A.M. Links: Obama Pushes Gun Control, Saudi Arabia Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Iran, Latest on Oregon Standoff

• 

  Credit: White House / Flickr.com

  President Barack Obama will roll out his plan for gun control via unilateral executive action this week.

• Saudi Arabia has cut off diplomatic ties with Iran.

• "The armed protesters who triggered a standoff when they stormed a wildlife refuge in Oregon listed their demands at a news conference Monday, while giving their group a name: Citizens for Constitutional Freedom."

• A senior city attorney in Chicago has resigned after a judge ruled he deliberately concealed evidence about a police shooting.

• Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike.

• The Dow posted its worst opening day in eight years yesterday.

New at Reason

• Brickbat: Take a Bit Out of Crime By Charles Oliver

• You Know Less Than You Think About Guns The misleading uses, flagrant abuses, and shoddy statistics of social science about gun violence. By Brian Doherty

• The Continued Appeal of Statism Ideas, good and bad, have consequences. By Marian Tupy

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

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Barack Obama will roll out his plan for gun control via unilateral executive action this week.

Have fun in November, Dems.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Yeah.

Hello.

[WTF]

Because Presidential decree trumps the constitution. The democrats can't help themselves, they know they will get burned by gun control, but they have to go there anyway. Just like the republicans and abortion.

[commodious spittoon]

We just want common-sense regulations! said both sides.

[WTF]

Reasonable, common sense, who could argue with that?

[Monty Crisco]

"And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire..."

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Reasonable, common sense, who could argue with that?

The guy who wrote the shall not be infringed part of the BoR.

[Ammy520]

My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do..

Clik This Link inYour Browser....

? ? ? ? http://www.WorkPost30.Com

[kbolino]

They're pretty apt parallels. To "the base" of both sides, it is of utmost moral imperative that the government punish people for doing bad things. And the worst of it is that most people will read the sentence I just wrote and say "well, what's wrong with that?" As though the very purpose of government is to fuck with people.

[commodious spittoon]

But you have to fuck them, because they're going to fuck you. The idea of d?tente is totally out of the question when you can fuck them good and hard. Both bases would go nuclear without a single thought if given half a chance.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'd really like the response to be to impeach the fucker, but a trouncing in the upcoming election would be a nice second place.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

The trouncing,would be a whole,lot better. It eliminates the Dems running on a "they impeached our guy because he's black" platform and will force them to run on a "they have a war on women" platform while having to trot out Slick Willy every campaign stop because his wife is an unlikeable asshole.

[Tonio]

Impeachment ain't gonna happen. He's too close to the end of his term, so by the time they finished it they'd knock only a few months off his term. He's too good at giving his opponents things to run against. An impeachment proceeding this close to the election would be too much of a distraction and a time suck - remember that some of those congresscritters are also running for re-election. And most importantly, there might be a truly impeachment-worthy president in office soon so they don't want to have back-to-back impeachments.

[Auric Demonocles]

We already have a truly impeachment-worth president.

[WTF]

He could never be convicted, the democrats in the senate will never hold him accountable no matter what he does.

[kbolino]

If Andrew Johnson could be impeached for ignorning an unconstitutional law, then this President can sure as shit be impeached for disregarding the Constitution entirely.

But Tonio's practical assessment is right. It would be of no political benefit to the people in DC to hold an impeachment hearing, and that is ultimately all they're concerned with.

[WTF]

He could be impeached, but he could never be convicted.

[Citizen X]

I'm not sure there's been a NON-impeachment-worthy president in my lifetime.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also probably true.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

They would never do that.

He's protected by the racist force field.

[Not a Libertarian]

Will the Democrat running for President have much of any measurable adverse affects as the result of President Obama's gun control executive actions?

It will help maximize the urban liberal vote which should counterbalance those upset by the President's actions. (and the Election is still 10 months away, outrage fades)

Those working class Democratic "gun-owning" voters who might otherwise vote for Mrs Clinton will be voting 3rd Party for Trump in any event, so she will still benefit.

[R C Dean]

If outrage fades in 10 months, why wouldn't approval?

I think you are seriously underestimating the degree to which gun owners vote this issue, but gun controllers don't.

Trump is drawing a lot of support from blue collar Dems, its true. Whether this means his third party run draws more from Hillary's base or from Rubio's, I couldn't say, but its not a given.

[colorblindkid]

It's like they didn't learn from Gore's loss. His push on gun control probably made him lose several states. Of course, that election was "stolen" so they probably think that the whole country actually wanted gun control.

[Citizen X]

Keep in mind, if you took the people who are pushing gun control and the people who called Obama's 50% to 48% victory in 2012 a "mandate" and put them in a Venn diagram together, you'd have basically a circle.

[Free Society]

Even if some Republican gets in office, and even if he follows through with a promise to repeal these executive actions, the damage will already be done. Precedent will have already been established and the next executive action that does the same thing will have the force of law.

[Cdr Lytton]

And no successor will ever want to give up that power. Or face the possibility that they might be personally accountable for their illegal acts so they will never hold prior presidents to any sort of standard either.

[Michael Ejercito]

Imagine if George Lucas made a movie about a legislative body granting the executive unlimited power.

[Mr Drew]

I am harkening back to 2008 when I kept hearing "don't worry, he's a constitutional scholar for heaven's sake!"

Ahhh, 2008, good times

[Michael Ejercito]

I wonder why the push for gun control when criminal violence is at an all-time low since 1993.

[Dilligaf]

"President Barack Obama will roll out his plan for gun control via unilateral executive action this week. And in a completely unrelated story Congress will prepare to roll out their long overdue Articles of Impeachment for the Emperor in the weeks to follow...."

[Just a thought not a sermon]

131) I have a co-worker who serves on the board of his home owner's association. He hates the job, but he does it solely to keep this other guy he detests in his neighborhood from sitting on the board.

So when I read this guy talking about how he's no fan of Donald Trump, but he finds it endearing how much Trump hates Jeb! and talks down to him like he's a moron, that's when it hit me: that's what this whole thing is about. The whole presidential run, I mean. Trump doesn't really want to be president, that's obvious. He's not cut out for the job, I think he knows that. But Trump is like my co-worker. He really, really hates Jeb! and is willing to do anything to keep him from sitting in the Oval Office, even if it means he has to take the job himself.

[DJF]

Who is cut out to be President?

[Pompey]

John Q. Sociopath

[kbolino]

Calvin Coolidge?

I mean sure, he's dead, but that sounds good to me. No "bully pulpit", the state of the union will be brief, and pocket vetoes for every law!

[Rasilio]

Honestly I kinda like Gary Johnson for the job

[Atanarjuat]

I saw a Donald Trump roast on Comedy Central about a month ago. Trump mentioned running for president. It was originally aired in 2010 or something. I don't think it's just because of Jeb or some other recent issue.
I think it's ego. He feels he's been winning at everything he's done and wants to conquer something bigger. Get his last name in tacky gold letters on the White House.
A friend pointed out to me that right now, Trump has a) the possibility of becoming president, or b) can be a kingmaker by threatening to run 3rd party, so whoever is president owes him. And that might be an even better position to be in.

[Illocust]

If that is really why Trump is running he has my vote. Not just I'll stand by the sidelines and not vote at all, but I will register and walk down to the polling station.

[Notorious UGCC]

Ooh, Illocust is *serious*!

[Illocust]

I really dislike Jeb as a candidate. Not because of his positions or what he's done, but because he represents everything wrong with the republican establishment. The party leaders didn't give a shit about putting someone in place that stood a chance or was in line with the rank and file, they wanted the guy they invite to parties being elected and they tried to fuck over the chance for republicans to take the white house in order to do so. Hopefully the massive waste in donations trying to get him to be a blip on the voter radar will teach them a lesson that lasts a couple years. The average voter can't be completely ignored when king making.

[CatoTheChipper]

Anybody who says that the Middle East is better off for Gulf War II (which was in fairness a bipartisan project even though Bush/Cheney get all the blame) is too stupid to be president. Even if he is trying to defend his brother.

[Azathoth!!]

Someone who is too stupid to understand the phrase 'too many times to the well' and how it might apply, is, in my opinion, too stupid to be president

[Fist of Etiquette]

Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike.

Good thing Brits are already accustomed to not seeing them.

[Tonio]

[unapologetic golf clap]

[Tonio]

FWIW, when I posted the above reply to Fist, his 9:01 post was the top one. Just did a refresh and his and JATNAS' 9:00 AM posts appeared.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

#earlycommentsmatter

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I told you he was cheating.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cheating like a fox!

[Swiss Servator]

*stands to begin thunderous applause*

+1 pliers dentistry too

[invisible furry hand]

You don't need pliers when you have motorbikes

[Slammer]

The Olde Swisses Cocaine Toothdrops

[Slammer]

Looks like Obumbles is taking aim right at the links

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Another golf vacation already?

[Fist of Etiquette]

A senior city attorney in Chicago has resigned after a judge ruled he deliberately concealed evidence about a police shooting.

The lamb has been sacrificed, everyone. Move on.

[Swiss Servator]

Well, it should end up costing the taxpayers something in the range of $2-$5M as well.

[DJF]

Does that include the senior attorney who will sue because the city created a hostile work enviroment?

[Jerryskids]

A senior city attorney in Chicago has resigned after a judge ruled he deliberately concealed evidence about a police shooting. The WaPo version for the ChiTrib paywalled.

But on Monday, a federal judge ruled that the lawyer, senior attorney for the city Jordan Marsh, intentionally hid evidence that could have changed the outcome of the case. The Oldsmobile described by the dispatcher had a different temporary license plate number than the one driven by Pinex. And the dispatcher in the recording made no mention of a shooting or a gun in the vehicle ? the reason Mosqueda gave for approaching the car with his gun drawn.

"After hiding that information, despite there being numerous times when the circumstances dictated he say something about it, Marsh said nothing and even made misleading statements to the Court when the issue arose," U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang wrote, reversing the federal jury's decision and calling for a new trial in the case brought by Pinex's family.

Marsh resigned just hours later, according to the Associated Press.

And Nothing Else Happened.

[Rasilio]

Would that not make him an accessory to murder?

[Free Society]

I'm entirely unsurprised that it says "resigned" instead of "imprisoned". Government employees, especially those in the "Justice" system, follow their own laws; as long as you don't cross the government or it's political allies, it doesn't matter whose neck you step on.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Pretty much. Things had to get pretty egregious in Chicago before anyone took notice, and even now, the consequences will be limited

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

He should also be disbarred and fined, but I doubt that will happen

[Swiss Servator]

I would bet on disbarment - but nothing else.

[Jerryskids]

I would bet on disbarment

How much and what sort of odds would you want me to give you? It's amazing that the prosecutor got as much as a Stern Lecture and I'm pretty sure that's the maximum penalty a prosecutor can receive. Were you maybe confused and thinking this was a defense attorney caught committing perjury and obstructing justice? Defense attorneys will get disbarred, not former prosecutors. I mean, the guy doesn't even work here any more, why would we give a crap about what some ex-employee did in the past? This has nothing to do with the prosecutor's office.

[Monty Crisco]

Fascinating article in the LA Times by a black man that refuses to see himself as a victim:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion.....story.html

Expect the left to be calling his blackness into question in 3, 2, 1?.

[Monty Crisco]

Also, I just found out that Hozier is WHITE!! Wow!! Got a big voice for a white boy!!!

[Rasilio]

Not just white but a skinny white dude

[Mike Laursen]

Yeah, Hozier does a really good Eric Burden.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Thanks for this. I've never heard of Thomas Chatterley Williams before, but I'll be on the lookout for him in the future. Lot of good lines in there, but I liked this one: "...[these] anti-racist views lead us to the same practical conclusions an open bigot would embrace ? that black life is miserable compared with white life..."

[Monty Crisco]

ME TOO!!!
"What is more harmful ? and pervasive in these disillusioned last days of the first black presidency ? are the ways in which left-leaning discussions now share assumptions with the worst conservative and even white supremacist ideology"

Fucking brilliant...
And I hadn't heard of him either before this op-ed..

[Notorious UGCC]

Wait, which conservatives is he referring to? Does he give names?

[RBS]

No real black would be named Thomas Chatterton Williams...

[Free Society]

I suspect that Mr Williams has a nephew... /Prog Racist

[Monty Crisco]

LMFAO

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Meanwhile, didn't Lebron recently do a Samsung ad with the subtle message of black power?

[Lee G]

That was refreshing.

Then I read the first comment....

The author of this piece, while clearly having thought his premise out thoroughly, is just as clearly pandering to an audience that he hopes will appreciate his divergence from the mean. The problem is, he may not even know he is pandering or why. But, the way he dismisses the bigotry of one grandfather while faintly praising the resilience of the other is alarming, and self serving only if he is in fact pandering. How could he really believe that privilege is a mental construct? How could anyone believe that one group of people can systematically deny another property (real, intellectual, etc.) rights for centuries without having actually affected the economic projections for each group?

Progs always seem to go right back to false consciousness when they can't make a coherent argument. That's a polite way of saying that they label the person in question as a deluded victim class traitor.

[RBS]

Ha, way to prove his point.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

What a fucken moron:

"The author of this piece, while clearly having thought his premise out thoroughly, is just as clearly pandering to an audience that he hopes will appreciate his divergence from the mean. The problem is, he may not even know he is pandering or why."

He just said the author 'clearly...thought his premise out thoroughly' yet he somehow he becomes unaware but one sentence later?

[Lee G]

Like I said, if they can't make a coherent argument, they immediately resort to ad hominem/false consciousness.

[Free Society]

How could anyone believe that one group of people can systematically deny another property (real, intellectual, etc.) rights for centuries without having actually affected the economic projections for each group?

Blacks in the 50's and before had higher levels of employment and stronger familial units than whites, despite that this time period was closer to the period of southern slavery and blacks at the time were living under explicitly racist segregation laws. Yet we're supposed to believe that the modern problems faced by blacks is the fault of the racism of the white population at-large and the "legacy of slavery", instead of socialist ideology and the pathological altruism created by the cultural Marxists.

[Monty Crisco]

As Thomas Sowell (who also has a nephew or niece) said, "The black family survived slavery but couldn't survive the Great Society policies passed by LBJ"....

[Free Society]

Clarence Thomas also has nieces and nephews. I'm seeing a pattern here.

[BearOdinson]

And, although I don't have the data at my fingertips, I believe that African (and Caribbean) immigrants have almost the same success rate as any other immigrant group over the last several generations.

So while JIm Crow laws in the South definitely sucked, certainly since the 60s (and as FS pointed out well before in most areas), it is not any structural racism at work. Rather the cultural problems that much of the American black community has created for themselves.

[Free Society]

Rather the cultural problems that much of the American black community has created for themselves.

And the various species of socialists have persistently subsidized.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

He's obviously an uncle Tom if he disagrees with the approved narrative.

[Illocust]

That was a very well thought out and written article. It perfectly explains exactly the problem with basing victimhood solely on one attribute with not concern for mitigating factors and individual situation.

[Monty Crisco]

You don't have to thank the Sun for shining...

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Oh God, he has quotes from Ta-Nehisi Coates's book that I had never seen before. And each quote is terrible.

"Genius Award," for fuck's sake.

[Bee Tagger]

The Dow posted its worst opening day in eight years yesterday.

This is just like MLB trying to play baseball in March. Just wait until it's warm outside for crying out loud!

[Lord Humungus]

Naked Peeping Tom wearing Ronald Reagan mask caught on camera in Vestavia Hills

A Vestavia Hills couple got quite the surprise on New Year's Eve when a nude man wearing a presidential mask creeped into their breezeway.

The man, who was naked except for what appeared to be a Ronald Reagan rubber mask covering his head and a sock covering his private parts, ran off when Jersey Belle's Danielle Yancey and her husband spotted him. The ordeal, however, was caught on their home security video and later posted to Facebook as a warning to neighbors and others.

"I know a lot of people are laughing about it and, honestly, I got a chuckle from it later, but at the same time, it's very concerning,'' Danielle Yancey said. "I don't know what he was planning on doing."

[Swiss Servator]

Hey, looks like shriek turned up!

[straffinrun]

It was a sock not a thimble.

[Swiss Servator]

Baby sock.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Reagan Republican!!!

[robc]

Covered yesterday.

[Lord Humungus]

well then...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Completely different! Tony was wearing the mask yesterday.

[invisible furry hand]

The ordeal, however, was caught on their home security video...

Having a Reagen Hot Chili Pepper in your breezeway* is not an ordeal. It's just a weird, slightly creepy, thing that happened.

* unless breezeway is a euphemism of some sort, I suppose

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Breezeway... Australian for sphinctah'?

[Rasilio]

Ordeal?

So seeing a mostly naked man is now considered an ordeal?

[commodious spittoon]

We need to go over the rules.

[Atanarjuat]

Having someone creep into your property can feel pretty violating of an *actual* safe space.

[Rasilio]

I'm not saying it was like waking up to find that new bike you always wanted under the Christmas tree when you were 10, just that the word ordeal is just a bit of overkill here

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike."

But, won't that be denying people access to health care, a human right? Won't people be dying in the streets?

[UnCivilServant]

And that would be different from the way the NHS operates how?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

That's interesting. Here, jobs deemed 'essential services' can't abandoned their duty to strike.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

abandon.

[kbolino]

They have a "duty to strike"?

[R C Dean]

Well, we all have the duty to do what the Top Men tell us. If the Union Top Men say to strike, well . . . .

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Oops. I knew there was something off when I typed that.

Oh well. They can't because they're 'essential services'.

[Slammer]

'Failure of leadership' in Orange County DA's office use of jailhouse informants

The findings, presented by legal experts on a special committee established by Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, described the office as functioning "as a ship without a rudder" and faulted some of its prosecutors for adopting a "win-at-all-costs mentality."

The report also highlighted problems in the Orange County Sheriff's Department, where the committee concluded that deputies in some jail units lacked training on state and federal laws about using inmate informants.

Rackauckas said that no one in his office had been disciplined as a result of the informant controversy and that he did not believe any of the prosecutors who failed to disclose information to defendants acted intentionally.

The committee said members of the district attorney's office were concerned by "the toxic and combative relationship" between the office and the media. That hostile relationship, coupled with a lack of transparency, led to the jailhouse informant issue becoming "greatly overblown," office members told the panel.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Orange County is in some trouble there.

One judge even banned ANY ADA from that office from handling a case because of their lack of credibility. They had to bring in outside counsel, IIRC.

[Jerryskids]

Rackauckas said that no one in his office had been disciplined as a result of the informant controversy and that he did not believe any of the prosecutors who failed to disclose information to defendants acted intentionally.

Ummm, yeah, no. When the NYT and a federal judge are blasting you for "a scheme that may go back as far as 30 years, prosecutors and the county sheriff's department have elicited illegal jailhouse confessions, failed to turn over evidence that is favorable to defendants and lied repeatedly in court about what they did" this isn't some "isolated incident" or "inadvertent oversight" sort of crap - they're all a pack of crooks.

(You really need to click on the link and some of the links within the editorial - this is just some vomit-inducing rage level shit. .)

[Jerryskids]

Alex Kozinski, a federal appeals court judge in San Francisco, has written that the withholding of exculpatory evidence has reached "epidemic" levels, and that the only way to stop it is for judges to hold prosecutors accountable.

And that's the worst part about this: That whole post by Slammer is just a long-winded way of saying those four little words we all love to hear: And Nothing Else Happened. 30 fucking years of corrupt criminal behavior and a committee of Sgt. Schultz's looks into it and says they see nothing. And nobody is going to be held accountable. In fact, it appears that Erik Petersen, one of the prosecutors Judge Goethals found had withheld key information from the court and defense lawyers, was offered a job in the federal prosecutor's office in Omaha.

[Lee G]

He sounds like a perfect candidate for US Attorney

[R C Dean]

he did not believe any of the prosecutors who failed to disclose information to defendants acted intentionally

Whether they acted intentionally or negligently is irrelevant. Prosecutors have a duty to disclose. Period.

The prosecutor in a criminal case shall:

(d) make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense, and, in connection with sentencing, disclose to the defense and to the tribunal all unprivileged mitigating information known to the prosecutor, except when the prosecutor is relieved of this responsibility by a protective order of the tribunal;

http://www.americanbar.org/gro.....cutor.html

That shall admits of no exceptions. These prosecutors should all be suspended at a minimum, and probably disbarred.

[Free Society]

some of its prosecutors for adopting a "win-at-all-costs mentality."

Right....only "some" of it's prosecutors are total pieces of shit.

[Jerryskids]

Maybe you missed this part: The findings, presented by legal experts on a special committee established by Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas. Fox investigates henhouse killings, determines it was the worst case of mass suicide he's ever seen.

[Free Society]

We'll need a lot more evidence to rule out the piece of shitness of this guy. In all likelihood he's an ardent drug warrior, it's exceedingly hard not be in that job.

[Slammer]

That's where I WTF?ed. He put together a special committee to investigate his own office.

[Free Society]

Stands to reason this is more about local politics than ethical duty.

[Lord Humungus]

Kyrgyzstan deports Scottish miner after 'horse penis' sausage joke

A Scottish mine worker is being deported from Kyrgyzstan after he was arrested for a Facebook joke comparing the country's national dish to a horse penis.

Michael McFeat of Abernethy was arrested Sunday at Manas International Airport under the country's race hate laws after a Dec. 31 Facebook post showed his coworkers from the Kumtor gold mine lining up for chuchuk horse meat sausages.

"The Kyrgyz people queuing out of the door for there special delicacy the horses penis!!!" he wrote.

[SugarFree]

Wait, are they suggesting that eating penises is somehow wrong? Isn't the government itself committing a hate crime by considering that a hate crime?

[Tonio]

Maybe it's some kind of local taboo.

[UnCivilServant]

It's a majority Muslim country. Implying that they're all bottoms is severely insulting.

[Tonio]

In my experience...

[RBS]

Andrew Zimmern hardest hit.

[Swiss Servator]

When Scots are making fun of your food....

[robc]

I thought that was a compliment from a Scot. Haggis, blood pudding, horse penis, etc.

[Tonio]

^This. My people are known for our drink, not our food.

[Libertarian]

Oh, your people are "known" for their food, they're just not "admired" for it.

[Tonio]

Ha!

[Swiss Servator]

LEAVE HAGGIS ALONE!!!!

[commodious spittoon]

Haggis was one of the least necessary How It's Made episodes imaginable.

[BearOdinson]

Tonio are you Scottish, too? I got married in my kilt (Clan Campbell).

And I actually enjoy haggis.

[Citizen X]

Clan Campbell?!? Fookin' treacherous basterts! [puts on Keith tartan, sharpens claymore]

[UnCivilServant]

The Irish in me wants to kill you both before you can kill each other. The English in me wants to wait until there's a victor and shoot him in the back while he's worn out from the fight.

[Citizen X]

"The English took all of our sheep and all of our women! And then they gave them back! Which was worse!"

[bacon-magic]

The Irish in me wants the same.
The Scot in me wants the same.
The German in me wants the same.
Man, I come from a long line of murderous bastards...funny thing is that is why both my Irish side and German side came to America- they stabbed someone over there and came here.
Who wants to go have a drink? I don't get all stabby til after the 5th shot.

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

You Keiths and your nancy-boy rainbow skirts...

A real Scot wears MacPherson. No Fear in MacPherson. Touch not the cat bot a glove.

[WTF]

Yeah, my thought exactly. This from the people who gave us haggis.

[invisible furry hand]

And deep-fried Mars Bars

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

And Scotch

[Adans smith]

+1 haggis

[MetalBard]

"race hate laws"

So Kyrgystan is a college campus?

[SugarFree]

I would like everyone to know that my deodorant situation from yesterday has been resolved and I no longer smell of Polo cologne.

[Slammer]

🙁

[invisible furry hand]

Might one inquire what you do smell of today?

[SugarFree]

Regular Speed Stick and the heady musk of someone dying from diabetes.

[Crusty Juggler]

the heady musk of someone dying from diabetes.

Pics?

[SugarFree]

How can I take a photo of a smell? Is this some sort of Zen Koan?

[Certified Public Asshat]

I imagine the smell is like burnt sugar.

[Crusty Juggler]

I am an idea man - I let the white coats figure out the details.

[Swiss Servator]

Should have gone with the Doomcock Speed Stick, and hope of gene therapy.

[SugarFree]

Warty screaming "Rub the cock in your armpit!" into the camera would make for a great TV ad. Like shell out for the Superbowl of an ad.

[WTF]

Fuck, I'm laughing just picturing it in my mind!

[SugarFree]

And it doesn't have to be aggressive. He could be all tender about it.

"Rub the cock in your armpit, baby. You know that pit needs my cock in it. Kill your stink with my black and pink..."

[Warty]

"Maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Wartyllene."

[SugarFree]

"Eazy, breezy, WartyGirl."

[Crusty Juggler]

"Strong enough for a man, but ph balanced for a Warty."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

"If you think it's butter..."

"Melts in you mouth, not in your armpit"

"The other gray meat"

"A little dab'll do ya"

"A DOOMCOCK is forever"

[commodious spittoon]

but ph balanced for a Warty

So highly alkaline to quell the acidic discharge?

[Slammer]

Here's some new Aborted for your ad soundtrack

[Swiss Servator]

Oh Hells yeah!

[Elspeth Flashman]

Defeat?

[Not a Libertarian]

More of a Drakkar Noir kind of a day?

[SugarFree]

Rowr.

[Not a Libertarian]

If anyone wanted to bottle "Eau de Early Nineties Gay Bar" it could be Drakkar Noir, cigarette smoke, sweat with just a hint of stand and pose.

[SugarFree]

My gay uncle's favorite Yankee Candle is "Midsummer Night's." I didn't have the heart to tell him that it smells exact like Drakkar Noir.

[EMD]

"I didn't have the heart to tell him that it smells exact like Drakkar Noir."

Oh ... he knows.

[Rhywun]

I think you misspelled "Joop".

Drakkar Noir was strictly frat-boy.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Smells like Rolling Stone magazine.

[BearOdinson]

In high school my junior year was Polo. My senior year was all about Drakkar.

Holy shit was a stupid fucking teenager!

[EMD]

Isn't it JOOP!

Like Jeb!

[Rhywun]

Brah!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The armed protesters who triggered a standoff when they stormed a wildlife refuge in Oregon listed their demands at a news conference Monday...

Imagine if one of their demands was for an independent Palestinian homeland.

[WTF]

Then they would be heroic protestors of Israeli genocide.

[MetalBard]

and a $15 minimum wage.

[R C Dean]

Still wondering what the LEO presence is on-site, and if they have been asked to leave.

By this point, the sheriff's deputies (if any), are probably in the station having coffee with the protestors.

[Illocust]

It supposed to be below freezing out there. If it hasn't broken out in a firefight yet, they have to all be best buddies.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

More racial sensitivity programs, racially aware textbooks, and a 10% increase in hiring minority professors!

[Free Society]

I heard they really just want free birth control.

[Bee Tagger]

Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.

But that doesn't create a pronounceable acronym. This will never pass.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Kiff-kiff"?

Sit ConDom?

C+C Protest Factory?

[Hamster of Doom]

Things that make you go hmmm....

[Lord Humungus]

Jonah Goldberg: Obama ? and FDR ? set precedent for Trump's one-man rule

The problem: Obama the constitutional lawyer hasn't read his job description; it says the president should "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Obama doesn't really care. He sees his job as doing the things he wants to do and being the sort of president his biggest fans want him to be. That's why over the holidays, he reportedly ordered his lawyers to "scrub" the laws to find ways he can take new unilateral action against gun ownership.

Well, two can play at that game.

Enter Trump, via his fabulous escalator. The GOP front-runner isn't openly contemptuous of the Constitution; it just doesn't enter his thinking very much. If he believes something is worth doing, he says he will do it. He makes little effort to explain how he will get Congress to agree, never mind write the laws the president is supposed to faithfully execute. And that's the way Trump's fans like it.

[Doctor Whom]

Never, ever, ever ask what will happen when the other team takes the reins, ever. Design the system so that it works only when the right people are in, and then believe with perfect faith that only the right people will ever be in.

[Not a Libertarian]

Well most people on either side of the aisle believe that Democrats have a lock on the Presidency. Demography is Destiny and all.

[Banjos]

The Republican Party is going to die off soon anyway because it's comprised of only old angry white men. With all the recent immigration it won't be long until Texas and Arizona turns blue. I just can't see the Republican winning the White House ever again.
/every bubble dwelling prog

[MetalBard]

It will be worth a Trump presidency just to enjoy that beautiful Schadenfreude.

[WTF]

Yeah, the endless proggie tears will be so, so sweet.

[Akira]

I'm saving up all the progs' excuses for Obama's overreach for when Trump is elected and commits the same kind of overreach:

"But Congress won't act, so President Trump has to use his pen and his phone!"

Can you guys think of any more?

[kbolino]

At least in Maryland, they're smart enough not to say that out loud (in mixed company, anyway). Keep expecting those districts to go your way no matter what, and BAM! you've got a Republican governor.

[Rhywun]

He sees his job as doing the things he wants to do and being the sort of president his biggest fans want him to be.

Cuomo and Deblasio are following this exact script too. Fortunately they hate each other so their boots aren't stamping as hard as they could be.

[R C Dean]

Goldberg must get paid by the pixel. That's a lot of words, just to say:

Me today, you tomorrow.

[invisible furry hand]

The homepage of Salon.com does not have one story about the Koch brothers on it today. It's all Trump, Trump, Trump. Fickleness, thy name is Salon.

[Bee Tagger]

Are you suggesting Trump is being masterminded by the Kochs in an effort to stop the negative press about them? Because if so, I'm fully on board.

[Free Society]

Trump is actually the lesser known third Koch brother.

[BigT]

The TrumpKoch of doom??

[CatoTheChipper]

That would make him the fourth Koch brother.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Fifth.

[bacon-magic]

The 13th imam of Koch

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"President Barack Obama will roll out his plan for gun control via unilateral executive action this week."

He knows better...

...than the American people.

[Lord Humungus]

Charles Cooke: President Obama Has Let His Emotion Get the Better of His Judgment

1)) In order to make his actions appear meaningful, Obama is going to have to pretend that they represent serious change. If he does that, though, he'll permit his opponents to say, "look, we just did big gun control by executive order, we have other things to do, and we're not doing it again." That matters. The Left makes great hay out of the "we never do anything" line, and its more effective advocates use our present inertia to justify the need for experimentation. Insofar as there is any, Obama has slowed the momentum for further gun-control. This is not how you win the argument.

2) By taking this route, Obama will help to entrench America's gun culture ? and for little in return. Ceteris paribus, the United States will play host to at least another 20 million guns by the end of December 2016 ? many of them so-called "assault weapons." In addition, the country will welcome another million or so concealed carriers, and another half-million or so NRA members. Every time the president talks about gun control, these numbers increase, and, in consequence, the president's opponents are strengthened.

[Monty Crisco]

Saw that. Great take on the issue. Cooke gives me a semi every time I read him...

[Tonio]

Go on...

[Monty Crisco]

+1 THROBBING AND VEINY!!!

[Bee Tagger]

Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike.

Off to Galt's Gulp, I imagine, since this is a hard pill to swallow.

[Monty Crisco]

What about Galt's BIG Gulp?

Gay porno title?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Off to Galt's Gulp, I imagine, since this is a hard pill to swallow.

What you did there.

ICU.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's Middle East Balancing Act Tilts Toward Iran

Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator who is a vice president at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said that the Obama administration sees the Iran deal as the one stabilizing factor in a region that is increasingly spinning out of control, and is therefore giving the U.S.-Iranian relationship top priority.

"The Iranians hold the Obama legacy in their hands," he said. "We are constrained and we are acquiescing to a certain degree to ensure we maintain a functional relationship with the Iranians."

[R C Dean]

Only in Obamaland would an aggressive theocracy getting nuclear weapons be a "stabilizing factor".

[BearOdinson]

^^THIS^^! The reason that we are supposedly "allies" with Saudi Arabia has always been the oil. But with natural gas, and the discovery of new crude (including shale) in the US and Canada, fuck all of these countries. There are no good guys in this ongoing Shi'ite vs Sunni vs. whatever else fight (of course they all HATE the fucking Jews so in between killing each other, lets send some money to get some more suicide bombers or rile up the "Palestinian" Arabs some more).

I also completely support the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. But there are times, that I wish they didn't believe so strongly in their land, and lets build them a new state somewhere else, so that all the Arabs and Iranians (and Afghans and Pashtuns and Pakistanis et al.) could just ass fuck each other until there are only a handful left. Then come in, take their fucking oil, let the Jews have the entirety of their ancient homeland and everybody is happy!

[BigT]

"lets build them a new state somewhere else"

North Central Europe?

You know who else wanted to send them somewhere else.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

The Iberians?

[Free Society]

"The Iranians hold the Obama legacy in their hands,"

Good to know that his legacy will be put in a burqa and forced to stay hidden indoors unless accompanied by a male relative.

[BearOdinson]

And Obama holds the Iranians' junk in his mouth.

[Lord Humungus]

Gun Sales Soar After Obama Calls for New Restrictions

More guns were sold in December than almost any other month in nearly two decades, continuing a pattern of spikes in sales after terrorist attacks and calls for stricter gun-buying laws, according to federal data released on Monday.

The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.

Fear of gun-buying restrictions has been the main driver of spikes in gun sales, far surpassing the effects of mass shootings and terrorist attacks alone, according to an analysis of federal background check data by The New York Times.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I am convinced Valerie Jarrett has a financial stake in gun manufacturing.

[Adans smith]

A little nest egg for 2017?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Probably. She ate all of her own eggs.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

First comment:

"NorthernVirginia Falls Church, Va December 10, 2015

Permanently banning AR-15 style guns, combined with no grandfathering and a buyback program will certainly halt sales of that gun. Permanently banning guns chambered for .223cal or 5.56mm would also halt sales and eradicate the AR-15 style guns.

The obvious solution, however, is to repeal the Second Amendment and replace it with one that gives Congress the power to regulate the ownership, possession, and use of firearms.

192Recommend"

192 people recommend it.

[Banjos]

I love the fantasy world they live in. The only way the second amendment would ever be repealed is if a massive cultural change happened. A change that massive would take multiple generations. If they tried to repeal the 2nd amendment with our current culture, it would cause a massive civil war.

[Restoras]

They've forgotten that the reason the Revolution moved from a shouting affair to a shooting affair was the governing body's actions to seize the arms of the colonists, so yeah.

[chemjeff]

"The only way the second amendment would ever be repealed is if a massive cultural change happened."

But that is what they are laying the seeds for right now.

That is why it's not enough to just buy guns. You have to use and display them in a socially normative way. Otherwise they will succeed in their goals as "othering" the gun owner as some nutjob. THAT is why open carry is important.

[Rhywun]

laying the seeds

I've been seeing anti-gun propaganda all my life. Remember Hawkeye Pierce?

I think it succeeded in the cities. It won't succeed anywhere else.

[Free Society]

That's the only place it needs to succeed. The least gun friendly states all have major cities that monopolize the politics of the rest their state.

[Rhywun]

Even in NY there is no shortage of guns outside NYC. The culture is still there despite everything the state does to try to wipe it out.

[Free Society]

Even in NY there is no shortage of guns outside NYC. The culture is still there despite everything the state does to try to wipe it out.

And in NY I'm looking at serious prison time for owning, handling and transporting my guns in ways that are perfectly legal in 35 or so other states.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

And in NY I'm looking at serious prison time for owning, handling and transporting my guns in ways that are perfectly legal in 35 57 or so other states.

FTFY

[BearOdinson]

That is true, but there are lot of gun friendly states who have decent size cities that aren't completely ant-gun (AZ with Phoenix, KS-MO with KC, TX with several cities, and most of the south). I don't think there are any real trends changing. Just think that the proguns (like us) are hardening our positions (in more ways than one) while the progs are doubling down on theirs. I do think the majority of the squishy middle, while maybe thinking about "gun shows" and a few relatively trivial bullshit things, are still generally against more gun control laws.

[UnCivilServant]

The nutcase unfit for service whose psyche was so fragile he ended up institutionalized by the end of the series?

The most comically inept anti-gun propganda I saw was actually in a superhero cartoon where character routinely dealing with building-wrecking powers flipped out at the sight of a 9mm being kept in a house for self-defense. (in a gang-riddled neighborhood no less).

[UnCivilServant]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add, it was the token white family that had the gun in the gang-riddled inner-city neighborhood. I think it was more the producers being afraid to portray any of the black families as having unregistered firearms.

[UnCivilServant]

Come to think of it, it was the only firearm that appeared in the series that fired actual bullets, and the totemic fear the main characters showed was nothing short of comedic. These were people who've been shown to engage in brawls with supervillains, and and suddenly freak out over a 9mm in a drawer?

When I wasn't groaning at the blatant propaganda, I was laughing at their ineptitude.

[BearOdinson]

I was watching The Dark Knight again the other night. And while I love Batman and think Nolan's trilogy is THE definitive on screen Batman, I still think it is a little stupid to have Batman not use "guns" but then have rockets fired from the Batmobile.
(BTW: I respect him not using guns. For one, it makes him have to challenge himself, and two, it does reinforce the idea that he doesn't kill criminals. Although, it is pretty simplistic considering even with his self-control, when he is fighting off a gang of thugs, he is bound to kill one every saw often just with his hands and feet.) But at least there was no politics regarding guns in general in his movies.

[Tonio]

Rufus, buddy, please use html tags for multi-line quotes; makes them much easier to process. Examples below use square braces instead of angle brackets but you have to use angle brackets aka less-than and greater-than symbols. Each tag, ie [i], must have a corresponding "close" tag, ie [/i].

[blockquote]Text enclosed in the blockquote tag will be indented and have a line to the left of the text.[/blockquote]

[i]Text enclosed in the italics tag will appear in italics.[/i]

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Or browse with Chrome and use Reasonable.

[bacon-magic]

sweet

[R C Dean]

a buyback program

One of the signal successes of the proggy restructuring of language to advance their odious cause is the way everybody talks about government buying guns from citizens as a "buyback" program, as if the guns were the government's originally, and its just taking them back.

I hates it. I do.

[Rhywun]

Good catch - I never noticed that. What snakes.

[WTF]

Just like the term "giving back to the community". No, charity isn't "giving back", it's "giving" since nothing was taken in the first place. But the proggies want to structure the terms so it seems as if something is actually owed.

[Restoras]

I bought three more in December. All German though so no help for US manufacturers.

[Monty Crisco]

BUILT one in December...

[Sapient Mulch]

Building one now.

[SugarFree]

And when the Supreme Court invalidated a ban on handguns in Washington, estimated handguns registered in the city went from near-zero to about 40 every month.

Getting rid of an illegal ban results in a product being legally purchased more? GASP! DOUBLE GASP!

[Lord Humungus]

Employers could get sued for following the law

A new federal guidance for employers illustrates the Catch-22 situation that immigration law creates for them: Businesses cannot employ anybody who is not legally residing in the U.S., but trying to determine if any of their employees are not legal residents can result in the business facing a federal discrimination lawsuit.

In other words, it can be illegal for an employer to try to find out if it is complying with the law.

The Justice Department and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement jointly issued a memorandum on Dec. 14 meant to clarify an employer's responsibilities, although the law itself has been on the books for decades.

[Doctor Whom]

Bug or feature?

[Lee G]

Definitely a feature.

[Monty Crisco]

THIS IS A PROG'S WET DREAM!!! THE PERFECT LAW!!!

[Lord Humungus]

Will Low Oil Prices Lead To An Obesity Spike In Alberta?

According to this report, suicide rates from January to June in Alberta this year are up 30% compared to the same period in 2014.

One challenge that may escape notice is the fact that this situation may also lead to significant weight gain in those affected.

Depression, anxiety, food insecurity, insomnia and simply being unable to afford healthy food are all important risk factors for weight gain.

Indeed it is hard to imagine how going from a high-paying job to being unemployed with little immediate hope of recovery will affect families.

*Hides bag of potato chips from Rufus*

[Slammer]

I thought this article was about cooking oil

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Rhywun]

unable to afford healthy food

I wish this lie would finally die.

[Swiss Servator]

Carrots are Divine
You get a dozen per dime
It is magical

[Clich? Bandit]

I swear, and I have been challenged here before on it, but I can feed myself extremely healthy food for $25 a week. And I eat mainly HFLC. (I do have a secret asian store that sells pork belly for 2.69 a lb. I then smoke it with hickory and applewood...ohh so good).

[Pope Jimbo]

I wasn't able to keep up over winter vacation, so I'm not sure if this was discussed already. Apologies if it has.

Some weapons grade stupidity. A story about Techno-Skeptics. They think think that technology has gone crazy and that the govt needs to step in with more regulations to keep the greedy corporations from ruining our lives.

They really hate the fact that we trade our privacy for free services to companies like Google and Facebook. I'm not sure how they pay for shit like that in their utopia.

She says she'd like to see more government-supported media platforms ? think public radio ? and more robust regulations to keep digital powerhouses from becoming monopolies

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm pretty sure these types start with the call for more government control and then find reasons for it later.

[BearOdinson]

Great so my entertainment is as fun as public radio, and my internet and email becomes as efficient as the US post office. Obviously these morons don't spend time at a VA hospital, but don't they ever go to the DMV?

[R C Dean]

Me, too. I'd love to have an app ecosystem other than Android or Apple, that didn't rape my privacy as the price of using their gizmos.

Unfortunately, there isn't one. I pay the price for my convenience and entertainment, but I don't like it.

[Rhywun]

I'm way more afraid of my state government (for starters) than Apple.

[R C Dean]

Well, yeah, but to my government, I'm tax cattle, and to Apple, I'm data cattle. I don't like either.

[BigT]

Still waiting for the first report of a no-knock raid by some Apple employees.

[Free Society]

She says she'd like to see more government-supported media platforms ? think public radio ? and more robust regulations to keep digital powerhouses from becoming monopolies

The tech industry is probably the most competitive and non-monopolisitc sector of the economy, notwithstanding the tremendous amount of intellectual property tyranny that pervades it. If you want it to be more monopolistic, the best thing you could do is hand the government more power to pick winners and losers.

[Libertarius]

"intellectual property tyranny"

UUUGGGHHH Why are you guys so utterly lost on this topic? The mind is the source of all value creation; ideas do not just float around waiting for someone to patent them; a creator is not an "arbitrary monopolist".

How you fail to recognize property rights in this context is beyond (and below) me.

[invisible furry hand]

A man whose car was seized for 48 hours by cops after he illegally street raced had a perfect licence plate

[straffinrun]

I don't recommend driving this model in the states.

[SugarFree]

"Hooning"? "Macca"? "Kilometer"?

Can anyone translate this link into American?

[UnCivilServant]

Well, a kil-o-meter keeps track of killcounts. Macca is a town important to some group of people who want to seem important right now.

Hooning - I have no idea.

[lafe.long]

Hoon

+1 Blind Melon

Thanx for the reminder... haven't listened for a while.

[invisible furry hand]

"To hoon" is a verb derived from the noun "hoon". A hoon is a person (usually a young man) who drives fast and loud on the streets. If he is particularly fast he may be called a fanging hoon ("fanging" deriving from the name of the Argentinian race car driver Juan Fangio).

Macca is short for McDonalds, a purveyor of comestibles.

A kilometre is 0.6 of a mile.

The other words in the article are, however, incomprehensible.

[UnCivilServant]

hmph, go and spoil my joke then I guess.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, when your third word is incorrect, it tends to remove my faith in your ability to write.

[invisible furry hand]

no way, me write good

Happy New Year RavNat. Hope it's gotten off to a swinging start

[Raven Nation]

Happy New Year IFH.

Yeah, decent start - even with a vicious cold/flu on NYE. But that was the only downer. Would be happy about the way the Aussies have been pushing the Windies around but that really doesn't mean much these days.

Bringing Abbott back to the front bench has potential for fun & games.

[invisible furry hand]

Sorry to hear you've been ill. If it's any comfort it's miserable weather (including flash flooding) here. So we don't have enough sunshine to play cricket with anyone, let alone the poor Windies.

If Turnbull is mad enough to bring Abbott back to the front bench then this country is officially rooted. Pretty much everything Abbott has done in the last three months has shown why the party room was right to roll him. It's just tragic watching a good, if limited, man thrash about instead of moving on.

[SugarFree]

I salute your use of "comestibles."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Although I'm not sure what it has to do with McDonalds.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows McGaze*

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I tried to read the article but I couldn't get past the picture, where it said the man was a hoon who had been hooning.

[Spoonman.]

It's like when my two-year-old makes up words. "Daddy, can you put this on the dee-dee?" No honey, I really can't.

[Krokko]

Hoons gon' hoon.

[Zeb]

"Hoon" That's a new one for me.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Here in the US, hooning is specifically drifting/street racing/burnouts typically involving little japanese cars.

The kind of shit they drive in FastnFurious.

[Rhywun]

I'm just going to translate it as "loser" in my head and move on.

[Lord Humungus]

Volkswagen faces billions in penalties as U.S. sues for environment violations

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a civil lawsuit against Volkswagen AG for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act by installing illegal devices to impair emission control systems in nearly 600,000 vehicles.

The allegations against Volkswagen, along with its Audi and Porsche units, carry penalties that could cost the automaker billions of dollars, a senior Justice Department official said. VW could face fines in theory exceeding $90 billion ? or as much as $37,500 per vehicle per violation of the law, based on the complaint. In September, government regulators initially said VW could face fines in excess of $18 billion.

"The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation's clean air laws," said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden, head of the departments environment and natural resources division.

[Restoras]

No one will go to jail though.

[Libertarius]

But I'm sick of hearing NPR leftoids claim that VW somehow murdered millions of people with this thing.

[invisible furry hand]

Man explains shark tied to bullbar

[Slammer]

Awsome. he needs to have it taxidermied (?) and leave it there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Looks like he's gonna need a bigger brushguard.

[Atanarjuat]

A Department of Fisheries spokesman told 6PR he couldn't understand why someone would tie a dead shark to a bullbar and that the department did not condone such behaviour.

The department is still looking to speak to the fisherman to ascertain whether a breach of the Fisheries regulations had occurred.

If a regulation had been broken, they would have said that instead... So fuck off.

[Tonio]

"Why does anyone need..." is typical government.

[EMD]

I'm sorry, that headline should read:

Hero explains shark tied to bullbar.

[Lord Humungus]

Fort Worth firefighters respond to elevator fire, find man juggling flaming batons

The Engine 10 crew got a 911 call around 7 p.m. reporting a fire on the eighth floor of a building off West Dickson and Hemphill streets, Falkner said.

"When they got up there they saw a guy juggling flaming batons in the grain elevator," Falkner said.

He said the man didn't have a reason to be there.

"They put his torches out," he said.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Is there a sale today on news articles or something, LH?

[Lord Humungus]

Buy one, get two free!

[straffinrun]

You should go into shoe sales. Wait...

[UnCivilServant]

"They put his torches out," he said.

Extinguishing fires is what they're paid to do.

[Libertarian]

If he'd been waving a gun around, they would have arrested him for endangering public safety. Torches in an elevator that could destroy an entire building? "Sir, we're going to have to have you snuff those now. Have a nice evening."

[Free Society]

Fort Worth must be in Florida.

[Lord Humungus]

Melbourne's RMIT University runs design course on how to make sex toys

The former boilermaker recently ran the world's first university course on sex-toys, teaching Melbourne students how to apply industrial design principles to intimate appliances.

"I get a bit frustrated because you go to the Milan Furniture Fair and there's another thousand chairs, but there's no product for male erectile dysfunction, which is a massive relationship killer," Dr Glover said.

"The porn industry still controls most designs, and the majority of their product is poor quality, high-mark-up stuff made in China ? some of it dangerous.

"My idea was to bring proper industrial design principles to the sex industry, and challenge the large players who were recycling the same tired old products and ideas."

[Adans smith]

Best way to make a sex toy,promise to buy her a diamond or new car.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"I get a bit frustrated because you go to the Milan Furniture Fair and there's another thousand chairs, but there's no product for male erectile dysfunction,"

Looking for love in all the wrong places.

[Libertarian]

What, no rocking chairs there?

[BearOdinson]

Perhaps he isn't familiar with a queening chair.

[Lee G]

Who will be the Steve Jobs of dildonics?

[Old.Mexican]

"The porn industry still controls most designs, and the majority of their product is poor quality, high-mark-up stuff made in China ? some of it dangerous.

Spoken from first-hand account, I guess....

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's Legacy Will Be Executive Overreach

The truth is, Obama has attempted to govern without Congress ever since Democrats rammed the Affordable Care Act through. It was the first time any consequential reform was instituted by a single political party, poisoning any chance of building consensus on major legislation in the foreseeable future. Since then, Republicans have frustrated Democrats, and on nearly every issue that matters to Obama. Obama has gone as far as he can, and sometimes farther, to administer law through our loudest, largest, most powerful, and well-funded bureaucracies.

A lot of people justify this behavior for the most obvious reason: they don't care about process; they only care about issues. It's true that the upside of executive orders and actions is that they can be easily undone when a new president is elected. But with the intractability of both parties only becoming more pronounced, the temptation to use the Obama model of legislating through the executive branch will become increasingly attractive to politicians and their supporters.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Johnny Manziel goes incognito in Vegas, with blond wig, fake mustache and glasses

Our sources tell us Manziel was at a popular night club on the strip Saturday night. The QB entered wearing a blonde wig, a fake mustache, glasses, and a hoodie.

Is this what Warty wears when he is on the prowl?

[Adans smith]

Just like Joe Namath

[Auric Demonocles]

A senior city attorney in Chicago has resigned after a judge ruled he deliberately concealed evidence about a police shooting.

And what about when a senior Reason editor in New York deliberately concealed evidence about alt-text?

[Swiss Servator]

Disbarment!

[Illocust]

"Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike."

I only hear this kind of stuff about Britain. Do they have an unusually bad healthcare system even for a nationalized system, or are we just closer to them than other foreign countries so we hear about there problems more often.

[UnCivilServant]

Both. If we didn't ignore Canada so much, we'd hear more about their problems and death by queueing.

[Adans smith]

Who is this 'Canada' of which you speak?

[UnCivilServant]

I think it's a character from Akira.

[Adans smith]

So,it's not real?

[UnCivilServant]

If it is, it's somewhere near Canuckistan.

[Swiss Servator]

Obligatory: http://www.theonion.com/articl.....laws-19927

[Free Society]

It's Monday morning, and Toronto resident Steve Dorman shares a quick breakfast of "eggs" (a native food) with his "wife" (an officially state-sanctioned mate)

Ha ha good stuff

[Restoras]

It's a 'where' not a 'who' and is between Honest Chicago and Santa's Workshop.

[EMD]

I refer to as it Really North Dakota.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

It's complicated. I don't doubt people die waiting in 'line' but I've yet to see a credible study on it - unless I missed it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....e16866187/

[Adans smith]

You mean like a study on police shootings in The U.S?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Kinda? Probably?

We know it happens but we just don't have the stats!

Hence, it's all anecdotal!

[R C Dean]

Like the NHS is going to study how many people it kills with negligence, incompetence, and its horrifying mission.

[Zeb]

I think the UK went with the worst option with the NHS. I most of the rest of Europe the hospitals aren't directly run by the government like in the UK.

[Adans smith]

On the other hand,I spent new years eve and new year day drinking Newcastle ale and never felt better.

[Adans smith]

Now I want some Gloucester cheddar and Stilton blue cheese.

[Restoras]

What, no warm beer? I mean...ROOM TEMPERATURE...which in Britain means chilled perfectly.

[Adans smith]

I can drink stout,porter and Newcastle like that.Give me a Partagas #10 and I'm set.

[BearOdinson]

Scotch Whisky (Macallan 12 yo or Glenfiddich 15), Irish Stout (Guiness), English food (shepherd's pie) and Welsh women (Eve Miles).

[Knarf Yenrab!]

One of the foremost dangers of global warmingclimate change is that craft beer consumed at cellar temps will now be less flavorful. To stave off Beer Armageddon, we must democratically pursue universal agreement between states to regulate all energy production and usage among their tax cattlecitizenries.

Discuss.

[Free Society]

One of the foremost dangers of global warmingclimate change is that craft beer consumed at cellar temps will now be less flavorful. To stave off Beer Armageddon, we must democratically pursue universal agreement between states to regulate all energy production and usage among their tax cattlecitizenries.

Discuss.

It's time that we all stand up and support "beer neutrality", so that everyone has equal access to equal beer. We can't have some people paying more to get better quality beer.

[CatoTheChipper]

NHS is better than Canadian single payer. At least private medical treatment is legal in the UK.

[R C Dean]

The thing to understand about the NHS is that it is overtly not an organization that is intended to provide healthcare. Its mission is to conduct public health research. Any health care it providers is incidental to that. Brits are just lab rats, as far as the NHS is concerned. Which is why it treats them the way it does.

[colorblindkid]

So this happened:
http://www.mediaite.com/online.....-revelers/

[Crusty Juggler]

From the comments:

Top Kek ? 4 minutes ago

Which country is more cucked..germany or Sweden?

[UnCivilServant]

Sweden, definately sweden.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

They're both fucked.

When a country like Germany begins to evict its own citizens out of their homes to make room for 'refugees' you know they've entered the Twilight Zone.

[Adans smith]

Submitted for your approval ,one county,once might and war like,they went to way far and now enter a realm of continuous self flagellation .

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Funny how it all unfolded for that continent. From the continent that spawned Spartans, Romans, La Grande Armee, Prussia/Germany, Austrian-Hungarian, England and a bunch of tribes across the continents like Goths, Vikings, Gauls and before them Samnites etc. to a bunch of wusses. One can only hope they can regain their balls again. Problem is, when Europeans do that they don't seem to be very reasonable going straight to war.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Magyars too.

[Free Society]

Magyars too.

Magyars weren't spawned on the European continent per se.

[BearOdinson]

It drives me batshit. My ancestors (at least my father's and my mom's Anglo-Saxon ancestors. I have no idea what my mom's Celtic ancestors believed regarding eschatology) are either counting the seconds to Ragnarok so that the world can be cleansed and start over again, or they are laughing their asses off in Valhalla.

[Free Society]

I have no idea what my mom's Celtic ancestors believed regarding eschatology

Not all that different from other Indo-European groups in all likelihood. The Indo-European pagan religions/belief systems all have a common source. That's why there are such interesting parallels between the pantheons of Greek and Roman gods, similar creation myths, similar family dynamics between gods and all that. The Norse had Odin, the central Germans had Woden, the Angles had Wodin, the Romans had Jupiter and the Greeks had Zeus et cetera. There was certainly some borrowing between groups, but it's hard to deny the common origin.

[CatoTheChipper]

And, American progressives still whine, "We need to be more like Europe."

[UnCivilServant]

Submitted for your approval...

Denied.

I hereby order the european countries to locate their misplaced spines and testes and defend themselves.

[Free Society]

I hereby order the european countries to locate their misplaced spines and testes and defend themselves.

That would be racist, so no they won't. Not yet anyways, still too many multicultists that have yet to be raped, robbed and murdered by people that are supposedly no different than themselves.

[BigT]

" hereby order the european countries to locate their misplaced spines and testes and defend themselves"

Yeah, not enough got killed in the 20th century.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

When a country like Germany begins to evict its own citizens out of their homes to make room for 'refugees' you know they've entered the Twilight Zone.

Inverse Lebensraum.

[Tonio]

But what's sure to make the most waves is the description of the perpetrators. Police say the men were uniformly "of Arab or North African appearance."

[Rhywun]

"You can expect right-wing groups to use that fact to say, 'See, we told you this would happen,'" lamented one German police union chief in an interview.

I wonder how long they are going to pretend that it's only "right-wing groups" who feel this way.

[R C Dean]

So, the cop is complaining that he was wrong, and the right-wingers were, well, right.

But he's not going to stop being wrong.

[Rhywun]

Amusingly, on Spiegel's English website, this story is buried under another story about how everything you read about the "migrants" is just right-wing propaganda.

[invisible furry hand]

According to the BBC, this also happened on a smaller scale in Hamburg, and, "there are real concerns about what will happen in February when the drunken street-parties of carnival season kick off." So, one to watch...

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes. It will also be interesting to see if there are attempts at vigilante-style justice.

[Free Society]

Yes. It will also be interesting to see if there are attempts at vigilante-style justice.

Well the people certainly aren't going to get justice from their government and it's judicial system.

[Free Society]

German n-tv news says Cologne police are considering calling in reinforcements from other parts of Germany and installing extra surveillance cameras, with telescopic lenses.

This is why we can't have nice things relatively free societies.

[EMD]

with telescopic lenses.

No! Not telescopic lenses! Anything but telescopic lenses!

[Monty Crisco]

WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!? REASON ALREADY DID TWO ARTICLES ON THIS!!!

*listens to someone whispering in ear*

Oh, wait, this wasn't Rotherham?

Carry on... nothing to see here....

[John]

Muslims are wonderful and anyone who objects to importing millions of them into the country is just a big racist. There are no downsides to open borders. Didn't you know that?

[Free Society]

Don't be so cynical! They may do another article, with all of the appropriate qualifiers of course.

[Illocust]

A thousand man gang but only one rape accusation and 59 other types of crimes. That may be higher than the normal population statistics of crimes on that night, but it does sound like they just counted every arab celebrating New Years Even in the streets as part of a rape gang.

I think the tide has officially changed. We've gone from covering up real rape gangs to starting to lump everyone of a certain descent into a rape gang. They need to cut off their refugee program before this gets worse, and they really need to round up the perpetrators before they turn the tide to full race war.

[Rhywun]

When you have even German officials who normally take great pains not to "offend" calling this an "organized crime", there is probably more to the story than statistics.

[CatoTheChipper]

When cops are covering up the rape of a sister cop, the political correctness is strong in that culture.

[Suthenboy]

"...a massive gang of over a thousand men went on a crime spree on New Year's Eve, sexually assaulting, robbing, and even reportedly raping a woman in the city of Cologne."

"You can expect right-wing groups to use that fact to say, 'See, we told you this would happen,'" lamented one German police union chief in an interview."

That is some first rate reality denial right there. I mean that is Cytotoxic-level retardation.

At some point the Europeans are going to have to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that they are being invaded. If they don't they will be extinct in another generation. I foresee dark times ahead in either case.

[Free Society]

If they don't they will be extinct in another generation.

It's our duty to drive ourselves to extinction with pathological altruism. To atone for all the horrible things European peoples have done to the world, like building the most tolerant and inclusive societies in human history for example.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

If they don't they will be extinct in another generation.

I'm starting to think you're actually serious when you say this.

[ant1sthenes]

They won't be extinct, any more than the Jews, but they might be in the same position the Jews were until less than a century ago.

[Lord Humungus]

by Bristol Palin?!?1

Honest Tea Removes Trump Quotes from Bottle Caps

Why are they so eager to let their customers know they are taking the quotes off their bottle caps? After all, the company's official Twitter page just doesn't randomly reply to tweets. This happened on purpose.

It seems to me like they're trying to cover their political bases, trying not to offend who they think are their customers. The President of the company even went so far as to publish a blogpost on Honest Tea's website explaining the quotes, the decision, and the process to take Mr. Trump's quote out of circulation, stating:

[WTF]

"Page Not Found"

[SugarFree]

"Page Found"

[Lord Humungus]

You are almost worst than Hitler
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/b.....ttle-caps/

[Lord Humungus]

Why the libertarian moment fizzled

The 2016 election cycle is certainly shaping up to be a transformational one for Republicans, just not in a libertarian direction. If anything, Trump's astonishing polling strength (combined with Paul's consistent weakness) has revealed how soft support is for the more libertarian positions favored by the party's elite and its leading donors. In place of open borders, Trump promises mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. In place of cuts in taxes and spending, Trump promises to protect Social Security and Medicare while jacking up taxes on the rich. In place of strategic retrenchment on foreign policy, Trump promises, well, very little beyond a shift to a hard-nosed calculation of national interest backed up by boasts about his personal brilliance and unwavering toughness.

So much for a libertarian moment. A quasi-authoritarian moment might be more like it.

Among libertarians themselves, the temptation will be to blame the messenger: Paul was doing great until he started supporting military intervention against ISIS, foolishly tried to have it both ways on the culture war, and went all crazytown with talk about conspiracies at the Federal Reserve.

[Lord Humungus]

So if you're a libertarian who cares mainly about furthering sexual freedom and eliminating criminal penalties for drug use, the Democratic Party is probably where you belong.

If, on the other hand, you're a libertarian who mainly cares about cutting taxes and regulations while also eliminating obstacles to the free flow of people (immigration) and products (international trade), then the home you've likely made in the Republican Party might become much less hospitable.

As for those consistent libertarians who believe in minimizing government across the board, they're used to feeling ideologically homeless in our political system, with each party upholding and rejecting different elements of the libertarian agenda. Now that the Trumpistas have begun to scramble the Republican Party in a way that further confounds libertarian hopes, the homeless will at least have more company.

[WTF]

eliminating criminal penalties for drug use, the Democratic Party is probably where you belong.

Since fucking when?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Well, last year, a few in power discovered that legalizing marijuana was politically popular, so they claimed that they now supported, did some vague gestures in the direction of reducing sentences, and then congratulated themselves on a job well done.

[WTF]

While Obama's Justice Department continues to prosecute marijuana suppliers that are legal businesses in their states.

[BearOdinson]

As if furthering sexual freedom means:
--Abortion on demand at any time and having other people pay for your birth control.
--Not legalizing prostitution since women prostitutes are just victims of patriarchy
--Going after porn because it is degrading to women

And neither Obama nor Hillary are going to reduce our eliminate the WODs.
At least Cruz is starting to talk more about "states's rights" in terms of pot.

And guns?? Tell me just about any mainstream Dem not from West Virginia who is a libertarian regarding self-defense or the 2A.

Basically this article is just a "heads I win, tails you lose".

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Thank God we have a New Republic alumnus there to conduct the postmortem. I'll be sure to read this with all the serious carefulness it deserves.

[John]

Libertarians have no real home in either party. Yeah, that is much different than it used to be. So just give up and vote Democrat because TRUMP!!

Signed,

The New Republic

[Suthenboy]

The New Republic? I get that vibe from Reason.

How many people working for this magazine and claim to champion liberty while they voted for the most anti-liberty candidate for president since....uh...well, since ever?

How many will try to nudge voters to the Dems again?

[John]

Yes. it is not so much that they vote Democrat as they seem to operate as a neutered opposition. In reason land Democrats are never worse than Republicans. And the point of voting is always to punish Republicans but never Democrats.

In 2006 and 08, Reason ran about three articles a week on how the Republicans deserved to lose power and it was everyone's duty to vote to punish them. Reason of course had a fair point. The Republicans did deserve to lose power. The problem was in 2010 when it was the Democrats who were in power and deserved the same treatment, Reason didn't publish a single article arguing that people should vote to punish the Democrats. They suddenly lost interest in punishing incumbents.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

A few of them did, most of them mere contributors to the magazine. And that was before Obama was sworn in and when he was up against John McCain, for Christ's sake.

Suderman voted to re-elect Bush. I'd say that's worse than voting for Obama in 08.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike.

No doubt Michael Moore is outraged at this instance of capitalist greed.

[UnCivilServant]

Who cares what that wailing adipose propagandist thinks?

[Free Society]

The Dow posted its worst opening day in eight years yesterday.

This is going to be the Winter of our discontent Recovery!

[John]

Eight years, that would be 2008. Come one, it is not like something bad happened the last time the Dow had an opening day like this. Right?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

What do you mean? It's been one recovery after another for seven years now. And America is going to recover good and hard in 2016, and it's going to take the rest of the world's economy with it.

Now excuse me while I check the spot price of silver.

[WTF]

Get ready for another Summer of Recovery!

[Sevo]

The CA supremes will let lefty twits gripe to congress about free speech:

"'Citizens United' advisory measure can go on ballot, California high court says"
[...]
"Though the holding was narrow and aimed squarely at the Citizens United proposition, election experts said they expect the Legislature to authorize more such measures in efforts to manipulate voter turnout."
http://www.latimes.com/local/l.....story.html

So it's a wonderful lefty stew of cynicism seasoned heavily with dishonesty! Where's Tony?

[Sevo]

Re the MD strike in England: Anyone here fluent in Brit?

"The BMA and doctors have criticized the contract, which changes the way they are paid for anti-social hours, saying it does not provide proper safeguards against doctors working dangerously long hours."

[SugarFree]

They aren't getting paid as much for overtime.

[invisible furry hand]

Yes and no. The new contract would redefine certain hours out of the "unsociable" category (and therefore attract less pay), and guaranteed pay rises would go, but the base rate would be raised. The real problem with unsociable hours, however, seems to be that the rules restricting really long shifts would be relaxed

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34775980

[commodious spittoon]

I wonder how gutted and sclerotic the legal profession would be if the same rules obtained for lawyers.

What, corporate lawyers can work 80+ hours a week for commensurate pay but doctors can't possibly agree to work long hours without hundreds of pages of legalese and a huge labor bureaucracy representing their interests? Odd, that.

[UnCivilServant]

"Contract provides incentives to work at times when patients might actually be available to see them. Old guard worries doctors might show them up by working more and providing service."

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Bonnet was bullshit enough, but "anti-social hours" is a bridge too far.

[EMD]

I've come around on ALOOOMINEEEUM, though.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I thought being anti-social was part of a doctor's job description

[UnCivilServant]

nonsense, they are social - with other doctors and similar elite professionals, just not with patients.

[Old.Mexican]

Doctors in Britain are preparing to go on strike.

So much for "Health Care Is A Right?"

[Michael Ejercito]

They should have worked for the American VA instead.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Do not even deign to tell me we have not yet reached peak DERP.

We Know Which Hogwarts House You're In Based On Your Fave Kardashian

[commodious spittoon]

Adweeba Kimderpa, more like.

[UnCivilServant]

What do spoon-headed aliens from Star Trek have to do with quarantine centers for porcine diseases?

[Auric Demonocles]

It's probably a STD they picked up from the Bajorans.

[marriedtoaliberal]

Sheik al-Nimr preached nonviolence and condemned violence. He was repeatedly arrested and tortured. It's like the Saudi's just beheaded Shiite's Martin Luther King. I'm sickened we support them

[ant1sthenes]

Who's "we"? The federal government does, but I can't imagine why any sane, decent citizen would feel any sense of ownership or approval for their actions. Besides which, the Saudis only bribe important people in our society.

[Lee G]

Eschew Obfuscation, Espouse Elucidation

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The extra words are to give the illusion that they are making an argument.

[John]

In some ways Libertarians could do the most good in the Democratic Party. Someone needs to talk them back off the full retard totalitarian ledge. Sadly, I think that is probably impossible.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Colloidal silver is to be savored, you cosmo.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

We shall infiltrate the totalitarians and teach them the beauty of private property and freedom of association!

[ant1sthenes]

I'd prefer to hold the sign saying "Jump, you fuckers!". Preferably while their foreign alliances are at their weakest and their enemies are all riled up and heavily armed.

[Cdr Lytton]

For now. Given how successful the Paris attackers were in getting weapons leaves me little doubt that rearming would not be that difficult if there were several more follow on attacks, especially if organized criminals starting seeing that as a threat to their own country.

[R C Dean]

They're both disarmed, too.

I think they are undersupplied with handguns, but there are a fair number of hunting weapons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.....by_country