Obama Keynoting SXSW This Afternoon, Trump Fan Charged With Assault, Brooklyn Man Exonerated After 25 Years in Prison: A.M. Links

• It was a remarkably subdued GOP debate in Miami Thursday night, as Donald Trump played at gravitas and called for unity and the other remaining Republican candidates mostly followed his lead. While there were no outbursts about hands or Marco Rubio's stature, the candidates did (for better or worse) discuss veteran's health care, trade deals, Social Security, and other substantive topics.
• After 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a judge vacated Andre Hatchett's conviction, at the joint request of Hatchett's lawyers and city prosecutors. He is the 19th person to have been exonerated in Brooklyn since a new district attorney took over in 2014. 
• President Obama will give the keynote speech at Austin's SXSW festival this afternoon. 
• The Trump fan who sucker-punched a protester at a North Carolina campaign rally has been charged with assault. 
• Camille Paglia is coming around about Trump. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Trump fan who sucker-punched a protester at a North Carolina campaign rally has been charged with assault.

Making assault great again.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Who's the broad?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Obviously one of the candidates at the Republican Presidential Debate, as it says on the screen.

[This Machine]

Still would. Without hesitation.

[What's that smell?]

She has a generous mouth.

[gaoxiaen]

Michelle Phillips? Would. Repeatedly.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Not alt-text explanation or rim-shot either.

[Ken Shultz]

That picture is worth a thousand words.

[Ken Shultz]

That picture is worth a thousand words.

[This Machine]

A thousand sexy words!

[BigT]

picture is worth a thousand words.

It sure looks like she never shuts up.

[yet another dave]

That picture gives me a business idea that would be both creepy and lucrative.... Real Doll figures based on actual celebrities and famous people.... just think of sales of Hillary dolls... I will now give myself two minutes in the penalty box to feel shame.

[tarran]

.. just think of sales of Hillary dolls.

You should be ashamed! All the effort in development and you will get at best, what, 1 maybe 2 sales?!?

[Citizen X]

Both to Jonathan Alter.

[gaoxiaen]

Boycott. Definitely would not. As a rifle range target, would.

[Jordan]

My guess is Michelle Fields, the reporter who was manhandled by Trumporters.

[Zeb]

If it is it's not a great shot of her.

[Jordan]

Yeah, on second thought, that doesn't really look like her.

[Old Man With Candy]

I think it's the screamer from the Star Spangled Banner.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

Yeah, opening singer

[Fist of Etiquette]

Friday Funnies:

Picture, if you will, a depiction of a thin and dandy President Barack Obama sipping maple syrup at a hockey game sitting next to Justin Trudeau. Next frame the kiss cam zooms in on the pair, but they are too busy discussing who's to blame for the rise of Donald Trump in America to notice. The crowd boos as on the ice Hillary throws an illegal check on Bernie Sanders but he refuses to drop the gloves. Hillary refuses to acknowledge to enter the penalty box. Obama is oblivious to the game as he is telling Trudeau how much he likes those Doonesbury cartoons. Last pane, Cash for Clunkers happens.

[Millennial Hipster Vanguard]

Needs moar labez!!!

[Michael]

Is "labez" truncated Millennial Hipsterese for "labia"?

[Millennial Hipster Vanguard]

Correct.

[WTF]

I think you mean "mutton flaps".

[Michael]

Beef curtains?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Labez-faire economics.

[widget]

Hillary "the hammer" Clinton

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

[gaoxiaen]

They should discretely smoke a joint together.

[Mobdro]

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[Bee Tagger]

The Trump fan who sucker-punched a protester at a North Carolina campaign rally has been charged with assault.

Ok, everyone, take your sides, let's get into this again.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I'm sorry, there was someone who thought a sucker punch was justified?

[Bee Tagger]

STOP IT. I WAS JOKING.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Plenty of people, I'm finding. Not here, but his Twitter brigade.

[Swiss Servator]

I, foolishly, looked at one site covering it....the Trumpenvolk were of 2 minds - IT NEVER HAPPENED, NO VIDEO, LIAR!!!!! or SO WHAT, SHE DESERVED IT ANYWAYS!!!!!!

I need some Lysol now.

[JWatts]

That's not the sucker punch, that's the campaign manager that pulled the reporter out of the exit path.

[Free Society]

Der Trumpenvolk, are they more similar to elves or gnomes?

[Citizen X]

They are a type of kobold, i believe.

[UnCivilServant]

It was assault, the charge is appropriate to the act.

[Princess Trigger]

Camille would totally cut a bitch.

[This Machine]

*sucker-punches Bee Tagger*

[Certified Public Asshat]

He deserved it.

[Millennial Hipster Vanguard]

He was begging for it, wearing that low cut apiarist outfit.

[R C Dean]

low cut apiarist outfit

Congrats. Google shows no previous uses of this phrase. Anywhere. Ever.

[Millennial Hipster Vanguard]

*Bows*

[R C Dean]

He punched someone, and not in self-defense. Assault charges are justified.

[Lee G]

But words are violence!

[Mobdro]

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[Just a thought not a sermon]

151) California just raised the legal age to use tobacco products to 21. Holy shit! Are 18 year olds adults or not? Man, I remember where I grew up in North Carolina kids looked forward to turning 16 so they could finally buy their cigarettes legally, not that they had any problems getting the cigs at 14 or 15 either. This was the early 1990s?not that long ago.
Related, but disgusting. When I delivered pizzas for a while in college, the assistant manager had a spit cup by the pizza-making station to spit his chewing tobacco juices in. Nobody in Nashville seemed to think that was strange or objectionable.

[Doctor Whom]

Thank goodness California is such a deep blue state. Republicans would want to restrict people's right to make choices over their own bodies.

[Free Society]

Listen, Doctor Whom, if that is your real name, choice over your own body should be absolute as long as that choice involves the dismemberment of another body wholly dependent on you and whose existence is owed to your (subsidized) poor choices.

[B. Woodrow Chippenhaus]

Opponents said American law and custom has long accepted that people can make adult decisions on their 18th birthday and live with the consequences. Eighteen-year-olds can register to vote, join the military, sign legally binding contracts, consent to sex and do just about any legal activity besides buying alcohol. In response, Democrats changed the bill to allow members of the military to continue buying cigarettes at 18.

Mind-blistering stupidity. The law is basically capricious and nosensical, and the Democrats responded by making it even more so.

[straffinrun]

I know one Democrat that would allow 18 year olds to satisfy oral habits.

[Citizen X]

Hillary Clinton?

[Tonio]

Barney Frank?

[straffinrun]

Ok, ok, You know who else would allow 18 year old to satisfy oral habits?

[Citizen X]

Jerry Seinfeld?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Mr Hershiser?

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Go upthread. You'll narrow it at me even further.

[Suell]

California is set to raise the age to buy tobacco at 21 as well, surprise, surprise. That whole "my body, my choice" thingy only applies to one specific issue.

[CatoTheChipper]

Having been that age, and having had two sons that age, I know that most 18-21 year old men have a proclivity to make stupid decisions. The CA government has decided that tobacco use is a bad decision, and that it adversely affects the interests of the state. Enlistment is a bad decision also, but the state relies upon it.

[gaoxiaen]

There is a shortage of dip. In the Middle East as well as Taiwan.

[Lord Humungus]

Mysterious 13ft Sea Creature Washes Up On Beach In Mexico

It looks like something from a terrifying horror movie, but this is the mystery sea creature that's baffled experts after washing up on a tourist beach in Mexico.

The monstrous 4-metre (13-foot-long) beast was discovered on Bonfil Beach, in the city of Acapulco, in the south-west Mexican state of Guerrero.

Stunned beach-goers stood around the beast and began taking photos - while also speculating on the possible species of the creature.

The creature's body was washed on the shore by strong currents that have been affecting parts of the Mexican coast.

Hmm... SMOD or Cthulu?

[UnCivilServant]

None of the pictures loaded 🙁

I hate you, zScaler.

[straffinrun]

13ft? Must've slipped out of Trump's hands during deportation.

[WTF]

Rotting cetacean carcass.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Stealing that for if I ever start a heavy metal band.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Album name: Octo-erotica

[This Machine]

*stands to begin enthusiastic applause mosh pit*

[Swiss Servator]

Very Nice.

[Lee G]

Cthulhu droppings

[Swiss Servator]

Deep Ones?

[R C Dean]

Whale carcass.

Can you imagine the stench?

[DenverJ]

Hitler

[MSimon]

Nancy Reagan

[gaoxiaen]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[Bee Tagger]

It was a remarkably subdued GOP debate in Miami Thursday night

I mean even they have to be asking "you really want us up here doing this again?" at this point.

[Rich]

Unlike Hillary and Bernie.

[Rich]

The Trump fan who sucker-punched a protester at a North Carolina campaign rally has been charged with assault.

Since he threatened to kill the protester, will he also be charged with domestic terrorism?

[Lord Humungus]

Rufus to the white courtesy phone!

Kinky sex may be the new normal in Quebec, study suggests

While our province has always been known for its linguistic tensions, the study by researchers Christian Joyal and Julie Carpentier shows that we may soon become known for something much more erotic: our rather risqu? sexual proclivities.

Handcuffs, blindfolds, spanking ? Joyal said there is significant interest among Quebecers in engaging in those types of sexual activities. People aren't just fantasizing about it, he added; they wish to do it.

Nearly half of the 1,040 Quebecers surveyed (45.6 per cent) have an interest in at least one type of sexual behaviour considered anomalous, like voyeurism, fetishism and masochism. One third of them had experienced the behaviour at least once.

[Rich]

People aren't just fantasizing about it, he added; they wish to do it.

IOW, they're just fantasizing about it.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Je ne comprend pas.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Nearly half of the 1,040 Quebecers surveyed (45.6 per cent) have an interest...One third of them had experienced the behaviour..."

Umm, that's a total of about 15 percent. So maybe not really that high.

[Just say Nikki]

The second sentence is totally ambiguous. "Them" could refer to the whole respondent base, or just the ones who had an interest.

[Elspeth Flashman]

No, I said the white courtesy phone!

[R C Dean]

[wipes courtesy phone down with alcohol scrub]

[Auric Demonocles]

Duh. It's like they've never been to Montreal.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It was a remarkably subdued GOP debate in Miami Thursday night...

No Trumpeters roughed up the mods? That would have been great television.

[straffinrun]

Should've been Tubbs and Crocket themed attire. Too bad Carson dropped out.

[Juvenile Bluster]

It was a remarkably subdued GOP debate in Miami Thursday night, as Donald Trump played at gravitas and called for unity and the other remaining Republican candidates mostly followed his lead. While there were no outbursts about hands or Marco Rubio's stature, the candidates did (for better or worse) discuss veteran's health care, trade deals, Social Security, and other substantive topics.

Well, Trump did praise the Chinese government for putting down the "riot" at Tiananmen Square.

He *has* to be trolling at this point. There's no other possible explanation. He's looking for the craziest thing he can say while keeping his supporters.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

How long until he tests his theory about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue?

[WTF]

Trump did praise the Chinese government for putting down the "riot" at Tiananmen Square.

I didn't watch the debate; did he actually do this? Because that is just batshit insane.

[Juvenile Bluster]

I didn't watch it either, just going off of twitter posts by anti-Trump conservatives.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Alright, here's the transcript. Just found it.

Tapper: Mr. Trump, some of your Republican critics have expressed concern about comments you have made praising authoritarian dictators. You have said positive things about Putin as a leader, and about China's massacre of pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square, you've said: "When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it, then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength." How do you respond?logo-all

Trump: That doesn't mean I was endorsing that. I was not endorsing it. I said that is a strong, powerful government that put it down with strength. And then they kept down the riot. It was a horrible thing. It doesn't mean at all I was endorsing it.

[Just say Nikki]

previous interview:

"When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ? as being spit on by the rest of the world ?"

[R C Dean]

Wow. That is . . . confused. The ChiComs "almost blew it", presumably by not shutting it down earlier. Then they didn't blow it by being vicious and horrible?

[Just say Nikki]

Confused? Sounds like standard Trumpism to me.

[BigT]

How many histories of WW2 have you read where the author indicates the Nazis blew it by attacking Russia? Did you think they were endorsing the Nazis?

[Lee G]

Try the entire context of the quote on:

"Russia is out of control and the leadership knows it. That's my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand." His interviewer asked, "You mean firm hand as in China?" Trump answered, "When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ? as being spit on by the rest of the world ?"

That sounds pretty much like he approves of the methods and the ends justify the means. The end in this particular case being "WINNING"

[gaoxiaen]

+1 Fury

[Just say Nikki]

Yes. He did it again after being asked to respond to his remarks doing it in 1990.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the candidates did (for better or worse) discuss veteran's health care, trade deals, Social Security, and other substantive topics.

BOOOOOOOOORING.

[Lord Humungus]

Trump's Islam comments draw attacks as Republicans discover civility

Trump, for his part, used the debate to try to attract establishment Republicans, saying he is generating support from non-Republicans who could help carry the party to victory in the Nov. 8 election. And he eschewed the inflammatory, personal attacks on his rivals that have drawn both cheers and boos in prior debates.

"The Republican Party has a great chance to embrace millions of people that it's never known before. They are coming by the millions. We should seize that opportunity," he said.

But he stuck to positions that many establishment Republicans reject, such as his belief, as stated in television interviews, that followers of Islam "hate us."

"We have a serious problem of hate. There is tremendous hate," said Trump, who has proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.

[This Machine]

IT'S COOL TO HATE! IT'S COOL TO HATE!

[Rich]

Has he explained how he's planning to "get to the bottom of what's going on with Islam"?

[Free Society]

He doesn't seem to be wrong about Muslim hostility towards Americans, not just the government.

61% of Egyptians approve of attacks on Americans
32% of Indonesians approve of attacks on Americans
41% of Pakistanis approve of attacks on Americans
38% of Moroccans approve of attacks on Americans
83% of Palestinians approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (only 14% oppose)
62% of Jordanians approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (21% oppose)
42% of Turks approve of some or most groups that attack Americans (45% oppose)
A minority of Muslims disagreed entirely with terror attacks on Americans:
(Egypt 34%; Indonesia 45%; Pakistan 33%)
About half of those opposed to attacking Americans were sympathetic with al-Qaeda's attitude toward the U.S.

http://www.worldpublicopinion......09_rpt.pdf

Bear in mind that only a portion of those who hate Americans would endorse violence against them, so it would stand to reason that antipathy for Americans is effectively unanimous in non-Western Muslim societies.

[Stormy Dragon]

65% of Americans support our drone strike program.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He is the 19th person to have been exonerated in Brooklyn since a new district attorney took over in 2014.

SOFT ON CRIME.

[WTF]

I guess the new guy is okay with this since he doesn't have to admit he screwed up.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Exactly - wait until he's been around a few years.
OT: There's a new judge in the area who made his career doing almost exclusively criminal defense. And the word is (haven't been in front of him yet), that he's super agressively pro-prosecutor. Wt actual f*ck? Oh, and his son's a prosecutor too.

[Citizen X]

Oh, and his son's a prosecutor too.

THAT is what the actual fuck.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I know. And (another weird thing) the son (who is a mini-me of his dad) is younger than me and called me honey in court last time. Ok. I haven't been called honey by a young dude -ever. Maybe once when it's actually someone I know. Weird.

[WTF]

Did you respond with "I'm not your honey, sweetie"?

[Lee G]

That's a sign of assumed self-importance on his part. Probably because his father is a judge. I'd rip him a new one.

[DenverJ]

I heard of a good cure for that attitude by public servants. It involves a wood chipper.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

He's trying to infantilize you, sweetie.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Well, the judge agreed with me right away on what I was asking for, so his assumed self-importance was quickly deflated. In my head I did a Nelson Muntz when that happened.

[R C Dean]

Always a good idea to keep your mouth under control in court, but holy shit, the temptation to turn to the little tinpot dickhead after you won the motion and say "Suck on that, sweetcakes" must have been intense.

[Bee Tagger]

President Obama will give the keynote speech at Austin's SXSW festival this afternoon.

What an alternative to the mainstream!

[This Machine]

You know you're hip and happening when The Man speaks at your music festival!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Keep Austin Weird!

[Old Man With Candy]

Keep Pflugerville Mildly Eccentric.

[Brett L]

Was jusr joking yesterday with a friend how we went in 2011 before it was cool*.

*I first attended shows for the music part in te mid-90s when college kids could actually stay in Austin for spring break and get into the shows for a reasonable price. I saw P-Funk without George in '96 at Stubbs for maybe $5. In 2013 when I went back to see the group with George at the same venue, I had a badge and got turned away at the door because (as a 33 year old) I didn't have a photo ID that matched my badge (which had my fucking picture on it)

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

After 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a judge vacated Andre Hatchett's conviction

The judge was in prison, too?

[UnCivilServant]

Someone has to preside over all those jailhouse lawyers' cases.

[gaoxiaen]

He should be.

[Lord Humungus]

Labour MP's Sex Segregated Rally with Islamic Extremist

Labour MP Paula Sherriff is the guest speaker at a sex segregated rally next month hosted by an Islamic extremist who thinks women are "subservient" to men. Sherriff is named alongside Shaikh Sulaiman Gani on the advert, a radical imam who calls women "subservient", condemns homosexuality and wants justice for al-Qaeda terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, currently serving 86 years in jail for the attempted murder of troops in Afghanistan. Despite it not being a religious event and not being held in an Islamic centre, the poster says there will be "segregated facilities for sisters". "Sisters" even have a separate phone number to call than male guests.

[Tonio]

I can't wait for a US politician to do something like this.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

Obama already gave a speech against Islamophobia in a mosque that practices gender segregation and forces girls to pray in a gym while the boys pray in a well decorated sanctuary.

""While the free world awaits a Muslim reformation, the leader of the free world shows blatant disregard for gender equality by visiting a mosque that treats females like second-class citizens," says Raheel Raza, a Pakistani-Canadian activist, author and cofounder of the Muslim Reform Movement, a new initiative that we support, advocating for peace, women's rights and secular governance. "This makes our work as activists extremely difficult because equality is one of the main tenets of our reform movement.""

The president speaks against Islamophobia and manages to piss off all the actual liberal Muslims in order to kiss up to their bigoted co-religionists. His diplomatic skills are magnificent.

[Citizen X]

You're just saying that because he's black.

[Tonio]

Ugh. But thanks.

I wonder if he'd also visit a place that separated people by skin tone or other characteristics beyond one's control.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

What, like every college campus where the students are clamoring for safe spaces designated only for specific races, sexual orientations and other shit?

[Tonio]

And while I'm aware of that phenom, Sloop, I don't think (hope?) that it's not every single campus. And there's a difference between a college doing that and a politician giving tacit approval to that by speaking at a segregated facility or event.

Hope that you, banjos and the young 'uns all doing well.

[Free Society]

What, like every college campus where the students are clamoring for safe spaces designated only for specific races, sexual orientations and other shit?

Well that's a bit different. That's PC segregation, which is totally legit as long as white students don't get a "white space", nor hetero students a "hetero space". Basically you need to be a card carrying victim, and Muslims have been in that club ever since it became fashionable to claim that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism and that Muslims can't control their actions because white people forced them to murder men, women and children in self-defense.

Members of the victim club are incapable of any kind of bigotry or injustice because you need to be a white heterosexual male to be a bigot.

[JWatts]

Oh, it's identity politics, not what they actually do. If a prominent Conservative gave a talk at a radical Christian sect that did this exact behavior, Obama would directly condemn it and it would get massive negative media coverage.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

I'm actually impressed The Times ran something criticizing him for that.

[Free Society]

I'm more impressed that millions politically correct lefties are able to simultaneously flip a hypocrisy switch so they don't expend any of their precious outrage juice.

[Notorious UGCC]

I don't see how Obama did anything wrong addressing a religion which practices "sex discrimination."

The problem is he and his retarded followers are prepared to denounce any *non-Muslim* religion which treats men and women as anything other than interchangeable and undifferentiated.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

Labour's been doing this for years now. You find articles criticizing them for this going all the way back to 2013.

They don't care because the people complaining about this are all Conservatives or UKIPers anyway and Labour's base really doesn't give a fuck

[sloopyinTEXAS]

When asked to comment on women and equality, an unnamed Labour representative was quoted as saying "Sherriff don't like it."

[Swiss Servator]

+1 that craazy Casbah sound

[R C Dean]

I wonder if Paula pronounces her last name "sheriff" or "sharif".

[Lord Humungus]

Shares bounce, euro fades after savage ECB reaction

The euro steadied and European shares and bonds rebounded on Friday after being savaged on Thursday when the European Central Bank signaled it was unlikely to cut its negative interest rates further in the wake of a huge new stimulus plan.

Markets were starting to focus on what they saw as the positive features of the ECB policy package, with surges to 2016 highs for both U.S. oil prices and China's yuan also boosting confidence.

Wall Street ESc1 was expected to open around 1 percent higher while Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 jumped 2.3 percent as German shares .GADXI enjoyed their best day of the year and Italian markets .FTMIB surged over 4 percent. [.EU]

[Old Man With Candy]

It was a remarkably subdued GOP debate in Miami Thursday night

Nice rendition of the National Anthem- right up until The Scream.

The Dems, by contrast, had an off-key matador.

[Rich]

right up until The Scream

Yep. I suppose singing it straight is just too easy.

[Tonio]

Howard Dean was there?

[Old Man With Candy]

No, Edvard Munch's model.

[Lord Humungus]

Mississippi House passes bill requiring teachers to grade parents

If a bill passed by the Mississippi House becomes law, students won't be the only ones receiving grades from teachers.

Under House Bill 4, also known as the Parent Involvement and Accountability Act, teachers would be required to grade parents' involvement with their children's education.

The legislation, by state Rep. Gregory Holloway (D-Hazlehurst), would mandate a section be added to each child's report card on which the parents are graded on their responsiveness to communication with teachers, the students' completion of homework and readiness for tests, and the frequency of absences and tardiness.

Mary Clare Reim, research associate on education at the Heritage Foundation, said the bill is the wrong way to encourage more parental involvement.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Parents should grade teacher too then, no?

[UnCivilServant]

I was too slow.

[straffinrun]

In school? I'm sorry.

[UnCivilServant]

No, I was lazy in school. (But I aced tests)

[straffinrun]

That'd make your teachers the lazy ones.

[UnCivilServant]

They were NYSUT members, so that's to be expected.

[straffinrun]

Finally, I got one right. Sums up my school dayz.

[WTF]

Seems only fair.

[UnCivilServant]

How about the parents grading the teachers?

[Tonio]

In semi-related news, I heard an NPR piece last night on how MS is requiring doctors to ask patients (or their parents) whether they are affected by poverty. I was waiting for NPR to ask about pushback, or whether the doc thought that type of snooping would cause people to forego treatment or seek alternative treatment.

[Rich]

"Yeah, I got this rash from a panhandler."

[Lee G]

That's right in there with all of the other bullshit questions that pediatricians ask nowadays.

[UnCivilServant]

"Doctor, poverty didn't crack my metacarpal, the pavement did. Just get on with the splinting or the bracing or whatever it is you need to do for it to heal up."

[Tonio]

^This. But many people are reluctant to push back against their doctors. If more people did that then we'd have better medical care.

[MiloMinderbinder]

How can Microsoft require doctors to ask patients anything?

[JWatts]

Our oldest son needed a minor surgery at Vanderbilt and my wife was afraid to bring him in. She's read too many horror stories of mandatory reporting requirements resulting in State Child Services visits. Generally, if a visit is triggered, you are automatically under supervision for one year.

Our oldest son is thin (5th%). His twin sister is fine (50th%). His younger brother and sister are also fine. So it would be absurd to think this would happen. So I told her she was over reacting and she should talk it over with the kid's pediatrician.

The pediatrician said that her fears were well grounded and that she would be happy to write a note saying that no one was starving the child. But the pediatrician said it probably wouldn't help. She informed us that the Doctors and Nurses were required to report any unusual medical information and that Vanderbilt was a stickler for following the rules.

So, my wife spend a monthfattening the boy up, feeding him ice cream and yogurt, in order to increase his weight 5 pounds before the surgical appointment.

[Tonio]

I'm sorry that happened, but you should be thankful your wife is so rational and prudent.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Every person on earth is "affected" by poverty in some way or another.

[lafe.long]

At the VA yesterday for a routine checkup, I was asked, "Do you have a home, and are you worried about it?"

[Mr Drew]

When I went to the emergency room a few months ago, they informed me that they were a "safe space" and asked if I felt same at home and if I was the victim of domestic violence. Now, I look and dress like the kind of guy who might be committing violence, but whatever.

I looked over at my buddy (and attorney) who had driven me to the ER and for a brief moment, I was tempted to whisper "It's not his fault. I just need to learn to not make him angry"

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Oh, that'll help parent-teacher relations.

The cluelessness here is off the charts. If a parent doesn't really give a damn about their kids' grades, how is adding another layer of bureaucratic correction going to work here? And given that teachers are already complaining about their daily work loads, how is handing out grades not just for their students, but for their parents as well, going to decrease that?

These people really never did meet a problem they felt wouldn't be solved by an extra layer of regulations.

[Domestic Dissident]

Justice Department wants five year prison sentence for convicted Journolist Matthew Keys.

[R C Dean]

Wow. Five years for giving login credentials to deface a news story.

And, of course, for being disrespectful of the criminal justice system.

[Lord Humungus]

You don't have to be a scientist to understand evil

There was an article in the Telegraph on Tuesday, 8th March, with the headline: "Scientists pinpoint part of brain that hides the 'root of all evil"".

According to the article "the part of the brain that switches on before aggressive behaviour is known anatomically as the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, or VMHvl, because of its central location inside the brain on the underside of the hypothalamus."

...

The Christian explanation for evil is for me the most coherent and reasonable: humans are radically flawed in their nature ("original sin") and have a lifelong struggle to overcome their sinful instincts while they face a 3-pronged assault from the world, the Devil and the flesh, as the Penny Catechism so succinctly puts it.

Whatever brain trauma you might have suffered or however appalling your upbringing and circumstances, you are still responsible for how you behave.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Is all evil aggressive? Is all aggressive behavior evil? Yes, I know it's just a headline...

[WTF]

That was my thought as well. Alot of assumptions, there.

[Zeb]

Depends on what they mean by "aggression". Is it just unprovoked stuff, or does it include responses t oactual threats? Libertarian ethics (NAP) certainly says that unprovoked aggression is a no-no.

[This Machine]

*sucker-punches Zeb*

[Swiss Servator]

*sucker punches self*

/confused

[straffinrun]

Using too much lotion, Swiss.

[Lee G]

I always figured fear and insecurity was at the root of most evil acts

[Auric Demonocles]

Correct, your thinking is.

[gaoxiaen]

I always thought it was Little Bill.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

The Christian explanation for evil is for me the most coherent and reasonable: humans are radically flawed in their nature ("original sin") and have a lifelong struggle to overcome their sinful instincts while they face a 3-pronged assault from the world, the Devil and the flesh, as the Penny Catechism so succinctly puts it.

Totes reasonable, and far more coherent than all this "brain-science" nonsense.

[Slammer]

"Scientists pinpoint part of brain that hides the 'root of all evil"".

Got my mind on my money and my money on my mind

[Doctor Whom]

Christians Flock to Groups That Help Members Pay Medical Bills

CW: NYT

SAN ANTONIO ? When Chris Doyle learned that his health insurance deductible would climb to $10,000 last year, he and his wife, both evangelical Christians, "spent a couple weeks just praying," he said.

Then they opted out of insurance altogether, joining something called a health care sharing ministry, which requires members to help cover one another's major medical costs as they come up.

Another triumph of Obamacare.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Then they opted out of insurance altogether, joining something called a health care sharing ministry, which requires members to help cover one another's major medical costs as they come up.

Isn't that... insurance?

[Tonio]

Sort of. Not sure if there is a fixed montly fee, or if it balloons.

But this is how health care used to be financed in the early 1900's. Groups like the masons, elks, religious denominations or entire towns would band together to build hospitals, hire doctors, etc. All voluntary.

[DenverJ]

The hell you say! Everybody knows that without government regulation of the medical industry every one would die (or become pregnant, which is even worse).

[Zeb]

I've heard about those things. I don't think you pay premiums, just help out when needed as you can.

[OneOut]

It's some of both.

There are 4 of them grandfathered into Obamacare and they each vary somewhat.

The monthlies are much lower than Obamacare.

[Mickey Rat]

Yes, but sort of grey market attempt to avoid ACA regulations on health insurance.

[Jordan]

Wonder how long it will take government to ban this.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Weren't mutual-help clubs like this fairly common at one time? Seems like it could be a good way to escape the Obamacare nonsense.

[WTF]

As long as you don't mind paying the "penaltax" for not having an approved insurance plan.

[Lee G]

And getting raped on the pricing.

[R C Dean]

You can get good deals, sometimes very good deals, when you pay cash. You have to ask for it and be willing to negotiate, but that doesn't seem like too much to ask.

[Lee G]

You can but it does depend on the provider. Lab companies are the worst.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Fair share!!! HERPADERP!!!

[Citizen X]

This was basically how health insurance worked until World War II, if i'm not mistaken.

[robc]

AMA got them banned, or heavily restricted.

[Rich]

This. "We must close the health care sharing ministry loophole!"

[lap83]

That's the wrong kind of sharing, voluntary and limited to a small circle of people you trust. They must be stopped!

[Millennial Hipster Vanguard]

I've offered to share my popcorn with the whole theater, but no one takes me up on it.
/tends second degree butter burns on penis

[Brett L]

Ugh. Reminds me of the Derpbook meme where someone described socialism as voluntary charity. I pointed out that difference between socialism and what was being described was the absence of government and force.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Socialism lacks the "voluntary" aspect. It's not "charitable" so much as "required by law."

[Brett L]

Yes. My parting shot was : "Pray you never have too much in a socialist system, comrade"

[0x90]

It's easy to gloss over the whole from each according to his ability part, isn't it. I don't know if these people just think they personally have no abilities, or whether they think they'd be able to hide them, and get around it that way. But it's a no-win, when the value of 16 hours of a physicist's time is equal to that of a ditch-digger's... and if you are not able to do the nice easy work, well, guess what you're going to be doing...

[EMD]

As long as what they are doing in entirely voluntary, I have no qualms about it.

[Rich]

Hillary is quite serious about veterans' health care:

"I would like to literally appoint a SWAT team to bring in people and just tackle the disability, have an ongoing review of the care that is being given, do more to make sure that every VA hospital is delivering care to the highest standard of the community"

[This Machine]

Ever notice how even the most mundane federal organizations have SWAT teams now? It's like they think that special weapons and tactics are the only way to respond to things that go wrong. Instead of, you know, maybe loosening up the noose a little bit.

[Rich]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure this was one a series of brain farts illustrating she understands neither "SWAT" nor "literally".

[Rich]

Oh, you know what I mean!

*** gets coffee ***

[This Machine]

Easy day, brother. IOW, she's a moron.

[JWatts]

I think she understands what she's saying.

[Jerryskids]

Instead of, you know, maybe loosening up the noose a little bit.

That's some cute advice there, Machiney-boy, but you ain't got no SWAT team, do ya, so who cares what you think? You get yourself a SWAT team, people start caring what you think, don't they? Yeah, they used to laugh at us and call us weenies over there at the Department of Chewing Gum Wrapper Safety but they ain't laughing no more, I'll tell you that.

[0x90]

When all you've got is a SWAT team, everything looks like...

[Swiss Servator]

A dog? A terrified home owner? A toddler?

[gaoxiaen]

Pretty soon it will be Little League Baseball and the Cub Scouts.

[Zeb]

So what does the SWAT team do in that scenario? Force people at gunpoint to provide better care in the VA?

[WTF]

Break down their doors and shoot their dogs, of course. After throwing a flash-bang into their toddler's crib.

[Krabappel]

Instead of firing incompetent employees, we will shoot them instead!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The union wouldn't like that. It's probably for whistleblowers.

[Tonio]

Hold it, she's actually talking about holding government accountable?

[This Machine]

Well, yeah, because holding government accountable in this case means expanding the power of the government.

[Suthenboy]

She is talking about putting bandaids on the VA system because it makes single payer look bad. It makes it look bad because...it is bad. SWAT teams won't help. She is an evil idiot.

[Crusty Juggler]

She wants a VA SWAT team and an education SWAT team? Someone should ask her why she thinks SWAT teams are the answer to every difficult problem.

[Crusty Juggler]

Which is term is more problematic: SWAT team or troubleshooter? Apparently troubleshooter.

[Jerryskids]

If you haven't yet figured out that leftists always depend on jack-booted thugs to make people obey the will of the people, you haven't been paying attention. And do you think when she talks about appointing a SWAT team to bring people in she's talking about bringing in VA employees? The VA employees are already there, they don't need to be brought in, do they?

[gaoxiaen]

Rightists never use force, right? They're all statists.

[Suell]

Literally.

[Domestic Dissident]

Blocko Mofo: the Middle East clusterfuck is all David Cameron's fault.

[WTF]

President Notmyfault now throwing European allies under the bus. Hopenchange, bitchez!

[Citizen X]

"Blocko Mofo" now? Your nicknames are getting more and more retarded, Don't Ask It - Piss In It.

[Domestic Dissident]

Go shit in a hat.

[Citizen X]

Who is that a nickname for?

[straffinrun]

Sugarfree character, no doubt.

[Tonio]

Nailed it, Citizen. Bonus points for eliciting a petulant response from whiny boy.

[Citizen X]

I'm just doing the Lord's work in some of the toughest comment threads in America.

[Swiss Servator]

+1 Joe

[Crusty Juggler]

Miss Furrie-tour

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

It's not retarded. President Obama fucked his mom.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

I always think Obama can't sink any lower, yet he always manages to surprise me.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

Holy shit:

"Mr Obama went on: "We actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1bn ? which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap. We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess.""

I like that Obama's idea of 'executing a plan well' doesn't involve how the plan actually works, it involves whether we do it cheaply and whether the UN says it's okay.

Maybe you should base your idea of success on something a bit more substantial, Barry.

[Auric Demonocles]

Look at the "success" of the stimulus: the results turned out worse than the "horror story" they portrayed doing nothing would lead to... which just means that it saved things from being even worse!

[Suthenboy]

So he is saying that despite his victory things turned to shit?

We had such high hopes for him. He looked so promising. No one could have seen this coming.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

We prevented a prolonged and bloody civil conflict, and yet Libya is still in a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. It's weird!

[R C Dean]

We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict.

Are you kidding me? Libya has been in a state of civil war, or at least tribal conflict, ever since.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

True, but if Obama flagrantly lies about something, the media not only won't call him on it, but they will actively use it as a talking point against Republicans.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Something is missing from that list of things they did in preparation....something about Congress and approval...hmmm....

[EMD]

"we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess."

Uhhhh ... cognitive dissonance in aisle 4 ....

[Domestic Dissident]

Yep. The Marianas Trench has nothing on this guy.

[gaoxiaen]

They all do.

[CatoTheChipper]

I thought the Libya shitshow represented "smart power at its finest".

That's what Hillary said, though she characterized the situation as a success rather than as a "shitshow" in the words of President NotMyFault.

[gaoxiaen]

+1 knife up the poopchute

[Lord Humungus]

The Stink of Defeat Was in the Air -- This Was the Debate Donald Trump Needed

The stink of defeat was in the air. Reince Priebus began the night with a plea for unity, and Trump soon followed suit. Rubio and Kasich debated as if they wanted to be remembered for losing with class and dignity. Cruz at times fought gamely, but Trump deflected his attacks by simply not taking the bait. He acted like a man who had the nomination already in hand.

In an ordinary election, Rubio delivered perhaps his best performance of the campaign, and Cruz was close behind. But this is no ordinary election. Trump was serene (though incomprehensible, nonsensical, and contradictory) throughout, and thus there was no need for his campaign manager to rush onto the stage to rescue his tottering boss. That means Trump wins, the field loses, and he rolls into March 15 without his competitors landing a single meaningful new blow.

Decorum won, and ? for once ? decorum was on Trump's side. This was not a debate to turn the tide.

[Nativist, Racist & Xenophobe]

National Review in their natural at rest position - clutching their balls and bellowing in rage, pain and humiliation.

"GOD AND MORALITY, SIR!! GOD AND MPRALITY!! DECENCY!! DECENCY!!"
/mid-atlantic accent

[Just say Nikki]

as Donald Trump played at gravitas

"GDP has been zero"

[Lord Humungus]

Dr. Ben Carson Verified account
?@RealBenCarson
Many people fight for change in DC. @realDonaldTrump is a leader with an outsider's perspective & the vision, guts & energy to get it done.

[Tonio]

Wow. Just wow.

[Citizen X]

Hold up, i think i left my shocked face at home.

[0x90]

Gotta admit, she has a way with words; here's the end of Paglia's take on Trump:

Trump is a blunt, no-crap mensch, while Cruz is a ham actor, doling out fake compassion like chopped liver. Cruz's lugubrious, weirdly womanish face, with its prim, tight smile and mawkishly appealing puppy-dog eyebrows, is like a waxen mask, always on the verge of melting. This guy doesn't know who the hell he is?and the White House is no place for him and us to find out.

[Lee G]

ouch, that's brutal

[Tonio]

"boy got a pretty mouf on him"

[Swiss Servator]

So she is going for substance....got it.

[OneOut]

She's a policy wonk fo' sho.

[BigT]

Cruz's lugubrious, weirdly womanish face, with its prim, tight smile and mawkishly appealing puppy-dog eyebrows, is like a waxen mask, always on the verge of melting

Imagine what she would have said about Honest Abe! (homely Abe?)

[bacon-magic]

Yes Paglia, people should vote for facial features you crusty old hag.

[Pope Jimbo]

The Vikings stadium debacle has reached another peak of derp.

I thought it was bad when the Vikings were suing Wells Fargo because they had the temerity to put up signs on their (WF's) new building because it interfered with their naming rights that they sold to US Bank.

Now, they want to rename Chicago Ave. which runs by the stadium because they are offended because the Bears are in their division.

"The Minnesota Vikings strongly object to having the street running in front of the stadium named after one of its opponents and neighboring rival," the Vikings said in a formal request to rename a segment of the street Vikings Way -- released yesterday.

Holy shit, I can't believe that my state was so badly swindled by that fucking NJ carpetbagger.

[0x90]

Judge announces damages of $84.5 million against Wilfs in long-running lawsuit

Summary:

Trial for fraud and racketeering

On August 6, 2013, Wilf, along with his brother, Mark Wilf, and cousin, were found liable by a New Jersey court for breaking civil state racketeering laws and keeping separate accounting books to fleece former business partners of shared revenue. The presiding judge noted that Wilf had used organized crime like tactics to commit fraud against his business partners.[16] In September the judge awarded the two business partner plaintiffs Ada Reichmann and Josef Halpern $84.5 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages and interest that the Wilfs must pay.[17]

[Tonio]

"wilfs" [snickers]

[gaoxiaen]

Women I'd Like to Fuck? That's pretty much all of them.

[Pope Jimbo]

The sad thing is that the legislature knew all about their business shenanigans, but still gave them a half billion dollars to build that stadium.

[Rhywun]

Keeping the team is more important than lining the pockets of crooks.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

Didn't the new stadium go down in flames in a referendum, but the legislature did an end-around (pun intended) and fund it anyway?

Also, the Vikes seem like a much better team when they're topless. But of course, no self-respecting Super Bowl would take place in Minneapolis in February (yet another boondoggle).

[R C Dean]

neighboring rival

Wouldn't that be Green Bay, not Chicago?

[0x90]

Good point. The street should be renamed Green Bay Way, so that fans could always go out from a game and literally stomp, puke, and/or shit on Green Bay.

[Mickey Rat]

They just noticed that one of the streets was "Chicago" ?

[Ken Shultz]

"President Obama will give the keynote speech at Austin's SXSW festival this afternoon."

There is some consolation in knowing that even though our next President is bound to be a shithead, President Obama will soon be opening shopping malls and doing trade shows for attention.

Obama can forget about turning his library into the next Carter Center for Peace. Can you imagine world leaders anywhere seeking him out for his advice on anything?

Keynoting SXSW?

LO freakin'L.

What, was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson too busy?

[Rich]

Can you imagine world leaders anywhere seeking him out for his advice on anything?

"Seriously, Mr. President, how did you manage to keep your records under wraps that entire time?"

[WTF]

"A compliant and subservient media."

[Brett L]

Perennial favorite Lou Reed had another engagement.

[generic Brand]

What, was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson too busy?

Actually, yes. He has a job, works hard, and contributes to society.

[Brett L]

Eemaking Baywatch was genius. Let's make a movie where the hottest actresses going are attired in bikinis and we get to hang around on the set for four months.

[Lord Humungus]

Wounded Warrior Project execs fired

Americans donate hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the charity, expecting their money will help some of the 52,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But CBS News found Wounded Warrior Project spends 40 to 50 percent on overhead, including extravagant parties. Other veterans charities have overhead costs of 10 to 15 percent.

Wounded Warrior Project's Chief Executive Officer, Steven Nardizzi, and Chief Operating Officer, Al Giordano, were fired after a meeting Thursday afternoon in New York.

[Tonio]

At least there were enough not-thoroughly-corrupt people on the board to be able to get rid of him. Often the CEOs take years to build up a puppet board and then they all loot the place. Sorry for all the people who donated. Even more sorry for the vets. And every time something like this happens, it depresses charitable giving. Ugh.

[robc]

This is why I refuse to give to the United Way. Overhead is too damn high.

[IndyEleven]

Depends, most community UWs are mostly locally-managed. They pay dues to the state (and maybe national) organizations but they're not huge. And if you're not in a major metro area your UW is probably pretty open about where they give their money. It can be a good way to consolidate fundraising for small agencies and it's well known nationally so big companies and the gubmint will often match your donation. I was involved in a small UW locally, so YMMV.

[Lee G]

Perhaps they could show penance by going out and stepping on a mine

[Tonio]

^This. Say what you will about the Japanese, but their concept of honor is admirable.

[Auric Demonocles]

My sister is a social worker for vets (and a vet herself). One of her former classmates works at Wounded Warrior Project, and one of the charities my sister works at occasionally does co-events with WWP. She hates them.

[Swiss Servator]

*boils with rage*

[This Machine]

You and me, both, Switzy. Whaddaya say you and me go fire up the ol' woodchipper and get ourselves some thieving WWP execs to lubricate it with?

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

They have a good (not great) rating on Charity Navigator. It says their admin and fundraising expenses are, indeed, in the 40% area. I'm wondering if Gandolfini and Trace Adkins donated their mugs to the commercials they run constantly, or if they were paid? CN says their fundraising expenses are super high - 34%.

[R C Dean]

It says their admin and fundraising expenses are, indeed, in the 40% area.

And, sadly, in the world of fundraising organizations, that actually is a pretty good percentage.

Compare to the Clinton Foundation, which I believe disburses less than 10% of its take in grants and donations.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

I am wary of anything named "The John Doe Foundation".

The charity I'm doing a fundraiser for right now (Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network shout out!!) has about 16% admin/fundraising expenses.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

THe amazing IJ also is at about 16% admin/fundraising expenses.

[Brett L]

They also have a much smaller budget. If you're running a charity with three employees and raise $1M a year, 20% is probably a reasonable number. At $50M, you should gain some economy of scale.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

reason is only at 11% fundraising & admin!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Well, they do have to cover seven-figure salaries for the Clintons and all of their cronies.

[Krabappel]

The Clintons:The Clinton Foundation::George Costanza:The Human Fund

[Suell]

"Wow, they only have overhead of 50 percent!?" - Chelsea Clinton

[Mickey Rat]

I am certain the majority of the Clinton Foundation money is going to the actual intended recipients. They were destitute and homeless back in 2001.

[EMD]

From Charity Navigator:

"We had previously evaluated this organization, but have since determined that this charity's atypical business model can not be accurately captured in our current rating methodology. Our removal of The Clinton Foundation from our site is neither a condemnation nor an endorsement of this charity. We reserve the right to reinstate a rating for The Clinton Foundation as soon as we identify a rating methodology that appropriately captures its business model."

[EMD]

In other words: We have no fucking idea what they do.

[Lord Humungus]

Typo Stops $1 Billion Bangladesh Bank Heist

The hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems and stole its credentials for payment transfers, two senior officials at the bank said. They then bombarded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with nearly three dozen requests to move money from the Bangladesh Bank's account there to entities in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the officials said.

Four requests to transfer a total of about $81m to the Philippines went through, but a fifth, for $20m, to a Sri Lankan non-profit organisation was held up because the hackers misspelled the name of the NGO, Shalika Foundation.

Hackers misspelled "foundation" in the NGO's name as "fandation", prompting a routing bank, Deutsche Bank, to seek clarification from the Bangladesh central bank, which stopped the transaction, one of the officials said.

[Pope Jimbo]

Still $81 million is a lot of San Miguel beer, balut and LBFM's....

[Citizen X]

Why would you eat some nasty ol' balut when Filipino cuisine includes such joys as pancit, lumpia, and adobo?

[straffinrun]

Today is the 5th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake. Rolling Blackouts, empty food shelves, and endless scenes on TV of entire neighborhoods getting wiped out. Almost as bad as Venezuela today. I remember desperately trying to find diapers for my 2 year old daughter. There was one pack left, tucked away on the top shelf of the grocery store. Being 6`3 I was able to spot it and yoink it before the 5'4 obasans could reach it. White Privilege. Now you guys get it?

[UnCivilServant]

I'm guessing the difference is that today, Japan has recovered from the earthquake, while Venezuela continues to suffer from socialism.

[straffinrun]

Well, kind of. They've gone negative interest rates which could wipe out generations of savings.

[Pope Jimbo]

My sister-in-law lived in Kobe during the big Hanshin quake there in '95. She was actually living on one of the man made islands just offshore and the only real damage for them was that the train to the mainland was damaged so they had to do the ferry.

We visited 9 months later and Kobe proper looked like a war zone. Still it was pretty functional.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Wow, I didn't realize you were in Japan at the time. That was an amazing bit of natural horror. Glad you and yours made it through.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Hopefully, that was the day you started prepping.

[Lee G]

Instant noodles can make babies gay, claims Indonesia mayor

The mayor of Indonesia's Tangerang city has reportedly claimed that babies can become gay by consuming instant noodles and milk formula.

"To create Indonesian children that are healthy smart and competitive, the most important thing is, from the beginning, to provide them adequate nutrition, especially breastfeeding," Arief R Wismansyah said during a city-run pregnancy seminar on Tuesday, reported Coconuts Jakarta.

[Swiss Servator]

Coconuts Jakarta?

[Lee G]

My new favorite news outlet just for leading me to this

[Illocust]

It'll be interesting if we figure out how to genetically screen out gay people before it becomes acceptable everywhere. I wonder if it will make the cultural barriers even harder to breech.

[Atanarjuat]

Closet case.

[Atanarjuat]

Left out the "self-hating".

[Lord Humungus]

All the Evidence We Could Find About Fred Trump's Alleged Involvement with the KKK

But the particulars of the David Duke incident call to mind yet another news story, one that suggests that Trump's father, the late New York real estate titan Fred Trump, once wore the robe and hood of a Klansman.

Versions of this story emerged last September when Boing Boing dug up an old New York Times article from May of 1927 that listed a Fred Trump among those arrested at a Klan rally in Jamaica, Queens, when "1,000 Klansmen and 100 policemen staged a free-for-all," in the streets. Donald Trump's father would have been 21 in 1927 and had spent most of his life in Queens.

As Boing Boing pointed out, the Times account simply names Fred Trump as one of the seven individuals arrested at the rally, and it states that he was released without charges, leaving room for the possibility that he "may have been an innocent bystander, falsely named, or otherwise the victim of mistaken identity during or following a chaotic event."

[Tonio]

KKK involvement wasn't an impediment to US Sen. Robert F. Byrd (KKK-WV).

Candidates should never be held responsible for what their ancestors did.

None of this is by way of defending any individual candidate.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

SPOILER ALERT:

Frank Underwood's daddy was a KKKer, too!

[Bird Person]

That new Captain America Civil War trailer was great.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Take that noise out of here. This crowd is too cool for a Marvel movie.

[UnCivilServant]

I hear the villain is a libertarian who set up the whole 'civil war' to scandalize the registration act.

[R C Dean]

Saw a trailer for this on TV last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96EChBYVFhU

Holy shit.

[EMD]

I'm betting first-person movies wear thin by the first hour.

[Lord Humungus]

For anyone who is into "Americana" music - or whatever you want to call it, I've been enjoying John Moreland. He makes me want to cry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCCa-LSiUx0

[straffinrun]

Wearing a Dekalb seed hat. My Uncle owned that company. I had dozens of them lying around as a kid.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Someone actually wants to be a Brown?

Colin Kaepernick wants to play for new Browns coach Hue Jackson

[BigT]

Very, very low bar for success with the Brownies.

[Lee G]

Big fish, small pond

[Certified Public Asshat]

Their offensive line has now been gutted and their best receiver just left.

Low bar, but damn.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Kaepernick reads team rosters about as well as he reads defenses, apparently.

[Mickey Rat]

I think he is reading this correctly. Go to the Browns or be a backup for the rest of his football career.

[Certified Public Asshat]

What's the difference?

[Brett L]

In fairness to Colin, I think he'd just like to play every Sunday as his contract has to be up soon.

[Auric Demonocles]

I can't figure out what's up with that girl. She's like 90% hot, but there's something about her that's off. I can't put my finger on it. Who is she anyway? Maybe the alt-text should explain.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

The fact that her jaw looks like it's about to unhinge so that she can swallow prey larger than herself certainly doesn't help.

[Tonio]

Uh-huh. [hands roll of foil to racist friend]

[tarran]

I suspect we are looking at a photo of the love child Hillary fathered with Huma Abedin.

[Crusty Juggler]

I bet she has cankles.

[Curt]

Definitely need ENB to step up the alt-text game!

[Crusty Juggler]

He is the coolest president ever.

[BigT]

SXSW is the lamest music fest ever.

[Crusty Juggler]

The coolest president ever invented the fist bump as well as the beer summit.

[Brett L]

Eh. I've had fun. Introducing my now wife, then girlfriend, to the Crystal Method at a club where they came out and showed the kids how to dubstep was fun. Fitz and the Tantrums at small venues were fun both times. There's a lot of bullshit around it now, too. It's like Cannes or Sundance, it's really an industry event where occasional good products are actually put on display.

[EMD]

I go for the film and interactive stuff.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

He's the Coors Light of Presidents. With the flavor of water.

[Crusty Juggler]

He talked to Zach Galifianakis and Jon Stewart - what could possibly be cooler than that?

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

WTF is a "Top Feminist".

I bet SF has the answer...maybe some Paglia/Dworkin pron?

[Tonio]

Look up "tribbing".

[Atanarjuat]

Is there a top and bottom in such an act?

Also, are there any lesbian libertarians who could even answer?

[Tonio]

Yes, very much so. I'm not a lesbian (lol), but there is a mandatory lesbian unit you have to complete to keep your gay card.

[Citizen X]

Don't most of the gays just pick that up as a Continuing Gay Education credit?

[Suell]

"Tribbing"? Does that come from that old Star Trek episode with all those furry balls that invade the ship?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

IIRC, the BBC ran some story about feminists that femsplained the hierarchy. I don't remember when it was, but if you google "BBC feminist" something should pop up.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Don't google "BBC feminist".

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

LOL

[Crusty Juggler]

Do Google "BBC wife," but only while at work.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Who did I get with that on here a few months ago by saying the BBC had done an interesting expose on coeds recently? They were pretty pissed, IIRC, when they actually googled "BBC coeds".

[Swiss Servator]

That was funny - I can't remember, but it was fun seeing the OMG I LOOKED AT THAT AT A WORK COMPUTER!!!!

[Citizen X]

sloopyinTEXAS|3.11.16 @ 10:09AM|#

IIRC, the BBC ran some story about feminists that femsplained the hierarchy. I don't remember when it was, but if you google "BBC feminist" something should pop up.

reply to this
sloopyinTEXAS|3.11.16 @ 10:25AM|#

Don't google "BBC feminist".

That must've been an interesting 16 minutes.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

I admire his stamina. I can usually get it done in 5 minutes.

[Citizen X]

Maybe he took a shower too.

[Lord Humungus]

I see what you did there...

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

We Need to Stop Calling Breast-Feeding Natural

"Martucci and Barnhill also point out that to describe breast-feeding as natural is to make a number of assumptions about gender roles and family life. Are two gay dads raising their child unnaturally if they formula-feed? What about a family who adopts? Or a mom who can't or doesn't want to breast-feed? Surely, these are all environments in which a baby could thrive."

Breast milk is literally naturally produced. Baby formula is not naturally produced. Therefore, breast milk is natural, by definition.

Basically, they're angsty that words mean things.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I think they're saying:
Breast milk=natural
Breast feeding =/= natural

Because of feelz or something.

[Lee G]

In a new paper recently published in Pediatrics, bioethicists Jessica Martucci and Anne Barnhill argue that the emphasis on the "natural" aspects of breast-feeding can easily backfire. By endorsing breast-feeding as natural, they say, breast-feeding advocates are reinforcing the idea that natural is A) something that actually exists and B) healthier. By setting up this dichotomy, these pro?breast-feeding campaigns might serve as unintentional fodder for concerns against "unnatural" interventions like vaccinations.

The stupid, it burns

[Mickey Rat]

I wonder what they think about GMOs?

[Auric Demonocles]

Surely, these are all environments in which a baby could thrive.

Sure, but that's got nothing to do with "natural". Humans can survive in the environment of the ISS, but that doesn't make it natural.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

They do make a good point about not assuming that something being natural means it's good. I completely agree with that.

[Brett L]

Anything that gets the breastfeeding nazis a comeuppance is good with me. Our younger one, my wife tried to breastfeed for four months and he routinely came in at the 25% levels on the chart. We switched to formula and he exploded above the 50th percentile in height and weight. Maybe he just happened to gain weight, grow and start to sleep longer at the time we switched, but probably not. Our oldest, we went to formula at six weeks and he was always big and slept better. Thanks, breastfeeders, for trying to keep my children barely sufficiently nourished and bullying my wife.

[Mickey Rat]

They are angsty that their choices are being judged, even by implication. Everything must be described as equally good by denotation and connotation, even if the terms are not compatible.

[Slammer]

New pun for the election cycle:

Trumppensturm.

[Crusty Juggler]

He was the best character on that show.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

Nineteen exonerations just in Brooklyn alone in two years? Fucking hell.

[Tonio]

Well, Brooklyn does have a population greater than most US cities, so there is that. What worries me is that these are just the ones we know about and that they admit to.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

I suppose it's also in great part owed to the cooperation of the DA. In jurisdictions where they have power-hungry asshole DAs, I imagine the exoneration process is much slower and more contentious. Nineteen is a crazy number for two years, though. Craig Watkins had 30 exonerations in his 8 years in office.

[Suthenboy]

I wonder what the pro-death penalty crowd has to say about that. We had a discussion about it the other day and there were many assertions that wrongful convictions are rare. I don't think they were being dishonest, I am certain they actually believed that. Perhaps this could get them to rethink their position.

[Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB]

It probably is really rare for someone to be wrongly executed because so few people get executed. I just looked it up and there have been like 72 executions in the country since 2014. That's only 24 a year.

That doesn't matter though because executing one innocent person is too many.

It's irrelevant how many get killed, we should still abolish the death penalty.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

You could tell them about Cameron Todd Willingham. Or have them read Grisham's most depressing book, The Confession

[Tonio]

I don't think they were being dishonest, I am certain they actually believed that. Perhaps this could get them to rethink their position.

Well, if they are indeed debating in good faith they'd acknowledge this. But if they ignore, deny, hand-wave and try to move the goalposts they are not being honest. Always go with actions over feelings.

[Tornado16nb]

19??? Yikes.

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

I didn't know Ted Cruz was in Ferris Bueller's Day Off!

https://youtu.be/wZOy6w6UsMY?t=46s

[Idle Hands]

Alcohol was so abundant, a preliminary breath test registered .09, just in the ambient air. That's above the legal level of intoxication for a Maryland driver. Sounds like a blast.

[Crusty Juggler]

Doooooood!

[Idle Hands]

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!

[Crusty Juggler]

"We have received more than two dozen reports of acts of individual perversion so profound and disgusting that decorum prohibits us listing them here."

[Citizen X]

+0.0 GPA

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Did the police have a warrant? Who actually poured the beer? WHy the fuck can't a group of adults do what they want with their own bodies in a private residence, man?

These fucking right-wing, tea-liban governments in places like Maryland and California, with their smoking age going to 21, use hate individual liberty.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

A gem from the comments:

Seapuss O'Shaughnessy
15 hours ago
It's OK. None of the minors who were drinking were "marked" under-aged.

[Brett L]

How did they measure that? Most air alcohol meters need a decent flowrate.

[Tonio]

Good question. Shame that none of the press have called them on this.

[yet another dave]

Easy, the roadside tester they use always reads at least 0.09 bac, Helps with the DUI convictions...

[EMD]

Heroes!

[Kristen Bids No Trump]

I realized I never posted about my trip to Copper Mountain. It was awesome. Waaaaay better than Park City. They even have a relationship with an oxygen company that will deliver gas to your condo door should you suffer from altitude (not I - my dad's wife). Only complaint is they don't do a great job enforcing slow zones on the old people/kiddie trails.

[Idle Hands]

Copper is fantastic.

[Rockabilly]

Folks at SXSW, ask Obama to end his racist war on drugs and his wars of choice.

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