Dems Hold Sunday Night Debate, Iran Nuclear Deal in Effect, Arizona Senator Suggests Ban on Recording Cops: A.M. Links

• 

  NBC News

  Democrats held their last debate before the Iowa caucuses. Bernie Sanders called for automatic federal investigations of all deaths in police custody, while Rand Paul livetweeted the debate.

• Three Americans released by Iran arrived in Germany while crude oil futures fall below $30 in part because of the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal this weekend.
• Three American contractors in Iraq may have been kidnapped.
• A Republican state senator in Arizona proposed a bill to ban filming police officers from within 20 feet.
• A suicide bomber in Afghanistan killed at least 14 people at a tribal gathering.
• Al-Shabaab said it captured three Kenyan soldiers after attacking an African Union base in southwestern Somalia.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Democrats held their last debate before...

Hillary is crowned?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Is it night already?

[Libertarian]

In America, again.

[AlmightyJB]

There was no debate. There is only one Democrat candidate. Do not believe sources that tell you otherwise.

[Lee G]

Otherwise

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

Pants on fire!

[dinkster]

Honestly I think Hillary is sunk.

[Fist of Etiquette]

She's been sunk before.

[JWatts]

"Honestly I think Hillary is sunk."

Unless the Department of Justice decides to prosecute her, she's a shoe-in to win the party nomination. And then most likely she'll win the general election. I don't see Trump having much of a chance of beating her (he's not really that good a candidate from any perspective outside of sheer outrage).

[Long Woodchippers]

last week's polls have Hillary even with Trump and 7-9 points behind the Cubans

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, but you thought that Rand was a great candidate.

[commodious spittoon]

Not crowned yet. Still crowning.

[gaoxiaen]

Kavanaugh is obviously a copsucker. Fuck that asshole. He has no future in politics.

[gaoxiaen]

Opposing the First Amendment is a losing position. He should die in a fire.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Republican state senator in Arizona proposed a bill to ban filming police officers from within 20 feet.

That's the zone in which photography steals their souls.

[Jerryskids]

A Republican state senator in Arizona proposed a bill to ban filming police officers from within 20 feet.

That's the range beyond which the phone camera resolution makes the actions (if not the identity) of the officer plausible-argumentative. (As far as this rep knows, anyway - make a better camera and they'll make a better law to defeat the use of it.)

[AlmightyJB]

And zoom lenses are now illegal.

[Adans smith]

Ban assault lenses!!

[FreeToFear]

No one NEEDS more than 7x zoom anyway...

[Indigent-American]

The distance is irrelevant. It will be ruled unreasonable to make cops determine, in the heat of the moment, whether someone is 20 feet away or 21. If effect the law will allow them to punish anybody filming them regardless of distance.

[Lee G]

Hey I know from personal experience that cops are excellent judges of distance and time

[OneOut]

Past 20 feet a phone looks a lot like a gun when an officer isforced to fear for his life.

[gaoxiaen]

Or an RPG.

[Zeb]

Haven't laws forbidding recording or photographing police already been ruled unconstitutional?

[gaoxiaen]

Constitutional law is so quaint.

[Brett L]

How is this not clearly prior restraint? I have the same right to collect evidence of my interactions with the police that would apply to any other potentially exonerating evidence.

[R C Dean]

There's a serious due process problem when you try to outlaw collecting potentially exonerating evidence.

I'm sure the 20 foot rule is based on the mythology that a gun gives no advantage if the attacker is withing 20 feet.

[Not an Economist]

Actually, this is a safety measure for the public. Cops can't hit a target on purpose under duress (aka "out in public") outside of 20 feet.

[DblEagle]

I grew up in southern AZ and consider is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Plus waaaay back then (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era-look it up) the people of AZ were very "you do your thing and I'll do mine." Today it is either progville or cop fetish. It's a shame that I can never move back there.

[gaoxiaen]

It was also the epicenter of drug smuggling. NTTAWWT.

[Lord Humungus]

Man bites, stabs another over stirring of chili

A 26-year-old man allegedly attacked his 35-year-old wife and a 30-year-old male family acquaintance around 5:10 a.m. on the 19200 block of St. Mary's Street, Officer Jennifer Moreno said.

"There was a pot of chili on the stove, and the male victim stirred it," Moreno said. "The suspect didn't want (the victim) stirring his chili."

After the attack, the male victim flagged down officers in the area conducting a traffic stop.

"He said that the suspect had bit and stabbed him," Moreno said. "The suspect was unhappy about him stirring the chili. I don't know who made the chili."

[Fist of Etiquette]

The suspect didn't want (the victim) stirring his chili.

...if you know what I mean.

[WTF]

Is that another euphemism like "tossing salad"?

[straffinrun]

"Tossing salad" is closer to "flagged down officer".

[AlmightyJB]

He should keep his spoon out of other men's chili.

[Jerryskids]

How good was the chili? I could see stabbing somebody for messing with the chili. Like for example if they put beans in it. Using ground beef instead of the proper stew meat is really only a punchable offense.

[Adans smith]

I can forgive chili don't touch my chowder

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Shaudere.

[Ska]

Get it right Frenchie, it's chowdah.

[Brett L]

Ask Epi for his chili recipe with broccoli in it.

[Long Woodchippers]

My wife gets very hostile if I approach her chili while it's cooking

[Suthenboy]

Stir another man's chili and you get what you deserve.

[dinkster]

Aids.

[Drake]

Return to Dachau - A Czech guard talks about working at a refugee camp.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2016/.....more-38488

[Illocust]

I wonder about the food. I heard once that in some middle eastern areas that the women and children are expected to eat the left overs after the men finish. If true it could explain the culture of not finishing your meal before grabbing more.

[straffinrun]

Japanese won't eat the last piece of any dish when they go out to eat. I guess they're trying to be polite and want to give the other person the opportunity. I've tried pointing out that, since nobody will eat the last piece, eating the second to last piece is in effect the same as eating the last piece.

[Elspeth Flashman]

You party pooper.

[straffinrun]

I just can't leave food on the plate and go home. Raised with 6 siblings.

[dan'o en barrel]

One of eight kids. I feel you- speed eating was an art form

[Jimbo]

One of 12: it was not cheaper by the dozen. I hung out in the kitchen 10-15 minutes before dinner was ready in order to be fed first.

[BearOdinson]

Zeno's paradox of sushi?

[EMD]

Racist.

[Zeb]

A man is sentenced to death by a judge with a sick sense of humor, absolute honesty and a love of logic puzzles. He tells the condemned man that he will be executed at some point in the next week, but the exact day will be a surprise. The condemned is a fairly clever fellow, so he reasons that he can't be executed on Friday because if it got to be Friday and he hadn't been executed, the day wouldn't be a surprise, and the judge never lies. So by the same reasoning, it can't happen on Thursday, Wednesday, etc. So the condemned man goes to sleep that night confident that he can't really be executed.

The next morning, guards wake him up, take him outside and, to his complete surprise, shoot him dead.

[Sapient Mulch]

I was told, while living in Japan, that the last piece was left to show the chef his servings had been sufficient. Gluttony is frowned on, but hospitality dictates that they make sure you are satiated. In the case of eating at the home of a poor person, individual honor would suggest that you leave something and go hungry, so as not to insult the perhaps meagre meal.

[gaoxiaen]

Maybe I'm afraid of fugu.

[Free Society]

Q: They attack the employees?

A: Regularly. You have to understand, they consider all of us as mere servants, who are there for them and must fulfil their wishes. They are permanently dissatisfied with something, the amount of food, the quality, with the provided services and they are constantly making demands for some other rights.

Must be millennial Muslims.

[Adans smith]

Wanting good service is a trigger.

[R C Dean]

Sounds like what Europe needs is a couple million more of these people.

[ant1sthenes]

They should go on strike, then. The results would be most amusing, I expect.

[Win Bear]

To be fair, service in Germany sucks, waiters and salesmen are rude, and companies don't stand behind their products. New immigrants are likely just not used to that, so they still complain. After a bit of assimilation, they will realize that complaining is pointless on Germany.

[Free Society]

What? I've never had that experience, Germans are very polite by nature. Anecdotes aside, I find it highly unlikely that these 3rd world migrants are just simply accustomed to higher quality customer service than they currently receive in a civilized country like Germany. Not that these people are customers in any sense, they're beggars trying to be choosers.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Your sarc detector requires recalibration.

[Free Society]

On re-read I still don't see this sarcasm.

[TheZeitgeist]

So deadpan it was truly dead I guess.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Very deadpan.

To be fair, service in Germany sucks, waiters and salesmen are rude, and companies don't stand behind their products. New immigrants are likely just not used to that...

Try replying with 'Nothing like the Syrian paradise they left' and the sarc becomes obvious.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

New immigrants are likely just not used to that

People displaced from their homes and running from the ravages of an insane Islamist movement that likes to behead people for lulz? They're not used to "rude service"?

Sorry, I have to think something else is going on here.

[Homple]

A sense of superiority and entitlement often seen among men raised in Arab/Muslim culture might explain it.

[R C Dean]

Something else is going on alright.

My working assumption is that a significant fraction of these "migrants" are just assholes. Raised that way in a culture that values, apparently, men who act like assholes. And which has developed assholery to a high art.

[DenverJ]

Yeah, I got into with one the other week. He got right up in my face and started yelling at me. I gave him a choice selection of some of my favorite words, and the SOB called me a racist.
What a culture.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

and the SOB called me a racist.

Sounds like they're assimilating just fine.

[Homple]

I lived in Germany for 14 years and found service employees as good or better than anywhere in the USA. Government officials were much more courteous and efficient than here as well.

[OneOut]

That's why we need The Donald to make America great again.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bernie Sanders called for automatic federal investigations of all deaths in police custody...

So he's incentivizing killing them before being taken into custody.

[Suthenboy]

PM lynx?

I think this cat's internal clock is off a bit.

[Illocust]

A Slate author is attacking National Security surveillance based upon racism. I'd be happy, but I'm fairly certain it will just end up in extra protections for the right kind of people and fuck the rest of us.

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....pying.html

[Suthenboy]

Ah the glory days. If only we could bring them back and be on the right side again.

[Raven Nation]

Well, if you opposed all surveillance, those scary militia groups would be invading minority neighborhoods and slaughtering people in no time.

[Lord Humungus]

'Informed' global elite places greater faith in institutions than majority

An "informed" global elite now trusts institutions significantly more than the rest of the population does, opening a trust gap that helps explain the rise of populist politicians around the world.

Faith in business, government, media and non-governmental organisations has risen to a five-year high, according to research by Edelman, the public relations consultancy, which polled 33,000 people in 28 countries.

But the improvement in trust is driven almost entirely by growing confidence among the "informed public" ? a rump of college-educated, well-read and media-savvy individuals representing 15 per cent of the population.

CosmoszZZ!

[Medical Physics Guy]

Something Harvard something Buckley something phone book

[Jerryskids]

Sounds to me like the normal bias - these people trust the institutions because they're the ones running them. Taxi drivers trust taxi drivers to do a better job driving taxis, that's why they want laws to protect the public from taxis being driven by non-taxi drivers. The fact that prohibiting non-taxi drivers from operating taxis serves the interests of taxi drivers is merely coincidental - the same coincidence as the fact that entrusting more power to institutions serves the interests of those operating the institutions.

[Mainer2]

It's coincidences all the way down.

[The Last American Hero]

There's also a technocratic element. It's why many people who are pretty smart and educated think that society's problems can be solved if we just elect really smart, thoughtful people. And the best part about the Top Men theory is that if it fails, you just didn't have the right Top Men.

[Brett L]

Yes. Its like the Knowledge Problem that makes command economies unworkable only applies to prices.

[Win Bear]

I've had progressives literally say that to me.

It's essentially also the belief of European "social market economy" types.

[Long Woodchippers]

well, knowledge and money (all of your money)

[TheZeitgeist]

And the best part about the Top Men theory is that if it fails, you just didn't have the right Top Men.

Another good part about such notions is anecdotally it is true. Dems have FDR and 'pubs have Ronnie. If only each side had another rendition of their Top Man, we'd all have new deals in the morning again.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Sounds to me like the normal bias - these people trust the institutions because they're the ones running them.

*nods slowly*

[Win Bear]

That's like the billionaires meeting in Davos complaining about too much inequality and too many billionaires.

[Swiss Servator]

Soros and Buffet will.

[gaoxiaen]

Have gay sex.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

An "informed" global elite now trusts institutions significantly more than the rest of the population does, opening a trust gap that helps explain the rise of populist politicians around the world.

By "informed global elite", we're talking about American voters, right?

[Lord Humungus]

Howell Woman Protests Possible Fine For Rescuing Baby Squirrels

Vaccarella says she called a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who she says told her to keep the squirrels until May because winter was coming, and that in May, Vaccarella says, the rehabilitator said she would take them in.

That changed on Oct. 31, when conservation officers from the Division of Fish and Wildlife showed up at her door, she said.

"They said they saw a picture on Facebook that I had squirrels," she said. "I said yes and I was proud to tell them the story on how I saved them."

The conservation officers -- whom she refers to as "men in squad gear" -- told her she could not keep the squirrels and that they had to go to a rehabilitator, she said. She turned the animals over on the spot, she said, and received the summons in the mail a few weeks later.

[CharlesWT]

Now if they would just come for the reason.com squirrels...

[Raven Nation]

First they came for the reason.com squirrels and I said nothing...

[Swiss Servator]

No, I said something - "ABOUT DAMNED TIME YOU CAME FOR THE TREE RATS!"

[Libertarian]

This is impossible. It was a government LICENSED wildlife rehabilitator.

[Raven Nation]

They said they saw a picture on Facebook...

That alone tells us they have too many people working in that office and some of them need to be laid off. If course, in government, it means they need to set up a FB surveillance unit.

[Medical Physics Guy]

PM Links! It's finally right. #europeftw

[Lord Humungus]

American Missionary Among At Least 23 Killed in al Qaeda-Linked Burkina Faso Attack

An American missionary was among nearly two dozen victims killed by Al Qaeda-linked militants in an attack on a luxury hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso.

At least 28 people were killed and 126 others were held hostage for hours by at least four militants in Ouagadougou, officials said.

The American missionary's body was identified by his wife on Saturday, according to family members. Mike Riddering, 45, worked with his wife Amy at Les Ailes de Refuge orphanage in Yako, a town about 100 kilometers northwest of the Ouagadougou.

[Notorious UGCC]

The publisher Scholastic has recalled a children's book called "A Birthday Cake for George Washington."

"While notes in A Birthday Cake For George Washington from author Ramin Ganeshram and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton had pointed out the historical context of the 18th-century story and that Hercules eventually escaped, some critics faulted them for leaving out those details from the main narrative.

""Oh, how George Washington loves his cake!" reads the publisher's description of the story. "And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him. Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president's cake. But this year there is one problem - they are out of sugar.""

[Medical Physics Guy]

The world of dull PC children's books. I remember it well. What a wasteland.

Boys immediately gravitate to Beast Quest and they never look back, skirting indoctrination.

[Suthenboy]

2nd grade...I found this in the library:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/.....1-weakfoot

I hated the PC pap that everyone else was forced to read. I wasn't supposed to read that, but luckily the librarian was sympathetic and let me sneak it out.

[Lord Humungus]

Sanders winning millennial women from Clinton

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January 15, 2016, 03:23 pm
Sanders winning millennial women from Clinton

By Rebecca Savransky

179
Getty Images

Bernie Sanders has a 19-point lead over Hillary Clinton among Democratic and independent women ages 18 to 34, according to a USA Today/Rock the Vote poll.

The Vermont senator, who has been surging in the polls in the last two weeks, won 50 percent compared to Clinton's 31 percent among millennial women.

The poll also showed Sanders is the favorite among younger voters. He wins 57 percent of those ages 18 to 25, according to the same poll. His support falls to 36 percent among people between 26 and 34.

Clinton has only 25 percent support in the 18- to 25-year-old age group. But she has 44 percent of those ages 26 to 34, the poll says.

[Lord Humungus]

no edit button? *smashes screen with hulk-like rage*

[straffinrun]

Looks like a zero hedge comment.

[Hamster of Doom]

Ouch.

[Lord Humungus]

needs more jew bankers and a rant about gold.

[Win Bear]

People like Sanders don't call them "Jews" or "profiteers" anymore. The new code phrases are "the one percent", " crooks in suits ", "privileged white males" etc. "Bankers" and "speculators" still works for old and new fascists alike.

[Notorious UGCC]

So...the great majority of Millennials support either Hillary or Bernie, generally the latter?

Funny how that doesn't show up in a Reason poll of Millennials.

Come to think of it, what happened to those reason polls? They used to do like one per day.

[Homple]

Proves David Harsanyi's point that millennials aren't libertarians; they're socialists who want to buy legal pot.

[Win Bear]

Like 20 somethings throughout history then

[Libertarian]

I never, ever, ever thought I'd be saying this, but with Bill O'Reilly promising to move to Ireland if Bernie Sanders is elected, I'm considering voting for Bernie over Gary Johnson.

[Notorious UGCC]

Meanwhile, Irish donations to the Clinton Foundation go through the roof.

[Libertarian]

First the potato famine, and now this. Haven't the Irish suffered enough?

[Raven Nation]

Over Christmas I met a millennial woman who is a Sanders fan. She does not, however, think he can be elected because, as she lamented, it's hard to convince people that socialism will work in America.

[Libertarian]

I was thinking about that this morning. Rand Paul with 3% and Bernie with his double digits. What country is this, anyway?

[BearOdinson]

I love how Bernie ignores that many Scandinavians are arguing adamantly that they AREN'T socialists. Yes they have a generous welfare state. And yes, "socialized" health care, but then almost everyone in Europe and Canada has some form of this. But, in general they also have fewer regulations on business and lower corporate income taxes.
So once again, our Democrats want the worst of both worlds, not the best. All of the massive welfare spending AND regulatory mazes!

[Jerryskids]

I can tell you what kind of country this is. My niece saw Sanders on TV and immediately started into a rant about how Sanders just wants to take stuff from people like her and give it to the poors who haven't learned to work for what they want, and this is terrible because it's just teaching people that it's stupid to work hard when you can just take what you want from people who work hard and who the hell's going to work hard if their stuff just gets taken.

Then they got to the part about Bernie wanting to raise taxes on the rich and she allowed as how he did have a good point there - rich people have more than they need anyway so it's not going to hurt them to pay a little more. She knows this doctor for example whose wife is a doctor also and this guy was complaining about how bad things were that he was considering having to sell his vacation condo in the Bahamas. Where the hell does he get off thinking he needs a vacation condo in the Bahamas? Does he not know that regular folks can barely afford vacations to the Bahamas? Nobody needs a vacation condo in the Bahamas.

(Also, psst, I know you and your husband think you have a nice solid lower-middle-class existence with your $135k income, but I have some bad news for you when you start supporting higher taxes on the rich. Regular folks can't afford even vacations to the Bahamas.)

[Raven Nation]

When talking to the millennial mentioned above, we were having dinner with mutual friends who both work in the hedge fund world: one as an analyst and the other as co-partner in a fund. The dinner was in a nice restaurant in a resort town where the husband paid for us all, dropping somewhere around $700 on the meal (and he did that multiple times during the week). She had driven in to meet them and, during her four day stay, the couple paid for all the meals and bought her a three day lift ticket plus rented ski gear for her.

She truly thinks that "the rich" are anonymous people she's never met.

[Win Bear]

To be fair, with those kinds of spending habits, they may well end up poor sooner or later. That's what we need a social safety net for!

[Raven Nation]

That's only part of it: the couple fly (with two kids and a nanny) 2/3 of the way across the country at Christmas, rent lift tickets and equipment for everyone, rent a holiday house for two weeks (usually five figures) etc.

But, they worked their asses of to get where they are, did it honestly, and are very generous. So, no complaints from me.

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

I sure hope Sonny Bono gave her skiing lessons.

[Long Woodchippers]

A few years ago I was talking to some of my co-workers who take home an hourly wage, and could not believe that they were "rich". The one guy's income, along with his wife, was nearly $250k in suburban DC, but he said he wasn't rich because he had a mortgage and a car payment and was sending his kids to college. I said, "Sorry, you're in the top 5% - the people the Democrats are talking about"

[Hyperion]

libertarian moment

[gaoxiaen]

The USSA.

[Suthenboy]

"...it's hard to convince people that socialism will work in America."

Yeah, they have a bit of a problem convincing reality as well.

[Win Bear]

As opposed to how week it worked in Russia or Germany?

Or does she live under the delusions that (1) Europe works well and (2) is socialist?

[Raven Nation]

I heard "Sweden" cited a lot. Beyond that, I don't know, we were interrupted by the entrees. I did, however, make the point that if you're going to argue that socialism hasn't worked so far then you could also make the point that fascism hasn't worked so far.

For a lot of Bernie people, they are either (a) unaware of the horrors of socialist states, (b) don't think those states were truly socialist or (c) think you can have radical redistribution of wealth without violence.

Sort of parallel to my friend who loves Che Guevara, wants to go to Havana before Castro dies and also brutally criticizes those who oppose gay marriage as being bigoted.

One of the things I've learned about progressives is they have a remarkable ability to look at the world in discrete pieces.

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

One hopes you put her out of her misery.

[The Last American Hero]

Many are voting for the first time, and they want their first time to be with someone special.

[Swiss Servator]

*golf clap*

[Win Bear]

And a few months later, they'll claim Sanders date raped them and they withdrew consent halfway through.

[Lord Humungus]

Get Ready for a Chocolate Shortage

The world's cocoa plants have had a rough go of it lately: Ebola in western Africa, where most cocoa is grown, had a disastrous effect ? in addition to dying and decrepit trees, historic drought courtesy of El Ni?o, and some ineptitude on the part of Ghana's government, which oversaw an 18 percent slip in production this last year. Put together, these factors have so far led to consumers paying a little bit more, but the industry is increasingly worried that as demand rises in China, India, and other developing countries, no amount of bumping cost will be enough. As Mars's chief sustainability officer tells today's Wall Street Journal, it's clear to the industry that satisfying future demand requires "a big investment" now, as there are "still one to two billion consumers around the world that don't eat chocolate today, and we think they will."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

It's okay. Fist doesn't eat dark chocolate preferring the other lesser kind like a hobo.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dark chocolate isn't even really chocolate when you think about it. It's turds.

[DEG]

Chocolate shortage? No... no... an election year is bad enough!

[Jerryskids]

As Mars's chief sustainability officer tells today's Wall Street Journal, it's clear to the industry that satisfying future demand requires "a big investment" now

Does this Martian have an idea where this investment might come from? If only there were some system whereby a chocolate company could be incentivized to forego immediate returns in return for the prospect of even greater future returns by taking their current profits and buying more chocolate production assets. "Putting their money where their mouth is" as it were.

[Lee G]

Don't worry. I hear Hershey has still got plenty of wax in storage and will be able to satisfy demand.

[WTF]

The chocolate ration will be increased from 30 grams to 25 grams.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Ebola in western Africa, where most cocoa is grown, had a disastrous effect

Western African has been declared Ebola-free four times.

[Lord Humungus]

Saudi Arabia buying up farmland in US Southwest

Saudi Arabia grows alfalfa hay in both states for shipment back to its domestic dairy herds. In another real-life example of the world's interconnected economy, the Saudis increasingly look to produce animal feed overseas in order to save water in their own territory, most of which is desert.

Privately held Fondomonte California on Sunday announced that it bought 1,790 acres of farmland in Blythe, California ? an agricultural town along the Colorado River ? for nearly $32 million. Two years ago, Fondomont's parent company, Saudi food giant Almarai, purchased another 10,000 acres of farmland about 50 miles away in Vicksburg, Arizona, for around $48 million.

But not everyone likes the trend. The alfalfa exports are tantamount to "exporting water," because in Saudi Arabia, "they have decided that it's better to bring feed in rather than to empty their water reserves," said Keith Murfield, CEO of United Dairymen of Arizona, a Tempe-based dairy cooperative whose members also buy alfalfa. "This will continue unless there's regulations put on it."

[Free Society]

Arabia is a Harsh Mistress

[Suthenboy]

So they are buying desert in NA because most of the ME is desert?

Genius.

[Hyperion]

Well, do you know how silly they would look going around in traditional arabic desert wear in Minnesota? That clothing only works when it's hot and arid and there's lots of sand around. In the Arizona desert, just a few camels and they will feel right at home.

[Sonoran Desert Rat]

Already done

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_Jolly

[Hyperion]

nice

[Agammamon]

Actually - the camels will die. Its *too wet* here for them.

[Jerryskids]

If you think trying to produce cattle feed in the desert is a bad idea, try producing cattle in the desert. You'll have to add a big fat tariff on imported cattle to make the equation work out.

[Agammamon]

Conveniently . . .

[Lee G]

That's some expensive farmland. I smell a bubble.

[Muzzled Woodchipper]

This.

$48m for just 10k acres? $4800 per acre is insane for farmland.

[R C Dean]

If it has water rights, that might explain the price.

[Win Bear]

They probably bought it from someone close to a senator or congressman

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

Leave Hillary out of this.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

The alfalfa exports are tantamount to "exporting water,"

They're also importing jobs. And cash.

[Lord Humungus]

David Bowie's 'Blackstar' Album Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

David Bowie's final album, Blackstar, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, giving the late music legend his first No. 1 album.

Bowie died on Jan. 10 of cancer, two days after the release of the album.

Blackstar was issued through ISO/Columbia Records and earned 181,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., during the week ending Jan. 14, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 174,000 were in pure album sales -- Bowie's biggest sales week for an album since Nielsen began electronically tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. (His previous sales high in that span of time came when his last album, 2013's The Next Day, bowed with 85,000 sold in its first week.)

[SusanM]

Leave it to Bowie to die as a publicity stunt.

[greasonable]

I'm sure him and Kaufman are having a laugh about it right now ... somewhere

[Slammer]

'Momentum' for DH in National League.

"I do feel like there were times I could look all of you in the face and say it's a non-starter, it's not being discussed at the owner level or GM," Mozeliak said Saturday during an expansive discussion with the media at the team's 20th annual fanfest. "But over the past year it has. I'm not suggesting you're going to see a change but I definitely think the momentum (has changed)."

Mozeliak's comments echoes similar ones made this past spring by Major League Baseball Players' Association chief Tony Clark, who said he has heard more discussion about the DH spreading to the NL than in years past. The chatter comes at an opportune time for the DH advocates as baseball enters the final year of its current Collective Bargaining Agreement between owners and players. Negotiations on a new deal will thread through this season as the current CBA is set to expire in December.

Mozeliak said moving the DH into the NL by the start of 2017 "would seem to me a little fast." There have been discussions of slowly introducing the DH to the National League by having it for interleague games played at NL ballparks

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Nooo!

The AL is evil.

[KDN]

Yes, it's so much more fun to watch incompetent pitchers attempt to hit.

Let's have goalies be responsible for taking all penalty shots in hockey. For the lulz.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

You've clearly never seen Bartolo Colon try to leg out a double.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Unless that was not sarcasm, in which case mea culpa.

[KDN]

I'm in favor of the DH for all pitchers except Bartolo.

[The Last American Hero]

Then Bartolo can play DH and the team can save a few pennies on payroll.

[KDN]

Also, it's not just the AL. DH is the norm in baseball throughout the world above little league level.

[Jerryskids]

Or, you know, you could just use an eight-man line-up, make a rule that the pitcher doesn't take at-bats. Or short-stops, that's a pretty specialized defensive position. And catchers, too. Good first- and third-basemen are valued for their defensive skills as well so it's not really fair they are expected to play good offense and defense. You know what? Let's go to 18-man teams! 9 on defense, 9 on offense. Everybody just wants to see a bunch of hits anyway - get rid of the pitchers and let 'em hit it off a tee. That's the ticket.

/not watching baseball until I get too bored of watching paint dry

[KDN]

Or, you know, you could just use an eight-man line-up, make a rule that the pitcher doesn't take at-bats

That would be perfectly acceptable.

Every other position is expected to meet a minimum level of offensive ability before being offered so much as an AB in the show. A career NL pitcher could never get a hit and nobody would care, regardless of if he was a star or a scrub.

The rest of the argument is ridiculous: every other position is involved about as much on defense as he is on offense, which is to say not very much. But because the pitcher's job is so weighted towards defense there is no question of balance at play: there is no possible way for him to make up in 3-4 ABs over 30 starts the fuck-ups he makes while on the mound.

Carlos Zambrano, for example, managed to generate 1.5 WAR as a hitter in his best season. Do you think he would manage to hold onto his starter's role in order to generate that if he was running an ERA over 5? Of course not.

[Long Woodchippers]

9 persons play a defensive position (including the pitcher), then those same 9 persons take their turn at bat.

If a pitcher can't hit well, then that's an impediment the manager has to account for. Management of baseball is all about the optimum allocation of scarce resources.

And we would be deprived of the fun of the ability of Zambarno and the disability of Colon. We'd have that much less to discuss as some middle infielder takes his turn at a semi day off. Even with 15 teams in the AL, in any given year there are only 5 or 6 full-time DH's. Fuck 'em, grab a glove, learn to play the field or go home.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Fuck that shit. The DH removes what little actual strategy there is for a manager to consider in baseball.

[KDN]

Meh, most managerial strategy revolves around bullpen makeup/use and defensive alignments. I don't think the availability & need of an extra pinch hitter or two really changes that.

Bullpen specialization is the primary driver here. The NL is getting the DH at some point.

[Evan from Evansville]

Bullshit. The DH is evil, and Grand Moff is correct as the reason why.

Let's say you're down in a tight game, maybe 2-1 or something in the 6th inning. Your pitcher has been doing really well and is sharp. But there's a runner on second base with an out or two and the pitcher's up to hit.

Do you take your pitcher out of the game, hoping that your PH can tie it up or maybe give you the lead...knowing that you have to bring in an unknown quantity in the next inning to hopefully get outs? Or do you let your pitcher try to help himself so you can keep his strong arm in the game?

In the AL this never comes up because, who gives a shit, of course you're gonna let him keep pitching. The idea of taking the pitcher out of the game would literally never come up.

That's where the strategy comes in. You have 9 men on a team. It's not that hard a fucking concept to grasp.

[KDN]

You people are vastly overestimating the difficulty of the decision involved here. It's not that hard. It's a simple matter of whether the odds work out in your favor: am I in a situation where having an extra 15% chance of getting a man on base outweigh the downside of changing from a guy that gets 80% of his batters out to one that gets 75%? And that's probably being too charitable to the starter and not giving enough credit to the reliever: with the way bullpens have evolved you're usually better off lifting him once a win is in sight.

It doesn't matter if a pitcher is cruising or not: that can change on a dime and is more likely to do so as he gets deeper into the game (see Harvey's performance in the Series for the most recent example). The NL manager is occasionally forced by circumstance to lift his pitcher a third of an inning before he otherwise would. BFD.

The NL manager's job is that much harder because the double switching of his defensive specialist happens more often. If it was really all that important then you would see some appreciable difference between managers when they switch leagues.

[Greg Loves His Woodchipper]

I'm not sure that the decision of when to pull your starter isn't more difficult in the AL anyway, given that you don't have a convenient spot to do it when he comes to bat and so you have to keep a closer eye on him and how he's throwing as a result.

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

And AL managers have to hear more bitching from position players about "playing time". Getting every player 8 at bats a week is pretty easy to do in the NL, Tougher to do in the AL when you're the 8 position players.

I don't care about the DH. I'd rather see the roster size reduced to 23. Cuts down on the 35 minutes wasted per game on pitching changes. The players cut could stock 2 expansion teams.

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

Tougher to do in the AL when you're set with the 8 position players.

[Long Woodchippers]

But not everyone knows what the odds are.

Or, the starter was a little shaky in the 5th ut is due up 3rd in the bottom of the 6th. Not wanting to burn a PH, the manager sends the starter out for the 6th. Sometimes it works, sometimes he gets burned.

It's fun because we don't know how it will work out, and because there is difference of opinion. DH just tosses it away.

With the DH in a lineup, I often lose track of when the lineup has turned over without the pitcher as an obvious marker of the #9 spot.

[Mickey Rat]

Major League baseball should not be played under beer league rules.

[Hamster of Doom]

This.

[The Bearded Hobbit]

Folks who want to watch DH-ball have the AL. Let the Nationals play real baseball.

... Hobbit

[Swiss Servator]

Sure a lot of cloud yelling and "get of my lawn"-ing here... probably had ancestors that bitched about batting helmets and ending the dead ball era...

[Lord Humungus]

Debt Dodgers: Meet the Americans Who Moved to Europe and Went AWOL on Their Student Loans

If you're living abroad, earning a living from a foreign company, not paying US taxes, and not collecting social security, then loan companies can't touch you, nor will the government chase you after you move abroad.

"The federal government doesn't have really strong tools for collecting debt from people who move overseas," says Mark Kantrowitz, another expert on student loans who serves on the board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid. "In theory, you could live the rest of your life in another country."

Of course, if your family co-signed your loan with you and remain in America, they'll still be on the hook. And this strategy relies on you not wanting to go home again. If these former students ever decide to come back to the US, "the debt will still be there?it never goes away," says Cohen. "All they're doing is putting off what could happen if they come back to the US."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Of course, if your family co-signed your loan with you and remain in America,"

Suckers! I'll write...

[Suthenboy]

I have a hard time sympathizing with people who guarantee bad loans.

If you pile your money up and set it on fire...well, it's gone, isnt it?

[Brett L]

I was going to say the same thing. If the school loan market wasn't completely bent out of shape by regulation, I think this problem would solve itself.

[Hyperion]

What about FATCA?

[Hyperion]

What I'm saying is that how can they do any banking at all in Europe? Are they going to do cash only?

[The Last American Hero]

Well, if you are a young woman, there's a lot of new arrivals in Europe looking for companionship.

[Lee G]

I hear refugee campus are admitting

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

If you're living abroad, earning a living from a foreign company, not paying US taxes

Is that possible?

[Brett L]

Yes, but you have to spend at least 350 days a year abroad.

[Evan from Evansville]

You still have to file though, don't you?

I've....uh.....not done that in about six years. I maybe setting myself up for bad times but I have taken a bit of a stand on this. I still pay my student loans every month but I haven't filed in the US since....2008?

I would be lying if my transgressions didn't frighten me a bit in this instance.

[Jerryskids]

Millions of thieving-ass foreigners take advantage of that exact loophole to avoid paying their fair share. Just because you don't live in the US, don't work in the US, have nothing to do with the US, aren't a US citizen, you think that gives you the right to cheat on your taxes?

[Win Bear]

Depends on what you mean. Americans abroad are required by law to pay us US taxes. You get a credit for foreign taxes paid, and since those are usually higher, you often end up with no US taxes due. You still need to file a US tax return.

Most other countries don't tax their expatriates at all, not even their billionaires. Conveniently, any rich person who moves abroad also disappears from their inequality measures. Odd how progressives tend not to mention that...

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Filing is pretty much what I meant. You still need to "do your taxes" for the US, even if you don't owe anything. I guess I'm not sure why that even matters; would your debt payments be withheld from a potential rebate?

[ant1sthenes]

They'll be laughing out of the other side of their face when the rape gangs catch them.

[Lord Humungus]

Should Trump Be Banned? MPs To Debate Petition

The Labour leader said: "I decided to invite Donald Trump on his visit to Britain to come with me to my constituency because he has problems with Mexicans and he has problems with Muslims.

"My wife is Mexican and my constituency is very multicultural. What I was going to do was go down to the mosque with him and let him talk to people there."

Mr Corbyn added that he didn't think the US Presidential hopeful should be banned from the UK, despite his "weird and off-the-wall views".

In contrast, former SNP leader Alex Salmond said: "My view is that, yes, I would probably ban 'The Donald' because it would do him some good.

[Notorious UGCC]

It certainly *would* do him some good - it would help his campaign to show more evidence of how much the PC types fear him.

[Jordan]

Donald Trump: "We should ban people based on their beliefs!"

British Government: "That's outrageous! Ban him because of his beliefs!"

[Medical Physics Guy]

this.

[Hyperion]

It's ok when they do it.

[Raven Nation]

If the Labour Party had any brains they'd banish Corbyn to an island in the South Atlantic.

[Swiss Servator]

+1 Saint Helena

[Libertarian]

Mr Corbyn added that he didn't think the US Presidential hopeful should be banned from the UK, despite his "weird and off-the-wall views".

England doesn't want people with weird and of the wall views? Let the deportations of native Englishmen begin!

[Agammamon]

Sadly - the UK is, well not *deporting them* but, working hard to *suppress* native Englishmen.

[Thymirus]

Nobody effects skull-crushing regulatory and soft-despotic nanny-statism as well as Britain. Fuck that shithole sideways.

[Atanarjuat]

"My wife is Mexican and my constituency is very multicultural.

Trump married a woman from a different country, too. Heck, he's probably banged supermodels from everywhere.

[Crusty Juggler]

He's so Alpha.

[Atanarjuat]

Sure, they say he's good with women, but I kind of suspect the reason he gravitates toward eastern Europeans is because the language barrier masks some of his assholishness.

[Homple]

Trust me, a language barrier has nothing to do with the attractiveness of Eastern European women.

[Hyperion]

Why the hell does marrying a foreign national make you 'multicultural', whatever the fuck that means, and a nanny state fuckstick? Didn't work on me.

[Agammamon]

Because you're going to eat fish heads and you're going to *like* it.

[ant1sthenes]

You know what other politician was banned for speech crimes?

[Swiss Servator]

Either Gracchus brother?

[EMD]

Ban should be a four letter word.

[DenverJ]

We should ban "ban".

[Irish ?s ESB]

"In contrast, former SNP leader Alex Salmond said: "My view is that, yes, I would probably ban 'The Donald' because it would do him some good."

Yeah, I'm sure Trump would be sooooooo upset if he couldn't go to the UK. He'd probably renounce all of his former ideas.

[Thymirus]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016.....-arms.html

Growing number of police chiefs, sheriffs join call to arms

It's Florida Sheriff Grady Judd's duty to protect the citizens of Polk County -- but he figures it's their job, too.

One of a growing number of rural and big-city law enforcement officials who openly encourages responsible gun ownership, Judd believes guns allow citizens to defend themselves when police cannot.
"If you are foolish enough to break into someone's home, you can expect to be shot in Polk County," Judd said in a statement after a homeowner shot a would-be home invader earlier this month. "It's more important to have a gun in your hand than a cop on the phone."
Such full-throated embrace of the Second Amendment as a crime-fighting tool isn't confined to red states like Florida.

[Thymirus]

One California police chief is backing teachers in his district packing heat. Detroit Police Chief James Craig has been a leader in urging his community to arm itself. A Maryland sheriff is working with the state's general assembly to try to make it easier for citizens to obtain handgun permits.

----------------------------

It's evident that the Sons of Liberty have executed a successful mass-scale infiltration of the constabularies and the Imperial Army. We must terminate this unpatriotic agitation before the Crown begins to weaken and lose control of these accursed colonial lands.

/Slaver, or Hillary Clinton.

[Medical Physics Guy]

What is this strange feeling of...optimism...you have infused me with?

[Thymirus]

I urge you to revel in the screeching, pants-shitting, hoplophobic delirium with which prohibitionists everywhere are reacting to these swift shifts towards a truly armed population. They are impotently beseeching their slavemaking representatives in government to enchain us all for their comfort.

[Hyperion]

Please take our rights away, please!? We don't need them really!

/proglodytes

[Crusty Juggler]

It's Florida Sheriff Grady Judd's duty to protect the citizens of Polk County

He approves of the Second Amendment, but not the Fifth and Fourteenth.

[Suthenboy]

Take what you can get Crusty, just take it. Better they embrace the second and not the fifth instead of the other way about.

[Crusty Juggler]

I reserve the right to complain about anything and everything.

[Hyperion]

As long as we have the 2nd, they can't take the 1st. As soon as the 2nd falls, the 1st will fall quickly. They tried to do it by stealth with the pc crapola, but that effort is flailing, they're realizing that they have to take it by force. And they can only do that by disarming the public.

[Jerryskids]

embrace of the Second Amendment as a crime-fighting tool

I've heard that some people go so far as to claim the right to keep and bear arms has something to do with the security of a free state.

[Long Woodchippers]

only if you belong to a militia

[Lord Humungus]

Seoul: North Korea has sent 1 million propaganda leaflets

A Cold War-style standoff flared since the North's claim on Jan. 6 that it had tested a hydrogen bomb. South Korea resumed blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts and K-pop songs from border loudspeakers. North Korea quickly responded by restarting its own border broadcasts and floating the balloons over the border carrying anti-South leaflets, according to Seoul officials.

Seoul's Defense Ministry said Monday the North's military has been sending the balloons on a near-daily basis. Spokesman Kim Min-seok said the leaflets have reached Seoul in addition to areas close to the border.

Such leafleting by the North is rare, as the two Koreas officially stopped psychological warfare as part of tension-reduction measures in 2004. South Korean activists have still occasionally sent propaganda balloons toward the North, triggering angry responses from the North.

South Korean officials believe their broadcasts will sting in the rigidly controlled, authoritarian country by demoralizing frontline troops and residents. There are doubts in Seoul that the North Korean leaflets will have any impact on the public in more affluent South Korea.

[Jordan]

There are doubts in Seoul that the North Korean leaflets will have any impact on the public in more affluent South Korea.

As long as they don't fall onto an American college campus.

[Free Society]

As long as they don't fall onto an American college campus.

nice

[Hyperion]

Yeah, you have a point there. If that happened, you would have most college students trying to move to... hey, is there anything I can do to help dear leader?

[Long Woodchippers]

wait until they hear it's "bring your own food"

[Thymirus]

North Korea is Hell realized. I wonder when its end will arrive.

[Hyperion]

WTF? Dear leader is so isolated that he actually believes anyone in the outside world would believe ... I can't even imagine how bizarre the propaganda would be.

[dinkster]

Just read the twitter @dprk_news: US deputy president Hillary Clinton admits that crumbling infrastructure forces peasants to drink brackish and urine-tainted waters of shame.

They also had an official news websites in English but I forgot the URL.

[EMD]

"Brackish?"

So racist.

[tarran]

@dprk_news is actually a parody account run by some of the writers at Popehat.

It's so spot on though that they fool a lot of people.

French president Francois Hollande declares state of economic emergency, as starving masses of Paris cry for bread

Kim Yong-Nam attends 6 hour meeting of Pyongyang Plant Society regarding the health of native ferns and assorted ideological dilemmas.

Preparations for Kimjongilia Festival underway as World prepares to celebrate most genteel and militant flower.

[tarran]

Fuck! I accidentally left out this gem!!!

Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory develops delicious ginseng liquor. British insist on foul brews based on tree branches and fecal matter.

[Swiss Servator]

Nice...

[dinkster]

I did read the official news site comparing the two, and it honestly is so spot on I couldn't tell the difference.

[Notorious UGCC]

Postal worker Melvin White "traveled to a number of U.S. cities with streets named after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most recognizable leaders of the American civil rights movement.

"Most of the streets White visited were in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods with high crime rates and little economic opportunity.

"White's interest in the condition of streets that bear King's name was also prompted by a joke comedian Chris Rock told in a stand-up routine."...

"His organization, Beloved Streets of America, aims to "revitalize and conserve streets" named after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr....

"The King streets that have been targeted for improvement in a number of cities across the country haven't seen much success, said Daniel D'Oca, design critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design."

(includes AUTOPLAY)

Here's the Chris Rock monologue referred to in the article.

[WTF]

"If you ever find yourself on Martin Luther King Boulevard, RUN!!!"

[thrakkorzog]

If you find yourself at the corner of MLK and Cesar Chavez run like all the demons of hell are chasing you.

[Agammamon]

You will *never* find those two roads intersecting. If you did it would be nothing but gun fights all night long.

[Lee G]

They should start in Baltimore

[Irish ?s ESB]

If you're ever at MLK and any street number over 100, you've probably already been shot and just haven't realized it yet.

[EMD]

Not PC.

[GamerFromJump]

You ever notice how often Chris Rock accidentally speaks truth?

[Lord Humungus]

Over the weekend I picked up a 1956 book called "No Blade of Grass" by John Christopher.

Short version: a virus that starts in China begins killing off the rice plants. Eventually it mutates and kills off all grass based plants, including wheat. Mass starvation ensues with countries withholding aid so their own populations can eat.

Britain begins to run out of food. A plan is leaked that the government is going to use nuclear bombs on their own people with the idea of killing off 75% of the population so the rest can survive. The characters in the book, through a friend in the government, hear of this plan before most other people do. Their plan is to escape to a remote valley.

I liked this bit:

Main character is talking to his wife:

"We have a chance of living decently again."

"Decently?"

"Things will be hard, but it may not be a bad life. It will be up to us what we make of it. At least we shall be our own masters. It will no longer be a matter of living on the sufferance of a State that cheats and bullies and swindles its citizens and, at last, when they become a burden, murders them."

[BearOdinson]

I am pretty sure Chris and John Nolan borrowed from this book for Interstellar. Obviously just the set up regarding grasses dying out and nuking populations.

Very interesting movie, btw.

[WTF]

And they have no ability to create grasses resistant to the disease because they rightously banned GMO franken-foods and drove Monsanto out of business.

[Clich? Bandit]

and HFLC dieters inherit the earth.

/JOKE PEOPLE!...I UNDERSTAND THE CIRCLE OF LIFE, I WATCHED THE LION KING!

[Elspeth Flashman]

Great, now that song is stuck in my head.

[Clich? Bandit]

Yes but Can you Feel the Love tonight...

[GamerFromJump]

Aren't all grains derived from grasses?

But yeah, the whole idea of populations being a nuisance to the State is pretty much how every state thinks.

[Mazakon]

Does Anyone Believe Trump Seriously Cares about Whether Ted Cruz Is a Natural-Born Citizen?

Other than the presidency, there's no place in American life where the distinction between "naturalized" and "natural-born" citizenship matters.

But imagine if it did? Imagine that your American-born mother just happened to give birth to you in Canada or Belize while on vacation. Your American-born mom and dad bring you home days later and raise you exactly as they would have had they been in Cleveland the whole time. Now imagine there are also all sorts of jobs you are barred from having. Not only can you not be president, but you can't be, say, a chiropodist or an embalmer. Pick your restrictions: You can't go to certain colleges or you can't get the best ESPN bundle. Americans born abroad can't buy basset hounds. Unless you were born here, you can't get cheese on your hamburger. Whatever. It really doesn't matter.

[Notorious UGCC]

This constitutional provision is wrong, but it's still in the constitution.

While Cruz is closer to the borderline than most candidates, I think the best interpretation would make him qualified.

Considering that Congress' interpretation of natural-born citizenship, in 1790, includes at least some citizens born abroad, with the main change since then being removing the sexist restrictions on natural-born citizenship, I'd say he can be Pres, and you don't need to be a "living constitutionalist" to qualify him.

[Clich? Bandit]

well the first 5 or six presidents under the const weren't born in the United States. Just sayin'

[Notorious UGCC]

"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President" etc. - Art. II, Section 1

[Clich? Bandit]

Ohh I understand, I am just pointing out that this discussion is stupid.

[R C Dean]

Its not really a close question.

The birthers who are saying "natural born" can only mean "born on US soil" are attempting to adopt an old ("jus soli") version of when someone became a subject/citizen. I know of no evidence that jus soli was intended to be the sole definition of "natural born". Seeing as the First Congress adopted a definition that included "born to a US citizen", I think the whole debate is, frankly, stupid, and being engaged in by Trump and the neo-birthers solely as a partisan maneuver.

Tribe's cheap shot at Cruz as a "living Constitutionalist" is just that - a cheap shot. What he never establishes is that the original understanding of "natural born" was "jus soli" and only "jus soli".

[Notorious UGCC]

The living constitution people are hilarious.

(1) They're the original understanding is unknowable

and

(2) The original understanding *is* knowable, and leads to such-and-such vastly exaggerated results.

[Notorious UGCC]

superfluous "there" in (1)

[Notorious UGCC]

"these new 'originalists'...are claiming for history a decisive authority that is incompatible with the limits of what we can know..." Laurence Tribe, 1986

[Notorious UGCC]

Plus, he added that there's an "overarching original intent" to let the constitution evolve over time.

[Homple]

It's penumbr? all the way up to the overarch.

[Jerryskids]

The birthers who are saying "natural born" can only mean "born on US soil"

That's an incomplete definition - you have to be born on US soil to US citizens so Marco Rubio and his "anchor baby" citizenship are right out, too. And it doesn't matter what the Congress or the Courts say about who is or isn't a natural-born citizen, the Constitution trumps statutory or case law definitions. It's not like the Supreme Court has the final say on what the Constitution means.

Of course, I have to wonder if Donald Trump qualifies as a natural-born citizen if you trace his ancestry back far enough. If some of his ancestors immigrated they were not natural-born citizens and therefore their children would not be natural-born, nor would their children's children all the way down to Donald himself. It says so right in the Constitution.

[ant1sthenes]

"nd it doesn't matter what the Congress or the Courts say about who is or isn't a natural-born citizen, the Constitution trumps statutory or case law definitions."

How can it, if it doesn't actually provide a definition?

[R C Dean]

What the birthers are trying to do is smuggle in the "jus soli" definition at the Constitutional level, so that Congress/the courts are locked in to that definition.

I just don't think there's much support for the conclusion that "natural-born" means "born on US soil", rather than "citizen at birth".

[Mazakon]

David French: Republicans Have Overestimated the Conservatism of the Base

If there is a consistent refrain among former Democrats (and there are lots in the South), it echoes Ronald Reagan: They didn't leave the Democratic party; the Democratic party left them. That means many things, but it does not mean that they're small government, constitutional conservatives. It means that while they may have been attitudinally "Tea Party," they were never on board with the core substance of the movement.

So, what do my Trump-supporting neighbors prioritize? It's a reasonable approximation of the "three-legged stool" of Reagan Republicanism, but with important philosophical distinctions from true movement conservatives.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

French had time to write an article while sucking police dick?

Impressive.

America's got talent for real.

[DEG]

French had time to write an article while sucking police dick?

It's his special talent.

[chemjeff]

I read this article over the weekend too. French is very much right here, at least from where I sit.

At this point I think the main difference between your typical Republican and your typical Democrat is that your typical Republican isn't embarrassed or ashamed of America. But smaller government? Pshaw!

[Hyperion]

You have to give credit to the Democrats though for trying to distance themselves from Republicans by going full on batshit insane.

[EMD]

You know who else had a reasonable approximation of a three-legged stool?

[Swiss Servator]

Warty?

[Homple]

His stools walk, albeit with an odd gait.

[Swiss Servator]

They gambol.

[Agammamon]

A Republican state senator in Arizona proposed a bill to ban filming police officers from within 20 feet.

Yaaaaaay Arizona. Two steps forward, two steps back.

[Notorious UGCC]

And we'll have police charging people watching from satellite observatories of being within 20 feet.

[Thymirus]

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/m.....s-n2104303

Chicago's Bloody Start To 2016: More Than 100 People Shot In Ten Days

I wrote a while back about bloody weekends becoming the new normal for Chicago. It seems like weekend after weekend, especially ones including holidays, the Windy City becomes the gun violence-riddled dystopia President Obama and other anti-gunners harp about whenever they politicize a mass shooting to push for more restrictions on our constitutional rights. Ten days into the New Year, over 100 people have been shot in the city (via Chicago Tribune):

[Thymirus]

Seven people were shot to death and 30 more were wounded across Chicago over the weekend, raising the number of shootings in the city to more than 100 in just over a week into the new year, according to police.
The fatal shootings included two teens killed by a store clerk during a robbery in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, and one of three people shot at a party four blocks from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home.

As of Monday morning, at least 19 people have been killed in gun violence in Chicago this year and at least 101 more have been wounded, according to data compiled by the Tribune. This time last year, nine people had been killed and another 31 wounded, according to statistics kept by the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi released a statement blaming most of the violence on "chronic gang conflicts."

[Libertarian]

It's as if police brutality doesn't even work.

[sarcasmic]

But Illinois and Chicago have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country? How is this even possible?

[Homple]

The guns in Chicago all come from Indiana. They don't shoot each other in Indiana because Hoosiers send all their guns to Chicago.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

We need a national ban on guns to prevent cross- border gun trafficking. Nobody would ever think of importing guns from abroad.

[DblEagle]

It sounds to me like two of the shootings were perfectly correct since a citizen was protecting them self from those who would do them violence during a robbery. Funny the MSM does not point that out.

[AlexInCT]

Well DUH!

The gang bangers bought the guns next door in Canada!

[Thymirus]

Prohibitionist stronghold is a shithole, suffers predictable consequences of hoplophobic authoritarianism, weather at 10:00.

[Rhywun]

I don't see how this follows when all the bangers have guns and they're shooting each other.

IOW Chicago's problems go far beyond gun control.

[Suthenboy]

Bullshit.

The common sense gun regulations the dems call for are already in place in Chicago.

[Hyperion]

In Baltimore also. *see below comment

[Hyperion]

Baltimore had more than 300 murders in 2015. Somehow it's the fault of whitey.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I don't think Ducey will sign it if it passes.

[Notorious UGCC]

Muslim is the new black, says CAIR* official in an MLK day article for TIME magazine.

*Council on American-Islamic Relations

[ant1sthenes]

Considering the churches they're burning and vandalizing in Europe, not to mention the global spree of hate crimes, it sounds more like they're the new KKK.

Whine some more CAIR. Then fuck off and die.

[Suthenboy]

^This.

Also, you are a fuckin' racist.

[R C Dean]

I thought gay was the new black.

Wouldn't that make Muslim the new gay?

[Notorious UGCC]

OK, infidel, your blasphemy has been noted.

[GamerFromJump]

"Council on American-Islamic Relations"

Can we talk about that name? Placing a religion on the level of a nation? Dafuq?

Yeah, no. CAIR can DIAF.

[Lord Humungus]

We're Still Marching Towards MLK's Promised Land

In a perfect world, after the end of Slavery and Jim Crow, you'd think that would have been the end of it. And on the surface, to those unengaged, it was. But in reality, we've quietly been floating farther and farther from that promised land King dreamed about. Despite the anecdotal triumphs of superlative people like Barack Obama and the landmark wins touted around the Civil Rights Movement, when you actually take an inventory of where we as a people stand in America today, you realize that there isn't that much of a difference between Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till, or the 1963 Birmingham church bombing and the 2015 Charleston church shooting.

... a mere 23 percent of blacks attended majority white schools in 2011?the same percentage as in 1968. This is important because teachers at schools with a majority of minority students typically are paid less and thus lack the experience and certifications of those teaching in white schools. According to a 2012 report by the Center for American Progress, the more students of color in a school, the fewer funds spent per student. Raise the percentage of minority students in a school by 10, and the spending per student decreases by $75.

[BearOdinson]

I don't know how ever state does it, but I am pretty sure that is fundamental bullshit. I believe most states spending per pupil is the same regardless of the school district. Obviously this doesn't take into account private schools. And anyone can go online and see the salary schedules for teachers in every school district. If anything, school districts in minority areas pay MORE to try to attract people. But then again, the report was done by CAP so that tells you something right there.

[Roger the Shrubber]

At least in my state, there is state funding and local funding. Those in richer areas have more local funding.

[Lord Humungus]

I managed to get into a very wealthy suburb with one of the best schools in the state. But it isn't the money that makes the school - which is nice, mind you - but a population that is 95% college educated and has a higher than average income.

[Suthenboy]

Low divorce rate, high percentage of two-parent families with high involvement in education?

I am just spit-balling.

[Lord Humungus]

yeah... imagine that.

[DblEagle]

And parents and siblings that value education. No positive impact there.

[Long Woodchippers]

In Pennsylvania the state guarantees a spending floor. If the district can afford to put in more via local taxes they are free to do so.

[Suthenboy]

Mr. Cooper complains that race-baiters and grievance mongers should have made more progress bringing the country together but those damn racist tea baggers just keep dragging us back.

Fuck Vice. And fuck this idiot Cooper too.

[Free Society]

you realize that there isn't that much of a difference between Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till

wow

a mere 23 percent of blacks attended majority white schools in 2011?the same percentage as in 1968. This is important because teachers at schools with a majority of minority students typically are paid less and thus lack the experience and certifications of those teaching in white schools. According to a 2012 report by the Center for American Progress, the more students of color in a school, the fewer funds spent per student. Raise the percentage of minority students in a school by 10, and the spending per student decreases by $75.

Because their property values are often less than stellar. Not that it makes sense knock white schools down a peg in the name of fairness.

[See Double You]

you realize that there isn't that much of a difference between Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till

They were both black and male. Therefore, the circumstances surrounding their deaths are totes the same!

[Free Society]

Apparently. Or maybe I just the memo where Emmett Till attacked a lynching party that killed him in self-defense. If any non-Democrat drew such an asinine comparison, shit would be hitting fans all over this land.

[Free Society]

missed*

[Win Bear]

If you look at the data, school spending is unrelated to student success. And American schools spend several times as much as European schools to begin with while getting no better results.

[WTF]

The best predictor of academic achievement is parental engagement.

[EMD]

This. Functions at my kids schools are often overflowing. A lot of standing room only. We're usually rated top 10 in the state on an annual basis.

[Long Woodchippers]

Likely back in the 90's I heard a multi-part report on NPR (which I have long since stopped listening to) on how poorly Utah's teachers were paid and how little was spent on their schools. There was much protest. Then in literally the last sentence of the week long reporting it was mentioned that Utah's students scored in the top 5 states.

[Jerryskids]

Raise the percentage of minority students in a school by 10, and the spending per student decreases by $75.

$75 per pupil when you're talking about $10k+ per pupil spending is chump change.

I'm guessing the study doesn't use any empirical data actually showing that increasing the number of minority students in a given school actually decreases spending - they're just saying high-minority schools don't spend as much as low-minority schools. And ignoring the fact that high-minority schools tend to be in high-minority areas and low-minority schools in low-minority areas. High-minority areas tend to be more than just poor.

Plus, I'm gonna need a better explanation of how "lower spending = worse education" than "poorly-paid teachers = poor teaching" since we all know teachers aren't in it for the money and what better way to attract the most-dedicated teachers than paying a low salary to ensure you don't get any of the ones who are only in it for the money? Shouldn't the poor schools have the best teachers?

[R C Dean]

Their assumption that mo' money = mo' learnin' is contradicted by the chart showing spending increasing steadily for decades, while performance stays dead flat.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

Emmitt Till was killed for political reasons. Trayvon Martin was killed because he attacked an armed person. That's a significant difference.

[Notorious UGCC]

Astronauts Observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Space

"NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra and European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station, will be off-duty today, NASA spokesman Dan Huot told Space.com.

"The three cosmonauts aboard the station ? Mikhail Kornienko, Sergey Volkov and Yuri Malenchenko ? have a full day of tasks scheduled."

[Roger the Shrubber]

Will they spend their day hitting the MLK sales on Amazon.com? I wonder if they are eligible for free shipping to the ISS.

[Swiss Servator]

*applause*

[Clich? Bandit]

you have to be a Prime member

[Long Woodchippers]

deliveries by drone

[Mickey Rat]

Is MLK Day is now a Holy Day of Obligation for government workers?

[Roger the Shrubber]

To young to recall the dustup when John McCain argued to not recognize MLK Day as a Federal Holiday? Good God, it's still an issue today!

[Nativist, Racist & Xenophobe]

To young to recall the dustup when John McCain argued to not recognize MLK Day as a Federal Holiday?

Times have sure changed!

[Microaggressor]

Poor Matt Welch.

[Raven Nation]

My campus urges students to engage in a "Day of Service" to honor King's legacy.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Yet here you are.

[Raven Nation]

Exactly.

[Win Bear]

What kind of... service are we talking about here?

[Raven Nation]

Meh, Habit for Humanity, volunteer at the local library, spend a day working with various community/youth service organizations.

[R C Dean]

Take an underprivileged kid to the gun range and teach him gun safety and how to shoot.

That ought to count, right?

[Raven Nation]

Awesome.

*wipes tears from eyes*

[Roger the Shrubber]

Is MLK Day is now a Holy Day of Obligation for government workers?

Apparently a holiday for Reason's writers as well.

[Long Woodchippers]

I'm at work. I'll take off Friday to avoid the blizzard.

[Agammamon]

Fucking government holidays.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

SpaceX fails to land rocket on drone ship

Despite experiencing a setback in the Falcon 9 rocket stage landing this weekend, SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk remains optimistic about the project's potential for success.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday carrying Jason-3, a weather satellite designed to monitor the rise of sea levels across the world using radar technology.

While the American space company was able to successfully deploy the satellite into orbit, it failed to retrieve the spacecraft's first-stage rocket after launch. The plan was to have the rocket part safely land on a drone ship that was floating in the Pacific Ocean.

As the Falcon 9 rocket was about to land on the designated platform, the camera on the drone ship suddenly froze, leaving SpaceX controllers momentarily unaware of what happened to the landing. It was later confirmed that the rocket's landing had failed.

John Federspiel, chief mechanical design engineer for SpaceX, said that one of the Falcon 9's landing legs may have been damaged as the spacecraft was about to touch down on the drone ship. He pointed out that the rocket was not standing upright on the platform during touchdown.

[Sevo]

Gotta love the terminology: RUD = rapid, unscheduled disassembly. What car racers call 'a crash'.

[Mickey Rat]

That is a bland way to say "catastrophic failure".

[Long Woodchippers]

wonder how long it will be waiting to detect and rising of the seas. After all, Obama was elected.

[GamerFromJump]

So, they completed the mission, and has the same loss of the first stage that was normal for NASA's system?

Why, then, the "market fayloor!" tone?

They delivered on their contract, but had to eat an extra cost. It happens.

[BearOdinson]

"That's the reason it is constitutional; because our constitution says you can limit certain rights if the limit is reasonable,"

Where the fuck does it say ANYWHERE in the US Constitution that it can limit certain rights if the limit is reasonable? The 4A protects against unreasonable search and seizure. That doesn't mean it limits anyone's rights. It is merely that only under a search warrant signed by a judge, and specific in what items are being looked for is a search and/or seizure reasonable.
But nowhere does it say that a person's 1A rights to free speech and free press, or 2A rights to keep and bear arms. Or 5A rights against self-incrimination, or 6A rights to a jury trial etc. can be limited if it is reasonable.

So many cop cocks to suck. So little time.

[R C Dean]

More accurately:

That's the reason it is constitutional; because SCOTUS has ruled that, in spite of the fact that the Constitution says no such thing, our constitution says you can limit certain rights if the limit is reasonable.

[DEG]

Seen the other day in Nashua, NH: A hatchback with NH plates and a "Veterans for Bernie Sanders" sticker.

[Swiss Servator]

A Viet Cong veteran in NH?!

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Bamboo stake

[DEG]

Good one. I hadn't thought of that possibility. Unfortunately, I didn't see the driver to find out.

[Hamster of Doom]

It's probably someone who joined the Army in '88, served four years and now lives on VA disability for a bad back while wearing a Disabled Army Veteran hat everywhere.

[Notorious UGCC]

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, let's look at some of the things he said challenged capitalism and are left out of most history books.

[Rich]

"It's a day *on*, not a day *off*."

Well, maybe *somewhat* off.

[robc]

The purpose of Hillary running is to make sure the Dems nominate the most left wing candidate possible. First Obama, now Sanders. She is great at killing off the establishment candidates and opening the path for the far left.

[robc]

Killing off wasnt meant literally, but maybe it should have been.

[Illocust]

I don't think this is why she runs. It may be the result of her runs, but I think she firmly believes its her turn. The fact that people hate her so much they'd vote for any other option is just something she can't control.

[robc]

I agree, and she has enough establishment support to stop any other establishment candidates from trying. But no one else wants her.

[Long Woodchippers]

If you look at the 2008 votes, Hillary averaged 52% in the primaries, 37% in the caucii. When there wasn't a secret vote, Obama got a lot more support.

[Lord Humungus]

A recent study that said Diet Coke can help you lose weight was quietly funded by Coca-Cola

Its findings, released last November, were in contrast to other independent research associating diet drinks with weight gain. And Bristol University did not disclose the industry funding in its press release announcing the results of the study, according to the Sunday Times.

Although more than 5,500 papers were reviewed, the comparison of diet drinks with water was based on just three. Two did not find any significant statistical difference in weight loss, and only one paper, funded by the American Beverage Association, found that those drinking diet drinks were more likely to lose weight.

Cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, advisor to the National Obesity Forum, told The Independent: "To suggest that diet drinks are more healthy that drinking water is laughable unscientific nonsense." He added: "If you want good science you cannot allow corporate sponsorship of research."

You know who else funded questionable scientific studies.

[Illocust]

Huh, I'm really surprised that it is equivalent to water. I'd think it would be better than normal soda but worse than water.

[BearOdinson]

This Dr. Malhotra is obviously a douche. First of all, the study didn't claim that diet drinks "are more helathy that (sic) drinking water". It merely showed that in one study, users of diet drinks were more likely to lose weight than those who just drank water (I am guessing as I haven't read the study). Which of course, may or may not be true, depending on the quality of the controls used. Perhaps diet soda makes one crave food less than water. Maybe the carbonation has a tendency to make a person feel more full. Who knows.

And second, "you cannot allow corporate sponsorship of research?" WTF!! So pharma companies better not spend any money on research. Only allow govt research. What about GE? Can they do research on electrical distribution systems? How about Medical device companies. Can they do research on better imaging techniques?

Obviously full disclosure should be part of the deal.

[Lord Humungus]

Coke douche?

[Rich]

Here ya go.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I have heard that if you douche with Coke it will cause you to be sterile.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

Because only government is unbiased enough to find good research.

[EMD]

But did they do it LOUDLY?

[Notorious UGCC]

Martin Luther King's complicated legacy on gun violence

Martin Luther King Jr. was surrounded by guns, even though he didn't like them.

TLDR version: His followers defended him, and themselves, with guns, he applied for a gun permit (the white sheriff denied it), but he thought guns were too violent.

[Notorious UGCC]

The sentence from "Martin" to "them" should have been in quotes.

[commodious spittoon]

Thankfully black families no longer need guns to protect themselves, since the police do it for them.

[Notorious UGCC]

Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee should be honored on different days, says Republican Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

"Arkansas in the 1940s set up a day in mid-January to honor Lee and created a holiday for King in 1983. Two years after that, it combined the two for a joint day marked on the third Monday in January....

""It's important that that day be distinguished and separate and focused on the civil rights struggle and what he personally did in that effort," Hutchinson said."

[BearOdinson]

MLK was a flawed individual, with many ridiculous notions regarding economics. However, the fact that he advocated for non-violent resistance to Jim Crow and other racist laws, and that he was assassinated for his views, makes him worthy of rememberence.

And outside of the state of Virginia, I am not sure that states should be honoring Robert E. Lee. I greatly respect him, and the difficult decision he was faced with. But that doesn't mean the US, the States in the US, should be specifically honoring him. Hey, I greatly respect Erwin Rommel. And I can certainly understand Germany honoring him, without honoring the Nazis. But that doesn't mean WE should. I think the same could be said for Lee.

[Tak Kak]

Virginia actually ended Lee-Jackson-King day, it's now Lee-Jackson day on the Friday before. I actually agree with those who want them separate though, even if it's largely underhanded way to push Lee out of the spotlight, his achievements and sacrifices warrant their own celebration.

[Lord Humungus]

Sen. Rand Paul: Break Down the Wall That Separates Us From the 'Other America'

Congressman John Lewis, who heroically marched in Selma, still sees two Americas. He writes: "One group of people in this country can expect the institutions of government to bend in their favor, no matter that they are supposedly regulated by impartial law."

The other group: "[C]hildren, fathers, mothers, uncles, grandfathers . . . are swept up like rubbish by the hard unforgiving hand of the law. They are offered no lenience, even for petty offenses, in a system that seems hell-bent on warehousing them by the millions . . . while others escape the consequences of pervasive malfeasance scot-free."

We need to notice and be aware of the injustices embedded in our criminal system. However, we shouldn't be misled to believe that excessive force is the norm, not the exception. I believe that most police are conscientious and want only to provide safety for us.

The blame should be directed to the laws and the politicians who order police into untenable positions, that insist on "taking down" someone for selling a couple of untaxed cigarettes.

Our pursuit of justice should not obscure the fact that on many occasions, good people do step forward to find justice.

[Notorious UGCC]

"One group of people in this country can expect the institutions of government to bend in their favor, no matter that they are supposedly regulated by impartial law."

They're called government officials.

[Microaggressor]

Look, I put on my pantsuit just like you guys. One tentacle at a time...

[Notorious UGCC]

"I am making a personal pleaVisit our HTML tutorial to every rabbi, every community leader, every citizen, Jewish or non-Jewish, black or white, Left or Right, to take this opportunity to refute the growing libels spreading among many black Americans against Israel and the Jewish people.

"Please work into your Martin Luther King Day speeches, prayers and private conversations three essential messages: Gaza is not Ferguson*; Zionism is not racism nor is Israel an apartheid state."...

"...this Martin Luther King Day, hijack the ecumenical festivities, not to score points for "our" side but to stop the bleeding; not to grandstand but to bridge-build; not to add tension but to push for reconciliation, helping to heal all three peoples' wounds."

*Of course, Ferguson isn't Ferguson either, not in the sense he suggests

[Notorious UGCC]

(link works despite messed up text)

[Lord Humungus]

So Rabbis have to learn html? What does that have to do with MLK?

[Crusty Juggler]

New Web App Stops Women From Using Words in Emails

"This is an app that fills a need," Hartman continues, her voice soft but determined. "Many other women struggle with the same concerns I did: that they put too much 'written' into their written communication, and that their ideas could be offensive to their coworkers and supervisors. This kind of 'Sorry not sorry for writing this' behavior doesn't lead to success in the workplace."

[Brett L]

This is obviously a plant by a PUA group to discredit women.

[Mickey Rat]

A competitor for The Onion?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Global wealth inequality: Still a thing

The wealth of the richest 62 has increased an astonishing 44 percent since 2010, to $1.76 trillion. Meanwhile, the wealth of the bottom half of the world dropped by 41 percent.

"This is terrible," Gawain Kripke, Oxfam's Policy Director, told The Huffington Post. "No one credible will say this is good for the world or good for the economy."

While the wealthy might argue that their rising wealth is just a fabulous sign of economic prosperity (the "you're just jealous" rationale), the disproportionate growth at the top is keeping those on the bottom from climbing out of poverty, Oxfam notes in its report.

"It is unjust that people living in poverty are not getting the boost to their incomes that they desperately need, while already privileged capital owners receive a greater share of income and wealth," the report says.

Kripke also points out that wide inequality is no longer seen as an unfortunate consequence of economic growth. Now many economists -- most famously Thomas Piketty -- contend that gross inequality actually slows down growth, as fewer people can afford to buy stuff, and creates economic and political instability.

Indeed, Piketty says extreme wealth inequality helps fuel instability in the Middle East.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Meanwhile, the wealth of the bottom half of the world dropped by 41 percent."

They've grown poorer?

[creech]

Of course they have, even though most all of them have communication devices that Carnegie and Rockefeller could only dream about .

[sarcasmic]

Indeed, Piketty says extreme wealth inequality helps fuel instability in the Middle East.

Rubbish. I have it on good authority that global climate change drove rural farmers into urban centers, and that's what cause the instability in the Middle East.

[Notorious UGCC]

Don't forget the reverse vampires.

[commodious spittoon]

Wealth inequality causes global warming. Duh!

...Or is it the other way around?

[Free Society]

I believe the answer is 'Koch'.

[Hyperbolical (wadair)]

Wealth inequality causes global warming.

It's the friction.

[WTF]

the disproportionate growth at the top is keeping those on the bottom from climbing out of poverty,

Well, there's an assertion without evidence. How the fuck would some rich guy getting richer prevent someone at a lower income from also doing better?

[Sevo]

Well, WTF, it looks like that particular fallacy caught four eyes at just about the same time.

[WTF]

Yeah, it's pretty damn blatant.

[Long Woodchippers]

because the rich stole all their money from the poor, duh

[Sevo]

"...the disproportionate growth at the top is keeping those on the bottom from climbing out of poverty, Oxfam notes in its report...."

Everybody knows there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world, so if I have more, you, sucka, goona get less! Ha, ha!

[Akira]

I lift weights, but I am weaker because Ronnie Coleman lifts more than me. My muscle fibers are literally wasting away every time Ronnie Coleman does a workout.

That's the logic that these "income inequality" people are using.

[Suthenboy]

Inequality helps fuel instability in the ME...inequality created by other people's prosperity, or created by the destruction of wealth from war and instability?

[Sevo]

There was a long WaPo reprint (no byline) in the Chron this AM on this issue. It reported that a V/C had written, in effect, so what?
Well, I'll tell you what! 20 paragraphs of drivel later, whoever wrote it finally claimed 'the poor aren't buying enough, and that hurts the economy!

[See Double You]

Oh Oxfam, confusing money with wealth again.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

gross inequality actually slows down growth, as fewer people can afford to buy stuff

That's how you get rich: you buy stuff!

[rts]

Stop adding up the wealth of the poor

It's the meme that refuses to die. It started, back in 2011, with the Waltons: six members of the family, we were repeatedly told, were worth as much as the bottom 30% of all Americans combined. I tried to address this silly stat back then, but now it's gone global: back in January, Oxfam announced that the world's 85 richest people had the same wealth as the bottom half of the global population. And now Forbes has come along to say that, actually, it's not 85 people ? it's a mere 67.

...

The result is that if you take the bottom 30% of the world's population ? the poorest 2 billion people in the world ? their total aggregate net worth is not low, it's not zero, it's negative. To the tune of roughly half a trillion dollars. My niece, who just got her first 50 cents in pocket money, has more money than the poorest 2 billion people in the world combined.

[creech]

"I've lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life," Trump said. "So, you know, my views are a little different than if I lived in Iowa -- perhaps." 1999

So maybe Trump started it, but you'd never know it from the way Cruz was excoriated for his "New York Values"
attack on Trump. All the New York based gab shows seemed to be fawning over how great Trump's retort was and basking in the glow of being New Yorkers. Yet, I ask, would not the people of Peoria or Houston or Charlotte or Oklahoma City have reacted just as heroically had the terrorists struck them? What was "special" about the New York response??? Maybe it was the way hundreds, if not thousands, are now claiming disabilities and damages from the smoke and fumes, or how it took ten years of squabbling to build a monument, or how residents got their bigotry on about a mosque being proposed for a site some blocks away from ground zero.

[tarran]

Cry bullies are gonna bully. Cry bullies are also gonna cry. Sometimes at the same time.

[Hyperion]

Cruz lost my vote with his Snowden comment. Fuck him, hello Gay Jay.

[robc]

Not Morgan Freeman?

[Clich? Bandit]

Yes, I had a glimmer of hope of supporting Cruz but the Snowden thing did it for me.

And I don't know why. That particular issue (of whether he is a traitor or not) is a defining point for me. I have told friends to go fuck themselves over it. AND I was being the rational one if you can believe that. I don't know why that particular issue is so important to me but it is and the people on the other side often feel the same way. If you think Snowden is a traitor then, in my opinion, your views on government and politics are completely invalid. May not be right but that is how I feel.

[Microaggressor]

Yeah. It may seem like a trivial issue in particular, but it speaks volumes of his character. Fuck off slaver.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Yet, I ask, would not the people of..Oklahoma City have reacted just as heroically had the terrorists struck them?"

They had a spot of bother in 1995, I think they dealt with it quite well.

[Crusty Juggler]

David Bowie and Rock 'n' Roll's Statutory Rape Problem

[Ken Shultz]

Those were the girls from Rodney's English Disco, the glam club in Hollywood. Those girls were predators, jail bait on a mission.

Regardless, I don't know why people have suddenly rediscovered the groupie scenes of the '70s. I suspect it's all part of the progressive narrative about how heterosexual white men are all supposed to hate themselves for being racist, homophobic, misogynistic rapists--in this case, as exemplified by the music we like?

Are we supposed to hate ourselves for having laughed when Cosby was funny, liking Polanski movies, thinking Woody Allen was a genius, tapping our feet to Jerry Lee Lewis, or enjoying Gunter Grass or Death on the Installment Plan, too?

Well I don't. Hollywood's groupie scene was crazy in the '70s, and I don't feel guilty about listening to Jimmy Page or David Bowie at all.

[Crusty Juggler]

Hollywood's groupie scene was crazy in the '70s, and I don't feel guilty about listening to Jimmy Page or David Bowie at all.

MONSTER!!!!!!!!!

I think the kids are just learning about 70s groupie culture, and now they have something new to write about.

[Ken Shultz]

The kids know every heterosexual white man over 30 is a homophobic, racist, misogynistic, wannabe rapist, and they keep discovering new evidence.

I was sitting next to a couple of goths the other day and one of them was criticizing the other for wearing a Christian Death t-shirt--because Romeo's Distress uses the n-word. As someone who was there while death rock was happening, um . . . politically correct death rockers and goths--are you fucking kidding me?! Back in the day, we used to laugh . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr9KRAMydf0

I don't know if a song about a five year-old girl being raped and murdered by her parents was so sick people couldn't grok what it was about at the time--but maybe goths today consider it okay because it wasn't racist or homophobic?

Point being, when even the death rockers go politically correct, things have gone way too far.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Are we supposed to hate ourselves for having laughed when Cosby was funny, liking Polanski movies, thinking Woody Allen was a genius, tapping our feet to Jerry Lee Lewis, or enjoying Gunter Grass or Death on the Installment Plan, too?"

The art can transcend the artist.

Wagner wasn't very nice, and was bigoted against Jews, and inspired Hitler *and* was the soundtrack for the Klan in Birth of a Nation, but that doesn't mean his music sucked, much of it was very good.

And we admire Shakespeare's work even though Shakespeare kept a harem of underage love slaves under the Globe Theater.

And we ride in elevators even though the inventor of the elevator had sex with chickens.

Maybe I made up those last two examples, but I think my point remains.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, there's this thing called an ad hominem fallacy.

Person X's art / literature / music is unacceptable because Person X was a [insert blank] has a fundamental flaw.

You know who else disqualified artists that way?

[EMD]

You know who else disqualified artists that way?

Jaye P. Morgan?

[Lee G]

I was so hoping the last example was real.

[Notorious UGCC]

Well, have you *disproved* it?

[Long Woodchippers]

I was in high school in the 70's. I remember some rock band came to town (Rush? Foghat? somethun' like that) and I remember a couple girls in the neighborhood, 13 or 14 years old, talking about going downtown to hang out around the hotel to see if they could make out with a member of the band. As far as I knew, these girls weren't sluts, and were probably virgins. They didn't put out for guys like me, but let a rock star come to town...

[Notorious UGCC]

"In addition to her time with Bowie, Mattix was also statutory raped by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. In the book Hammer Of the Gods, former Zeppelin road manager Richard Cole claimed that the rocker tasked him with kidnapping the teen girl. He allegedly escorted her from a nightclub and thrust her into the back of Page's limo with the warning of stay put or "I'll have your head." Page kept Mattix hidden for three years to avoid legal trouble."

That's not just statutory rape, that's also regular rape.

Hammer of the Gods, indeed.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, well if a former road manager said it in a tell-all book, then it must be true.

[Notorious UGCC]

OK, "important if true."

[Ken Shultz]

I posted this yesterday, and I think this story deserves a lot more attention. I still haven't even seen it referenced in the MSM

You guys remember that militia thing happening in Oregon? Well it's still going on.

The Harney County Fire Chief has resigned, apparently because he caught FBI agents posing as militia members.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB6m7x3QDAg

Maybe that isn't a big deal. Maybe we should expect the FBI to infiltrate militias!

But if and when something goes down in Oregon, and the progressive gun grabbers use it as an excuse to come after our Second Amendment rights, we should all be aware that there are undercover FBI agents in Oregon that the locals are even taking as militia members--and if an when a "militia member" does something sensational, it could be an agent provocateur or a false flag operation.

[Hyperion]

This sorry ass administration can't get anything done. Where's Janet Reno when you need her?

[Notorious UGCC]

No, I'm sure the feds will be completely above board, just as they were at Waco and Ruby Ridge.

[Hyperion]

So, did anyone hear that they had to stop the debate that one seen last night, again, so that granny could change her depends and get to bed?

[Crusty Juggler]

German girls are just there for sex' What migrant told woman as he groped her in street

[Notorious UGCC]

"Earlier this week it emerged that officials have covered up the fact that a welcome party for refugees in the Cologne region had descended into a mass groping session with female guests being molested."

The symbolism is so blatant.

[ant1sthenes]

savages gonna savage

[Notorious UGCC]

At one or two places in the article they use "refugee" for "migrant." Is the definition of "refugee" evolving beyond the UN treaty-based definition?

"owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."

As the linked site says, "refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law."

[GILMORE?]

This has been an overlooked distinction in the current debate about 'what US policy should be' re: "Syrians"/war-refugees

US immigration policy has historically been focused on 'migrants' - people who choose to come to the US under their own steam in order to pursue greater opportunity for themselves. not people en masse fleeing oppression/discord at home and going to whatever places offer the most comprehensive 'benefits'

*the exception to this i think might be cuba/haitian migrants, who had distinctly political-refugee status. but even they chose the US for specific reasons of greater opportunity and freedom, rather than cultural preference or based on specific handout programs the US had implemented (at least at first)

The US has never really had much of a comprehensive 'refugee' policy for many reasons. One is geographic - we only have a few neighbors, and we tend to keep a lid on our hemisphere. We also never had any colonial-empire, so we were never obligated to take in people from stricken colonial territories like the UK/France.

we've taken some vietnamese and iraqis during wars in each place, but i think those are distinct in that we felt that these were "vetted allies" of a hostile country, not just the general population

the refugee/migrant distinction is something that clarifies a lot of US handling of the issue, but is little discussed in the media.

[Notorious UGCC]

A lack of nuance in the media? Shocked, I am!

[AlmightyJB]

Without burkas, they're just asking for it.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Red Army

[Suthenboy]

I have noticed a significant drop-off in the 'racist!' / 'yokel!' calls as the numbers of these accounts mount on a daily basis. I guess you can just deny reality for so long...

I won't bother saying "I told you so" as I am confident these people will come forward and admit error.

*drums fingers...looks at watch...holds breath*

[Free Society]

I've even noticed a few people whom one year ago were chanting "Islamophobe", "fear-monger" and "pantshitter" are now decidedly less pro-Islamic immigration.

[Suthenboy]

I don't want to give them too much grief. They were standing on principle which I can respect even if mistaken. The principle, while sound, is not unqualified.

[Free Society]

I won't give them any grief because I can respect a person changing their views in the face of 'new' information. This principle though, I'm not so sure it exists as a logically consistent principle of natural law.

I believe in a general sort of free movement of people, but as you said that principle is not unqualified. So there is no natural right to immigrate to any particular place. This 'right' is precluded by the logically consistent principle of right to own (and control) one's property. And if a person doesn't have a natural right to use your private property without a contract or easement, then neither do they have a right to your property that was stolen by government. Even if you think public property is a legitimate thing, it's not a thing that exists in a state of nature and so to assume that you could predicate the existence of a natural right upon an institution that does not exist in a state of nature, is basically a non-starter. The theory does not stand.

[Illocust]

Mmmm, it seems like pretty much the same people are still arguing the same things. We've just had a drop off in Refugee articles as the situation has gotten worse. Reason is quietly backing down while commenters seem to be holding their ground.

My facebook feed on the other hand has had a sudden mysterious decline in posts about the poor womyns and childruns refugees that need to be taken in.

[R C Dean]

There's also been a few articles (not here, of course) pointing out that these mob sexual assaults are not only spreading across Europe, they have been a thing for years now, and have roots that go directly back to the MENA countries/Arab culture of the migrants.

As ever, pretending a problem doesn't exist doesn't solve the problem or make it disappear. What it does do, is let the problem fester until there is backlash/(over)reaction.

[GamerFromJump]

I've noticed a distinct lack of Cytotox-- lately.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Reminder: IowaHawk remains a national treasure

[Crusty Juggler]

Some Inconvenient Gun Facts for Liberals

By Nic Kristoff. Goodbye gun control, hello "gun safety."

[commodious spittoon]

From the comments:

I have to say that I find Mr. Kristof's op-ed rather offensive on many levels. While he is correct that many liberals are naive about what gun legislation can accomplish and that many are not very knowledgeable about guns in general he pretty much lets the gun culture and gun industry off the hook.

In the past the great concern was how to protect that rights of hunters. Now the gun rights groups claim a 2nd Amendment right to rebel agains the government, wear guns on their hips to Starbucks for the sole purpose of intimidating other people, people they don't like. They carry assault rifles to sites outside of events where President Obama will speak

"I find his opinions offensive. Allow me to demonstrate why he's correct."

[Suthenboy]

That comment is a good example of how gun control advocates are wrong on every single point.

[Sevo]

Gee, "guns are scary" in 75 words.

[ant1sthenes]

Yeah, sure. Maybe he should give some thought to the totalitarian tendencies of his own -- the gun control aspects of Jim Crow had nothing to do with "safety", and everything to do with "control". So long as people have good reason to believe that the left hungers for that sort of unchecked power over others, and that it is aware that it needs a disarmed populace to get it, sensible people aren't going to give them an inch, even in the name of safety.

[GILMORE?]

"why does nothing get done? One reason is that liberals often inadvertently antagonize gun owners and empower the National Rifle Association by coming across as supercilious, condescending and spectacularly uninformed about the guns they propose to regulate. A classic of gun ignorance: New York passed a law three years ago banning gun magazines holding more than seven bullets ? without realizing that for most guns there is no such thing as a magazine for seven bullets or less."

...the court Wizard explains to the peons and serfs, "we must stop referring to sickness as caused by "Evil Spirits! These are vile humors, and must be purged by slow-bleeding. Burning of witches is barbaric! we must become more democratic, and lock them in dungeons until they repent"

he seems focused solely on the "bad tactics" the left has adopted due to its pervasive ignorance. But NOT the fundamental flaws in their beliefs, also due entirely to their pervasive ignorance.

He also wants to spread ignorance of his own.

"40 percent of firearms in the United States are acquired without a background check. That's crazy. Why empower criminals to arm themselves?'

He mis-characterizes the research and presumes all people acquiring firearms sans background checks are criminals. Most *criminals* avoid the problem by dealing in stolen guns/straw purchases.

Typical NYT - assume 'enlightened rational pose', but underpin with same fundamentalist proggy delusions.

[GILMORE?]

re: "Safety"

the presumption is naturally that the state will provide for your safety AFTER stripping your ability to provide it for yourself.

[Rich]

Monday Funnies

[Notorious UGCC]

Professor Stephen Prothero think's Trump's speech at Liberty University is a good opportunity to remind people that the late Jerry Falwell, Sr., was a racist aggressor.

Supposedly, the Religious Right emerged in response to a 1978 ruling by Jimmy Carter's Internal Revenue Service targeting many white evangelical schools as racist and stripping them of their tax exemptions. The fact that Congress had not authorized such an action made little difference to the IRS, or to the Supreme Court which later upheld the IRS.

"According to Ralph Reed, who would later lead the Christian Coalition, many white evangelicals decried the IRS decision as "a declaration of war on their schools, their churches, and their children." But it was the Religious Right that declared this culture war, reintroducing to American politics the good-and-evil rhetoric of an impending apocalypse and a mindset of spiritual struggle: no compromise, no negotiation and no surrender."

Yes, the IRS attacked their schools, but the religious right was the aggressor. There's no way the IRS was motivated by good-and-evil rhetoric and an apocalyptic mindset when it unilaterally slapped a tax increase on its enemies in order to Fight Racism.

(AUTOPLAY)

[Notorious UGCC]

And of course, as explained here, the IRS regulations didn't attack just racism as a normal person would understand the term, but went much further:

"...private schools would lose their tax exemptions if they were established withing a few years of court-ordered integration, and if the percentage of minority students at the school was less than one-fifth of the percentage of minority children in the community. To regain its exemption, a school would have to do more than promise not to discriminate; it would have to rebut the appearance of discrimination by implementing affirmative action policies that IRS bureaucrats would draw up with respect to admission and scholarships.""

[Suthenboy]

When busing started in Louisiana my siblings and I were sent to a private, Catholic school. There were more blacks there than in the public school we would have gone to. We got along famously. I don't remember race ever being an issue or even a subject for discussion.

In the public schools it was mayhem.

[brady949]

2 posts today - looks like Reason is taking their FEDERAL holiday off

[Juvenile Bluster]

There were more posts than this on Christmas mandated federal holiday!

[Lord Humungus]

So Reason gets MLK day off? What are they, govt workers?

[JoWaDat889]

That makes a whole lot of sense dude. Wow.

http://www.Full-VPN.tk

[Swiss Servator]

Say, do any of you newer bots ever hear from old LimpoSimpo? He was my favorite - he taught me that soemtimes you jsut have to roll with it!

[tarran]

What was your opinion re the bean footage?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Anyone remember the bot that used to say stuff that was vaguely pedophilic about how attracted it was to underage girls?

I've always wondered if that was a regular just pretending to be a bot.

[Lee G]

plopper

[tarran]

Plopper isn't a bot. Just a guy who is messed up from being sexually abused as a child.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Yeah, not plopper. I'm talking about the bot that would show up and say things like "Young girls! Count me in lol" on stories about pedophilia.

[Lee G]

I engaged him on a couple of occasions. Definitely not a bot.

He definitely needs some help though.

[Swiss Servator]

It should be rolled. Beautifully.

/Bot

[shamailaanjam]

$85 an hour! Seriously I don't know why more people haven't tried this, I work two shifts, 2 hours in the day and 2 in the evening?And whats awesome is Im working from home so I get more time with my kids. Heres where I went,

----------------- http://www.richi8.com

[Lord Humungus]

Am I the only one who thinks that the Google home page looks like MLK is singing at the Apollo theater?

[See Double You]

A smattering of LinkedIn comments on Oxfam's recent inequality report:

John Doherty It is not only a sad reflection of the human race but one has to ask this we know the the 1% have no justification for their actions other than greed.

Marc Pilkington Piketty was right to investigate the issue, which previously had been neglected by the economics profession as a whole...

Vladimir Dimchev I am afraid that nothing short of expropriation can reverse this trend. And since the only system, which had resorted to expropriations, does not exist any more, then it will continue unabated. In 10-15 years no more than 1000 persons will own more than all the rest.

Amber Sproles If the richest corporations would start paying taxes and stop evading them, then maybe we could close this huge gap in wealth distribution.

FEE has a lot of work to do.

[See Double You]

This one might be my favorite because of all the vacuous buzzwords:

William Macdonald-Akbari Raise taxes on the 1%, limit incentives for businesses to outsource to create more middle-class jobs, stop corporations from stashing their money in tax havens and use the lost income to invest in infrastructure,, and make education more accessible & affordable to low-income households to help end the perpetual pattern of poverty. The growth of the economy depends on the growth of the middle-class, and a lot more has to be done to limit corporate influence on the issuance of policy for all of this to happen.

[Suthenboy]

You aren't fooling me. That is from one of Hillary's speeches.

[Irish ?s ESB]

"Raise taxes on the 1%"

"limit incentives for businesses to outsource to create more middle-class jobs"

Raising taxes on the 1% incentivizes them to outsource so that they don't have to pay higher taxes...it's always impressive how leftists can contradict themselves in the space it takes to type a comma.

[See Double You]

Exactly. Funny how, in the minds of leftists, "limit incentives for businesses to outsource" never means freeing markets.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Manufacturing businesses are fleeing Europe because of high energy costs, too, but you'll never hear a leftist decide to go back on their Quixotic windmill projects* in order to make cheaper energy and keep manufacturing in Europe.

*I wish I could say "Quixotic windmill projects" was intentional, but it was not.

[Lee G]

Nevermore the cost of labor

[Lee G]

Nevermind dammit

*mobile and hydrocodone don't mix*

[EMD]

"We are the Quixotic Windmill Project and we are here to rock you!"

[Suthenboy]

"..."limit incentives for businesses to outsource" never means freeing markets."

No, in their minds not punishing businesses for outsourcing is an incentive for businesses to outsource. Three guesses what 'limit incentives' means.

It is always the jackboot with these people. They really are the worst kinds of people.

[Suthenboy]

I did not mean for "No, in their minds..." to come across as disagreeing with you.

I should have written: No, it does not mean freeing up markets. In their minds..."

[sarcasmic]

It is always the jackboot with these people. They really are the worst kinds of people.

Yep. They have no guiding principles or morality other than might makes right. So they seek out to have the government commit injustices on their behalf, knowing full well that their victims cannot seek justice since the injustices were committed by the very people tasked with righting injustice.

They call this injustice "Social Justice."

[Lee G]

That's because they never consider the actual results of said policy, just the intended ones.

[sarcasmic]

Yep. Minimum wage is a great example of this.

The original intention of the legislation was to make it difficult for blacks to steal jobs from whites by prohibiting them from offering to work for a lower wage than a white person with experience and education.

And it accomplished its intended result.

Today the intentions are totally different, so anyone who points out that the result is the same must share the bad intentions of the people who originally drafted the legislation.

[See Double You]

I just saw an anti-immigration ad quoting a black congressmanperson from the 90s who wanted to limit immigration because immigrants take jobs. I'm guessing the woman was a Democrat and the ad's authors are trying to say, "See, even Democrats once said immigration is bad!" It's the same stupidity regarding economics as we see with the leftist cry for higher minimum wages.

[Raven Nation]

a lot more has to be done to limit corporate influence on the issuance of policy

And there's no surer way to do that than to give the government more power over corporations. Because that would never lead to corporations trying to influence government.

[Irish ?s ESB]

And it would never lead to politicians using their new-found power to give favors to corporations they like, especially if a particular business is in their district.

[See Double You]

make education more accessible & affordable to low-income households to help end the perpetual pattern of poverty.

The leftist idea to make education more accessible - which has been implemented through the DOE's policy of practically giving money away to anyone who wants to go to college - has made college less affordable. So lefties will try to make college more affordable, which will make it less accessible. Poor little leftist quandary.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Also "education" appears to mean "going to college" as opposed to "actually learning anything."

[Lee G]

Exactly. A pepper high school education is sufficient for most jobs. Bachelor's required is a ridiculous joke.

[Lee G]

My daughter's public school actively tries to retain the smart kids because of the funding tired to SOL scores. The result of the testing system has been to try to push the low scorers out, not bring them up.

Incentives ducking matter.

[Lee G]

Vlad obviously misses the good old days of food lines.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

As is being pointed out all over the place, the Oxfam report seems to include anyone with 'negative wealth' as being in the "poorest" 3 billion. Which includes myself and a bunch of other American millennials with more student debt than owned assets.

[See Double You]

That would include me, too. I'm worse off than those Congolese refugees, I tells you!

[kinnath]

I was well into my 40s before I managed to have a positive net worth. Having kids before college will do that to you.

[Illocust]

It includes me and will for another year (then my retirement savings will eclipse my debts). It really is a stupid metric. Especially when you consider by that metric, any individual in poorest 3 billion has more money than the rest of the 3 billion combined.

[robc]

I am okay with that. I bitch whenever income is used instead of wealth for these things.

But it does seem silly to have a college grad with a good job but big loans behind a 3rd world sustenance farmer.

[Lee G]

Well if it were dischargeable

[robc]

The good job implied easy to pay off in reasonable time frame.

[Illocust]

I think access would be a better thing to judge on. Do you have access to 1800 calories a day per family member. Do you have access to shelter. So on and so forth until you get to questions like "Do you have access to a flight into space". Yes or no only. Measure the opportunities available to people, as that's really all we care about with stats like this.

Also has the benefit of getting rid of people try to count "free" healthcare or some shit like that as opposed to what doctors you can realistically see.

[Raven Nation]

So, two other articles posted today but not showing up the blog list. The slide show has a link to an article on political cliches then you can use the arrows at the bottom to go to two earlier posts.

[AlmightyJB]

I'm guessing this will make the "war on cops" propaganda reel.

http://nbc4i.com/2016/01/18/po.....r-suspect/

[LoneWaco]

must have been a hellacious cocktail party last night

[Certified Public Asshat]

Declassified Documents: U.S. Military Bombed the Nazi Germany Oil Refinery That Fred Koch Helped Build

Through its willingness to spend vast amounts of money on extreme libertarian activism, the Koch family has waged a war on the institution of the U.S. government that has lasted decades. Thanks to the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, we now know that way back in 1944, it was the government that fired the first shot.

Holy shit this is stupid.

[Lee G]

It's gawker

[Certified Public Asshat]

They amaze me every day with the stupid.

[Lee G]

Hugo Boas better start worrying now.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Sure this is Gawker, but the original dumbass story was from a New Yorker writer. Apparently having a minor role in building a refinery in Germany in 1933 is horrifyingly evil, even though we weren't at war with them and everyone was still doing business with the Germans at the time.

[ant1sthenes]

It's a little like the various calls to open up RICO investigations -- do you really want to start this fight, when the connection is easily shown to be bullshit and your own side's main billionaire backer was an actual Nazi?

[R C Dean]

Interesting article to be written, there.

Who was a bigger dickhead w/r/t Nazis?

(1) Old man Koch.

(2) Soros.

(3) Old man Kennedy.

[Zeb]

I vote Kennedy.

[Certified Public Asshat]

This comment:

The Nazis had taken power the year before, ended German democracy both on paper and in practice, and rounded up thousands of social democrats and other "undesirables" and kept them in camps. By 1934 social democrats, writers, artists, scientists, and those in the arts, from ALL ethnicities were streaming out of Germany by the tens of thousands. To suggest that Koch would work to the personal approval to Hitler in a field critical to the Nazi strategy and not know exactly what was going on is fucking ridiculous. He most likely agreed with the Nazi program. The other possibility is that he didn't give a shit. It's not possible that he didn't know.

What a spin.

[R C Dean]

Through its willingness to spend vast amounts of money on extreme libertarian activism,

Like NPR. Goddam crypto-anarchists there drive me nuts.

[Suthenboy]

"extreme libertarian activism"

I wonder if Mr. Cush would give an exact definition of that.

I have asked many times what the word 'libertarian' means to left leaners. I have never gotten an answer. Meaningless generalities, distractions or just outright changing the subject is all I ever get.

[sarcasmic]

Libertarians activists are diligently plotting to take over the government and then leave people alone! Oh the horror! How will leftists be able to punish people they don't like! How will leftists be able to force their good advice onto people who don't want to hear it? How will leftists be able to have the government commit acts that would be crimes if committed by individuals? Noooooooooooo!

[Suthenboy]

You joke sarcasmic, but the lefty elite are thinking that very thing. Their mindless cattle on the other hand, they can't define it because defining any terms for them is pointless. They just parrot the vapid platitudes given to them by the elite and that is as far as it is every supposed to go.

Asking them to define anything just results in confusion.

[sarcasmic]

Yep. They can't define anything because that requires actual thought. They're too busy having emotional reactions to unfairness to bother to think anything. I think they really do have good intentions, but they don't bother to think about the implications of the reactionary policies that they support. Any time someone points out the results of these well-intentioned policies, their emotional reaction is to assume that that someone must oppose their good intentions, and therefore must have bad intentions. This turns into rage and hatred, which is why the left views libertarians as terrible people who must be marginalized, censored, or otherwise stopped.

[Lee G]

They can't define it, they can only characterize it by strained associations.

[R C Dean]

"You know who else . . . ."

[EMD]

Destroy your Braun coffee makers and razors!

[See Double You]

More stupid culture war trash.

If feminists were honest, they'd admit they are pissed at little girls for liking the wrong toys, not at Lego.

[GILMORE?]

" "We were so disappointed," said Dana Edell, executive director of the Spark Movement. "Lego was sending a message that girls get to play with hair dryers while boys get to build airplanes and skyscrapers."

Ms. Edell, however, should probably aim her disappointment and disdain at seven-year-old girls rather than at Lego. After all, Lego's success, or lack thereof, in marketing these products depends on the decisions of little girls.
Profit Seekers: Make Toys Girls Like

That is, Lego can only make money from the girl demographic if it makes toys little girls decide they want to play with. Following years of focus groups and surveys, Lego has produced toys that it thinks will attract their attention and demand"

What is remarkable here is that the unremarkable, obvious mechanics of "a company responding to consumer demand" are treated as some novel form of patriarchal capitalist exploitation.

I really think most of what passes as the lefty prog/feminist bullshit could be nipped in the bud if people had some basic economic education in High School

Of course, this is precisely why no one gets any basic economic education in high school.

[See Double You]

This also harkens back to the thread critiquing the survey done in New York City regarding price discrepancies between "women" products and "men" products.

What's to prevent girls from building Lego "airplanes and skyscrapers"?

This whole "controversy" is so fucking stupid my brain is bleeding.

[GILMORE?]

"What's to prevent girls from building Lego "airplanes and skyscrapers"?'

DUH THE KORPORATE MIND-CONTROL AND GENDERED PATRIARCHAL EXPECTATIONS

[Suthenboy]

Trashmonster pointed out the other day that leftism today is a reaction to conservatism that involves denying reality, a rejection of even the notion that there is such thing as objective truth.

Seeing it that way certainly explains why there is no position so ridiculous that the feminist vanguard will not shout it from the rooftops.

[Lee G]

The "objective" truth still exists, it's just what they say it is at that moment and depends on a complicated equation involving intersectionalities and victim hood quotients

[Juvenile Bluster]

I have a 6 year old daughter. Those legos are what she wants. We never gave her gendered stuff when she was under 2, and she spent more time with her Thomas the Tank Engine wooden trains than she did her dolls.

But you know what she gravitated towards? Everything pink and purple, sparkly, princess-y. And she loves those lego sets.

[Clich? Bandit]

god the glitter

That shit will still exist at the heat death of the universe. It is hand crafted by satan himself.

AND, I know all the princesses, fairys, and about 1/4 of the ponies. My 5yo is VERY girly, more so than my wife. BUT I am encouraging good taste at least. While she like Taylor Swift I now have here deeply entrenched with Heart, Joan Jett, and Cyndy Lauper. Next up Cranberries, Journey, and Def Leppard.

[sarcasmic]

My 6 year old daughter couldn't give a shit bout Legos. Or glitter. She likes games, crafts and puzzles. Beads especially. Fucking beads everywhere.

[GILMORE?]

Cabal of Super-Wealthy and Powerful Elites Congregate to Discuss the Problem of "A Cabal of Rich and Powerful People Controlling the Lives of Masses". Masses Hope They Will Find New Ways to Control Their Lives And Thus Solve This Problem

[See Double You]

I wonder what the overlap is between the anti-1%ers and would-be Hillary Clinton voters. Probably somewhere around that of anti-1%ers and those who get warm tingles listening to Warren Buffet.

[GILMORE?]

"the overlap is between the anti-1%ers and would-be Hillary Clinton voters'"

Oh, they'll wave their hands and insist that the GOP represents the interests of the Korporashuns and the Bazillionaires and therefore votes for any Dem candidate are by default votes for "the people" fighting against "the elites"

They have no problem then immediately pivoting to the argument that all GOP voters are poor, ignorant, redneck yokels who don't know what's good for themselves and vote against their own interests.

The ability to hold 2 entirely contradictory ideas in the mind at once is one of the defining features of progressives.

Despite knowing this... I remain stunned by the herd reaction to yesterday's press-conference where Obama announced, "Hooray! Iran will never pursue nukes now because of our awesome "Deal"!", and immediately followed it with the announcement that " but Iran will need a few new sanctions... because they're still pursuing nukes"

Absolutely no one in the media seems to have noted any apparent contradictions there.

[Suthenboy]

Oh, they noticed.

It is astounding to me is that the blue pols are so confident that the press will cover their asses they don't even bother composing speeches that are not full of contradictions and obvious lies. The whole charade of the press being the fourth estate is so transparent as to be laughable.

[sarcasmic]

I think Reason qualifies as the press.

[GILMORE?]

Sure.

Did they ever publish a piece pointing out that ...well, its a little *odd* that Iran is continuing to develop and test missiles that have no other purpose than to deliver nuclear warheads, all while assuring the US that they have entirely abandoned their ambitions for nuclear weapons, therefore GIMME DAT MONEY?

The commentary i've ever seen from them on the subject (mostly shikha) seems to be "we should do this meaningless diplomacy even if its meaningless, because diplomacy is good, and babies, and non-interventions, and unicorns."

Everyone seems to defend their cheerleading the 'fake diplomacy' with the argument that to NOT do so would be tantamount to "Endorsing War".

Its the absurd false-choice argument Obama himself floats. Its "this shitty deal, or War!".

That this argument is treated even quasi-seriously by the press is a sign of how bad things have gotten.

I personally think the US has long needed to realign itself vis a vis Iran, and should have unilaterally ended some sanctions without ANY fake-promises from Iran. We could have said, "we still don't trust you, and we still think you're committing crimes, but these aren't working and we don't want to punish your people for your crappy govt".

Instead we've pretended the iranian govt, "Won" sanctions-removal. Which strengthens them.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Everyone seems to defend their cheerleading the 'fake diplomacy' with the argument that to NOT do so would be tantamount to "Endorsing War".

This is what bugs the living shit out of me. If you cast a skeptical eye on the Deal... that's Historic... you're endorsing war.

[Suthenboy]

There are a few outliers but some days I think that applies to Reason as well, on some issues anyway.

[Broswater]

So I got nut-punched pretty badly by life itself this morning. As I had a lot of stuff to do and wanted it to be productive today, I went to the Tim Hortons a few blocks away to get myself a good strong coffee, around 9 AM. As I went back to the front, I spotted 2 police officers near the entrance. I thought to myself oh coffe break already, sure, theses are hard working people, why not take a few mins for a coffee, right ? As I approached, I realised they were interrogating 5 young black teens, and were searching their school bags. As I got to the door, another cop was on the ground searching nother bag. I stopped to put my gloves on, but still manage to see one agent checking the id of one kid, and asking him if it was the first time he was speaking with the police. I then left.

Now it got me mad. First because, while I put my gloves on, I gave a quick look at the teens being interrogated, and you could see the fear in their faces, the ?I don't know what to do, so I'll cooperate, whatever they ask me? look. Those aren't thugs. It's 9 AM, on a Monday morning! Thugs are still high and asleep at 9! And they weren't doing any troubles (trust me, there is a lot of Haitians here, if they are doing trouble, you will hear them from far far away). It felt obvious to me that the cops were just abusing the fact that those kids didn't knew their rights to try to get a cheap arrest.

[JoWaDat889]

lol, US POlitics. Best politics money can buy.

http://www.Full-VPN.tk

[LethaLittle]

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,

go to tech tab for work detail,,,,, http://www.onlinecash9.com

[ammytho147]

as Phyllis replied I am in shock that any body able to make $4140 in a few weeks on the internet . try this website..........

________________ http://www.Wage90.Com

[straffinrun]

11pm.

[Suthenboy]

I have three wall clocks. None have batteries and all are set to 5:00.

So, yeah.

[Libertarian]

"Sure, I realize the responsibility I took on when I signed the papers "

You keep saying "responsibility" but I don't think it means what you think it means.

In fairness to him, though, I, too, have never had a loan that I wanted to pay back.

[Pope Jimbo]

Don't worry Tundra, we are going to help the poor struggling students here in Minnesoda by letting them refinance their loans with other loans backed by the taxpayers. What could go wrong?

[greasonable]

Prescient

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Forty thousand? Pussy.

[Mickey Rat]

Does not quite grasp the concept of "had to" either. There were other ways to train for a career that he did not want to take.

[straffinrun]

Sanders voted for Rand's audit the fed, so maybe you could call those stopped clocks "Bernie"

[Lee G]

The old delay and pray tactic