Obama Pushes Massive Overtime-Pay Expansion, Judge Strikes Down D.C. Gun Law, No Drama (and No Fun) In Trump/Kelly Interview: A.M. Links

• 

  screenshot/Fox News

  A federal judge Tuesday said D.C. can't require residents to provide a "good reason" for wanting to carry a gun before obtaining a concealed-carry permit. 

• Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic primary battle in Oregon yesterday, while Hillary Clinton took Kentucky.  
• The American Law Institute voted against endorsing an affirmative consent standard for sex law outside academia.
• The Megyn Kelly interview with Donald Trump that aired last night was kind of a snooze.
• Polling shows Americans are pessimistic about the economy, but two-thirds feel OK about their own household finances. 
• Pregnant women are still being shackled while they give birth in Massachusetts prisons.
• The Department of Labor's proposed regulations regarding overtime pay are "among the most outrageously destructive actions by the Obama administration," writes Jeffrey Tucker. 
• Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is making the comedy podcast circuit this week, talking to Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan:

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Comments

[Bee Tagger]

Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is making the comedy podcast circuit this week

As guest or target?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Ba dum tiss.

Links! Actual links! I was so worried!

[CharlesWT]

Links at last! Links at last! Thank God Almighty! Links at last!

[Crusty Juggler]

Say what you will about ENB, but she always provides on-time links. Sure, her alt text is lacking, but no one is perfect.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

(alt text) ssst... Hey. Hey Donald... This time don't say anything about her bleed hole [the hair speaks]

[gaoxiaen]

Maybe she shaves. And puts out if she can benefit.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Links, links, baby. Bum-bum-bum, bada, bum-bum.

[Rocinante]

Vanilla Links

[gaoxiaen]

+1 MOVE/ Philadelphia

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Oh look. AM links. Does it include the PM LINKS FROM LAST NIGHT?

/crosses arms.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

I watched Robby swig from his cocktail, fluff up his hair, and cackle with glee when Slade read him the comments on her post lamenting the lack of links.

Or something like that, anyway

[AlmightyJB]

Lol

[Citizen X]

ENB, let me just say that your willingness to pile on Robby is part of what makes this site so special. Thank you.

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

DON'T YOU DARE DEMEAN MY LIVED EXPERIENCE!

[Jerryskids]

Don't demean it? We all shared your livid experience.

[AlmightyJB]

Of course everyone bitches but then when they get their AM links it barely breaks 300 comments.

[UnCivilServant]

It's past 500 now. The progression looks pretty normal for an AM links.

[Crusty Juggler]

We all know the truth: Robby was so distracted by his Milo persona that he forgot to switch back to the Robby persona and provide us with the links.

[AlmightyJB]

Milo looked down upon the wallowed masses of the link deprived and said "Let them eat deep dish pie".

[bacon-magic]

I'm glad someone agrees with my observation. Has anyone seen Milo and Robby at the same cocktail party?

[gaoxiaen]

Mama, But We're All Crazy Now.

[Bee Tagger]

The Megyn Kelly interview with Donald Trump that aired last night was kind of a snooze.

THEY SLEPT TOGETHER?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

These PM Links are sure late.

[PBR Streetgang]

heh

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm boycotting links altogether until we get last night's PM Links. WHO'S WITH ME?

[UnCivilServant]

piss off. PM Lynx don't matter.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Do I really need to say? All links matter.

[Rich]

Ahem.

#BlackLinksMatter

[gaoxiaen]

PM Lynx matter when you live in Taiwan and they're actually your AM Lynx.

[UnCivilServant]

So what are you doing up at this hour?

[gaoxiaen]

To be "enjoyed" with your morning coffee.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I've already had my coffee. I'll have to "enjoy" you another day.

[gaoxiaen]

I'm a day ahead of you , according the International Date Line.

[gaoxiaen]

PM Lynx are my AM Lynx here in Taiwan. They're my AM Lynx with my morning coffee.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Wait, were you not just pwned by Bee Tagger? Is there some reason the regulars are letting you off the hook?

[Fist of Etiquette]

They respect my boycotting stances.

[UnCivilServant]

No we don't.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh, don't be modest.

[straffinrun]

Forgot the space after boy.

[AlmightyJB]

Why were you not first?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Know what bothers me about the PM links?

The cover up.

/softly plays melancholy tune on violin.

[gaoxiaen]

Is it pumping purple piss?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Pregnant women are still being shackled while they give birth in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts correctional officers sure have some weird fetishes. That's the only reason they'd be doing this, because we know it has nothing to do with security.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Also, for the love of god, don't read the comments to this article unless you feel like putting a fist through whatever device you're reading this on.

[Hamster of Doom]

Someone's wife once did some serious damage at 9 cm dilated.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

+1 speculum play

[Renegade Jew]

Someone's wife

Let me guess. Your husband's?

[Hamster of Doom]

I swear the worst I ever did was throw a doctor from the room. And not bodily either. My MIL says I took a swing at my husband, but I don't remember it.*

*This does not actually mean a punch was not thrown.

[Clich? Bandit]

drugs...you should look into them.

[BigT]

I still sport scars on my arms from the birth of our first.

Men, trim your lady's nails.

[Tonio]

Bring this up the next time some masshole goes off about how progressive their state is.

[straffinrun]

Sounds perfectly progressive to me.

[SugarFree]

If they weren't shackled they'd go get those late-late-late-term abortions that are supposedly so common.

[Bee Tagger]

"among the most outrageously destructive actions by the Obama administration," writes Jeffrey Tucker.

Yeah, but what about that Trump guy, you know?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Getting 'that Trump guy' elected is going to be 'among the most outrageously destructive actions by the Obama administration'.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm thinking of directing porn, says Sarandon

Female directors make sex on screen more interesting, Susan Sarandon has claimed, as she sets her sights on making the pornography industry more acceptable to women.

The Oscar-winning actress said that female directors were less embarrassed about exploring the reason people have sex and "what the scene is supposed to tell you about these people".

Sarandon was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, which has often been overshadowed by accusations of sexism. There is annual criticism of the low number of female directors, and last year it emerged that festival organisers demanded that women attending red-carpet events had to wear

something something time warp again!

[RBS]

the reason people have sex

The guy delivered a pizza and the blonde with the double d's had a couple of glasses of wine before he got there.

[straffinrun]

I'm having sex right now and have no idea why.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Your hand was bored?

[gaoxiaen]

+1 lawsuit for sexual harassment. The DPP Takes power tomorrow.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Sarandon porn would truly prove rule 34.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

White Palace was made in 1990.

James Spader was still young, as was Bobarian, and was the last time someone who was not Crusty wanted to see Susan nude.

[Crusty Juggler]

She is almost seventy and she still looks pretty good. She also recently posed for one of my favorite photos with her son. TW: 69-year-old cleavage.

Heh. 69.

[This Machine]

Heh heh, cleavage at the sag awards, heh.

[straffinrun]

🙂 3

[Crusty Juggler]

Heh.

[Idle Hands]

The Oscar-winning actress said that female directors were less embarrassed about exploring the reason people have sex and "what the scene is supposed to tell you about these people".

The desire to breed and continue the species base on thousands of years of evolution?

[Citizen X]

Because it feels awesome on one's fancy bits?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

My bits are not that fancy.

[Citizen X]

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

More kibble than bits.

[Zeb]

Yes, that's what people are thinking about and desiring when they have sex.

[Idle Hands]

I'm just asking the question in hopes a woman(possibly Susan Surandon) has an answer to my inquiry. My natural curiosity is the whole reason I watch nugget porn.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Do I want to know what nugget porn is?

[RBS]

I think it is when the chick doesn't have arms or legs.

[Florida Hipster]

You think? You KNOW that's what it is.

[Crusty Juggler]

Nugget porn is not when you send a distant relative down to McDonald's to pick up a ten-pack to give to an even more distant relative who strategically inserts them inside of you and the not-so-distant relative, all while watching the The Fall Guy. That is something completely different.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That is 'Nugget Fetish Porn'.

And Crusty completely left out the part about what the dipping sauces are used for.

[Crusty Juggler]

That is 'Nugget Fetish Porn'.

You are so stupid. A "nugget fetish" is the simple desire to schtup a Denver Nugget. Don't make it weird.

[Butts Wagner]

Fat Lever?

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

Don't be fatuous, Susan.

[Roger the Shrubber]

I watch porn for the gripping plotlines.

[PBR Streetgang]

These euphemisms!

[gaoxiaen]

+1 Linda Lovelace... er... -1 Linda Lovelace

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Sarandon does have that 70s/80s porn look to her.

She should direct herself.

[Tom Bombadil]

I hope she addresses the gender wage gap in the porn industry.

[Renegade Jew]

"what the scene is supposed to tell you about these people"

That they have flexible anuses and ejaculate a great deal? That's deep, man.

[If-by-whiskey]

Fuck, that was funny..

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's just a jump to the left!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The American Law Institute voted against endorsing an affirmative consent standard for sex law outside academia.

"Privileged Men Vote to Make It Harder to Convict Themselves of the Rapes They've Most Assuredly Committed"---Jezebel headline

[R C Dean]

Thank Allah for that. Of course, that this would even be seriously considered and make it out of committee is, itself, a sign of rot.

[Pat (PM)]

Probably old but...

Virginia congressional candidate forgets to close porn tabs while blasting rival on Facebook

ARLINGTON, Va. ? A congressional candidate running for a seat in Virginia appears to have shared a little too much about his browsing habits by posting an embarrassing screenshot to his official Facebook page.

Mike Webb, who is running as an independent after losing the Republican primary, posted several screenshots Monday morning and appears to have included several Yahoo tabs from X-rated sites. Pages with the titles "Ivone Sexy Amateur" and "Layla Rivera Tight" were both open, along with an AT&T bill pay page.

[Idle Hands]

he has my vote, but definitely not my taste in women.

[Citizen X]

He still uses Yahoo? That makes me think less about him more so than the porn.

Heh.

[Bee Tagger]

D.C. can't require residents to provide a "good reason" for wanting to carry a gun before obtaining a concealed-carry permit.

How about a bad reason?

[WTF]

New Jersey, however, is still allowed to do so. Because FYTW.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Is "I like guns" a good reason?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I think so.

[Cdr Lytton]

FYTW is also a good reason.

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

you know, for a law that says reason....

[Hamster of Doom]

The American Law Institute voted against endorsing an affirmative consent standard for sex law outside academia.

Sex law. Just let that one roll around your tongue*, y'all. Sex. Law. Laws to regulate sex. Because what difference, at this point, does it make, amirite?

*Not like your tongue will have permission to be doing anything else.

[Rich]

Sex law! Sex law! You're a sex law!"

[RBS]

Ha! Beat me to it.

[Chipwooder]

I think Beck is appropriate here

[CPRM]

I would have gone with Beck's 'Sexx Laws', but Tom Jones is always a good listen.

[Cdr Lytton]

Wow. That song is almost 20 years old. I feel old.

[Zeb]

It does have a creepy sound to it. But laws against rape and other sexual assaults certainly fall into the category. I'm pretty sure those are a good thing.

[Florida Hipster]

I guess you could argue rape falls under battery so it doesn't need a special law.

[R C Dean]

That's just rape-rape. "Sex law" is about criminalizing, well, sex.

[Zeb]

Is that what the American Law Institute means when they say "sex law"? I would have thought it was just laws pertaining to sexual conduct. Some of which are certainly appropriate (though as Florida man points out, it could be covered by a general assault/battery law).

[Rich]

Pregnant women are still being shackled while they give birth in Massachusetts.

Of course, after giving birth they are completely free.

("This wedding ring is cutting off my circulation!"

"Well, isn't that basically the idea?")

[Bee Tagger]

but two-thirds feel OK about their own household finances.

I'm supposed to believe that many people lifted their mattresses while on the phone?

[Jerryskids]

The real take-away from most of these sorts of poll results is that somebody is doing a good job of feeding you misinformation. When everybody says they're worried about some problem that doesn't actually personally affect them, it's a problem that doesn't affect anybody and yet somehow everybody thinks it affects everybody. If you ask people if they think X is a big problem and then ask them if X is a big problem for them personally, there should be some correlation between the numbers there. I suspect there's a hell of a lot of this sort of disconnect between perception and reality in people who regularly watch the news and see all the crime and violence and horrible things going on in the world and don't quite grasp the fact that it's only on the news because it's something unusual and not because it's so commonplace.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That many are fully stocked up on ammo and dry goods?

I need to get to work.

[Lord Humungus]

This is the fascinating reason women have evolved to become bisexual

After discovering that women were more fluid with their sexuality, experts began to debate why this is the case.

Dr Kanazawa believes that women have had to evolve to deal with the experience of men having more than one partner.

He claimed: "Even though humans have been mildly polygynous throughout evolutionary history, polygynous marriages are often characterized by conflict and tension among co-wives.

"I propose that occasional sex among cowives may have reduced such conflict and tension, and increased their reproductive success.

"Female sexual fluidity may have evolved as an adaptation to facilitate it."

[RBS]

I propose that occasional sex among cowives may have reduced such conflict and tension, and increased their reproductive success.

Soon to be a feature length film directed by Susan Sarandon.

[Swiss Servator]

*polite applause*

[WTF]

Nah, her version would have one wife and a bunch of co-husbands. Because you gotta fight the Patriarchy.

[Medical Physics Guy]

But what does Roosh think?

[Swiss Servator]

Just wait, Longtorso will be along to let us know...

[Shirley Knott]

This is really pretty stupid -- traits do not 'evolve' in order to meet certain ends.
Evolution 'selects' certain traits that appear in a population based on breeding success.

It's sad when purported experts use the language of intent to describe the results of an unguided process.

[Rich]

Are you disputing the word of an expert in *evolutionary psychology*?!

[UnCivilServant]

Always.

I'd double check the claim that water is wet from someone with their head so far up their ass as to be regarded as an expert in that field

[Zeb]

Evolutionary psychology is always going to be mostly "just so" stories. But it's certainly an interesting to think about. I don't know where that leaves it as an academic discipline. But I don't think it's something that people shouldn't think about, even if you can't have much scientific certainty about your theories.

[Zeb]

That's true and it always sticks out to me as well. Evolution is just stuff that happens, not a process moving toward some goal or end. I'd even say that saying "evolution selects certain traits" assigns too much agency to evolution. Evolution is the fact that certain traits are associated with more reproductive success and so are more likely to be passed on the subsequent generations.

But good luck getting people to talk about it that way.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

To be fair, the 2nd to last sentence does hit that point.

[Zeb]

I'm sure that people in the field understand the distinction. But always using language that implies some deliberate end to evolution gives casual readers the wrong idea.

[Jerryskids]

Well, to be fair, the "reason" the trait evolved appears to be idle speculation on the part of this "scientist". Speculating as to why something may be so is not a reason and just pulling idea out of your ass is not science. But notice it's the headline writers who seem to think theories are conclusions.

[gaoxiaen]

Cool!

[arbitrary wavefunction]

This article is awful. First of all, it's a review. Not a study. The primary study cited by the review (as cited in the article) is basically just a self-identification questionnaire asking are you "100% straight, somewhere in the middle or 100% gay." Women being more open to describing themselves as somewhat fluid is way more likely to be a product of the current social environment than any kind of real evolutionary process.

[R C Dean]

women have had to evolve to deal with the experience of men having more than one partner.

That seems backwards to me. If one man is servicing more than one woman, its not the women who are lacking for opposite-sex partners, its the (other) men. Assuming, of course, that women don't also have more than one partner.

[Rasilio]

Err given that bisexuality is heavily prevalent in our cousins the Bonobo's I suspect this "Dr" hasn't got the slightest fucking clue what they are talking about.

FAR more likely is that it evolved as an adaptation to allow large groups of women to get along with each other while all of the men of the tribe are gone for 3 days running a Mastodon to death

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The long and ugly history of gender-segregated restrooms

Public restrooms ? and, perhaps even more strongly so, locker rooms ? have always operated in the cultural imagination as sites of strict gender roles and compulsive heterosexuality. With the notable exception of Ally McBeal, a '90s Fox sitcom about a law firm centered upon a unisex bathroom (which, instead of normalizing the concept, arguably made a conservative case for restroom gender segregation), popular culture has long established tropes associated with each restroom. The men's room is a place for aggressive macho posturing, bullying the weak, and artfully avoiding eye contact; women's rooms, meanwhile, are hyper-feminine places for girls to get primped, gossip, cry, and avoid boys ? boys who, in turn, fantasize about what goes on behind the closed girls' room door. A number of '80s teen movies, from Pretty in Pink to Porky's to Fame, include scenes (which have inspired countless others) involving guys attempting to see into or enter the girls' bathroom ? and they either play the attempt for laughs or treat deeply creepy peeping Tom behavior with a cavalier "boys will be boys" shrug. While queer men in bathrooms are a threat, straight men are just guys doing what guys do.

There's too much, I just can't...

[Pat (PM)]

The men's room is a place for aggressive macho posturing, bullying the weak, and artfully avoiding eye contact; women's rooms, meanwhile, are hyper-feminine places for girls to get primped, gossip, cry, and avoid boys ? boys who, in turn, fantasize about what goes on behind the closed girls' room door.

Now I feel kind of bad for only pissing and shitting in them for the last 30 years.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

C'mon, admit it. You've bullied the local pointdexter for his pitiful attempts to overflow the toilet.

[gaoxiaen]

I don't.

[Libertarian]

"Most men in Dayton or Huntsville do not lounge around in the morning in their pajamas, with or without built-in footpads, drinking hot chocolate and scanning health-insurance policies. That our elites either think they do, or think the few that matter do, explains why a nation $20 trillion in debt envisions the battle over transgender restrooms as if it were Pearl Harbor."

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....-menagerie

[Zeb]

Well, nobody does that. It was a piece of propaganda.

[SugarFree]

This article is idiotic, even for Buzzfeed.

boys who, in turn, fantasize about what goes on behind the closed girls' room door.

Nude women. Why would any boy want to see something like that? I can't even.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

One thought:

Porky's.

[Crusty Juggler]

Kim Cattrall's fourth-best.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Would definitely stick a sweaty sock in her mouth.

[Citizen X]

Women poop and pee and fart and bleed from their wherevers in women's rooms. Some dudes are into that but i'd rather preserve some mystique, you know?

[DesigNate]

Paging Crusty!

[Renegade Jew]

The men's room is a place for aggressive macho posturing, bullying the weak, and artfully avoiding eye contact

I thought it was for Jesse and glory holes. Huh.

[R C Dean]

compulsive heterosexuality

Nope. Not seeing it. Sex segregation =/= heterosexuality. See, e.g., the bathhouse culture pre-AIDS. Totally gay, and sex-segregated.

[Zeb]

The only kind of, sort of, maybe point I can see in there is to ask if the reason for separate bathrooms has anything to do with sex (as in sexual attraction, not biological sex), then the existence of gay people undermines the argument. If the reason not to have men in the ladies room is the potential for sexual funny business, doesn't the same apply to gay people in the "correct" bathroom?

[Azathoth!!]

Yes. It does.

You may recall that the country took a wide stance on this issue previously.

There are complaints about people cruising public restrooms now--or had you forgotten?

[R C Dean]

The men's room is a place for aggressive macho posturing, bullying the weak, and artfully avoiding eye contact;

Outside of high school, I have never seen any of this in a men's bathroom or locker room. Except, possibly, avoiding eye contact in locker rooms while the other guy's junk is swinging in the breeze.

It would be hard to get more stupidly stereotypical than this.

[DesigNate]

I didn't even see this in high school.

Sounds to me like the author has some fantasies of their own about what happens in men's rooms.

[ant1sthenes]

I'm guessing the author hasn't made it out of high school yet.

[Rhywun]

queer men in bathrooms are a threat

Tremble before my queerity, macho-men.

[Injun, as in from India]

The Department of Labor's proposed regulations regarding overtime pay are "among the most outrageously destructive actions by the Obama administration," writes Jeffrey Tucker.

Is there anything different to expect from these scumbags?

[Rhywun]

Employers do not have a secret closet stuffed with cash to which they have been denying workers access.

Pish tosh!

[R C Dean]

If they don't, they're doin' it wrong.

[Hamster of Doom]

Polling shows Americans are pessimistic about the economy, but two-thirds feel OK about their own household finances.

They're own decisions are all right, it's all you other buggers who are out of control and causing this mess.

[Hamster of Doom]

Their.

/edits

[Lord Humungus]

You Can Finally Lick Your Cat With This Innovative Pet Brush

Have you been struggling to bond with your feline? Well, here's some good news for you because now you can get closer to your cat by acting like one with this Licki Brush. This innovative solution lets you brush your furry-friend by licking it like a cat would. Your cat will love it!

How does it work? The brush is shaped like a giant tongue that you simply need to put inside your mouth and?you can lick-brush your cat. While it may as well be a joke product, it does have its own website and a Kickstarter campaign coming soon, so it just might be real.

[Hamster of Doom]

Struggling to bond with your cat? Have you tried feeding it? I don't understand the problem here.

[Libertarian]

I always get a kick out of dog owners who say their dogs love them "unconditionally." Yeah, sure, quit feeding them and see if they stick around.*

*I've been to dog shows and cat shows. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I find dog owners the odder of the two.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Dog shows goers are a small subset of dog owners. I think dog shows are fun, if you are there to watch. Going through the effort of entering and competing, though, definitely raises your oddness quotient.

[Jerryskids]

Dog show dog owners are dog owners who wish they had a cat. Or a Barbie doll. Mr. Tinkums does not like playing dress-up because he's a damn dog. He wants to roll around on a dead bloated possum and then fuck it. Quit making him act like a high-rent fancyboy - the other dogs are laughing at him and giving him swirlies and stealing his lunch money every time you turn your back.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Yeah, sure, quit feeding them and see if they stick around"

Dogs are weird. They've evolved with humans for long enough that they instinctively look to humans for food. Stop feeding your dog and it will likely stick around you even more, begging and trying to get you to give it food.

[R C Dean]

Not an experiment I'm going to try, but here's the thing about cats:

They'll leave even if you are feeding them.

Dogs are pack animals, wired to bond with their pack and bred to include humans as pack members.

Cats are solitary animals, wired to bond with, well, nobody.

[Animal]

"But the Cat keeps his side of the bargain too. He will kill mice and he will be kind to Babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone."

[Chipwooder]

Exactly. Half of the time my dogs spend with me are occupied by them whining for food. You'd think I'm starving them.

No, I'm not starving them, assholes.

[Rhywun]

Have you tried feeding it?

Yup. Most of their behavior revolves around food - acquiring it, protecting it, washing the smell off when they're done...

[Rich]

"Have you been struggling to bond with your canine? Well, here's some good news for you because now you can get closer to your dog by acting like one with this Asshole Sniffi Nose Attachment."

[Swiss Servator]

Great....now SugarFree has one more....plot device.

[Rich]

"Why does SugarFree write stuff like that?"

"Because he CAN."

[Florida Hipster]

I thought it was becaus he has a great big hole in the middle of him he can fill.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

he has a great big hole in the middle of him he can never fill.

Where the sleeping gods lie.

FTFY

[Renegade Jew]

I love licking pussy. This should be under my Hannukah bush.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

You know, there ARE libertarian women who read these threads contrary to what the macho morons say around here.

[UnCivilServant]

And if they couldn't handle crass "humor", they wouldn't be here.

[Lord Humungus]

White Knight Alert!

/I keed

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That's why we neg em.

[Elspeth Flashman]

And they are offended how? I love a man who loves the kitty.

[Gilbert Martin]

"The Department of Labor's proposed regulations regarding overtime pay are "among the most outrageously destructive actions by the Obama administration," writes Jeffrey Tucker."

What I want to know is what authority the administration has to unilaterally make this change.

[WTF]

The "congress and the courts are just going to roll over again" authority.

[Rhywun]

Section F, Paragraph Y, Subsection T, Clause W of the Social Contract.

[R C Dean]

A statute that outlaws sex discrimination becomes a statute that outlaws gender discrimination, because (according to the activists) sex and gender and completely different things.

And at least one court has already bought off on this.

[CE]

So the exempt salary level was last changed by Congress 20 some years ago.... how can it be changed now without Congress doing it? This isn't some rule interpretation or safety regulation requiring immediate administrative action, it's a substantive policy question.

The rule of law is dead and buried. Obama was a pallbearer.

[Pat (PM)]

Majority in U.S. Support Idea of Fed-Funded Healthcare System

Story Highlights

58% favor replacing the ACA with federally funded healthcare system
About half would also be OK with keeping the ACA as is
Separate question shows that just over half would favor repealing the ACA

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Presented with three separate scenarios for the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 58% of U.S. adults favor the idea of replacing the law with a federally funded healthcare system that provides insurance for all Americans. At the same time, Americans are split on the idea of maintaining the ACA as it is, with 48% in favor and 49% opposed. The slight majority, 51%, favor repealing the act.

[Idle Hands]

This shit sandwich is terrible and in such small portions.

[Injun, as in from India]

Did the federal government fail?
YES!

Should we let it make an even bigger failure?
YES!

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Laugh but this is EXACTLY the bizarre mindset people have where *free* universal crap is concerned.

Here, you have all these hospitals struggling under budgetary constraints while being at the mercy of bureaucrats. A solution to problems like chronic long wait times, waste, corruption and lack of equipment is...TO BUILD AN EVEN BIGGER HOSPITAL under the exact same system that creates the mess. And just so we're clear this time it'll be *different* they call it a SUPER HOSPITAL.

I am convinced a blob with its retarded cis-gendered partner behind the scenes takes these decisions. No human with a functional, non-concussed brain could A) devise such a plan or B) support it.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

There are not enough faces and palms in the world...

[The Last American Hero]

What percentage support paying for such a system?

[Injun, as in from India]

Wrong question. The right question is:

What percentage support the Koch brothers paying for such a system?

[Ken Shultz]

"Polling shows Americans are pessimistic about the economy, but two-thirds feel OK about their own household finances."

Meanwhile, the yield curve is as flat as it's been since 2007.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/go.....1463493631

[CE]

Americans should stop listening to the news. My life has been much happier and more productive since I have.

[Lord Humungus]

Walmart Theft Suspect Told Cops She Was 'Too Lazy' To Pay For Stolen Sex Toys

Therasa Prine, 25, was collared after exiting a Walmart in St. Petersburg, according to an arrest affidavit.

While Prine paid for some items, she allegedly sought to boost other goods, including a Trojan Ultra Touch personal massager, K-Y Intense Arousal Gel, and a LifeStyles vibrating ring.

In addition to a shoplifting count, Prine is facing narcotics charges since cops found marijuana and the painkiller Dilaudid in her purse.

she's a pretty thing...

[Rich]

And she *does* look lazy!

[Crusty Juggler]

Would if she were more hungover.

[commodious spittoon]

Crusty only does it for the runny mascara.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Only if he is the cause of the running mascara.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

He is always the cause.

[Hamster of Doom]

Man, they really weren't joking about how much stronger marijuana is these days. They've made it into a narcotic now!

[Tom Bombadil]

"and a LifeStyles vibrating ring."

No wonder she looks like Gollum.

[Injun, as in from India]

Submitted without comment:

Hitler responds to missing P.M. links

[Ken Shultz]

I'm thinking Robby may be on an important assignment.

Like maybe somebody said something stupid on campus somewhere.

[Citizen X]

You know who else goddammit.

[Aloysious]

"Fist of Etiquette is refreshing his browser obsessively."

Dude, that was hilarious.

[Injun, as in from India]

Thanks!

Fist - I hope you didn't mind the gentle jabs. 🙂

[R C Dean]

Now that's an abstract euphemism.

[Juvenile Bluster]

"You sons of bitches don't know how important this is to them. It's like crack to an addict, or interns to Bill Clinton, or food to Lena Dunham".

That's... that's beautiful, man.

[Rich]

Very nicely done! 😎

[Hamster of Doom]

1:20 in is brilliant. It's all brilliant, but 1:20 in was where I had to pause because I was laughing too hard to read.

Someone promote this man!

[SugarFree]

Masterful, sir. Just fucking masterful!

[Warty]

Genius.

[Spoonman.]

Niketh Velamoor can't to shit to save you now!

Wonderful.

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

So awesome, man. you win the internet today!

[Crusty Juggler]

This was fantastic.

[kinnath]

golf claps for this one

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Good job with that. I enjoyed it.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

If Robby has any shame, he will include this video as one of the PM links today.

[Free Society]

*golf clap*

[Jerryskids]

Well done, well done.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

That is fucking glorious.

[Rasilio]

Bravo Bravo!!!

[straffinrun]

*Hoists Injun in the air with a giant "Bonzai!"

[Pan Zagloba]

Is...is Hitler wearing The Jacket?!

[Injun, as in from India]

Thanks all for the compliments.

Just remember to post this when PM links are late or missing. 🙂

[Granny Weatherwax]

I had the same thought. *mind blown*

[bacon-magic]

Best use of Hitler EVER!

[BigT]

Great stuff!

Only 153 views so far. C'mon people!!

[If-by-whiskey]

Didn't pick up on 100% of the references (still a newbie), but that was really funny, dude. Nicely done

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Teen takes selfie with Hillary, Snapchats it, and it goes viral

Your morning image.

[Idle Hands]

I hope he doesn't have to file taxes in the next 9 years.

[RBS]

I wonder what line of work his parents were in?

[spqr2008]

They're now in the line of work of being audited by every federal agency possible, for the next 9 years.

[gaoxiaen]

Don't want to see.

[This Machine]

It's a standard, faces-close-together, looking at the camera picture with the caption superimposed over the middle:

"Learn to manage fucking emails dipshit"

[UnCivilServant]

I hate picking paint colors.

There are three different hues before me I'd classify as 'blue-gray'.

And what's with the artsy-fartsy names? Just give me the pigment percentages and let me putz around with how much of each I want in the mix.

[Rich]

And what's with the artsy-fartsy names?

JOBS!

[Caput Lupinum]

And what's with the artsy-fartsy names?

Not all paint companies use those names.

[UnCivilServant]

Sorry, you don't have permission to visit this site.
Please check our internet use policy.
You tried to visit:
http://files2.coloribus.com/fi.....mes-for...
Not allowed to browse Web banners category

Okay this is just absurd, zScaler.

[Caput Lupinum]

Will your work filter allow Time? They don't have any of the pictures from their ad campaign, but you can search for CIL paint, you should be able to find some.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Just give me the pigment percentages"

Even that's too much. Just supply the hex code for the color. It's not "Forest Green" it's #228B22. Much easier.

[Rhywun]

Until you mess up one of the digits and you get bright fuchsia instead.

I prefer these color names.

[UnCivilServant]

Paint is not mixed in RGB color codes. I need to put this on a wall, not a website.

[kbolino]

Some reasons why:

1. The color gamut of sRGB (the standard color space for modern computer displays) is different from that of ink (CMYK) and paint (Pantone, etc.); each has colors that the others do not.

2. The RGB codes used in web browsers are very coarse. There are only 256 levels of each primary, making for 16,777,216 colors, which seems like a lot until the one you want isn't among them.

3. Due to the great variation in backlighting and LCD/LED quality, the color that appears on your monitor at a certain RGB code will look different from the ink or paint that's mixed to match it, unless you are viewing both in very controlled environments (e.g. not your home computer and not the paint counter at Walmart)

[Lord Humungus]

Drunk roosters captured in Westport

"We asked Mr Google about how to catch roosters and he came up with the idea to give them a bit of whiskey. Our animal control officer sacrificed some of his own finest Kentucky whiskey and we have laced some barley with it and we are getting results," he said.

The roosters were getting very drunk and rolling onto their sides, allowing the officers to pick them up.

"Some of them are going to a heavenly home but others have been re-homed in a more rural area. We have one remaining rebel rooster getting a liking for Kentucky whiskey but I am confident we will catch him," the mayor said.

Drunk Cocks have a hard time crowing.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Lord Humungus]

Stocks sag as U.S. rate rise expectations revive

Stock markets in Europe and Asia weakened on Wednesday in the wake of accelerating U.S. inflation and comments from Federal Reserve officials that rekindled prospects of an interest rate rise within months.

The dollar .DXY, hammered by a virtual abandoning since February of expectations for near-term hikes, hit three-week highs EUR= after comments by Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart played up the chances of a move by September.

But the assumed shift toward more tightening was bad news for stock markets, which have been comforted by the idea there would be no squeeze on the funds and companies that have borrowed and invested trillions of dollars globally over the past decade.

[Lee G]

Why a Conversation On Race Is a Horrible Goal

What follows is the longest moral high ground fallacy I've read in a while

It is not a good goal, it is not a reasonable goal, and it is not an equitable goal. In fact, treating the conversation like a goal is offensive to thinking people who have been having these conversations longer than you or your daddy or your grandfather have been alive, let alone the people forced to live as the subjects of your well-meaning conversations.It is offensive for you to ask me to repeat myself, and depending on how that conversation goes ? you know, the one I didn't ask to have ? it is even more offensive that whatever pain I associate with the subject be served up like this week's food for thought.

[Lee G]

Not to mention that most of you are horrible conversationalists. You come to the dialogue with tons of cultural determinist baggage. You assume the expanse of my knowledge based on a profile picture. You stereotype.

You only think about racism when the issue makes you boil over here and there, while I have to contend with it ? think, deal, confront, navigate, process, argue about, swallow it ? all of the time.

You have the luxury of not having to concern yourself with the worst parts of racism entirely, and the uncomfortable parts only as long as you wish to stay in the room. The minute you step outside reality bends to your values, protects your body, distracts you from your sins. Considering the topic of conversation, you don't have a lot of skin in the game.

[Hamster of Doom]

My Papa always said every time you point your finger, you've got three pointed right back at you.

[UnCivilServant]

What about the amputees? Did he not think of those with fewer fingers?

[gaoxiaen]

+1 leprosy

[Chipper Morning Wood]

That's why I point with all my fingers extended. Oh, wait....no.

[DJF]

So I should just ignore this racism thing and all the people who talk about it?

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Certainly the latter.

[WTF]

The minute you step outside reality bends to your values, protects your body, distracts you from your sins.

Umm, okaaay.....

[gaoxiaen]

+1 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

[Good Chipper]

I like when "you stereotype" is one of a long list of descriptions of the individual characteristics of someone as a result of them belonging to a certain group.

[Tonio]

Idiocy Warning: Everyday Feminism

[Lee G]

That whole site is one long exercise in navel-gazing and self-pity. It's really kind of sad.

[Tonio]

Intersectional feminism. And you forgot the victim-mongering (persons other than themselves).

[Lord Humungus]

The One Issue That Could Destroy Hillary Clinton

By most appearances, Hillary is in good shape for November. She has a grasp of policy and familiarity with the ship of state that will create a startling contrast with her opponent in their debates. Trump has a long way to go in fund-raising. His lack of impulse control shows few signs of being remedied. The list goes on for longer than any of us has time to complete. Still, Clinton's fight in the primaries has caused her to take some positions that she'd prefer to avoid in the general election, and those on immigration may be costliest.

Everyone knows that Trump has staked out extreme turf on border control, promising a wall and a deportation force. But Clinton has gone far in the opposite direction. "I would not deport children," she said at a debate in March, after proposing the exact opposite in late 2014. "I do not want to deport family members, either." In short, under Clinton's policy, if you manage to sneak across the border illegally and make it into a city, you won't be removed. You could call that open borders, except it's messier. It's more like a free-for-all.

[UnCivilServant]

I couldn't get past the second sentence without breaking down in laughter.

[Citizen X]

Second clause of the first sentence for me.

[Lee G]

She's just too nice.

[Idle Hands]

This article should be two words. The one issue that could destroy Hilary Clinton:
Hilary Clinton.

[gaoxiaen]

+ or - 1 Hillary Clinton

[Rich]

Suits over FOIA violations are heating up.

She's going down.

[Tonio]

Phrasing!

[Rich]

Well, you don't expect *monetary* bribes, do you?

[Tonio]

Ummm....Squirrel!

[SugarFree]

We all go down together?

[R C Dean]

A reverse centipede?

[SugarFree]

Our parents will never consent to this love.

[commodious spittoon]

Trump has a long way to go in fund-raising.

Funny how that money in politics is an issue until it's not.

[R C Dean]

Trump needs money for one thing: GOTV ground game.

And he just got a pledge of $100mm that he can spend on exactly that.

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

In search of bigger butts, women find South Florida death traps

Short summary: "Poor people are too stupid to know that operations can be dangerous."

[Chipwooder]

Do they really need to pay a shady "doctor" to make their asses bigger? Can't they just eat lots of Cheetos and chocolate pudding?

[UnCivilServant]

I think they're trying to emulate the effect of squats without the effort, and don't want to become landwhales.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Warty is not pleased with such pretenders to the throne.

[WTF]

And do some squats?

[Warty]

No fucking shit. YOU WON'T GET BULKY, YOU DUMB CUNTS

[Lord Humungus]

Ja - my wife lifts weights with me. She benches, does squats, and also deadlifts. Her girlfriends look upon her with horror - expecting massive arms - when she tells them about the workouts.

[Tonio]

Back in my day the poor and booty-challenged had to make do with padded drawers. Because being poor means you can't afford (legitimate) plastic surgery. Sorry.

[Jerryskids]

Padded drawers? You can't just slip a cucumber down the front of regular drawers?

[Aloysious]

21st century socialism in action:

Venezuela protests against Maduro to test state of emergency

Caracas (AFP) - Public outrage over sweeping new emergency powers decreed this week by President Nicolas Maduro was expected to spill over onto the streets of Venezuela Wednesday, with nationwide protests planned.

The demonstrations mark the strongest challenge yet to Maduro's controversial declaration of a state of emergency.

Opposition-led marches in the capital Caracas and other major cities were to demand that authorities accept a recall referendum to determine Maduro's fate.

The 53-year-old president on Tuesday dismissed the push against him as "not viable" and said a petition it was based on was riddled with "fraud," despite 1.8 million signatures seeking his ouster.

The 60-day state of emergency was imposed beginning Monday to tackle what Maduro said were threats to security, as well as food and energy shortages.

Many of the measures rely on Venezuela's army and police being deployed to carry them out.

[Swiss Servator]

Isn't the Army too busy stealing food to repress people?

[Injun, as in from India]

It's been barely 25 years since the Soviet Union fell, and we're having to fight against Bernie and his cult who are spreading outright lies about the benevolence of socialism, democratic or otherwise.

Humanity has a f***ing short memory.

[Lee G]

Delusion springs eternal

[Tonio]

It's been barely 25 years since the Soviet Union fell...

Which is why we're having to fight against Bernie. For his young supporters the USSR isn't even a memory, just something from the history books. You'd pretty much have to be forty or over, ie at least a middle-teenager at the time of the fall of the USSR to have any contemporary memories of Soviet life, even as relayed by news reports and books such as Hedrick Smith's excellent "The Russians".

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Exactly.

The Soviet Union was third world bull shit.

[gaoxiaen]

Except for Shuttle Bombing and immense Soviet infantry attacks which saved American lives.

[kbolino]

... which totally makes up for 1922?1940 and 1946?1991

[Rhywun]

For his young supporters the USSR isn't even a memory, just something from the history books.

So tell them about North Korea. Or Cuba - if you can get them past the lies they've been fed their whole life. Third-world shitholes caused by socialism are plentiful enough.

[BigT]

They should study abroad in Venezuela.

[Lord Humungus]

Trump needs 77 delegates to officially clinch nomination

The real estate mogul is the only candidate left in the race, so each contest brings him closer to officially securing the party's nomination.

His victory in Oregon will give him another 17 delegates to add to his coffers, which brings him to 1,160, according to Associated Press estimates. That's just 77 delegates shy of the 1,237 threshold, which he will almost assuredly eclipse during the final round of primaries on June 7.

As the only active candidate in the GOP, Trump is all but a lock to win the 347 delegates yet to be awarded, meaning he'll end the race with more than 1,400 delegates.

[CE]

Last December: "Trump can't win the nomination" -- experts.
Now: "Trump can't beat Clinton" -- same experts.

[Citizen X]

The Megyn Kelly interview with Donald Trump that aired last night was kind of a snooze.

Have we reached the "bored of winning" stage already?

[commodious spittoon]

Prediction: Trump pivots to a more "serious" tone in contending with Hillary, and half of his die-hard supporters fail to show up in November.

[R C Dean]

I honestly don't think Trump's personality cult will be much impaired by any kind of policy positions short of open borders.

He can keep them onside indefinitely with frontal attacks on Hillary.

[commodious spittoon]

I don't think he loses them, I suspect they may be a little like the phantom millennial voters who plague the Dems every cycle: vocal but lazy.

[commodious spittoon]

Right now they're animated by his recklessness and cavalier attitude. Once Trump shifts into a lower gear for the long haul, they'll get bored and change the channel. He's not going to animate anyone when he's down in the trenches talking tax policy.

[R C Dean]

Once Trump shifts into a lower gear for the long haul

Why on earth will he talk about tax policy? He can win news cycle after news cycle mocking Hillary and her husband, and have fun doing it.

[Jerryskids]

But what were the overnights? That's what's important. Pay no attention to the fact that Donald gets more press by attacking the press and the press gets more viewers by reporting Donald's attacks on the press and the whole thing's as staged and planned and promoted and sold as a WWE cage match. If they really hated each other, Donald would stop talking to the press and the press would stop talking about him. Donald's the highly-paid professional sadist to the press' highly-paid professional masochist and they're both exhibitionists with rape fantasies getting their rocks off pretending this ain't a live sex show we're not only watching but paying dearly for.

[Jerryskids]

"Spank us harder, Daddy! We've been ever so naughty!"

You seriously believe these people are serious?

[Lord Humungus]

UN Director Admits Most Syrians Not Fleeing over War

Mr. M?ller says the main reason people are leaving Syria "isn't the crippling violence in the country," the HuffPo reports. "The number one reason why people leave Syria is not the bombs or the food or the cold, it's because they want to find educational opportunities for their children," he explains.

This would mean that most of the Syrian migrants would fall under the category of "economic migrants" rather than "refugees" ? a point that Mr. M?ller even clarifies later in the interview. He says: "To put it very bluntly, every refugee is a migrant. Not every migrant is a refugee. It's quite clear actually."

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Tickle me surprised and shocked.

[R C Dean]

The number one reason why people leave Syria is not the bombs or the food or the cold, it's because they want to find educational opportunities for their children

And we know this, how?

This squares with the very high percentage of young/single male refugees, how?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Your period reminder that Vox really, reallllly wants an enlightened dictatorship

When Trudeau wanted to increase welfare state spending by creating a big new entitlement for families with children, he put it in the budget, and within months checks are going to start going out...If Trudeau wants a child benefit, it's law.

Similarly, the UK now has a soda tax more or less because Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne got up one day and said, "There should be a soda tax," and so it became.

By contrast, in the US, for something to become law it has to make its way through committee markup in the House, and pass the full House, and get marked up in the Senate, and pass the Senate, and arrive at a compromise version in conference committee, and have the conference report pass the House, and have the conference report pass the Senate, and have the president sign it.

[snip]

A more utopian idea would be to simply junk the Constitution, the way we junked the Articles of Confederation, and write a new one from scratch. Perhaps some speaker could declare the House sovereign, order the Senate and presidency dissolved, and write up a new constitution abolishing the Senate and presidency entirely and establishing the speaker of the House as head of government. If Paul Ryan is looking for ideas on how to handle a Donald Trump victory, he could do worse than this.

[Idle Hands]

A more utopian idea

lol. These people are children.

[sarcasmic]

No, libertarians are children. Libertarians think the rules don't apply to them, just like teenagers. Like teenagers rebelling against their parents who establish good rules for good reasons, libertarians are rebelling against their government that establishes good rules for good reason. There have to be rules. That's a given. And rules must come from government. Where else can they come from? So libertarians are nothing but immature, naive, rebellious teenagers. They are to be ignored.

[gaoxiaen]

What's your momma's excuse? Crack, heroin, or alcohol?

[sarcasmic]

That wouldn't be the first time I've seen leftists express contempt for the checks and balances, and separation of powers. After all, they prevent the government from getting things done. And since absolutely nothing in this world can happen without government involvement, restraining government only harms society.

[Chipwooder]

Omelets, eggs, etc.

[Jerryskids]

I've come to the conclusion that the American dream is to be locked up and free to imagine being free. Freedom is nice to dream about, but it's too much work to really be free. Being a slave means knowing it's not my fault and somebody else needs to fix it. I don't care if the slavemaster beats me as long as I have the comfort of knowing I'm a slave and not responsible for what happens to me. Being free means if it needs fixing, I'm the one that's gotta fix it. Being free means taking responsibility for the consequences of my actions - and nobody wants that. I don't care who's imposing his will on me, as long as he's got a plan I don't need to think of a plan and if the plan don't work - not my fault. Not my fault I'm a fat stupid lazy loser - somebody else's job to make sure I'm not a fat stupid lazy loser.

Looking at the progression from Nixon to Clinton to Bush to Obama, it's hard to deny the conclusion that the American people want nothing more than to be handcuffed to the bedposts and fucked up the ass while squealing "we hate getting handcuffed to the bedposts and fucked up the ass!". Both Hillary and Trump know this and both know they can give the American people just what they really want. We'll see - but if the LP had a lick of sense they'd stop trying to sell this "freedom" shit nobody wants and recruit Ron Jeremy to run for President. "Ron Jeremy. C'mon - you know you want it."

[sarcasmic]

Freedom from responsibility.

[Lord Humungus]

Beyonc?'s Use Of 'Sweatshops' Does More For The World's Poor Than You Ever Will

A gross monthly average income of a Sri Lankan is around 8839 rupees. So the operator, though not living on Jay Z levels of subsistence, is faring better than most of her neighbors. For thousands of her fellow laborers, a Beyonc? job offers a higher salary than the one they'd have to live with if she weren't ridiculously famous.

This has generally been the case when it comes to "sweatshops" around the world. You may not be old enough to remember the 1996 teary-eyed apology Kathie Lee Gifford offered the nation after lending her name to a Wal-Mart clothing line produced in Honduran sweatshops that also employed underage workers. At the time, the average apparel worker earned $13 per day in the Central American nation, while 44 percent of the population was surviving on less than two dollar a day. Yet, after being confronted, Gifford atoned for her sins by promising to warn America about the misery of foreign factory work.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

They're unable to contextualize that in those particular settings, $13 per day is actually good and gives a chance for workers to purchase medicine, food etc. You have to start somewhere.

Instead, progs react in horror perched up on their beach chairs hooked to an iPod refusing to not pull things out of context.

[Free Society]

No way. There oughta be a law that those workers make no less than $100 per day. Then they'll all be rich and I can enjoy the smell of my own farts in good conscience once again.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Man I love messing with anti-sweatshop people.

"This company is good because it is sweatshop free"

"Oh, so you oppose giving poor foreign kids the money they need to survive?? You want poor foreign kids to DIE ON THE STREETS?! You MONSTER!!"

They usually counter with some idea that money to kids is good, but having them work for it is bad. To which I counter that I don't see them donating the money they would've spent on foreign-made pants to the third world. Instead they are spending more money to help enrich the American middle class.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

It's odd. For many kids in the third world, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can either starve or work. This situation is bad, sure, but the typical "solution" that wealthy westerners have to this problem is to take away the "work" option. In short, anti-sweatshop people just want kids to starve so that they aren't directly doing anything that offends their sensibilities. They'd rather a kid starve then know that a kid worked to make a product they use.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Arizona voters approve public safety pension reform

Starting Jan. 1, the measure will change the way permanent pension-benefit increases are paid to retirees. Supporters say Prop. 124 over the next 30 years will save $1.5 billion for the retirement trust for first responders.

Prop. 124 will link retirees' pension cost-of-living adjustments to the regional Consumer Price Index, with an annual cap of 2 percent. An annual 4 percent compounded increase has been paid out to retirees for the past two decades, significantly cutting into the amount of money remaining to pay future retirement benefits.

Although the measure will reduce pension benefits, first responders urged voters to back the plan in order to provide sustainability to a trust that has about half of the money needed to fund current and future pensions. The rising cost for public employers contributing to the PSPRS has caused some communities to curtail the hiring of additional police officers and firefighters.

The proposition was seen as a compromise after Lesko spent a year working with members and employers in the PSPRS. Opponents such as the Arizona Tax Research Association and the Goldwater Institute, which opposed having the proposition placed before voters, said the measure provides no short-term financial relief for taxpayers.

[R C Dean]

The amazing thing is, there was no opposition.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pregnant women are still being shackled while they give birth in Massachusetts.

Yawn. Wake me when there is a state that still shackles women to the kitchen.

[SugarFree]

You will not deny my empty outrage!

Actress Blake Lively added yet another entry to her long list of being passively racist in a recent Instagram post, in which she stated that she has an "L.A. face with an Oakland booty."

The post, which was uploaded on May 17, features a split-screen photo of the actress, with one half showcasing her front, and the other her, well, back. The caption references the Bay Area city of Oakland, which has a traditionally sizable POC population.

While Lively's caption is most likely a nod to Sir Mix-A-Lot's bar-mitzvah staple "Baby Got Back," which includes lyrics that match Lively's caption, it's still problematic. In the end, it touts a diametrical opposition: that Los Angeles can be equated to elegance and/or beauty (read: whiteness), and that Oakland is its foil (read: blackness).

[Crusty Juggler]

The best way to acknowledge race is through an acronym.

[Free Society]

Unless they're non-ethnic, boring, generic white people.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

POC = People of Color = Colored People

Why does it feel like the politically correct language to refer to minorities is going backwards?? How long before the n word is the pc term for black people??

[Free Society]

Why does it feel like the politically correct language to refer to minorities is going backwards??

Because the nomenclature is always based on feels, and therefore is always arbitrary.

[Tom Bombadil]

Say the word "nigger" or don't refer to it at all.

"n-word" is and always has been stupid as hell.

[Lee G]

(Using best Valley Girl intonation)

Whatever

[Hamster of Doom]

While Lively's caption is most likely a nod to Sir Mix-A-Lot's bar-mitzvah staple "Baby Got Back,"...

Well, the alternative is to concede that Blake Lively and Sir- Mix-A-Lot came up with this same phrase independently because they think exactly alike.

[Pat (PM)]

Oh. My. God. Becky.

[Chipwooder]

She quoted Sir Mix-a-Lot? That racist bitch....

Incidentally, take a gander at the picture provided of the Jezebel author. What would you call that face - a Camden face? An Altoona face?

[SugarFree]

Born-male face?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

^ I wouldn't comment her if I knew such virulent transphobia was lurking in commenters' hearts.

[SugarFree]

I just don't think that haircut frames his face very well.

[Warty]

From hell's heart, Irish stabs at thee. For hate's sake, he spits his last breath at thee.

[SugarFree]

Well, I do have a hump like a snowhill...

[Warty]

That's definitely a Jewess-with-an-eating-disorder face. You're in for it now.

[Crusty Juggler]

An energetic face?

[Caput Lupinum]

The Innsmouth look?

[UnCivilServant]

+1 Servant of Dagon

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Dagon, man, that's harsh.

[Azathoth!!]

Oh, no, her gills are obviously implants.

[Warty]

In the end, it touts a diametrical opposition: that Los Angeles can be equated to elegance and/or beauty (read: whiteness), and that Oakland is its foil (read: blackness).

Wait. She's happy to have a black girl ass, which means she hates black girl ass? Do I have that right?

Related: HM bait.

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

I think I'll go to the race track today.

[R C Dean]

a traditionally sizable POC population

Wasn't that her point? That she has a traditionally sizable POC ass?

[Aloysious]

Militant attacks force Bangladesh's gay community into hiding

DHAKA (Reuters) - Weeks after suspected Islamist militants hacked Bangladesh's most prominent gay rights activist to death in his apartment along with an associate, another friend received a chilling message that he was next in line.

"Say your prayers, confess to God for your sins. Eat or drink whatever you wish to, nobody can save you," read the handwritten letter, delivered to his home in Dhaka.

Bangladesh's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was already marginalized in a country where same-sex sexual activity is illegal and many people strongly disapprove.

Now it has been pushed further into the shadows after Xulhaz Mannan, editor of the country's first LGBT-themed magazine, and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy were murdered in the capital on April 25.

The attack, claimed by the regional arm of al Qaeda, was the first of its kind to target the community, although it followed similar killings in the last 16 months of university professors, bloggers and atheists who published views critical of Islam.

[Tonio]

I admire their bravery, but don't envy them.

[Free Society]

We should accept more immigrants from Bangladesh. We should pay them to live here, because their culture will benefit our economy or something.

[Rhywun]

Well, they will work long hours for shit pay, so there's that.

[Free Society]

And will more than likely rely on the welfare state to make their move to a high cost of living environment even remotely feasible, thereby artificially depreciating the value of all low skill labor in the market.

[spqr2008]

I wouldn't mind setting aside some of the money ICE uses for other things to help people who are actually oppressed move to more Western places and get a basic education (English, GED). I'd rather the funding be cut entirely, but if they have to spend it, at least it goes to people who really do need to live here to survive.

[Rich]

Woman lynched on suspicion of being witch in West Midnapore again

"We let her off the first time, but did she learn her lesson? NOOOO!"

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

How is this any different from despicable people like Bill Nye who would metaphorically lynch climate change deniers/skeptics by throwing them in prison?

BUT HE MAKES SCIENCE POPULAR!

[Tonio]

Because belief in witchcraft (as practiced by others, can't offend the neo-pagans) is a primitive superstition and anti-womyn; climate change is a real thing, because science.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

The "anti-womyn" spin people put on this is hilarious. Soooooo many men in the medieval times and in tribal societies today are lynched for witchcraft.

[CE]

Doesn't the fact that she survived the first attempt sort of prove the charges though?

[Crusty Juggler]

Everybody Has a Sex Gap And a racial gap, too.

Williamson has finally crossed a line with his violent rhetoric.

[Lord Humungus]

You SF'd the link

[Crusty Juggler]

That I did.

[Rich]

"Sex gap! Sex gap! You've a sex gap!"

[Free Society]

I care not a fig for women voters. I'm less than impressed with their track record of getting the vote and then within twenty years constructing a welfare state and pulling their electorates leftwards. I get that they're a power bloc in the electorate, but pandering to women voters hasn't done liberty any favors.

[Tonio]

^This. But I don't recall any liberty candidates who pandered to women; that's a prog thing.

[Free Society]

Well the fact that women voters tend not to vote for liberty and women tend not to be libertarians is not the fault of libertarianism, I guess is my point. The fault rests squarely with feminism and female voters generally prioritizing financial security over liberty, at someone else's expense.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

It's hard to read that article and not come away with the conclusion that voting is nothing but base tribalism now. Sure, I always knew it played a role, even a large one. But if what Williamson is citing is true, rational self-interest and logical thought in politics simply doesn't exist.

[R C Dean]

Good for him, pointing out that there are gender and race gaps running both directions. It drives me nuts that the only "gender gap" the DemOp media ever talks about is the female one running against Repubs, and not the male one running against Dems.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

What Obama just did was the ultimate 'fuck you'.

He's an economic illiterate who couldn't care less about the unintended consequences of his idiotic actions.

[Free Society]

Some of the destruction is so ridiculously easy to foresee, I can't see how we can call it unintended. He's the perfect combination of evil and stupid, no wonder Democrats love him.

[CE]

Even those who agree with the policy change should think twice about giving full dictator powers to Trump, by Obama's precedent.

[Lord Humungus]

Watching Top Gun 60 times has taught me profound lessons about gender and identity

I've spent a lot of time in the headspace of this film, digging out the pieces of myself that I thought I saw. There's a lot to dissect if you look past all the razzle-dazzle. But here is the secret, 30 years after Top Gun first buzzed the tower: The most important scene in the film is not the immortal "need for speed" double high-five, or Tom Cruise frenching his way to heterosexuality in blue silhouette to "Take My Breath Away," or even Iceman ambiguously inviting Maverick to be his wingman any time.

The most important moment in Top Gun is when Maverick cries. Goose dies instantly when their plane goes down in the ocean, hitting his head on the canopy of the jet. Maverick feels the sting of that loss and keeps up a stony facade in front of his superiors, but he breaks down when he has to face Carole and apologize. She tells him that Goose loved flying with him, and he would have flown with anyone, but he would have hated it. He loved Maverick.

This is what wakes him up: not the loss of face in front of his classmates, not the military failure, but the love he took for granted while trying to be someone he wasn't.

[Citizen X]

It checks out.

[Lee G]

That writer needs to take off their rainbow tinted glasses once in a while

[Crusty Juggler]

Why I identified with Goose but tried to be Maverick

Stop writing about yourself, you boring maniac.

[Chipwooder]

Why the hell couldn't I have been born in the '20s? I'd be dead by now.

[Idle Hands]

Jesus Christ, it's a mediocre action movie that has only continued to stay relevant based on corniness and parody.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

60 times, huh.

Someone suffers with OCD.

[Tom Bombadil]

In the movie, a 5'2" Tom Cruise hits the winning spike in the beach volleyball match.

Unwatchable.

[Chip Woodier]

What watching Top Gun taught me...
is that Hollywood can pretend that Tom Cruise is straight and that Kelly McGillis is sexy.
(but I admit I could be wrong about Cruise)

[Chipwooder]

Posted this last night on another thread, but in case people missed it......Volokh on NYC's insane gender pronoun edict:

"And this isn't just the government as employer, requiring its employees to say things that keep government patrons happy with government services. This is the government as sovereign, threatening "civil penalties up to $125,000 for violations, and up to $250,000 for violations that are the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct" if people don't speak the way the government tells them to speak. .......The federal government is taking the view that existing federal bans on sex discrimination also in effect ban gender identity discrimination, and the New York analysis would equally apply to that view; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already taken the view that it is illegal under federal law to persistently call employees by pronouns that correspond to their anatomical sex but not their gender identity, though it has not yet had occasion to opine about "ze."

http://tinyurl.com/zp5ns6q

[John]

The entire thing is nothing but a tool for government control of the language and by extension people's thought. And yet, self styled libertarians like Scott Shackelford and Robby Soave think it is just wonderful that the government is going to make sure trans people's delicate feelings are not hurt.

[Free Society]

The Megyn Kelly interview with Donald Trump that aired last night was kind of a snooze.

Megyn Kelly was too busy sucking her own dick over what a great journalist she thinks she is.

Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Gary Johnson is making the comedy podcast circuit this week, talking to Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan:

I'd be careful talking to Joe Rogan. He's a two-face and doesn't really understand very much. He'll pretend to be 100% on board with his guests views, then the next show he'll have on a guy with the opposite views and he'll again pretend to be 100% on board and talking shit about the previous guest. I've seen him do that with a libertarian guest one night, and then a socialist on the next show and each time he claims to completely agree with mutually exclusive views. If he had Bernie Sanders on tonight, I'm certain that he would profess a love for Bernie's socialism regardless of whatever he said to Gary last night.

He's more knowledgeable about his drug intake than any abstract concepts, but pretends that his drug intake offers him insight to abstract concepts.

[John]

Is it just me or is Megyn Kelly looking a bit handsome these days? She looks less feminine every time I see her. NTTAWWT

[paranoid android]

Dude, you're going about this negging thing all wrong. Maybe going back to calling her a whore and claiming she and all successful women must have slept their way to the top will work out better for you.

[John]

She is a TV news babe. She got her job on her looks, which seem to be not quite what they were just a few years ago.

[John]

And since when is commenting on a public figure's looks not acceptable here? She married android. You are not getting laid. So take the fake chivalry somewhere else.

[Pat (PM)]

In fairness to John, she *is* a shitty newsperson. In fairness to Kelly, everybody on Fox is a shitty newsperson. Their regular "hard" news coverage is atrocious. I hate CNN, but they're still the best on cable when it comes to breaking news and reporting.

[John]

It is not even that she is that bad. She is a newsreader who gets paid to look hot. That is honest work and plenty nice if you can get it. The problem is she actually thinks she is smart enough to deserve giving her opinions some kind of special credence. She really seems to believe that she would be where she is if she didn't look like she does. That is what makes her so annoying.

[Good Chipper]

A bigger problem is you actually think you are smart enough to deserve giving your opinions some kind of special credence.

[Pat (PM)]

Call me provincial, but Jenna Lee Megyn Kelly (although Jenna Lee might actually be on their business network now that I think about it).

[Pat (PM)]

Imagine a greater-than sign in there somewhere. I actually used the HTML code for it too...

[CE]

Oh, I thought you just wanted to put them together for some reason.

[Domestic Dissident]

I suspect she's preparing to jump over to CNN, where they like their women more mean-faced and butch.

[John]

Like all journalists, when the masks drops she will turn out to be a leftist who pretended otherwise for a paycheck.

[R C Dean]

She didn't do herself any favors by getting that haircut after being dissed by Trump.

She's getting that brittle, mean look. The hair only makes it worse, when it should be used to soften it.

[CE]

All the Fox anchors look like Nazis. It fits in perfectly.

[Jerryskids]

MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- A police chief no longer has a job in Montour County.

Mahoning Township supervisors voted 2-1 to fire Chad Thomas Monday night.

Earlier this month, Thomas pleaded guilty to huffing compressed air while on the job.

Huffing can give someone a temporary high.

Thomas was sentenced to 12 months probation and community service.

That's the entire news article. Now, as far as I know, "huffing" is breathing stuff that displaces oxygen, cuts off the oxygen supply to the brain - you can get the same effect, albeit in a slower-acting form, simply by putting a plastic bag over your head. So how exactly does one "huff" compressed air? Surely you can't shoot pressurized air directly into your lungs so you'd have to decompress the compressed air first - and isn't huffing decompressed compressed air otherwise known as "breathing"? Anybody know what the hell this is all about? It sure sounds to me like a pack of retards - the chief for thinking he could get high breathing air and the supervisors for thinking the chief actually was getting high by breathing air.

[commodious spittoon]

Unless "compressed air" is a euphemism for spray paint or something similar.

[SugarFree]

It's probably a can of compressed air, like for cleaning keyboards. It has a chemical propellant mixed in that can fuck your head up pretty good.

[Pat (PM)]

They mean the "canned air" spray dusters, which use any of a variety of fluorocarbons compressed into liquid form. They actually do sell air dusters that use literal compressed air, but obviously you can't get high off that.

[Jerryskids]

Ah, okay. So huffing Freon. I had an image of him sidling up to a gas station, looking around nervously as he sticks some quarters in the air machine, and then running off a big ol' garbage bag full of air he could take around back and bury his face in. The fact that he was a police chief made it entirely plausible that he would think this would work.

[Rhywun]

Dumbass. He should have pled guilty to shooting a fleeing citizen in the back. He'd keep his job and probably get a nice vacay and promotion out of it.

[Lord Humungus]

I suppose my interview went fairly well - but I don't think I will take any offer they give me:

Plant Manager - who looked to be an ex-marine type - had that look of religious zeal in his eyes as he started talking about the joys of lean manufacturing and fostering the correct "corporate culture". Most of the lean guys I know think they can design a foolproof system - usually consisting of a big board of tags - for the employees. But those systems just add more overhead and complexity. I believe that personal responsibility is the best way to promote quality and production: reward those who perform, remove those who do not.

Anyway - the guy I would report to was also a bit of a nut case, hitting me up with a bunch of very specific questions about the ERP package they use, some areas not in my area of expertise. That was fine, but when he started asking about data table details and the best indexes to use, I could only reply that I look at the book of database definitions to determine that information and memorizing the hundreds of tables is worthless considering the information is right by my elbow. He is also from India and I had a hard time understanding him, especially when he tried to get technical since his command of the language started to break down a little there. He also had all the personality of a wet rag with a fixed smile that was a bit unnerving. Maybe he was nervous too but I had the urge to punch him in the throat by the time we were done.

[Lee G]

Manufacturing tends to attract those who like an infinite amount of specialization. They always fall into the trap of over-optimizing their specific fetish and evangelizing it to everyone else.

[Chipwooder]

Ain't no such thing as an ex-Marine

[Crusty Juggler]

Not even Lee Harvey?

[Chipwooder]

Good point - we were told at PI that Lee Harvey was the only ex-Marine there was.

Fun fact - Oswald was a member of my old unit, MACS-1.

[UnCivilServant]

The psychological damage inflicted by the corps can be erased with enough effort.

Also, do the Marines slect for ragin assholes, or are the raging assholes the most likely to admit to having been in the Marines?

[Chipwooder]

What's the point of having been in the Marines if you're not going to brag about it for the rest of your life? You're voluntarily choosing the most miserable of the services, you might as well get SOMETHING out of the deal.

[Citizen X]

I could ask my neighbor with the USMC flag on his porch, but i'm not speaking to him on account of he's a piece of shit.

[Drake]

Nah. Most of us just keep it all properly boxed away. There are several of us where I work - always surprises people.

At home. I'm generally the calm one - until... The kids know that pushing Dad too far is a bad idea.

[Chipwooder]

the froggy voice and knife hands come out, huh?

[Drake]

I prefer the loom over and jab a single finger repeatedly an inch from an eyeball while my voice goes up in volume and down in depth in ways my victims didn't know possible.

[Jerryskids]

If there were a one-to-one correspondence between RA's and Marines, all Marines would be Texans.

[Lord Humungus]

Yeah... blah blah... most of the marines I've met are - to quote UncivilServant - raging assholes.

I work with one, who is big and fat. I'm sure he could waddle his way to the front lines if he didn't die of a heart attack on the way.

[Chipwooder]

🙁

[Crusty Juggler]

Listen, you woke up early in the morning, watched a few guys poop, ran around in the mud for awhile, and became a fairly proficient shooter. Then you went to Japan and got freaky. Then you went to Thailand and got freakier. We get it. It's cool.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Lady Boy

[Chipwooder]

That's pretty much dead on, yeah.

[Crusty Juggler]

Thank you for your service.

[Chipwooder]

Hah....nothing beat being in uniform in the last months of 2001, when suckers were buying us shit left and right. I don't think I paid for a meal from mid-September until well into 2002.

[commodious spittoon]

No thoughts and prayers?

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

Did anyone else see Susan Sarandon claim a) Thelma and Louise would never be made today because movie executives are sexists (more so than in the early '90s?) and b) there aren't enough female protagonists because men can't identify with women?

I completely see where she's coming from. I can think of absolutely no massive blockbusters with female leads.

If only we had examples of movies with female leads making a billion dollars, I'd be able to counter her argument. Unfortunately, since this never happens, I can't prove she's wrong.

[Lee G]

Sarandon is a dolt. But she will be taken at her word by all the tumblr blogs.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

The thing about executive sexism is absurd. The reason Thelma and Louise wouldn't get made today is because those small scale movies don't get made - studios are too busy making the next big budget sequel or superhero movie.

So no, you couldn't make a small scale movie about female outlaws driving around, but you could make a movie about female superheroes blowing up buildings.

[Rhywun]

Sure it would get made. It just wouldn't be popular or win any awards or be seen by anybody. *shrug*

[John]

I totally see what she means. It is not like they are not remaking classic movies with all female casts or anything. Right?

[commodious spittoon]

Here's the thing about the "grrrl power" brand of blockbuster feminism: anyone who's really interested in seeing feminine leads should be insulted by their portrayal. They're effigies of women embodying masculine traits like bodily strength and emotional detachment. Furiosa was a likable character the way Vasquez from Aliens was likable: butch and angry and brooking no nonsense. I haven't seen TFA, but after listening to a few podcasters deconstruct the movie, it sounds like Rey cakewalked into all her powers, exhibiting in a few hours an expertise over the arts it took Luke three movies to master. Fury Road doesn't capture anything especially feminine about its female lead, and by the sound of it, TFA gave its lead all the cheat codes. They're women playacting the traditional male leads feminists claim to hate. If there's any lesson to learn from these movies, it's that women should be more like men.

Sarandon may be right, Thelma and Louise probably would not be made today. That's not because movie execs are horrible bastards, it's because the market for feminist movies is in taking successful male-dominated franchises and casting female leads.

[R C Dean]

Thanks for saving me all the typing. Bang on, commodious one.

[commodious spittoon]

Maybe we've got feminists all wrong when they say they want better representation in Hollywood. Maybe they mean exactly that. They just want to see more female leads, whether or not they bring any actual femininity to the roles. They literally just want to see more tits on the screen. In which case, I must be a feminist.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

^ Great point. There was a garbage Robin Hood movie directed by Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe in it. At the end, Maid Marian *rode into combat in battle armor.*

It was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. It was such an obvious attempt to be super, duper feminist, but it takes you out of the movie because a farm girl (which is what Maid Marian was in that movie) would never be riding into combat in medieval England.

[commodious spittoon]

When Disney is taking a more nuanced approach to cinema tropes than you are...

[R C Dean]

Leaving aside, of course, that plate armor had to be custom made for each wearer, was stupidly expensive, and nobody but a noble would ever have a set.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

Completely agree on TFA (not good, btw). Fury Road presents a very complex character in Furiosa that I found very intriguing. Sure she has numerous physical traits and behaviors you would stereotypically associate with a male lead (haircut, mechanical arm, marksmanship/driving skills, etc.) but it's all part of contrasting with the traditional femininity she is trying to rescue (itself a "male" objective) and, ultimately, is trying to return to herself (the mothers). When she realizes there's nothing to return to, she makes the conscious decision to take over the horrific, male-dominated society of Immortan Joe and improve it through a combination of "male" and "female" traits.

[commodious spittoon]

I liked Fury Road quite a bit for exactly those reasons (that's a great breakdown, by the way). Afterward I wondered how the hell, short of never having seen it, idiot PUAs and their fellow travelers had mistaken the movie for feminist agitprop. Furiosa is distinctly and categorically not a feminist icon, although many feminists no doubt fancy themselves to be as hardbitten and cynical. She's a brother-in-arms to Max's character, having cast off her femininity as a luxury and encumbrance to achieving the goals she desires. She embraces unemotional, goal-driven brutality. The "authentically" (or maybe more recognizably) feminine characters are laudable for taking the risks they do to buck their slavery, but ultimately they must rely on the dwindling cast of masculine characters to achieve freedom. The movie was a much more nuanced depiction of gender relations than feminists generally allow because it embraced and elevated gender distinctions rather than blurring or burying them.

[John]

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/363509.php

Bernie bros and Hillary Hags have throw down. Thrown chairs and death threats all around.

[commodious spittoon]

This... this is lovely to watch. The butthurt in November whether or not Hillary wins will be monumental.

[Crusty Juggler]

Guy Fieri on Being 'Demoralized' By His Critics: If I Didn't 'Look Like Someone Who's Whacked Out of Their Mind, It'd Probably Be Different'

"If I probably didn't have tattoos, or if I probably didn't bleach my hair, or if I probably didn't wear blue jeans and a T-shirt to fancy things, if I didn't do things that make me look like someone who's whacked out of their mind, it'd probably be different. But then again, that's how I wanna dress. And I like my tattoos. And I like my hair cut the way it is," he said.

Stay strong, Guy!

[John]

I think he is annoying but that is why I don't watch his shows. I don't quite understand what about him warrants hate rather than just turning the channel.

[Loki]

I don't quite understand what about him warrants hate rather than just turning the channel.

Probably his existence is a huge middle finger to the "I only eat organically grown artisanal fair trade vegan crap and everyone else should too. And anyone who disagrees with my dietary choices should be thrown into an active volcano" hipster douchnozzles. You know, the kind of people who think anyone who doesn't live within easy biking distance of a Whole Foods is in a "food desert" regardless of how many other food choices they have.

[Crusty Juggler]

Theory: Loki is Guy Fieri.

[Loki]

Damn! You caught me! /sarc

[Chipwooder]

I think that's a reasonable assumption. I'm not a fan of his, but I like that he pisses of the self-styled "foodie" crowd.

[R C Dean]

I've watched his diner show, because diners are about my favorite restaurant. He obviously loves them, too, which comes through.

And anyone who doesn't think tatts and wack hair don't show up in restaurant kitchens, a lot, needs to get out more.

[commodious spittoon]

I don't like Jack Johnson and I don't listen to his music if I can help it, but that doesn't stop me from hating the guy with every stitch of my being.

[Emmerson Biggins]

His main show is way better than most of the crap on the food network now. He actually shows me food that I think I'd like at places I think I'd want to go.

I'd much rather watch that than a wanna-be-Bravo reality show competition shit that has taken over most of the network. Not every fucking show needs a dramatic pause where somebody gets "voted off the island", you fucking assholes.

[Citizen X]

Sample menu from Guy's American Kitchen * Bar.

A real human being, and a real hero.

[UnCivilServant]

My cholesterol went up just reading the descriptions.

[Citizen X]

Add a Cinnabon and two more Cinnabons 4.95

[Injun, as in from India]

Always do the exact opposite of what Krugman prescribes for an ailing economy.

Latvia's Free Market Success Story

Latvia followed the exact opposite of the Krugman-Keynesian prescription. The nation maintained its currency peg and cut government spending instead of increasing it. The medicine worked: with broad public support, Latvia abolished half of its government agencies and cut the state workforce by 30 percent, according to ?slund and Dombrovskis. Coupled with regulatory and education reform, this downsizing galvanized the private sector and brought the country roaring back.

[Lee G]

They were just successful because externalities or something like that....

[John]

Just think how much better it could have been Irish. If only the magic of socialism and Keynesian economics would be allowed to work on a country like that. Just image the progress.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

"Just think how much better it could have been Irish."

Jesus John, do Irish and Indians all look the same to you?

[John]

You all look alike to me.

[UnCivilServant]

You're just prejudiced against commenters with orange handles!

[Chip Woodier]

TMI. Also...you might want to cut down on the beta carotene.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Irish and Indians all look the same to you?"

All people from Proto-Indo-Aryan stock look basically the same.

[Pat (PM)]

If this success story leads to a realignment in academic economics, we could dub the new consensus Latvian Orthodoxy.

[sarcasmic]

Roaring back into inequality.

[John]

You think you are being sarcastic. See the quote from the guy just below this one about Mao doing such great things. This is how these assholes actually think.

[sarcasmic]

I know it's what they think. They hate economic growth because the gains are not distributed fairly. They would rather be equally poor than unequally rich. And in either situation they will complain, blame capitalism, and want more government to fix it.

[Rasilio]

I thought it was all because everyone was afraid to piss off Dr Doom?

[CE]

But wasn't that too much austerity? Imagine how prosperous Latvia's economy would be if they had gone the stimulus route!

[John]

Meet today's candidate for worst human being alive. A one Michael Crook

We all thought it was a wonderful thing that Mao was launching," Mr Crook, now 64, told the Telegraph, in his first interview with a British newspaper. "It would guarantee that China would take the socialist road."

While mistakes had been made during the Mao period, he argued, the free-market economics on which China has since prospered had led to just as much upheaval, creating a "tremendous imbalance" between rich and poor. "Letting greed drive development ? well that certainly does bring about development ? but it also brings about polarisation, so what price social harmony?" he said.

Reason won't take the link to the Guardian article.

[Warty]

Ask mtrueman about Mao sometime. And the Holocaust, while you're at it.

[John]

in 2005, a biography was published called Mao The Unknown Story. It relied on Chinese sources and notes and letters and interviews with people who had actually known him. It portrayed him as a complete sociopath and a mad man. The book got great reviews and sold well. It was however panned by the academic community of China specialists. According to them the book was too harsh on Mao and relied on too much circumstantial evidence.

That is right, the academics just couldn't handle a book that said Mao was a lunatic.

[SugarFree]

Did it also cover his predilection for deflowering virgins? 1000s if the rumors are true.

[John]

Yes it did.

[SugarFree]

Civilization is just a girl we all hold down and rape together.

[sarcasmic]

I heard a bit on NPR about Mao. They were saying that the general consensus in China, at least the one put forth by the government, is that while his policies were disastrous, his intentions were pure. He was really a good guy. Really. It wasn't his fault that millions died under his rule, because good intentions and all of that.

[Domestic Dissident]

And just think, in eight more months we'll have a Maoist president so dedicated she wears his prescribed uniform for women every single day.

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

I've actually owned this book for years but it has sat on my "get off your ass and read this" shelf. Thanks for the heads up. I'll get to reading it pronto.

And by pronto I mean "right after completing The Divergent Series."

[lap83]

Any mention of Mao always reminds me of an awesome anti-communist world history teacher I had in high school who showed us the movie "To Live", which was banned from mainland China for being critical of the communist government (I.e being realistic) if he still shows that movie today, I imagine he also has to provide safe spaces

[Juvenile Bluster]

Those who died as a result of the Great Leap Forward were all wreckers and kulaks who deserved to die, I'm sure.

[Loki]

Something about omelettes and eggs...

[Warty]

omelettes

What the fuck is this faggy shit? This is America, and we eat omelets. Fag.

[Loki]

*hangs head in shame over being caught using the French faggy spelling*

[Loki]

Reason won't take the link to the Guardian article.

Thank God for small miracles. Those two paragraphs are about all of that DERP I could handle without punching a hole through my monitor.

[R C Dean]

Ditch the "s" in "https" and see if that works.

[Chipwooder]

or use tinyurl - sometimes when you try to post a long link, it rejects it because it counts the link as a single word.

[CE]

"Mistakes were made" rears its ugly head once again.

[Warty]

SCIENCE!!!

Well now I know something I'll have to do if I ever get enough money to rent a ski jump.

[Thymirus]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2.....radar.html

Russia fights back against NATO missile shield with upgraded launch detection radar

Just days after the U.S. and NATO moved forward on a missile defense program in Europe, Russia responded by vowing to modernize a launch detection system alerting Moscow to potential attacks, Russian media reported Tuesday.

The Dnepr Missile Launch Detection System is located in Crimea, which Russia took over from Ukraine in 2014. Once upgraded, it would be able to detect hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles from the Mediterranean and Black Seas, Pravda reported.

Moscow had cried foul over the NATO program, even though U.S. officials said it would fend off missile threats from Iran. "The threat is gone, but the creation of the missile defense system is continuing," President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

The NATO system includes a site in Romania that became operational Thursday and a site in northern Poland where U.S. and Polish officials broke ground Friday for a facility due to be ready in 2018.

[Loki]

Pregnant women are still being shackled while they give birth in Massachusetts.

Well, that is the home state of WAR ON WOMYNZ 2012 RETHUGLIKKKAN candidate Mitt Romney. What did you think he meant by "binders full of women?"

Oh wait, the link is about female inmates, not women in general, which is what the description made it sound like. Nice going, "reason". Something something... COCKTAIL PARTIEZ... /sarc

[John]

Its a nasty business throwing a pregnant woman in jail. Maybe we ought to have good reasons before we do it.

[Thymirus]

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....tcmp=hpbt2

Congressman: Classified details of Iran's treatment of US sailors will shock nation

The classified details behind Iran's treatment of several U.S. sailors who were captured by the Islamic Republic during a tense standoff earlier this year are likely to shock the nation, according to one member of the House Armed Services Committee, who disclosed to the Washington Free Beacon that these details are currently being withheld by the Obama administration.

Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.) told the Free Beacon in an interview that the Obama administration is still keeping details of the maritime incident under wraps. It could be a year or longer before the American public receives a full accounting of the incident, in which several U.S. sailors were abducted at gunpoint by the Iranian military.

"I've had a full classified briefing" from military officials, Forbes told the Free Beacon. "It could be as long as a year before we actually get that released."

[R C Dean]

Or, he could just tell us. Its not like there would be any consequences if he did.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Oh boo hoo. The poor little sailors entered foreign waters without permission and were taken at gunpoint. I'm sure we wouldn't kindly treat Russian sailors if a warship started poking around our shores. And I don't think we should be expected to treat them kindly.

[Atlas Slugged]

citation that they entered Iranian waters.

Also, if we took Russian sailors for entering US waters, I know we would not treat them abusively.

[Thymirus]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2.....-flow.html

EU reportedly hatched secret plan to have African dictator help stop refugee flow

European Union members plotted secretly in March to have African dictators, including accused war criminal and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, help stem the tide of refugees pouring into Europe, according to an explosive report in the German publication Der Spiegel.

An "action plan" discussed at the March 23 meeting led by Germany, included earmarking $45 million to al-Bashir's Sudan and seven other African countries to intercept and take in refugees bound for the west, according to the report.

"Under no circumstances" was the public to learn of the talks, ambassadors of the 28 European Union member states agreed. A staff member of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini warned that Europe's reputation could be in jeopardy if word of the talks leaked, according to the report.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else had secret talks with dictators...

[Tonio]

The Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII)?

[Citizen X]

FDR?

[Chipwooder]

Elvis?

[Drake]

Just for laughs...

Salon Magazine, MAR 6, 2013: Hugo Chavez's economic miracle
The Venezuelan leader was often marginalized as a radical. But his brand of socialism achieved real economic gains.

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/0.....c_miracle/

[John]

That thing is vomit inducing. And the people who wrote it have learned nothing in the last three years. They would write it again today if they could.

[Chipwooder]

It's a David Sirota piece. You might as well get your economic analysis from a preschool.

[AlmightyJB]

That's an insult to preschoolers

[AlmightyJB]

That's an insult to preschoolers

[american socialist]

Gross.

Venezuela: GDP per capita: 14,414.75 USD
Colombia: GDP per capita: 7,831.22 USD

Source: (2013) World Bank

[John]

Things were great when you were still able to steal other people's money. Why don't you get 2016 numbers, you fucking moron. Jesus Christ you are stupid.

[UnCivilServant]

Most recent data shows a poverty rate of 75%.

[Loki]

Yeah, socialism works great until you run out of other people's money to steal. Then you're fucked. The problem if we ever go full socialist is that it will take a long time to run out of other people's money. By the time we do, it may be that people will be so accustomed to it that no one will be around who can remember that there's any alternative.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

Wait...is your argument that because Venezuela isn't as bad off as *Colombia* we shouldn't criticize Venezuela?

South Africa's not as bad as Syria right now, so clearly if I criticized the problems South Africa has with baby rape the proper response would be to say 'well, they're better than Syria, so don't criticize them!'

And Venezuela has an extraordinary amount of oil money, which Colombia doesn't have. Strange how you use 3 year old data (data from before Venezuela's economic collapse) and compare the GDP of a nation sitting on the world's largest oil reserves to a country with far fewer natural resources.

[american socialist]

No, I'm saying that Venezuela and Colombia are relatively poor countries in South America and that it is difficult to impossible to learn anything from their experience when looking at whether we should dismantle the Social Security Administration.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

Did anyone argue that Venezuela's collapse provided evidence that we should dismantle social security? It provides evidence that nationalization of industry and extreme government intervention in the economy has a negative impact. Moreover, the fact that libertarians and conservatives *predicted this* should show you that socialism is clearly a failed economic system since it's so easy to look at a socialist country and immediately know it's going to implode.

Why don't you compare Venezuela to Chile instead of a fucked up narco state like Colombia? That should provide a simple explanation of the difference between capitalism and socialism.

[This Machine]

Retard.

[Pat (PM)]

If only we had any examples of ruinous left wing fiscal policy from relatively wealthy social democracies or socialist republics.

[Chipwooder]

huh....I didn't realize Gwar was so big in South Africa

[John]

Ricardo Hausmann, a Venezuelan, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and director of the Harvard Center for International Development, says that those inside and out of Caracas claim that the nation is headed for collapse.

"Venezuela's problems are a consequence of the craziest economic policy ever in a country or in the world," he says. "It's a country that has gone through its longest and highest oil boom in its history, and ended that period over-indebted, with a destroyed productive capacity, and now it cannot face the reduction in the price of oil."

"[Venezuela] has no access to international financial markets to borrow, it has no reserves left. It has a crazy system of controls that has led to rationing, and shortages and long lines," says Hausmann.

The Venezuelan healthcare system is also in a state of extreme turmoil. Infants are dying at an alarming rate, fundamental drugs are not imported and hospitals and doctors are reporting that they have no gloves, water or soap to perform basic procedures.

"The country is now living its worst year from an economic and a social point of view, and [there's] a humanitarian crisis that is being hidden away by a lack of information," Hausmann says.

Go do the world a favor and die.

[Irish is a Millennial, Poll Me]

There was an article on Reason about this where they pointed out that Venezuelan exports were 75% oil in the '80s and are 96% oil today. That means the entire Venezuelan economy is basically being propped up by oil money because they have nothing else.

They'd be far poorer than Colombia if it weren't for that oil money. Oil money lets you get away with dumb economic policies for longer than you'd otherwise be able to.

[R C Dean]

Three years ago? Before the collapse entered its steepest downslope?

Has there been a time before 2013 when Venezuela didn't have twice the GDP?

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

NYPD live streams bulldozers crushing a parking lot full of 'illegal motorcycles, atvs, and scooters'.

What? What the fuck?

From the facebook link:

Can someone explain why they need to be destroyed? (Instead of being donated/given to charity in a state where they are legal.)

City of New York Government Hi, Terrell. Thank you for your question -- you and several others have flagged this. We checked with NYPD and here's what we can tell you. These vehicles are illegal in the City of New York. We are committed to making the streets of our city completely safe. That means leaving no opportunity for these things to find their way back to our roads and further endanger our fellow New Yorkers. This is the same reason we destroy the guns we confiscate. The metal from these vehicles is recycled after they are crushed. --scott

[John]

Why are motorcycles and scooters illegal in NYC?

[UnCivilServant]

Probably some minor noncompliance wiht municipal regulation 1594.851284.154871.2

[Chipwooder]

Scooters are the tool of Lucifer himself, assholes puttering along in the middle of traffic at 30 miles an hour.

[R C Dean]

assholes puttering along in the middle of traffic at 30 miles an hour

So, in NYC, they're passing all the cars?

[CE]

Exactly. Too dangerous.

[Krabappel]

Sounds economically stimulating.

[John]

What makes them unsafe?

[Tom Bombadil]

Because they're illegal, goddammit!

[This Machine]

These vehicles are illegal in the City of New York. We are committed to making the streets of our city completely safe. That means leaving no opportunity for these things to find their way back to our roads and further endanger our fellow New Yorkers. This is the same reason we destroy the guns we confiscate. The metal from these vehicles is recycled after they are crushed. --scott

*quakes with inchoate rage*

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

It's so fucking juvenile. These guys are running a city?

[Tonio]

Wow, that's a huge load of smug.

[CE]

They have to destroy them to help the economy. Think of all those high paying jobs building new motorcycles, ATVs and scooters!

[american socialist]

John B. Anderson is still alive! Are there any other still living Republicans that one could actually vote for? Different eras...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Anderson

[Juvenile Bluster]

Well, I know that your dream candidate, Hugo Chavez, is dead, so how are you going to decide who to vote for?

[american socialist]

See above.

[SugarFree]

Chavez in a pantsuit.

[Chipwooder]

With or without a Mao jacket?

[SugarFree]

And Stalin knickers.

[Drake]

John Anderson sucked in 1980. He was the Republican darling of the liberals - and got stomped to a pulp by Reagan.

[CE]

+6%

[kbolino]

Feeling that his time in the House was coming to an end (because of elements of boredom, restlessness, and his unwillingness to face the indignity of other challenges to his leadership position and House seat)

He sounds like a swell guy.

[american socialist]

Yeah, he foresaw that the Republican Party was going to become a shit show of religious extremists, Randians, assholes, bigots, homophobes, and militarists. So he left. I say that's a credit to him, no?

[kbolino]

I point out he was a narcissistic tool, you make up nonsensical bullshit. Well done.

[Swiss Servator]

That Anderson asshole was the Congressman from my district...he didn't draw flies from our area come his "independent" run.

[DEG]

Man fights off salt water crocodiles with wrenches and spark plugs

A 72-year-old man in Australia has been released from hospital after battling multiple crocodiles with spanners (or wrenches as they're known in the U.S.) and spark plugs.
The man and his friend were crabbing while on vacation near Darwin in the North Territory. The two retirees were leaning over the edge of their boat to pull up their crab pots when a saltwater crocodile nudged their boat and capsized it.

[Lord Humungus]

Crikey!

[Chipwooder]

How do you fight a crocodile with a spark plug?

[Demoted Comment (Slammer)]

Very carefully!

[SugarFree]

You mind the gap.

[commodious spittoon]

*slow clap*

[Citizen X]

Jesus. Australia, "where all the nasty stuff from evolution went to go and live in a trailer with a shotgun."

[UnCivilServant]

So that's why humans moved in?

"Don't mind us, we're crazy enough to live over seven decades here..."

[Griffin3]

It gets the Balko in the morning, else it gets the nutpunch again:
South Carolina SLED team covering for Cops, 2 of 4 parts

[ChelseaGilbert]

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[Uncle Jay]

RE: Judge Strikes Down D.C. Gun Law

I'm so glad the citizens of DC are not allowed to have guns.
Otherwise law abiding citizens would be allowed to defend themselves.
This way, more violent criminals are allowed to create more victims of violent crime and not worry about being shot.
Now I can sleep better at night.

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[SarahBerry]

My best friend's ex-wife makes $95/hr on the laptop. She has been unemployed for 6 months but last month her income with big fat bonus was over $15000 just working on the laptop for a few hours.

Read more on this site.--------------------------- http://www.earnmore9.com

[lukashik]

Now, coming to the Showbox app, this is another superb app developed for movie lovers who want to get a better experience of watching movies and tv show on a bigger screen with more detailings.

[lukashik]

And one of those applications is Showbox apk app. It is one of the best online streaming application for watching Movies and TV Shows. In the starting, this application has been released for only a few of the mobiles and allows users to watch shows online.