GOP Establishment Could Settle for Trump, National Review Goes to War, Prof Investigated for ISIS Ties: A.M. Links

• 

  Donald Trump

  The Republican establishment could learn to live with Donald Trump, but still loathes Ted Cruz.

• National Review declares all-out war on Trump.
• Are Hillary Clinton's donors panicking?
• New York Times editorial accuses Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder of "depraved indifference" toward Flint.
• Kent State University professor investigated for possible ties to ISIS.
• U.S. student detained by North Korean officials.

New at Reason.com:

Brickbat: You've Got a Friend

By Charles Oliver

ISIS Is Expanding. Should U.S. Military Bases Abroad Expand Too?

Author David Vine says a growth in overseas bases will damage national security and the economy.

By Nick Gillespie and Amanda Winkler

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kent State University professor investigated for possible ties to ISIS.

Call out the Ohio National Guard?

[Swiss Servator]

Air support provided by the Illinois Air National Guard...

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Julio Pino looks like he could use a nice punch in the face.

Here you go. A nice piece on multiculturalism and Marxism since the word 'diversity' seems to be all the rage these days. Trudeau can't seem to go a day without uttering it:

http://www.reversespins.com/pcmarx.html

[Pathogen]

+ 4 dead in Oh-Hi-O...

[dantheserene]

That has got to be one of the worst songs in the history of popular music. How many drugs were they on when they produced it?

[db]

Are you saying the needle did some damage to that song?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Knowing what he know now of Young and the gang, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have written that song if Johnson were in power.

[Fist of Etiquette]

TOO SOON.

[Fist of Etiquette]

U.S. student detained by North Korean officials.

I'm beginning to suspect North Korea might not be an ideal travel destination.

[UnCivilServant]

They probably thought it was a socialist utopia, they are a college student after all

[Juvenile Bluster]

It's apparently beautiful, at least the parts they let you see. But if you don't do exactly as your handlers tell you, you're gonna have a bad time.

[Libertarian]

So, pretty much like Vermont?

[Krabappel]

Oh yeah, and it's so much more AUTHENTIC than the Americanized South, what with all the starving and poverty.

[MOFO.]

Beautiful is a stretch, but its defn interesting. More than other places, its a good idea not to try anything stupid. My guess is that this student did something fairly ill advised.

[Suthenboy]

I am beginning to suspect that travelers to North Korea might not be the smartest people.

[MOFO.]

Its safe so long as you dont act the fool. Pro tip: if you want to make a political statement, dont do it in a country that executes people with anti-aircraft guns.

[Swiss Servator]

The Republican establishment could learn to live with Donald Trump, but still loathes Ted Cruz.

That is almost a full endorsement for Cruz....

[Libertarian]

My thought exactly. If the GOP establishment is against something, why on earth wouldn't a sane person be for it?

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Reverse psychology? The establishment is playing 5 dimensional chess, here.

Though there does seem to be a consensus that Cruz is an asshole to work with. Four years with either man as POTUS would probably be very frustrating. More executive actions and speeches about how the Pres is right and everyone else is unAmerican.

[Just say Nikki]

No, it's not reverse psychology. Part of the establishment is a bunch of lobbyists and cronies who smartly assume Cruz is more likely to end some of their gravy train than Trump is.

[WTF]

^This, so much.

[Libertarian]

Yep. If they honestly wanted what was best for the country, and also honestly believed that a smaller, more conservative government would be better for the country, 4 years of spending cuts, reduced regulation, etc. would be a wonderful record to run on in 2018 and 2020, no?

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Oh sure, only you get to do sarcasm. That's soooo fair.

[Just say Nikki]

Life isn't fair, MJ.

[Citizen X]

5 dimensional chess, to the untrained eye, looks an awful lot like a passel of grunting morons flailing away at a Candyland board.

[Swiss Servator]

Nice.

[Trigger Hippie]

+1 Hungry Hungry Hypocrites

[Aresen]

In 5-Dimensional Chess, the Grunting Morons are the most powerful piece.

[Azathoth!!]

Ha!

None of you have played 5 dimensional chess at all, have you?

You don't use 'eyes' to 'see' it.

[Suthenboy]

Yesterday I heard Lindsey Graham supporting Bush and cursing Cruz.

Best endorsement ever.

[Drake]

Yes. Cruz should run it in an ad.

[Pathogen]

And, is SC wasn't a swing state, Lindsey Graham would be flipping burgers by now...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are Hillary Clinton's donors panicking?

President Hillary is going to exact so much revenge.

[sarcasmic]

'I'm going to kill you and I'm going to kill your mom': What Charlie Sheen said to his eight-year-old daughter after calling her 'a f***ing pig w***e' according to explosive new legal documents

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ments.html
What a douche. He should run for president.

[WTF]

Yeah, ex-wives never exaggerate or make false claims. Although Charlie is crazy, so who knows?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Remember Martin when he was all activisty under Bush? He didn't exactly behave with grace. Now not so much?

[Warty]

w***e

...Worse? Where? Whale? Write? Wince?...

Oh! Whore! Now I get it. Carry on.

[sarcasmic]

If there's one thing Charlie knows, it's whores.

[Citizen X]

That's not even an insult, coming from him.

[Warty]

And yet, how many of us have fucked Bree Olson?

[Crusty Juggler]

Are we counting her vibrating sex doll, which is built true-to-life?

[Warty]

That counts at best for half.

[coloraDOOM]

Technically correct?

[Hamster of Doom]

Thank you, I was stumped and starting a search for the answer while feeling very disappointed in my slang vocabulary.

[Just say Nikki]

I thought the apostrophe indicated Charlie used the w-word that rhymes with the n-word.

[Warty]

"We're" barely rhymes with "ne'er".

[WTF]

Wagger?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

::shakes fist::

[sloopyinTEXAS]

He called her a "wagger "?

-Randy Marsh

[Roger the Shrubber]

Imagine that. Charlie married, then divorced, a whore.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Sheen, who pays $55,000 a month in child support for Lola, 10, and Sami, 11, is calling Richard's actions 'a desperate attempt to get more money'

*Eyes bulge out of head*

[sarcasmic]

Air Force shelves plans to retire A-10 claiming the aircraft is needed in the fight against ISIS

ISIS and a US air campaign to fight have prompted a reconsideration of plans made by the Air Force to retire the A-10
The Air Force's F-35 is expected to eventually replace the A-10 Thunderbolt, but the new jets have not been battle-tested
The A-10, nicknamed The Warthog, has seen combat in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, where it has battled against ISIS
The decision comes after Pentagon officials said retiring the A-10 would not be part of the Pentagon budget request
The A-10 is the only aircraft specifically designed for close-air support

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-ISIS.html
Too bad they can't make more.

[Swiss Servator]

Never felt safer than with a pair of 'hogs orbiting the area.

[Crusty Juggler]

Seriously. Everything I have read echoes your statement, and yet the Air Force is doing all it can to get rid of the A-10. They do not even want a similar replacement. Yay Pentagon.

[Swiss Servator]

USAF Fighter Jet Mafia.

They sort of forget what the old United States Army Air Force was created for in the first place...

[Mickey Rat]

Of course. The A-10 mission implies that perhaps the Air Force should never have been spun off into a separate branch. The Air Force is historically insecure about its strategic purpose, they would rather forget about what they were originally created for.

[some guy]

Agreed. The Air Force should really just be involved in space stuff and near-space stuff. All the in-theater air assets should go back to being under the Army (or Navy, as appropriate). This is particularly true for anything providing direct ground support.

Now let's talk about cooperation/overlap between Army and Marine missions...

[Monty Crisco]

If it is SUCH a goddamn albatross for the USAF why don't they just give it to the Army? WTF?!?! Just to be rid of the problem. This is THE dumbest example of bureaucratic government territory pissing-match I have EVER seen - AND I WORK IN GOVERNMENT!!!

And if you think the F-35 is going to do ANYTHING well, please give me some of what you are smoking...

[jamesrk]

To be fair is doing a great job of blowing up the DODs budget.

[dantheserene]

The AF would never, ever open the door to the possibility of the Army having *any* fixed wing assets. Even if it means they can't pretend the close air support mission doesn't exist.

[Overt]

When I was a kid, I would go to regular Air Shows at the local Air Force base. They would have all the different planes spread out on the tarmac with pilots there to explain its capabilities. Without fail, the A-10 had the biggest lines of people scrambling to talk about it. You could tell that the rest of the pilots were quite disgruntled by the fact. I stopped by an F16 (my other favorite plane) to talk about things, and he complained that a lot of the popularity came because it looked like the GI Joe Cobra airplane. Talking with others, I think it was that a lot of our town was army, who had a big respect for the A10.

Later I knew a guy who flew C130s for the Airforce. He explained that pilots by and large had personalities that matched their plane. F22 pilots were the no nonsense total professionals you'd expect flying the elite planes. F15 pilots were dicks. And A10 drivers were "Nucking futs". He said they were the best guys to go into town with on leave.

[R C Dean]

And A10 drivers were "Nucking futs".

Surprises me not at all, since they are flying a plane whose mission is to go low and slow over the hottest spot on the battlefield, and is designed, not to evade incoming fire, but to absorb it.

I've met my Congresscritter Martha McSally a couple of times. She's a former A-10 pilot (and the one who busted the Pentagon's chops over forcing women posted to Saudi to conform to their barbaric theological dress code). I actually like her. Unfortunately, the odds of her getting re-elected are not great, at this point.

[WTF]

I never got why they would get rid of the most effective ground-attack plane ever made. Specifically designed to destroy Soviet armor, and damn good at it, too.

[sarcasmic]

Because the cost of maintaining the things is approaching or exceeding the cost of replacing them.

[R C Dean]

I could see that argument, if there was a replacement in the wings. As far as I know, there isn't.

It is an outdated platform, in that it can't survive (for long) against modern AA. But an outdated platform useful only against the likes of ISIS is still better than no platform. And it'll be awhile, I suspect, before we run out of targets like ISIS.

[Libertarian]

Keeping it would be like legalizing weed -- there's no money in it.

[John]

Two reasons. first they are getting old and very expensive to maintain. Second, they are very vulnerable to ground missile fire.

The A-10 is an incredible weapon against an enemy like ISIS that has no real air defenses. It is less so against an enemy like Iran or China that does.

[Mr Drew]

But ridiculously effective against zombie hoards! How is that not a factor?

[tarran]

I admit a huge crush on the Warthog.

[commodious spittoon]

Paul Petrea 1 month ago
Definitely keep the A-10! She's an ugly date. But, she gets our pilots home! And, our enemies do NOT want to see her and her sisters comin'!!?

Found tarran.

[Citizen X]

For real. I'm as anti-statist as they come, but if the U.S. military every got a thing right, it was the A-10.

[kinnath]

I didn't realize Matthew McConaughey was a pilot.

[Overt]

The A-10 is an incredible weapon against an enemy like ISIS that has no real air defenses. It is less so against an enemy like Iran or China that does.

As important as the stealthy technology of F35s and F22s is, nothing can beat a nice mountain or some hills when it comes to defeating enemy radar. The A10 exploits this to the fullest, to the extent that it still has its use against even modern militaries.

Enemy air defense has come a long ways in 30 years, but recall that our combined air assault took on one of the most advanced Russian air defense systems in the first gulf war, and A10s were a major component of that.

The real reason the A10 is not preferred isn't its performance on the battlefield but rather the fact that it doesn't fit in America's future vision for ground wars. It is not a stand-off platform that can launch from thousands of miles away and be in theatre quickly. If the US government's strategy were built around defending the country, we would be building 10 of these for every F35. However, since our military expects that future wars will be fought from an aircraft carrier parked off the coast of some eastern country, it just doesn't have a place and we must spend trillions on the F35 to fit into that gap.

[Timon 19]

The A-10 didn't go in without Wild Weasel packages clearing out the AAA and SAMs, leaving only the Iraqi armor. Thank the F-4s, F-16s, Strike Eagles, and even F-14s and -18s for allowing the Warthog to concentrate almost entirely on busting armor and infantry.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

So, what, they were going to retire the A-10 before the F-35 was truly ready to replace it? And just hope the US doesn't get in yet another conflict in the interim?

Clearly the solution here is more money for the USAF.

[Citizen X]

Maybe they can hold a bake sale?

[IndyEleven]

Judging by bumper stickers, it seems there are lots of people in my neck of the woods who would support such a bake sale.

[Monty Crisco]

The F-35 is going to be a failure of such magnitude that is is going to make the Maginot Line look like the Aegis Air Defense System...

[Free Society]

It already is a failure. The money they've spent on the R&D for that thing could have been spent on establishing a colony on Mars, just to get an idea of how costly it is.

[WTF]

The F-35 is not an effective replacement for the A-10 regarding ground-attack capabilities against armor columns and the like. It may some day be effective for clearing the theater of enemy air power and missle defenses to allow planes like the A-10 to operate effectively.

[Free Society]

*They say* some variants of the F-35 would carry an identical gun to the A-10, one that runs the length of the plane and has the same rate of fire and all that. But of course, as with all things related to the F-35, I'll believe it when I see it.

[Crusty Juggler]

According to wikipedia, the 25mm F-35 cannon can hold between 182 and 220 rounds, depending on the variant. the A-10 30mm cannon holds 1,174 rounds.

[Citizen X]

182 rounds is, what, slightly less than 3 seconds of continuous fire?

[Free Society]

"But...but.... the F-35 will be just as good way more betterer than the A-10!" /Defense Contractor and top brass wooed by defense contractor

[Timon 19]

...if that. That's a spectacularly useless number of rounds.

[Monty Crisco]

But there will be no A-10 at that time. The F-35 is slated to become the single-platform, do-it-all fighter for all branches of the military.

It is going to be a disaster.

[R C Dean]

Here in Tucson, they periodically have a contest for A-10 jockeys.

Target practice. I would absolutely leave someone in a shallow grave to get to go. It sounds . . . awesome.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/s.....ign=buffer

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgmbcbuRrg

That one's not in Tucson. I think the winning squadron gets to host, or something.

[Fist of Etiquette]

National Review declares all-out war on Trump.

Losing to Shrillary will humble them all.

[John]

Regardless of what you think of Trump, the irony of the publication that spent the last two Presidential elections telling conservatives they needed to shut up and go with a centrist and someone who could win, now collectively losing their minds because someone they don't consider a "conservative" might win the GOP nomination is a bit too much to stomach.

Seriously, do they even listen to themselves?

[Swiss Servator]

New York Times editorial accuses Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder of "depraved indifference" toward Flint.

And mentions the EPA, County and local Donkeys....?

[Frankjasper1]

Principals, not principles

[colorblindkid]

They didn't include any information about any traffic violations in the past 20 years, so they are actually getting a little better about their bias.

[Frankjasper1]

What were they expecting him to do here exactly?

[Hamster of Doom]

Justify their biases.

[commodious spittoon]

Boom.

[sarcasmic]

Drop dead gorgeous! Lily James wows in sheer floral gown at premiere of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....mbies.html
Started watching the new War and Peace with my wife, and it is actually pretty good. It helps that Lily James is in it. Dang. Matt Smith is one lucky guy.

[Juvenile Bluster]

She definitely made it worth my while to have had to take my daughter to see the live action Cinderella movie last year.

[SugarFree]

The gayest Dr. Who (and that is fucking saying something) is straight? Weird.

[Hamster of Doom]

"Legs, I've still got legs. Good. Arms, hands. Ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair, I'm a girl! No, no, I'm not a girl."

[SugarFree]

I'm not being mean... I thought the whole point of casting Matt Smith was that a gay guy was going to play The Doctor, like dipping in a toe to test the water before Idris Elba or Miranda.

[Hamster of Doom]

From the look of his first lines, I'd say the writers saw that fabulous emo hair and agreed with you.

[SugarFree]

I tried watching it for a while. I stopped about halfway through the Amy Pond era. Not even she could keep me interested, and we were skipping around only watching the story arc episodes and the highly rated one-offs. I still just wore me down. It is such exceedingly sub-par science fiction storytelling it tore at me.

[sarcasmic]

Have you watched The Expanse?

[SugarFree]

I've been building up on the TiVo and waiting for the season to end. The book is really good, so if they stick to the source material should work out.

Did you see that Netflix has committed to a season of Altered Carbon?

[sarcasmic]

Did you see that Netflix has committed to a season of Altered Carbon?

Never heard of it. I've been watching The Expanse and I like it so for. Has a definite Blade Runner quality to it.

[SugarFree]

Altered Carbon

In a society in which death has been rendered practically obsolete, suicide and murder take on different significances. After a particularly brutal offing, former UN envoy Takeshi Kovacs finds himself "resleeved"--that is, his consciousness has been put in a new body--and hired as a private investigator by Laurens Bancroft, one of twenty-fifth-century society's old rich in Bay City (formerly San Francisco). Bancroft claims he was murdered, but the police say it was a suicide. After Kovacs gets hit at his hotel within hours of being resleeved, he sees the possibility that Bancroft was, in fact, murdered, and that someone wants to keep it very hush-hush. As he investigates, he uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy with ties to the most unsavory characters in his generally unsavory military and criminal past.

-Booklist

[R C Dean]

Watched Ep. 2 of The Expanse last night. Two thumbs up, will watch the rest.

Altered Carbon is an excellent story. And NetFlix seems to know how to produce a good series. Fingers crossed!

[Rhywun]

I am really liking The Expanse. Probably the best thing they've aired since BSG.

[Cdr Lytton]

Steven Moffat is the Brannon Braga of Doctor Who, making John Nathan Turner look like a genius in retrospect.

[Rhywun]

I thought the whole point of casting Matt Smith was that a gay guy was going to play The Doctor

I saw most of that era and it never occurred to me for one second that he might be "gay". Acting strange and with a British accent does not make one gay.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

There was definitely an implication when he didn't jump Amy Pond after she was all over him. I can only suspend my disbelief so much, Moffat.

[Swiss Servator]

*wishes he could have Amy Pond all over him*

[sarcasmic]

Chicks dig him. Other than Tom Baker, he's the only Doctor my wife will watch.

[SugarFree]

He looks like a Ken doll that melted in the back window a car on a sunny day.

[Hamster of Doom]

Tennant was my favorite. Also, he was excellent on Misfits, and the world should have more of him.

[SugarFree]

He is excellent in Jessica Jones on Netflix, even if the first season has its problems.

[Crusty Juggler]

even if the first season has its problems.

I wanted to like it and I thought it was pretty brutal. It was like a CW drama with hints of superpowers sprinkled in. I did not get it, but apparently the masses approved.

[SugarFree]

I think most of it could have been solved by compressing to 10 episodes. The storyline just couldn't carry 13. The subplot cruft got out of control.

[Citizen X]

Psychologically, it's a really effective exploration of the effects of trauma. I especially liked the subplot that showed that, yes, Marvel IS aware that thousands of people got crushed by falling buildings in that one part of Avengers.

[Citizen X]

"And [British] celebrities, they're not as good as real celebrities. They all look like middle-school teachers who don't know about conditioner."

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Meh. Lena Headey looks better.

[Crusty Juggler]

The Kochs' Biggest Sin: Disagreeing with the Liberal Narrative

They want to change the conversation! They want to persuade Americans to vote differently! The horror, the horror. You might be forgiven for thinking that this is pretty much exactly what democracy is about. But no. For you see, only Hollywood, college professors and administrators, the ACLU, People for the American Way, the Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Emily's List, the Ford Foundation, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, MoveOn.org, the NAACP, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Greenpeace, Tom Steyer, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Steven Spielberg and, of course, publications such as the New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation and Mayer's own The New Yorker are allowed to try to change conversations and argue for people to vote differently.

TW: Article is posted at evil, Trump-hating NR.

[sarcasmic]

Principals, not principles.

[commodious spittoon]

David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980, which you might argue is a brilliant way to hide in plain sight, given how little attention the Libertarian Party gets.

Ouch.

[Lord Humungus]

In advance of big storm, New Jersey lifts licensing laws for shoveling snow

Just days ahead of an expected blizzard on the East Coast, New Jersey has officially repealed a nonsensical rule banning the shoveling of snow without a license.

Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday signed a bill making it legal for New Jersey residents to offer snow shoveling services without first registering with their town. Last year, two entrepreneurial teens going door-to-door and offering to shovel snow for a small fee were stopped by local police in Bound Brook.

The cops told the two boys, Matt Molinari and Eric Schnepf, they were not allowed to solicit businesses without a permit.

In Bound Brook, that license costs $450 and is only good for a period of 180 days.

[John]

Unlicensed shovelers are going to be out there Lord Humungus. That is just chaos. How many people are going to die now thanks to the God damned Nihilist government hating Christie unleashing the scourge of un licensed snow shovelers onto the defenseless population of New Jersey?

You monster.

[commodious spittoon]

I prefer to reserve the term "monster" for real villains, like children selling lemonade out front of their homes without a license or OSHA and health department inspections. They don't even have on-site sanitation equipment or a fire extinguisher! And let's not even get started on their accounting practices. Yeah, I'm sure those kids are making minimum wage.

[Hamster of Doom]

I don't know why people don't pay $450, it's not as if that's a LOT of money or anything, it's like people are just lazy and don't want to work.

[Mr Drew]

I saw that story. It's interesting because part of me wants to feel good that the law was lifted but most of me is still angry and sickened that the law existed at all and lasted until now.

Reason does that to me a lot. I read, get angry and forlorn, then read the comments and often laugh or just feel better seeing people argue, even vehemently, without the "you're so stupid! Just open your eyes and look around you!" technique.

Though truth be told, sometimes the comments make me uncomfortable as well.
*glances unconsciously at Warty and Old Man With Candy*

[Warty]

YOU'RE STUPID

[WTF]

haha dumfuck its your haha

[Mr Drew]

You've wounded my sense of self! I'm a special snowflake!

I begin my campaign of retribution by serving Reason with a subpoena so my process servers can find your underground lair.

[Citizen X]

You don't find Warty. He finds YOU, and there is no hiding.

[Crusty Juggler]

Dude, you named names!

[Mr Drew]

Oh, my apologies, Crusty, for leaving your name off that list

[Citizen X]

If Warty, Old Man With Candy, et al. still make you uncomfortable, then you've still got a chance at a normal life. I've become blase about them which implies that i must soon join my brothers in Valhalla 🙁

[Warty]

Lo there do I see my father; Lo there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers; Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo, they do call me, they bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else wanted to join his brothers in Valhalla...

[Citizen X]

Ragnar Lo?brok?

[Warty]

Ivar the Boneless?

[WTF]

Rollo the Viking?

[Citizen X]

Snorri Sturluson?

[BearOdinson]

Me?

[Citizen X]

Harold Hardradda?

[Krabappel]

Still can't pump your own gas. New Jersey is by far the worst of the mid-atlantic states, if not all 50 states.

[WTF]

It is the Nicole of states.

[Mr Drew]

Well of course you can't pump your own gas. The public safety is at stake! Next you'll want to have hand grenade day at a preschool.

[Suthenboy]

So the Mafia/Unions have every single paying job in NJ sewed up.

Good to know.

[WTF]

Maybe not every job, but there is pretty much no job in NJ where you don't have to deal with them in some way or another.

[Lord Humungus]

World's most expensive Haggis on sale for $5,600

Scottish butchers have compiled a number of extravagant ingredients to create the world's most expensive haggis.

The recipe of the traditional Scottish dish crafted by Macsween butcher shop in Edinsburgh cointains Wagyu beef, from a farm where all the cows have names, French white truffle, tellicherry black pepper from India and a decorative sprinkle of edible 24-karat gold.

The one-of-a-kind dish is made to order by the shop for the price of $5,687.

[Swiss Servator]

LEAVE HAGGIS ALONE!

[Lee G]

Don't worry, I will

[Raven Nation]

SFed the link.

[Lord Humungus]

You asked for it: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/20.....53406426/?

[Raven Nation]

Thanks.

[Notorious UGCC]

Haggis (at least the affordable kind) sounds like the kind of thing frat boys would eat on a dare.

[WTF]

There's a reason they say most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare.

[Suthenboy]

People actually pay money to eat that shit?

[Azathoth!!]

Haggis is made from sheep, from the stomach and stuffed with chopped organs, oats and spices. There are no 'wagyu sheep entrails'*.

Whatever they're making, it isn't haggis.

*pretty sure wagyu cow entrails, no matter what you name the cow, are still gonna be entrails.

[Juvenile Bluster]

My favorite tweet regarding NRO's Trump story.

[Just say Nikki]

Yeah, I guess that wins out over Katrina Pierson saying she didn't know who any of the writers were prior to 2008...my god I hate that woman.

[commodious spittoon]

Who?

[Just say Nikki]

If you don't yet know, enjoy your remaining sanity while you can.

[commodious spittoon]

This is why I let you people deep-dive the derp. You're like pearl scavengers, bringing up the choicest derp while the rest of us sun ourselves on the beach.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Thomas Sowell is just some fella who jumped on the Tea Party bandwagon. No one heard of him before 2008.

[Lord Humungus]

National Review, conservative thinkers stand against Trump

National Review, the conservative magazine founded by William F. Buckley, published a special issue on Friday opposing Donald Trump's bid for the presidency.

The cover -- with the headline "Against Trump" -- was tweeted by the magazine on Thursday night.

Our #AgainstTrump symposium will be live on the website at 10pmET pic.twitter.com/A47BD0aJn1
? National Review (@NRO) January 22, 2016

The issue features a blistering editorial that labels Trump a threat to conservatism, as well as essays by 22 prominent conservative thinkers from various ideological factions, in opposition to Trump's candidacy.

"Donald Trump is a menace to American conservatism who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself," the editorial states.

[Bodica Slayer of Woodchip]

Donald Trump claims to be the master of the "art of deal".

"I own buildings. I'm a builder; I know how to build. Nobody can build like I can build. Nobody. And the builders in New York will tell you that. I build the best product. And my name helps a lot."

"I deal with foreign countries. I made a lot of money dealing against China. I've made a lot of money dealing against many other countries."

"MY STYLE of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I'm after."

So what kind of deal maker resorts to eminent domain to get his own way? Seems like a LOSER to me.

[Lord Humungus]

Former Sec Def Robert Gates: 'Odds Are Pretty High' Russia, China, And Iran Accessed Hillary's Server

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, the former CIA director said "the Pentagon acknowledges that they get attacked about 100,000 times a day."

Hewitt asked Gates, "[A]re you surprised by the news that continues to come out about the former Secretary of State's server and the fact that the intelligence community's inspector general has said there was a lot of very highly classified information on her server?"

"Yeah, that's a concern for me," Gates said. "I never used email when I was head of CIA or head of the Department of Defense. As I used to joke, I didn't want to have some chief of station overseas email me and say he was going to do something if I didn't get back to him in three hours, and I would get back from a five hour hearing to discover I was two hours too late. I preferred dealing with people face to face and putting a signature on a piece of paper on matters of real national security and importance."

[John]

In other news, Robert Gates says the odds are pretty high bears shit in the woods. I guess 100% counts as "pretty high".

[WTF]

Yet somehow, she will not end up even being indicted, and the left continues to brush it aside as no big deal.

[Notorious UGCC]

Like I said, we'll know the left realizes the seriousness of the allegations when the MSM starts running "Republicans do it too" stories and calling for "bipartisan reform" to "clarify the classification laws."

[Monty Crisco]

What do you think their crusade against Petreaus is about?

[Crusty Juggler]

That he shared the highest level of classified information to a person who was not cleared to see it and received a very lenient punishment?

[John]

Petereus got a federal conviction for pillow talk with his mistress involving TS information. Hillary stored not only TS but SAP information on an open server and instructed her subordinates to evade the national security laws by taking the markings off TS and SAP information and sending it via unclassified email on her private server.

What Petreus did was go 85 in a 55 and plead to reckless driving. By comparison, Hillary killed three people in a head on collision while driving with a BAC three times the legal limit.

I don't think Hillary's supporters want to talk about Petreus very much.

[Monty Crisco]

YEAH, EAT IT, CJ!!

[Crusty Juggler]

I never implied that what Petreaus did was any worse than what she did, but he gave classified information to his mistress and lied to federal agents. He was fined and charged with a misdemeanor. He got off easily when compared to others.

[John]

That is true Juggler. But he still got indicted. Hillary can't afford to be indicted and still hope to be President.

[Crusty Juggler]

I am sure she can be indicted and still become president because this election is fucking insane.

I just cannot see defending Petreaus in any way. If they take a star away he still gets off easily.

[John]

I agree Juggler. Petreus was an unprincipled irresponsible dirt bag. He got a lot less than he deserved.

[WTF]

I've actually heard them claim what Petreus did was worse, because Hillary only jus tused a private server while Petreus gave away 'secrets'.

[Cdr Lytton]

Petreus's mistress was also an Army major holding her own clearance (not that that is an excuse for sharing classified information). It wasn't like she was some hooker Davie picked up in the Mata Hari Social Club and Chinese Restaurant.

[John]

What she did is so egregious they can't pull the old "they do it too dodge". The strategy seems to be moving the goal posts. They endlessly claim how the whole thing is no big deal because no one has yet found a "smoking gun" email showing Hillary selling out the country. Without that, the fact that she committed multiple felonies somehow doesn't matter and is just a partisan which hunt.

[Notorious UGCC]

If I were a Hillary campaign operative and/or member of the MSM, here's what I'd do -

(a) find a Republican Congressman or staffer on the Intelligence committee who leaked classified stuff to the press and pretend it's just as bad as Hillary

(b) look for dirt on any Republican who tries to take Hillary to task - adultery, etc.

(c) if some former county vice-chairman of the Republican party refers to women as "broads," I'll give that incident wall-to-wall coverage, demanding that the Republican Presidential candidates disavow the guy, and then express indignation that the candidates didn't disavow him quickly enough, or weren't sincere about it. Then if there's a brief break in the coverage of this "scandal," I'd drop in a few references to Republicans obsessing over Hillary's email.

[WTF]

Sounds about right.

[Notorious UGCC]

And if the problem still doesn't go away, here's what I'd do:

I'd commission a long article by a woman reporter about the perils of being a Strong Woman surrounded by sexist Republican men trying to bring you down.

I'd do a lot of foreplay about Hillary promoting women's rights and gay rights all over the world, and how she got attacked for it.

Then I'd gingerly approach the email scandal, describing how the Congressional Republicans, being the sexist misogynists they are, would love to illegally leak classified information about the Department of State in order to make Hillary look bad - because the Republicans think partisanship and sexism is more important than patriotism and obeying the law.

Then I'd explain how Hillary tried to protect information about her Department against illegal leaks by using a server system which bypassed the vulnerable official server. That way, the Republicans wouldn't be able to selectively leak sensitive national security information and hurt the Cause of Women.

Then I'd have the reporter do a "how does it feel" style interview, when the female reporter will say, "in hindsight, do you feel you should have just taken the risk of exposing the country's business to evil, misogynistic Republicans rather than take the opposite risk of a politically contrived "cover up" scandal?" Hillary would say that in 20/20 hindsight, maybe she should have acted differently.

Then a final vignette of Hillary playing with her grandchild.

[WTF]

You're actually a writer for the NYT, aren't you?

[Notorious UGCC]

No, a NYT reporter would include a quote from a Republican Congressman near the end of the article: ""I'm not a sexist," said Senator Claghorn."

Balance!

[Doctor Whom]

Some of the biggest Hillarybots I know are saying, in effect, "Oh, shit."

[Bodica Slayer of Woodchip]

No big deal - like Donald Trump

[Cdr Lytton]

"As I used to joke, I didn't want to have some chief of station overseas email me something that would be embarrassing later if it could be proven I read the email. Hah hah suckers!"

/standard preemptive teflon treatment

[Libertarian]

Of all the criticism I've heard against Hillary, I don't remember "laziness" as being one of them. Gates's comment about seeing people instead of emailing, though, makes me wonder if that is a valid criticism.

[Just say Nikki]

You haven't heard her criticized for being lazy for emailing staffers to ask what channel HBO is and shit?

[Citizen X]

I liked where she sent an email asking for someone to bring her a glass of iced tea.

[Just say Nikki]

Pls print

[Citizen X]

My favorite part is, she put the whole request in the subject line.

[Crusty Juggler]

I am laughing again. The apples one!

[Citizen X]

When Hillary Clinton asks if she can have some apples "for personal use," she does not mean what you want "personal use" to mean.

[Crusty Juggler]

When Hillary Clinton asks if she can have some apples "for personal use," she does not mean what you want "personal use" to mean.

"Huma, it's time to make some applesauce," said Hillary coquettishly.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Wow, those are awful. And it's just so obviously wrong to see some lame .com address sending commands to people with a state.gov address.

clintonemail.com. Good Lord.

[Monty Crisco]

Dude she sent an email from her private server QUESTIONING THE PROFESSIONALISM OF SOMEONE USING THEIR PRIVATE EMAIL TO CONDUCT BUSINESS!!!

You cannot make up that level of un-self-awareness / hypocrisy...

http://gawker.com/hillary-clin.....1751826261

From that right-wing rag...

[Krabappel]

I don't disagree with them here but Gawker is just going after Clinton because their editorial staff all have communist boners for Bernie.

[Swiss Servator]

"Bring me tea, with lemon... and come and change the channel for me"

[Libertarian]

So Hillary is sort of like the mother character in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"

[WTF]

More like Mallory Archer.

[R C Dean]

Only less competent, and with worse taste in men.

[commodious spittoon]

And worst of all, her offspring isn't voiced by Jon H. Benjamin.

[WTF]

Hearing Chelsea talk in Benjamin's voice would be awesome.

[SugarFree]

Bernie wants to give you reparations, Black America, but the mean old crackers won't vote for him.

[Frankjasper1]

Where was this from?

[SugarFree]

Your mom.

[SugarFree]

Slate, I mean.

[Frankjasper1]

Wow did they really say that quote above?

[SugarFree]

No, just in so many words. I like the "put an accurate headline on" joke.

[Frankjasper1]

Ah got ya thanks

[Citizen X]

Not including a link that can be SugarFreed is still SugarFreeing the link, it turns out.

[WTF]

White people object to being punished based on the color of their skin, for something they themselves never did, by being forced to make payments to people they never wronged. Shocking, shocking.....

[Notorious UGCC]

Let's see...how about killing or financially ruining a lot of slavers and slavery-enablers, and entrenching basic rights in the Constitution?

No, that wouldn't work because it's already been done.

How about proclaiming black people to be a dependant class who cannot thrive without the help of benevolent white people?

Sure, technically that would be racist, but if we rephrase it slightly in terms of "reparations" and say that the *real* racists are the ones who reject any kind of white paternalism and expresses confidence in the ability of all Americans to thrive independently of grievance politics...yeah, that's just cynical enough to work!

[Notorious UGCC]

The next step is to work out who owes what to whom.

First, we'll have to account for the large number of Americans of mixed racial heritage.

People like Obama, who are more or less half black and half white, would have to pay into the reparation fund in their capacity as white people and then take money out of the fund in their capacity as black people.

Obama's daughters are about one-fourth white and three-fourths black, so they should get more out of the fund than they pay in.

But wait! President Obama isn't a descendant of American slaves, only Mrs. Obama is.

So Obama's daughters can make claims against the reparation fund by claiming through their mother, but since they don't have American slave ancestors on their father's side, then they will have to be treated partly as honorary whites and forced to return their reparations money.

Of course, members of the Sons of Union Veterans should get a reduction in their reparation payments, or even be exempt altogether if their ancestor was a good enough soldier. Since their ancestors helped fight slavery, they should be wholly or partly exempt from white blood-guilt.

Of course, the Sons of Confederate Veterans should make up the difference by paying twice the reparations of other whites, since their ancestors are blood-guilty of defending slavery.

[Notorious UGCC]

And whites with some Native American ancestry should also get a break, so that Elizabeth Warren will only have to pay 31/32 of the reparations of a full-blooded white person.

Of course, if your Native American ancestors fought for the Confederacy, then you shouldn't benefit from this exemption.

If you're "poor white," and don't have the money to pay into the reparation fund, then in lieu of payment, you should be required to stand a few hours in the stocks with a sign designating you as a Class Oppressor.

Who says that developing a reparations program is impractical!

[Doctor Whom]

Since many African-American activists and pastors actively opposed my equal rights, they have their reparations from me.

[The Last American Hero]

Sounds like these reparations people are in the pocket of Big 23 and Me.

[Free Society]

"Unfortunately, Sanders's radicalism has failed in the ancient fight against white supremacy."

The ancient fight? What fucking universe does Coates live in? This guy is seriously making the case that whites are evil to the bone and always have been. I wonder if Coates ever talks much about the evils of the Arab slave trade? For which there are no surviving descendants because males were castrated, babies were smashed after their mothers raped and those who could not work summarily had their throats slit. But dem whitez be evilzz.

[Mendelism]

Oh, this is an easy one. Those were obviously white Arabs. QED.

[Lord Humungus]

Clinton: ObamaCare was originally 'Hillarycare'

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record ? rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first.

"It was called Hillarycare before it was called Obamacare," Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. "I don't want to start over."

Clinton's rift with Sanders over healthcare continued to deepen this week. While the Vermont senator stands by his single-payer plan, Clinton has dismissed the idea as a political impracticality under the current Congress.

[SugarFree]

She stepped boldly on that turd.

[Swiss Servator]

She is reveling in the feeling of the warm dung oozing up between her swollen toes.

[Krabappel]

I laughed and gagged at the same time.

[R C Dean]

I have actually experienced that sensation.

One of the many joys of raising puppies.

[commodious spittoon]

The laughing/gagging part, or the oozing dung part? Or both at once?

[R C Dean]

Both. They happen in close proximity.

[Suthenboy]

"She stepped boldly on that turd."

A daily occurrence. I figure Bill has callouses from doing so many face palms every time she opens her mouth.

[Notorious UGCC]

She's facing an attack from Sanders to the effect that Obamacare doesn't go far enough.

So she seems to think that she'll have to explicitly defend Obamacare to fend of this not-socialist-enough attack and win the primary.

The problem will be in the general, when the Republicans will play the Obamacare/Hillarycare quote over and over.

At that point, she will say that she never endorsed *all* of Obamacare, just the basic principle, and if elected, she'd make some tweaks to the program blah blah.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

But... I thought ObamaCare was really the Republicans' health care alternative, crafted as a response to... HillaryCare.

[Crusty Juggler]

New York women's dirty little sex secret

Today, Sarah's sex life is back in business ? and even better than before she gave birth. "The sex is definitely more intense," she brags. "Even my husband is impressed!"

Sarah's secret? The Elvie, a 2-inch-long oblong-shaped device that strengthens the pelvic floor ? and has had well-heeled New York women going wild since its debut last fall.

[SugarFree]

2-inch-long oblong-shaped device

That is a very unflattering way to describe Pro Libertate's man parts. Not inaccurate, but still.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's not from New York, is he? Yuck. No wonder I don't share his values.

[SugarFree]

He's a Florida Man and would beat you with a wheelchair for saying that.

[commodious spittoon]

What a weird insult, too. "Yeah, well, our values differ in substance and focus!" Great comeback, Ted.

[Warty]

Huh. So someone invented the Kegelcizer.

[John]

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/clai.....9dziz:0AYE

So apparently NOAA suddenly "adjusted" its temperature readings for 1997 to ensure that 2015 was "the hottest on record". It would have been nice if Inspector Clouseau Ron Bailey had mentioned this on his breathless post about the hottest year eveeeerrrr!! yesterday.

[WTF]

I am shocked, shocked, to find that they doctored the numbers to support their narrative!

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Arggh nobody was supposed to notice that! Noticing stuff is microaggressive, or something.

[ant1sthenes]

They also noted that this year's chocolate ration was the largest on record.

[Suthenboy]

Didn't Bailey do an entire article on it a little while back?

It was discussed extensively.

[John]

I didn't see that. But if so, my apologies to Bailey and thanks for pointing it out. What was Bailey's take on it?

[Lord Humungus]

Top Clinton Ally: 'Black Lives Don't Matter to Bernie Sanders'

In 2008, when most black Democratic primary voters supported Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton argued that he couldn't win the general election because white voters didn't like him; she infamously said that Obama's appeal "among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans" was limited. Her campaign representatives and surrogates, meanwhile, suggested that there was something a little shady, un-American, and possibly even Muslim about Obama. Her campaign's belief seemed to be that white people would?and perhaps should!?be suspicious of a candidate who was too popular with black people.

This year, as Slate's Jamelle Bouie wrote yesterday, Clinton is facing a primary opponent who's popular with white voters but not black voters. A widespread protest movement, meanwhile, has helped put issues of racial justice at the top of many Democratic and liberal Americans' minds. It is under these circumstances that a longtime Clinton ally, the notoriously aggressive Democratic operative and pro-Hillary Super PAC founder David Brock, just declared disparagingly to the AP that Bernie Sanders' new TV ad is evidence that "black lives don't matter much to Bernie Sanders."

[Raven Nation]

Even in the DC swamp, Brock stands out as particularly vile.

[Libertarian]

By all means, let's blame Bernie for campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire and somehow letting too many white people show up at his rallies.

[Just say Nikki]

No, we're blaming him for not busing nonwhite people in.

[sarcasmic]

Giant prehistoric sea monster found in a quarry may be a new species of plesiosaur: 18ft-long beast with four flippers and a short tail lived 165 million years ago

The 18ft-long creature was found in clay in a quarry near Peterborough
It had an 8ft-long neck, a barrel-shaped body, four flippers and short tail
Palaeontologists are now studying remains to see if it is a new species
Plesiosaurs lived in the oceans at the same time as the dinosaurs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....s-ago.html
What about Nessie?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Or Champ?

[SugarFree]

Champ is just a myth, moran.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

In our minds, SF, in our minds he's REAL.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Or she.

[Citizen X]

Chessie, on the other hand, is real. But is also just a lost manatee.

[Illocust]

"The Republican establishment could learn to live with Donald Trump, but still loathes Ted Cruz."

I don't know a lot about Cruz. Is there any reason to believe this assessment? Or is this just another round of Trump is the journalist anti-Christ desperate attempts to get people to vote for someone else?

[Raven Nation]

One of the theories I've heard on this is that big money donors and congressional Republicans think that, if Trump were prez., they could do deals with him to pass legislation, etc. OTOH, those same people think Cruz (Mr. shut down the government) will stick firmly to principles and not negotiate with anyone.

I don't know if that is true but that's the theory.

[Illocust]

It seems a little iffy of a theory considering how his whole campaign has been one big fuck you to the convential wisdom that you need outside money and support. He flipped off Fox News for Christ's sake.

[Crusty Juggler]

He flipped off Fox News for Christ's sake.

Rupert Murdoch returning the favor

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

But he has no principles himself. Give him a story about how a piece of legislation would be fabulous, how it's polling well, how it will help him, and he'll probably support it.

[Suthenboy]

What I keep hearing is that Cruz is a real asshole to work with. For me that translates into 'he doesnt put up with bullshit', or as you said, he sticks to his principles.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Sounds like Obama.

[Spoonman.]

It makes me consider voting for Cruz, I'll say that.

[Mr Drew]

I would have agreed a couple of weeks ago but then Cruz called Ed Snowden a traitor. I'm not sure if I can get past that. I'm starting to get more comfortable with "you get the government (or president) you deserve."

[Juvenile Bluster]

I'm starting to become legitimately fearful that the general election will be Trump-Sanders. That's somehow worse than a Bush-Clinton election would have been.

[Frankjasper1]

I know. Sanders is a delusional loon.

[John]

I don't know if it is worse, but it is not good. I don't think Sanders would stand a chance against Trump. And since Trump is a black sheep in his own party, I am not sure what Trump could accomplish as President. And he won't have the media covering for him like Obama has. He would be facing a totally hostile media and at best a neutral to unfriendly congress.

[Citizen X]

So at least 4 years of massive gridlock. I had no idea you were such an optimist, John.

[John]

I don't see how it works out any other way. Do you?

[Citizen X]

Whatever happens, i'm stocking up on whiskey and don't plan to see it at all.

[John]

You have to admit, a Trump Administration would be made for TV entertainment. It would be so entertaining that I might actually start watching cable news again.

[Citizen X]

Ugh. NOTHING is worth watching cable news for.

[John]

Yeah. Citizen X. maybe I really am an optimist. Cable news? Wow.

[R C Dean]

Congress, as a group, is incredibly cowardly and prone to being bullied.

I could see Trump getting them to do quite a bit, actually.

[KerryW]

Not getting anything done is way better than getting the wrong things done...

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

OTOH JB, Schwartz is the new DC! Not sure about this Pederson fellow though.

[R C Dean]

I'd rather see Trump-Sanders than Bush-Clinton, personally.

[Citizen X]

That would pretty much prove that Discordianism is the correct religion.

[Lord Humungus]

China's Working-Age Population Sees Biggest-Ever Decline

China's working age population saw its biggest decline in 2015, underscoring demographers' warnings of an oncoming labor shortage in the country.

The number of workers aged 16 to 59 dropped by a record 4.87 million to 911 million last year, compared to decline of 3.71 million in 2014, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.

The trend coincides with China's slowing economic growth, mirroring Japan's experience in the 1990s. The decline has sparked concern that China may be poised to repeat its neighbor's history of economic struggles and that China may grow older before it grows richer.

You know who else saw a decline in their working population...

[John]

But with top men managing their population, how could anything go wrong? The one child policy has been the envy of every authoritarian top man intellectual for decades. How could it have been a mistake?

[Lord Humungus]

Moar Stimulolz!

Stocks, oil jump as Draghi the dove tames global bears

Stocks and oil, at the forefront of a global market rout since the turn of the year, rebounded strongly on Friday thanks to hints of more monetary policy support by the European Central Bank and bargain-hunting by bruised investors.

World stocks recorded their biggest rise in a month, and Asian stocks had their best day in three months. Oil rallied 6 percent, after gaining 5 percent on Thursday, recovering from 12-year lows to go back above $30 a barrel.

European stocks followed Asia's lead and Wall Street looked set to open some 1.3 percent higher, according to index futures.

The surge comes a day after ECB President Mario Draghi signaled the central bank would ease policy further at its next meeting, in March, to combat fading growth and disinflation, a message he reiterated at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday.

[R C Dean]

Good Lord. Who on earth would put real money on the table based on hints from a bureaucrat that they might ramp up the policies that got us where we are?

[Lord Humungus]

Rubio's summer of '90: An arrest, then newfound purpose

Marco Rubio's first year of college at a small school in Missouri ended badly. His grades were awful. A neck injury dashed any hopes of achieving greatness on the football field. He was hurting for money.

He resolved to go back to Florida and get his life on a path to success. Instead the 18-year-old added to his troubles after returning to Miami for summer break: He was arrested one night in May 1990 for being in a crime-plagued public park after closing time, according to police records and an interview with a friend who was cited with Rubio that night.

The previously unreported misdemeanor, which eventually was dismissed, tugged Rubio into the criminal-justice system just one year after the conviction of his brother-in-law in a major drug-trafficking case had exacted a devastating toll on his family. But that summer also marks a turning point for Rubio, the moment when a somewhat aimless young man found a direction and purpose that shaped the highly focused politician who now sits among the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

[SugarFree]

In a park after closing? What are we worrying about this silly email server nonsense when a real criminal is running for President?

[Cdr Lytton]

Code for Rubio was cruising?

[Just say Nikki]

Between this and the booties, I think it's clear what the problem with Rubio is.

[SugarFree]

Probably to the Washington Post base. But I think they were more trying to link him to his drug dealer brother-in-law by mentioning the bil immediately after. It's a pretty slimy hit piece.

[WTF]

He was arrested - arrested - Hillary hasn't even been indicted, you damn teathuglikkkans!

[Irish ?s ESB]

" He was arrested one night in May 1990 for being in a crime-plagued public park after closing time"

A member of the public was in a park paid for by the public after a time the state determined he shouldn't be in a public space his own tax dollars paid for?

Oh the humanity!

[Agile Cyborg]

Yet another bookkeeper for a billion line of laws. Yay fucking poo.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You have to quote what you're referencing. Those are the rules.

[WTF]

AC doesn't follow the rules of man.

[Swiss Servator]

Or those of the Gods!

[Copernicus would chip]

Look who your replying to. Rules don't apply in that galaxy.

[Copernicus would chip]

Wow, I'm late x 2

[Crusty Juggler]

Paul Ryan Goes on Offense

Ryan doesn't want the House to be a counterweight to the eventual nominee. He wants it to be complementary, supplying the ideas and proposals that will make the general election campaign substantive and forthright. His model is the election of 1980, when Ryan's mentors Jack Kemp and Vin Weber added supply-side economics to Ronald Reagan's conservative portfolio.

[Frankjasper1]

I know libs like to call individual tax cuts supply side...but wouldnt tax cuts to individuals be actually demand side? Seeing how Krugman was all over himself regarding the stimulus package as being "demand" when 1/3 of it was tax cuts and credits.

[Lord Humungus]

oh yay...

Paul Ryan Goes on Offense

Paul Ryan enters his first full year as speaker of the House with a unified caucus, an ambitious agenda, and an audacious goal: Go on offense against President Obama and the Democratic Party, while laying the predicate for unified Republican control of government in 2017. "We have no clue who our nominee is going to be," Ryan tells me over the phone, "and the last thing we should do is sit around and wait."

Ryan says he learned in 2012 that Republicans should make the case for their policies as quickly and as forcefully as possible. "We can't sit around and be reactionaries and walk into every trap Obama sets for us. We have to nationalize the election on ideas and give the country a choice." He wants an "honest election" that results in a "mandate election victory" for the next president: "An honest election isn't running on vague platitudes, it isn't a personality contest. It's explaining who you are, what you believe, what you intend to do, and why it relates to people."

[Lord Humungus]

eat it, CJ

[Libertarian]

Ryan says he learned in 2012 that Republicans should make the case for their policies as quickly and as forcefully as possible. "We can't sit around and be reactionaries and walk into every trap Obama sets for us. We have to nationalize the election on ideas and give the country a choice."

This, from a guy whose budget proposal balanced the federal budget in a lightning fast 30 years. Theoretically.

[Rich]

Paul Ryan Goes on Offense

A congressional insider swore to me that Ryan's coming up with major changes to Democratcare: "Stay tuned."

[R C Dean]

Yeah, nothing says "Go on offense against somebody" more than "Give them everything they want in their budget for the rest of their term."

Fuck you, Ryan. I used to kinda like you. But now you're just another errand boy for the clerks in the White House.

[Griffin3]

It's always nut-punchier when then kids are the same age as yours: Arizona Cops Kill Man on Business Trip Showing Pellet Gun to Others in Hotel Room

Extry BS: the cops repeatedly say he was "pointing a rifle out a fifth-floor hotel window" -- and I have not seen an upper-floor hotel window that would open in 10-15 years.

[LoneWaco]

nothing says professional like keeping your profession after you fuck up and kill someone. I know that's how it works in my industry.

[Free Society]

I call bullshit. Only blacks get murdered by cops.

[Lord Humungus]

Snow Coating Cripples DC Commute, Leaves Drivers Stranded

The D.C.-Metro area got a nasty taste of what's to come this weekend. Chaos on the roads prevailed ? after just an inch of snow fell Wednesday night.

If Wednesday night is any indication of what we'll see this weekend, then you need to start planning ahead and avoid being outside at all costs.

Following the brief burst of snow, traffic sat at a standstill for miles.

There were collisions and spinouts, all from the inch of snow and black ice that coated the DC area.

It's an ugly preview of what's to come when the region is expected to be pounded with as much as two feet of snow.

Many of the roads were not pre-treated which attributed to the crippling conditions.

Michigan laughs.

[Libertarian]

As a dyed in the wool SUBurbanite, can someone explain to me why one of the first actions by cities facing snow, is to shut down their subways?

[Just say Nikki]

Not all of it is underground.

[Libertarian]

Okay, but surely they can operated with 1"? And maybe not D.C. but I would think that places like NYC would have snow removal equipment available. Oh well, live and learn

[Just say Nikki]

A lot of cities aren't equipped to actually remove snow, only to move it. Places like Chicago are in a whole other league.

[Citizen X]

Now you're just bragging.

[Just say Nikki]

Chicago is actually a huge snow disappointment to me. There's less than an inch on the ground. Fuck this place. Makes me want to go back to Canada.

[Crusty Juggler]

Twinsies!!

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

What the fuck is it with this storm? This is the north east coast, for fuck's sake. We get snow every year. Why are all these idiots acting like we've never had to drive or work or live in snow?? Just last year, Boston got over 100" of snow.

[Crusty Juggler]

Snow Coating Cripples DC Commute, Leaves Drivers Stranded

The D.C.-Metro area got a nasty taste of what's to come this weekend. Chaos on the roads prevailed ? after just an inch of snow fell Wednesday night

DC Metro area male reasoners: bring an empty wide-mouth bottle with you if you are going to be on the road.

[Cdr Lytton]

Amateur.

[Crusty Juggler]

I was stuck in traffic during a snowstorm in Connecticut and I had to pee, but I had no bottles, so I learned my lesson. I ended up shutting off my headlights and doing it in front of my car, which elicited horn-honking and headlight flashing by the other stranded passengers. It was not fun.

[Michael]

Not fun? I kind of figured that would be an integral and highly anticipated part of every Crusty Juggler commute.

[Lord Humungus]

Now you're just er, dicking with me.

[Irish ?s ESB]

"The Republican establishment could learn to live with Donald Trump, but still loathes Ted Cruz."

If I didn't think the Republican establishment was filled with morons, I'd almost think they were trying to undercut Trump by giving him their blessing, given how toxic they are with the base.

I don't think they're that intelligent or Machiavellian though.

[John]

They are morons. They really hate Cruz. And the fact that they hate him so much says to me that Cruz really would cut down on the stealing. I can't see anything other than a real intention to do something about the stealing that would cause the GOP Establishment to hate Cruz that much. Can you?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Cruz is objectively more like what Republicans claim to be than Donald Trump is. The fact they would prefer Trump to Cruz pretty much proves everything the Republican party claims to be is a lie.

[John]

Certainly the establishment and the top members in Congress. They clearly view elections as a vehicle to make money and feel important. And they figure Trump can be reasoned with when it comes to that and Cruz actually might believe what he says. And no one wants that.

[Lord Humungus]

not to get all Godwin, but "they" thought they could control Hitler once he was given the reins of power.

Not saying Trump is Hitler, but the establishment is thinking they can bend Trump to their will. And given his lack of principles, I don't see why not. It remains to be see.

Btw, there goes my "establishment will rush to Cruz to placate the base" theory.

[John]

I agree. Trump has his on cronies he would want to pay off. I think Trump would likely stick it to them worse than Cruz would.

[John]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKoEHz4-eqQ

Hitler finds out OPM is not closing the government today. It is pretty funny as all the Hilter finds out videos are. And it includes the term "full retard", which is the first time I have seen the term in a more general setting.

[Irish ?s ESB]

The attacks on Trump in that National Review piece are idiocy since they won't sway Trump's supporters. They're reheated claims already made against him.

If you want to attack Trump you need to go after his credentials as a Working Man Populist, not attack him for his lack of conservative bona fides. For example - Trump wants a trade war with the Japanese but huge numbers of southern workers have jobs manufacturing Japanese cars. Why not go after Trump for trying to destroy the southern, white working man by annihilating the southern car industry? At least that would be a means of attack no one's tried yet and it would go after one of Trump's strengths rather than just repeating the "he's not a conservative" mantra that's been failing to hurt his support since all the way back in July.

[John]

I agree. I honestly didn't think NR was that stupid. As I say above, they spent the 08 and 12 election cycles shilling for McCain and Romney and telling conservatives that nominating a moderate who wasn't a real conservative was the only choice. And now they want to claim Trump is unfit because he is not really a "conservative"? it is just bizarre.

[WTF]

I've thought NR was at least that stupid for some time now. And they didn't disappoint.

[John]

You called it dude.

[Harun]

NR did that to stop the establishment from attacking Cruz.

You didn't notice they have been dragging out old guys like Dole and Lott to say Trump is better than Cruz?

NR is trying to firewall that.

Not going to work.

[Warty]

Trump is unstoppable at this point. The best thing to do now is to make an enemy of him early on before the disasters he causes.

[John]

The only person that can stop him is Cruz. If the rest of the party would get their heads out of their asses and line up behind Cruz, Cruz would win the nomination and likely the Presidency. Cruz is the one Republican who could win the nomination and get Trump supporters to support him.

The GOP, being more interested in stealing than in governing is of course not doing that. Time will tell but if Trump gets the nomination he will win the general. He will wide the floor with the Hildebeast.

[Warty]

Trump supporters aren't going to go for Cruz. Cruz, despite all his clownishness, has at least some ideas for governing. Trump's entire appeal is pure hate and destructiveness, and the low foreheads are eating it up.

[John]

They would. They like Trump because he pisses the right people off. Cruz does that too and really even more than Trump. The ideas don't matter. The whole point is to stick it to Washington. And electing Cruz would do that.

[Rich]

He will wide the floor with the Hildebeast.

The facial expressions on both faces during the "debates" about the email non-scandal will be priceless.

[John]

And when Trump goes after Bill in response to Hillary playing the pussy card.

[Rich]

"Is that hair gel, Madame Secretary?"

[R C Dean]

Trump asking Hillary solicitously every ten minutes if she needs to take a break would be priceless.

No way she wouldn't go all red-faced, vein-bulging, spittle-flecked harridan after the second or third time.

[Harun]

I must admit, it may be worth a Trump presidency, in pure entertainment factor.

[Just say Nikki]

There's no reason to think they're trying to convert Trump supporters. They've been pretty clear that they just feel they needed to take an ideological stand. They're purging.

[Swiss Servator]

Did they binge first?

[Rich]

Darn your quick finger down the throat!

[SugarFree]

But when the smell hit the crowd, that's when Lardass' plan really started to work. Girlfriends barfed on boyfriends. Kids barfed on their parents. A fat lady barfed in her purse. The Donnelley twins barfed on each other, and the Women's Auxiliary barfed all over the Benevolent Order of Antelopes. And Lardass just sat back and enjoyed what he'd created-a complete and total barf-o-rama!

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Right, they've stated that a few times now. They're not trying to win Trump supporters for this or that candidate. They're taking a stand. If the principals involved were different, I know some people here would be applauding them for showing some backbone.

[Crusty Juggler]

I will follow Brent Bozell through the gates of hell.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I prefer T. Coddington van Vorhees VIII

[Sevo]

"Kent State University professor investigated for possible ties to ISIS."

If the article is correct, why not investigate the guy for, oh, murder or something. Doesn't look like they have one bit of evidence of any connection; looks like he's just a run-of-the-mill anti-semite.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I'm deeply confused as to why this guy was allowed to keep his job after yelling "death to Israel!" at a visiting diplomat and arguing suicide bombings are justifiable.

[Rich]

Tenure?

[Warty]

So I was skimming over The Law this morning for the first time in a while, and this passage jumped out. Nothing ever changes. I wonder if post-Napoleonic France had taxi medallions.

If you suggest a doubt as to the morality of these institutions, it is boldly said that "You are a dangerous innovator, a utopian, a theorist, a subversive; you would shatter the foundation upon which society rests." If you lecture upon morality or upon political science, there will be found official organizations petitioning the government in this vein of thought: "That science no longer be taught exclusively from the point of view of free trade (of liberty, of property, and of justice) as has been the case until now, but also, in the future, science is to be especially taught from the viewpoint of the facts and laws that regulate French industry (facts and laws which are contrary to liberty, to property, and to justice). That, in government-endowed teaching positions, the professor rigorously refrain from endangering in the slightest degree the respect due to the laws now in force." [1]

[Rich]

Bastiat nailed it in so many ways.

[John]

I always tell people to read Simon Shima's history of the French Revolution "Citizens". The parallels between 18th Century France and the US today are striking and more than a bit scary.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

This is why I prefer reading texts from the 18th and 19th centuries. I'm continuously amazed at how much some of these writers nailed it back then, and how applicable their arguments are to today. It's all the same arguments and problems, and at least Bastiat and others didn't have to deal with 300 years of accumulated political philosophy mucking up the debate.

[Citizen X]

About ten years back i was coming to some conclusions about the true nature of governance, social contract, etc., and was rather shocked to read Bastiat and Spooner and the guys and realize they'd already articulated the same ideas better than i could 150 years ago.

[Ken Shultz]

Switzerland and parts of Germany routinely seize the assets of asylum seekers--including jewelry--in order to pay for the expense of caring for refugees.

Denmark has a law likely to be passed, which does the same thing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....ekers.html

The way these laws typically work, the asylum seekers are given a receipt for all the valuables over some amount, a thousand Swiss francs or 750 Euros in Germany, and if they leave the country within seven months, they can present the receipt at the border to get either their stuff or the cash equivalent back.

If they stay, the money or valuables are used to help reimburse the government for the cost of caring for them.

[Ken Shultz]

This reminds me of the way Robin Hood's merry men treated the poor in Time Bandits

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

I oppose Obama tripling the number of Syrian refugees he's bringing to live here for security reasons, but stripping helpless people of their wedding rings and other valuables is morally reprehensible. This may go to show what I've long argued about socialism and tolerance. The more people are forced to pay for each other, the pickier they get about whom we're paying for and the more we resent other people's wealth. It's somehow poetic to see Europe's social democracies exposed on this issue. Maybe the asylum seekers should console themselves with the realization that if their valuables hadn't been stripped from them when they showed up at the border, those social democracies eventually would have relieved them of their wealth through taxation anyway.

Having your valuable seized by the government for coming to Denmark should make asylum seekers feel European. Isn't having your valuables taken by the government what being European is all about?

[Ken Shultz]

I give you people gold.

I mean, c'mon. That's some premium shultzenheimer right there!

[sofiathomaas123]

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[andy50]

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[andy50]

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[andyt2188]

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[Warty]

You can always fall down a little bit more.

[John]

Who knows. I think people have giving up on winning and have decided that they will settle for the right people losing and then go from there.

[R C Dean]

Yay - stick it to Washington. And then what?

I dunno, but its a running start on being better than "Business as usual in the Beltway! Yay!"

[John]

What Warty said. Things are actually quite good right now compared to what they could be. It can always and often does get worse.

[John]

Is anyone's business model dying quicker than WESTLAW's? I have access and hardly use it anymore.

[R C Dean]

The Harvard Law Library is truly impressive inside and out.

The reading room on the top floor was renovated not too long ago. Spectacular.

I don't think they let the public into the stacks, which are the first three floors (and maybe the basement) of the building. The stacks are so massive and dense that they are impressive all on their own.

Do a Google Images search for Harvard Law Library. Seriously, its a cool building.

[Notorious UGCC]

I thought WESTLAW's thing was that they told you if a decision was still being followed, and if so in which courts, or whether it had been rejected or ignored by later decisions.

[John]

That is part of their thing. But the online libraries also mark cases that have been overturned and such. And there are very few practicing lawyers who need to deeply research caselaw. If you practice in an area, you know the case law in that area and follow the most recent decisions to know the state of the law.

Unless you are a clerk for a judge, you really don't just go and research an area of the law cold very often.

[Crusty Juggler]

At least she didn't say Minnesota.

[Lord Humungus]

Rufus will welcome her with open arms.

[Notorious UGCC]

So I guess WESTLAW needs to consider branching out...maybe into the tofu hot dog market or something more up to date?

[Overt]

This is all a result of Romney. He spent years working the GOP so that he would win the nomination in 2012. He and his cronies infiltrated the leadership to dissuade rising stars from running in 2012 and to change voting rules in order to minimize the influence of "distractions" like Ron Paul.

When the primary season rolled in circa 2011, no major candidates were willing to jump in because Romney had so effectively prepared the battlefield. As a result, we had a lot of interesting candidates who were nevertheless flawed because they were largely outsiders who hadn't been tested by the american political system.

National Review's perfidy during this time is wholly expected. While Romney was quite flawed, there was no one reasonable to challenge him. And so of course the political wonks at NR were going to side with him. I became disgusted with them at that time. I had no love of the other candidates, but their attempts to ignore the deep flaws with Romney and to shoot down even the good ideas of the other candidates in an attempt to secure Romney's win ultimately cost them a huge number of readers.

I agree that NR has a lot to answer for, but no one realizes just how damaging Romney was to the entire GOP. The chrony system he put in place meant that to run you needed to be an outsider or "The Guy" that the establishment has chosen. The voters know that and reject it wholesale.

[Bodica Slayer of Woodchip]

"shitheads like the NR editors". . . .Spoken like a shithead who has never read NR. Frankly, not only do they have a significant libertarian presence, they are much better writers than any of the dimwits writing for Reason.

I'd take a Kevin D. Williamson and Charles Cooke over any of the morons here. Honestly, Reason is just a one note non-wonder. (the cops are bad, the religious folks are bad, blah, blah, blah).

[Bodica Slayer of Woodchip]

Without question, the best libertarian writer isn't anyone who writes for Reason. It's Kevin D. Williamson.

[Citizen X]

The worst thing about this election is that, whoever the eventual nominees are, they can't both lose.

[Citizen X]

...its a running start on being better than "Business as usual in the Beltway! Yay!"

A bar so low a planarian couldn't limbo under it.

[commodious spittoon]

As long as they don't sell marital aids from the same cart.