Brits Say Putin Ordered Spy's Poisoning, Sanders Releases New Ad, Snow Falls in January: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: U.S. Embassy Jakarta, Indonesia / photo on flickr

  A British inquiry has determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely approved the deadly poisoning of a former KGB agent who became a British intelligence operative.

• Bernie Sanders has a new advertisement out, set to Simon and Garfunkel's "America." And, of course, it's already being analyzed over how diverse the ad is or is not.
• Two men in Los Angeles are the first to face criminal charges under a new law restricting drone operations near airports.
• Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.
• A defamation lawsuit filed against Bill Cosby by one of the women who has accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting him has been tossed. She attempted to sue him for publicly denying the accusations.
• A bomb in Cairo killed two police officers raiding a home where militants were apparently planning terrorist attacks. Twelve others were injured.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A British inquiry has determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely approved the deadly poisoning of a former KGB agent...

Poison matrix?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

THUG LIFE

[Bill Dalasio]

Yeah, but the spy was a putz. So, who cares?

[BigT]

What difference, at this point, does it make?i

[bassjoe]

And Obama ordered the execution of an American (and his son, for good measure) for preaching anti-American shit in the desert.

[d3x / dt3]

But that's totally different. Obama is the leader of the free world, you see, so it's all good. Fire in a crowded theater and all that.

[DenverJ]

Yes! Besides, we're the good guys. Why do you want teh terrorists to win, bassjoe, why?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.

Shotgun full of snow!

[Juvenile Bluster]

Damn you snow!

[Brett L]

Remember when Americans were great enough to cross the icy Delaware at night to murder people on Christmas?

[Tonio]

Not even I'm that old...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Washington, Washington. Six-foot-eight, weighs a fucking ton...

[Tonio]

I heard he had, like, twenty dicks.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Curse you. Caradhras!

[CE]

Snowmageddon was already taken? What are they calling this? The Blizzard of the Century?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Snowlocaust.

[Libertarian]

A snowstorm of Trumpian proportions.

[DenverJ]

It'll be UUUUUUUUUUGE!

[Jerryskids]

SnowMG.

[Crusty Juggler]

I'm stealing this.

[Pope Jimbo]

It is a snownami and it should be given a special name like hurricanes.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.

My sister and her husband both grew up in Florida, and haven't had to deal with a decent snowstorm since moving to Maryland. Until this weekend.

I'd laugh, but my brother-in-law will just make my sister do all of the shoveling and will just stay in the house and drink and smoke pot the whole time.

I hope he goes out, gets stuck out in the snow and freezes to death.

[Juvenile Bluster]

I can't blockquote.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Apparently you can... You seem to be unable to turn it off, though.

[kbolino]

Would it be a stretch to say you're quite not copacetic in matters concerning your brother-in-law?

[Juvenile Bluster]

It would be accurate to say that I'd rather spend half an hour in a room talking to ESB and Jessica Valenti than have to deal with him for 5 minutes.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Why don't you... uh... take care of the problem?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Fear of prison, mostly.

[RBS]

Hey, sometimes it's freezing outside and then, sometimes people get locked outside. These things happen.

[Tonio]

Particularly with stoned, drunk people.

[Rich]

Here's a guy who might be able to? help.

[KDN]

Does he mean well? And would he be a great guy if you just gave him a chance? Should you just stop judging him already?

[Medical Physics Guy]

if he sits in the house smoking a blunt while his wife does the shoveling, accidental death is not a bad scenario.

[Libertarian]

For god's sakes, don't use the snow shovel on him. Even a D.C. cop could figure that out (given enough time).

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Tell him how great it is to go ice fishing out on the Chesapeake.

[rts]

Uber's arrival in B.C. inevitable, says Transportation Minister Todd Stone

It is only a matter of time before Uber arrives in B.C., according to Transportation Minister Todd Stone, but first the ride-sharing company and others like it have a few issues to sort out.

"What we are hearing from British Columbians is they want more choice," Stone said Wednesday.

[Ted S.]

Uber *is* more choice.

[But Enough About Me]

Yes, but what Our Moral And Intellectual Superiors? here in the Lower Main want is for us plebs to have "more choice" that's strictly controlled and hobbled by the same rules applicable to taxis.

For the fairness, doncha know. :-/

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Speaking of Canada:

"My predecessor wanted you to know Canada for its resources," he said. "I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness." Justin Trudeau at World Economic Summit, 2016.

Delivered in an irritating docile tone to boot!

[But Enough About Me]

Hey, be nice.

He always sounds that way right after he's taken a hit from the giant bong his handlers keep at the ready backstage to prevent the panic attacks.

After all, if your last real job was as a snowboard instructor and you couldn't even finish two different University degrees, wouldn't you be panicky if you had to speak at Davos?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

He looks soooo uncomfortable. Almost like he lacks confidence.

BUT.

CANADA IS BACK!

Derp.

[But Enough About Me]

Check this out ? the husband of one of the Canadian victims of the Burkina Faso terror attacks took a call from The Right Honourable Justin Trulander, and hung up on the vacuous little twat.

[Pan Zagloba]

Hey, I'm sure if six Muslim charity worker got shot up by Serbs in Bosnia (screaming "Sa verom u Boga" optional), he'd be doing a moment of silence at St. Sava Church in Toronto.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Heard about that. He's not hitting the right chords with sane Canadians.

There was also a mother who unleashed on him.

He's a clown.

BUT CANADA IS BACK.

[Crusty Juggler]

BUT CANADA IS BACK.

Funniest thing I have read all day.

[Pan Zagloba]

BUT CANADA IS BACK.

Funniest thing I have read all day.

Would you like today's Adulation Piece from our state-owned broadcaster? Rufus' quote came from there.

In Schwab's view, the new world ? a "young world," a "digital world" ? will be typified by diversity and plurality, significant investments in infrastructure and a fostering of entrepreneurial spirit. "Who could represent such a world better than you, prime minister?" Schwab asked of Justin Trudeau.
One wonders who the world would have had to get excited about had Canadian voters chosen differently last fall.

If you don't have to pay for it, I highly recommend CBC News as a daily dose of humour.

[WoodchipperPatriarch]

BUT CANADA IS BACK.

Where did it go?

[But Enough About Me]

If you don't have to pay for it, I highly recommend CBC News as a daily dose of humour.

Desperate, black, soul-sucking humour.

And because it's Mothercorp, everybody in Canada pays for it. But I s'pose Americans living near the border could enjoy a guffaw or two...

[ant1sthenes]

I love that canadaback song, can't get enough of him and Timbaland. Wait, wrong Justin T.

[Tonio]

But apparently he hung up in a very polite and Canadian manner, so there is that.

[But Enough About Me]

Well, either that, or the editors at the Grope and Flail decided that "Oh, please go and royally fuck yourself, you entitled, Laurentian elite witling" didn't quite meet their journalistic standards.

[Ted S.]

I presume they want more choice in health care, too?

[rts]

Ahahaha, good one.

/wipes tear away

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I swear, explaining health in pro-market terms to Canadians is the most maddening and bizarre activity you can do. The reaction is a mix of pure horror and deer in headlights.

To them, it's not perfect but they can't possibly conceive of a market-oriented solution to health because health NEEDS to be controlled by the state.

My fellow Canadians are indoctrinated fools.

[But Enough About Me]

Indeed.

When I informed one of my neighbours back in Calgary that I was flying to a private clinic in Vancouver for an operation that would take 30 months (!) to get in Alberta through the province's med system, her response (hand to God, people!) was "but how do you know you'll get a good surgeon?"

Yeah. Like there's lots of incentive for the public system to create and retain good surgeons. /sarc

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

It's unbelievable. They all COME FROM THE SAME SCHOOLS.

Medical tourism is good business here. How this is not an indictment of the system I don't know.

[But Enough About Me]

In fact, the surgeon I ended up getting was the Assistant Chief Instructor of Surgery at UBC Faculty of Medicine. I asked him why he was doing private work, and he said that the public system was only able to give him 1.5-2.0 days/wk of operating theatre time. He said that, in his opinion, the average surgeon needs around 4 days/wk of O.R. time to maintain their skills (it is a very manual and dexterity-intensive skillset, after all). So he supplemented the time he got in the public system with work in the private system.

Oh yeah -- his fee for my surgery was $695.00 CDN. The remainder (another four grand) went to the multiple nurses both in the O.R. and the recovery room, the gas-passer and the general overhead to keep the lights in the private clinic on.

I know people who've spent more money on their home theatre system, but were aghast when I told them it was five grand to get operated on immediately.

Canadians are not only indoctrinated fools, but they understand nothing about what's really valuable in their lives.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I flirted with the idea of medical tourism. The things I heard. Embarrassing.

Tell me about it. Cool story.

[WoodchipperPatriarch]

Does bringing Vicodin back from Belize count as medical tourism?

[But Enough About Me]

Um. Sure.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Five grand for a surgery? That's a fuckin' deal.

[Pan Zagloba]

The terror of having "two-tier" system (like, you know, France or Germany) is what I find fascinating.

You can't let a person pay to, say, see a doctor or get an MRI, even if they can afford it.

Unless they are wealthy (or scared) enough to go to the States and do it. That is all right. But doing it in Canada - immoral (sinful, I think, would be best term if they'd admit it).

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

In Quebec we now have private options for things like MRI. Quebec is, ironically, more 'free' than Ontario on that front. But private surgeries are tightly regulated.

Europe is pretty much all the same from what I get - Switz, Hol, Ita, Fra, Ger - in terms of a mix.

[But Enough About Me]

When I told my cousins in Normandy about the difficulties we Canadians have in getting surgical procedures done in a timely fashion, they all suggested I do a little medical tourism to Normandy next time.

Not a bad idea ? I can think of much worse places to recover from surgery...

[Jerryskids]

You can get the same reaction here suggesting to someone that the electric company or the water company could be replaced with a competitive system. They can't understand why anybody would complain about regulated utility companies when they do a perfectly fine job of efficiently delivering the goods. Trying to explain that the free market depends on competition to determine what exactly a "perfectly fine job of efficiently delivering the goods" means and that you would have to have something to compare the existing system with in order to say it does fine, they always fall back on, "OK, smart guy - how would you make the electric company better?" Well, I don't know - but if you offered me a chance to make billions of dollars by finding a better way, I'd have a hell of an incentive to try. And the threat of losing billions of dollars is a hell of an incentive for your utility company to try and stay ahead of me. That's how the bread business and the pants industry and the golf club companies work to make sure they do a perfectly fine job of efficiently delivering the goods - because if they don't you'll take your business elsewhere. Why are some businesses somehow different?

[In League with the Dark Ones]

I bet they complain about the cable company at the same time.

[Isaac Bartram]

Rufus, explaining health in pro-market terms to Americans is just about as hard.

[Libertarian]

"only a matter of time before Uber arrives in B.C., "

Man, they talk like it's Ebola invading, not Uber (Uborla?)

[Pat (PM)]

Utah man faces insurance fraud charges after 23 car crashes

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Utah officials say a man accused of getting himself into almost two dozen car crashes to collect insurance money has been charged with fraud.

Navid Monjazeb was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with 12 counts of insurance fraud. Authorities say he collected over $55,000 from insurance carriers over five years.

Armand Glick with the Utah Insurance Department's fraud division says those charges came in cases where investigators could show the car was damaged before the crash.

Monjazeb was also charged with pattern of unlawful activity, two counts of forgery and seven counts of reckless endangerment.

[__Warren__]

11K a year? That's amateur hour, baby!

[PBR Streetgang]

Seriously. Go big or go home Navid!

[Libertarian]

I see that. What you did.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yeah. That doesn't pay very well, considering the risk involved. He'd be better of slanging rocks.

[Jerryskids]

With a name like that, I'm betting he's an illegal from some country where the normal pay for insurance fraudsters is like $5 per day. TERKERJERBS!

[Ted S.]

Everyone knows it's only women who are that bad drivers.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Well duh. He did it on purpose.

[DJF]

""" likely approved ""'

Or maybe not.

[DJF]

Could have been British food.

[Pat (PM)]

Wisconsin hunter pink-wear bill reaches governor's desk

Wisconsin hunters could choose blaze pink protective wear, a first for a U.S. state, if Governor Scott Walker signs a bill intended to draw more women to the sport.

The legislation, approved by the state Senate late Wednesday with bipartisan support, adds blaze pink to the bright orange hats, jackets and jumpsuits hunters are now required to wear.

The bill next goes to Walker. A spokesman said on Thursday Walker would review the legislation, giving no indication whether he would sign the bill.

The goal of the bill was to get more men and women off the couch and into the woods, bill sponsor, state Representative Joel Kleefisch has said.

[__Warren__]

The Pink Walkers come from the North.

[Mickey Rat]

No, the Bay of Crabs.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Not a bad idea. Pink is one of the easiest colors to see.

[Libertarian]

Only if there's not a lot of brush.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I find it's easier to see the pink if there's no bush.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[In League with the Dark Ones]

I was waiting for that.

[Mickey Rat]

Women are choosing not to hunt because they cannot wear pink in the field?

[Pat (PM)]

Of course. And you can just bet the new gear will have the pink tax built in.

/derp

[Horatio]

Wait, you're REQUIRED to wear a certain color when hunting in WI? The fuck? Does that apply to ice fishing and other outdoor activities? Who passed that law? Pro hunters would say fuck off and anti hunters should welcome the possibility of hunters shooting each other

[Pope Jimbo]

I think almost every state requires you to wear some minimum amount of orange when deer hunting. In Minnesota you also need to be wearing one orange item when small game hunting.

I know that N Dak also says that it has to be solid orange when deer hunting (none of that camo orange clothing)

[Isaac Bartram]

Florida requires orange vests on public land. If you are on private land (including a privately held lease) it is up to the owner to decide.

As a side note, the Florida Trail Association also recommends that hikers wear orange vests if they are hiking on parts of the trail that go through areas that are open to hunting during seasons.

[Jerry on the rocks]

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day!!

[Jerry on the rocks]

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day!!

[Citizen X]

I see what you did there.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Fist of Etiquette]

FAILED LINKS ARE THE USERS' FAULT.

[Rich]

And double posts, *too*, I suppose?!

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's never the system's fault. The system is perfect.

[gaoxiaen]

To show my appreciation, I'm making squirrel stew.

[In League with the Dark Ones]

In case you have more squirrel meat that you need for stew.

[Pat (PM)]

Facebook moonshine probe leads to three arrests

LAKELAND, Fla., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a Facebook post offering illegal moonshine for sale led to the arrests of three people in an undercover operation.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said detectives received a tip Jan. 12 about illegal moonshine being offered for sale on the Facebook page of Alton Trowell, 31, of Lakeland.

An undercover detective called the phone number on the Facebook page the following day and spoke with Christie Comkowycz, 31, Trowell's live-in girlfriend.

"Are you a cop? Cause I don't want to go to jail," Comkowycz allegedly asked during the conversation.

The detective arranged to meet with Comkowycz, who arrived at the arranged place with her roommate, Dalton Ridlon, 20.

Detectives arrested Comkowycz and Ridlon after they allegedly sold the illicit alcohol to the undercover officers at $20 per pint.

[Brett L]

$20 a pint? The whole fucking point of moonshine is to pay LESS than retail. For fuck's sake.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yeah, did they accidentally add a zero to the price?

[Tonio]

Depends. There were, and presumably still are, people who bought the stuff on principle to screw the government out of the tax revenue, etc.

[Brett L]

If you can get $20/ pint. I'll have a fucking 20 gallon still going in 10 days.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Did you learn nothing from these people?!? Ixnay on the internet-ay.

[Brett L]

Pssh. It's actually going to be 120 gallons. What kind of idiot do I look like?

[RBS]

The cops were probably dressed like hipsters.

[kbolino]

The police have successfully rid the world of the scourge of unlicensed alcohol, and all they had to do was be at least as unscrupulous and unethical as the people they were going after.

Law and order at its finest.

[Libertarian]

"Are you a cop? Cause I don't want to go to jail," Comkowycz allegedly asked during the conversation.

Jesus...if that doesn't get the cops to back off, I don't know what would.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bernie Sanders has a new advertisement out, set to Simon and Garfunkel's "America."

Not "The Sound of Silence"?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Me, Bernie and Julio by the school yard.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Or.

Me, Julio and the commie by the school yard.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Still Crazy After All These Years.

[BigT]

I am A Rock

Fakin It

Bye Bye Love

[Rich]

Yet the Atlantic's David A. Graham came away with a different take, saying "it's hard not to notice how white the ad is ? I counted perhaps half a dozen people of color in the spot."

Oh, FFS! Then don't vote for him!

[CE]

Ever been to Iowa?

Iowa demographics

[Rich]

Yes. And I know *for a fact* that there is at least one Indian in Cedar Rapids.

[The Last American Hero]

Warren stumping for Bernie doesn't count.

[__Warren__]

I am not!

[In League with the Dark Ones]

And at least some Muslims.

[JD the elder]

I also like the fact that no two people seem to agree how many PoCs there are in the commercial. On another note, I can't help but observe that the commercial is completely free of substance and 100% FEELZ, which is pretty appropriate for Bernie's campaign.

[Just say Nikki]

Chemistry prof saves student lives in Peshawar:

After terrorists killed about 134 students at a school in northwestern Pakistan 13 months ago, officials started arming teachers and gave them weapons training.
Like the debate over guns in schools in the United States and elsewhere, the move was controversial and divided parents and academic officials. But a Pakistani teacher armed with a pistol is being credited with saving lives during a terrorist attack on Wednesday at Bacha Khan University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Heard about that. Given Taliban activity and the propensity for Islamists to attack schools, not arming teachers in Pakistan would be moronic.

[Just say Nikki]

Haha I was totally expecting you to complain I didn't hat-tip you.

[Irish ?s ESB]

ENB made the mistake of telling me I'm classy for not complaining about lack of hat tips and I don't want to disappoint her.

[tarran]

Sadly, both he and one of the students died fighting the savages attacking the school.

[ant1sthenes]

True, but he apparently saved several other lives, and hopefully inspired some heroism in others.

[__Warren__]

Hold on a minute! I've been told, lectured really, by people that claim to know these things that ordinary people are positively helpless in the face of an attack of this sort regardless of how they are armed.

In fact it's been implied that our only real choices are to run, hide or beg. And if those don't work, well too bad.

[Brett L]

To be fair, even the law enforcement community has started telling people to physically engage active shooters in these sorts of situations. I mean, I don't think they've advocated firearms and weapons training, but they do admit that engaging a shooter slows them down allowing others to help or flee.

[__Warren__]

By "claim to know these things" I was referring to anti-gun internet commenters who have no practical knowledge of firearms or tactics or human nature.

But they are the enlightened ones from whom we must gain our wisdom in all things.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You're supposed to shit your pants to make yourself less attractive to the killers.

[Brett L]

That was my bear mauling avoidance strategy, but apparently it only works in the type of bars where men wear chaps but no pants

[Trigger Hippie]

Say...would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?

[Juice]

"Our job is teaching, not carrying a gun," Malik Khalid Khan, the head of the provincial teachers association, told NBC News.

Another one of those times where the "not my job" attitude won't fly.

[Pat (PM)]

Vandals fell controversial red light camera on Long Island

CORAM, N.Y., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Police in New York state said they are investigating the felling of a Long Island red light camera, while the man known as "Red Light Robin Hood" denied involvement.

Suffolk County police said the camera pole at the intersection of County Road 83 and Old Town Road in Coram was repaired Wednesday morning after someone sawed through the aluminum pole Monday in an apparent act of vandalism.

"We are working with the district attorney on this case and we'll be pursuing all leads," Suffolk County Deputy Police Commissioner Tim Sini told CBS New York. "This is a felony, it would be tampering, vandalism type of charge."

[John]

I keep wondering how long before that becomes common. It would be so easy to vandalize speed and red light cameras. As long as you were careful and didn't brag about it, i can't see how they would ever catch you. And if a few people independently started doing it, there would be no way to stop it.

[Brett L]

Cool Hand Luke remake, here we come.

[__Warren__]

Just a paintball gun would do.

It won't destroy the camera but it costs the city money for however long the lens is obscured and the man-hours to send somebody to clean it off.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The cameras are covered by other cameras. It's very tricky.

[John]

Really? Most of the ones I see are out by themselves. Are there hidden cameras?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Without getting into specifics, I recently surveyed an intersection, and it would appear so.

[__Warren__]

Hit those first then. Or wear a disguise.

[Libertarian]

Like this guy?
http://www.ticketdiscard.com/1.....ion/1.html

[John]

Interesting. The paintball gun would still work. It would give you some range. You just couldn't do it from a car.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Oh, you'd best park a 1/2 mile away and wear a mask. There's going to be some hi-definition video evidence of several felonies.

[Juvenile Bluster]

So I have a friend. He's a good guy, very smart. But very, very liberal. Of late, his crusade in life has been to try and stop WalMart from opening a store in downtown Miami, by any means necessary. He hasn't been successful, and they've already broken ground, but he's still trying,

Today he put up a story about a WalMart that locals had protested in LA that's closing. Because of that, according to him, he's correct in not thinking WalMart should be allowed to open the local store.

Now, we'll ignore the reasons that WalMart is closing, which have more to do with local business restrictions than anything else. But somehow he doesn't see that the lesson is completely the opposite of what he's saying. If the locals don't want it, well guess what, it'll close, and WalMart will lose a ton of money.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Most of those Wal Marts are closing because there's another one less than 5 miles away.

[DJF]

They are closing small old stores that as you point out have other stores nearby.

[JWatts]

"So I have a friend. He's a good guy, very smart. But very, very liberal. .... it'll close, and WalMart will lose a ton of money."

He probably doesn't get the whole profit aspect of business.

[Tejicano]

While I am willing to concede that this friend of yours might happen to be intelligent I see nothing which you have presented which would lead me to believe that he is smart.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Laurie Penny is trying to be deep today and it's completely amazing.

"Laurie Penny ?@PennyRed 52m52 minutes ago
If you're smart, ambitious or adventurous, people will call you ugly and unloveable. This is because they fear your power. #tothegirls"

"Laurie Penny ?@PennyRed 57m57 minutes ago
Other girls are not your rivals for the attention of men- they are your allies. If you must compete, do so equally with men. #tothegirls2016"

"Laurie Penny ?@PennyRed 1h1 hour ago
You are enough. You are good enough, strong enough, smart enough, pretty enough, brave enough. You don't have to be perfect. #ToTheGirls2016"

What if you're a really shitty person and should try to improve? Apparently those don't exist.

[Rich]

Who? (Or What?)

[Irish ?s ESB]

Laurie Penny is a Righteous Hero of the Working Class who fights so righteously against vulgar capitalism that she attended swanky private schools in England before getting a fellowship at Harvard all while writing for establishment organs of the British left like the New Statesman.

Total rebel, yo.

[Pan Zagloba]

Would you like to see Sargon's video demonstrating everything you need to know about her?

Or maybe (linked from Sargon) a video of David Starkey losing his cool about her complete ignorance and letting her both barrels.

[Brett L]

Jesus. Just eat a tub of ice cream and watch HGTV. It's fine. Even good people do that once in a while.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

HGTV is for doers. Maybe the Oprah network for fatties.

[Brett L]

Ahh. Well my wife has taken to watching that crazy guy and his smoking hot wife remodel houses around Waco. I find that show pretty tolerable.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My wife watches Flip or Flop, which is mostly in the OC. Coincidentally, the wife in that is smoking hot too.

The estimates they get are ridiculous. "Yeah, we'll redo your Kitchen with Wolff appliances for nine grand!!!"

[The Last American Hero]

The get it for $9k because the contractor is going to be on national television and because he's negotiating with a woman who looks like a Laker Girl.

[KDN]

That face just doesn't do it for me. Am I the only one that finds her incredibly strong jawline to be a bit...off-putting? Her eyebrows are weird too.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This face doesn't do it for you?

[KDN]

It really doesn't, though the profile is better than straight-on. Aside from how plasticky she looks (which is probably intended intended - upper class SoCal chick after all), the entire mouth area is just odd.

Not like I'd kick her out of bed, but I'm not looking for clearly photoshopped nudes of her either.

[Brett L]

Ah Fixer Upper. Good show

[But Enough About Me]

It *is* a good show! I find the couple quite charming and engaging.

Another good one (the name escapes me for the moment) is the couple that flip homes in and around Nashville. Er, "Masters of Flip"? They should do a special with the Waco couple ? I'd bet the interactions alone would be worth the price of admission on that episode.

[Anomalous]

What if you're a really shitty person and should try to improve? Apparently those don't exist.

Of course they do. They're called men.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

And gosh darn it, people like you.

Is she not old enough to know that joke?

[rts]

Park police finally removed that snow penis, so someone replaced it with an even bigger one

[Suthenboy]

I hope that shows up on google earth.

[Pat (PM)]

Holding Drug Companies Accountable for Drug Prices

What's the least controversial statement anyone could make about health care costs in the United States?

Drug prices are out of control.

No one really disputes it, and the real question is, Do we have the political will to do anything about it?[...]

What to do?

Two things are pretty clear. First, all of us want drug companies to continue doing research and developing truly innovative new drugs that can cure hitherto untreatable illnesses like Lou Gehrig's disease or pancreatic cancer or Alzheimer's. Patients -- and all of us, even those who are healthy today, will eventually be patients -- need new therapies.

Second, the market is not going to solve the drug cost and research problem. The reason is that there is no market. Patent and FDA marketing exclusivity provide drug companies an effective monopoly. And normal consumer behavior is virtually absent. There are several layers of middlemen in drug purchasing -- sales reps, pharmacists, prescribing doctors themselves -- and neither patients nor doctors pay the full cost of a prescription, so the actual end consumers never weigh the financial costs against the personal benefits, as they would with any other good or service. We need non-market solutions.

Of course. If you want something to get cheaper, regulate it!

[Juvenile Bluster]

How about we change the laws so a company doesn't spend $50 million+ to get US approval for an orphan drug that's already widely used in Europe? Maybe then orphan drugs could be cheaper. Until then, if you remove patent exclusivity, you're not going to have cheaper drugs, you're going to have no drugs for orphan indications, and fewer drugs for more major indications.

[John]

Because that would be chaos. Someone has to be in control of things like this. And if that means that some people have to die waiting for a drug to be approved or go broke paying for a drug that should be cheaper, then so be it. I mean we can't have chaos. Someone has to be in charge.

signed

Progressive

[Brett L]

Regulatory arbitrage? Obviously a market problem!

[Doctor Whom]

When government causes a problem, the obvious solution is more government.

[Ted S.]

Single-Payer legal care.

Because there's not one lawyer who does anything worth more than minimum wage.

[Tonio]

OK, I keep hearing this from a guy in the medical industry. Apparently evil speculators buy up the entire production runs of drugs and then sell them at a profit which my contact considers unethical. Any thoughts on this?

[robc]

Drugs are not like concert tickets. The company can just make more, driving down the scalpers margins.

[kbolino]

Any thoughts on this?

The solution to a shortage is to make more of the product.

[Suthenboy]

They are about to destroy the drug supply. The question is are they doing it deliberately or out of the pure ignorance endemic to socialists?

[Mickey Rat]

Yes.

[In League with the Dark Ones]

Remember Hanlon's Razor:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Or more succinctly?

Cock-up before conspiracy.

[Juice]

Ah, Zeke Emanuel, bother of Rahm, top Obamacare cheerleader. How's that Obamacare going, you stupid clod?

[Emmerson Biggins]

Obviously the market is to blame for all aspects of the government granted monopolies. They mean well. If those evil capitalists would just stop being so evil and capitalisty!

[CPRM]

"If you can't afford your medication AstraZenica may be able to help." They will literally give you the drugs for free if you truly can't afford them.

[BigT]

Why not establish a prize to be given to the first company that demonstrates an effective drug for a disease? $50 mil? $1 billion?

[RBS]

And, of course, it's already being analyzed over how diverse the ad is or is not.

Speaking of "diverse", are there really people out there who can't see right through the act of putting diverse people on display behind candidates while they give speeches? I don't know why, but I noticed it the other night when my wife had CNN on and they showed a clip from a Sanders rally and it looked like his team put one person from every ethnicity they could find behind him.

[Tonio]

are there really people out there who can't see right through the act

Yes, yes there are.

[DJF]

It use to be people making speeches would either be on the stage alone or maybe with a few senior people

Now they can't make a speech without at least 100 people behind them acting as props. If they put me in one of those crowds I would be making rude gestures.

Shaking my cane!!!!!!

[Pat (PM)]

6 Years of Citizens United

Six years ago today, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC. It is not a happy anniversary.[...]

Our country was founded on a radical but profound belief in the possibility of people coming together for the public good and governing themselves. As our framers understood, in order to fulfill that promise, we need structures that allow public servants to actually serve the public. That includes both:

-- Overturning Citizens United, or amending the Constitution to reflect the real intent of our founders--corporations aren't people and SuperPAC money isn't protected speech.

-- Replacing privately funded elections with publicly funded elections. Publicly funded elections have opened up politics and freed candidates to serve the public in New York City, Connecticut, Maine and cities around the country. But for real change we need the entire country to switch.

[Juvenile Bluster]

- Replacing privately funded elections with publicly funded elections. Publicly funded elections have opened up politics and freed candidates to serve the public in New York City, Connecticut, Maine and cities around the country.

Stop fooling us Pat. That came from The Onion, right?

[Ted S.]

If elections are only funded from tax dollars, I'm going to run for office on a hardcore porn-themed campaign.

[Ted S.]

For the children, of course.

[Suthenboy]

SuperPAC money isnt protected speech. Replacing privately funded elections with publicly funded elections.

So, voluntarily contributing money to further a cause you support is not protected speech and the way to remedy this evil practice is to force everyone to contribute to causes they do not support.

Zephyr Teachout, the author, is a law professor. What the fuck do they teach in law school these days?

[The Last American Hero]

Well, if one is to judge by the work of former Harvard Law grads that occupy the White House, they teach that Congress can be circumvented with a pen and phone, the words "shall not be infringed" and "shall not be abridged" are really more just guidelines than rules, the 1A doesn't apply to offensive speech, and the President can make war at will.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

and the President can make war at will.

But only if he's a Democrat.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Slightly O/T, since the folks still rending cloth over Citizens United are the same ones saying "Corporations aren't people", isn't a corporation just a peaceable assembly of people, as defined by 1A?

[Frankjasper1]

Remember corporations shouldn't donate but unions are perfectly ok

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Lefties take that as dogmatic law. Point out that most unions are incorporated and they lose their minds trying to justify it. Or they just accuse you of lying.

But I'm really interested in knowing if corporations are covered by peaceable assembly as defined by 1A.

[ant1sthenes]

Here's the real takeaway -- Donald Trump is huuuuuge and hasn't spent shit, because he knows how to work the journalism corporations. The JournoCorps (I won't call them "the press", because I want people to remember that the constitution protects technology for the masses, not special privileges for the prog elite) is basically a giant fucking super PAC that wants special rights.The anti-Citizens-United bitchfest is all about a set of entrenched political propagandists controlled almost entirely by the left wanting to ban political propagandists that might let non-leftists have a voice too. It's the same reason they hate talk radio, it's the same reason they hate Fox News, it's the same reason they hated the internet until they started making more headway there. There's no fucking principle at work other than securing political power through censorship.

[Pat (PM)]

Here's why Russia might be on the cusp of legalizing online poker

In what may prove to be the multi-billion-dollar online gaming industry's biggest change in a decade, Russia appears to be ready to finally let its estimated 20 million poker players legally compete on the internet. Russia is considering declaring poker predominantly a "game of skill" and requiring online poker operators to be licensed and regulated under Russian law. Although the timing of these measure remain uncertain, observers believe the move could come within months.[...]

Far from being a step backwards, Russia's current move builds on what others have learned since UIGEA. Moscow plans to license, regulate, and tax online gambling operators. Russia has seen the future and decided to embrace it, at least as far as online gambling goes.

But why is this good news? Think of how Prohibition, the US's nationwide ban on alcohol between 1920-1933, turned a large proportion of the American population into criminals, simple for consuming something they wanted. During that period, non-alcohol related crime used popularly-supported but illegal liquor sales as a cover for larger, more socially damaging crimes.

[Ted S.]

Sure I'd trust a Russian gambling site....

[grrizzly]

I can only dream that the US won't be far behind... Russia.

But seriously, unlike Americans Russians could always play poker online. The new move allows Russian companies to set up online poker sites in Russia, it doesn't mean there was any kind Prohibition of online poker there, everyone could play on international poker sites.

[Pat (PM)]

This Day in History

1793 - King Louis XVI was guillotined for treason.

1915 - The first Kiwanis Club was founded in Detroit.

1924 - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died in Moscow.

1950 - Former State department official Alger Hiss found guilty of perjury.

1950 - George Orwell died in London.

1954 - USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine was launched.

1977 - President Carter pardoned most Vietnam War draft evaders.

2003 - The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics had surpassed Blacks as the largest minority group.

2010 - In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the government cannot restrict the spending of corporations for political campaigns, maintaining that it's their First Amendment right to support candidates as they choose. This decision upsets two previous precedents on the free-speech rights of corporations.

[Brett L]

I'll bet Orwell was pissed.

[DEG]

#3 is the not. He's sleeping.

[Tonio]

Ha! Pining for the gulags?

[Doctor Whom]

Lenin zhil, Lenin zhiv, Lenin budet zhit'.

[Pan Zagloba]

Slava!

[Tonio]

Number five is the not. George Orwell was a pen name, ie fictional. The name of the actual person who wrote 1984 (etc) was Eric Blair.

[robc]

I say its #7. We would never elect Jimmy Carter president.

[Rich]

Judicial Watch: Obama Family's October Weekend Fundraising Getaway to San Diego Cost Taxpayers $2,001,468.90 in Travel Expenses Alone

"Barack Obama is now the 10-million-dollar man when it comes to wasteful presidential travel," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

One man's waste is another man's, um, NOT-waste!

[Juice]

Is it above average? Below? What?

[The Last American Hero]

Why does a lame-duck President need to do fundraising?

[GILMORE?]

No comment =

"A former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping four women and sexually assaulting several others while he was on duty was sentenced on Thursday to 263 consecutive years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence"

[Rich]

He broke down in tears when he was found guilty, telling jurors "I didn't do it," as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

"It" being his new cell mate.

[Tonio]

But he still has an appeal, right?

[GILMORE?]

i don't know, i never read the actual articles.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This is one of the rare cases where they actually handled it correctly. Detectives from his own department were following him at one point.

[gaoxiaen]

No. That's why he resorted to rape.

[Sevo]

"Jerry Brown says state must pay debt, new taxes on horizon"
[...]
"That means at some point, sooner rather than later, we have to bite the bullet and enact new fees and taxes for this purpose," Brown, 77, said. "Ideology and politics stand in the way, but one way or another the roads must be fixed."
http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....774764.php

Says the man who signed the Dills Act and now refuses to mention it.

[Ted S.]

Stop spending money on "high-speed" rail.

[Mickey Rat]

The peons have to reprioritize their spending habits not the politicians! What do you think this is?

[Frankjasper1]

Most of the comments were sane...then of course you got your liberals in there blaming republicans in california, and republicans in kansas or something

[GILMORE?]

Titties, Frogs, and Duck Livers

[jesse.in.mb]

About a year ago, Coeus and I had a conversation about poppers. There's currently a debate in the UK about banning more things.

The proposed laws are aimed at banning so-called New Psychoactive Substances (NPS's), of which 100 were identified across the EU in 2014. MPs have welcomed the move to ban some NPS's, but some politicians and campaigners have said the legislation is rushed and will include substances which are not unduly harmful to users.

A Tory MP has spoken out

"There are some times when something is proposed which becomes personal to you and you realise the government is about to do something fantastically stupid. And in those circumstances one has a duty to speak up. I use poppers. I out myself as a popper user and would be directly affected by this legislation, and I am astonished to find it is proposing to be banned ? and frankly so would very many other gay men."

He added, "It is manifestly stupid to go down the path we're going."

Conservative and Labour MPs have also chimed in to say this law sounds dumb. Here's to working across the aisles, eh?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Anal sex really brings people together

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Not pictured:
His attractive but stupid niece.

[GILMORE?]

What are poppers, exactly? Bronchio-dilators, a la Ephedrine?

[Tonio]

Vaso-dilators. Amyl nitrate used to be available OTC, but when the puritans found out that people were abusing that to have fun with [gasp] they put a stop to that. You could then get "video head cleaner" but in the nineties the US shut that down, too.

[IndyEleven]

I rented that there Head Cleaner video back in the day. Thought it'd be sexy but it was kinda boring.

[jesse.in.mb]

The laws on this are beyond dumb. Canada can produce them, but not for domestic use, but they get shipped from Slovenia or something random if you order a Canadian brand online. Which if you order in the summer can mean they get left out in a hot shipping warehouse long enough to spoil (umm, or so I've heard).

In the states they've been making various alkyl nitrites verboten for non-cleaning-solvent purposes for years, and then they switch over to a different analog, which everyone complains about for giving you a worse headache than the stuff they remember from the '70s. In France there was a problem with the new analog potentially causing blindness, whereas there'd never been claims of anything worse than wooziness and vomiting from previous iterations.

Also, this shit can be used to stop cyanide poisoning. It should be in every freezer in America.

[Suthenboy]

"It should be in every freezer in America"

Is cyanide poisoning that common?

[jesse.in.mb]

Probably not, but it can stop angina, stop cyanide poisoning and is a quality of life improvement for buttsecks (it's not un-useful for slightly upping someone's deep-throating game either).

Also, at HM's encouragement I have made some wild-cherry bark extracts which can be a bit prussic acid heavy.

[jesse.in.mb]

Vasodilating alkyl nitrites. They were originally used to stop angina/heart attacks.

Amyl nitrite, in common with other alkyl nitrites,[6] is a potent vasodilator; it expands blood vessels, resulting in lowering of the blood pressure. Alkyl nitrites are a source of nitric oxide, which signals for relaxation of the involuntary muscles. Physical effects include decrease in blood pressure, headache, flushing of the face, increased heart rate, dizziness, and relaxation of involuntary muscles, especially the blood vessel walls and the internal and external anal sphincter. There are no withdrawal symptoms. Overdose symptoms include nausea, vomiting, hypotension, hypoventilation, shortness of breath, and fainting. The effects set in very quickly, typically within a few seconds and disappear within a few minutes. Amyl nitrite may also intensify the experience of synesthesia.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Ass dilators, is what they're trying to say.

[Suthenboy]

When you wrote 'poppers' I immediately thought of cheese stuffed jalepenos. I was not the least bit surprised by the following - 'debate in the UK about banning'.

At this point there really is nothing the limeys could do control-freak wise that would surprise me.

[jesse.in.mb]

Those would be angina-inducing!

[GILMORE?]

We have no combat mission in Afghanistan

No, really

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Something for Eddie and the anti-feminists. And it's funny not just for the blatant hypocrisy. She reveals a lot about what she considers to be "New York." Unless you restrict yourself from the Upper West Side to Greenwich, chances are you'll run into little old black ladies spreading the word of the Lord to save your soul and blah blah blah. Even in midtown, it's not extraordinary to find someone set up with a table or preaching on the corner.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

For those who can't get to the Twitters, two quotes from Jill Filipovic. From Nov 16:

How strange and sad it must be to live in such fear of people who are different, or who come from places you don't understand.

From 4/11/11:

Just got accosted by street-evangelizing Christians. WTF? I live in NY specifically to avoid that shit.

[Tonio]

The lack of self-awareness is stunning.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Also, don't you dare use the phrase "New York values" even though people who actually live in New York acknowledge they moved there specifically because it contained a certain set of values.

[kbolino]

Somehow, I don't think Trump lost any votes over that comment.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Probably not, since Cruz said it.

[kbolino]

That would make more sense...

[ant1sthenes]

In fairness, Cruz takes his picante sauces very seriously.

[GILMORE?]

"She reveals a lot about what she considers to be "New York." Unless you restrict yourself from the Upper West Side to Greenwich, chances are you'll run into little old black ladies spreading the word of the Lord to save your soul and blah blah blah'

In my time living in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I have been subject to proselytizing by multiple religions every single day

I could draw you a fucking map of how it worked. On bedford avenue on the way to work? I'd pass the Chabad
house where i'd be asked by the Lubovitch whether I was Jewish. "Only on Tuesdays!" I'd gamely reply.

In the subway station? Little hispanic woman silently handing out Jehovas Witness literature. every single day.

14th-street/union square, where i switched trains? Jews for Jesus-HQ

When i worked in Times Sq? Throw in the screaming Black Israelites/LARPing-crew

On the way home, i'd frequently catch the act of a screaming jamaican woman who insisted that we were all sinners who needed to be washed in the blood of Jesus.

That dumb cooze has not been in the city very long.

[GILMORE?]

From The Annals of Stupid Questions = "Should People Actually Defend Themselves From Murderous Religious Zealots?

[John]

Even if it were useless, why would you ever want to die on your knees? If you have to die, you might as will die standing up. I just don't understand the mentality of someone who would meekly go to a certain death.

[Rich]

I just don't understand the mentality of someone who would meekly go to a certain death.

Jesus.

[kbolino]

Of course, that is what makes him better than us. Also, he was God. The rest of us, not so much.

[Suthenboy]

Yes. I am not god. I am going to go with John on this one.

I fully intend to die on my feet whether someone is attacking me or not.

I also want a viking funeral.

[BigT]

Die standing up?

I want to die in my own bed with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my cock!

[Tejicano]

That would be standing up too, right?

[John]

Touche. And I guess in the context of a government trying to kill you and your death being a public show I can see that. Dying with dignity does more to discredit the government than flailing and showing fear.

I was thinking more about the case of being confronted with the lone lunatic there to murder you. Then, resistance is dying with dignity.

[mad.casual]

Jesus.

21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

Luke 9:21-22 (see also Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19; Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:34; Luke 18:32)

I don't know what to call the spectrum (dignity in death?) but I put 'martyrdom' and 'on your knees' at opposite ends. At least, if Jesus died meekly on his knees then William Wallace died modestly and MLK Jr. was an outright pussy for marching on Washington, claiming to have a dream, and walking away alive and in relative comfort.

[John]

House Republican lawmakers issued subpoenas Wednesday to Department of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and three IRS officials following their failure to provide documents after several requests pertaining to the Obama administration's alleged unlawful payments to insurance companies for nearly a year.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/01.....z3xuyTiIdq

Just imagine if a Republican Administration were accused of illegally paying corporations with tax money. it would be bigger than Watergate.

[tarran]

As you know, I increasingly despise the Republican Party for its mercantilism and mendacity.

HOWEVER...

The shitstorm of hostility Republican Office holders tend to face compared to Democrats is, I think, a very defensible reason for an anarchist to cast votes for Republicans.

[John]

It wasn't always such. But starting with Clinton and certainly with Obama, electing a Democrat President is voting for there to be no accountability for anything no matter how vile or obvious. The media simply will ignore it and the Democrats in Congress refuse to admit it.

There is literally nothing Obama could do that would cause the media to turn on him or demand accountability. Nothing.

[Suthenboy]

Oh c'mon John, that is a bit of an exaggeration. There is an 'over the top' for everyone even if it is higher for some than others.

What if Obumbles armed gangs of drug dealers and thugs with illegal guns? What if they subsequently murdered people with those guns? Even he couldn't get away with that.

[John]

Yeah. That is true. And he couldn't get away with turning the IRS lose on his political opponents. There is no way he would ever dare try that and if he did the media would make sure he paid for it.

[Frankjasper1]

I wonder how the progs use mental gymnastics here from their government laws and hatred of insurance companies vs their savior Obama

[Jerry on the rocks]

What it means to be peer-reviewed in the 21st century.
Like:
"Sexercising to orgasm: Embodied pedagogy and sexual labour in women's magazines."
"I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance."
"It's called Girl Scouts, not, like, Woman Scouts': emotional labour and girls' bodies."
"The Telephone and the Gendering of Space."
"The joy fuck club: Prolegomenon to an Asian American porno practice."

[DEG]

I was reminded of this Heinlein quote:

The profession of shaman has many advantages. It offers high status with a safe livelihood free of work in the dreary, sweaty sense. In most societies it offers legal privileges and immunities not granted to other men. But it is hard to see how a man who has been given a mandate from on High to spread tidings of joy to all mankind can be seriously interested in taking up a collection to pay his salary; it causes one to suspect that the shaman is on the moral level of any other con man. But it is a lovely work if you can stomach it.

[RAHeinlein]

+1 Notebooks of Lazarus Long...

[GILMORE?]

Always Classy: White House Tactfully Points Out Sarah Palin's Children Are Dangerous Drunken Wife-Beaters

[Rich]

White House reacts to Palin: 'Domestic violence is not a joke'

I hope Palin points out some other stuff that's not a joke. Like with a cloth or something.

[John]

I wonder what we don't know about the Obama brats. What are the odds that one or both of them after he leaves office end up dating rap stars and going full Whitney Houston?

[tarran]

My guess is that they will get Chelsea Clintoned. Their lives will be empty of meaning because they will always be protected and pampered.

[DEG]

Or doing porn.

[John]

That would be such a trainwreck. You wouldn't want to look but you couldn't help not looking.

I would bet on there being a sex tape of one of them before I bet on them doing straight up porn.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

In defense of the White House, she's the one who opened that door, and it was a VERY stupid thing to do.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Also in defense of the White House, that idiot decided to blame her son's domestic battery on President Obama not being nice enough to soldiers.

Fuck that whole family. Palin blames Obama for her son's domestic abuse (especially ironic given that conservatives are supposed to take personal responsibility) and I'm supposed to feel bad for the Palins when the Obama White House rightfully calls her on her bullshit?

Even more importantly, given Palin's daughter who teaches abstinence only education but can't stay un-pregnant for more than two years, that entire family is clearly fucked beyond belief, and maybe Palin should be at home putting her house in order instead of jetting around endorsing presidential candidates and blaming Obama for her own egregious failures as a parent.

[waffles]

Yeah the whole thing is trigged up.

[GILMORE?]

"I'm supposed to feel bad for the Palins when the Obama White House rightfully calls her on her bullshit?"

No, its just stupid in both directions. They probably both have some legitimate points buried under the pony-poo culture-war sniping.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This one is all on Palin. If somebody blamed me for their kid beating on his girlfriend, I'd have the same reaction or worse.

[GILMORE?]

You've thought about it more than i have. I was unaware of it until this moment. I thought her comment was something about the VA scandal, and the white house was like, "Yeah? well your kids are redneck scum". BURN.

I have no doubt her original comments were probably epic-stupidity in their own right, but the article doesn't actually quote them from what i saw. or they quoted this =

""I can certainly relate to the families who ? feel these ramifications of PTSD," she said according to media reports, using an acronym referring to post-traumatic stress disorder.

"And it makes me realize more than ever it is now or never for the sake of America's finest that we have a commander in chief who will respect them.""

which seemed not-particularly controversial

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Yep. Again, it was an incredibly stupid thing to say, and she deserves whatever hate is coming her way.

Where are these family values that I keep hearing about? She's not helping her son who has PTSD from an all-volunteer military deployment because it's the government's job?

She's not even a good politician.

[Crusty Juggler]

You can't put lipstick on that pig of a family.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

So... Would? (for everybody but Trig)

[Crusty Juggler]

You're disgusting. One daughter may be fairly normal, so probably not her, but the rest, of course.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm trying to find the TMZ article where the Palins showed up to a party in a limo and a fistfight promptly broke out on the lawn.

Maybe that's par for the course in Alaska.

[Irish ?s ESB]

There's audio of Palin's abusive son basically screaming that one of the guys they're fighting is a homo.

Yeah, real upstanding family, the Palins are.

[GILMORE?]

There was no moose-rape involved, so no

[GILMORE?]

Imagine Trump picks Sarah Palin as a running mate.

did you feel the temperature in the room just drop? I did.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Hollande says France in state of economic emergency

"Regarding the rules for hiring and laying off, we need to guarantee stability and predictability to both employers and employees. There is room for simplification," he said.

"The goal is also more security for the company to hire, to adapt its workforce when economic circumstances require, but also more security for the employee in the face of change and mobility".

Or, you could let employers and employees set their own contracts, and let the labor market clear...

[tarran]

NON! NON! NON!

They did not fight the Nazis and defeat them to surrender like this! Many a patriotic frenchman and woman shed their blood to defend the principle that the state should govern the economy! To walk away would betray their sacrifice!

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Flint is apparently enviromental racism and road salt is evil:Fine derp right here

When salt is on the road, birds often mistake the crystals for seeds or grit, resulting in toxicosis and death. Deer are also attracted to roads to eat the salt crystals, leading to higher incidents of vehicular accidents and wildlife kills.As warmer temperatures arrive and snow begins to melt, salt splashes and sprays off to the side of the road, entering the soil...damaging foliage.Runoff washes down storm drains and into reservoirs, endangering sensitive aquatic communities and reducing species diversity.

-

Although access to clean drinking water is a widely agreed upon, globally recognized human right, the residents of Flint haven't had a reliable public water supply in place for close to two years.While this manmade disaster was most likely the result of penny-pinching, face-saving and generally poor decision making rather than intentional racism, it certainly fits the larger pattern in this country where people of color disproportionately face social and ecological burdens.Centuries of discriminatory and oppressive policies have pushed Black people into cities with poor infrastructure and environmental hazards, with particularly disproportionate exposure to lead. What's we're seeing in Flint right now are the appalling effects of institutional racism unfolding.

[RBS]

Laura Mandanas is a Filipina American living in Queens. By day, she works as an industrial engineer. By night, she is beautiful and terrible as the morn, treacherous as the seas, stronger than the foundations of the Earth. All shall love her and despair. Connect with Laura at lauram [at] autostraddle.com or lauramandanas.com.

[Medical Physics Guy]

An engineer said that crap? I haz a disappoint. I'd attack something in particular, but there is no good place to start. It's like reading ESB or something.

[Pan Zagloba]

Ah, people who quote things they do not understand.

"By night, I'm the worst, most evil person in the world! A thing a character I presumably admire would rather die than become! YEAH!"

She also fucked up the tenses, making it look like she's not even good at being the worst person in the world.

[Brett L]

Industrial engineer. Spreadsheet queen. Less calculus than civil engineers.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Well, if you wanted me to post a bunch of Autostraddle writers bios, you just got your wish sir:

KaeLyn is a 32-year-old (femme)nist activist and the reigning Queer Fat Vegan Korean Immigrant Ms. America Pageant winner. She is a full-time community organizer and a part-time lover/sex educator. You can typically find her binge-watching TV, over-caffeinating herself, standing somewhere with a mic or a sign in her hand, eating carbs, or just generally doing too many things at once. She lives in Rochester, NY with her partner-in-crime/spouse and their furkids: a xenophobic cat, two bossy bunnies, and a sassy guinea pig. She and her partner blog about adding a human kid to the mix at Queer Family Matters.

But the best ever is for a writer named Kate...

Hard-lovin' butch made of tears, sweat, and spit, in that order. Professional lonesome polecat. Kate is living proof that you can take the hillperson out of the mountains, but she's still probably going to run back to the mountains anyway. Kate prefers the trashy to the classy, and the tender to everything else. Full-time writer, part-time lover. Heart got so big and soggy that she had to cut off all her sleeves.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Okay, do any female libertarians out there want to let me use your picture so I can pretend to be a woman and become a trolling contributor to Autostraddle?

If you help me in this cause, you can expect articles like:

"How the phallic shape of trees empowers the patriarchy."

"Why is the Washington Monument like a gigantic penis?"

"I was a Young Republican in college, until they all gang raped me"

etc.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Good ideas, but you'd have to get their style down. It's something else.

For instance, your last article? It should be called something else, and subtitled: "How my rape at the hands of my fellow Young Republicans shows how society supposedly "individualistic" philosophy is really about hetronormative sexual performance and the subjugation of black and brown, queer, gender non-conforming, traditional standards of beauty non-conforming bodies."

That whole run on sentence would be the article's subtitle. But you have a good start.

And if they try to edit it, object on the basis of oppression.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I've already got my Autostraddle biography planned out.

"Joanne O'Leary is a contributor to Autostraddle, a native of Flint, MI currently residing in Williamsburg. She's a take no prisoners femme fatale who enjoys crocheting in the sunlight with her big but beautiful girlfriend, Jessica. She runs a small boutique firm producing artisinal mayonnaise and similar tasty treats for the discerning foodie - at least when she's not smashing the patriarchy or attending post-punk femme rock concerts with the guuuuurls. Sagittarius, so you know she hates mind games."

[Crusty Juggler]

Would.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Very good, Padawan, but if I may.

Put quotes around the "femme" or make it "who puts the femme in femme fatale"- the whole butch femme is big there, as is gender presentation. Probably why I check it every few days and see if any truly insane new article has gone up- it combines feminist derp with gender/trans depr and lesbian derp all under explicltly far left "radical depr", and although most sucks and is fluffly, when they go oh man do they go.

The second thing? You can't do that "big but beautiful" thing.

First off, remove that "but" from your language- on this site a 350 pound bull dyke butch with a glandular disorder is considered just as hot and attractive as a 120 pound C cup femme.

Secondly, your girlfirend isn't "big but beautiful." She "enjoys crocheting in the sunlight with her body-positive, fat-positive activist girlfriend Jessica."

I am honestly only half kidding. I have thought about trolling one of these places forever as an article writer, and for some reason autostraddle always jumped out as a good place to start.

[Libertarian]

Why does it have to be a pic of a female? I doubt that the two above look very girly.

[Crusty Juggler]

It should be a photo of a hefty, tattooed arm surrounded by a dirty, flannel shirt.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Yvonne S. Marquez is a senior editor at Autostraddle and a Latina lesbian living in Dallas, Texas. She's originally from a weird/wonderful place called the Rio Grande Valley, a region along the Texas-Mexico border. She studied magazine journalism in Austin and worked for a local gay & lesbian magazine for a hot second. She's a true INFJ, Sagittarius and Ravenclaw, so basically she's quiet and thinks a lot. In her spare time, she tries to read as many books by women of color as she can, hangs out with a bunch of socialists and social justice organizers, and likes drinking local beer

Stef Schwartz is the founding Music Editor and self-appointed Vapid Fluff Editor at Autostraddle.com. She's a rock'n'roll jack-of-all-trades, vegan crusader and legit professional weirdo. She currently resides in New York City, where she spends her days writing songs nobody will ever hear and her nights telling much more successful musicians what to do.

Isabel is a Mexico City native and current Brooklyn dweller, stands about 5-feet tall and gets really mad when her girlfriend stores the olive oil on a high shelf. She's a documentary filmmaker by day and expert quesadilla architect by night. She runs a small production company with her brother and has worked with Paper Magazine, A&E, History Channel, Bon Appetit and The New York Times. She's a mediocre bowler.

[Crusty Juggler]

This is insanely hot.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Goddamn it, Crusty, I forgot you were here when I started.

Do you, uh, need me to put up some more, or are you done buddy?

[Tejicano]

Oh, and leave the shotgun.

[Pan Zagloba]

OK, so this is a bunch of bullshit made up by one guy churning out content under six handles, right?

[Suthenboy]

I would bet my last dollar that the people that work for her would fire her in a second if they could get away with it.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

While this manmade disaster was most likely the result of penny-pinching, face-saving and generally poor decision making rather than intentional racism

"most likely"

[gaoxiaen]

You can use urea to melt the ice on your sidewalk or driveway. It's cheap and doesn't kill grass or flower beds. Deer are attracted to roadside salt.

[GILMORE?]

Historic Diplomacy! = Obvious Byproducts-Edition

[Suthenboy]

380 acres? That is a big deal?

[GILMORE?]

In Israel? That's like a "state". The entire country is 9 miles wide in one spot.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

NAMI's response to gun control proposals is not totally crap! Hooray!

Look, it could be a LOT stronger, but the 2013 statment they link to isn't bad:

NAMI shares the goal of reducing gun violence in America and believes that firearms and
ammunition should not be easier to obtain than mental health care. At the same time, NAMI
strongly advocates that people should not be treated differently with respect to firearms regulations
based on stereotypical assumptions about mental illness and its relationship to violence. We believe
that the current NICS law is based on faulty assumptions about the relationships between mental
illness and violence, not grounded in science. We therefore do not support amending the HIPAA
Privacy Rule to create a special exception for reporting of mental health records to the NICS
database.

For a national public health org that represents the mentally ill (who are not of one mind regarding this- gun control is supported by some, opposed by others) that's pretty damn good.

Like, it's not total piece of shit left wing agitprop, which is how many of these things seem to go, so yay NAMI

[GILMORE?]

""that's pretty damn good.""

I guess.

I have not yet seen a single news-article pointing out that requiring 'mentally ill' (*read: anyone who's ever taken meds for anything) people to all be "put on a government list" is a gigantic, gaping hole into which huge swaths of individual rights will be tossed, vanishing forever.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Well, NAMI can only do the press release- do you really expect the DemOp media to put on page A1, "National Mental Health Org opposes NICS database expansion"? The only way they do that is if it's in an article whose angle is, "See how crazy these fucks are?"

I do agree that it is weaker than would be ideal- I would love to find an org that specifically gives a shit about protecting the gun rights of people who have mental illness, on the basis that most depression and anxiety and even bipolar disorders don't make you go home and blow your brain out the second you get a gun- shit is deeper than that. Sadly. I think such an org would be a tough sell publicly, because you would have to explicitly accept the trade off that some people may use guns to commit suicide and your argument would hinge in part on that being an acceptable price for human freedom.

Given how bad Americans are at the idea of economic trade offs, I feel an organization that publicly admitted to trade offs with suicide and "human life" and came down on the side that was for freedom- that shit never gets a dime, sadly.

Which is why the NRA should nut up, but they have been weaker on mental health than many other areas.

[Mickey Rat]

A woman is accusing Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting himself?

[Crusty Juggler]

Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.

It was a wild ride.

[Sevo]

"Does Walmart closure mean higher minimum wage equals fewer jobs?"
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/.....772957.php

Wally closes one store with new M/W, leaves two open a mile or so away. Comments predictable; 'money-grubbing wally', etc.

[Old Mexican Mighty Aggressor]

A British inquiry has determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely approved the deadly poisoning of a former KGB agent who became a British intelligence operative.

No one messes with the Putin.

Bernie Sanders has a new advertisement out [...] And, of course, it's already being analyzed over how diverse the ad is or is not.

How diverse should it be? Marxians say "Whatever The State Says."

Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.

There's still time to save all them Easterners by launching them in the B Ark.

A bomb in Cairo killed two police officers raiding a home where militants were apparently planning terrorist attacks. Twelve others were injured.

"Surprise!"
"Ahhh!!" and then he lets go of the detonator.

[waffles]

White house in snow photo credit huh?

Credit: U.S. Embassy Jakarta, Indonesia / photo on flickr

Well, whatever.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Oh, by the way, I've been trying out Vivaldi since they put out that release a few days back.

So far super solid for a browser just getting started. I wouldn't per se recommend it just yet- there are some basic functionality things they haven't added yet (like just pulling a tab down to start a new window isn't there atm- I assume they will add it). They have some cool ideas and the speed is amazing, as is the data compression.

Put it this way, because I really needed it, I stupidly bought a Pearson e-text. While my phone loaded it fine off the Google Play Books app, Firefox hated Google Books, Chrome-CHROME- hated Google Books, Vivaldi loaded it well enough for me to flip pages, so whatever they are doing to handle and load data it is good.

Seriously, in a year or two when they have it fully fleshed out, I think this will be a Firefox/Chrome/IE killer. Okay, of those, realistically just Firefox.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

It's getting to the point where in an enterprise setting, you can't rely on THE or A browser. You better have IE, Chrome and Firefox loaded, otherwise something's not going to work and you're going to have 40 users staring at you while you dive down the rabbit hole of browser interoperability.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Is that a browser design or web design format?

I mean, the HTML 5 v Flash thing is a well known fuck up, but is it browsers are getting shitty or is it that with more websites and with more sites built for mobile, there are just so many new scripts constantly being added, tweaked, updated etc?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Is that a browser design or web design format?

Yes.

This developer is sloppy and won't get past Chrome's strict adherence to W3C or Diffe-Hellman encryption suite. Chrome no longer supports NPAPI plugins (read Java) so this entire web-based app doesn't work, so use IE or Firefox. Chrome does a better job of formatting this particular dynamically generated web content, IE doesn't.

And so on.

These are just random examples off the top of my head, all that have happened to us in the last 30 days.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Eich has a browser in the works. https://brave.com/

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Oh yeah, the world is still scheduled to end on the East Coast due to snow.

Thank god, they can finally blame the economic conditions on the weather again.

[Frankjasper1]

From the Chapman "Bernie Healthcare"...shows you the intelligence of the progs/bernie-bots

"Poor old Steve Chapman still doesn't understand (or want to understand) that unlike the cities, counties and states, the federal government is MONETARILY SOVEREIGN.

This means:

1. The federal government never can run short of its own sovereign currency, the dollar.

2. Given #1, the federal government can pay any size bills at any time.

Given #1 & 2, the federal government does not need to collect taxes in order to pay its bills. Even if all federal taxes fell to $0, the federal government could continue spending, forever.

So when Chapman says, "(Medicare for All) rests on an old and thoroughly conventional formula: Promise voters they will get more and better health care without paying for it," he is trying to discredit what the federal government has done every day of its existence: Create dollars by spending

When someone doesn't understand MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY, but continues to write about economics, it's as though someone who has no knowledge of arithmetic is trying to write about calculus.

It would be humorous except for the fact that Chapman is deceiving (intentionally or not) all those who think he knows what he's talking about.

So, it's sad."

[GILMORE?]

Neochartalism / Modern Monetary Theory explained

Even shorter = its a handy way for progs to make idiotic claims about government spending, then handwave away any criticisms with the explanation "YOU DONT UNDERSTAND (our fantasy world version of) ECONOMICS"

It all seems to break down on the small criticism of, "then why doesn't the government just stop taxing income and let everyone be rich?", or, "What happens when other countries no longer buy our sovereign debt?"

[Frankjasper1]

It really is amazing...yet they call for more taxation and hoot/holler at tax cuts.

[Frankjasper1]

Another doozy:
Mr. Chapman, have you ever lived in a Western European country? Do you have first-hand knowledge of how good or bad their health care systems are? Have you actually looked at the level of expenditure for the entire country is per capita for their health care systems? Is your only source of information to look at Anglo-Saxon countries like Canada and Britain as the baseline?

I seriously doubt you can answer 'Yes' to any of the these questions except the last one.

Your article is what I would call intellectually dishonest.

There are two simple metrics to measure if a health care system is efficient and leads to the desired outcome. They go hand in hand. In fact, the final metric is the proportion between the two.

Here is the final metric: (Average national life expectancy) divided by (national health expenditure per person)

The main objective of a health care system is to achieve a high if not increasing life expectancy. The only constraint is how much you spend per person to get there.

The result is simple. The United States spends twice as much per person for an average life expectancy 3 years lower than France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc etc etc. All Western European single-payer systems.

Check this out to see the graph. It's from the OECD.

http://www.businessinsider.com.....ing-2014-3

Sorry, Bernie Sanders is correct in his views.

[gaoxiaen]

In Taiwan you could consider it a subsidy to business and it increases labor mobility.

[Frankjasper1]

Another doozy:
Mr. Chapman, have you ever lived in a Western European country? Do you have first-hand knowledge of how good or bad their health care systems are? Have you actually looked at the level of expenditure for the entire country is per capita for their health care systems? Is your only source of information to look at Anglo-Saxon countries like Canada and Britain as the baseline?

I seriously doubt you can answer 'Yes' to any of the these questions except the last one.

Your article is what I would call intellectually dishonest.

There are two simple metrics to measure if a health care system is efficient and leads to the desired outcome. They go hand in hand. In fact, the final metric is the proportion between the two.

Here is the final metric: (Average national life expectancy) divided by (national health expenditure per person)

The main objective of a health care system is to achieve a high if not increasing life expectancy. The only constraint is how much you spend per person to get there.

The result is simple. The United States spends twice as much per person for an average life expectancy 3 years lower than France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc etc etc. All Western European single-payer systems.

Check this out to see the graph. It's from the OECD.

http://www.businessinsider.com.....ing-2014-3

Sorry, Bernie Sanders is correct in his views.

[kbolino]

The United States spends twice as much per person for an average life expectancy 3 years lower

SCARY!

Meaningless, but scary.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

I love the way these guys talk with such authority. A guy repeating the fucking quackery that is MMT tells Chapman to learn economics. This moron is so sure that the question can be reduced down to a simple metric that relies on life expectancy.

[Frankjasper1]

I know. And what is amusing is that graph confirms why Bernie Sanders plan wont save big or bring them in line with other countries

[Frankjasper1]

A third:

Naysayers like to use the argument that some people have to wait longer than they like to be treated in nations with universal healthcare, but fail to mention that many people can't get treatment at all under a capitalist, for-profit healthcare system. Which is worse, waiting a few months for a cheap or free procedure, or suffering indefinitely and likely dying because you can't afford an expensive procedure?

[Agammamon]

Eh? You can always get care in a socialist medical system? Like what? Cuba? North Korea? The *UK*? Fucking *Canada*?

Just because you can *get care* doesn't mean the care is worth a damn. And its waiting a few months for a cheap or free procedure *and* waiting a few months (or years) for an expensive one. There are no free lunches - you either ration with money or you ration with time. Oh, and that's not when you're denied healthcare altogether because the government doesn't like your lifestyle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....oking.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-U-S.html

And to close - all those European countries with that *hyoog* 3 year LE gap - yeah they *all* have for profit health care sectors. France for example, all the healthcare is private providers. The LE gains disappear when you get into the nationalized healthcare countries like the UK.

[Agammamon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....tment.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea.....veals.html

[Frankjasper1]

According to the guy above...the federal gov can just print the money and poof it is free!

[Sevo]

Sarc or stupidity? From the other carp you've posted, I'm gonna say stupidity.

[Frankjasper1]

And let's be honest what does healthcare spending have to do with life expectancy?

[Sevo]

Frankjasper1|1.21.16 @ 6:23PM|#
"...many people can't get treatment at all under a capitalist, for-profit healthcare system."

You posted this lie last night and got called on it; do you think re-posting a lie makes it something other than a lie?

[Frankjasper1]

Haha i suggest you read above and particularly the first sentence regarding my healthcare posts. Also read the bernie thread again.

[Frankjasper1]

Frankjasper1|1.21.16 @ 6:18PM|#

From the Chapman "Bernie Healthcare"...shows you the intelligence of the progs/bernie-bots

[ant1sthenes]

A lot of medical care comes with a ticking clock (either because you heal up on your own after a lot of unnecessary suffering, the situation becomes untreatable but stable, or because you die). Sometimes treatment delayed is treatment denied.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Houston PoliceVerified account
?@houstonpolice
HPD also has a record low number of internal affairs complaints. 209 complaints were filed by citizens in 2015 versus 207 in 2014.

[Frankjasper1]

Haha not sure if serious by HPD?

[Agammamon]

A British inquiry has determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely approved the deadly poisoning of a former KGB agent who became a British intelligence operative.

1. They still don't have anything like *proof* so this is pretty much irrelevant. Its not going to change anyone's mind.

2. Even if they actually had proof it wouldn't matter. Putin isn't going to care because the Brits are too chickenshit to do anything about him ordering a murder inside the country they nominally control. If there were some danger that Putin might get a taste of British polonium then he'd have likely thought twice about it. Its why the USG drones people with the flimsiest of excuses - WTF are they going to do about it?

[reason readin female]

Came across this today, and I'm wondering if SJWs have jumped the shark, or if this is just the beginning.

http://www.oregonlive.com/port.....oming.html

[rosybrown5489]

I've made $76,000 so far this year working online and I'm a full time student.I'm using an online business opportunity I heard about and I've made such great money.It's really user friendly and I'm just so happy that I found out about it.

????????????? http://Jobstribune.com

[sofiathomaas123]

I've made $76,000 so far this year working online and I'm a full time student.I'm using an online business opportunity I heard about and I've made such great money.It's really user friendly and I'm just so happy that I found out about it.

Open This LinkFor More InFormation..

??????? http://www.Jobstribune.com

[andythomas189]

my classmate's mother-in-law makes $78 hourly on the computer . She has been out of work for 6 months but last month her check was $17581 just working on the computer for a few hours. view website

[] ???????======== http://www.Wage90.Com

[Rich]

Swedes were delighted with the new and improved snow penis.

Different strokes for different folks.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's just a snow penis.

[GILMORE?]

Because guns are bad, mkay? First World Perspectives on Last-World-Problems n'stuff.

The fact that these same problems are affecting the West is actually germane. Obvious Reuters writers haven't quite grasped the implications of the answer potentially being "yes".

[__Warren__]

Cock mogul.

[Libertarian]

Sing it!

"There's NO penis like SNOW penis.......like NO penis I know........."

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Ceci n'est pas un p?nis.

[BigT]

That's no penis (whips it out) This is a penis!!

-Cockadial Dundee

[ant1sthenes]

So long as that expectation is only applied to Reuters writers and their ilk, I think it will all work out for the best.