Voting by Blockchain?, More Americans Renounce Citizenship, London Elects First Muslim Mayor: A.M. Links

DIUSGOVUK/Flickr

• The Blockchain Technologies Corp. wants to bring Bitcoin-derived blockchain technology to the voting booth; it was recently tested by the Libertarian Party of New York.
• There are now 18 times as many Americans renouncing their citizenship as in 2008, with a record 1,158 people expatriating themselves in the first three months of 2016.
• Votes are still being counted, but it looks like the U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London, and of any major Western capital.
• An Alabama bill passed by both houses yesterday would regulate abortion clinics like sex offenders, barring them from operating within 2,000 feet of an elementary school or junior high. 
• Joking on Facebook about bomb threats is not protected speech, judge rules.
• An anti-abortion group in Indiana is encouraging parents to deposit unwanted newborns in one of two new, anonymous baby boxes.
• A large new study contradicts previous research showing that being slightly overweight may help people live longer. 
• A major prison-reform package in Alabama has failed. 
• Affirmative consent comes to Connecticut. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

TOO MANY LINKS

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

ENB's fist has a lot more fingers included than yours, that's all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Can we not have one Links post without someone complaining?

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

I think one abortion link would have been plenty.

[Certified Public Asshat]

She's out to make everyone pro-abortion.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

on the dance floor?

[Bee Tagger]

There are now 18 times as many Americans renouncing their citizenship as in 2008

Make America Ingrates Again.

[Tonio]

"We're bettar off without them anyways, they didn't pay their fair share!!1!" /youknowwho

[Rich]

"But they will NOW!"

/youknowwho

[B. Woodrow Chippenhaus]

We need to close the loophole that allows people to renounce their citizenship in an attempt to stop paying their fair share in taxes!

[Chip Woodier]

We need common sense citizenship renouncing laws. Think of the children!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

174) My wife and I watched L.A. Confidential last weekend?what a great movie. We'd never seen it before. (It lost Best Picture to Titanic in 1997, yet more evidence that the Oscars are pretty much bullshit.)
It follows several cops in L.A. in 1950, and many events and places in the movie are loosely based on actual historical events and places. The corruption of the police force is explicit?for instance, at one point the police captain doesn't want to make a character a detective because he doesn't believe the cop would be willing to put planted evidence on an arrestee he "knew" to be guilty.
There is a strong implication in the movie, though, that the times are changing, and new reforms in the police department will make it the modern police force L.A. enjoys today. What crap! Just a few weeks ago I linked to an article about an LAPD cop gang "in which deputies falsify police reports, perjure themselves and cover up misconduct." If anything's changed, it's only that it's no longer publicly acceptable for police forces now to be so blatantly brutal; instead, they have to cover up.

[Hamster of Doom]

Sullum's latest.. I'd be okay with him bumping it back to the top of the HyR page, personally.

[SIV]

That movie sucks. Read the book.

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

Ah, you're that guy.

[Hamster of Doom]

The only movie I've ever seen that was better than the book was The Devil Wears Prada. Fun movie. And Emily Blunt? Yes, ma'am.

The book was pretty shitty though, so it's not as if Hollywood could have done it any harm.

[SugarFree]

Rosemary's Baby and The Graduate come close, but only in the sense that they are both such faithful adaptions, the books are pretty much superfluous.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You forgot Peter Jackson's LoTR and The Hobbit.

[SugarFree]

When the angry nerd horde comes for you, tell them you are into Warhammer and they may grant you a quick death.

[Lee G]

The Notebook was sooooooo much better than the source material.

[Jerryskids]

Jesus Christ Superstar.

There are plenty of book/movies like say, Jurassic Park, where I think the visual and the intellectual aspects are just two completely different things where you can't even really compare the two, they're just two different and too different forms of story-telling. It's like the difference between listening to a song and reading the lyrics - no matter how meaningful and enjoyable the song sounds, the lyrics on a printed page frequently just look embarrassingly awful.

[Citizen X]

I liked Fight Club the book, but the movie was better.

[thrakkorzog]

Even the author admitted that the movie was better, especially the ending.

[Rasilio]

I love me some Neil Gaiman but the movie adaptation of Stardust was better than the book

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Very under-appreciated

[Crusty Juggler]

That movie sucks. Read the book.

The second season of True Detective stole it's plot from one of Ellroy's novels featuring Dudley Smith called The Big Nowhere. However, the novel is much nastier, a lot more depressing, and superior in every way.

[Zeb]

The main reform of police seems to have been to try a little harder to pretend not to be corrupt.

[CatoTheChipper]

It seems to me that the main reforms have involved changing officer training to use lethal force as a first resort to the slightest hint of danger. That way there's never any doubt that the officer made appropriate use of lethal force. Well, that, and as the souvenir pocket knife given to ATF agents at one of their team meetings was inscribed, Always Think Forfeiture.

Police corruption is as old as the State's use of a police force.

Most people are unaware of the fact that a civilian police force is relatively new innovation of the State that dates back to the early 19th Century. As initially conceived, the civilian police force was to be clearly distinguished from the military and strictly accountable to the public. Its objective was to eliminate crime, not to make arrests and to serve as a profit center to the State. How things have changed with today's completely unaccountable paramilitary whose main charge is to confiscate citizens' property via fines and asset forfeitures.

[Crusty Juggler]

The corruption of the police force is explicit?for instance, at one point the police captain doesn't want to make a character a detective because he doesn't believe the cop would be willing to put planted evidence on an arrestee he "knew" to be guilty.

Dudley Smith is Ellroy's best character, laddie.

[Mokers]

What did you think of him in Perfidia?

[Crusty Juggler]

He was like Vic Mackey on steroids, if those steroids included more murder, pill popping, and starlet nailing. He is a great character.

It annoys me to no end that that big pussy James Cromwell portrayed him in a film.

[Mike Laursen]

No, it's all true. LAPD was clean as a whistle, but then Jack Webb died.

[VG Zaytsev]

What crap! Just a few weeks ago I linked to an article about an LAPD cop gang "in which deputies falsify police reports, perjure themselves and cover up misconduct."

But it's totally crazy to think that they framed OJ.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

....Kinda, yeah.

[Stormy Dragon]

My personal belief on the OJ case is that they got caught framing the guy who actually did it.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Actually since it was deputies, it's LASD, which makes the LAPD look like choir boys.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A large new study contradicts previous research showing that being slightly overweight may help people live longer.

ENB is fat shaming studies now.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[UnCivilServant]

Just wait until landwhales use this to claim they're 'healthy'

[Red Rocks Rockin]

HEALTHY AT ANY SIZE, BIGOTS!
/Trigglypuff and Tess Holliday

[Fist of Etiquette]

There are now 18 times as many Americans renouncing their citizenship as in 2008...

Cut and runners.

[Private Chipperbot]

Citizenship is for closers.

[Bee Tagger]

The Blockchain Technologies Corp. wants to bring Bitcoin-derived blockchain technology to the voting booth;

Ripped-from-the-headlines TV show writers salivate.

[Krabappel]

LOL do you think Law & Order SVU can explain blockchain to their viewers?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"An anti-abortion group in Indiana is encouraging parents to deposit unwanted newborns in one of two new, anonymous baby boxes."

When is a child no longer a newborn? Is 10 years old close enough?

[Brochettaward]

I personally think we should extend the abortion age up to 18.

[Chipwooder]

Like Cartman's mom trying to get a 34th trimester abortion

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Yeah, lately I've been really mulling the Bill Cosby rule for parenting:

"I brought you in this world, and I can take you out. And it don't make no difference to me, I'll make another one look just like you."

[Citizen X]

Bill Cosby might not be the best role model to have, it turns out. Just sayin'.

[Tonio]

That was accepted practice in Roman society and I believe in other ancient cultures. The husband could legally kill his wife and children.

When did that change?

[Citizen X]

WESTERN CULTURE'S GONE DOWN THE TUBES, IT HAS.

[Tonio]

This is a publicity stunt. Virtue signalling, socon style. In most states you are allowed to drop a newborn off at any hospital, police station or firehouse, no questions asked. Of course those babies might end up being adopted by homos, so maybe they are just babyfarming.

[Brochettaward]

You aren't fooling me with your gay agenda, Tonio. You just want all the unwanted babies to go homo couples.

[Tonio]

Crikey, he's on to me. But do remember that for years the homos took the babies that nobody else wanted - mixed race, handicapped, etc.

[Swiss Servator]

I thought that was the Gypsies?

*scratches head, resumes whittling*

[WTF]

No, it was the Faeries, and they left a changeling in return.

[Tonio]

The faeries was us.

[Brochettaward]

As a libertarian, I can always find a use for any and all children. If nothing else, you can feed the really defective ones to the others as an economic gruel.

[UnCivilServant]

So you're the guy who keeps getting prion disease outbreaks at his orphan-staffed plants.

[11H1P, Professional Beach Bum]

No, you use the brains and spinal fluid to tan the hide. Nice, soft orphan skin gloves and whatnot.

[WTF]

Those monocles aren't going to polish themselves.

[Citizen X]

And kuru doesn't start to affect your typical orphan's monocle-polishing abilities until the later stages anyway.

[MoriahJovan]

As a libertarian, I can always find a use for any and all children. If nothing else, you can feed the really defective ones to the others as an economic gruel.

We had children to fetch the remote. Turns out, they can mow lawns, too. Who knew?

[kbolino]

any hospital, police station or firehouse

I'm noticing a distinct lack of non-government options in that list. I'm sure there's signaling involved, but it's quite possible that they do not trust the government, as well.

[Tonio]

All hospitals are government-run? No such thing as a volunteer fire department?

They don't trust government to not give those kids to those sinful homos.

[Tom Bombadil]

A volunteer fire department would likely still be under government control/supervision and would have at least one paid supervisor (Chief, etc.) involved.

Also, the equipment and facilities are usually paid for by the local government.

[An Innocent Man]

The volunteer departments around here aren't manned till there's a fire or accident. A few times a week. Probably best to not drop off a newborn unless you're going to start a quick fire also.

[kbolino]

All hospitals are government-run?

Go into a hospital with a bullet wound and tell me whether you think they're not (effectively) government-run, although you may want to hire a lawyer and be damn sure of your legal rights first.

They don't trust government to not give those kids to those sinful homos.

I'm pretty sure that's not the only reason. But it doesn't much matter why, does it? What makes the government's moralistic choices any better than theirs?

[commodious spittoon]

They don't trust government to not give those kids to those sinful homos.

Or they're putting their money where their mouths are by advertising the service rather than advertising an option provided at taxpayer expense.

[Pope Jimbo]

Fucking two boxes? Where are the trans-babies supposed to go?

[UnCivilServant]

Target.

[straffinrun]

Jack in the Box?

[Swiss Servator]

*opera applause*

[Chipwooder]

I tried to walk into that store Target the other day....but I missed.

I miss Mitch.

[Bee Tagger]

Joking on Facebook ... is not protected speech, judge rules.

Eh, I can get behind this.

[Hamster of Doom]

"While we respect deeply that R.L.'s parents feel the need to vindicate him, we fundamentally disagree with their conclusion that his punishment is violative of the First Amendment," Jones wrote. "The school administrators involved in this case, if they erred at all, did so in the interest of safety and caution."

It's that old "safety and caution" clause that negates the First Amendment.

[Citizen X]

Not to mention the Second, Third, Fourth, etc.

[WTF]

"Congress shall make no law...respecting freedom of speech, or of the press, except in the case of safety and caution."

It's in the new annotated FYTW version.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An Alabama bill passed by both houses yesterday would regulate abortion clinics like sex offenders, barring them from operating within 2,000 feet of an elementary school or junior high.

They know looking at the little monsters on the playground or the moody teens would be too great an incentive for customers to go through with it.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

I guess they didn't get the memo that "4th trimester abortion" is a joke and not a real thing

[Bee Tagger]

Affirmative consent comes to Connecticut.

"Are you sure you want to be in Connecticut?"

[Doctor Whom]

Affirmative consent of the governed.

[Doctor Whom]

Fie on my slow typing.

[DEG]

No. Though I've discovered that when driving through Connecticut, even though it feels like an eternity in hell, it isn't.

[Chip Woodier]

Jesus. You blink and are already through Connecticut. Come drive out here where a city on one side of Texas is closer to Los Angeles than it is to a city on the other side of Texas.

[DEG]

I've driven in Texas. Driving in Texas is a joy compared to Connecticut.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

An anti-abortion group in Indiana is encouraging parents to deposit unwanted newborns in one of two new, anonymous baby boxes.

Out of one box and into another, I see.

[Tonio]

[squints]

[Rich]

That's the ruling made by U.S. Middle District Court Judge John E. Jones III in the case of a Central York High School student who, the afternoon after a bomb threat closed school for the day, posted on his Facebook page: "Plot twist, bomb isn't found and goes off tomorrow."

Apparently the student should have posted "Plot twist, bomb turns out to be a woodchipper."

[Zeb]

His real crime was suggesting that the police and bomb squad might not be completely competent.

[Hamster of Doom]

A major prison-reform package in Alabama has failed.

In Alabama? Never!

[Jordan]

Votes are still being counted, but it looks like the U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London, and of any major Western capital.

You just elected an anti-semitic apologist for terrorists. Well done, London.

[WTF]

Well done, Londonistan

FTFY

[Rhywun]

I don't know if he's any of that, but is it any worse than being Labour?

[Tonio]

AFAIK, Labour didn't have any animosity towards bacon.

[Rhywun]

No, they just have animosity towards productive people.

[Mike Laursen]

Doesn't matter. English people are confused about what bacon is.

[Citizen X]

No, you're thinking of Canadians.

[Jerryskids]

U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London

What's the Vegas line on when this volatile situation turns into an explosive situation?

[Pope Jimbo]

"A large new study contradicts previous research showing that being slightly overweight may help people live longer."

Not to brag, but I'm helping about 13-14 of you skinny bastards live longer all by myself. You are welcome.

[Zeb]

Socialized fatness?

[Pope Jimbo]

I'm carrying the heavy load for you Comrade Zeb!

[Citizen X]

These masturbation euphemisms are getting personal.

[Jordan]

Funny how the affirmative consent crowd will be the first to tell you that merely breathing is consenting to the social contract.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

So much this

[Chipwooder]

My question is, if affirmative consent is such an obvious, important law......why is it restricted to college campuses? Why isn't it the law for everyone?

Oh, right, because it's asinine and most adults wouldn't put up with that kind of crap.

[Hamster of Doom]

Coming soon.

[straffinrun]

Not without consent.

[Hamster of Doom]

Not saying no fast enough counts as consent. Just ask Rico.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Ok, I'm done."
"Had we gotten started yet?"

[straffinrun]

A little background for that scene.

[R C Dean]

Coming soon.

Already in the pipeline. The American Law Institute is putting together their model penal code of affirmative consent rape as we speak.

[See Double You]

The Montana state prosecutor's office is lobbying for such a bill.

[gaoxiaen]

Penile Code?

[Notorious UGCC]

"Votes are still being counted, but it looks like the U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London, and of any major Western capital."

Yes, we Khan!

Finally, the voters have elected a mayor who can bring home the bacon.

[WTF]

"KHAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!"

[Rich]

the first Muslim mayor of London

Appropriate?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Blockchain Technologies Corp. wants to bring Bitcoin-derived blockchain technology to the voting booth...

I don't know if I want the market to determine the value of my vote.

[UnCivilServant]

Who knows, one day it might be nonzero.

[Brochettaward]

Students were eventually dismissed for the day around 11:30 a.m., and while away from school property, the student who is the son of the plaintiffs ? identified as R.L.? posted on his Facebook page: "Plot twist, bomb isn't found and goes off tomorrow."

ENB phoned these links in. This isn't even a bomb threat. And no alt-text?

[Rhywun]

No, but we can still hope the irresponsible brat gets tossed in jail and/or his life is ruined, right??

OMG just read the article, what a whole mess of stupid.

Administrators searched the school stadium to see if that would be a secure location to move the students during the investigation, but another student posted on Twitter that the bomb was in the stadium, prompting a move to the school's baseball field.

*yakety sax*

[Fist of Etiquette]

Joking on Facebook about bomb threats is not protected speech, judge rules.

Next think you know it Trump won't be able to twit "you're fired" in a crowded twittersphere.

[Rich]

Man seeks restraining order against God

The man should get a Job.

[Zeb]

OK, that's pretty funny.

[Swiss Servator]

*begins to narrow gaze, slow claps instead*

[Tom Bombadil]

Very well done.

[Notorious UGCC]

From the baby box story:

"The two baby boxes in Indiana are the first of their kind in the US though they do exist in other parts of the world, despite disapproval from the UN."

I like the idea already!

"But despite the new legislation, Indiana Democratic senator Jean Breaux says the baby boxes are extremely problematic, and speak to growing extremism in the state.

"It's just another extension of this state's fanatical view of anti-abortion, when Roe v Wade is the law of the land. They would rather have a baby born and abandoned than pursue some alternative to that."

I guess I'll take Breaux at her word as to the implications of Roe v. Wade. Don't leave unwanted babies to be adopted, kill them instead.

More wisdom from Breaux:

"The likelihood of someone saying 'let's drive over and get a baby box', I just think it's unrealistic. Instead let's equip our young people with the tools they need to make the best choices and you will find that baby boxes will be unnecessary."

So, she's acknowledging that baby boxes are *currently* necessary?

It's hard to follow the logic of Democrats and UN officials.

[Deep Lurker]

"Foundling Wheels" are a time-honored medieval tradition.

But I think "sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" should apply here. If abortion clinics aren't allowed within 2000 ft of a school, then adoption drop-off points shouldn't be allowed within 2000 ft of a school either. And if mothers of newborns can give up their babies for adoption, no-questions-asked and without being dinged for any future financial responsibility for the kid, then fathers of newborns should have the same right. (In both cases, the other parent should have right-of-first-refusal wrt taking custody of the kid.)

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Lol. You want to give men freedom of choice when it comes to providing care of a child he may not want? He had the choice to not have sex or to use protection. That choice being made, he should how to the will of the woman. The government told me that. So do feminists and pretty much all progressive mongoloids. B cause freedom of choice only extends to one party involved in conceiving a child.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Speaking of freedom of choice.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

It's hard to follow the logic of Democrats and UN officials.

No it's not. They want as many undesirables to be killed before they get a chance to live. Of course, those were the people necessary to pay enough in taxes to keep their social safety net afloat. But they can't put those tho things in their brain at the same time.

[R C Dean]

They would rather have a baby born and abandoned than pursue some alternative to that.

The alternative he seems to have in mind is abortion. And, yes, many people would rather have a baby born than aborted.

And, the point of these boxes is that the unwanted babies aren't abandoned, you lying sack of stupid.

[Mazakon]

Scientists are One Step Closer to Creating 'Artificial Wombs'

Scientists have sustained human embryos in a petri dish for 13 days, shattering the previous record of nine days. The breakthrough will allow researchers to study early fetal development in unprecedented detail, and brings us one step closer to viable "artificial wombs." But it's adding fuel to an already heated ethical debate.

Two separate papers published this week, one in Nature and one in Nature Cell Biology, have reported culturing human embryos for nearly two weeks, going well beyond previous efforts. There's no reason to believe that the embryos couldn't have survived beyond the two-week mark, but the experiment had to be halted to adhere to the internationally agreed 14-day limit on human embryo research.

[Zeb]

I can understand why people find these things distasteful, but if we are going to have some amazing technological future, biological engineering, including of people, will have to be an important part of it.

[Tonio]

It will be interesting to see how the Catholics react to this. Normally they are for anything which produces moar baybeez, but since this technology will facilitate reproduction by homos they may be conflicted.

[Notorious UGCC]

Source: a warm, dark place.

[Deep Lurker]

No, they're for having sex produce moar baybeez, because sex is dirty and moar baybeez is the only acceptable excuse for it. They'd be opposed to moar baybeez without sex just like they're opposed to moar sex without baybeez.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

You do know the church really supports sex as part of a healthy marriage, don't you? So do the Lutherans, episcopalians and pretty much every other branch of Christianity.

[Tonio]

Nobody said otherwise, Sloop. But they only support sex when it's part of a marriage (healthy is irrelevant), and only approved sex acts, only approved attempts at conception control, etc.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Part of a marriage? Yes

Only "approved" sex acts? Where does that come from?

Only "approved attempts at conception control"? The Catholic Church, yes. But they're rapidly shifting their stance on that. I don't know a single other denomination that follows Catholic doctrine on this.

[Notorious UGCC]

They're not "shifting their stance," it's just that so many faithful are ignoring it.

Like with adultery, theft, etc. Dissenting from Church teaching or just ignoring it altogether.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

The church is right now shifting on their stance of birth control. They're just parsing the language to say it's about stopping STDs.

[Notorious UGCC]

I'd like a link about how they shifting the stance on birth control.

Because I subscribe to some sites which are quite skeptical about the present Pope, but they haven't warned me about this.

[Tonio]

IIRC the pope issued a special dispensation allowing use of condoms in Zika areas. But, this is not a rapid nor permanent shift.

[Notorious UGCC]

"a special dispensation"

A press conference on a plane.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Asked whether "the Catholic Church is not fundamentally against the use of condoms," he replied: "It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution. In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality."
He stressed that abstinence was the best policy in fighting the disease but in some circumstances it was better for a condom to be used if it protected human life.

That was Benedict in 2010

[sloopyinTEXAS]

In in my opinion that was a dramatic shift from their previous policy that they were never ok under any circumstances.

[Notorious UGCC]

After which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued this:

"Some interpretations have presented the words of the Pope as a contradiction of the traditional moral teaching of the Church....

"As is clear from an attentive reading of the pages in question, the Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the moral norm concerning contraception....

"On the pages in question, the Holy Father refers to the completely different case of prostitution, a type of behaviour which Christian morality has always considered gravely immoral...

"In this regard, it must be noted that the situation created by the spread of AIDS in many areas of the world has made the problem of prostitution even more serious....In this context, however, it cannot be denied that anyone who uses a condom in order to diminish the risk posed to another person is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. In this sense the Holy Father points out that the use of a condom "with the intention of reducing the risk of infection, can be a first step in a movement towards a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.""

[Notorious UGCC]

TL;DR version - screwing a prostitute while wearing a condom is better than screwing her without one.

[Notorious UGCC]

I found this - this appears to be a bit of a problem.

Bearing in mind that press conferences on airplanes are not part of the Magisterium.

[Tonio]

I'm only talking about the Catholics, here. And they are a pretty big denomination in terms of numbers of adherents worldwide.

Only "approved" sex acts? Where does that come from?

Here. Realize this isn't a vatican website, but don't have time to do full research. Get back to me if you can prove that this guy is wrong on dogma.

An unnatural sexual act is any type of sexual act that is not unitive and procreative. Examples of unnatural sexual acts include oral sexual acts, anal sexual acts, and manipulative sexual acts (i.e. masturbation of self or of another). All unnatural sexual acts are intrinsically evil and always gravely immoral because these acts lack the unitive and procreative meanings, which are required by God for sexual acts to be moral.

[Notorious UGCC]

See here.

[Notorious UGCC]

I can lead a horse to water...

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I'm predicting that some Catholics will support it and some will oppose it.

You know, like pretty much every other social issue.

[Crusty Juggler]

All Catholics receive their marching orders directly from the Pope via the Repression Hotline. IT SAYS SO RIGHT IN THEIR BIBLE.

[Notorious UGCC]

Opus Dei sends me sealed orders every week.

[Crusty Juggler]

I actually believe that.

[Citizen X]

Wait a minute, are you suggesting that being a member of a religion DOESN'T entail participation in a monolithic hive-mind? That's not gonna fly with some of these commenters, sloop.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I know this is hard to believe for some, but entering into a church doesn't remove free will. Otherwise Nancy Pelosi would be pro life or get excommunicated.

Hive mind is for shit like progressives on global warming or the minimum wage. It's not for believers in God.

[Notorious UGCC]

Church authorities have made clear that people in her position ought not to take communion. Her Archbishop made such a remark but didn't use her name - he was discussing *anyone* who seriously dissents from Church teaching.

I haven't been following the latest developments - the question which would presumably interest you would be what would happen if Pelosi presented herself for Communion, and I don't know if she's done that recently.

If she did, then she hasn't been excommunicated, a formal procedure that hasn't been invoked in her case.

Usually, if someone hasn't been excommunicated, and they present themselves for Communion, the priest can't stop them - there are exceptions, particularly for unrepentant public sinners. In other words, it's not enough that they committed mortal sin, not enough that they are unrepentant, their spiritual status must be, if you'll pardon the expression, notorious.

But in most instances, if you see someone receiving communion, that doesn't necessarily mean the priest thinks it's OK, the priest is limited as to when he can stop a person from receiving. Usually, if the person receives improperly, it's on them.

[Tonio]

Oh, Sloopy...so disappointing.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Why am I disappointing? I really believe this. That's why you find churches with liberals, progressives, libertarians and anarchists sitting in the pews together. Sure they share a set of core beliefs, but they still have free will to go out and live their life the way they see fit. The church, at least the ones I've attended through my life, wants them to live it in a holy way. But they don't want them to be robots. And they also realize man is fallible and will stray from the path often. That's what forgiveness and repentance are there for...another core tenet of Christianity.

[Tonio]

Not all religions, Citizen. Don't be intellectually dishonest; there's already too much of that, here (scowls in the direction of the SoCon bench). If it were Unitarians, who have freedom of conscience, you'd be right. Catholicism is a top-down hierarchichal organization with mandatory dogma. Yes, really.

[Crusty Juggler]

Catholicism is a top-down hierarchichal organization with mandatory dogma. Yes, really.

No, not really.

[R C Dean]

Get back to me when the Catholic Church can arrest and imprison people for violating that "mandatory" dogma.

[Citizen X]

I'm not talking about official dogma, Tonio. I'm talking about the individual preferences and lives-as-lived of people who may not be doctrinally perfect but who are nevertheless practicing members of their faith community, be it LDS or the Catholic Church or the ummah or whatever.

[Heroic Mulatto]

BEWARE THE ALIEN, THE MUTANT, THE HERETIC!

[Tonio]

It doesn't matter what "some catholics" support, Sloop. The laity don't set policy. And if those some catholics don't tow the lion they can be excommunicated, etc.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

It does too matter what some Catholics support, Tonio. The church is a collective group of individuals that share a core belief structure. They aren't the fucking Borg.

[Notorious UGCC]

...and wouldn't be the Borg even if the faithful, and the "dissenting" theologians and clerics, decided to accept the Magisterium. There are plenty of issues which have equally-faithful Catholics on each side.

[R C Dean]

The laity don't set policy.

No, but they choose whether or not to follow it.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Every once in a while I'll come across an article, usually at Slate, about how men are no longer necessary. But are we seem approaching the day when women won't be necessary either?

[Hamster of Doom]

Hopefully. I've been through the "noble sacrifice". You can keep it. Bring on the artificial wombs!

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I thought you were going through the "noble sacrifice" now. Or has little league season ended?

[Hamster of Doom]

Got another month of that.

The league's undefeated team was dethroned of that title last night. By the by.

*struts*

[Zeb]

Careful what you wish for. Next thing you know, you'll be turned into an Axlotl tank.

[Zeb]

Nothing is necessary. You don't need 21 kinds of deodorant. But I want that to be available and I want men and women to be.

[Rich]

The breakthrough will allow researchers to study early fetal development in unprecedented detail

So, a womb with a view?

[Private Chipperbot]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51iohb6sOS8

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[straffinrun]

Unbearable lightness of being?

[Brochettaward]

Can I get one to sleep in at night?

[Mustang]

+1 Tleilaxu

[Col. Chestbridge]

Let's not ghola there, Dune discussions get . . . heated.

[Notorious UGCC]

"There's no reason to believe that the embryos couldn't have survived beyond the two-week mark, but the experiment had to be halted to adhere to the internationally agreed 14-day limit on human embryo research."

So they killed it?

[Tonio]

Yep.

[Private Chipperbot]

Why not see how far it can go if you're going to toss it anyway? If you're going to kill it (baby, fetus, cells, whatever), try to get as much data as possible. People are dumb.

[ant1sthenes]

It would have been unethical not to. I guess.

[Rich]

Hey!

*slap!*

[Just a thought not a sermon]

A sensation not unlike
Slapping yourself in the face...

[Rich]

What is the sensation of one ass slapping?

[Citizen X]

It stings, a bit.

[Hamster of Doom]

Let's ask her.

[Hamster of Doom]

*NSFW. Momentarily forgot that some of you are pretending to be productive on someone else's dime.

I keed. Don't get mad.

[Private Chipperbot]

The sound of no hands clapping.

[KerryW]

I don't know what's more disturbing: that someone would make that video, that someone would watch that video, or that someone (me in this case) would voluntarily watch that video.

[Crusty Juggler]

I am going to recreate that video this weekend. Let me know if you want to voluntarily watch it.

[straffinrun]

That Friday Funny didn't deserve one.
But *Slap*

[CatoTheChipper]

Affirmative consent comes to Connecticut.

This is seriously whacked.

How long until Connecticut colleges and universities start up chapters of the Junior Anti-Sex League?

[Rhywun]

It already exists in all but name.

[Derpetologist]

The call of Zonk* was sounded- no PT this morning.

I was researching influential gay men and came up with interesting tidbits:

1. Von Steuben, who advised the Continental Army, was probably gay.

2. James I was probably gay too. Wiki sez:

Contemporary Huguenot poet Th?ophile de Viau observed that "it is well known that the king of England / fucks the Duke of Buckingham".

*Zonk is Army speak for "this event is canceled- run away!"

[Swiss Servator]

The intro is the Not. PT is never cancelled!

[Derpetologist]

The company commander cupped his hands and shouted it like Gandalf as he fought the Baelrog.

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

I don't find much use in trying to decipher a person's sexuality so long after the fact.

Thinking about it, I don't find much use in it at all. The fascination with it eludes me.

[Rhywun]

The fascination with it eludes me.

It's more honest than scrubbing it from history.

[Stormy Dragon]

In Von Steuben's case, part of the reason he came to the US was because he was fleeing a prosecution for homosexuality in Prussia, so he was at least charged with being gay.

[Notorious UGCC]

Don't forget William or Orange.

Soon we'll see an LGBLT contingent in the July 12 parades, proudly chanting, "King Billy: One of Us!"

/sarc

[Notorious UGCC]

William *of* Orange

[Tonio]

He was a 'mo? Damn...

[Notorious UGCC]

His enemies (of whom he had a few) alleged it, and the basis of it was he had a couple young courtiers he treated with great favoritism, and he and Queen Mary didn't have any kids.

Of course, historians aren't fully on board with this.

[Tonio]

he and Queen Mary didn't have any kids

While that might suggest homosexuality; it's not definitive. One or both of them could have been sterile.

Plus even a fairly hardcore 'mo might be able to get it up enough to impregnate a woman.

[Notorious UGCC]

There is no "smoking gun," traditionally the claim came from William's enemies.

The latest development is that some gay activists revive the claim in order to bait the Orangeists.

Maybe it's true and maybe it ain't. There are no Hulk Hogan-style videos.

[R C Dean]

*closes YouTube search window*

[WTF]

I wouldn't put much faith in Wiki except as a starting point, and the relatively recent fascination among academics to try to retrofit the sexuality of historical figures to current themes leaves me fairly skeptical anyway.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

+1 Lincoln

[Tonio]

The flip side of that, of course, being the reluctance of people to acknowledge that there were any successful homos anywhere in history.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Or, you know, the fact that the overwhelming majority of.people out there care more about the historical significance of the people and don't give two shits what they did in their personal life.or who they did it with.

[Rhywun]

I'll believe that when all the FLOTUS'es have been memory-holed.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

They have been by me. Even the idiot that's now using her position to travel the world with her kids and her mother.

[Tonio]

Defensive much, sloop. Again, disappointing.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Give it a rest, Tonio. You're the one who started yanking chains.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

I'm not defensive, Tonio. I just don't think many people care about the personal activities of historically significant people. That's hardly a novel position for one to take.

[R C Dean]

Not me, at least not until their personal life spills over into their effect on history.

[Stormy Dragon]

The fact so much time is spent arguing about it would seem to indicate that a lot of people do care about the personal activities of historically significant people.

[Citizen X]

James Buchanan may have been the first gay president.

[Rich]

"I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now," [Paul Ryan] said.

Is he ready for Hillary, then?

[Zeb]

Seems like there is a strong implication that he will be ready for that at some point.

[WTF]

Just needs more lube.

[Citizen X]

Jesse's not here yet, man.

[Aloysious]

The World's Oldest Writing

Used by scribes for more than three millennia, cuneiform writing opens a dramatic window onto ancient Mesopotamian life.

In early 2016, hundreds of media outlets around the world reported that a set of recently deciphered ancient clay tablets revealed that Babylonian astronomers were more sophisticated than previously believed. The wedge-shaped writing on the tablets, known as cuneiform, demonstrated that these ancient stargazers used geometric calculations to predict the motion of Jupiter. Scholars had assumed it wasn't until almost A.D. 1400 that these techniques were first employed?by English and French mathematicians. But here was proof that nearly 2,000 years earlier, ancient people were every bit as advanced as Renaissance-era scholars.

[Rich]

Better enjoy before ISIS destroys it all. 8-(

[Brochettaward]

The only history we need is in the Bible. Verbatim from from His mouth.

[Tonio]

But, Western whiners still complain about the private antiquities trade. Those collectors preserve their valuable property, and often give scholars access to those antiquities - until they get threatened with confiscation, of course. And still better to preserve a thing even if scholars don't get access until it passes to another generation.

ISIS has also been selling antiquities on the black market which further complicates things - preserving artifacts at the expense of actual living human beings.

[SugarFree]

I've held a piece of clay tablet with cuneiform. It is a receipt for a shipment of beer.

[Citizen X]

Not IPA, i hope.

[Tonio]

SFTU, Citzy. Quite probably with little or no hops. Remember that beer was as much about preserving as much nutrient content as possible in a form relatively immune to fungal infections (a problem when storing raw grain) and pilfering by rodents.

[Citizen X]

Yep. There are indications that something like two thirds of the Sumerian grain harvest went to beer-making, probably for that reason (and also because beer is wonderful).

[Zeb]

But probably their beer would be almost unrecognizable to a modern beer drinker. Probably gloppy and cloudy and sour. But it would have been used more like food than a recreational beverage.

[R C Dean]

"Its a dessert topping, and a floor wax!"

[Zeb]

I believe hops are a relatively recent addition to beer.

[Tonio]

The Rheinheitsgebot was enacted in 1516, so at least that far back.

[Zeb]

I think they were widely used much earlier than that. I meant relative to ancient times.

[Zeb]

I own one that my great grandfather collected on a trip to the middle east in the 20s or something. I have no idea what it says.

[Tonio]

That is so cool. Strongly urge you to research any relative antiquities laws if you're thinking about approaching any academics for translation. You could well find yourself guilty of illegal possession of a piece of burnt mud, even though you did not actively aqcuire it, transport it across national boundaries, etc.

Suck it academics. You want access to antiquities in private collections? Turn off the bullshit confiscatory laws you lobbied for.

[Canis lupus familiaris]

"It belongs in a museum!"
/Indiana Jones

[SugarFree]

"Dear Ziggurat Babes,

I never though the letters in your giant clay magazine were real until I had an experience one night that I just have to share with my fellow scribes..."

[Citizen X]

+1 temple prostitute

[Derpetologist]

The TV in the DFAC rotates between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Last night was it was on MSNBC. Maddow was on a tear about some banker who would committed the terrible crime of making money and living in a big house while at the same his bank was foreclosing on people who weren't paying their mortgages. And shocker, this guy is now working for Trump the Merciless.

Speaking of people not paying their mortgages, Hillary said this was one of the causes of the 2008 crisis. It's in this video- I forget where:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BizU-u7RPcY

[Jerryskids]

I did not see Maddow but I'm assuming she was talking about Trump's new campaign finance director. I saw a news item this morning about the guy being a big Dem donor - down in the article they buried the lede that he's a former Goldman-Sachs partner. Can you imagine anybody but Trump getting away with hiring a Goldman-Sachs partner? But I'm sure his bunch won't bat an eye - it's pure genius for Trump to hire the most notorious supervillains to defeat those nasty notorious supervillains!

And then they go on to mention the guy is currently involved in a lawsuit involving a bankruptcy - seems his bank loaned a bunch of money to his investment group and shortly before his investment group went bankrupt they cleaned the place out and turned over all the money to his bank and then he sold his bank. Now that the other creditors in his investment group are pointing out to the bankruptcy judge that what he did is illegal and they want their money back from his bank, the bank that bought his bank is a little peeved that he sold them a bank that he knew had some fraudulent assets on its balance sheet. No wonder Trump hired this guy! He's like the son Trump never had.

[Derpetologist]

Presented without comment:

Progs at Trump meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ50XmALd54

Socon at Prog meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxHGMvrwa7U

[Brochettaward]

The fat pasty white one needs his ass kicked badly. He wasn't bullied enough as a child.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Such sparkling intellectualism.

Funny that the only lucid person in the first video was the guy in the Trump t-shirt.

[Notorious UGCC]

Oh, and you may recall how the BDSM students at San Diego State University surrounded the (Jewish) President of the institution's car and wouldn't let him leave until he grovelled in front of them? And then instead of having his attackers arrested he dialogued with them?

The controversy was supposedly about David Horowitz's name-and-shame campaign about the BDSM leaders, calling them allies of terrorists. They targeted the Jewish university President because he didn't do enough to defend his students from the mean hate speech.

Well, David Horowitz has made his appearance at the University, speaking to the campus Republicans.

As the local newspaper put it, "There was high security at the event venue, but no demonstrators showed up."

Any connection between those two facts, one wonders?

"Campus officials feared another protest might erupt with Horowitz's appearance on campus. SDSU Police Chief Lamin Secka said two or three officers usually are on campus in the late afternoon, but that 25 were on hand for Horowitz's talk.

"Some of the officers had come from as far away as Bakersfield and were part of the California State University Critical Response Unit. In addition, Horowitz brought his own security."

I guess mobbing a vulnerable, timid bureaucrat is more the protesters' style than confronting an opponent who is prepared for them.

[Notorious UGCC]

Oh, I see, "The Muslim Student Association had asked its members not to protest Thursday's speech so as not to draw more attention to Horowitz."

Really? They're going with that?

[Brochettaward]

It's the irony of the whole protest movement occurring right now. The administrators all support them. They have literally no one in a position of power over them to have an adversarial relationship with. This was really highlighted for me with the Melissa Click editorial. No one seemed to note it because they were too busy mocking her, and rightfully so. But she highlighted the fact that she had no reason to think her actions weren't fully supported by the administration because high ranking members of it were right there with her. It apparently goes over her own head as earlier in the piece she highlighted how she saw students of color protesting a racist system. The members of which were...right with her protesting?

So, the conduct of these protesters is completely and 100% safe. They face no consequences for their actions from authorities. This may help explain why they so very often refuse to be recorded or named. The only way they'd actually face consequences is if they were identified and it remained on the internet when they enter the real world.

On some level, they may be more self-aware than most of us believe.

[Zeb]

I've often made similar observations. It really does show how ridiculous most student activism is these days. There is no where on earth where the people in charge would be more supportive of their causes and yet they behave as if they are fighting some great adversary.
A lot of people seem to go to college specifically to engage in this kind of activism. They want to pretend it's the 60s or something. But without any of the personal risk.

[Notorious UGCC]

The risk during the 60s was by the kids who *weren't* in college...they risked getting some "study abroad" in sunny Vietnam.

The dynamics of the sixties student protests were similar in many respects to the dynamics of the student protests today. Up to and possibly including the election of a Republican who appeals to the voters' dislike of the protesters.

[Zeb]

But in the 60s at least the administrations weren't completely on their side like they are now. And there was some real violence.
But you are right. I did not mean to say that all 60s campus protesters were really putting everything on the line. They won that culture war battle.

[Derpetologist]

Planned Parenthood getting in on the sex change business, because that involves parenthood somehow:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016.....anges.html

[Brochettaward]

Another reason that libertarians should oppose the coming transgendered 'rights' movement almost entirely. I have heard these people talk, and everything they want are positive rights. To include tax-payer funded sex changes. They are owed it, and in a fair system (non-capitalist), they'd get it.

There is no systematic discrimination against the transgendered, and there is no rights agenda for libertarians to support.

[Tonio]

While you raise some valid points in your first paragraph, specifically wrt taxpayer-funded cosmetic surgery.

There is no systematic discrimination against the transgendered...

Your second paragraph is total bullshit.

[Brochettaward]

Ok, where is it?

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

Give some examples please.

[Tonio]

Uh...bathroom bills. And you didn't even deserve that response. Go waste someone elses time.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Serious question, Tonio: shouldn't we at least tepidly support the bathroom bills if they restore just a little bit the private property rights and rights to free association that have been stripped away?

[Brochettaward]

What a bullshit response.

I'm not even going to get into a repetitive discussion of the North Carolina bathroom bill's specific details. My statement was that there was no systematic discrimination of the transgendered. The North Carolina bill was a response to a bill supported by the transgendered rights movement.

So, the only 'systematic' discrimination you can point to - a dubious example at that - is one that was put in place only after one of the sort of bills the transgendered movement supports that place private establishments at risk. Last I checked, libertarianism supported freedom of association.

The only example of systematic discrimination you can provide is a backlash against the transgendered rights movement trying to take away more liberties from everyone else. You then hide behind 'wasting' your time by engaging in discussion.

[R C Dean]

Uh...bathroom bills.

The NC law left it up to private businesses. How that is "systematic discrimination", I couldn't say.

For public buildings, they go by your official government paperwork, which can be changed to reflect your "new" "sex". Still looking for "systematic discrimination", because that strikes me as pretty damn reasonable.

And, of course, there's the fact that anyone serious enough about trannying can pass for the other sex and use the other bathroom as long as they don't make a big production of it.

[Azathoth!!]

Until people started demanding access laws be passed to accommodate transgendered people--and I want to separate them from people with actual gender dysmorphia--there were no problems large enough to speak about. The issues were handled with extant law or with private accommodation. But lawyers can smell a payday, and SJWs can smell an opportunity to oppress.

The laws are all designed in such a manner that complaining and suing are easy and innocence has to be proven by the accused.

And there is nothing a libertarian can support about that.

[Rich]

The organization's mission statement is based around helping individuals "manage his or her fertility." But it's unclear how aiding sex changes contribute to that goal.

Obviously if you're not comfortable in your own skin then you don't feel fertile.

Also, "contributes".

[Fist of Etiquette]

...it looks like the U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London, and of any major Western capital.

Wake me when they vote one president.

[Citizen X]

BARAKCA HUSSIEN OBAMAMA IS SECERTLY A ISLAM

[Mustang]

BARAKCA HUSSIEN OBAMAMABLOCK INSANE YOMOMMA IS SECERTLY A ISLAM

FTFY.

I kid.

[Citizen X]

I was trying to portray how the "Obama is a Muslim" folks don't even rise to a Mike M. level of non-cleverness.

[R C Dean]

Well, there's no question he used to be a Muslim. He went to a madrassa, after all.

The question is, when did he stop? I have no doubt he did, because there's no room in his head for a power higher than himself.

[Azathoth!!]

"The future must not belong to those who would slander the Prophet of Islam"

--Barack Hussein Obama

It's not a secret.

[Swiss Servator]

Nice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An anti-abortion group in Indiana is encouraging parents to deposit unwanted newborns in one of two new, anonymous baby boxes.

Which they check once a week.

[Notorious UGCC]

It's attached to an alarm in the fire station where the box is located.

[straffinrun]

Sliding down the pole is what cause all of this in the first place.

[Michael]

Winner.

[Derpetologist]

They should make sure to poke some holes in the box so the babies can breathe.

[Jerryskids]

That's why there's a second box - for when the first one fills up. See? These people plan ahead! If everybody planned ahead, there'd be no need for the first box.

[lafe.long]

I've been away.. so apologies if this has been mentioned...

Mary Matalin, Republican Strategist and Pundit, Changes Political Parties

Mary Matalin, a high-profile political pundit and veteran strategist for the Republican Party, changed her party registration to Libertarian from Republican, she said on Thursday.

[Pope Jimbo]

I know libertarians are supposed to be accepting of alternative lifestyles, but I have to be honest, I'm not sure I approve of associating with someone who is into James Carville fucking.

[Crusty Juggler]

I agree. Sucking on his strange, alien, face is a step too far. We don't want your kind! GIT OUT!

She also worked for Cheney.

[Jerryskids]

/ewwww

[John]

It is pretty ironic that a woman who if she wasn't a Democratic mole sent to sabotage George Bush's 92 reelection campaign might as well have been one, is now leaving the Republican Party over a guy many believe is a Democratic mole.

[Irish, Target-Bathroom Rapist]

Wikipedia editors are hilarious. They already changed her party affiliation and added a section about the change.

Who the fuck was so interested in Mary Matalin that they changed her Wikipedia page within 24 hours?

[Citizen X]

Crusty.

[Crusty Juggler]

I used to get her confused with deaf actress Marlee Matlin.

[Citizen X]

Me too, man. Me too.

Fun fact: Marlee Matlin came in second place on that season of Celebrity Apprentice in which Meat Loaf almost murdered Gary Busey over craft supplies.

[Crusty Juggler]

That was nuts. However, I laughed the loudest at the reminder of Mark McGrath's existence.

[Citizen X]

Some of us didn't need reminders, Crusty. Some of us just wanna fly.

[Crusty Juggler]

Some of us didn't need reminders, Crusty. Some of us just wanna fly.

He turned that one-hit into a long period of relevance; it is impressive.

[Rhywun]

Damn you

[Rhywun]

Holy crap. I've never seen that show but now I wish I had. Can't view the link, but that sounds like it has awesome written all over it.

[Citizen X]

I accidentally watched one of the early episodes of that season and then i HAD to finish it, because it was the most gloriously insane thing ever. Did you know that Dave Chappelle's imitation of Lil' Jon was, in fact, spot on? I didn't either, before Lil' Jon appeared on Celebrity Apprentice.

[Citizen X]

I also learned that Trump's hair is real, because Donny Jr. inherited the exact same hairline - the poor bastard.

[Rhywun]

Does it really count as real when (as I suspect is going on) it all grows out of one little spot and he swirls it around into a pile for coverage?

[Jerryskids]

You haven't seen this image a thousand times?

[R C Dean]

"Its real, and its spectacular."

[Citizen X]

Nice cockatoo, man.

[Rhywun]

You haven't seen this image a thousand times?

No - and I can't tell what the hell is going on under there, either.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Her publicist?

[Irish, Target-Bathroom Rapist]

Hitler?

[Tonio]

Heads, libertarians; tails butt-hurt socons.

[Stormy Dragon]

Who the fuck was so interested in Mary Matalin that they changed her Wikipedia page within 24 hours?

Says the guy who immediately went to check Matalin's Wikipedia page.

[John]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016.....-guru.html

The guy who Obama put in charge of lying to the media about the Iran deal. Let me say up front, I like this guy. He understands how stupid the media is and holds them in the proper contempt. It should be noted that Reason, who carried as much water as anyone for that deal, are among the people this guy rightly says "know nothing" and considers easy marks.

The right of course is crowing a lot about this guy but they shouldn't be. So what if he doesn't have a degree in foreign policy. He is just a PR guy. The stupid shit he is selling comes from the people who do have such degrees. And its not like the GOP is much or any better. The Bush people, who no doubt would fill a Mr. Constitutional Conservative Cruz administration or sadly a Trump Admin believe just as much stupid shit.

Our entire political and media class is retarded. I really have to respect this guy for both knowing that and knowing how to make it word to his advantage. Tell me again why Trump is so much worse than what we have and so unfit to be President?

[Brochettaward]

The article makes him sound like much more than just a PR guy. It makes him sound like an active advisor on foreign policy. He is selling the message to the media as well as Obama. Though the active role they show him in seems to just be propaganda master.

As for Trump, I find it rather hypocritical that you - the guy who bashes libertarians who supported gay marriage because of barely attached consequences such as accommodation laws - is going to sign up for endorsing Trump. When are you for liberty and when aren't you? Why would I sign up for an economic populist agenda (aka economic protectionism)? There's almost nothing about Trump's agenda that furthers the cause of liberty. Well, it's impossible to actually translate his often contradictory and third-grade level rhetoric to actual policy. But from what we can gather, it's going to be a complete smorgus board of whatever Trump thinks is a good idea that particular morning. Much of it will involve the initiation of force.

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

Im not endorsing Trump, I'm simply pointing out that the only other person you can vote for, who can actually win, is Hillary.

Feel free to vote 3rd party if you like, I am. But I know my guy won't win. Or even matter really.

[John]

Yes he is an adviser. But there is nothing Obama has done that the various policy wonks on the left haven't supported. It is not like he is giving any kind of different advice than they would.

As far as Trump and liberty, I don't see how he is any more anti-liberty than the rest of the GOP and he is certainly less than Hillary. I agree with you that Trump is a total wild card. I can only guess what he actually believes and I am not sure he knows.

I only know that he is very unlikely to be any worse than what we have and might be better. And even if he is just as bad, electing someone who is not from the political class will has positive effects of its own. Trump is like the famous pirate that marries some inbreed princess. He may not be perfect but the gene pool of our political class has gotten so shallow that any new blood is likely to improve it.

Lastly, I am cynical enough to not worry that much about who is President. I have seen enough "most important elections of our lifetime" to realize the country is going to do what it is going to do no matter who is President. Given that, this election is Rodney Dangerfield versus Judge Smalls. And I just can't help but root for Rodney. Its just too much fun watching this inbreed assholes lose their shit over it.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

It's Judge Elihu Smails, you motherfucking heathen! SMAILS!

[John]

I sincerely apologize for that. Yeah, I am a heathen. And tell me it wouldn't be awesome if Trump choose a Japanese guy for his VP candidate?

[sloopyinTEXAS]

A Jewish Asian at that. Remember he had to tell Wang the place was restricted.

[Tonio]

You do realize that Israel/Palestine/Judea/whatever is in asia, of course.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

And you do realize the character Wang from the movie was easy Asian. And that Wang is probably a more common name in Japan than in Israel.

Jeez, Tonio. You sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Easy=east

[Crusty Juggler]

"Elihu, will you come loofah my stretch marks."

[John]

Ambassador Clinton, I am sure that Nehru Jacket was something else back before electricity. But it looks great on you though.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

"Want to make $15 (an hour) the hard way?"

[Chipwooder]

Porterhouse, look at the wax buildup on these shoes - this is fine leather! Now I want that wax stripped off, and then I want them creamed, and then buffed with a fine shammy. And I want it done now, chop chop!!

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Colored boy? Why you mother-fucker...

::fires up bench grinder::

[Brochettaward]

I find the response just vague and confusing. It is hard to peg down Trump's positions on many things. He may be wholly lying. Currently, though, the only two general trends are economic protectionism and a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The construction of a border wall.

I do not buy that electing an outsider will have benefits of its own. We've elected outsiders to the presidency in the past, even if not in recent times. Even the term outsider is a bit shaky. Trump isn't a politician, but does a governor of Arkansas or California really count as an establishment insider? They have little interaction with the DC elite.

In

[John]

Currently, though, the only two general trends are economic protectionism and a crackdown on illegal immigrants. The construction of a border wall.

And I don't have a problem with that. We need to do something about our borders. And while I understand the benefits of free trade, what we have now isn't free trade and to the extent that it is, it hasn't worked as advertised. I say that as someone who has been a supporter of free trade my entire adult life. But the facts are what they are and I can't pretend that it has worked out like I and other free advocates thought it would. It just hasn't and I am willing to admit I was wrong. I am not for balls on protectionism, but I don't think a president that would act like every other country in the world in trade dealings is a bad thing.

I also think the country desperately needs a break from ideology. Bush and Obama were both ideologues. You can't be that as President because the country is too big and too evenly divided. Trump is not crazy and he is not a secret Democrat. I think he actually cares about the country and like a lot of people reads the paper and thinks WTF. Unlike the rest of our political class, Trump might actually grow into the job. Moreover, someone has to break through the cloud of smug bullshit surrounding our politics. There are things that need to be said and Trump seems to be willing to say a few of them.

[commodious spittoon]

Tell me again why Trump is so much worse than what we have and so unfit to be President?

Trump is never going to see the inside of the Oval Office unless Hillary invites him for a celebratory cocktail/BDSM encounter.

[John]

Time will tell. But that doesn't make anything I said any less true. Conventional media wisdom says he won't, but I find that more the media makes a point of saying something, the more likely the truth is the exact opposite.

[commodious spittoon]

If Trump began courting small-government conservatives/libertarians, he might have a shot. He's already locked up the populist vote, and while he's lost the rest us on trade and many of us on immigration, he could be preferable over Hillary if his domestic agenda is solid. Grab Rubio for VP, promise Cruz or another bona fide constitutionalist Scalia's seat, and make hay of the ACA in a tangible way.

If he moves left to try to strip off Hillary's voters, he's going to lose. Hillary may be damaged enough that Bernie's disaffected voters won't show up even to oppose Trump, but Trump isn't going to win over the Free Shit Brigade.

[John]

Trump has a shot for three reasons. First, he is a star and has charisma and is likable and Hillary is not. Every President I have ever seen elected was at some level likable to everyone but their most ardent opponents. As much as I can't stand Obama, I can't deny that most of the country likes him and thinks he is a nice guy. No one likes Hillary, not even her supporters. That matters.

Second reason Trump can win is that he is not associated with the Republican Party. The more the GOP poo bahs bash him the better off he is. Most of the country doesn't like either party and the Democrats have won over the last 20 years largely by painting their opponents as typical Republican dorks. They can't do that with Trump.

Third, Trump's supporters love him and are dying to vote for him. Hillary's supporters are at best holding their nose and voting against Trump. That usually doesn't work.

I am not saying he will win but you are crazy if you think he can't win.

[commodious spittoon]

He may have a large following, but he's going to need at least some support from conventional Republicans to overcome Hillary's lead. She has baked-in advantages: the overwhelming support of blacks and Latinos and women, while Trump is struggling to keep his numbers among white men above water. Poor and dumb is his base, but the FSB is a lost cause; anyone who likes his populist sophistry has already thrown their support to him, and he cannot out-promise Hillary for spending or soaking the rich. At some point, if he's serious about winning (and I still doubt his sincerity), he's going to need to throw conservatives a few bones to win them back over.

[Rhywun]

Poor and dumb is his base

Hillary's, too.

[commodious spittoon]

Exactly. Trump scraped up as much of the muck as he could, but he's not going to win over Hillary's base. People on the dole don't care too much about killing trade to bring jobs home when there's a candidate promising to raise their dole instead.

[Irish, Target-Bathroom Rapist]

"A large new study contradicts previous research showing that being slightly overweight may help people live longer."

This probably depends on how active you are. Given that the BMI doesn't account for why you're slightly overweight, it could be because you're fit or because you have high body fat.

And anyway, it's not like anyone ever said being ever so slightly overweight is going to do serious damage to anyone.

[Trumps Disappointing Poll]

I assumed being slightly overweight was , often, the result of having means, which you would also use to stay healthy.

[John]

While there may be overall trends and certainly you can kill yourself by eating or drinking if you want to, absent sustained self abuse how long any individual lives is mostly the luck of the draw. One of my uncles is dying of liver failure. He was a teetotaler nearly all of his adult life. His brother, my father, in contrast has drank like a fish his entire life and has nearly perfect liver function. Whether that is luck or genes or both or whatever, at the individual level there is no lifestyle that is going to in any way guarantee you live longer.

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[Feminist Killjoy]

I would renounce my American citizenship if I could just bring myself to lie under oath and swear loyalty to the Queen of England and etc. I'm too American for that. But also too American to pay taxes to a foreign power. :/

[Tonio]

But also too American to pay taxes to a foreign power.

Um, you already are. Interesting that Afghanistan has now surpassed Israel as the largest recipient of aid.

[kbolino]

That list is a little suspect. What happened to Egypt? A sizeable portion of the aid to Israel is because of this treaty which is still in effect and gives the same amount of aid to Egypt.

[commodious spittoon]

So really, Israel's aid should include Egypt's, too.

[kbolino]

Israel got Egypt to stop attacking them, and Egypt got Israel to stop kicking Egypt's ass. It's hard to say Israel was the greater beneficiary.

[kbolino]

After spending way too much time loading this data set into sqlite, what I notice is that foreign aid to Egypt placed it at the number 3 spot (after Israel) in 2013 but there was a precipitous drop in aid to Egypt in 2014 placing it outside of the top 25. The Wikipedia list is still suspect; apparently there are only 21 countries in the top 25.

[kbolino]

In case anyone cares, here is the actual top 25 country list + "World" for 2014 (note that "World" is less than the total of the countries, which I guess means aid not disbursed to national governments):

country_name,total_amount
World,9613053114
Afghanistan,7062721833
Israel,3119743998
Sub-Saharan Africa Region,1170425346
Jordan,1079380681
Pakistan,955366706
Kenya,865626665
Syria,786441460
Ethiopia,679716418
South Sudan,612561726
Tanzania,598299364
Nigeria,567456819
Middle East and North Africa Region,566248048
South Africa,556587646
Uganda,500827797
Colombia,448155088
Mozambique,440871110
Iraq,404089681
West Bank/Gaza,387464561
Haiti,345219122
Zambia,338758320
Congo (Kinshasa),335550640
Philippines,332314035
Asia Region,325984061
Somalia,297689744
Senegal,270674212

[kbolino]

SELECT country_name,SUM(current_amount) AS total_amount
FROM us_foreign_aid_country
WHERE fiscal_year = '2014' AND transaction_type_name = 'Disbursements'
GROUP BY country_name
ORDER BY total_amount DESC

[UnCivilServant]

ORA-01034

[DEG]

Zimbabwean banks are running out of cash

Warning: auto-play video

Zimbabwe's banks are running out of cash, forcing the country to start printing its own version of the U.S. dollar.

The southern African country has been using a mix of different foreign currencies -- and most importantly U.S. dollars -- since its own currency collapsed in 2009 during a period of hyperinflation.

Dollars have been in short supply for months, but the squeeze has intensified in the past few weeks. A slump in global commodity prices and a severe drought is hurting exports, meaning the country is earning fewer dollars abroad.

Bank runs have become commonplace and some banks are turning customers away as they simply don't have enough cash in their vaults.

[Irish, Target-Bathroom Rapist]

"Zimbabwe's banks are running out of cash, forcing the country to start printing its own version of the U.S. dollar."

So they're basically just printing their own money again, since their 'version' of the US dollar is worthless.

[Lee G]

*shocked face*

[WTF]

Why don't they just mint a several-trillion-dollar coin? Problem. Solved.

[Suell]

I have a one hundred trillion dollar Zimbabwean bank note on my bookshelf. It is quite pretty.

[Rhywun]

Too bad the rest of the world is busy printing bills for Venezuela or maybe they could pitch in.

[Derpetologist]

Somewhat old story: Egyptian minister fired after he said he would investigate any journalist, "even if he is the Prophet [Mohamed]".

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/14/.....-mohammed/

It's amazing how easily people can be offended.

[Tonio]

Talk about empty, self-serving statements.

[Zeb]

Less amazing after you conclude that they are actively looking for things to be offended by.

[ant1sthenes]

All I did was say to my wife, "That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah!"

[Cdr Lytton]

Votes are still being counted, but it looks like the U.K. Labour party's Sadiq Khan is set to become the first Muslim mayor of London, and of any major Western capital.

Perfidious Al-Bion.

[AlmightyJB]

"More Americans renounce citizenship."

Maybe someone should build a giant wall to keep those people here. Make America great again.

[John]

Give it time. That will be the next step you watch. They will build a wall to keep productive people in long before they ever build one to keep unproductive out.

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