Trump and Sanders Take New Hampshire, Social Justice Activist Kills Himself Outside Ohio Statehouse, FBI Can't Unlock San Bernardino Shooters' Phones: A.M. Links

Bernie Sanders/Instagram

• Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders were the big winners in New Hampshire last night, taking 35 percent and 60 percent of the Republican and Democrat vote, respectively. Rounding out the top five GOP candidates were Ohio Gov. John Kasich with nearly 16 percent of the vote, Sen. Ted Cruz with 11.6 percent, Jeb Bush with 11.1 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio with 10.6 percent. 
• The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration's regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants.
• A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.
• California pregnancy-testing and counseling centers are fighting a rule that would require them to post a sign about state abortion, contraception, and prenatal care programs for low-income women.
• A former federal judge is asking President Obama to pardon a man he sent to prison for 55 years after making three marijuana sales to a police informant.
• The FBI has been unable to unlock the phones of the couple responsible for the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, because it's encrypted—fueling government demands for a "backdoor" into encrypted phones.
• The Ferguson City Council is asking the Justice Department for changes to a proposed consent decree meant to address local law enforcement practices. 
• Shorter Hillary Clinton: Citizens United was a bad decision because it allows Republicans to criticize her. 
• In San Francisco, 77 percent of security cameras on BART trains are fake or don't work. 

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Comments

[Domestic Dissident]

Bernie Sanders to kiss the ring of the “Reverend” Al Sharpscum.

Oh well, there goes whatever miniscule chance he might have had to win the nomination. Bill Clinton was smart enough to tell Sharpscum and his gang to go fuck themselves, and even Obama is smart enough to try and keep most of their meetings secret.

[Tonio]

Meh. For every moderate/rational vote this costs him he’ll pick up an identity vote. Also, perhaps wisely hedging his bets in the event of a Clinton indictment.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

[Domestic Dissident]

Good morning Rufus.

[Tonio]

Slut! Rufus, that is.

[Injun, as in from India]

Nightmare scenario #1 is Sanders winning the nomination and beating whichever ass clown the GOP posts on its side. Welcome to USSA.

[Jerryskids]

You know Sanders endorsed Jesse Jackson for Prez back in ’88? And that Bernie supporters use that fact as an endorsement for Sanders? The identity politics movement wasn’t as strong in ’92 as it is now, signalling isn’t just a thing, it’s the only thing. Bernie’s on the right side of this.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

148) Holy cow, Slate’s feminist blog actually makes a point I agree with. Apparently, the CDC is recommending all women of childbearing age abstain completely from alcohol unless they’re on birth control. To me, this sounds actually insane, if you actually try to consider it as medical advice.

One of the things that really bothered me when my wife was pregnant with our two kids was how much license it gave busybodies to go around telling us what we could do. People who would never offer unsolicited advice at other times were all of a sudden coming up to us and telling us all kinds of dumb things, or feeling free to criticize my wife for having a glass of wine or something. (Okay, a lot of these were family members, but still?)

Practically every day, some article on Slate complains that conservatives are trying to control women’s bodies, so it’s nice to see they can recognize and call out an actual attempt to do so.

[Lee G]

The CDC exceeded its mandate a while a ago. I think it happened when they decided that preventing chronic disease was a valid goal.

[SIV]

“First they came for the mosquitoes”

[Tonio]

Ah, but did they recognize there was a larger issue with government control, per se?

[Certified Public Asshat]

You’re silly.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

The most vocal people on child rearing are the ones with no kids.

[Lee G]

Yes

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Yeah, since I’ve had kids, I’ve largely given up on the idea that parents actually have much influence on how their kids turn out. Maybe extremely poor parenting will have a negative effect. But basically, I’ve come around to the view that so long as you’re pretty much average, your kids will turn out the same. Trying to over-parent will only cause resentment.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Someone’s read ‘The Lonely Crowd’.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lone…..0300088655

[Brian]

Good. I hope you enjoy parenting.

Just make sure I never see or hear your children in public, ever, though.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

You won’t, until the inevitable mass shooting that they’ll blame on their dad’s bad jokes.

[Atanarjuat]

since I’ve had kids, I’ve largely given up on the idea that parents actually have much influence on how their kids turn out

Beginning a parent led me to the opposite conclusion.

[SFC B]

I don’t believe that parents can help their kids develop into some sort of super-amazing admirable person. I fully believe that parents are capable of turning their kids into horrible assholes.

[Trshmnstr, terror of the trash]

I believe that most parents don’t have much influence on their kids because their kids spend more time in front of a daycare attendant, public school teacher, and their messed up peers than in front of their parents.

[Florida Man]

My only parenting advice is DON’T.

[Brett L]

So many Florida Men should follow this.

[Zeb]

Well, if you parents would just do a better job, we wouldn’t have to.

But seriously, I’ll tell people what I think if it comes up, But it’s really none of my damn business.

[Brian]

I’ve been blaming all of your parents for years in my head.

[Overt]

The most vocal people on child rearing are the ones with no kids.

Oh HELL No.

You think the nazis on Jezz are bad? Try reading some mommy blogs. At some point parents- especially some moms- became absolutely obsessed not just with raising great kids, but also getting the world to raise kids the way THEY raise them. They are vicious. God forbid you let your kid have some high fructose corn syrup, or let them climb a tree free of anti-gravity harness. And God forbid you NOT doing exactly those same things. There are a dozen mommy blogs all cross linked and deep quoting rants about every possible facet of parenting. And it isn’t just commentary- it’s shaming and vilifying of differing viewpoints all the way down.

The most insufferable commentators are the ones with one child. They have exactly one data point that worked out for them, and they won’t let you forget it. They’ve never had to mediate between multiple kids in the house and can spend all their time scheduling and shaping their special snowflake to the ends of the earth. And if you don’t validate and celebrate their personal choices to the high heavens, you, sir, are a disgrace to humanity.

[Brett L]

Except for the One Bad Mother group. They are doing God’s work.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Only if you are double counting my vociferous demands to “shut your fucking kid up in this plane/restaurant/movie.” 😉

[Overt]

The only time I have gotten any static was from some teenagers. I’ve seen some 20-something DINKs roll their eyes before, but never had any problem.

With the teenagers, I could give a shit. I tolerate so much of their cliquey tomfoolery and terrible driving that they have no place to stand on this earth complaining about people inconveniencing them in public.

[BearOdinson]

Paging Nikki the worst. Nikki the worst please pick up the white courtesy phone……..

[EMD]

As opposed to the BLACK DISREGARD PHONE?

Racist.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

When my wife was pregnant we ran into this all the time, even from doctors. The elephant in the room that only a few doctors will acknowledge is that the studies done on fetal alcohol syndrome are structurally flawed. There are issues with the sample population, metrics, all sorts of stuff. Pearl-clutching Puritans stand ready to attack anyone who admits this and who might dare to tell mothers-to-be that alcohol in moderation is fine, and no doctor wants to risk a lawsuit from a boozehound mother who believes moderation means only a case of Natural Light a day, so you mostly hear that no alcohol consumption is safe.

The best medical advice we got was that as a rule of thumb anything you do to your body you’re doing to your kid. So, you want a beer? Have a beer. Just don’t get drunk.

[Overt]

Right, it is the lawsuits that kill doctoring in this specific case. We don’t know why sometimes some pregnancies turn out bad. But that won’t stop an ambulance chaser from trying to pin it on anything the doctor may have allowed. And the doctor knows that nearly every mom disregards at least one piece of advice throughout the pregnancy and can defend himself by saying, “Hey look, they didn’t do everything I told them!”

[Brett L]

The breastfeeding Milk alcohol content studies pretty much put the end to the “no safe amount” shit. The placenta is at least as good a filter as the breast tissue.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

My wife breastfed for awhile, and the funny thing is the best doctor we saw basically told her that the only issue with drinking post-birth for breastfeeding was that alcohol in the bloodstream could potentially make it into breast milk, but that only happens if you’re breastfeeding while hammered and currently guzzling a martini. She said that basically the healthy human liver will process alcohol pretty quickly, and even when there’s excess alcohol in your blood it’s not the same as pouring a shot of Jameson’s down your kid’s throat. Unless you’re a raging alcoholic in the middle of a bender, worst-case scenario is you get your kid buzzed and feel like a horrible parent.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rounding out the top five GOP candidates were Ohio Gov. John Kasich with nearly 16 percent of the vote…

NH didn’t like the movie Fargo, either.

[Tonio]

Kasich in second? Srsly? A nice enough guy, no doubt, but he comes across as an unexceptional and characterless MOR type. IOW, has “VP” written all over him. But Bernie will need a woman/minority running mate, and Hillary may wish to round out her ticket with a racial/ethnic minority.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

He held over 100 townhalls in NH. If you watched the most recent Republican debate (only one I’ve seen so far, as it was on network), he mentioned that fact about once every 45 seconds.

[Tonio]

No, didn’t watch. What was it he was mentioning, VP?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The townhall thing. Like Bear says below, he was basically all-in on NH, but it seems unlikely he can repeat that anywhere else

[BearOdinson]

I think he went all in for NH. There is NO way he could repeat that in several other states coming up.

[ant1sthenes]

If anyone looks like VP material to me, it’s Rubio.

[R C Dean]

He practically has “Dan Quayle 2.0” tattooed on his forehead.

[ant1sthenes]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Scooby]

Kasich is a responsible VP choice. I’m sure he’d be a good caretaker if he had to move up to the big chair.

Rubio, on the other hand, is a “don’t assassinate me” choice for VP, a la Quayle, Biden, etc. In other words, he’s a shoe-in.

[Jerryskids]

Kasich is from Ohio, I’m from Ohio. The difference between us is Kasich keeps going back to Ohio. I apologize for being a dumbass, but it took me a while being from Ohio rather than in Ohio to realize just what a terrible place it is. About all you need to know about Ohio is Ohio is called the “Mother of Presidents” because more Presidents came from Ohio than any other state – and Ohio is actually proud of that distinction rather than being deeply ashamed of it.

[EMD]

Yeah, but those were good Preezies before the media ruined the office for us!!!!!

[EMD]

I live in Ohio. It’s okay.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration’s regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

We’ll be flooded by Gaia’s sweat and tears!

[UnCivilServant]

The Drought is solved!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

What goes up, must come down
Spinning wheel got to go round

[Tonio]

Good Morning, Fist. While only temporary, this is a hopeful sign.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Kasich? KASICH?

[UnCivilServant]

Who?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I know, right?

[Princess Trigger]

#feelthekasich
eww

[Crusty Juggler]

All potential Kasich voters should be forced to read ENB’s article where she wrote about Kasich’s experience watching Fargo, and listening to The Roots.

[Tonio]

Link for the lazy?

[Crusty Juggler]

Ugh. What are you, a Sanders supporter? The Unbearable Smugness of John Kasich

[Crusty Juggler]

That’s not the right one. Ugh. I blame everyone else.

[Crusty Juggler]

I guess she did not write the pop culture piece. I have been wrong before, like when I sunk all of my money into No Fear.

[Tonio]

LOL. No way, dude. But thanks for the linky.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

That was Jesse http://reason.com/blog/2015/08…..pper-years

[Crusty Juggler]

Thank you.

[Tonio]

Thanks, ENB.

[Tonio]

Damn. Srsly? So, he’s a Tipper Gore level humorless nanny. Great.

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes. And, as the ENB piece I linked to states, he is a jerk, which in theory I do not have a problem with, but when you are a humorless jerk, you are just awful.

[Lord Humungus]

Science Finally Explained My Resting Bitch Face to Me

RBF is frustrating to live with but finally science has brought some answers. Last year, two behavioral researchers, Jason Rogers and Abbe Macbeth, used a technology called FaceReader to determine whether RBF is actually a thing, or just a delusion in the eye of the beholder. FaceReader scans more than 500 points on the human face and assigns an expression based on eight “basic” emotions: happy, angry, sad, scared, surprised, disgusted, contemptuous, or neutral.

To create a baseline, Rogers and Macbeth ran “normal” faces through FaceReader and found that most people’s resting faces register as “neutral.” Then they ran photos and videos of celebrities most often accused of RBF?Kanye, KStew, etc. What the pair found is that these faces registered far higher “contempt” than the normies. That sneering, condescending emotion accounts for around 5.76 percent of the resting expression for those afflicted with RBF.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I’d say I have resting bemused face. Or resting meh face.

[RBS]

I have resting “Did you really ignore my advice and take the complete opposite course of action and now you’re fucked” face.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

I display that face at least 6 times a day.

[Atanarjuat]

I think we can officially start using scare quotes around the word “science” now.

[BearOdinson]

Wow.
Dennis Prager (one of my favorite socons, has a small libertarian streak) once said:
“(Not withstanding hard science and technology, all studies either confirm what common sense already said, or they are wrong.”

[Always a Carl, Never a Clyde]

all studies either confirm what common sense already said, or they are wrong

Every study should confirm what I already believe, or it must be wrong.

[Just say Nikki]

Well, he did say it was a socon.

[EMD]

I have resting O face.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.

If he didn’t believe in his cause why should police?

[Rich]

You got in while I was agonizing over which phrasing was least tasteless.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What had you come up with so far?

[Swiss Servator]

“Should have just called the cops for the same result”?

[Rich]

“Black Lives Splatter”

“Black Gray Matter”

[straffinrun]

Yep, you went there.

[straffinrun]

Well played BTW

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh my.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Brains Laying Motionless
Brainless (Literally) Moron

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

(golf clap)

[Tonio]

You people are giving Nicole a run for her title this AM.

[Swiss Servator]

*leaves Tonio in charge of narrowed gazes, returns to work*

[Rhywun]

I knew I could depend on someone to come up with something more beyond the pale than I was even expecting.

[BigT]

“A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.”

He was then arrested for impersonating an officer.

[Jerryskids]

I have a niece near Columbus who is familiar with the guy’s group and she says he wasn’t the normal “activist” type – he actually went out and did the work himself and got people interested in volunteering for his cause, he didn’t just spend all his time hectoring the government to do something and figuring out a way to get paid to hector the government to do something. (She belongs to an activist church that preaches the lord told “you” to feed the poor and clothe the naked, he didn’t say to go out and bug the crap out of somebody else to do it. The lord helps those who help themselves, not the people who whine about somebody oughta do something. Which is kinda nice.)

[Shpip]

Just one more black-on-black shooting to add to the pile.

[straffinrun]

They hate that award. Stay away from that award.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

They give it to typical bastards.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I came here based on the “SJW shoots self” tagline, not the more depressing real headline, and so I offer the following:

“Well, that’s a start.”

And while, generally, I’d love for this to be the new favored protest method for people who describe themselves as advocates of “social justice”, whatever the fuck that is, my mother, who was bipolar, killed herself when I was a toddler. While I can’t understand the mindset of someone who has the wherewithal to post to Facebook, “Hey, sucks, I’m gonna go ahead and kill myself because the ‘demons in my head’ won,” I can understand and absolutely sympathize with the people who get left behind.

[Illocust]

It’s a mentality I’ve never gotten either. I’ve had depression and panic attacks that have damn near lasted more than a week, but those have always resulted in me being terrified of dying not wanting to die. Some people though, just don’t consider death as such a bad thing though. It’s on the table of options even if they aren’t religious and don’t think there will be anything better (it’s creepy fucked up, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand it).

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I mean, there were a couple of times in my life where the thought had crossed my mind, but not because of “demons” or whatever. Twice in my life, very briefly, I thought to myself, “Man, I can’t deal with situation X, maybe I should just call it a day.” Obviously I didn’t, but my point is that it was always in response to external stuff, and it was a product of weighing alternatives. And both times my conclusion was a combination of “yeah, but, what if death is worse” and “I’m not gonna give the bastards the pleasure.”

[Jerryskids]

I’ve had shit in my head bad enough I’ve thought a lobotomy might be preferable to thinking “what if this doesn’t stop and I get desperate enough to shut my brain up with a bullet?” Drugs are a wonderful thing when your brain doesn’t work quite right, when the chemicals and the electrical signals get a little too messed up. Zoloft and Klonopin in my case.

[DenverJ]

My wife was very sick for years. She could have gotten a transplant and been ok, but by that time she was just tired of being in pain, and couldn’t handle the thought of one more surgery. She didn’t actively kill herself, but she allowed herself to die. I’m still pissed at her.

[Jerryskids]

I had a very good friend and an uncle do one round of chemo and say “meh, I’d rather be dead” and go ahead and die. I don’t judge them, but it does make me wonder how godawful bad chemo must be that you’d rather be dead. I’m hoping I never have to find out.

[Illocust]

Activists of all stripes really need to see non-activist therapists. I’ve noticed way to often people trying to fill in despair holes caused by depression or other major issues in their life with politics. It’s one thing if the person realizes that their sudden interest is just a reaction to emotions they can’t control, but so many don’t seem to understand what is happening to them.

[Hamster of Doom]

But what are your thoughts about yaoi?

*sits to listen*

[Illocust]

Hmmmm, I’ve moved away from Yaoi over time. I really like it as a teen, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve moved more towards western animation and comics. Thus slash is more my territory now.

Japanese animation and comics in general have an issue of being very very similar. There are a couple that will stand out (Blood + for example), but their tropes are so ingrained that a lot of their stuff feels like watching the same character in a different situation with a different hairstyle. I realize that western entertainment has similar issues, but we have so much more media that it is easier to find the exceptions. Plus from a comics point of view, we don’t let comic characters die with the authors.

In Japan, you will get one popular comic, then anyone that wants to explore that situation (even within the same company) will have to come up with a thinly disguised knock off. In America, we allow multiple authors and artists to work on the same character. This allows us to give the character a history and depth that is hard to replicate without hundreds of different hands touching the same character over seventy years.

[Illocust]

This really allows fandom to flourish in a way that’s not seen in elsewhere. Because the characters have been around so long you have multiple generations writing fanworks for the same characters. Their histories are also long and winding with multiple different dynamics, which provide a lot more fodder for nearly any type of story you might want to write. Instead of dying off when the new craze hits these fandoms just continue to build upon themselves taking inspiration mostly from the newest work, but thanks to the continued audience, stuff based upon earlier works will also find a warm welcome that encourages it to still be made.

So yeah, I’m a Slash fan more than a Yaoi fan nowdays. I would encourage anyone interested in either to look at the stuff made for the comics fandoms. You’re bound to find something you will enjoy, and it’s really common to find works that are bigger than the Lord of the Rings and well written.

[Illocust]

Sorry for the late response. I’m sick today. I’m spending a lot of time napping.

[ant1sthenes]

Man should have read his Hoffer. But barring some evidence that the guy was a monster, I’ll just treat it as sad.

[Griffin3]

Hey man … nice shot.

Both my son and I had the same thought at the same moment. I’m a bad, bad father 😛

[EMD]

A near textbook case of mental disorder coming to a logical conclusion.

[Bee Tagger]

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration’s regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

They’ll wait for a lull in the news cycle to remove the block.

[Domestic Dissident]

Dictators don’t listen to no steenking courts.

[Jerryskids]

You really ought to look into the arguments in the case. This may be the signal we’ve been looking for that SCOTUS may be about to go back on the whole “deference” thing. They may be listening to Clarence Thomas, the one I think most forceful on the idea that “deference” is a big bag of shit when it comes to executive branch agencies and the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats that run them. Somebody needs to be over-seeing them and keeping them in check and it sure as hell ain’t Congress or the President. That’s what the Supremes are supposed to be doing – acting as a check on government over-reach, not just shrugging it off as “not our job to be telling Congress or the President how to do their jobs”. Yes, it is your job, goddammit. You don’t have a problem overturning laws passed by Congress and signed by the President based on their being unconstitutional – both Congress and the President are forbidden from doing unconstitutional acts so where’s the deference that “hey, Congress and the President must not think it’s unconstitutional so who are we to judge?”

[Lord Humungus]

600-pound pig escapes from NH farm, tries to go vote

An escaped pig weighing over 600 pounds strolled up to the door of a polling location in Pelham, New Hampshire on Tuesday morning, police said.

[UnCivilServant]

Naw, that’s just Chris Cristie.

[Crusty Juggler]

The pig was running from Chris Christie.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

We’ve found Chris Christie’s sole vote in NH.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

You win this round, UCS.

And when I say round, I’m really referring to Chris Christie.

[Swiss Servator]

A UUUUUGE vote for Trump! Porcine Vote for America to be Great Again!

[EMD]

It was just Rosie O’ Donnell.

[Auric Demonocles]

This weird fetish for getting everyone voting the past few years had already gone too far.

[Swiss Servator]

Did they give the pig an “I Voted” sticker?

[UnCivilServant]

Yep, and they recorded the ballot for Clinton.

[Auric Demonocles]

And this is such an obvious option for second choice of Vote or Die. Who doesn’t love 600 pounds of bacon?

[UnCivilServant]

Oh, come on, Pigs are not made entirely of bacon, there’s a quarter ton of other tasty goodness in there just waiting to be seared or barbecued or smoked or cured…

[WTF]

The Christie jokes are too obvious. It was Lena Dunham urging people to vote for Hillary.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

+1 for originality

[straffinrun]

Live Free or Fry

[B.P.]

Pigasus!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The FBI has been unable to unlock the phones of the couple responsible for the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, because it’s encrypted?fueling government demands for a “backdoor” into encrypted phones.

If only they had a backdoor into those phones the massacre could have been averted!

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Route all cell traffic through FBI servers listening for select keywords, flagging positives for active surveillance. Hey, if you’re not an evil terrorist you’ve got nothing to hide, right?

[Atanarjuat]

The “every FBI agent is Jack Bauer” fallacy.

[Atanarjuat]

The reality

[Atanarjuat]

The reality

[Jerryskids]

Anybody else suspicious of the claim that the FBI has been unable to unlock the phones? Is Anonymous laughing and saying “give us those phones for 5 minutes you dumbasses and we’ll show you how easy they are to unlock”? Not that I don’t completely trust the FBI to not be just making shit up to suit their own purposes, but I’d be a little bit less suspicious if we had an independent authority on hacking verify the un-hackability claim.

[Lord Humungus]

Supreme Court puts the brakes on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan

Tuesday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay, halting implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan pending the resolution of legal challenges to the program in court. The CPP is arguably the Obama administration’s signature environmental initiative, representing the EPA’s most ambitious effort to control greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Five separate stay applications were filed by more than two dozen states and numerous industry groups. Other states, environmental groups and some energy companies opposed the stay.

[Illocust]

Thank god, it’s nice to know we’ve got a reprieve.

[Bee Tagger]

fueling government demands for a “backdoor” into encrypted phones.

I think the fuel is always there.

[Lord Humungus]

How Low Can Central Banks Go? JPMorgan Reckons Way, Way Lower

In September 2014, when the ECB’s deposit rate was minus 0.2 percent, Draghi was saying “now we are at the lower bound.” As recently as December, Kuroda said “we don’t think we should institute” negative rates.

The rethink is global, even in places where rates are still positive. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney conceded in November that his benchmark could fall below the current 0.5 percent if needed, while Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said last week that negative rates were “working more than I can say that I expected in 2012.” Citigroup Inc. economist Willem Buiter says even China could shift below zero next year.

The worry had been that probing below zero risked hurting the profitability of lenders, forcing them to pass on the cost to borrowers. Other fears included bank and currency runs, the hoarding of cash or gridlocked money markets.

[Lee G]

Anything to prevent the liquidation of bad debt.

Seriously, this will not end well.

[Restoras]

It is going to end extremely badly.

[BigT]

With negative rates why shouldn’t I open my own bank? After taking a deposit All I have to do is stuff the bills in my mattress and wait. No reserves needed.

Hmmmmm.

[R C Dean]

The good news is, it doesn’t look like the Fed has the authority to impose negative interest rates.

Negative interest rates are actual, overt capital destruction. It is the equivalent of taking money out of the capital stock of the country and lighting it on fire. How capital destruction is supposed to be good for the economy is a total mystery to me.

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

How capital destruction is supposed to be good for the economy is a total mystery to me.

That’s because you’re one of a small percentage of people who knows what capital is.

Trump and Sanders are essentially campaigning – and winning – on the idea that destroying capital is good so long as it is the capital of hated people.

[sarcasmic]

Unarmed naked black teen, 17, is shot and killed by Austin police after refusing orders and ‘charging’ at a veteran officer

David Joseph, 17, was shot and killed by Austin police after ‘refusing orders and charging’ at an officer
Police said Officer Geoffrey Freeman, who is also black, fatally shot Joseph
Freeman responded to multiple calls about a naked black male chasing another through an apartment complex Monday morning
In-car dashboard cameras failed to capture video of the shooting, but audio of the incident was picked up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..icer.html#

Obey or die.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

David ‘Slurp’ French approves of this message.

[Crusty Juggler]

From what I witness at the gym, there are a few too many police officers who are so physically unfit that shooting someone is the only way they can defend themselves.

[WTF]

That’s what Tasers and batons are actually supposed to be for. But instead of self-defense, they get used for “compliance”.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…Citizens United[sic] was a bad decision because it allows Republicans to criticize her.

Hillary will be, like all on the left, a champion of free speech.

[Hamster of Doom]

Free to say anything flattering to the administration?

[Fist of Etiquette]

WELL WOULD YOU PREFER REQUIRED TO?

[Hamster of Doom]

Her fingernails are always clean. I’m keeping this compliment in my hip pocket, it may keep me out of the camps one day.

[Timrekgrun]

Not only “free” to say something flattering, but perhaps even muscled into it by our most muscular of candidates.

[Lord Humungus]

Byron York: Decisive Trump victory sends GOP establishment reeling

What was extraordinary about the gathering was that I talked to a lot of people there, politically active Republicans, and most of them told me they personally didn’t know anyone who supported Trump. Asked about the Trump lead, one very well-connected New Hampshire Republican told me, “I don’t see it. I don’t feel it. I don’t hear it, and I spend part of every day with Republican voters.”

Readers of the story came to one of two conclusions. Either New Hampshire Republican leaders were so out of touch that they couldn’t tell something huge was happening right under their noses, or there really weren’t very many Trump voters, and the Trump phenomenon was a mirage that would fade before election day.

Now, with Trump’s smashing victory in the New Hampshire primary, we know the answer. There really were a lot of Trump voters out there, and party officials could not, or did not want, to see them.

[Drake]

Bah. Trump will win the open primaries with his unregistered rubes, He’ll lose the closed registered-Republican only primaries as long as the rest of the vote isn’t spread among too many others.

[Tonio]

So this is the right’s Pauline Kael moment?

[SugarFree]

Or he’s bringing the non-establishment Republican voters who are normally disengaged until it comes times to vote against the Democrat.

[Free Society]

What really gets me is John Kasich doing so well. This is the guy that said if you want to scale back the welfare state, you’re probably going to go to hell. Socialism is apparently ordained by his god.

[BearOdinson]

I hear people say he managed the state well. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Be he has a streak of David Brooks’ like communitarianism that I can’t fucking stand.

[Free Society]

I’m in his state. He brought us shit like that law where you’ll be convicted as a drug runner for having hidden compartments in your car. In any case, I loathe government “managers”. He thinks he’s the indispensable captain of this love boat, he thinks the government is the soul of a society, he believes in the divine right of welfare recipients, he loves unaccountable police and yes, he’s a communitarian bordering on socialist in all but name. Fuck him and his ambitions.

[Domestic Dissident]

Cheap-ass Rams owner Stan Kroenke buys ginormous Texas ranch for $725 million.

What a punk. Good on St. Louis for telling this guy to piss off.

[Certified Public Asshat]

How is he cheap?

[waffles]

Well if he can buy a big-ass ranch he could build a stadium. But if you can get the taxpayer to foot the bill that’s not cheap, it’s savvy.

[WTF]

Why do you think he has $725 million to blow on a ranch?

[Certified Public Asshat]

Not that LA will completely avoid pitching anything in to his new stadium, but he did turn down St. Louis free money to pay for the LA stadium himself.

[EMD]

He’s moving to a facility in LA he’s paying for. No taxpayer funding in the LA project, unless I’m wrong.

[R C Dean]

That ranch is right outside my hometown. I worked there a couple summers. I’m sure they still remember me as the worst tractor driver in the history of the ranch.

[Lord Humungus]

Dick Morris: Clinton deploys B Team

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is falling apart. Bernie Sanders soared in New Hampshire and now two polls have him tying her nationally. It’s a disaster.

Now she’s called in the B Team ? the cynical, paranoid and wacky twins Sidney Blumenthal and David Brock ? to bail her out. And here comes the elderly, diminished and livid former President Bill Clinton to lead the duo’s frantic attacks on Sanders.

The attacks are rooted in nothing more than a list of dirty names they call the Vermont senator every day. Having found little in his record to attack, they have consulted the thesaurus to turn up ugly sounding accusations.

[Tonio]

Having found little in his record to attack…

In all fairness it is rather hard to attack a blank record.

[Just say Nikki]

? Dude’s got decades’ worth of votes.

[SugarFree]

Exactly. More like a record they refuse to attack because they want Sanders’ voters. They won’t vote against Hillary in the general, but they could just stay home.

[Timrekgrun]

She can’t attack Sanders record because she would do more of the same if she had a “mandate” and was able to set aside enough pork for those who have heard her secret speeches.

[Tonio]

Oh, Nikki, can’t you just let me have my little jests?

Sure, thousands of votes, but he’s only had like four sponsored bills pass, right? So his record is one of ineffectual spear-carrier, not leader.

[Just say Nikki]

I clearly cannot!

But yes, you’re right about that. For sure. But that’s eminently attackable.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Maybe my math is wrong but if The A-Team couldn’t get it done, how will The B-Team succeed?

[UnCivilServant]

The b-team has more experience committing felonies and executing blackmail campaigns instead of shooting the scenery and building chop-job vehicles.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Mr. T

[EMD]

Uh, (delegate) Scoreboard, Dick.

[EMD]

Uh, (delegate) Scoreboard, Dick.

[EMD]

SO NICE I SAID IT TWICE.

[Rich]

In San Francisco, 77 percent of security cameras on BART trains are fake or don’t work.

Probably better than the security *personnel*.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I bet a fake security camera is probably as effective at deterring crime, and a lot cheaper. Sounds like a good strategy on BART’s part.

[Zeb]

It probably is as effective as a deterrent. Lots of businesses use fake cameras like that. But (obviously) they are pretty useless for investigation.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

^This.

[WTF]

How effective will they be now that people know so many of them are fakes?

[Crusty Juggler]

I doubt they are that effective, because stupid criminals on trains are too stupid too pay attention to cameras.

[Rhywun]

Yup. I’m surprised anyone believed otherwise.

[EMD]

The upside is that they aren’t watching even the law-abiding citizens.

[Lord Humungus]

Ramesh Ponnuru: What’s the Anti-Trump Strategy Now?

Trump won big: At this writing it looks as though he will have gotten more votes than the next two candidates combined. He also swept nearly every demographic category. He won young and old, men and women, independents and Republicans, first-time voters and returning ones, moderates and people who call themselves “very conservative.” He carried every education group, albeit with a narrow margin among those with advanced college degrees.

He won, as well, in that Republicans who don’t want him are not much further along in finding a champion than they were before the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. John Kasich, who took second place in New Hampshire, does not have a national organization and is considered too moderate by many to win. Many anti-Trump Republicans are at least as hostile to Ted Cruz, the third-place finisher. Neither of the next two Republicans, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, have any reason to leave the race now.

[Tonio]

What’s the Anti-Trump Strategy Now?

They’re still in the pants-shitting phase.

[Injun, as in from India]

The anti-Trump strategy for us is voting for Gary Johnson, and resigning ourselves to a Hitlery presidency.

[Tonio]

Hi, Hiawatha! Haven’t seen you here in a while. You’ve been missed, bro.

[Injun, as in from India]

Thanks Tonio! I’ve missed you guys and Reason.com too. I think I may start visiting the AM/PM links threads more often from now on.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

^This^

[Lord Humungus]

As worries mount, European banks face sell-off more savage than 2008

Big European bank stocks, mired by a seemingly endless list of investor concerns, are being sold-off more brutally than they were at the start of the financial crisis in 2008.

Europe’s lenders have lost nearly a quarter of their value – over $240 billion – since the start of the year, faced with the reality that spiraling macro-economic worries could undo eight years of cost cuts, safer balance sheets and risk averse strategies.

Slumping oil prices, soaring technology costs, a slowdown in China – and the global market volatility that has followed – are just a few of many factors making investors jittery about banks.

There are also fears that the industry is undercapitalised for bad debt, and that negative interest rates will soon gut net interest margins and force lenders to charge for deposits.

[Lee G]

It’s estimated that European banks hold a trillion dollars worth of bad debt. 30% of European government bonds are yielding less than zero.

This is the under-reported story of the year so far. We are headed for an epic global meltdown.

[Timrekgrun]

But the bailouts worked, and austerity kills babies…how can this be true?!?

[UnCivilServant]

Planned PArenthood changed it’s name to ‘Austerity’?

[Timrekgrun]

They want to be hated by both the Right and the Left.

[Lee G]

You can only delay the inevitable.

[OneOut]

So Obam will leave a worse mess than he complained about inheriting ?

Who woulda thought that possible?

It’s the do nothing Congress that is to blame for this.

Or the inevitable result once you stop injecting 90 billion dollars of imaginary liquidity into the money supply.

[Free Society]

There are also fears that the industry is undercapitalised for bad debt, and that negative interest rates will soon gut net interest margins and force lenders to charge for deposits.

In a way a catastrophe could be good in the long run if it means the end of fiat and central banking. Most people, including economists and investors, cannot imagine a system without a banking cartel at the center of it all. So the only means of undoing the giant clusterfuck of Wilson’s making might just be some objective mathematics, that progs will try to skew and distort like they do everything else.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

“The FBI has been unable to unlock the phones of the couple responsible for the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, because it’s encrypted?fueling government demands for a “backdoor” into encrypted phones.”

Why? Surely they have quite enough evidence to charge the two. Hearing the FBI can’t break the crypt is actually something of a relief.

[Atanarjuat]

I don’t think charging them is much of an issue at this point.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I’m very skeptical of this. The NSA has had the capability to break most cellular encryption for several years, and even the newer stuff is already cracked. And I mean using like standard desktop PCs.

[Crusty Juggler]

I agree. Someone who knows more this issue than I do (I think Carl does…answer Carl), is the FBI’s statement they cannot break the encryption plausible? Or, maybe the NSA just doesn’t want to, or won’t share the technology?

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

It might be an issue of jurisdiction or procedure as well. As in, “the NSA doesn’t have jurisdiction for the vast majority of domestic law enforcement actions that the FBI wants this capability for.”

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I would think that the link to ISIS, tenuous as it may be, would be enough to move this into JTTF territory, which would provide the legal cover to use NSA crypto capabilities, wouldn’t it? I’m not an expert on this stuff, so I don’t know, I’m just going by random stuff I’ve read over the years.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

I agree with you on this one. Something tells me the FBI is looking to bootstrap this situation to their desire to make it easier for them to go asking the NSA to crack encryption in strictly domestic law enforcement situations as well.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Yeah, this smells a lot like, “How do we know they’re not connected to ISIS unless we can decrypt their phones?” Frankly the whole investigation smells a bit off, but I’m a paranoid anti-government nut, so what do I know?

[spqr2008]

And wouldn’t FYTW cover any other assists the FBI might ask for with tech?

[Always a Carl, Never a Clyde]

If it is an iOS or Android device with full disk encryption enabled (default on the former since 8 IIRC and the latter since 5.1 [?] but sometimes disabled by the manufacturer) and it is not powered on, it is plausible.

If it is powered on, it is not likely.

[Crusty Juggler]

Thank you.

[Always a Carl, Never a Clyde]

If it is powered on, it is not likely.

“Not likely that the FBI cannot get at its contents,” to be clear.

[Overt]

This is not true. The newer encryption- especially the encryption added to android and iOS is pretty tough.

That said, the NSA has enough computing power to target individual phones (they just can’t slurp and decrypt the billions of devices out there). However the FBI likely doesn’t have access to that equipment.

[BearOdinson]

The FBI types like to go on about high tech shit. But I believe (and mind you, I have absolutely NO empirical data to back me up here) is that most investigations that are successful usually revolve around old fashioned shit. High tech encrypted phones, but somebody signed a credit card reciept. Latex gloves with outers for no fingerprints, but the perp bought a fancy piece of jewelry that stands out. Remember box cutters on 9/11?

The fact is that I seriously doubt that in most of these cases the criminals (even the sophisticated mafia types or drug cartels) were capable of some John LeCarre level of sneakiness regarding technology. Oh sure, they may hire some serious bad-ass hacker types. But the folks pulling the trigger or setting up the crime are the ones who leave the clues.

[Frankjasper1]

I think this whole “Clinton is falling apart” is a bit over-blown.

[Lee G]

Unless they indict her, she has the nomination locked up

[Princess Trigger]

True, but we get the entertainment of watching her, her slimey clan, twist and rage at a socialist dinosaur.

[Frankjasper1]

I hope so. Clinton may be dangerous…but sanders and his idiocy (i am going to help you by jacking up taxes and government spending) is even more so.

[Lee G]

I saw a couple of minutes of Sanders speech last night. It was pure class warfare and envy.

[Frankjasper1]

That is all it is each and every time. I have not seem do anything other than go on controlled diatribes (where no one can question him). He is a bitter, angry and senile old man.

he also strikes me as full of greed along with the obvious envy

[Frankjasper1]

Has he ever interacted with actual people? It is like he is a robot.

[Timrekgrun]

The big question is really…when the idiot Republicans loose, which is a very real possibility, of the two who will they do the most to block every damn policy they propose? I’d be far less worried if the Republicans had acted like a real opposition party these last seven years instead of the whining pork gobblers that they have shown themselves to be.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Cockroaches don’t die.

[UnCivilServant]

Once again I had pro-bernie morons at the local paper.

This one was ranting about how individual taxes were too high, then ended the rant by calling for people to vote for sanders.

I was stunned by the sheer levels of doublethink required for that statement to be rendered.

[Frankjasper1]

Yea see that is why i think sanders and his ilk are so dangerous.

[Tonio]

They are extremely vocal, so give the appearance of greater numbers than they actually have. I think enough Americans realize that Sanders will bankrupt us that he won’t win the general.

[Frankjasper1]

I hope you are right. It amazes me how stupid Sanders and his supporters are. He also comes off as the give me your money cause i know what is best for you.

[Rhywun]

He’s winning the “youth” vote because most youth pay little or no taxes. That’s it. He would get slaughtered in the general, don’t worry about it.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Almost his entire platform is boiled down to “I’m gonna make your evil rich uncle pay for all this shit you like and don’t currently have.”

[Frankjasper1]

I don’t know the northeast and left coast would go for him. Plus i can see some swing states are. The general tends to bring out typical not caring people who want free stuff. And the dems are uncle sugar

[Frankjasper1]

I don’t know the northeast and left coast would go for him. Plus i can see some swing states are. The general tends to bring out typical not caring people who want free stuff. And the dems are uncle sugar

[spqr2008]

Plus, he has squirrelzzzz!!!!!!!

[WTF]

Because they have the support of idiots?

[UnCivilServant]

To be fair, Idiots are the largest demographic in this country.

[Frankjasper1]

Yep they clearly don’t think thru any of his proposals….free stuff for me is all they see!

[WTF]

That about sums it up.

[Tonio]

They are waiting for the implosion of the entrepreneurial classes. As an increasingly small number of people have any experience running a business, even a micro business like pet-sitting or lawn-mowing, people are losing touch with economic reality. And the death of that experience dovetails so well with other leftists goals: regulation of every facet of the economy, making parents afraid for their kids to have any time unsupervised by agents of the state, etc.

[Timrekgrun]

True and a lot of this is directly related to the over licensing and regulation now embedded throughout our “free market” system. It really irks me when these morons lament the horrors of capitalism and the free market while truly believing that accurately describes our current economic system.

[Frankjasper1]

Yep which is why i worry…he either is really stupid or is engaging in a sinister plot. The funny thing is…his useful idiots will then wonder why all the goods and services they love are gone.

I think there are a very small minority who like it like you say….but the useful idiots are useful.

[Tejicano]

I’d love to see a clip of him, after winning some primary somewhere, in front of his supporters jubilantly shouting “Who wants cake?”.

[WTF]

They all do, Tejicano, they all want cake.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

TAXES ARE TOO DAMN HIGH! Now where’s my free lunch and education bitches?

[Zeb]

Apparently people actually believe that all that socialist crap can be paid for by taxing the rich only.

[Frankjasper1]

And that excessive taxes will drain production. Money is only worth something if there are goods and services to buy. Why would people want to produce if all their money goes to taxes?

[Lord Humungus]

Turkey detains 34 people with explosives, suicide vests at Syrian border – media

The Turkish military detained 34 people and seized up to 15 kg of explosives and four suicide-bomber vests as they tried to enter Turkey from Syria, Turkish media reported the army as saying on Wednesday.

The private Dogan news agency and other media outlets said the group, consisting of four men, 10 women and 20 children, was detained on Tuesday night in the Oguzeli district of southeastern Gaziantep province, across the border from an area controlled by Islamic State militants.

[WTF]

We really haven’t heard much lately from Obama and the Democrats about bringing more Syrian “refugees” into America, have we?

[Rich]

Ah, but are they *doing* it?

[WTF]

Don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise if they were.

[Tonio]

Why, no, we haven’t. Wonder what’s up with that?

[BearOdinson]

We have no idea if these people were involved with ISIS. Maybe they were pro-democracy Syrian freedom fighters who were merely trying to sneak around the border to kill Assad? Did anyone think of that, huh?

[Lord Humungus]

close to home:

4 hurt in shootings outside Muskegon Heights High School

Authorities are conducting at least two separate investigations following at least two shooting incidents outside Muskegon Heights High School that left at least 4 people injured.

Muskegon Heights interim Police Chief Dr. Joseph Thomas told FOX17 they believe the situation started following a fight in Grand Rapids sometime last week. He said authorities received information that individuals involved with the incident last week might try to ‘settle the score’ at a basketball game hosted by Muskegon Heights High School vs. Ottawa Hills on Tuesday evening.

Precautionary measures were taken prior to tonight’s basketball game according to Chief Thomas, including having officers from the Michigan State Police and the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department in the area.

[WTF]

Another mass shooting that could have been stopped by banning guns with the shoulder thing that goes up.

[BearOdinson]

No, no, no. It is that thingee on the front that holds the knifey-thing.

And the fact that kids can get machine guns easier than books, or fresh fruit.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Is that fresh fruit GMO? Because if so I have it on very good authority that it is even more dangerous than a gun that is painted black.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

OMFG, dude, I absolutely love the fact that amongst gun paranoiacs one of the deciding factors of whether or not a rifle is too dangerous to be allowed in general circulation is whether or not it has the capability to be turned into a crappy spear! It’s like taking a broom and duct taping a chef’s knife to the end immediately makes it an assault broom.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Hand that broom to Hillary and she instantly transforms into Manfred von Richthofen.

[spqr2008]

Go get her Snoopy!

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

That imagery is absolutely priceless.

[Free Society]

And the ones that have the rectangle thing that falls out of the gun and has more than 10 brass cylindrical thingys that go boom. COMMON SENSE

[OneOut]

According to one lefty Congresswoman once that rectangle thingy is out of bullets it is no longer useful so we must ban the sale of those thingys.

She said it in a public speech. Her minions jumped up and started whispering in her ear as soon as she said it.

To watch the red rush into her face and the look of panic as she realized how stupid she exposed herself to be was priceless.

[OneOut]

According to one lefty Congresswoman once that rectangle thingy is out of bullets it is no longer useful so we must ban the sale of those thingys.

She said it in a public speech. Her minions jumped up and started whispering in her ear as soon as she said it.

To watch the red rush into her face and the look of panic as she realized how stupid she exposed herself to be was priceless.

[Rich]

YELLEN SAYS PACE OF FUTURE RATE HIKES COULD BE SLOWED

“The actual path of the (Fed’s key interest rate) will depend on what incoming data tell us about the economic outlook,” Yellen said.

“These developments, if they prove persistent, could weigh on the outlook for economic activity and the labor market, although declines in longer-term interest rates and oil prices could provide some offset,” she said.

Once again — just WTF does Janet Yellen *do*?

[Hamster of Doom]

Bagholder.

[Rich]

I suppose.

The stuff coaches spew about how they’re planning to win the game has much more substance than Yellen’s crap.

[Hamster of Doom]

She does lack a certain inspirational quality as a leader. I have a pet theory that she won’t last much longer. Just fill the position long enough to try to maneuver some of the toxic leverage out of the system, before they bring in someone sexier on the speeches circuit.

[The Last American Hero]

As far as I can tell, it involves gutting an animal, offering the carcass as a burnt sacrifice to the gods, and trying to read the future by examining the entrails.

Of course, had they been raising rates since the recession ended in 2009, there wouldn’t be an issue.

[Brett L]

I think yo meant 2003.

[Lord Humungus]

U.S. to Send More Troops to Aid Afghan Forces Pressed by Taliban

The United States Army will deploy hundreds of soldiers to the southern Afghan province of Helmand, where government forces have been pushed to the brink by Taliban militants, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

It will be the largest deployment of American troops outside major bases in Afghanistan since the end of the NATO combat mission in 2014. Though the military insists that the soldiers will not take active combat roles, American Special Operations forces have increasingly been drawn into the fighting in Helmand as one important district after another has fallen or been threatened by Taliban insurgents.

[Rich]

the military insists that the soldiers will not take active combat roles

If they did, they’d be violating the CoC’s orders.

I’m surprised at this point the term “soldier” is still being used.

[Lord Humungus]

hmm… maybe advisers? /Vietnam flashback

[Tonio]

Yep, my first thought was that this is exactly how our involvement in Vietnam started.

[Tejicano]

I was thinking it was exactly backwards from our involvement in Vietnam. This time we spent 15 years waging a war there and THEN we sent in advisors.

[Tonio]

Factually correct. But this feels like how the Vietnam war started.

[Rhywun]

Oh, I’m sure more war is coming.

[SFC B]

War never changes.

[BearOdinson]

Well, at least we aren’t actually putting “boots on the ground”.

Don’t forget, Afghanistan was the “good war”.

[WTF]

So glad Obama ended that war.

[Lord Humungus]

North Korea executes army chief of staff: South Korean media

North Korea has executed its army chief of staff, Ri Yong Gil, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, which, if true, would be the latest in a series of executions, purges and disappearances under its young leader.

The news comes amid heightened tension surrounding isolated North Korea after its Sunday launch of a long-range rocket, which came about a month after it drew international condemnation for conducting its fourth nuclear test.

A source familiar with North Korean affairs also told Reuters that Ri had been executed. The source declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter.

Ri, who was chief of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff, was executed this month for corruption and factional conspiracy, Yonhap and other South Korean media reported.

[Rhywun]

executed this month for corruption and factional conspiracy

It’s cute that they bother giving a “reason”.

[cgr2727]

Slightly OT, but when did the retards in charge of editing news copy decide that it made sense to put the attribution at the end of the headline instead of at the beginning. For example:

South Korean media: North Korea executes army chief of staff

versus

North Korea executes army chief of staff: South Korean media

It makes it look like “South Korean media” is the story. I’m no lexicographer, but I don’t think that’s how the colon is supposed to work. (But I’m very familiar with how my own is supposed to work.)

[cgr2727]

Also, I can’t wait to hear the method of execution method. They’ve already used “pack of angry dogs” and “anti-aircraft gun,” so my bet is on “strapped to ‘satellite’ rocket” like Wile E. Coyote.

[Swiss Servator]

In San Francisco, 77 percent of security cameras on BART trains are fake or don’t work.

As I trudge back to the fondue mines, I wonder if I could just install a fake me there and hang here all day instead?

[Drake]

I think I’ve reached the point where I’ll vote for the first name not from New York on the ballot in November.

[Zeb]

I assume you are considering Hillary to be from New York.

[Tejicano]

Well, so did the majority of voters there as they did elect her to be senator for their state…

[Timrekgrun]

I lived in western NY at the time and my wife got to meet her when she visited the engine plant she worked at. My wife, an electrical engineer but now management, was the only woman in a sea of dudes. So, she got to show her to the rest room. Even so we still won’t vote for her. She embodies pretty much every aspect of slimy politician one can imagine and yet is still adored by a hard core group of followers. Kind of makes me want to retch.

[Tonio]

If a candidate used me as his restroom attendent, I’d be disinclined to vote for him, too. 😉

[Rhywun]

they did elect her to be senator for their state

She beat the awful Rick Lazio (after Giuliani dropped out) with a not very impressive 55% of the vote.

[Drake]

Yes – I assume Hillary is a New Yorker. And Bernie could never convince me he’s not also a New Yorker.

[Pompey]

A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.

#Firstworldproblems

[UnCivilServant]

Was it the guy who said he’d shoot any racist in the head?

[Rich]

Noyce.

[Domestic Dissident]

Frankly, if his own life didn’t even matter to him, I’m not sure why it should matter to me.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Yeh, he went all existential on people.

#doesitmatter?

[Pompey]

He wasn’t aiming for the black part.

[Auric Demonocles]

Look at how gun culture is killing black Americans!

[Tonio]

I’m narrowing the fuck out of my gays, here.

[Auric Demonocles]

What’s your problem with bears?

[Roger the Shrubber]

You’re doing it wrong.

[Drake]

Likes em tight.

[Lord Humungus]

Rubio blames the media

“What happened is obviously Saturday night the debate went the way it went, and then just the media coverage over the last 72 hours was very negative about it and so forth,” Rubio said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends.” “So the last thing voters heard going into the booth yesterday was, you know, something bad happened Saturday night. And so it made it very difficult for us to get any other message across.”

Rubio was excoriated following Saturday’s debate after Chris Christie called the Florida senator out for his “memorized 25-second speech” ? a line Rubio used several times in the debate about how President Barack Obama “knows exactly what he’s doing” and vowed to keep using on the trail despite the harsh criticism.

[The Last American Hero]

Please. The campaign for NH starts about a week after the mid-terms. I seriously doubt media memes from the final 72 hours had any impact.

[Rhywun]

Someone doesn’t want to be president any more.

[CampingInYourPark]

a line Rubio used several times in the debate

Timmaaaaaay!

[Crusty Juggler]

Why Obama wants to spend millions relocating entire U.S. communities

[Tonio]

Oh, this is too easy. You know who else…

[Rich]

Abraham Levitt?

[commodious spittoon]

GE?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The world governments after Ender and co. defeated the aliens?

[Aloysious]

Andrew Jackson?

[Rhywun]

Robert Moses.

[BearOdinson]

Brainiac?
(Well it was Kandor, but what the hell)

[Rich]

Hey, it’ll cost *billions* to relocate California.

[Tonio]

And now, Obama’s budget request to Congress includes a proposed $ 400 million “to cover the unique circumstances confronting vulnerable Alaskan communities, including relocation expenses for Alaska Native villages threatened by rising seas, coastal erosion, and storm surges.”

Uh-huh.

[BigT]

This is very close to peak derp by the choco jeebus.

[commodious spittoon]

As a rural Alaskan villager, I would be pretty enthusiastic. Relocation? What about, I don’t know, somewhere in the middle of… California? Right along the coast, so we can, uh, continue our traditional living. We’ll build our homes on stilts this time.

[Tonio]

+1 Styrofoam igloo.

[Rhywun]

I’m guessing for the same reason Deblasio wants to spend millions to relocate (or kill) the horse-drawn carriage industry – to reward a donor.

[ant1sthenes]

Need to clear out room in American Siberia.

[EMD]

People can’t move on their own? Jesus.

[creech]

Who drops out of GOP race after NH? I suspect Carson and Fiorina know they are done, but does Christie’s ego let him stay in for one more chance? Bush, too, should stop wasting his supporters’ money. That leaves
Kasich, Cruz, Rubio to compete against Trump.

[UnCivilServant]

I get the impression that Kasich peaked in this primary. He spent all his money and effort in this one spot, leaving him as “who?” in a lot of later states.

[Tonio]

Kasich will not win any primaries, except maybe Ohio. And that’s a big maybe. He will linger on as long as he can in hopes of a veep nod.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Somewhat OT, but not really: I hate the schedule of primaries. It makes me feel so left out. Michigan’s voting date is post- Super Tuesday, so usually the race has narrowed so far by that point, that it doesn’t matter for whom I vote.
http://www.uspresidentialelect…..-calendar/

[Private Chipperbot]

Don’t sweat it. Our lovely state will reliably vote D in the fall…

[Lord Humungus]

‘xactly

I’ve decided to not vote this year… though I do get to pull the lever for Amash. Hmm…

[Private Chipperbot]

Jealous. I haven’t voted in a few years. Although I was tempting to vote for the fundie who was banging the congress lady from the west side and tried to come up with a gay sex coverup. Fun.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I think she’s still on the ballot or something scandalous like that.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I know. Except for those misfit counties in the West side of the state.

[BigT]

This is one year in which the races are likely to have some ups and downs, so later may be better.

[John]

The primary system is totally idiotic. Why can’t they just have a national primary day in say April and be done with it? Why the hell does Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina effectively get to decide whom the rest of the country can choose to be President?

[Domestic Dissident]

This. Though it appears that the country cares less and less what these states do.

If you’re going to have a staggered schedule like this, the order should at least rotate and not be the same every damn time. It’s crazy.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

JEB!, in particular, needs to drop. That would be the best thing for the remaining non-Trump, non-Cruz candidates.

I think Christie is done at this point, too. I can’t think of a decent fat joke right now, so feel free to substitute your own.

[EMD]

Christie always comes back for thirds?

[Auric Demonocles]

Half marathon update:

Last night I hit the fundraising minimum with my already collected donations. I also hit the point that my company matching will cover up to my stretch goal. Thanks again to all the Reasonoids who donated!

Training is almost complete. I’ve got one long (12 mile) run left this weekend, then it’s a short taper run the following week. I’m not sure when I started thinking of 7 miles as “short”. The tendinitis I had seems to be resolved, though I’m going to wait until after the race to test if it will still be okay without tape, inserts, and foam rolling. Race day is just over 2 weeks away.

[Auric Demonocles]

Oh, the bad thing is that this 12 mile run is at Heartbreak Hill. At least the actual course in New Orleans has a maximum height of 9 feet.

[Just say Nikki]

Oh man I totally forgot you were doing New Orleans — R&R, right? I kept almost-almost-almost deciding to register for that last-minute because it falls right when it would be convenient in my training but not so much in my other life.

Anyway, you’re going to have an amazing time I’m sure. Seems like training has gone well. Try not to get too jittery during the taper!

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, it’s the R&R Half.

[Tonio]

Good luck, Auric.

[DEG]

Awesome!

[Crusty Juggler]

Donald Trump loves winning, and he won just about every group in New Hampshire

Godzilla Trump, stomping his way across the state. How dominant was Trump? He tied John Kasich for the most support among people who think undocumented immigrants should receive amnesty. Given Trump’s hard-line immigration stances, that’s basically like saying that Donald Trump won voters who identify as not wanting to Make America Great Again. But they asked about that, too. Among voters who think that the next generation will be better off than today, the generation that will live through Trump’s great America, he won 4 in 10 votes.

[John]

If there is a Libertarian case for Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, as Robby Soave claims, is there a Libertarian case for Trump? Remember, Sanders is every bit as committed to closing the borders as Trump. In fact, likely more so. Trump is an opportunist who was never known to be anti-immigration until he figured out it might be a way for him to become President. Sanders in contrast has held the position consistently for his entire public career.

[Lee G]

The real upshot is the Democrats don’t have a chance in the general. We’re headed full steam into a structural bear market and the Democrats have held the presidency for the last 8 years. It’s going to be too large to spin.

[John]

I hope so. An avowed socialist/Marxist rises to near front runner status in the Democratic Party and the Beltway Libertarian response seems to be at best “meh” or at worst “hey look how socially liberal he is”. It is quite revealing.

[Lee G]

We’re going to get a full display of what happens to socialist/corporatist countries in the next 2 years. Europe is going to implode and there isn’t anything they can do to stop it.

With any luck, we won’t follow suit.

[Zeb]

What amazes me is that we are seeing this big support for a socialist right when we are also seeing Europe start to fall apart. We’ve got a great cautionary example to look at, happening right now, and they all seem to be saying “let’s have some of that”. I don’t get it.

[Frankjasper1]

Useful iditots are useful. Do you think sanders is just stupid or really is sinister?

[WTF]

Y..Yes?

[Injun, as in from India]

I think Sanders is really stupid and is suffering the long-term mental consequences of his 1970s activism.

The guy was praising Cuba well into the late 1980s, and had the nerve to hang a USSR flag in his office.

As much as I want to see him buried 6 feet under in the nomination and general election, I’m very worried he will win both.

[Frankjasper1]

His history makes me think he is sinister. He would like to see the US like that.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind seeing a good ol’ fashioned implosion in the US. Break people’s confidence in the institutions of government and it’ll last at least a generation. Both of my grandfathers grew up during the Depression (in Philadelphia and Birmingham, respectively). One kept coffee cans filled with every single nail, screw, nut, or bolt that came near the house, and the other would cut the mold off cheese. Both retired making six figure salaries. With any luck we might see a generation of people who instinctively shun government involvement in their day-to-day lives.

[John]

The Great Depression gave us the New Deal and cemented the cultural fixation with the government as national problem solver. Why on earth do you think another depression will produce anything good?

[Injun, as in from India]

+1 Crisis and Leviathan

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Fair point, John. Progressive government is like an ideological tarbaby. If it fixes problems then it’s obviously the best solution; if it doesn’t, you obviously didn’t use enough.

[spqr2008]

TARBABY!!!! YOU RACIST!!!!!!1!!!!!!ELEVENTY!!!!!!

[Frankjasper1]

Yep agreed with John. the progs will double down on the progressivism

[Zeb]

What do you suppose it reveals? That they are actually all secret Marxists and the whole libertarian thing is a ruse?

I always sort of figure that it goes without saying on a libertarian site that the socialist is just wrong.

I’d like to see more articles on how horribly wrong Sanders is on all things economics related. But they seem more interested in the horse race.

[John]

What do you suppose it reveals? That they are actually all secret Marxists and the whole libertarian thing is a ruse?

It reveals how much they let their cultural prejudices cloud their opinions. It is not that they are really Marxists or would support much of anything Sanders would do. The reason why Sanders doesn’t illicit anywhere near the intensity of opposition from them is because Reason considers his supporters to be part of their culture and class and Trump’s supporters to be from an inferior and alien class and culture.

Again, a bunch of retarded college students fall in behind the cause of destroying capitalism and Reason takes solace in their social liberal views. A bunch of working class people from the sticks fall in behind about any political cause and reason thinks the dark night of fascism is falling on America. The difference is the Bernie supporters may not be libertarians but at least they are not “one of those people”.

[Zeb]

I guess I don’t see them as being as flattering to Sanders or his supporters as you do. But I do agree that some more substantial coverage of the awful ideas that he espouses would be nice to see. It would also be nice to see some more analysis of how many people actually buy the socialistic shit and how many are just fed up and desperate for something different. I suspect there might actually be some significant overlap of young people who support Sanders and who supported Ron Paul last time. There were a lot who didn’t seem to really get the principled arguments, but just wanted someone who really seemed different and opposed to the status quo.

[John]

Yes Zeb. I would also like to hear them call Sanders a racist for supporting closing the border. They fell over themselves to do that to Trump. In Sanders’ well documented views on the subject are completely ignored.

[R C Dean]

The reason why Sanders doesn’t illicit anywhere near the intensity of opposition from them is because Reason considers his supporters to be part of their culture and class and Trump’s supporters to be from an inferior and alien class and culture.

I think there’s a lot to this.

I think that, out of frustration with the utter inability to actually shrink government and increase economic and legal liberty, they have retreated to a cultural focus. I think that’s how they justify their claim that liberty is increasing, which seems laughable to me, and why the focus so strongly on culture war issues, because there at least they might pick up a few “wins”.

Sadly, this places them in the trenches alongside progs and miscellaneous crypto-totalitarians.

[John]

RC,

Those are all good points. I think also it is the divide between Washington journalists and the rest of the country. The conservative Washington media’s response to Trump has been even more over the top and irrational than reason’s. As I say below, if you objectively look at his positions, Trump is exactly the kind of candidate the Republican media has been telling Republicans they need to nominate for 20 years. Trump is left on social issue and rarely mentions them or relies on them for his appeal and he holds very centrist middle class focused economic views. Yet, they are all reaching for their inhalers basically because they are assholes and can’t stand the thought of someone who is not part of the club being elected.

[ant1sthenes]

The libertarian case for Trump is related to Reason pageviews.

[John]

The month long pants shitting fest they did over Trump’s rise in the polls stands in stark contrast to their measured response to Bernie’s rise. I don’t think they realize how classist they are. A bunch of college student retards stand up and demand the dismantling of the entire capitalist system and the reason staff thinks, but they support abortion rights and gay marriage too. Meanwhile they have a collective panic attack over Trump, who isn’t even a social conservative. They don’t hate Trump, they hate his supporters.

[Lord Humungus]

The Cosmo war on the Yokels continues on…

[lap83]

“Reason writers aren’t overly focused on culture and anyone who thinks so is a stupid hillbilly”

[EMD]

Sanders seems honest about his intentions while Trump doesn’t?

[Zeb]

The only possible libertarian case for either of them would have to be entirely pragmatic as they are both utterly unlibertarian.

The only case I can make for either of them right now is that at least it’s sort of entertaining to watch the parties fall apart like this.

[John]

I get the pragmatic issues. My point is that if there is a pragmatic lesser of two evils case for one, then you have to think there is a pragmatic case for the other. Moreover, if you are going to panic over the rise of Trump, I would think you would really panic over the rise of Sanders, who is by any objective measure even worse. Yet, that doesn’t seem to be reason’s view.

[Zeb]

I’m not going to panic over any of it. But I would say that I do find Sanders’s popularity particularly troubling.

[Just say Nikki]

In the areas where presidents have something approaching unilateral control, e.g., foreign policy, Sanders is “good.” His bad policy issues won’t get off the ground, especially if Republicans retain control of Congress. That’s a much more reasonable libertarian case for Sanders than there is for Trump.

[John]

I have yet to read a single article at Reason accusing Trump of being a war monger. The objections to Trump are that is he anti-immigration and a lover of big government and corporatism. Sanders is just as bad on immigration and a hundred times worse on the other stuff.

They didn’t panic over Trump because of his foreign policy positions. So that excuse doesn’t wash.

[Zeb]

Yeah, I could see that being the least bad option. Maybe. Especially if he doesn’t get reelected.

The part that really bugs me is how many people believe the shit he says and how hard it is to disabuse people of those ideas.

[Crusty Juggler]

His bad policy issues won’t get off the ground, especially if Republicans retain control of Congress.

The same argument could be made for some of Trump’s ideas, too. Deporting illegals, forcing Mexico to build a wall, etc. That isn’t going to happen.

[Just say Nikki]

Right. But Congress can’t stop Trump from waterboarding terrorists and having their families assassinated.

[John]

Yes Crusty, And don’t forget, Sanders wants to close the border as well. People seem to have forgotten that Sanders is also anti-immigration and has been for years.

[Just say Nikki]

Who has forgotten that? It only makes Sanders and Trump equally bad, in that dimension. And Sanders doesn’t call people pussies for not torturing, so he’s kind of winning there.

[John]

Who has forgotten that? It only makes Sanders and Trump equally bad, in that dimension. And Sanders doesn’t call people pussies for not torturing, so he’s kind of winning there.

Yeah he just wants to dismantle the capitalist system. I am sure that won’t get out of hand or he won’t resort to God knows what extreme measures to punish the wreckers and saboteurs once his idiotic policies end in disaster. It is not like that hasn’t happened every single time socialists have gained power.

But he might not close GUITMO or waterboard someone. Yeah, Nikki, that makes it all better.

[Just say Nikki]

Yeah he just wants to dismantle the capitalist system. I am sure that won’t get out of hand or he won’t resort to God knows what extreme measures to punish the wreckers and saboteurs once his idiotic policies end in disaster.

And what, exactly, would you say Trump wants to do, to help support every fucking jackass without a job who wants to start manufacturing iPhones in the US?

[John]

And what, exactly, would you say Trump wants to do, to help support every fucking jackass without a job who wants to start manufacturing iPhones in the US?

Put a bunch of center left economic policies through Congress that would not be good but have nothing like the effect of going full socialist.

Trump isn’t a socialist. I know it makes you feel good to think him and Bernie are the same but they are not. And you just look like a nut for saying so. I get it that you hate Trump’s supporters and want them to die off. But you should stop letting that hatred cloud your view of reality.

[John]

Right. But Congress can’t stop Trump from waterboarding terrorists and having their families assassinated.

Obama promised not to do any of that stuff in 2008. How did that work out Nikki? Let me remind you Bernie Sanders is a Marxist. If he stopped doing that stuff, he would be the first Marxist in history who respected anyone’s rights after being elected. Maybe Bernie is different kind of Marxist, and maybe I start farting rainbows too but I doubt it.

Do you actually think someone who claims to be a socialist will have any respect for civil rights once they are in office? Do you kid yourself that much.

I don’t expect you to support Trump but you have lost your mind if you don’t think Bernie is a thousand times worse.

[Just say Nikki]

Trump is also a socialist. If I have the choice between a socialist who actively talks shit about people who don’t like torture, and a socialist who doesn’t ever seem to want to torture, why would I think the latter was a thousand times worse?

[John]

Trump is also a socialist.

Only if you define the word so broadly as to make it meaningless. Trump is not a libertarian but he is not a socialist in anything approaching the same way Sanders is. Sanders is a Marxist who honestly believes people having more than two choices in deodorant is wasteful and exploitative.

This debate is not about Trump. It is about you and a lot of other people having your heads so far up your ass and being so fucking terrified of not fitting in that you think someone with views nearly identical to Dick Gephart is the same thing as an actual Marxist.

[Just say Nikki]

Yeah, I’m worried more about fitting in than about how disgusting it is to hear the words that come out of Trump’s mouth.

What people like you don’t seem to get is that there are some people just don’t like people who act like Trump. It’s not political correctness: we actually don’t like people who act like dicks.

[John]

What people like you don’t seem to get is that there are some people just don’t like people who act like Trump. It’s not political correctness: we actually don’t like people who act like dicks.

So we now judge people based on some arbitrary standard of civility rather than by their actual views? You know what is acting like a dick? Saying that socialism is the answer and that capitalism is the root of all our evils. That is being a bigger dick than anything Donald Trump has ever said.

If a socialist doesn’t offend you Nikki, you need to seriously reconsider your views about things. There is nothing more offensive than the idea that free enterprise should be a crime, and that is exactly what Bernie says every single day. Bernie is one of the biggest dicks ever to be in public life.

[BigT]

“What people like you don’t seem to get is that there are some people just don’t like people who act like Trump”

It’s all about the feels, John.

[ant1sthenes]

Sanders is enough of a true believer that he could very well attempt to cut Congress out of decisions altogether and rule by fiat. Woo hoo, civil war!

[John]

Trump won in New Hampshire because it is an open primary and Trump has massive appeal with moderates and independents who are not registered Republicans. Basically, Trump is what the GOP establishment claimed McCain and Romney were; a moderate who eschews social issues and appeals to the mushy middle and middle class.

Yet, the nerds over at National Review and the Weekly Standard, all of whom happily shilled for McCain and Romney are all reaching for the asthma inhalers over the thought that someone who is not a real conservative might get the nomination. Its almost like they care more about people who are part of the Washington Club getting nominated than they do about the nominee being an actual conservative.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Correction: There are more moderates and independents who will show up to open primaries to vote for Trump because they’re strong Trump supporters, but there are also far more independents and moderates who utterly despise Donald Trump and will vote for anyone before they’d vote for Trump.

Trump will actually damage the Republicans with non-Republicans. He’ll get people who wouldn’t otherwise have voted Republican to come out, but there will be even more fence sitters who run screaming in the other direction and vote for anyone but Trump.

That’s why the ‘nerds over at National Review’ are accurately noticing that Donald Trump will do serious damage to the Republican party and can’t possibly win a general election. Trump also has all sorts of ideas opposed to the positions of the Weekly Standard and National Review. It’s ridiculous to argue they should support Trump rather than support the positions their magazines actually hold. Attacking Trump is a principled stand by National Review since many of his positions are in stark contrast to NRs.

[John]

I hear what you are saying Irish, but the polls don’t show that. I am not saying that to debate the merits of Trump. I am saying that as a statement of fact. Does Trump have high negatives? Sure. But so does or will every other Republican after the media is done with them. The fact is Trump has attracted a ton of people who normally don’t vote or don’t vote Republican. Every poll I have seen shows him getting 25% of the black vote in a match up against Hillary.

Trump hurts the Republican party’s image with two groups; people who already hate Republicans and the beltway douche bag vote. Everyone else either likes him or is ambivalent.

[Injun, as in from India]

Trump has the highest unfavorable rating of any candidate from either party. He’s going to lose the general. It will be a total wipe-out with Trump vs. Clinton or Trump vs. Biden.

Trump vs. Sanders could be more unpredictable, but if it comes to that, you might as well kiss the next 8 year of the Republic goodbye.

[John]

Trump and Clinton have nearly identical negative numbers. It is hardly clear Hillary can beat anyone at this point.

[Zeb]

A Trump/Clinton election would be interesting in that a whole lot of votes would be based entirely on who is more hated.

[R C Dean]

a whole lot of votes would be based entirely on who is more hated.

I think that’s the norm.

[Zeb]

Nah. The norm is only mostly based on who is hated more.

[WTF]

Trump vs. Sanders could be more unpredictable, but if it comes to that, you might as well kiss the next 8 year of the Republic goodbye.

Kiss what’s left of the Republic goodbye forever, because following 8 years of Obama with that would push it past any possible point of no return.

[John]

I disagree WTF. Winning solves all. Most voters don’t give a shit and would be fine with Trump winning. The only people having a fit are the douche bags in the Republican media. And those ass clowns love power too much not to fall in line and learn to love a Trump Presidency.

[Injun, as in from India]

I was going to actually say that, but thought it was really pessimistic, so I qualified that by saying the next 8 years.

I really hope it’s not yet another undoable lurch towards tyranny.

[Injun, as in from India]

Btw, my reply was to WTF’s comment on kissing the Republic goodbye forever.

[Irish ?s ESB]

Given Trump and Sanders’ dominant performances, why the fuck did the Free State Project pick New Hampshire again?

They seem a bit hostile to libertarianism.

[John]

No according to Robby Soave.

It is a bit curious they picked a Northeastern state instead of somewhere like Wyoming Alaska where people might have been receptive to their ideas.

[SugarFree]

They were hoping to influence the nomination of the President because of NH insistence on being the first actual primary.

[John]

Really? I don’t think they thought that through very well.

[SugarFree]

I don’t either. A western low population state would have been better.

[Crusty Juggler]

Yeah, forcing your way en masse to share space with a bunch of cantankerous people seems like a strange plan.

[Irish ?s ESB]

I think they picked New Hampshire because the Free State Project was comprised largely of urban libertarian hipsters who wanted to live somewhere kind of cool, rather than in Butte or Anchorage.

They picked it for cultural reasons and ease of living, rather than their stated goal of actually impacting state politics.

In fairness, they have gotten several free staters elected already, I just think they would have been much more effective in Nebraska than in New Hampshire. Apparently they picked only states with populations under 1.5 million, which ruled out Nebraska because it’s 1.8 million, but New Hampshire strikes me as being a mistake.

[John]

Me too especially when you remember that the majority of the population in New Hampshire are in the Southern end of the state and are just relocated Massholes. Manchester is just a bedroom community of Boston.

[Tonio]

I believe that part of the calculus was proximity to large urban areas with tech, professional and managerial jobs. Boston far better than Billings, Lincoln or Cheyenne (and I had to look at a map for that one because I couldn’t remember the name of any cities in WY).

And the demographics of libertarianism are what they are. The movement would be different if it were composed largely of ranchers.

[John]

The movement would be different if it were composed largely of ranchers.

Yeah, it might actually accomplish something.

[Juice]

Might have occupied a Federal souvenir shop.

[Rhywun]

Also NH has a large statehouse – easier to win offices there.

[Juice]

The way politics works in NH was a huge reason for picking it. The place is truly unique in that.

[Injun, as in from India]

I think the anti-Trump vote is too divided. If some of the laggards dropped out, there may have been a semblance of pro-freedom voting on the GOP side.

[Irish ?s ESB]

“I think the anti-Trump vote is too divided. If some of the laggards dropped out, there may have been a semblance of pro-freedom voting on the GOP side.”

Not ‘pro-freedom,’ but I think there would have been an establishment win if there weren’t so many establishment candidates. Kasich, Bush, and Rubio combined for huge numbers, they just split the establishment vote.

[Injun, as in from India]

Just a general question to you and other Reasonoids. If you were to pick one GOP candidate as nominee (besides Rand Paul), who would it be?

[Irish ?s ESB]

Ugh. At this point I have no idea. Rubio is a mouthpiece without an idea in his pretty head, most of the rest of them are establishment goons.

I would have said Cruz, but he’s basically ejected all of his semi-libertarian ideas at this point, even on issues like sentencing reform that he previously supported.

[Injun, as in from India]

I’m leaning Cruz myself, but I will wait until I finish reading his Amicus Brief in the DC vs. Heller case. The guy is definitely brilliant, and the question is, how much of his pandering to SoCons and authoritarians is just pandering vs. actual belief. And if it is actual belief, how much damage can he actually do? He claims to want a limited executive, but Obama did that as well in 2008, and we know how that movie turned out.

[Tonio]

Nobody who is actually running.

[BearOdinson]

I have been wavering a bit, but basically I am going all in for Cruz at this point, unless i hear or see something else VERY significant from him. If Rubio got the nom, I may vote for him in the general, but I don’t know. If it is Trump vs. Hilary, I may even pull the lever for Trump. But if it is Trump vs. Bern, I will prob go Gay Jay or just stay at home and get drunk.

[R C Dean]

I’d go either Cruz or maybe Fiorina. I still think Fiorina should be the VP – I think she’s an excellent campaigner. I’m a little mystified by why she didn’t get more traction.

[Rhywun]

I’m a little mystified by why she didn’t get more traction.

Me too. She was far more appealing than 4 or 5 that are still at the big boy’s table.

[BigT]

” Fiorina should be the VP”

Attack dog face. amirite?

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

What are my criteria? Electability, or who do I personally think is the least bad in terms of libertarian values?

I’m not entirely convinced that Trump couldn’t win a general, but depending on who gets the Dem nod I actually think Kasich could do well in the general as a middle-of-the-road “moderate” Republican. Seriously, if the Dems nominate Bernie, all of a sudden Kasich becomes the reasonable, adult vote to Bernie’s wild-eyed radical vote.

Personally, I’m not wild about any of them, but I think Cruz could be the least-worst option. And frankly it comes down to issues that impact me directly (e.g. gun control) and his making very libertarian-esque noises about economic policy. I personally don’t care that he’s a socon; sociocultural issues are easily comprehended by most people and therefore difficult to force through law, whereas most people don’t know or care about economic policy, which makes it much easier for the political class to manipulate.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Who is the pro-freedom GOP candidate?

[Lord Humungus]

H-h-hitler?

[Injun, as in from India]

G-g-godwin!

[Roger the Shrubber]

I admit, I am impressed with his campaign.

[Injun, as in from India]

Now that Rand is gone, I think Cruz is the best bet.

I’m still going to vote for Gay Jay regardless, but I will root for Cruz if he is the nominee.

The thought of another 4 anti-Second Amendment justices appointed by a Democrat is straight up scary.

[DEG]

I didn’t vote for NH because I realized pretty quickly after I moved to NH that the combination of the underlying culture being Puritan and lots of folks from Massachusetts moving to the state would not be conducive to the Free State Proiject’s goals.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Besides, with that much snow the roadz will already be shitty enough before we subtract government plows from the mix.

[Zeb]

They seem a bit hostile to libertarianism.

I’m not sure why party primaries are indicative of this. The majority everywhere is hostile to libertarianism. Where were the libertarian options? It’s worth reminding people that when there was a libertarian option in 2012, he did quite well.

As much as I like to defend NH, Wyoming probably would have been a better choice. But NH is probably the easiest place to get elected to the state legislature.

I don’t think anyone ever claimed that NH is very libertarian. Just that it’s not too far gone, and a good place for libertarians to get an electoral foothold.

[Tonio]

The majority everywhere is hostile to libertarianism.

^This. They’re just not that into us. While one of our issues may occasionally resonate with the greater populace, the thought of actual freedom is too scary. Society is roughly divided into socons and free-stuffers.

[EMD]

I was recently castigated online for being a “rugged individualist”

[commodious spittoon]

A former federal judge is asking President Obama to pardon a man he sent to prison for 55 years after making three marijuana sales to a police informant.

He received five years for the gun in the car; 25 years for the second gun charge, having one in an ankle strap; and another 25 years for a third firearms charge, the gun police found in his home. He got one day for the marijuana.

In 2004, when Cassell sentenced Angelos, he wrote a lengthy opinion, comparing Angelos’s sentence (738 months) with the guideline sentences for the kingpin of three major drug trafficking rings that caused three deaths (465 months), a three-time aircraft hijacker (405 months), a second-degree murderer of three victims (235 months) and the rapist of three 10-year-olds (188 months).

Meanwhile his six-year-old is now eighteen and his infant daughter is a teenager.

[John]

Was that his first offense? The evil DOJ just stacked the gun charges like that? As if he was somehow more dangerous for having more guns, because I guess he could fire all of them at once or something?

[ant1sthenes]

It’s the exploding into space afterward that makes him a true threat.

[WTF]

+1 true nature’s child

[commodious spittoon]

The sentence Angelos received as a nonviolent first-time offender fell under a law called 924(c).Federal drug laws require 5- to 30-year mandatory minimum sentences for possessing, brandishing or discharging a gun during a drug-trafficking crime. For each subsequent gun conviction, there is a mandatory sentence of 25 years that must be served consecutively. This is often referred to as “gun stacking,” which is why Angelos received 55 years without parole.

Certainly he’s more dangerous than a child rapist. I mean, the rapist left his victims alive. This guy could have murdered his customers.

[John]

Remember it was the US Attorney who stacked those charges. This guy should be pardoned and the US Attorney who did that should be disbarred and spend the rest of his life doing penance in the hope there isn’t a hell. Just horrible.

[commodious spittoon]

I wonder whether the Holder memo actually had an affect on charging habits. I haven’t heard anything about it since, what, 2013?

[John]

I would bet a lot of money it didn’t. DOJ has a long ingrained culture of abuse and arrogance. It is a bipartisan disgrace. No way in hell did that memo have any effect on a culture that rooted in an organization.

[Injun, as in from India]

Sup biotches. Long time no see. How’s everyone doing?

[DEG]

Welcome back.

[Tejicano]

Waiting, hoping, praying for a clinton breakdown and/or indictment. How ’bout you?

[Injun, as in from India]

Pretty good, my friend. I quit praying and waiting for a Hillary indictment, given Obama’s comments from a few weeks ago thumbing the scale against Sanders. 🙂

If she does get indicted, I’m putting my money on Biden jumping into the race to save the party from the socialist.

[Always a Carl, Never a Clyde]

Hello Injun. Are you doing your duty to your motherland by scalping Marc Andreessen* on Twitter for saying Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades, by which he definitely meant India should have stayed under British rule?

*a douchey venture capitalist**
**redundant?

[Injun, as in from India]

Naah. I heard something about it but don’t know enough, so I’m staying out. I generally like Marc, despite his dumb tweet.

[Always a Carl, Never a Clyde]

Heh, didn’t think so.

It’s dumb. He was ranting about Facebook’s Free Basics being banned, and made that (ill-advised) tweet. It’s patently obvious that he meant it in the sense that nationalists who oppose benign foreign interests on “anti-colonialist” grounds are bad for the economy, but now has a headline on Bloomberg about his “Pro-Colonialism Tweet”.

[Rhywun]

It’s like Netscape breeds crimethought or something.

[DEG]

Concern trolling over body armor

Former police officer Brian Murphy was shot 15 times at the Sikh temple massacre in Wisconsin in 2012.

Now he works for Michigan-based Armor Express and sells the same brand of bulletproof vest that saved his life.

But only to cops. He doesn’t think civilians should have them.

He said that criminals who wear bulletproof vests “change the whole dynamic” for cops, who are trained to shoot at the torso, because it’s a large target with vital organs.

Cops are civilians, asshole.

[DEG]

Sorry, I forgot the warning. Auto-play video.

[commodious spittoon]

Worse than Hitler Brian Murphy.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Interesting that there are two categories in Brian’s mind: cops and criminals. Says a lot, I think.

[Cloudbuster]

A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.

He should be held forth as a role model to all BLM activists.

[Injun, as in from India]

Has anyone posted this yet? It’s a great, short read. Read and weep for our country.

Glenn Reynolds: Washington’s culture of corruption rots on

When bureaucrats are above the law, ordinary Americans may want to follow suit.

[Juice]

You didn’t post it either.

[Suthenboy]

“A 23-year-old Black Lives Matter and anti-hunger activist who was honored at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles last week shot himself in the head on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse Monday.”

We all make the world a better place, some of us because we are in it, the rest when they leave it.

[Injun, as in from India]

See, this wouldn’t have happened if it the guy didn’t have such easy access to guns….

[Suthenboy]

Then we have to make sure more of these people have easy access to guns.

[Lord Humungus]

Bill Kristol Verified account
?@BillKristol

Sticking with my prediction: Trump will win no caucuses or primaries, and will run behind Ron Paul 2012 in IA and NH.

8 Dec 2015

[Injun, as in from India]

That’s the Kristol Ball right there.

[Tonio]

Nice. But I suspect he’ll show as much humility as our own ‘Plug did when one of his very public predictions didn’t come to pass.

[John]

Always remember, journalists as a group are morons. Even the ones who agree with you are likely morons.

[robc]

I think Trump is at his max. Does anyone think many voters have trump as 2nd choice?

As the field dwindles, someone will collect the votes. And in states where independents cant vote, he will have less draw.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I think Trump is at his max. Does anyone think many voters have trump as 2nd choice?

This is what I’ve been saying for a while, too. I doubt there are many people out there who have narrowed their preference down to, say, JEB! or Trump, and it’s not like Kasich or one of the others suffering from lack of exposure. At this point, everyone knows who Trump is and has made up their minds one way or the other, I think.

[Tonio]

Next contest is SC on Feb 20, an open primary. Washington has an R caucus that day, but they also have a primary later on (weird). Nevada has its closed caucus on 2/23.

Super Tuesday is (of course) on March 1. If Clinton isn’t indicted and resigned before then, she’ll stay in the race and most likely capture the nomination.

[BigT]

“Super Tuesday is (of course) on March 1. If Clinton isn’t indicted and resigned before then, she’ll stay in the race and most likely capture the nomination.”

Are those winner take all primaries? If not, I think the race will stay very close because Benito has significant following almost everywhere.

[Frankjasper1]

Though the superdelegates are hurting him now.

[Domestic Dissident]

I think it’s entirely possible that many Cruz supporters have Trump as their second choice, though it’s hard to say for certain. A while back I thought Carson would be their most likely second choice, but that clearly isn’t the case any longer.

[R C Dean]

The FBI has been unable to unlock the phones of the couple responsible for the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California,

Bullshit. They are “failing” only because they want that back door more than they want to get into that phone and track down possible other terrorists. Think “Fast and Furious”, only encryption, not guns.

[commodious spittoon]

They can’t just come out and admit that the NSA has developed quantum computing. They’d give the whole game away!

[John]

Yeah. I find it difficult to believe that the people who made the phone or the people who made the encryption software cannot unlock the phone.

Remember the case involving the guy who wouldn’t give up the password to his laptop a few years ago? They went to the wall on the legal issue of them being able to force him to give up. Then magically they cracked the encryption.

[robc]

If they used good encryption, the makers of the encryption cant break it.

But I doubt its good enough to resist nsa methods.

[John]

In fairness, the NSA never plays ball with the LEO community. Also, legally they are not supposed to use any of their assets unless there is some kind of foreign connection.

If I had to guess, I would say that DOJ is for political reasons unwilling to admit any sort of foreign nexus, because doing so would undercut Obama’s claim that he has all those terrorists on the run. And without a foreign nexus, they can’t get NSA’s help.

[Domestic Dissident]

Obama presents budget to Congress that would $9 to $10 trillion more to the national debt.

No big surprise though from perhaps the most fiscally irresponsible man in world history, that’s for damn sure.

[Libertarius]

$400M for relocating Alaskan native tribes due to climate change? LOL the left is phoning it in at this point (while broadcasting on cable tv, of course)

[andythomas12501]

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[lukashik]

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