Planned Parenthood Shooter 'Mentally Incompetent,' George Zimmerman Auctions Off His Gun, Next Recession Coming Soon: A.M. Links

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  carnagenyc/Flickr

  Donald Trump's One Weird Trick for Getting People to Agree With Him: taking both sides of every issue

• We're due for another recession soon. 
• The second trial of six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray starts today, after the first trial ended with a hung jury. 
• George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012. 
• The man who shot and killed three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic last November has been declared too mentally incompetent to stand trial. 
• Italy approves same-sex civil unions. 
• Meet Love, a Bronx sex worker turned surgical technician who fought back against New York City's Human Trafficking Intervention Courts and won.  

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

We're due for another recession soon.

So we're not in one now?

[UnCivilServant]

I was about to ask if we ever left the last one.

[Restoras]

Technically, yes but in actuality no we never left.

[Bill Dalasio]

We left the recession. It's just that we never really had a recovery.

And yes, things are about to get bumpy. HY default rates have been climbing for about a year and half now and the S&P downgrade-to-upgrade ratio looks pretty ugly.

[AlexInCT]

I don't think that fooling around with the mechanisms and numbers that show economic health to make them look better really qualifies as leaving the recession Bill, but maybe I am just not malleable enough to be part of the know-it-alls that have been telling us that recovery is right around the corner for some 7 years now.

[SQRLSY One]

"George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012."

Oh Noes! They's BaaaAAAaaack!!!

The OTHER part of the truth (Martin threw away the sword and the pistol by his side, before he died, and the cops never found it, bumbling fools that they were), but here is the REAL truth:
Martin went a fartin',
And he did ride,
With a sword and a pistol
By his side,
Lookin' for a "creepy ass cracker"
To help him eat his skittles,
So when he couldn't find his spittoon,
He spit instead in his shittooon,
And shit instead in his spittoon,
While the cow jumped over the moon,
And the dish snorted coke with a spoon,
And we'll all know the truth real soon!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I think it's a good idea. The first recession didn't work out so well what with the lack of recovery, so let's reboot and try it again.

[commodious spittoon]

You know who else promised to hit the reset button...

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Me, playing video games in 1999?

[Bee Tagger]

Depends on what the definition of the word in is.

[Jerryskids]

Recesssion, my ass - I think we're overdue for a whopping yuuge depression, something bordering on economic collapse. I know I'm about as depressed as I've ever been.

[Domestic Dissident]

We have in fact been a global Little Depression since the crash.

Even if you believe what's going on is largely cyclical (and there are good arguments for that), it is being exacerbated by bad government policies pretty much everywhere you look, including but not limited to this administation's regulatory heavy iron fist.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Bella, the economy has been a vampire one for quite some time.

[Doctor Whom]

The economy is either going swimmingly (if you believe the Obots) or circling the drain (if you believe the Bern victims).

[UnCivilServant]

So... swimming around the drain?

[Injun, as in from India]

+3rd Degree Bern

[sarcasmic]

second

[Hamster of Doom]

Hello.

[Citizen X]

We're due for another recession soon.

Damn, we're not even done with the last one yet!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

176) I'll say one positive thing about Obama's economic policy (and one thing only): he's been good on anti-trust enforcement. The article engages in typical liberal-bitching that under Obama anti-trust enforcement hasn't increased enough, but it undermines its own argument. The Justice Department has brought 52 anti-trust cases a year under Obama, up from 47 annually under Bush (i.e., up 10%), and has been willing to tackle bigger names (AT&T, Pfizer, Comcast, Halliburton, etc.). I just wish they'd prevented some of the big airline mergers in the past few years?that's been terrible for both ticket prices and reduced route availability.
In a truly free market, trust-busting wouldn't be necessary. But in an economic environment where big businesses get all sorts of government-provided advantages, anti-trust enforcement is important to preserve competition. I see it as a rare bright spot in Obama's terrible economic policy record.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Eh. Blocking Staples/Office Depot was silly. What happens if one of those closes? How is that any better?

[Restoras]

It isn't as Amazon just picks up a lot of that share.

[Crusty Juggler]

Amazon is too big and must be busted up. There is your solution.

[Restoras]

They'll get around to it eventually.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

After the campaign donation stop.

[Free Society]

Breaking up big companies sounds great when you have a two dimensional understanding of monopolies. Anti-trust law is a cudgel that the state uses in a highly selective way to punish companies it doesn't like and reward ones that it does. Anti-trust law is a political tool, as are the people praising it whether they know it or not.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Sure it's often used as a political tool (Microsoft in the 1990s). But government policy gives big businesses huge advantages--the sheer amount of regulations favors companies with the money for compliance departments, HR departments, legal departments, etc. In these circumstances, there is a tendency for businesses to get bigger and bigger until they dominate their market segment. This would not happen without government interference, or would be far rarer. So it makes sense to have an active policy to reduce the tendency towards monopoly.

[Injun, as in from India]

But government policy gives big businesses huge advantages

Moral of the Story: If you let the government caress your balls, don't be surprised if it suddenly squeezes them.

[kbolino]

So it makes sense to have an active policy to reduce the tendency towards monopoly.

The reasons why companies consolidate don't go away just because the government forces them to remain separate. If it "made sense", it wouldn't be necessary in the first place. You're basically admitting that consumers' interests should be subsumed for voters' and politicians' interests.

[Free Society]

But government policy gives big businesses huge advantages--the sheer amount of regulations favors companies with the money for compliance departments

This is the exact same logic that progressives use to expand the power of government to solve the problems of the previous expansion of government. "The government rents out it's power to private actors in the marketplace, so we need to give the government more power so it can control the rent seekers in the marketplace."

[Jimbo]

The only true monopolies that exist are facilitated by government. That is the only way to really make a monopoly: at the point of a gun.

[kbolino]

I just wish they'd prevented some of the big airline mergers in the past few years?that's been terrible for both ticket prices and reduced route availability.

Yeah, the bankruptcy of the airlines would have been great for ticket prices and route availability.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

The government restricts competition in the airline industry in many ways--keeping out foreign airlines from domestic routes, restricting the number of slots airports can use. It would be great if it dropped those restrictions, but as long as it doesn't, reducing the tendency towards monopoly among airlines enhances competition.

Also, bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean an airline ceases to exist. Many bankrupt airlines could have just reorganized and re-entered the market.

[kbolino]

reducing the tendency towards monopoly among airlines enhances competition.

Competition only matters if they can actually compete. Companies merge for many reasons, not the least of which being that they can consolidate their operations and reduce duplicated overhead costs. It is in fact better for the consumer for two companies to merge if neither can on its own afford to continue operations at present prices and levels of service.

Many bankrupt airlines could have just reorganized and re-entered the market.

With fewer options at higher prices. Restructuring doesn't magically take an unprofitable business and make it profitable. It reduces the burden of past debt, but the company wouldn't have a problem with that burden if it had been pursuing a profitable model in the first place.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

reducing the tendency towards monopoly among airlines enhances competition.

They're not "reducing a tendency." They're blocking economic decisions. That is, decisions which economize operations given the current environment. "Reducing the tendency towards monopoly" means repealing the policies that drive towards consolidation, as you suggest, or at least enacting other policies that shift the current environment away from consolidation.

"You have sought our permission to combine, and we find you wanting" is not reducing a tendency. It's further ignoring economic reality.

[Emmerson Biggins]

I'll respectfully disagree. He's been an arrogant commie fuck stick just like most other areas.

[Bee Tagger]

We're due for another recession soon.

That sounds like a very Stark economic pronouncement.

[Citizen X]

WINTER IS COMING.

[UnCivilServant]

Summer is coming.

[Juvenile Bluster]

This is why we should elect Lannisters to office.

[Citizen X]

Lannisters always pay their debts, which is more than can be said for the current federal government.

[Restoras]

Quick fingers CX, I applaud you.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Alas, both parties seem to be descended from the Baratheons.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

We could use a president who spends all his time drinking and hunting.

Instead we have a combo of Stannis and Renly, a closeted autocrat.

[Feminist Killjoy]

I haven't watched the show in a while because no HBO, but in the books at least, Renly is a straight up narcissist who is terrible at any kind of management and whose position would be whatever his close friends tell him it should be, so that fits perfectly with current and potential presidents.

[Mickey Rat]

Except the Lannisters are broke (their gold mines are unproductive) and the idiot children are in charge.

[Restoras]

Because they always pay their debts?

[PBR Streetgang]

At least they always pay their debts.

[Hamster of Doom]

We could do with politicians who pay their debts.

/someone had to say it

[Crusty Juggler]

That sounds like a very Stark economic pronouncement.

Man, isn't that ironic?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I am Iron-ic Man.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump's One Weird Trick for Getting People to Agree With Him: taking both sides of every issue

The first ever panderer.

[CatoTheChipper]

It didn't work for Hillary with West Virginia's coal miners.

[creech]

She still got the votes of nearly 40% of "coal mining households," proving that voting one's economic interests is never a certainty.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Coal-mining HRC supporters: "She's just saying that shit to keep the Greenies happy."

Environmental HRC Supporters: "She's just saying that shit to keep the Unions happy."

Reality: "She will say or do anything for power."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Morbidly curious who would pay money for that.

[Bee Tagger]

The morbidly curious, probably.

[UnCivilServant]

What kind of gun was it?

[Florida Hipster]

Kel-Tec 9 mm if memory serves.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Yes, Kel-Tec PF-9.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I think I read an article one time that houses where murders took place have trouble selling unless the murder was really famous when the price actually goes up.

[Restoras]

Maybe he's upgrading?

Maybe he doesn't want to own a gun anymore?

Maybe he wants a revolver instead of an automatic?

Maybe he doesn't like the caliber?

I'm curious why we should care what someone does with their private property.

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm curious why we should care what someone does with their private property.

A combination of voyeurism and FEELZ for the gun control side?

[Held Many Mics]

ENB really screwed the pooch with this drive-by assessment.

The dude will be unable to live a normal life for the foreseeable future, maybe for the rest of his life. There is an army of internet SJWs who are all willing to do their part to make his life miserable. Do you remember when he was attacked in a road-rage incident? Didn't the dude try to kill him?

The only bankable asset he has left is his notoriety. I'm not saying the guy is a saint but only that there could be a defensible explanation for this particular action.

[Emmerson Biggins]

He needs to grow some facial hair, change his name, and move to another state, or he is going to end up getting charged with Jaywalking, conspiracy to commit Jaywalking, obstruction of justice, and violating the civil rights of the guy whose car he walked int front of (triggering) and sentenced to like 25 years in prison.

[Emmerson Biggins]

oh ya tax evasion too.

[Bee Tagger]

Donald Trump's One Weird Trick for Getting People to Agree With Him: taking both sides of every issue

Does he have one weird trick for getting people to disagree with him, too? Seems like he does.

[UnCivilServant]

Sure he does: taking both sides of every issue.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

My guess is Donald Trump has quite a few weird tricks.

[Injun, as in from India]

More positions than what you have in the Kamasutra.

[Brett L]

Please, it would be appropriation if it were in My Kamasutra. I mostly just stick to getting my wife drunk when I'm bored with the usual positions. I don't need no book larnin for that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Suddenly Reason is against private commerce??? IS THIS AN UNLICENSED GUN TRANSFER CONCERN? He probably needs money. Being publicly crazy ain't cheap.

[Restoras]

ENB was triggered so she had to fire from the hip.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That awkward moment when you almost say the G-word at a Hillary rally...

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Gunt?

[Citizen X]

Grandma?

[Rich]

She's cute when she's awkward.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Gorgon?

[Jerryskids]

"Grand jury" is two words.

[Zeb]

Wait, are they not doing the pretend to be Christian thing anymore? I thought that was required of all national level politicians.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I think the rules are that the Red Tribe has to pretend to be devout Christians and the Blue Tribe has to pretend to be casual, Easter-and-Christmas style Christians.

[Notorious UGCC]

Like Bernie?

[Lee G]

gastrophilanthropist?

guillotine?

[CatoTheChipper]

Geriatric?

[Injun, as in from India]

Genitalia?

[egould310]

Wow. They really packed one of every flavor of human being into that audience. Hipsters, bull dykes, asians, blacks, alady in a turbin, etc. It's just so natural and realistic. I'm really impressed with Hillary.

[egould310]

I also see a messican, some union thugs, and at least one pederast.

I especially like how Hillary bobs her head to the rhythm of the speaker. It shows maturity and intelligence.

[Haha, charade you are]

"The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads. They all adore her. They think she's a righteous dude".

[lap83]

Goiter?

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

@CleveBryan @BillSFrank God forbid we should repeat the words of our fore fathers

Yeah, umm...

[Citizen X]

Yeah, wasn't "under God" added to the pledge in like 1955?

[Hamster of Doom]

George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Someone send him the number for Click's PR team. Stat.

[Lord Humungus]

Chelsea Handler: When You Meet a Single Woman, Congratulate Her

"They"?the amorphous community of married couples and the often patriarchal and/or religious masses of the world?"just want us to be happy" by forcing us to pair off. They're apparently uncomfortable with the solitary splendor of people like me who are single and pretty goddamned comfortable about it. "They"?the married people?want me to join their happy kingdom where about 50% of first marriages and even more second marriages end up in the divorce incinerator.

And of course, as is the tradition in what is still mostly a man's world, single females still bear the disproportionate brunt of single-shaming and single-bewilderment-syndrome, while men tend to receive an understanding wink and a nod regarding their bachelor achievements, bedroom conquests and beer breakfasts.

Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 book The Second Sex?and it's still true today?that gender is a device men use to stereotype women and that they use it as an excuse to organize society into a patriarchy conveniently owned and operated by an oligarchy of men.

[Bee Tagger]

Ugh, the 50% divorce rate myth again
http://qz.com/306166/the-divor.....eating-50/

[Rich]

*And* -- women get just 73% of the alimony they deserve.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"where about 50% of first marriages...end up in the divorce incinerator."

This has not been true for decades.

"while men tend to receive an understanding wink and a nod regarding their... beer breakfasts."

Who says you can't do this while married?

[Citizen X]

My wife and i have shared a beer breakfast on more than one occasion. Turns out it's one of those things that's fun in your 20s but just sort of emotionally and existentially exhausting in your 30s.

[Crusty Juggler]

Kegs and eggs never gets old, you just got old, old man.

[Citizen X]

Wisdom of experience, broski. Now i power through the morning after the night before with a ton of coffee, eggs (with salsa), bacon, and fried potatoes, a walk around the neighborhood, and a massive dump, the way God intended.

[Crusty Juggler]

No one wants to hear about your foreplay routine. Goodness.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Bloody Mary or Tomato Beer for the health benefits with a raw egg for the pure manliness.

[UnCivilServant]

You have bulemia and that's your recipie for purging, right?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Failed bulimic. I have the binge part locked in, but not so much on the purge side.

[Zeb]

It always seems like a good idea. But then you just want to take a nap.

My morning drinking is limited to a Bloody Mary on special occasions these days.

[Citizen X]

I'll do a mimosa maybe twice a year.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

I'm getting really upset about all this breakfast stout micro-aggression.

[Krabappel]

Founder's breakfast stout is a good one.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

My favorite beer for early morning footy matches.

[Elspeth Flashman]

The husband and I spent a morning once drinking when he had a conference right near my office. I went back to work at 10:30 buzzed as hell, and then sleepy. Fun but exhausting. I'd do it again though.

[commodious spittoon]

There's a brewpub stupidly/ingeniously located in the middle of several blocks of industrial parks near where I work. They make terrific chili and decent beer. Sometimes I stop by for lunch and go back to work happily buzzed.

[Krabappel]

I just split a bottle of dry cider for breakfast on Sunday. You then just have to offset it with an extra cup of coffee afterwards. I made salade lyonnaise and it was fucking delicious.

[lap83]

I couldn't even do that in my 20s

[Crusty Juggler]

Weak!

[lap83]

I weighed less than 120 for most of those years!

[Mickey Rat]

She has just enough knowledge of things to get them utterly wrong.

[Hamster of Doom]

Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 book The Second Sex?and it's still true today?that gender is a device men use to stereotype women and that they use it as an excuse to organize society into a patriarchy conveniently owned and operated by an oligarchy of men.

True. On the other hand, women will do the exact same thing.

[lap83]

This. I've worked at a few female dominated businesses. Women are usually more subtle about their sexism, but that doesn't make it better.

[Krabappel]

Not always. I worked for one who was an absolute tyrant to all the women in the office but would back down when a man challenged her/disagreed with her on something.

[lap83]

Women tend to find strength in numbers

[Hamster of Doom]

You'll get all kinds. I worked under a chef once who only promoted women. Called them his Angels. Swore it was mere coincidence that he only took his employees seriously if they were women.

Worked for another guy, who hired me and a man at the same time. A year later, I'm running the Big Money shift by myself and the other guy was sharing the Nothing Ever Happens Slacker shift with a third. I'm handling the safe and the bank deposits. I'm doing the training. I'm the Regional Employee of the Quarter - twice. I'm being paid a dollar less an hour and stuck in the title of "Management Trainee" while the other guy's already been given the collared shirt.

Using accumulated power to sort the world according to personal bias seems to be more of a species stereotype than a demographic one. It's a great deal more difficult to spot your own biases than it is to see everyone else's.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Existentialists are over rated.

[Zeb]

I hear a lot of people say that. How many people have to say that before it becomes untrue?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

"Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 book The Second Sex?and it's still true today?that gender is a device men use to stereotype women and that they use it as an excuse to organize society into a patriarchy conveniently owned and operated by an oligarchy of men."

I like when feminists say bad things about men because they always make us sound like total geniuses.

[Notorious UGCC]

Yeah, I thought I was sitting around scratching my butt, but all this time I was concocting a clever plan for world domination.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

"...single females still bear the disproportionate brunt of single-shaming and single-bewilderment-syndrome..."

Chelsea Handler has obvious not witnessed the degree of shaming my mother is capable of inflicting on me.

[Free Society]

When You Meet a Single Woman, Congratulate Her

Congratulations, your children are more likely than other children to get abused and neglected by you and even more likely molested by the revolving door of men in your life. Congratulations, your lifestyle choices produce the single greatest predictor of your child's future incarceration, poverty and untimely death. Here's a fucking medal.

[Free Society]

oops. I read "Single Mom". My apologies single ladies everywhere, except Nicole.

[Injun, as in from India]

Chelsea Handler: When You Meet a Single Woman, Congratulate Her

Congratulate her?

I'd rather seduce her.

[commodious spittoon]

Chelsea Handler is a person? I thought it was a job title at the Clinton Foundation.

[Crusty Juggler]

Boo this man!

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

To be fair, Chelsea should be commended for being single... Can you imagine how miserable the poor bastard married to her would be?

[Bill Dalasio]

I'd consider Chelsea Handler, but I'm allergic to penicillin.

[Notorious UGCC]

What a shame she isn't married, she could make some man very happy. If he's a masochist.

[Rich]

The man who shot and killed three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic last November has been declared too mentally incompetent to stand trial.

"Too" mentally incompetent? WTF?

[commodious spittoon]

Does this look like the face of a crazy man?

[Hank Phillips]

I seem to recall an argument in a logic textbook to the effect that soon the outrageousness of crimes would, ipso facto, let the perps off as insane. Sure seems to be working for murdering cops and antichoice christianofascists. SO why not let Bin Ladin, the Airliners for Allah crew and snuff film islamofascisti off the hook by the same argument?

[Tonio]

Italy approves same-sex civil unions.

Wow, right in the Pope's backyard. That's got to be embarrassing.

[Citizen X]

Eddie hardest hit.

[Tonio]

I don't think Eddie even recognizes this pope as legitimate.

[Citizen X]

Oh, he backs the pretender in Avignon? HERESY!

[Notorious UGCC]

No, but I suspect history will know Pope Francis as a Bad Pope.

As a Burke/Ratzinger reactionary, it's not surprising that I would say this.

But we've had bad popes before, and so I won't faint and exclaim, "OMG this never happened before!"

[UnCivilServant]

This is the social justice pope, who aids jihadis over christian refugees.

Benedict, however, is probably livid.

[Tonio]

^This.

[Free Society]

Benedict, however, is probably livid.

It's what he gets for abdicating. Throwing the Catholic Church to the mercy of the Social Justice predators.

[Notorious UGCC]

It's really too bad.

[Free Society]

Abdications being so rare and the advent of this current type of Pope being even more rare if not unique, makes you wonder if Benedict wasn't pushed out.

[Notorious UGCC]

I wish I knew.

[Notorious UGCC]

Oh, the Italian state has done a lot of embarrassing things in the Pope's backyard, like steal it from the Pope. Italians have been flipping off the Popes for centuries.

[Lord Humungus]

Iron Maiden saved my life: Adelaide man Steve Radeski now wants to repay his heavy metal saviour

"I only had about six minutes to live and he came up after about four minutes and he was wearing a 1985 Iron Maiden tour shirt which he'd had since he was a kid. He was a tragic fan but looked at me and realised that he would have to use it as a tourniquet which stemmed the blood flow until the helicopter arrived.

"Iron Maiden saved my life."

With the help of The Advertiser, Mr Radeski is now able to repay his saviour.

Iron Maiden's management learnt he had purchased one of the legendary heavy metal band's shirts to replace the one Mr Gaythwaite used to staunch the bleeding.

Mr Radeski said the band's management contacted him after reading his story on Advertiser.com.au and vowed to get his shirt signed so he could later present it to his saviour, who received an award and commendations from both the police and army for his efforts.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Tiipper Gore screams as she fondles her...

[Citizen X]

Fondles her what, Rufus? FONDLES HER WHAT?

[Crusty Juggler]

Parental advisory label?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I WILL NOT BE SUCKERED INTO A VULGAR BATTLE OF WITS WITH CRUSTY.

[Crusty Juggler]

Rufus wants to gently peel back Tipper Gore's parental advisory sticker, and that is okay.

[Rhywun]

Her whatever.

[Aloysious]

That's a nice, happy story.

[Hank Phillips]

Or happy ending anyway, according to the joined at the groin massage parlor girls filing blotter reports. Is the whole thing an Al Gore econazi recruiting gambit?

[Lord Humungus]

something something broken windows fallacy...

Fort McMurray's rebuild to have positive economic impact: analyst

he Fort McMurray wildfire has hit right at the foot of Canada's oilsands.

...

"When you take that kind of supply out, it's bound to have a little bit of an effect on price because a shortened supply means higher prices," Martin speculated.

But Martin contends that there are some positives on the horizon when Fort McMurray starts to rebuild.

"Anytime you spend that kind of investment money, it is going to have an impact and it will be positive and it will go a long way to mitigating Alberta's downturn."

[Juvenile Bluster]

"Breaking news, Paul Krugman has been arrested for arson..."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Paul Krugman is tired of trying to reason with you people

[Rich]

Drill, baby, drill! Burn, baby, burn!

[Tonio]

+1 Disco Inferno

[Elspeth Flashman]

Let's burn lots of things! Burn all the things!

[Citizen X]

DIG HOLES AND FILL THEM

[Krabappel]

IT'S PATRIOTIC TO SHOVE MONEY INTO THE MONEY FIRES!

[Tonio]

he Fort McMurray wildfire

Shouldn't that be "xe"?

[Jerryskids]

Thanks for the link! I posted here several weeks ago looking for help putting together my proposal for the city council regarding my economic stimulus program of burning the city to the ground and now I have some hard cites as to how beneficial the proposal might be.

[Free Society]

Funny how the broken window crowd is always a bit hesitant to burn their own house down as an investment in the future.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

It's a bit like when discussing global overpopulation with an enviro and you get to the point where you ask "so, will you be sacrificing your own children on Gaia's altar?"

[kbolino]

A good many of them don't have children. But they won't be sacrificing themselves on that altar...

[Crusty Juggler]

This guy? Mentally incompetent? You don't say...

[Zeb]

Those are some serious crazy eyes.

[Lord Humungus]

Bill Nye Is A Huckster

More severe weather. More suffering. More expense. Let's all take climate change seriously. pic.twitter.com/HGHQJLgqRr

? Bill Nye (@BillNye) May 11, 2016

If people trusted global warming alarmists, they might function under the premise that severe weather events are something unique to this particular age. It was only the discovery of fossil fuels that forced man to wrestle with the terrifying hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and rain showers. Before the discovery of oil, or the Fall of Man, it was San Diego for everyone all the time.

Is there really more severe weather? More tornadoes, for instance?

Since I'm not an engineer like Nye, I turn to the people at National Centers for Environmental Information and learn that not only has tornado activity seemed to be pretty steady the past few decades (in every single region of the United States, for that matter), but that the frequency of violent tornadoes has decreased.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Sometimes I wonder what the reaction would be if some historical storms were to happen today. Sometime in the 12th Century, according to some evidence, there was a Category 4 or 5 hurricane that hit New Jersey. The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 hit Long Island as a Category 4 and then near Providence as a Category 3. Multiple intense hurricanes (Category 3+) hit New England in pre-Columbian times: between 1100?1150, 1300?1400 (1295?1407), and 1400?1450 (1404?1446), respectively (last sentence c+p'd from wiki). Not to mention things like the Blizzard of 1899 (below zero in Tallahassee, Gulf of Mexico-effect snow in Tampa).

[Zeb]

Yeah, people have a terrible sense of perspective when it comes to things like that. Whatever has happened in my lifetime so far has to be normal. But there are plenty of things that happen pretty regularly on a slightly longer time scale than what we experience that no one has really seen. It's ridiculous to assume that whatever has happened since people started keeping good weather records should be considered normal and the way things ought to be.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

But back in the day, people didn't have engineers (like Bill Nye?) that allowed them to live in places that would naturally be underwater or in danger of falling into the ocean, or big government backed insurance that paid for their stupid asses to rebuild in those shitty places.

Anybody who did live in those places was a likely weirdo loner, but now we have whole communities crowded into disasters waiting to happen.

[John]

IN the 19th Century they had a blizzard in NYC in July. Freakish weather happens.

[commodious spittoon]

WEATHER ISN'T CLIMATE until it's convenient.

[Zeb]

And it's even more ridiculous because all weather is influenced by whatever is going on with the climate. It's just nonsense to try to say that storm A is because of global warming and storm B isn't. To the extent that there is climate change (and there always is), climate change affects all weather. There aren't discrete causes and effects in a hugely complicated dynamic system like climate. Everything causes everything else.

[Citizen X]

+1 Butterfly Effect (starring Ashton Kutcher)

[Tonio]

Last three paragraphs are you (LH), not Nye - right?

[Tonio]

Oops, Harsanyi. Never mind. Derp.

[Feminist Killjoy]

I've seen a lot of fluff news about the fires being caused by global warming and stuff like "there is oil there, oil burns. therefore oil caused the fire" with no mention of how wildfires are naturally occurring and are worse when they haven't happened in recent memory. Maybe they did have hotter weather than normal, but I really hope it wasn't hotter than it was last summer.

My favorite is always the immediate complaints of price gouging for everything, despite the amount of free aid coming in. Insurance prices are going to rise, huh? So surprised!

[UnCivilServant]

Maybe they did have hotter weather than normal, but I really hope it wasn't hotter than it was last summer.

It was colder than last year, and close to unseasonably cold.

[Rhywun]

It was in the upper 80s while it was going on. I thought, huh is that normal for northern Alberta?

[UnCivilServant]

It was in the upper 80s in southern Alberta.

(I am reporting secondhand from an Albertan who I believe has evacuated the region in question, so yeah, it's hearsay.)

[Rhywun]

I am reporting the reading at weather.com that I checked because I couldn't believe what a reporter was saying on the TV. Maybe that's normal, I dunno but I found it kind of shocking.

[Feminist Killjoy]

I get most of my Canadian news from CBC radio, so I only heard stuff like this - 'Of course' Fort McMurray fire linked to climate change, Elizabeth May says.

[Chip Woodier]

I trust Bill Nye on this as much as I trusted him with his anti-GMO bluster. Unfortunately, the consensus is in (for now).

[Injun, as in from India]

Climate alarmists keep crying wolf, and the people stop believing the alarmism.

They have to look at their own hysterics to understand why climate change consistently ranks among the lowest policy priorities for the citizenry.

[commodious spittoon]

Rare climatic event responsible for solar halo and shootout between suspects and police in Venezuela.

Seriously, I have no idea why the author reports both events in the same article.

[Injun, as in from India]

Here's a copy-paste warrior from the comments thread. He posted the same thing several times.

Chad Furman

Government ownership of the means of production is different than taxing corporations and using the income to provide social benefits. Think public education, affordable healthcare for the disabled, libraries, roads, energy and food subsidies...

Summary, as written by Frederic Bastiat over 150 years ago:

Government is that great fiction through which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.

[commodious spittoon]

Which is true, I suppose. Less Stalinesque communism and more Hitler-esque corporatism. Yeah, that's an improvement, I guess.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The second trial of six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray starts today, after the first trial ended with a hung jury.

I don't care for this concept. The state, with unlimited resources, trying defendants over and over again? Smacks of double jeopardy.

[Rich]

Legal *experts* say it's OK, so who cares what you care for?

[Zeb]

It does seem like if you can't get a jury to agree on guilt, then it indicates that some reasonable doubt exists. On the other hand, fuck the police.

[Hank Phillips]

Why don't they conscript women for jury duty in Baltimore?

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else had an underground missile site...

Iran Shows Off Third Underground Missile Site

Iran's military recently publicized a third underground missile facility and showed the launch of a new ballistic missile through the top of a mountain.

U.S. intelligence agencies said in a recent internal report on the launch that the new underground missile facility was disclosed by Iran in March.

It was the third time since October that Tehran showed off an extensive network of underground missile facilities. The new video, however, for the first time shows a missile launch from one of the country's underground launch facilities.

[UnCivilServant]

< href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00LD8IRG2/reasonmagazinea-20/"Travis Colfax?

[UnCivilServant]

ARRRRRGGG!!!!!!

Travis Colfax?

[OneOut]

Thanks for showing us where to aim our nuke tipped bunker busters Iran.

Just had to show of

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Mark Ruffalo: Why is LA a toxic wasteland?

With 840 miles of beautiful coastline and palm trees swaying in the breeze, "toxic" is not the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of California. Yet, in spite of its reputation as a progressive environmental state, California's toxic affair with oil and gas has been hiding in plain sight.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Los Angeles, the nation's largest urban oil field. Though it is the second most populous city in the country, L.A. is still the wild, wild west when it comes to oil development. Active oil wells dot the cityscape, connected by a spider web of pipelines carrying oil, explosive fumes, and corrosive acids directly under homes. Worst of all, these oil wells have a devastating impact on Angelenos' long-term health.

I went on a "toxic tour" of L.A. and witnessed what it looks like when extreme fossil fuel extraction collides with the places where people live, work, and play. Our reliance on fossil fuels puts real communities at risk across the city. Extreme oil extraction injects a toxic mixture of chemicals into the ground to stimulate oil wells in a manner similar to fracking, and the emissions can cause headaches, nosebleeds, respiratory ailments, inter-generational reproductive harm, and even cancer for surrounding neighbors.

Smug alert!

[Crusty Juggler]

He does that in one of the most economically depressed areas in New York (where he apparently has a home) as well. He helped defeat fracking in New York. He is a grisly twat.

[Rhywun]

Everything outside the orbit of the NYC-to-Albany axis and maybe Ithaca is about equally depressed.

[Crusty Juggler]

Everything outside the orbit of the NYC-to-Albany axis and maybe Ithaca is about equally depressed.

That is not true. Sullivan County and Southern Tier are really depressed, and the contrast between those counties and the neighboring counties across the state line in Pennsylvania is incredible.

[Rhywun]

across the state line

I.e. not New York. I'm talking about New York State.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"connected by a spider web of pipelines carrying oil, explosive fumes, and corrosive acids directly under homes"

Isn't the whole point of these pipelines to reduce the amount that comes in contact with the environment? I mean, if they transported the oil in tankers or railcars it seems like there's a lot more risk of spillage and waste.

Though I suppose Ruffalo means we should not extract the oil at all, and everybody in LA should get around on horseback or on foot or something.

[CatoTheChipper]

Self-driving vehicles powered by mouse milk, mummy dust, and unicorn farts.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Fossil fuels technology has never been more efficient and cleaner and advancing evermore.

But twat-twits like this guy want to regress progress.

I despise the left. Despise them for their anti-human thinking.

They would have died a proper death during the Renaissance.

[Feminist Killjoy]

Extreme oil extraction injects

This is great writing though. I love every part of it.

[Zeb]

If it does cause helath problems or other harm, the oil companies should do something to mitigate that. Seems like it could be a particular problem there for the same geographical reasons that smog was such a big problem there.

[DJF]

I thought that oil in LA was natural?

[Suell]

The oil is organic and fair trade.

[Zeb]

With all the small, independent producers, it probably does meet fair trade requirements. And it's definitely organic.

[lap83]

Mark Ruffalo: Why...

That's where I stopped reading. He makes Taylor Swift look like an intellectual

[Suell]

There was no need for that Swift bashing.

[lap83]

There's no need for her to be an intellectual.

[Mickey Rat]

Is one reason LA is a big city is because if the oil industry? We did not choose to do fuel extraction under where people live, people decided to live where we were doing mineral extraction.

[Lord Humungus]

Nowthen Man Threatened Boys With Gun Over Bounce House

Robert Joseph Baron was charged with second-degree assault and threats of violence in connection with the incident, which happened last Friday in Nowthen.

According to the charges, two juvenile males were delivering a bounce house for their business last Friday night when their GPS led them to the wrong driveway. A woman told them they had delivered the bounce house to the wrong address, so the two boys began packing it up so they could take it away.

The complaint states while they were packing up, Baron pointed a shotgun at both boys. When officers found Baron, he was intoxicated with a blood alcohol content in excess of .20.

[SusanM]

That's life in a Nowthen town, I guess.

[PBR Streetgang]

Ah hey ma ma ma hey...

[Private Chipperbot]

It's right next to Comenow. Nice area.

[Homple]

Minnesota has towns named Climax and Fertile about a half hour's drive apart.

[Rich]

"Nowthen" was coined by the town's first postmaster, James Hare, who had the habit of saying "Now, then" in conversation.

[commodious spittoon]

"NowWhat had been named after the opening words of the first settlers to arrive there after struggling across light years of space to reach the furthest unexplored outreaches of the Galaxy. The main town was called OhWell. There aren't any other towns to speak of. Settlement on NowWhat has not been a success and the sort of people who actually want to live on NowWhat were not the sort of people you would want to spend time with."

[Brett L]

Huh. I would have guessed Florida or New Jersey.

[Lord Humungus]

Chinese police uncover huge fake jellyfish 'scam'

Police in eastern China have raided two fake jellyfish workshops, saying more than 10 tonnes is thought to have made its way into local food markets.

Police said the fake jellyfish had been made by mixing chemicals, adding that checks showed high levels of aluminium.

The syndicates made more than 170,000 yuan (?18,100; $26,100) in profits in a year of production, they added.

Jellyfish is very popular sliced and served as salad, particularly along China's southern and eastern coasts.

[Rich]

fake jellyfish workshop

Nice band name.

[SugarFree]

They do nothing but reggae covers of Flaming Lips' songs.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Which is worse than selling fake aluminum jellyfish salad.

But they sound like perfect free market libertarians.

[Citizen X]

Isn't "Fake Aluminum Jellyfish Salad" the name of the next Radiohead album?

[Crusty Juggler]

'We could have been there': Squadron member speaks out on stalled Benghazi response

The special forces based in Italy were ready to go and were ordered not to go. The article ends with this gem:

The two men who spoke with Fox News have not spoken with the committee.

TW: autoplay

[AlexInCT]

Your assumptions that the committee investigating this was interested in anything but quickly rubber stamping the version put forth by State and the WH seems to be the issue here....

[AlexInCT]

Your assumptions that the committee investigating this was interested in anything but quickly rubber stamping the version put forth by State and the WH seems to be the issue here....

[Lord Humungus]

Doctors used to literally 'blow smoke up your ass' with 18th Century medical treatment

While it's unclear whether there is a direct link with the phrase, doctors did actually used to blow smoke into people's rectums in the late 1700s as the predominant medical therapy to try and resuscitate people who were believed to be dead, narrator Simon Whistler said. Mostly it was used on near-drowning victims.

The treatment was so commonplace that equipment for it was stored near waterways, much like defibrillators are often stored for use in public areas today.

To help people remember how to properly use it, one doctor even wrote a rhyme that went, "Tobacco glyster (enema)/Breathe and bleed. Keep warm and rub till you succeed. And spare no pains for what you do; may one day be repaid to you."

[Tonio]

That is truly bizarre. Of course we didn't figure out the Heimlich until the 20th century, and CPR didn't get useful until the sixties (I think).

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Ignaz Semmelweis didn't figure out doctors should wash their hands before surgery until the 1840s, and this was considered a crackpot theory for decades afterwards.

We think we're advanced, but humanity is still in its childhood.

[Tonio]

And don't forget re-using surgical instruments!

The germ theory was proposed by Girolamo Fracastoro in 1546, but scientific evidence in support of this accumulated slowly and Galen's miasma theory remained dominant among scientists and doctors. A transitional period began in the late 1850s as the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch provided convincing evidence; by 1880, miasma theory was still competing with the germ theory of disease. Eventually, a "golden era" of bacteriology ensued, in which the theory quickly led to the identification of the actual organisms that cause many diseases.[2][3] Viruses were discovered in the 1890s.

[Free Society]

Robert Koch provided convincing evidence

So Germ Theory is just another Kochspiracy? *puts on tin foil hat*

[Just a thought not a sermon]

From Wikipedia:

Heimlich first published his views about the maneuver in a June 1974 informal article in Emergency Medicine

[Rich]

I suppose it's better than cramming leeches up there.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That's for shrinking swollen hemorrhoids.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Rectum? Durn near killed 'im!"

[Lord Humungus]

Virginia woman pole dances for her 100th birthday

"Some asked her what she wanted to do for her 100th birthday, and she said 'a pole dance.' And she no sooner said, 'I don't know why I said that.' And the rest of us said we don't know why you said that either, we didn't even know you knew about pole dancing, mom," Lensch told WWBT.

Throughout the 100 day celebration, Ingerling received numerous gifts from strangers and family members alike and was even treated to a celebration at His or Hers Salon.

The celebration culminated in a small gathering at Ingerling's home where she was surrounded by family and friends and fulfilled her wish of dancing on a pole.

"We have worked it out that we are going to set up a pole for her. And she is going to do a pole dance," Lensch said. "Very tasteful dressed. Not in the leopard print leotard that she once suggested, but she will stand up by the pole because that was her dream."

paging CJ

[Tonio]

Suck it, Florida!

[Florida Hipster]

Oh hell naw!

*cranks DMX work it out on the floor*

*twerks aggressively*

[Hamster of Doom]

*rains dollar bills*

[PBR Streetgang]

Freakin' southside of RVA. Buncha wierdos

[Citizen X]

I miss Plaza Bowl.

[PBR Streetgang]

Hull Street and Belt Boulevard. CLASSY!!

[Citizen X]

Classy as shit, dude.

[Tonio]

Ghettotastic!

But seriously, folks, can we do an RVA meetup?

[PBR Streetgang]

I don't live there anymore, but I'm around RVA 6-8 times a year. If I'm in town a meetup would be cool

[Citizen X]

I don't make it up to RVA very often, but any H'n'R meetup will obviously have to take place at GWARBar.

[PBR Streetgang]

I grew up in Petersburg, so I KNOW me some classy

[Mazakon]

Muslim Family Considers Suit after Daughter Barred From Wearing Headscarf at Citadel College

The Citadel military college, known for its buttoned-up uniforms and strict discipline, decided Tuesday that a newly accepted female student cannot wear a traditional Muslim headscarf if she enrolls in the fall.

The decision disappointed the student, according to a family spokesman who said they are considering legal options because they believe "it's the same issue faced by African-Americans and women in this situation." The school didn't immediately embrace the first African-American cadets during the 1960s and fought the enrollment of women in the 1990s before relenting.

Commandant of Cadets Geno Paluso said allowing the student to wear the head covering known as a hijab wouldn't be consistent with the school's policy of having cadets look similar.

[Rich]

Muslim Family Considers Suit after Daughter Barred From Wearing Headscarf at Citadel College

Well, if the Citadel won't let her wear a headscarf I doubt they'll let her wear a suit.

[Tonio]

Yeah, surprised the family will let her wear pants if they're that

And AFAIK, african americans didn't ask for changes to uniform or grooming standards.

[Free Society]

And AFAIK, african americans didn't ask for changes to uniform or grooming standards.

Not for the Citadel but that's apparently so for the TSA. I saw a TSA supervisor in Philly with his pants below his ass, his shirt not tucked in and his officer's hat turned sideways as he searched my bag. I've never felt so safe.

[Cdr Lytton]

And AFAIK, african americans didn't ask for changes to uniform or grooming standards.

Shaving profile, anyone?

[Tonio]

Dammit, Rich, I missed the funny part. Need. Moar. Coffee.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

"The decision disappointed the student, according to a family spokesman who said they are considering legal options because they believe "it's the same issue faced by African-Americans and women in this situation." The school didn't immediately embrace the first African-American cadets during the 1960s and fought the enrollment of women in the 1990s before relenting."

It shouldn't really have to be said, but saying that headscarves are against the dress code is not the same thing as refusing to allow black people to go to the school at all.

Per the Citadel's dress code:

"Students may not wear any other jewelry, including earrings or other body-piercings, while on
campus. Exceptions to this policy may be granted on a case-by-case basis for students requesting to wear jewelry for religious purposes, provided that the item is worn underneath the clothing."

So they won't even let you wear small religious jewelry unless it's not visible. It's not discrimination if it applies to all religions.

[UnCivilServant]

The thing about uniforms is, well, they're supposed to be uniform.

[SusanM]

Not even a pledge pin?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

They don't have uniforms at the Citadel, they have a dress code. You can wear what you want, I think they just don't allow visible religious dress

[John]

Yes. And going to the Citadel, even though it is a state school, is not some basic right. People who are fat or out of shape can't go there. The school discriminates on all sorts of basis.

If you want to be a strict Muslim, good for you. You should have that right. But if being so means you can't meet the dress code at a military academy, boo fucking hoo. You have a right to practice your religion not force everyone to accommodate your beliefs.

You know who else can't go to the Citadel because of their religous beliefs? Quakers. They are pacifists and would never be able to square training to kill people and break things with their religion. Should we make an exception for them? No. This is no different.

[Jerryskids]

The whole uncompromisable religious obligation stuff is undoubtably BS - the Citadel could simply declare all female cadets honorary men, they could get some Imam to wave his hands over her head and say a few words and - poof - she's wearing a magic invisible head covering, she could get a haircut and sweep up the hair and wrap it up in a scarf and thereby claim the hair on her head is covered - lots of ways to weasel around "The Laws", just like the Catholics and the Jews have been doing for centuries and I'm sure the Mohammedans have been doing, too, when they want to do something they're not supposed to be doing and still be able to fool God on a technicality. (And if this devout Mohammedan took out a student loan to pay for college, well, you know there's a rule about that, too.)

[John]

It is total BS. I bet if some rich guy offered her a few million dollars not to wear her headscarf for four years, she would do it. How bad do you want to go to the Citadal and how important is your devotion to a headscarf?

And that doesn't even consider the fact that Islam does not require it. Islamic women have gone without them for centuries. It is nothing but a way for her to shove her identity in people's faces. That is it.

[Free Society]

It is nothing but a way for her to shove her identity in people's faces. That is it.

Haven't you heard? That's so hot right now.

[Zeb]

So, if the point of the headscarf is to hide the hair, I have a solution for Muslim women: get a crew cut and wear a hat. Military cadets wear hats, don't they?

You have to give up other rights in the military. Why can't they make you give up religious rights too?

[Chip Woodier]

Could cut it all off and hide it in a closet. There...fixed.

[Jerryskids]

You know who else discriminated against people based on whether or not they had head coverings?

[UnCivilServant]

J Edgar Hoover? (The fedora was part of the dress code.)

[Tonio]

Mid-Twentieth Century Americans who excluded Jews from many country clubs?

[Notorious UGCC]

Men Without Hats?

[Warty]

Why the fuck would anyone want to go to the Citadel? That's what always confuses me when it's in the news. Were they that desperate to get yelled at even though they didn't get into West Point?

[Tonio]

The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute and Texas A&M are kind of a second-tier alternative to West Point. The military apparently likes degrees from those places and there are old-boy networks in place within the services (mostly Army and Marines) for those grads.

[DrZaius]

Virginia Tech and North Georgia College and State University along with some school in Vermont have programs that are called senior military academies and are designated by congress. I think the big difference is that upon graduation from one of these programs you are guaranteed a commission, whereas you might not be if completing a regular ROTC program at State U or wherever.

[AlexInCT]

VMI serves all 4 military branches, not just the Army, and stands apart from the academies specifically on that credential. The other 2 are crap schools however. 🙂

[John]

You go to the Citadel if you want to live in South Carolina the rest of your life. I know a couple of Citadel grads. They all went back to South Carolina and walked into high paying jobs and easy lives. Citadel grads basically run the entire state and they take care of each other.

I always wondered why the hell anyone would go there until I met someone who had. You go there because once you graduate you are taken care of for life in the state of South Carolina and a few other places.

[Warty]

Interesting. Makes sense.

[GILMORE?]

I can attest to this.

Only a fraction of citadel grads actually go on to military service. Most just see it as a private 'finishing school' for local gentry.

[GILMORE?]

That said - there are ALSO people who don't get into the academies who want ROTC military-prep and VMI/Citadel is seen as more-prestigeous than just any uni-program, though the reality is that there's little advantage in practice.

[Lord Humungus]

Newspaper IT employees 'angry as hell' over foreign workers

"The are basically firing me and hiring a foreign worker to do my job at less than half the rate they were paying me," said one IT employee. "They really couldn't find American workers to do this job? Seriously? I am angry as hell."

"I feel the same way the Disney employees must have felt last year when this exact same thing happened to them," said this IT employee.

On the form an employer must indicate whether they are H-1B dependent. If H-1B workers comprise 15% or more of an employer's workforce, the employer is classified as "H-1B dependent" by the U.S. government and subject to additional requirements.

H-1B dependent firms are required take "good-faith steps to recruit U.S. workers" and not displace workers. But there's a loophole. If these employers pay more than $60,000 to a visa holder, or that person has a master's degree, the nondisplacement provisions do not apply.

[kbolino]

"The are basically firing me and hiring a foreign worker to do my job at less than half the rate they were paying me," said one IT employee. "They really couldn't find American workers to do this job? Seriously? I am angry as hell."

Methinks the first statement has something to do with the answer to the second.

[Brett L]

Yes, but that's not how the H1-B program is supposed to work legally. It is for an absolute shortage, not price-point shortage.

[Rhywun]

"We will be having much rain..."

/next's weeks forecast

[Brett L]

"Please do the necesaary..."

First time I read that I thought they were advising a bowel movement.

[UnCivilServant]

I thought it was "Please do the needful"

[Rhywun]

^Yup.

[AlexInCT]

^^ THIS

[Mazakon]

Caitlyn Jenner Allegedly May 'De-Transition'

Warning: Video, autoplay

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Well why not? She already beat the manslaughter rap.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hey.

Why isn't there a 'womanslaughter'?

/raises eyebrow.

[Injun, as in from India]

You should send this to the SJW Gender Studies professors at universities across the country.

[Lord Humungus]

So he won't be a Republican anymore?

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Rich]

And .... the start-up ad begins "I was once a man like you ....".

You can't make this shit up.

[commodious spittoon]

A MANNNNN....

[Citizen X]

"I've been going through a really weird time in my life."

[AlmightyJB]

Wants to go for Man of tbe Year?

[Crusty Juggler]

Hero!

[Rhywun]

De-transition from what? From what I have heard she hasn't started transitioning beyond clothes and make-up.

[Suell]

Fake tits, Adam's apple removal, facial feminization surgery.

[Rhywun]

Gotcha.

[Jerryskids]

Jenner transitioned from celebrity to attention-whore and now wants to go back to just being a celebrity. You can be just as famous for having once done something as you can be for continuing to do it, so why bother putting in the effort? It's like OJ Simpson - you only gotta kill your ex-wife the one time to become famous, you don't have to keep killing ex-wives on a regular basis to stay famous.

[commodious spittoon]

+1 If I Did It

[Juice]

OJ was already famous?

[gimmeasammich]

Ever see any of the Naked Gun movies?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Doubletrans??

[Red Rocks Rockin]

If this is true (and with that family, who the hell really knows), it wouldn't be a huge surprise.

It's telling that when Jenner got the facial feminization surgery, the first reaction wasn't "Wow, I look gorgeous," it was "Oh god, what have I done?"

[Domestic Dissident]

George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

You should be happy that his life is ruined because he defended his own life and now he has to auction off his possessions just to survive, you worthless fake libertarian left-wing scumbagetta you.

After all, that's exactly what you and the rest of your fellow media turds were hoping for.

[Flemur]

Thanks, you beat me to it. The SJW author is "clinging to jerkwad relevancy".

I thought Holder had stolen the gun, but:

"The firearm is fully functional as the attempts by the Department of Justice on behalf of B. Hussein Obama to render the firearm inoperable were thwarted by my phenomenal Defense Attorney," the item description says.

[Rich]

High school lacrosse team accused of killing guinea pig, using blood like face paint

an individual approached the Grosse Ile School District with "information that one or more members of the District's lacrosse team engaged in cruelty to an animal"

WHAT?! *NOT* CULTURAL MISAPPROPRIATION?!

[spqr2008]

Pure Michigan

[Jerryskids]

"Lacrosse" is a term stolen from the French to identify a sport stolen from the Native Americans. They should just say the face-painting is a rebuke to the French cultural appropriation, a "taking back" of the game, and denounce the critics of the face-painting as privileged racists and natalophobics and oppressive members of the Franciarchy.

[Elspeth Flashman]

101 comments in 19 minutes?

[UnCivilServant]

Slow comment day.

[Lord Humungus]

dalmatians?

[Citizen X]

That is othering to Croats, Lord.

[Crusty Juggler]

Listen you, the majority of my morning is going to be spent listening to conference calls that have nothing to do with me, so I have the time. You people...

[John]

Are we on the same call?

[Crusty Juggler]

Cribbed from a LH link: Thieving eagle steals fisherman's catch off his line

Wynans said the eagle is well-known to locals as a menace to fishermen.

OMG millennials don't move there.

[Pope Jimbo]

Because they don't have fisherpeople?

A lake I used to fish on as a kid had an eagle that would wait for the local osprey to catch a fish. It would then swoop down and pester the osprey until it dropped the fish. Eagle would then eat that fish and the osprey would have to go catch another fish. Young me didn't realize I was watching a great metaphor of govt in action.

[Citizen X]

Birds of prey are almost universally dicks, to each other and to anyone else, whenever they can get away with it.

Owls, though. Owls are alright.

[John]

I saw that this morning. That is fucking awesome. Birds of prey really do know they are cool.

[Warty]

I once had a bald eagle land on a tree branch 20 feet above me. It was easily one of the cooler things that's ever happened in my life.

[John]

I saw one on the Potomac last year. He was in a tree about 30 feet up. He had to be the most regal looking animal I have ever seen. He just oozed superiority and grace. It was amazing.

[Pope Jimbo]

When I was a kid, you knew about every pair of nesting eagles in the region because they were rare. Now they are getting to near pest levels.

A lake I fished on in Wisconsin had an eagle that would swoop down and eat the perch and sucker minnows that fishermen threw out on the ice to die. Often would be within a few yards of the fish house. Big enough that you never fucked with it.

[John]

They have them in the winter at the lake out in Kansas where my parents used to live. The lake freezes over leaving a small area of clear water for the ducks to swim. That becomes like a buffet for the eagles. You will see a couple of eagles dining on a duck and the other ducks on the other side of the clear water seemingly chatting about what a shame it is what just happened to Bob.

[Private Chipperbot]

We have Ospreys that nest every summer in a cell tower near our house. We use the telescope to watch them more than looking at the night sky. They are huge and it's really cool watching them pluck big ass fish from the river.

I also literally ran across a bald eagle on a trail run. As I approached, I was pissed because I thought someone let their dog loose. As I got closer it hopped up on a fence and then took off. Those things are huge.

[Enough About Palin]

I worked on the 30th floor of an office tower very close to the Mississippi River. Saw lots of bald eagles, but the coolest was one that had caught a large bird. It would take the bird up about 50-60 feet above my window, release it, watch it drop for a second or two and then dive down and re-catch it. It did this for at least 20 minutes.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

"The man who shot and killed three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic last November has been declared too mentally incompetent to stand trial. "

By the end of the day we will have multiple essays by leftists claiming that this is proof of anti-Muslim discrimination because the courts are trying to paint the shooter as 'just crazy' so Christianity doesn't have to bear the blame for the attack.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

You have to be mentally incompetent to be Christian and anti-Planned Parenthood.

/progthink.

[Tonio]

Damn, Irish. You are the hateyist hater since hate came to hatetown. I'm jealous.

[commodious spittoon]

So we can agree that Muslim terrorists are lunatics who deserve to be locked up for the safety of others. Super.

[commodious spittoon]

And besides, he isn't being excused for his actions by reason of insanity, he's going to be treated so that he understands the charges brought against him. (I'm addressing the inevitable prog hysteria, not you.)

[Jordan]

We're due for another recession soon.

We never left the last one. A "jobless recovery" is a recession papered over with stock market bubbles.

[Crusty Juggler]

Domino's employees help rescue regular customer after 11 day absence

Kirk Alexander, 48, is well known for his daily orders among employees at the Domino's Pizza shop on Silverton Road in Salem, but employees became concerned after noticing he hadn't placed an order in several days.

Managers Sarah Fuller and Jenny Seiber found that he hadn't ordered from the location in 11 days and decided to send driver Tracey Hamblen to his home after a call to his phone went straight to voicemail.

ISIS is going to win...

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Michelle Obama: Aw, so cute. WAIT! He was eating pizza everyday?! I will not stand for this! Expert Team assemble! We must put a stop to this!

[UnCivilServant]

"Medical issues requiring immediate attention" - perhaps brought on by say, eating dominos boxed grease on a daily basis? Seriously, it's been eight years since I last made the mistake of buying anything from that company.

[SugarFree]

It's been eight years since you ordered me
Cocked your head to the side and said, "You're greasy."
Eight years since you laughed at me saying,
"Get back together come back and order me."
Eight years since the last slice
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you
Tomorrow you'll order me
but it'll still be two days 'til you shit yourself

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Seriously, fuck you for making me sing that to myself.

[Pope Jimbo]

Great PR move here in Minnesoda.

Delta has offered to give the TSA some of its workers to help the TSA because the TSA is so fucking incompetent.

Someone should give the guy who came up with this idea a bonus. The TSA is about the only organization around that could possibly make Delta workers seem energetic and efficient.

[SusanM]

Not just PR

Delta is also purchasing a 5 percent stake in Clear, a biometric identification technology company that allows users to jump to the front of the TSA PreCheck line. Delta will soon be able to offer a discount to the airline's loyalty program members and its diamond-level customers will get the service for free, Bastian said.

The program is expected to roll out at all Delta's major hubs, including MSP, by the summer.

[John]

Most business travelers fly the same airline because the perks that come with doing so. If it wasn't for TSA, the airlines could do all kinds of things to expedite security for known travelers and both reduce the wait for the rest of us and allow security to concentrate on people who are an actual threat.

[Rich]

concentrate on people who are an actual threat.

The TSA does *better* than that, John.

They concentrate on people who are a *potential* threat.

[commodious spittoon]

But they don't concentrate too hard, judging by their extreme failure rate.

[SusanM]

I'm just saying, is all.

[John]

And you are right. Airlines know their customers and could do a much better job at running security than the government.

[spqr2008]

They just don't want the liability. I'm sure the insurance companies are the main reason we have the TSA, since airlines don't want to have to insure against the incredibly unlikely event of someone crashing an airliner into a building, or deal with the lawsuits arising from it.

[John]

That is a very good point and probably it.

[Rich]

a ... company that allows users to jump to the front of the TSA PreCheck line.

The *company* allows this? I don't think so.

[The Last American Hero]

This Clear thing sounds a little like Scientology.

[Pope Jimbo]

That seems like a silly program. The only thing it gets you out of is the check of your ID. The hold up in the PreCheck line isn't the ID check, it is the physical screening.

I don't see any advantage to Clear that makes $180/yr that much better than $85/5yrs.

[Cdr Lytton]

Depends on the airport. In some with high Pre numbers where even those lines can be long, I believe the Clear customers get escorted right to the front of that Pre line (if you have Pre on your boarding pass). It's not so much competition as Clear+Pre. Clear has also branched out to other venues such as sporting events.

Besides, don't pay $85, get Nexus for $50/5 years & Global Entry to boot.

[John]

It is almost like the evil corporations who run the airlines have an interest in the safety of their customers or something. That can't be true!!

[Pope Jimbo]

You know those evil capitalists would love to install whirling blades in the jetway to puree all their passengers in order to be able to pack more people in. The only reason they don't is because the carry on luggage tends to jam up the blades.

[John]

There is no better business model than killing your customers. Everyone knows that.

[Pope Jimbo]

Say what you want about the idea of killing your customers, you have to admit it cuts down on the number of refunds you have to issue.

[Zeb]

I still like my solution to air security and efficiency. Just heavily sedate the passengers and put them in a box and ship them like cargo. I would totally go for that on any flight over 9 hours.

[Pope Jimbo]

I was just proposing this to a coworker. Just like the shipping containers revolutionized cargo shipping, air capsules would do the same for flights.

No more watching the 100 lb, 5 ft woman try to heave a 200 lb "carry on" bag into the overhead while everyone is backed up. You can take whatever you want in your air capsule. If it fits, great.

My other idea is allowing people to drive their car on a train flatcar. Then when you get to your destination, you can drive off and you are ready to go. My trips to Chicago, Memphis and out west would be awesome if I could do this.

[Zeb]

There are car trains. I think they are closed cars, and I don't know if you can stay in the car. The Eurostar "chunnel" trains have that service and I think there was an Amtrak one on the east coast for a while.

[Tonio]

AmTrak's AutoTrain (DC to Florida with a few stops in between) your automobile is transported with other autos in a car car, humans ride in a passenger car.

[John]

Single sex clubs are okay when we do it. Suck it ladies.

http://www.washingtonexaminer......le/2591056

[The Last American Hero]

If gender is a social construct, then there's no problem, right?

[John]

If I went to Harvard, I would dress up in drag and show up at one of their meetings asking to join. What are they going to say?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

What are they going to say?

You're not butch enough, Sweetie?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

I'm still convinced that Harvard report they used as justification to shut down single sex clubs was fraudulent because such clubs went against Harvard's political ideology. Even their own report says something ridiculously retarded:

"Other than in dormitories, Final Clubs are the single most likely location for a student to experience a sexual assault (as identified from the list of locations given in the survey)"

and

"Nearly one out of every two (47 percent) female College seniors participating in the Final Clubs reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact since entering college ? the highest rate for any of the organizations identified in the survey"

Non-consensual sexual contact is a term so nebulous as to be meaningless. It could mean anything and most of the things it means are so minor that no one should really care.

Secondly, there is more sexual assault in the dorms than in the Final Clubs, per Harvard's own claims. Why not segregate all the dorms then and not allow women and men to be in dorms together after a certain time? I mean, if it's okay to completely police your students in order to prevent phantom rapes, why not go whole hog and turn the school into a giant chaperon?

[SugarFree]

If the Final Clubs don't allow women in them, then how are women being "assaulted" in them?

[DJF]

Your just a trouble maker aren't you, with your facts and your logic?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

Women are allowed to go, they just can't be members. You can bring women to the Finals Club for parties, is my understanding.

[SugarFree]

Ah. I guess that makes more sense.

But still, why would a woman want to live in a rape dorm or be a member of a rape club? Do they want to get in on the rape?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Here I was hoping for some 'Woman in Prison/College' Sugarfree abomination to put me off of my lunch (my new diet plan).

[John]

Someone bumping into you in the hallway is non consensual contact. And you know it is bullshit because they used such a nebulous term. If it were the case that even 10% of Harvard women said they had been groped sexually over their objection, the report would have said so and made a big deal about it. The fact that they use such a meaningless term shows they had no better alternatives.

And I love the "other than the dorms' qualifier. If these clubs are so bad that we have to shut them down, why aren't they shutting down the dorms or going back to a 1950s style sex segregated in loco parantis model? These same people no doubt are all about gender neutral bathrooms and letting people have a "sex positive lifestyle" and so forth. And they admit the dorms, that they made coed and whose environment they created, are the most likely place for a woman to be assaulted. But, they are closing down the single sex clubs. Yeah, that makes sense.

it is all about politics.

[paranoid android]

Why not segregate all the dorms then and not allow women and men to be in dorms together after a certain time? I mean, if it's okay to completely police your students in order to prevent phantom rapes, why not go whole hog and turn the school into a giant chaperon?

Stop it, that kind of talk will get Eddie all hot and bothered.

[Lord Humungus]

I've got a job headhunter after to me to work as a programmer at a local medical manufacturing place.

Pros: 30% bump in pay

Cons: less vacation days, more travel required, and less free time (eg - I often work from home or leave the office early to take care of family stuff).

Apparently the first two workers already in this position were from India and there were some "communication" issues. So I would be third man in.

I've been at my current place for over 14 years, know everyone in my department like a cousin, and have very little management looking over my shoulder. Hard to jump ship, but things haven't exactly been swimming here as we're short-staffed and the IT projects continue to pule on.

I don't need-need the money, but it would certainly help my house redo and hobbies.

[Tonio]

Tough choice, LH. Really comes down to which you value more highly at this point - income or time. But also consider how well you interface with South Asians, how stable you think the recruiting company would be, etc.

[Injun, as in from India]

The travel could be a downer, especially if you have a wife and kids.

As for "communication" issues, was it the Indian head bobbing that confused them?

[DOOMco]

Not an easy choice.

[lap83]

If you've been with the same company for 14 years, you could easily get a bump in pay by moving on,not just with this new company, and you don't necessarily have to sacrifice time off. Or do some research and ask your current employer for a raise based on that

[Rhywun]

we're short-staffed and the IT projects continue to pule on

Job security. Seriously, having "too much" to do is not a problem.

[Loki]

having "too much" to do is not a problem.

It is if you loathe what you do for a living (that's the boat I'm in).

[Rhywun]

Heh yeah that would be different.

I'm in the opposite boat - too little work and fearing layoff.

[Loki]

Pros: 30% bump in pay

Cons: less vacation days, more travel required, and less free time
...
I don't need-need the money, but it would certainly help my house redo and hobbies.

The extra money won't do much good if you don't have time for your house redo and hobbies.

Apparently the first two workers already in this position were from India and there were some "communication" issues.

I don't know, that sounds like a bit of red flag to me. Sure, they claim that the first two people were from India and had "communication issues" but who knows if that's true? Maybe the company treats their people like shit and that's why the first two quit. I suppose one could spin that as a "communication issue" E.g.: "We didn't effectively communicate the fact that we're a horrible company who treats our people like shit and they quit once they figured that out."

I'd suggest doing a lot of research into the company - read employee reviews on indeed.com or glassdoor.com or something - before jumping ship.

[Rhywun]

red flag ... the first two people were from India and had "communication issues" but who knows if that's true?

Good point. The only "communication issues" I have with Indians are those who are still offshore. The many I work with in person in the US I have no issues with at all.

[Lord Humungus]

makes sense -thanks

[Good Chipper]

When I first started working for my current company, I checked out the ratings websites, and found a ton of employees and former employees shitting all over the company. I was worried, but it was a great opportunity, so I had to take it.

Best decision I ever made. This company kicks ass. I have this feeling all of those reviews were written by assholes who didn't want to work or follow orders.

Internet reviews are worthless. We also have customer complaints against my company all over the internet - we're basically a 1-star on every review site out there. If you dig a little deeper, you'll find that the complaints against my company are basically 100% due to "customer didn't read his contract, is pissed that he's expected to fulfill the terms".

[Jerryskids]

"A local medical manufacturing place". If I had a "head-hunter" calling me, I'd be a little suspicious about what exactly they're looking for in a candidate. Did the caller smack his lips a lot and mention anybody named Kang or Kodos?

[Loki]

George Zimmerman, clinging to jerkwad relevancy, is auctioning off the gun he used to kill teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

That's uhm... a little tacky.

[Bra Ket]

I don't think auctions are about trying to stay relevant. More like trying to raise cash.

[Warty]

Yeah, Zim Zam has to be broke by now. His only asset is the fact that he can sell himself being a dick to 4chan.

[John]

He didn't break the law. And that case should have never been a story outside of where it happened. The media assholes ruined the guy's life and made it impossible for him to have any kind of a normal life.

Whatever you think of that case, that is a terrible precedent.

[Zeb]

It's another one of those cases where everyone sucks. When it comes to Trayvon Martin, I hate everyone.

[John]

It is a tragedy. Martin was an idiot who thought that manhood meant confronting anyone who disrespected him. Zimmerman was a cop wannabe who didn't understand the dangers associated with confronting strangers or the consequences of carrying a gun and potentially having to use it.

Zimmerman had the unlucky break of running into someone who was violent and stupid. Martin was violent and stupid and had the unlucky break of running into someone with a gun who was terrified enough to use it. The incident ended Martin's life and ruined Zimmerman's life. And all because two morons got into a pissing match. That is really all there is to it. If Zimmerman had waited for the cops, it doesn't happen. If Martin had just gone to his uncles house and not assaulted Zimmerman, it doesn't happen. What a fucking waste.

[Warty]

Yeah, I agree 100% with you here.

[Domestic Dissident]

Also, Martin was a known juvenile delinquent well on his way to a life of crime. If Zimmerman hadn't killed him, eventually someone else would have, or he would have ended up in prison, guaranteed.

He was already caught once in possession of burglary tools and stolen jewelry, and certainly should have arrested and charged, but wasn't because Miami-Dade school officials quietly passed an edict to treat criminal delinquents like Martin with kid gloves.

[John]

If Zimmerman hadn't had a gun. Martin would have gone down for a serious assault and battery charge. Eventually, Martin would have either killed someone and spent the rest of his life in prison or run into the wrong guy and been killed himself.

[Domestic Dissident]

Not only is Brown a dishonest cunt, she's a stupid dishonest cunt.

Please hire her already Washington Post so we can get her the fuck out of here.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

this is why VP... you know the rest

[Free Society]

On that whole zoning thing I blathered about yesterday. Well yesterday afternoon my wife went to the Mayor's office to inquire about the qualifications to be a on the local zoning board. Apparently they are appointees from the community who volunteer and typically it's an extremely shortlist of people who get their rocks off fucking with other people's property rights. She told the Mayor that she wanted to be on that list. He agreed because they have a hard time finding people for that position. It's been the same crusty old bags of shit for the last few years. So she will be seated at the next term in about 6 months and she plans to approve of every single permit and variance that comes before the committee, provided that it doesn't fuck with anyone's property rights.

I would not describe my wife as a libertarian, but I have been cultivating her hatred of government for about 8 years now. Her hatred of government has grown so much that she's functionally a libertarian by default. This must be what Emperor Palpatine felt like. "Yes, good....let the hate flow through you...yes, now show me your titties my young apprentice.....good..."

[Tonio]

Bore from within!

[Zeb]

Good for her. I have a friend who recently got on the zoning board. He is not what you'd call a libertarian, but he has the right attitude and enjoys approving everyone's projects over the objections of the busy-bodies on the board.

[Free Society]

All it takes is a hatred of busy-bodies, not even necessarily a hatred of government. The two things are usually synonymous though.

[Injun, as in from India]

I have been cultivating her hatred of government for about 8 years now

Me too! I send her all the articles that don't get covered on your average leftist site and shared on your Derpbook feed.

Yes, good....let the hate flow through you...yes, now show me your titties my young apprentice.....good..."

LOL. I need to work on the titties-on-demand thing.

[Loki]

What, you mean you can't get FS's wife to show you her tits on command?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I didn't think anyone would ever be able to get her to stop... Nice work.

[Krapulent Kristen]

I'm doing this with my neighbor...it's fun when someone is open-minded enough to see what you're telling them.

[Ken Shultz]

"The 83-month-old expansion is already the fourth-longest in more than 150 years and starting to show some signs of aging as corporate profits peak and wage pressures build. It also remains vulnerable to a shock because growth has been so feeble, averaging just about 2 percent since the last downturn ended in June 2009."

Yeah, um, any economist who says something like this obviously doesn't know what they're talking about.

We can't have recessions anymore for a number of reasons. For one, the banking industry is much more heavily regulated now than it was before Obama became President. Now that the banks are heavily regulated, there can't be any more recessions. That's what regulating them was all about--preventing future recessions.

In addition to that, we have ObamaCare now--which makes our economy more competitive.

Meanwhile, when we move to a $15 minimum wage nationally, economic growth is expected to really take off.

I know all this because I've heard it all on NPR, repeatedly, over the last eight years, and, obviously, if what economists say conflicts with what we've heard on NPR, then they're basically rednecks and they shouldn't be trusted.

[UnCivilServant]

That's what regulating them was all about--preventing future recessions

By the narrow and very specific technical definition used in the government record keeping.

Meanwhile in real life, we're still recessed.

[Ken Shultz]

You must not be listening to NPR.

[Crusty Juggler]

Are we ready for a gay Disney princess? We may be closer than you think.

I thought we were pretty damn close, though.

[SugarFree]

What was Mulan?

[UnCivilServant]

a straight transvestite.

[SugarFree]

"I don't get a period. I'm a cartoon!"

[Injun, as in from India]

I don't how I feel about this.

Legal support for homosexuality is one thing. Cultural immersion is another.

[Tonio]

But gay people do exist in our society, and were ignored or marginalized for decades. That doesn't obligate society to tell our stories. But it's funny how every time someone wants to include a gay character that the accusations of forced association (or cultural immersion, or whatever) come out.

[paranoid android]

The preferred term is "ramming it down our throats", and how dare you snicker at that phrasing!

[Crusty Juggler]

The preferred term is "ramming it down our throats

It could become the next "culture war of the year of the week" which would be unfortunate.

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm totally okay with it in the media. The good news is that I can tune out if I don't like it (which I do), especially with the fragmentation of the media market.

I don't understand what the long-term cultural implications will be. There is no way of predicting it. We'll find out 40-50 years from now.

[Free Society]

But gay people do exist in our society,

In MUCH smaller numbers and frequencies than is portrayed and believed.

[paranoid android]

In MUCH smaller numbers and frequencies than is portrayed and believed.

What do you mean "portrayed"? By whom? Do you have any kind of numbers to back that assertion?

[Free Society]

What do you mean "portrayed"? By whom?

Media outlets, films, politicians, jackoffs on your facebook feed and activists. Who do you think I meant?

Do you have any kind of numbers to back that assertion?

It's not news that people grossly overestimate the population of gays and trans. It's funny that you're so incredulous about this. Here is one study out of many.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/147.....sbian.aspx

[paranoid android]

No, I mean, I get that people are bad at estimates, I'm just confused as to why you think they're overrepresented in media portrayals (why it would matter if they were is another story).

On any channel, with the possible exception of Bravo (and even then I'm not sure), heterosexual representation will outnumber gay ones at least 99 to 1.

[Free Society]

I'm just confused as to why you think they're overrepresented in media portrayals

Because I have eye balls. Never heard of the North Carolina Bathroomocaust? Totally worth all the fuss because a small fraction of that .05ish% subset of the population has difficulty choosing which shitter to use. How could anyone get the idea that the actual size of that population is bigger than it actually is? That's just crazy talk.

[Zeb]

That's surprising. I would have guessed maybe 5-10% on the high end and I'd believe it was even a little lower for people who are exclusively gay.

[Rhywun]

He means it's getting too gay around here.

[Zeb]

I think it depends a lot on how you measure it. It appears that a significant minority of people are somewhat "curious" or have some kind of homosexual experience at some time in their lives. Many fewer identify as gay and are only interested in partners of the same sex.

[Free Society]

It's nowhere near 1 in 4 people. And that seems to be what people believe given their exposure to the culture war, media portrayals and identity politics.

[Rhywun]

LOL I have never heard anyone seriously propose that number.

Since when do we put any stock in polls, anyway?

[Zeb]

Yeah, the highest I've ever really heard is 10%.

I suppose a lot of TV shows like to put gay characters in. But even there, I don't think many have 1/4 of their characters gay.

Like most polls, that one seems to mostly show that people don't think things through very well.

[Free Society]

Like most polls, that one seems to mostly show that people don't think things through very well.

People believe what they're told. Do you think people in 1920 thought the gay or trans population was as big as people in 2016 think it is? If not, why not?

[Zeb]

But no one has ever been told that 1/4 of the population is gay.

In 1920, of course people thought that gayness was much less common than it is because being openly gay was socially unacceptable and often illegal. People think it is bigger now because they have more information. I'm sure there is also some element of it being pushed in popular culture too. But even in popular culture, representations of gay people isn't close to 25% of who is portrayed.

[Free Society]

But no one has ever been told that 1/4 of the population is gay.

I didn't say they were explicitly told that. My argument is that the (nearly) 1/4 perception is a result of mass cultural influences from the media and the media's amplification of activism.

People think it is bigger now because they have more information.

And not all of it valid. One might argue that there is too much information in that way.

But even in popular culture, representations of gay people isn't close to 25% of who is portrayed.

Again, I didn't say that. The 23-25% is people's perception, it's their takeaway from popular cultural influences. It's the conclusion that people have arrived at, given their outsized exposure.

[Zeb]

I didn't say they were explicitly told that.

You did say "people believe what they are told", implying that people are being told that the gay population is much higher than it is.

[Free Society]

You did say "people believe what they are told", implying that people are being told that the gay population is much higher than it is.

You got me on semantics. Sort of. The difference between implicit and explicit. And yes, people are being implicitly told that the gay population is higher than it is, not specifically the 1/4 figure but they certainly are led down that path however inadvertently. They didn't arrive at that 1/4th conclusion by pure happenstance. If people were fully aware than trans folks make up a mere fraction of a fraction of the population, do you think they'd be shitting the bed over bathrooms in North Carolina? They're being taught that this is the defining struggle of our era.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I think I remember some gay activist claiming it was actually 1 in 3 and that is just seemed lower because people deny it, even to themselves.

[UnCivilServant]

The source makes me suspect the claim is bogus. Kind of like feminists climing a 1 in 4 rape rate. It doesn't even come close to sounding credible.

[Free Society]

Kind of like feminists climing a 1 in 4 rape rate

And yet the 1 in 4 rape rate on college campuses has become conventional wisdom that is accepted at face value by a huge proportion of people exposed to that propaganda.

[UnCivilServant]

That doesn't make it any less of a lie.

[Free Society]

That doesn't make it any less of a lie.

I'm not sure what you're arguing. Did I say that the popular perceptions are true and valid?

[Zeb]

Which claim? In the survey, they only claims are about people's perceptions. No actual research has ever suggested any number nearly that high.

[commodious spittoon]

What do you mean, marginalized? What about all those musicals?

[Injun, as in from India]

Tonio - sorry if I offended you man.

[Enough About Palin]

Cultural immersion is another.

Queer fatigue.

[Tonio]

I would think a gay prince would be more likely. And there were broad hints that one of the male suitors in Brave was totally not into girls and was just going through the motions because his family expected it of him.

[Idle Hands]

and you can't tell me there wasn't a vibe emitting from a couple of those 7 dwarfs.

[Loki]

A couple? I think Grumpy was the only one who was straight. Why else do you think he was so grumpy? You'd be pretty grumpy too if you had live with 6 homosexual midgets constantly trying to have their way with you. /sarc

[Crusty Juggler]

Some Disney fans argued on Twitter that it would have been a huge help for them to see gay characters in movies when they were young ? that they might have become more sensitive and accepting towards gay peers, or better able to grapple with their own sexuality. Studies have suggested that seeing gay characters in popular entertainment can decrease prejudice towards those groups.

"There is no doubt that kids seeing positively portrayed gay characters could have a significant effect that would contribute to such children's learning about the world and who is in it," said Edward Schiappa, a professor of comparative media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Agreed. I grew up with Bert and Ernie, and I love the gays.

[Injun, as in from India]

Gay folks here - what's the difference in homosexuality in men and women?

It is my understanding that with men, it's basically hard-wired. But with women, it's more of a choice, especially with an emotional instead of a physical element? Is that right?

[Suell]

Let me posit that query to the burly woman with a crew cut and extensive arm tats including a pink triangle that I see at the local coffee shop scowling from behind her laptop.

[Rhywun]

with women, it's more of a choice

I think what you're really perceiving is that society is somewhat more accepting of it from women, and therefore you see more women "experimenting".

BTW it is no less an emotional component with gay men than it is with straight men. There's this persistent idea out there that gays are just guys who haven't "found the right woman" yet.

[Zeb]

Purely anecdotal, but among people I personally know, gay women seem more likely to switch back and forth.

[Injun, as in from India]

See Trump-supporting gay guy Nero's tweet. He pissed off a lot of people with this one tweet:

I don't believe in lesbianism. Not really. It's not a sexuality, just something to do between bad relationships.

[commodious spittoon]

Who could possibly take offense with that? Women can do anything they put their mind to.

[Zeb]

In my experience, that's not it either. They seem to have equally bad relationships with both men and women.

[Injun, as in from India]

It's shows like "Orange is the new black" I was insinuating to, where the woman tells her boyfriend that she was once a lesbian, but not anymore. Or Bill de Blasio's wife. One of my acquaintances was that way too - she was a dyke, and then she met a guy and is now a married mom. Hence the question.

As for guys, the gay men I know are simply not attracted to women. So there is no question of finding the right woman.

[Krapulent Kristen]

Who cares?

[lap83]

Why does entertainment have to be socially responsible?

[Zeb]

I'm ready for Disney to stop ding princesses. How about teaching children that monarchy is weird, anachronistic and wrong? If you want to challenge traditional gender roles, why do it in a context that is all about archaic tradition?

[Free Society]

Monarchy is wrong, just less wrong than democracy. What it does have going for it is it's ostensible rooting in property rights, except in this case it's the private ownership of a protection racket. Better than public ownership for more than a few reasons.

[Zeb]

I suppose it depends on the monarchy. The British style of limited monarchy had a lot of property rights built in. Some others, not so much.

[Zeb]

And when you say "democracy" do you mean a democratic republic or more pure democracy?

I certainly don't think democracy is a virtue in itself.

[Free Society]

And when you say "democracy" do you mean a democratic republic or more pure democracy?

I mean suffrage, the more broad and universal the suffrage, and the larger the electorate, the worse it is. Three people on a desert island voting on how to use scarce resources is one thing, that's basic conflict avoidance. Millions of people on a continent voting how to use everyone else's resources is another thing, that's a basis for conflict.

I certainly don't think democracy is a virtue in itself.

Correct. It's just a decision making mechanism for groups, that says nothing about the legitimacy of said group existing as a single group or making decisions by such means in the first place.

[Free Society]

I suppose it depends on the monarchy.

The smaller the better, the less suffrage the better. If your property were a sovereign territory, you would functionally be a prince. It wouldn't be justice that some people move into your backyard and take a vote on who gets to sleep in the master bedroom. Those people who move into your backyard, were they to elect a temporary caretaker (president), that person will be less interested in preserving the capital value of the property unlike a yourself who has an incentive to maintain the value so you can sell it or pass it on to your family, things which a temporary caretaker cannot do. The caretaker then, has every reason to consume as much capital value as possible before it gets turned over to the next temporary caretaker or at the very least no reason not to neglect the capital value altogether.

[Zeb]

OK, I see what you mean. I don't think that describes any monarchies that have existed in recent history or what Disney presents in princess movies. But I do agree that what you describe there would be good. I'm not sure that's what most people are thinking of when they hear "monarchy" though.

[Free Society]

Monarchies, like all states, have a tendency towards centralization of power. They undergo the same sort of institutional entropy that all states experience, but at a slower rate with lesser severity. And even the monarchies that have existed in recent history (think pre-WWI), tax rates were remarkably lower, central banks had much less ability to manipulate currency, legislation was less frequent, legislation was less far reaching in it's scope and warfare was more limited in it's totality. Recent democracies have a much worse track record on all of those counts. The age of democracy does not represent the advancement of civilization, the age of democracy constitutes a regression of civilizing influences.

[Zeb]

The US had all of those things as a constitutional republic pre-WWI as well. I'm not so sure it has so much to do with the form of government as it does with the fact that before the 20th century, things were just a lot more decentralized largely for practical reasons. I'm not so sure that a monarchy with modern communication and surveillance capabilities and a modern police force would be any better than any of the alternatives.

Whatever it is, here we are. You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube.

[Free Society]

The US had all of those things as a constitutional republic pre-WWI as well.

The US was slipping down a slope after the Alien and Sedition Act and even faster during the Civil War. The US also had a distinct culture of limited government and respect for constitutionalism that they directly inherited from English common law that their ancestors had lived under many generations prior.

I'm not so sure that a monarchy with modern communication and surveillance capabilities and a modern police force would be any better than any of the alternatives.

I don't want to debate non-factuals, anything could conceivably happen or not happen in an alternate universe. What remains unchallenged, the preservation and promotion of capital value and diminished capital consumption under private property is unquestionably better than under public property, even when the property in question is an unethical protection racket. I'm not saying monarchy=good, I'm saying monarchy=less bad than the present alternative.

[Free Society]

I have no problem with homosexuality, but if they dike up Frozen, I will not be telling my daughter about that movie's existence. I refuse to let this latest culture battle be waged on her little psyche.

[Suell]

They won't stop until we are at Ancient Greek levels of homo.

[Loki]

Ancient Greek levels of homo

Athens, or Sparta?

[Jerryskids]

A gay Disney princess is supposed to be some big deal? What about the pedophile guy flying around in tights snatching kids out of their beds, luring them off to some magical "adventure land", hanging out with a group of "lost boys", a boatload of seamen and a fairy? That doesn't seem a little "out there" to you?

[DEG]

Hassan claims cops involved in beating will be "full investigated"

Warning: auto-play video

While a handful of people on the ground saw what unfolded, thousands more watched it on television, as news helicopters hovered overhead.

"They all stepped out of their cars, and he just surrendered, and all of the sudden, you just saw all the cops start beating up on him and stuff," a witness said.

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan said the arrest will be fully investigated.

"The footage from yesterday raises serious concerns," Hassan said in a statement Thursday. She added that an investigation is "important and appropriate."

The Attorney General's office is working to determine which officers were involved and what departments they are from.

Sure. I won't hold my breath.

Best video I've seen of the beating so far

[Crusty Juggler]

That is really bad. He must have been a huge threat while laying on his stomach.

[Idle Hands]

I'm kind of shocked they didn't let the dog loose on him while he was on his stomach.

[Zeb]

On that evidence alone, they should all be in jail now awaiting trial. How hard is it to determine who was in the video?

[Free Society]

"The footage from yesterday raises serious concerns"

She says it like it's not a clear cut, text book, iron clad and inarguable example of excessive force. Of course.

[Zeb]

Hassan is absolutely terrible.

[Loki]

You mean the Free State Project hasn't managed to turn NH into Libertopia yet? /sarc

[Zeb]

All the masshole transplants ruin it for everyone. A decent number of FSP related people have been elected to the legislature.

[DEG]

All the masshole transplants ruin it for everyone.

That's part of the reason I didn't vote for NH when it was time to vote.

[Zeb]

I was glad they chose NH because this is where I want to live and it can't hurt. But I don't expect libertopia anytime soon. The character of the more populous areas of the state has changed too much over the past few decades.

[DEG]

I haven't liked snow for a long time, since before I moved to NH. I decided to put up with it because I thought "Live Free or Die" meant something. I found out pretty quickly it doesn't. So, I will leave. The question is, when are the jobs not lucrative enough to put up with snow.

[DEG]

There's another reason beyond the influx of MA refugees that the Free State Project will have an uphill battle. The Puritan culture that dominates much of New England is not conducive to freedom. New Hampshire has less of the Puritan culture than Massachusetts, but it exists in New Hampshire and existed before any influx from MA.

[Jerryskids]

"The footage from yesterday raises serious concerns," Hassan said in a statement Thursday. She added that an investigation is "important and appropriate."

They're even now investigating the seriously disconcerting violation of the professional courtesy rules regarding the TV news crews not airing these sorts of videos. Why was this sort of thing allowed to be filmed and who allowed the film to be broadcast? They're going to get to the bottom of this outrage, I'm sure.

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