in next year's Guiness book, but it's rarely worth it.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

That is two days in a row, BT...

[Bee Tagger]

The next Republican presidential debate happens tonight in Las Vegas.

Yes! More polls!

[Fist of Etiquette]

A man in Thailand is facing a prison sentence of up to 37 years after insulting the king's dog on social media.

To add insult to injury, the dog was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

[Pat (PM)]

Woman Names Newborn Son Uber After Giving Birth in Company Cab

A newborn baby boy was just named Uber ? thanks to his mom's driver. A New Delhi woman named Babli requested that her Uber driver, Shahnawaz, name her son after he helped deliver the newborn in the back of his Uber car.

Shahnawaz recalled the situation in a recent interview with The Times of India. He explained that he picked up Babli, who was with two female friends, to bring her to the hospital.

"I had asked them to call an ambulance, but the women said that they couldn't get one," he said. "The woman was writhing in pain and her friends did not know what to do. I pulled out the towels from the seats and poured some drinking water into a bowl. The child was born within minutes and I was really happy to see that he was responding."

Shahnawaz then drove Babli to the hospital and escorted her to the emergency wing. "He picked me up, put me on a stretcher," Babli told The Times of India, "and dragged it into the hospital."

Babli was so appreciative of Shahnawaz's assistance that she invited him to her baby boy's baptism on Sunday, December 13. Even better, he got to name the little guy during the ceremony.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Last name Alles?

[Elspeth Flashman]

That so makes me think of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoA_zY6tqQw

[pan fried wylie]

this wouldn't happen with quality, mandatory health insurance.

[EMD]

A cab driver would've thrown her out of the car and kicked her in the stomach.

[Lord Humungus]

What Are Liberals Really Willing To Do To Stop Climate Change?

So, if developing nations ? after we've paid them climate reparations ? start building coal-powered plants that allow citizens to enjoy modern conveniences like affordable electricity, cars, and air conditioning, and ignore those theoretical strictures on emissions that they signed on to in Paris, shouldn't the U.S. consider invading? Should we not, at the very least, bomb them into compliance, as we do ISIS? Or perhaps we should sanction them and destroy their economies as we tried to do with Iran and South Africa? If countries that shelter and fund terrorists fear lethal force from world powers, why would climate-change deniers and propagators be immune from retribution if their sins are, in the aggregate, even worse?

Reductio ad absurdum you say? I say at some point your actions have to catch up with the rhetoric. Democrats have turned global warming into an issue that's without comparison in contemporary American political history. This is literally a fight to save the world. Liberals like to accuse conservatives of selfishly ignoring the plight of the poor and minorities. Now, they can just accuse conservatives of killing everyone.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

That's a good point. The fate of the world is in the balance. Shouldn't we be bombing Indian and Chinese coal plants?

[Idle Hands]

As the task is impossible without killing off 3/4 of the world population, I think not.

[gaijin]

killing off 3/4 of the world population

Feature not a bug to hardcore greenies

[Zeb]

Now, they can just accuse conservatives of killing everyone.

Can anyone explain to me how this follows from the rest of it? I got nothing.

[Overt]

He is saying that since liberals envision a planet-wide catastrophe, refusing to follow their 'scientific' advice is allowing that catastrophe to happen, which will undoubtedly kill masses of people- maybe not everyone, but enough to make the point stick.

I have had people accuse me of this in debates before. "Well yeah, sure, there may be some problems with the data, but when the cost of them being right is millions of dead humans, how can we not act now." Essentially, they are equating skepticism with negligent homicide. And to that point, if skeptics are guilty, then actual 'polluters' must be even more so.

My rejoinder is always, "While warming may happen and may kill people, we know for a fact that increasing the price of energy will lead to billions stuck in poverty with the death sentences that implies."

[Zeb]

OK, so it doesn't actually make sense.

As usual, they fail to look at the unseen side of the equation.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Or the seen side, really, since they don't seem to have any issue with the fact that all of their projections have proven severely off-base-

[CatoTheChipper]

The author misstates the CAGW movement's vision of the future when he says, "they can just accuse conservatives of killing everyone." Their vision of the future is that, if left unchecked, greedy capitalists and their sycophantic CAGW deniers will utterly destroy the planet and kill everything.

The CAGW movement's misanthropic vision of the future is such that killing nearly everyone would be a good thing. The greedy capitalists and the CAGW deniers want to continue using technologies that have lifted and are lifting billions out of dire poverty, starvation, and disease. The CAGW movement argues that these technologies are unsustainable and, oblivious to the precautionary principle and the need for extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims, believes they should be prohibited regardless of consequences.

[Zeb]

The CAGW movement's misanthropic vision of the future is such that killing nearly everyone would be a good thing.

While those people certainly exist, I'm not sure I'd characterize the whole movement that way. There are a bunch of people who seem to think we can just build a bunch of solar panels and wind turbines and continue on happily as we were. I'd say it's more a movement of technocrats than enviro-whackos and White Indians, though the latter certainly join in,

[Zeb]

And socialists looking for another way to push their bullshit.

[CatoTheChipper]

I'm not referring to all of the useful idiots, just the useful idiots who understand what they are advocating. They're all useful idiots also because CAGW is really just a ruse to justify socialist world government.

However, the international socialist elite knows full well that it cannot sustain current population levels.

[Lee G]

Can anyone explain to me how this follows from the rest of it?

It doesn't. It's merely an excuse to rant and froth at the mouth.

[Illocust]

It's a good point, in the make you stop and think manner, but I think the climate change activists are in the same boat as the pro-life people. The great majority truly believe the talking points. They don't kill for them for several reasons though: A.) It's extremely hard to stomach killing someone in anything but the heat of the moment for the modern human with so little experience with death, B.) The backlash to the deaths would swing public support in favor of the opposition causing more of what they don't like.

[Zeb]

And "we had to burn the [developing country] to save it" never plays well.

Since the purported point of the climate agreements is to fix it so that life doesn't get too horrible and difficult for people, particularly in some less developed places, it would also be a bit counterproductive to start killing them.

[UnCivilServant]

Don't be silly, we start the executions with the greenies until no one is calling for them any more.

[CatoTheChipper]

No need for executions. Just shame them with voluntary carbon taxes and let them freeze in the dark.

[Suthenboy]

What will happen is that CO2 emissions will continue to climb, maybe at a faster rate, and none of the predictions of global warming will come true. Additionally none of the money will be used for its stated purposes.

When people start to question the whole boondoggle and complain about the money the non-problem of global warming will be swept under the rug and some other reason will be given as to why we must keep up the international socialism.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Sounds like you've seen this movie before.

[Mr. Flanders]

Anyone else think this is really, really dumb? Everyone uses rhetoric that is way beyond what they are willing to do through action -- including The Federalist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion in a general court-martial.

They're promoting him to general???

[Idle Hands]

Liberal Hispanic activists assail Rubio, Cruz as 'traitors' to their culture:

"It's not comfortable for us to do this, to call out members of our own community who don't reflect our community values, but we have no choice," said Crist?bal Alex, president of the Democratic-backed Latino Victory Project.

At a Monday gathering in Nevada of Democratic Hispanic leaders, ahead of tonight's GOP debate in Las Vegas, photos of Cruz and Rubio were plastered alongside Trump's picture, as all three were criticized as anti-Latino. A press release noted, "While Trump continues to grab headlines with his hateful anti-Latino, anti-immigrant language, the positions and records of the two Latino presidential candidates in the race are equally dangerous for Nevada communities."

Dolores Huerta, an influential labor leader and civil rights activist, called Cruz and Rubio "sellouts" and "traitors" at the gathering and said the Hispanic candidates "are turning their backs on the Latino community."

Shocking.

[Drake]

Uncle Tom?s?

[Idle Hands]

The rise of the white hispanic.

[Pat (PM)]

Nicely done.

[Zeb]

To consider "Latinos" a single "community" is just idiotic. The are a hugely racially and culturally diverse group. To suggest that they all share a certain set of values is tremendously insulting.
And Rubio is Cuban-American, and they aren't exactly known for their left-wing politics.

Fucking identity politics is the worst thing in the world.

[gaijin]

tremendously insulting.

For instance...Try telling a Puerto Rican they are the same as a Dominican!

[Zeb]

And those are relatively similar among different kinds of Latin Americans.

[Free Society]

Why does no one assume that a white guy is a traitor to his race if he doesn't vote Republican? Or is it only brown people who are expected to live out their existence on a bandwagon? Seems like Hispanics and blacks are expected to maintain solidarity against white people.

[Zeb]

White privilege, duh.

I like to counter people who like to say "look at those stupid Republican voters voting against their own self interest" by asking if they also make fun of rich people who vote for Democrats because they are presumably voting against their interests. And if they really believe that poor people should only vote for free stuff and should never have any principles.
I don't get a lot of answers.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

What kind of racist are you, to think that a Mexican, a Chilean, and an Argentinian aren't all of the same community?

[Brett L]

The kind who worked with a sweet Peruvian who thought Mexican accents were low-class and trashy. Which is weird because she claimed Peruvians spoke Castillan Spanish, but I never heard her lisp.

[Lord Humungus]

North Carolina citizenry defeat pernicious Big Solar plan to suck up the Sun

The citizens of Woodland, N.C. have spoken loud and clear: They don't want none of them highfalutin solar panels in their good town. They scare off the kids. "All the young people are going to move out," warned Bobby Mann, a local resident concerned about the future of his burg. Worse, Mann said, the solar panels would suck up all the energy from the Sun.

Another resident?a retired science teacher, no less?expressed concern that a proposed solar farm would block photosynthesis, and prevent nearby plants from growing. Jane Mann then went on to add that there seemed to have been a lot of cancer deaths in the area, and that no one could tell her solar panels didn't cause cancer. "I want information," Mann said. "Enough is enough."

These comments were reported not in The Onion, but rather by the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. They came during a Woodland Town Council meeting in which Strata Solar Company sought to rezone an area northeast of the town, off of US Highway 258, to build a solar farm.

[Lee G]

I recall something about the average IQ being 100.

[SugarFree]

Not in North Carolina.

[Brett L]

15% in the research triangle have 50% of the IQ points.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 banjo strum (echoing down the valley, disappearing into the fog)

[DJF]

"""expressed concern that a proposed solar farm would block photosynthesis, and prevent nearby plants from growing""'

Actually solar panels do block plants and there is not much photosynthesis going on under a solar panel.

[SIV]

Silly science-denier!

[kbolino]

Solar panels block sunlight in the same way any opaque material does. Jane Mann seemed to be suggesting that the panels were affecting plant growth not just under and immediately surrounding them, but in a noticeable area around the panels as well. If I were to hazard a guess as to the cause, it would be that the operator of the panels clears the area around them intentionally to allow them to be more easily maintained.

Heaven forbid Ars Technica send somebody down to (gasp!) North Carolina to investigate these claims before reporting on them. It's easier to sneer at the yokels.

[Zeb]

OK, that one might be interpreted more charitably. The Manns, on the other hand, seem to have some problems.

Jane Mann then went on to add that there seemed to have been a lot of cancer deaths in the area, and that no one could tell her solar panels didn't cause cancer. "I want information," Mann said. "Enough is enough."

What are you going to do with that information if you are unwilling to change your mind about solar panels causing cancer?

[SIV]

The solar farms are located in the vicinity of (and feed into an electric power sub-station. An old college friend of mine got federal money to study cancer clusters around power substations. It's bullshit but not bullshit without the stamp of politicized scientific concern.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Yeah, once everyone gets having a giggle at the dumb Southerners out of their system we should remember that as recently as ten years ago there were conflicting studies regarding whether or not proximity to high-voltage power lines raised the risk of leukemia. Turns out the best evidence is that they don't, but the point is that it's not unreasonable for someone not closely following the research to have heard of some of the studies and conclude that the possibility exists.

[CatoTheChipper]

Jane Mann has a hypothesis that solar panels array in a solar farm increase the incidence of cancer deaths.

The scientific method of argument would statistically analyze the actual incidence of cancer deaths in the vicinity of solar farms relative to the incidence far away from solar farms.

Ridicule is not an accepted method of scientific argumentation.

[Zeb]

And this isn't a scientific journal and she isn't a scientist (she explicitly states that she is unwilling to listen to evidence disproving her "hypothesis"). And lots of research has been done on the topic. She's at the same level as people who think GMOs are horribly dangerous despite no evidence to support it.

[lap83]

Wow, so ignorant. We need the solar panels to suck up the sun's energy to keep it safe from the unchecked Gaia-killing capitalism of the Kochtopus. Don't they know anything?

[SIV]

I strongly suspect free market forces do not play a part in the race to install solar farms in the tobacco, melon and sweet potato fields of Eastern North Carolina (I left out soy and cotton as they're not too free-market either).

[Zeb]

I suspect you are right. The main purpose of solar farms is to collect tax subsidies.

[Rich]

Big Solar plan to suck up the Sun

[Tejicano]

Reminds me of a person speaking in favor of a proposed English Only law who stated that "if English was good enough for Jesus..."

[Brett L]

It does cut down on arable land, and also creates a heat island effect. Neither of these will have a measurable effect on agriculture across a fence line.

[Tonio]

It doesn't help that the original source, the Roanoke (VA) newspaper, has the article behind a survey wall.

[SIV]

Roanoke Rapids. Roanoke, VA is on the opposite end of the state

[CatoTheChipper]

"a proposed solar farm would block photosynthesis"

This is simple fact.

[Pat (PM)]

'Angel of Death' shuts people inside coffins to help them appreciate life

A country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world is giving its people lessons in how to appreciate life - by shutting them inside coffins.

South Korea is encouraging workers to stage 'pretend funerals '.

The bizarre idea has seen major companies ask workers to lie down in wooden coffins.

A man dressed in black with a tall hat, representing the Angel of Death, then closes the lids.

Those taking part are expected to 'play dead' not for eternity, but around 10 minutes. Enclosed in darkness, they are left to contemplate the meaning of their existence.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Remember that episode in 'The Twilight Zone' where the guy tried to escape prison byway of a coffin? While he lay in the coffin he lit a match and saw the body next to him was...the groundskeeper who was supposed to get him out!

Now that's terror!

[Pat (PM)]

You're thinking of an episode of The Alfred Hitchock Hour, I think.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Was it? It's been soooo long. I saw it in the 80s.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I actually have a hard time watching Twilight Zone, somehow the episodes make me emotional (eek). But then I get a little annoyed by watching and looking for the "twist."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Therein lies the point!

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik sent at least two private messages on Facebook to a small group of Pakistani friends in 2012 and 2014, pledging her support for Islamic jihad and saying she hoped to join the fight one day, two top federal law enforcement officials said Monday."

Just a guess. I'm having a difficult time believing this one slipped through the cracks. Is it possible some sort of PC crap is taking place behind the scenes under Obama when it comes to security?

[Pat (PM)]

Might have something to do with this.

[CatoTheChipper]

Obviously the solution to this problem is to beef-up NSA surveillance of everyone.

[Overt]

It really does depend. A lot of the social media companies did a lot to harden their infrastructure after the Snowden leaks- especially companies with a strong security culture (Google, Yahoo, Facebook) in the Valley. They had regular meetings talking about how to do this.

Private messages are not monitored by a lot of these companies. So unless Malik or the Pakistani friends were already being watched due to things they said in a public, searchable site, it is unlikely the NSA would have picked up on them.

Having read through places like 4chan, the amount of bloviating and hyperbole would probably make it difficult to find actual terrorists. For every Malik planning to actually do something, there are hundreds or thousands of 12 - 18 yr old kids just acting tough.

[CatoTheChipper]

I'd have no objection to denying visas to Arabs and Pakistanis on the basis of their bloviating and hyperbole. Foreigners have no right to an American visa, and they should be denied if they have publicly expressed hostility or violent intent towards America or sympathy with a terrorist organization.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

What's hard to believe? Needle in a haystack.

[Zeb]

I don't find it hard to believe at all. People say all kinds of shit on the internet all the time. And private messages are, you know, private.

If government is monitoring social media to a sufficient extent to catch things like that, that's a bad thing. I thought we were against snooping and gathering data on people absent a specific suspicion. And I would like to think that I have a reasonable expectation of privacy in electronic communications that are supposed to be private.

Checking the social media of potential immigrants seems like an OK thing to do. But getting access to information that is not public shouldn't happen without a warrant.

[Lord Humungus]

Petite Mort Furs turns roadkill into fashion

Pamela Paquin's source for fashion is either "tres chic" or will make you shriek.

She creates neck muffs, leg warmers, hats, purses and more from roadkill, or "accidental fur," as she prefers to call it.

As owner of Petite Mort Furs, a two-year-old Boston-area company, she said she's offering the fur industry an alternative to wild fur trapping and large-scale fur farms.

"All this fur is being thrown away," Paquin said. "If we can pick that up, we never have to kill another fur-bearing animal again."

[Rich]

Brilliant!

*** drives over twenty minks ***

[Lee G]

With a name like that, I thought it would be fur of a more risque nature.

[SugarFree]

They say that many animals ejactulate at the point of impact.

[gaijin]

They say...

They? Come on now, you have real world experience with this don't you.

[Clich? Bandit]

how does one ejaculate from their left collar bone? Or their sternum? Or cranium?

[Clich? Bandit]

Or are you suggesting they are all getting hit in the dick? What a way to go.

[SugarFree]

Take it up with they.

[Clich? Bandit]

TECHNICALLY ACCEPTABLE NOW! ASK NIKKI!

[Pope Jimbo]

neck muffs aren't risque enough for you?

[Pope Jimbo]

Maybe she could make merkins from the road kill and clean up with the plushies?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Petit Mort would translate to little death. Little death, is also a goodbye phrase " au revoir est mourir un peu" (to say good bye is to die a little).

[SugarFree]

petit mort is also a French euphemism for orgasm.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Right, sorry. But I guess I am trying to say it can be seen more romantically as well.

[SugarFree]

Rowr.

[Lee G]

I don't usually orgasm when I say goodbye. Usually.

La petite mort (French pronunciation: ?[la p?tit m??], the little death) is an expression which means "the brief loss or weakening of consciousness" and in modern usage refers specifically to "the sensation of orgasm as likened to death".[1]

[Zeb]

That's a good idea.

[Atanarjuat]

Buzzards hardest hit.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and saying she hoped to join the fight one day, two top federal law enforcement officials said Monday.

America: the land where you can fulfill your hopes and dreams.

[Pat (PM)]

57 Percent Of People In Landmark Survey Don't Know Where Grand Canyon Is

You'd think that a canyon that is 277 miles long with points 18 miles wide and more than a mile deep would be hard to miss.

However, more than half of people in a landmark survey released last week have no clue where the Grand Canyon is located.

Intrepid Travel, a company specializing in small excursions, surveyed 2,000 people across the U.S. -- and found 57 percent of respondents didn't know the Grand Canyon is in Arizona.

[Illocust]

Somewhere in the middle of America. Other than that, no clue. It's never been relevant to know.

[Zeb]

More the south-west, really.

What do you think you are, Sherlock Holmes?

Personally, I love filling my head with irrelevant information.

[The Last American Hero]

It's in flyover country, duh.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Trick question. The Grand Canyon is in the Grand Canyon.

[kbolino]

While Arizona would have been my first guess, New Mexico and Utah would have been close seconds. I knew it was in the Southwest but not in California or Las Vegas. It's in the middle of a sparsely populated desert, though, so the fact that a lot of people don't know which state it's in doesn't mean much.

[kbolino]

Las Vegas

... Nevada, the word I was looking for was, Nevada

[Pat (PM)]

You can use them interchangeably, 85% of the rest of the state is FedGov property and people who survived the nuclear range testing.

[kbolino]

Honestly, it's a wonder I didn't say "New Vegas". I've never been west of Texas so the whole area is a video games and movie setting to me.

[Pat (PM)]

Las Vegas is actually kind of a fun city... to visit. Living there comes with its own set of peculiarities though. I live about 60 miles from there at the fringe of civilization.

[Overt]

I have a 3 day limit on Las Vegas. Starting the mid-morning of the 3rd day, I just look around and think to myself "Every hour in this city is costing me $80". And there is only so much money I am willing to spend on "free" blackjack table cocktails.

[Zeb]

I don't know. Seems like the sort of thing people ought to know. It is one of the country's most famous features.

But I've made a point of knowing a lot about geography, so maybe I'm weird.

[Tonio]

Also, part of it is on an indian reservation.

[kbolino]

If the state police can patrol there, then it's part of the state as far as I'm concerned.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

"San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik sent at least two private messages on Facebook to a small group of Pakistani friends in 2012 and 2014, pledging her support for Islamic jihad and saying she hoped to join the fight one day,

Statistically significant evidence proving that Facebook causes terrorism. DHS should bring in Zuckerberg. NOW.

[Rich]

In Virtual Reality Headsets, Investors Glimpse the Future

"I haven't seen that one thing that makes you want to stay in there for hours," Mr. Schachter said. "I'm frustrated I haven't seen it yet."

Oh, come on, Schachter. You *must* have seen Lawnmower Man.

[Brett L]

Come try my teledildonics VR experience. Pairing random strangers with the same tastes and full experience suits. Everything is real except we use good looking avatars with to your specification vital measurements.

[Lee G]

Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records.

Looks like they started with your link.

[Lord Humungus]

Anyone hear from Nutrasweet lately?

Salvation Army Volunteer Exposed Himself
Tennessee "bell ringer" facing a misdemeanor indecency charge

Cops were dispatched Thursday afternoon to a Food City outlet in Kingsport after a man called 911 to report that a Salvation Army volunteer had "lifted up his red apron" and exposed his genitalia, which the suspect had "pulled out from the inside of his pants."

The lewd act, witness Cody Estes reported, occurred after his four-year-old son placed change into the Salvation Army's trademark red kettle. The witness told police that the boy did not notice the volunteer exposing himself.

While suspect William Martin, 61, initially denied any wrongdoing, he "eventually admitted to the illicit act," according to a Kingsport Police Department arrest affidavit.

A review of store surveillance footage appeared to show Martin--who was seated in a lawn chair--fondling himself under his Salvation Army apron "as customers, including children, entered and exited the store," cops allege.

[paranoid android]

He should have joined the Salvation Navy, I hear they're more tolerant of that stuff.

[SugarFree]

61? I'm not that old.

[Clich? Bandit]

your endocrine system is.

[Pat (PM)]

This Day in History

1791 - The Bill of Rights took effect with Virginia's ratification of it.

1890 - Sioux Indian chief Sitting Bull was killed by Native American police.

1916 - The French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

1939 - The movie Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Georgia.

1944 - Band leader Glenn Miller disappeared in a plane crash over the English Channel.

1961 - Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.

1964 - Canada adopted its national flag, a red maple leaf on a white background.

1966 - Animated-cartoon pioneer and movie producer Walt Disney died in Los Angeles.

1989 - A demonstration that turned into a popular uprising in Romania began the downfall of Nicolae Ceausescu.

[UnCivilServant]

1966 - Animated-cartoon pioneer and movie producer Walt Disney died in Los Angeles.

Walt wasn't live-action?

[IndyEleven]

Well the legend is that he's waiting to be RE-animated. Hey-yo!

[Atanarjuat]

1890 - Sioux Indian chief Sitting Bull was killed by Native American police.

#redlivesmatter

[Idle Hands]

E.P.A. Broke Law With Social Media Push for Water Rule, Auditor Finds:

WASHINGTON ? The Environmental Protection Agency engaged in "covert propaganda" and violated federal law when it blitzed social media to urge the public to back an Obama administration rule intended to better protect the nation's streams and surface waters, congressional auditors have concluded.

The ruling by the Government Accountability Office, which opened its investigation after a report on the agency's practices in The New York Times, drew a bright line for federal agencies experimenting with social media about the perils of going too far to push a cause. Federal laws prohibit agencies from engaging in lobbying and propaganda.

"I can guarantee you that general counsels across the federal government are reading this report," said Michael Eric Hertz, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York who has written on social media and the government.

An entire article without once mentioning any possible penalties or consequences for what they are accused of. Laws are for little people.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else had secret meeting to pledge their support...

Inside the Secret Meeting Where Conservative Leaders Pledged Allegiance to Ted Cruz

It didn't take long for the participants to winnow down their list. They eliminated the weaker contenders: Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Ben Carson among them. This facilitated the Cruz-Rubio duel many had been anticipating: Cruz, the Protestant purist with a pit bull's demeanor, versus Rubio, the Catholic pragmatist with a choirboy's countenance. Or, as one member framed it: "Cruz the Fighter versus Rubio the Communicator."

After each round of balloting, the participants paused to pray collectively, and then broke off into smaller conversations to try to persuade opponents to switch sides. Cruz allies had slowly peeled away some Rubio supporters, but the two factions appeared to be at an impasse and were hunkering down for a late night. RELATED: Ted Cruz Calculates a Path to the Nomination

And then, on the fifth ballot, several votes swung unexpectedly to Cruz, and the election was over. Cruz had the supermajority of votes, and the group had its consensus candidate.

[Rich]

Hillary's IT team?

[Je suis Woodchipper]

Cruz will be the next POTUS.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records."

So.

War on cops?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Trump Supporter Yells "Light The Motherfucker On Fire" As Protester Is Dragged Away At Rally

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/t......pixxRB3Kk

Which one of you Peanuts was this?

[JPyrate]

PB YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE TURD BURGLAR !!!!!!

/WHACK

[Monty Crisco]

OF course dipshit takes it as gospel from Buzzfeed.

Just like all those N-words lobbed at Pelosi and company on her stroll to the capital building to pass Obamacare....

[CatoTheChipper]

Well, at least somebody produced a recording of this incident. Despite numerous TV cameras and smartphones recording the Pelosi Triumph, nobody was able to produce a credible recording to substantiate the "n-word" allegation.

[Lord Humungus]

Streetcars to Nowhere Roam U.S. Cities After Stimulus Largess

They are the product of cities' desire for hipper downtowns and a resurgent U.S. streetcar industry, and are paid for with $1.2 billion from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program, other federal sources and matching state and local dollars.

While streetcars in Portland, Oregon and Seattle have succeeded -- measured by high ridership and nearby investment -- others have struggled with cost overruns, construction delays, traffic snarls and accidents as drivers adjust to the giant machines gliding down the middle of roads. Seen as starter legs of more expansive systems, the nascent lines fuel criticism that the money should have been spent on existing public transit rather than going to carry people short distances slowly.

"You now have a big hulking transportation technology in the road that can only move backward and forward, can't get around obstacles and is slower than bus routes streetcars often replace," said Marc Scribner, a fellow at the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington. "It's transportation mission creep."

[Pat (PM)]

The problem is we need moar trainz to bring people into the downtown areas so they can ride the street cars.

[The Last American Hero]

The Seattle Streetcar has not "succeeded". Amazon bought the south end of Lake Union, moved about 8,000 jobs to the new campus, and surprise, surprise, surprise, a shit ton of development happened nearby. The streetcar does cruise through that area of town, but the development of that campus had fuck all to do with the S.L.U.T. - yes, that is what they named it.

[Lord Humungus]

Young white men are the most derided group in Britain, study finds

The most praised demographic was the white woman in her 60s, closely followed by a white man in his 60s.

The least praised group was the white man in his 20s, who was far behind the next least praised group, the black Carribean in his 20s.

YouGov found that gender played a huge role - the most derided groups were mainly men, with the notable exception of a white woman in her 20s.

Similarly, the most praised groups were mainly women - with the exception of a Jewish man in his 60s.

Young white men were expected far above most to get drunk, sleep around, not work hard and to be impolite.

wot?!

[widget]

Fugging Pakis. Half of them are smarter than you and the other half will groom your daughter.

[Free Society]

White men have contributed nothing to the world but misery and despair or something something.

[kbolino]

Or maybe this has something to do with British youth culture, you know the sort of thing you could have inferred from reading the fairly brief snippet that was pasted.

[Free Society]

I did read it. There's no need to act like Nikki.

And for what it's worth, the words "youth" and "culture" do not appear in that story anywhere, together or separately

[kbolino]

Neither do the words "misery" and "despair". Maybe, just maybe, "young white males" as a statistical aggregate in the UK earned the ire of their fellows. Although I would say "middle-aged Pakistani men" as a statistical aggregate should rank below them if recent events are to be considered.

[Rhywun]

Neither does the word "yob" but that's obviously what they mean.

[Free Society]

Neither do the words "misery" and "despair".

I never implied that they were. It was sarcasm. Never mind, this has been pointless.

[kbolino]

Ah, the Jon Stewart defense.

[Free Society]

Ah, the Jon Stewart defense.

Jesus fucking Christ, how did you get such a sandy vagina? Or do you just enjoy raising petty little objections to nothing? I never presented those words as though they were taken from the content of the article is my point. My original comment was just a sarcastic comment about the prevailing views towards young white males.

As opposed to your comment "Or maybe this has something to do with British youth culture, you know the sort of thing you could have inferred from reading the fairly brief snippet that was pasted." In which you do make a claim about what exactly the content of the article was while being as condescending as possible. Which was fairly ironic considering "British youth culture" is not what the article was about.

I don't know why I'm even responding to you now, I suppose because I've always thought better of you than to pick fights for no apparent reason, so I thought it worthwhile to clarify in order to maintain some kind of civil relationship. And then you go and accuse me of "the Jon Stewart defense" and I realize that you intend to make this as petty as it is pointless. I hope you enjoyed your little "gotcha" moment.

[kbolino]

To me, in order for sarcasm to make sense, it has to have something more than a tenuous connection to the topic at hand. It looked like you just read "white men are the most derided group" and skipped any of the context or wider meaning. Whether you were being serious or not, it didn't make any sense given what was posted.

I'm sorry for condescending.

[Monty Crisco]

"There's no need to act like Nikki."

BA-ZINGA!!!

[Lord Humungus]

House Democrats Said to Be Open to Lifting Oil Export Ban

House Democrats are open to lifting the 40-year-ban on U.S. crude-oil exports and are negotiating with Republicans in hopes of extracting trade-offs in exchange for a top Republican priority, a Democratic leadership aide said Monday.

Senate leaders from both parties were already near a deal but faced resistance from House Democrats and some Republicans. On Monday, House Democrats said they were willing to discuss lifting the trade restrictions, depending on what concessions they would get in exchange, said the aide, who discussed the private discussions on the condition of anonymity.

An agreement could drive the most important change in U.S. oil policy in more than a generation. Repealing the trade limits would allow the United States, now the world's largest oil and gas producer, to join other nations in allowing unfettered access to its crude. It would also put unprocessed crude on the same footing as gasoline, diesel and other refined petroleum products that can be freely sold overseas.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The U.S. exported a record 586,000 barrels of crude a day in April, more than OPEC members Ecuador and Libya. That dropped to 409,000 in September. Federal law bars companies from sending unrefined crude abroad, with a few exceptions including shipments to Canada.

"There is little urgency or price advantage for US crude producers to export currently," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Longson said in a research note. "However, the advantages could be much larger in a couple years' time as the US resumes growing production."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-is-lifted

[Pat (PM)]

Shreeek is a classical liberal and ardent supporter of free trade, remember?

[The Last American Hero]

He's all for Free Trade. You are free to trade what the government says you can when they say you can and at the prices they tell you to trade at.

[tarran]

It's not a classical liberal, because before one can become one, one has to be capable of comprehending political and economic concepts.

It is not sentient. It can no more be a classical liberal than a houseplant or a fly can.

[John]

We do need to lift the ban. As fracking gets cheaper and cheaper, it will allow the economy to benefit from rises in oil prices. If we are an net exporter of oil and gas, we can legitimately not give a shit if Iran cuts off the Persian Gulf or the Middle East finally goes tits up and its oil production drops. Being an oil exporter makes the Middle East mostly China and India's problem. That sounds pretty good to me.

[Pat (PM)]

I think that was just generalized shreeek bashing. For my part, I was mocking his oft-stated support for free trade while defending a policy of export restrictions on crude oil.

[tarran]

We do need to lift the ban.

D'accord!

The ban should go. It is, to me, an abomination.

I just am tired of science deniers who deny the non-sentience of shriek. The deniers are in such denial, that it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't deny the holocaust or the historicity of Hitler and possibly even their own existence.

[Monty Crisco]

I WILL TOLERATE EVERYTHING EXCEPT INTOLERANCE!!!

[Rich]

Jordan vs DHS official on immigration

Gowdy vs DHS official on due process

So, who "would"?

[Private Chipperbot]

That was brutal. I couldn't even watch the whole thing.

[Private Chipperbot]

And would.

[Suthenboy]

Would what?

Flog? Tar and Feather? Stocks?

That woman is an idiot.

[CatoTheChipper]

Gowdy's question regarding the no-fly list was brilliant. Briefly,

Gowdy: What process is afforded an American citizen before he is placed on that list.

DHS babe: [befuddled pause] I'm sorry ... there's not a process afforded a citizen prior to getting on the list ...

Gowdy: When I say "process", I'm using half of the term "due process" which is a phrase we find in the Constitution; [as in] you can't deprive people of things without due process.

[CatoTheChipper]

Oops ... not so brilliant ... he was referring to the universal background check list for firearms purchases.

He makes this clear later in clip when he refers to the list chilling exercise of 2A rights, and asks the DHS babe whether the government pre-emptively usurps any other rights in this manner.

The fact is that it does: the no-fly list.

[Juvenile Bluster]

http://hotair.com/headlines/ar.....o through"

Hollywood producer Mark Ciardi says the new Ted Kennedy biopic movie Chappaquiddick, about the drowning incident that left a young woman dead, gives viewers a chance to see what Kennedy "had to go through" at that time, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

"I've done a lot of true life stories, many sports stories, but this one had a deep impact on this country," Ciardi said. "Everyone has an idea of what happened on Chappaquiddick and this strings together the events in a compelling and emotional way. You'll see what he had to go through."

Kennedy was a young U.S. senator at the time, and he accidentally drove his car off a bridge late on July 18, 1969, into a tidal channel while taking political staffer Mary Jo Kopechne home from a party.

Kennedy swam to safety, and he said later that he made repeated efforts to rescue Kopechne, but she died in the car, possibly of suffocation. Kennedy did not report the accident to authorities until the following morning, when the car and Kopechne's body were discovered.

What Teddy had to go through? Really? REALLY?

[Juvenile Bluster]

F'd up the link.

Here we go.

[Idle Hands]

lol. These people have no shame.

[Rich]

I understand the working title is "A Bridge Too Far".

[Pat (PM)]

If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.

[Tonio]

Those people are evil.

[Rhywun]

Just wow.

[lap83]

"the drowning incident that left a young woman dead"

Oh journalists

[widget]

http://wheezersociety.blogs.co.....nedy_.html

[gaijin]

What Teddy had to go through?

Two bottles of scotch?

[Zeb]

Not to defend Ted Kennedy, but I'm sure it was a quite unpleasant experience for him.

[Old.Mexican]

Re: Zeb

Especially having to spend 24 hours thinking of excuses before reporting the incident. That alone had to be mental torture for the poor lad.

[CatoTheChipper]

The Kennedy sycophants did all the thinking for him. He did, however, suffer a hangover with the anxiety of whether wondering whether the corruption of Massachusetts government would be up to task.

[Lord Humungus]

Exclusive: Iran's Oct 10 missile test violated U.N. ban - expert panel

The Emad rocket that Iran tested on Oct. 10 was a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, which makes it a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, a team of sanctions monitors said in a confidential new report.

"On the basis of its analysis and findings the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security Council resolution 1929," the council's Panel of Experts on Iran said in its report.

Reuters on Tuesday reviewed the 10-page report, which was dated Dec. 11 and went to members of the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee in recent days.

[Pat (PM)]

STFU! OBAMA SAVED US FROM NUKULAR HOLOCAUST! HE'S THE BEST PRESIDENT WE'VE HAD SINCE MARTIN LUTHER KING YOU RATFUCKING BEETAGGER!!

[widget]

No bout a doubt it, Obama is the best president we've had since George W. Bush.

[kbolino]

Provided that "since GWB" means "after GWB left office", then sure.

[Lord Humungus]

2015 was the year that the hipster died.

We will remember 2015 as the year the YouTube comments got a political party. The year Drake made every moment of your life feel like you were half-drunk at a wedding reception. It was the year Hipster Runoff died for good, the year the internet swallowed itself whole, and with it any straight-faced mention of the early-aughts Hipster, at least the hard-defined, Look At This Fucking variety.

This package of stories serves as a gravestone for the hipster, but eulogizing them here seems at once premature and belated. It was an aesthetic, a demographic, a notion that seems as though it had both existed forever and yet was never fully realized, a caricature from its inception, diluted, imprecise, corny, and yet still a sort of begrudgingly effective shorthand. The hipster, if it was anything at all, was the open-armed embrace of emotions, ideologies, and fascinations that Republicans might call you a pussy for.

[Pat (PM)]

"There is nothing sadder than an aging hipster"

[John]

In some ways America needs a few hipsters. Everyone of any political stripe or economic class hates hipsters. Hating Hipsters is one of the few things that brings the country together. Without hipsters what are we left? Vegans I guess.

[Pat (PM)]

I say we just go back to hating the Russians.

[bacon-magic]

And the IRS.

[Rhywun]

Well, I couldn't make it through that "prose" but one trip on any Brooklyn train will put the lie to this premise.

[EMD]

I want to like Vice, but that article was written by a non-human.

[CatoTheChipper]

The Chicago police union records story link is 404ed.

Here's a link: http://rockrivertimes.com/2015.....f-records/

The suit by the Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP, argued that officers would face "public humiliation and loss of prestige in their employment" were those older records made public.

Boo hoo, porkie.

[Michael]

Everyone hates millennials. That's very bad news for student protesters.

Not even going to bother trying to unpack that.

[John]

I do not think it is fair to judge all college students by the actions of a motley collection of professional activist retards. Something like 50,000 people go to the University of Missouri. How many actually participated in the protests there? A few hundred maybe? And a good number of those were imported retards the activists bused in and had no other connection to the school. The vast majority of students at UM and Yale and the rest of these colleges are getting on with their lives going to school, fornicating, working and so forth and likely have no affinity towards the retards.

[ant1sthenes]

But can we really afford the risk? Best to deport them all to studentland.

[John]

Sadly, stupidity has long passed the point of containment in this country. So, it is too late to deport them. More importantly, the retards seem to be doing a good job of self identifying.

[Rhywun]

You know who else sent citizens to Sudetenland...?

[EMD]

Watchmakers?

[kbolino]

Oh, it's derptastic. Let's look at the "facts":

About one-third of all college students are first generation.

Is this anything new? I bet it was higher in the past.

Forty-three percent of millennials are of color and deal on a daily basis with the challenges of white privilege.

WTF does this have to do with college? Even if you buy into the "white privilege" bullshit, how is college the place where it's most relevant?

Twenty-six percent of undergraduates are raising dependent children.

I repeat my comment from the first "fact".

One in five female students will be sexually assaulted in college.

A number which has been thoroughly debunked, but if you believe it's true why the fuck would you go to college?

Seventy percent of college students have student debt. Nationwide, that adds up to $1.2 trillion ? a per student average of $29,000.

Licensed plumbers get paid $25/hr and don't need a college degree.

Student debt is higher for black students than white students. In 2013, 42 percent of black families carried student loan debt, compared to 28 percent of white families.

See previous comment.

[Clich? Bandit]

25/hr? Where the fuck can I get his number? I routinely get charged 200-300 for 45 minutes of work. My neighbor is a GC and he says that is about right. The plumbers I use are typically self employed. I guarantee they make more than 25/hr. Each one I talk to says they have plenty of work too.

[kbolino]

A lot of plumbers work in institutional settings. And "plenty of work" is a vague abstraction; I highly doubt anyone making $200/hr is getting 40 solid hours. Plus that $200-300 is gross revenue; the guy takes home net income.

[kbolino]

Forty percent of the nation's unemployed are millennials.

Well what is a millenial, and what is the share of millenials among the general population? And if they are over-represented among the unemployed, what are the reasons behind that?

Hate crimes on campuses are on the rise, and over 11 percent of all hate crimes in 2009 took place on college campuses.

I repeat my comment from the sexual assault "fact".

By the age of 23, nearly half of black males and 40 percent of white males have been arrested.

WTF does this have to do with college (again)?

Despite recruiting efforts to draw a diverse student body, students of color often find a lack of inclusion and support once they arrive. From offensive Halloween garb to KKK graffiti, these students often encounter unwelcoming, or even hostile, environments. This is especially true at schools located outside of urban areas.

Why would you go to Hick Podunk U if you feel it's so unwelcoming? Also, what is the experience of a rural white kid at a (still mostly black) HBCU?

[John]

Progressives own universities more completely than any group owns any institution in America. If it is the case that black students find colleges to be hostile towards them, then aren't the Progressives who own the places at fault? Either blacks don't find the places hostile and the claims they do are just self serving bullshit or Progressives in academia are racists. Which is it?

[kbolino]

As far as "hate crimes" are concerned, I think the following things are going on:

1. The definition of the term "hate crime" is constantly being expanded to the point of irrelevance (not that it started off well to begin with)
2. There is a lot of black flagging -- they so desperately need these things to happen to build the narrative that they manufacture most of them
3. There is some genuine trolling and risque behavior -- although oftentimes the interpretation after the fact blows it out of proportion
4. To the extent there is genuine racism on campuses, it goes every which way -- that they are focusing so heavily on one form and ignoring all others goes back to narrative building
5. A lot of college campuses are indeed quite diverse -- once upon a time that used to be a good thing in progressive-land -- and that comes with cross-cultural misunderstanding and at times conflict

[kbolino]

In terms of campuses being "unwelcoming" or "not inclusive" in general, it reminds me of how a certain mendacious commenter described the Cultural Revolution. Relative to the students, the faculty and administration -- despite being what most people would consider left-of-center or even outright Marxists -- are somewhat conservative, in the sense of they hail from an older tradition of left-wing thought. These precious snowflakes with their pie-in-the-sky beliefs are brushing ever so slightly up against the brick wall of reality (this is academia, after all). And they are completely unequipped to cope with it.

[CatoTheChipper]

The parallels with the early stage of the Cultural Revolution are striking though Obama isn't encouraging this nonsense as much as Mao did in his day. It's probably time to shut down the universities to free the students to join the Progressive Guards, an alliance of #BlackLivesMatter, Amanda Marcotte readers, the LBGQWERTY movement, progressive Democrats and other socialists of all stripes. Sometime in 2017, President Sanders could encourage the Progressive Guards to challenge federal, state, local government officials and private institutions for their racism, sexism, cis-normality, greed, Islamophobia, and other bourgeois tendencies as well as their lack of zeal in combatting global warming, intolerance, and inequality.

[kbolino]

Black and Hispanic students have lower graduation rates than whites. In 2005, 62 percent of whites got a degree within six years, versus 40 percent of blacks and 51 percent of Hispanics.

I thought this was about millenials. Why is every other point about race?

Seventy-nine percent of faculty are white, a statistic that, according to research, can negatively influence the academic success of nonwhite students.

What research? And what does "success" mean? If black teachers give black students better grades because they're black, is that in any way "succeeding"?

College-educated black students are also disproportionately unemployed. In 2013, 12.4 percent of black graduates were unemployed, compared to 4.9 percent of whites.

What do the statistics look like when broken out by field of study and GPA?

[Lord Humungus]

some holiday cheer:

Homeowner tricks holiday package thief into stealing box of dog poop

Eric Bardo left a package filled with dog poop on his doorstep after he was "fed up" with reports of local package thefts. He felt this was the perfect way to keep the thieves away.

"It sat out there for four days and they finally came and got it," said Bardo.

Bardo says he bought security cameras after someone broke into his car a few months after he moved in. The cameras came in handy this time, as they captured the thieves taking the decoy package.

[Warty]

Important dilemma: is it morally permissible to exterminate the inhabitants of Covenant after you've destroyed their evil lair? I spent a long time wondering if I'd done the right thing after I killed them all. It's not clear to me that the villagers are at all culpable for the evil experiment their leaders are undertaking, and if they are, perhaps their obvious past traumatization by synths is a mitigating factor.

And obviously you can't kill the kitty. Don't be silly.

[UnCivilServant]

Wait, what? You destroyed the synth detection facility!?

Once I figured out what they were up to, I went "Oh, okay" and left. We need that research to finish weeding out the remnants now that the Institute has been cratered.

[Warty]

If you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you. Besides, Honest Dan has too cool of a name to kill.

[SugarFree]

Didn't kill anyone in the town and left the scientist alive, after stealing everything of course.

[John]

Off topic, but have you watched the NFL Network "A Football Life" on Cleveland in 1995? It is really compelling though as a Browns fan, you might want to have your wife hide all the guns and sharp objects in the house when you watch it.

According to the film, Bellicheck had assembled the same team of people in Cleveland that he later had in New England. He was in the process of turning the Browns into what the Patriots became in the 2000s. They were 3-13 when he started so it took him a few years but by 1994, they were 11-5 and had won a playoff game. They only fell apart in 95 because dumb ass decided to move the team in the middle of the season.

Belicheck's staff included not only the people that went with him to New England but also Ozzy Newsome, who later built the two Ravens' championship teams as GM, Nick Sabin, Kurt Forenze and a whole bunch of other people who went on to success. And Modell fired them all, except for Newsome, for the sin of having a bad season after Modell created the biggest distraction in the history of football. My God what an idiot that guy was. He holds the distinction of having fired two of the three or four greatest coaches of all time, Belicheck and Paul Brown, the guy who pretty much invented modern football.

[Juvenile Bluster]

though as a Browns fan, you might want to have your wife hide all the guns and sharp objects in the house when you watch it.

I'm guessing that Browns fans are now numb to all football-related pain.

[Warty]

I did. It was a huge bummer. Fuck Art Modell.

[John]

Yeah. It is appalling how bad the NFL owners are. They have no standards for buying a team. Any crooked idiot can buy one. At least half of the owners in the league are two bit shysters like Dan Schneider or in some cases outright criminals like Eddie Debartalo. That the NFL let someone like Modell get control of what was at the time one of their most successful and important franchises shows they have absolutely no concern for the quality of their product or integrity of their league.

[Certified Public Asshat]

My God what an idiot that guy was.

Well, he did eventually win a Super Bowl in Baltimore, although it was the season after he sold 49% of the team...

[bacon-magic]

"As a Browns fan..." -I stopped there.

[Old.Mexican]

Chicago police unions are seeking to destroy decades of records.

They all want to become Born Again Chicago Cops with all their sins cleansed.

Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of an Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism.

Their office is going to be placed next to the office of the "Office for Saudi Women's Rights" and be just as relevant.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face charges of desertion in a general court-martial.

No word yet if Jack Nicholson will be called to justify.