A.M. Links: Sanders vs. Clinton, Terror Attack in Istanbul, Trump Doubles Down on Racist Anti-Judge Attacks

• 

  CNN

  Voters head to the polls today in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

• Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination with 2,384 delegates. A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes superdelegates.
• Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson expects a boost in the polls once Bernie Sanders drops out.
• "An embattled Donald Trump urgently rallied his most visible supporters to defend his attacks on a federal judge's Mexican ancestry during a conference call on Monday in which he ordered them to question the judge's credibility and impugn reporters as racists."
• With the Democratic National Convention coming to the city in less than two months, "Philadelphia wants to avoid a repeat of 2000 when it arrested more than 400 protesters at the Republican National Convention, only to see most cases end in acquittals."
• A car bomb attack in central Istanbul has killed at least 11 and injured dozens more.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Go Penguins.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Hello.

Take your propaganda outside, commie.

[Chip Woodier]

I'm beginning to suspect that some people do not even read the article, much less click any links, before commenting. NTTIAWWT

[Fist of Etiquette]

I read the article, sir, and it clearly stated several times to go Penguins.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Um, why would you want to do that. Come for the commenters, stay for the Lulz.

[FreeRadical]

Silly Canadian. Or, people in Minnesota go crazy for hockey, too, but Minnesota may as well be part of Canada.

[Pope Jimbo]

Only if we are annexed by Friendly Manitoba and not fucking Ontario.

I like the idea of kicking Gov. Mumbles out of office and taking orders from Winnipeg. I'm also excited about the chance to root for the Blue Bombers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination...

Longest. Coronation. Ever.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

187) This article in the Washington Post today describes a new study that confirms something I have long thought, or suspected: there are no pristine environments on Earth unaltered by human activity, and the idea we can return to some sort of idealized pre-industrial or pre-civilization environment is a myth.

The Industrial Revolution may have intensified the human impact on the environment, but by 12,000 years ago--even before the start of history or civilization--humans had already wiped out megafauna on continental scales, carried invasive species all over the planet, and permanently altered landscapes with forest clearing and agriculture.

The study "synthesiz[es] archaeological, fossil and ancient DNA data" and concludes "pristine landscapes simply do not exist and, in most cases, have not existed for millennia."

[kbolino]

The definition of "pristine" as "not altered by humans" is pretty arrogant. Was the earth still "pristine" after the mass extinction 65 million years ago?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Yeah, but those were beautiful, noble dinosaurs, kbolino, not filthy polluting humans.

[Zeb]

Humans do have good reason to be arrogant. I don't see any bears or elephants building airplanes or stadiums.

All of this obsession with pristine nature and such is just another luxury good. Unfortunately it's one that we all get forced to pay for.

[Zeb]

Humans do have good reason to be arrogant. I don't see any bears or elephants building airplanes or stadiums.

All of this obsession with pristine nature and such is just another luxury good. Unfortunately it's one that we all get forced to pay for.

[Florida Hipster]

Eh. Soon as they start complaining about elephants altering the landscape, I listen to their arguments. Actually, I won't.

[Bgoptmst]

Or hogs.

[Aloysious]

Just the discovery of how to smelt iron, and the ensuing deforestation, is responsible for altering the environment in a major way. Interesting.

[straffinrun]

Went camping in Nagano a couple weeks back. Wife said, "It's amazing. Even in the mountains, there are roads everywhere." Yep, it's amazing that wherever we drove, there were roads.

[Citizen X]

Read 1491 by Charles Mann. It's a great survey of new research into how the Americas weren't wilderness when Europeans arrived, but had been shaped for thousands of years to fit the needs of the people who lived here - including the Amazon rain forest, which turns out to be essentially the world's largest garden.

[Steve G]

Damn, beat me to it. Tree huggers who think the native Americans lived in a pristine wilderness would be appalled at what they did to shape the land to their needs.

[The Last American Hero]

No. They were Native Americans, the First Peoples, the Noble Savages. They lived in peace and harmony with each other and nature in a Garden of Eden. They could do no wrong until the Evuull White Man came with his guns and disease and war and corrupted these noble peoples.

[Florida Hipster]

Don't forget evil fire water. Peyote is natural and good, for them, illegal and harmful for whites.

[Citizen X]

-1 pornographic jug of chicha

[Citizen X]

-1 pornographic jug of chicha

[Citizen X]

Tree huggers who think the native Americans lived in a pristine wilderness would be appalled at what they did to shape the land to their needs.

Mostly, it involved burning everything the fuck down once a year.

The enormous numbers of bison and passenger pigeons encountered by the pioneers were not artifacts of a pristine environment - they were unsustainably exploding populations of prey animals whose main predator, Indians, had recently been removed from the top of the food chain.

[Atanarjuat]

Another interesting example are the shell mounds in the Everglades, which actually increase biodiversity there by creating different soil types and elevations in the tree islands.

[Florida Hipster]

But they are dumping their trash in the water!!!!

[Zeb]

The whole idea of authentic nature (or authentic anything really) is pretty silly. A wilderness or other relatively wild area isn't good because no humans have ever touched it. It's good because people like it, because it helps to keep water clean, it allows certain species of plants and animals that don't get along too well with people to survive and lots of other reasons. Whether or not humans have ever had an effect on it is really irrelevant. We aren't special that way. Lots of species have created big changes in the landscape.

[Citizen X]

There's still a lot of flooding along the 460 corridor in southeastern Virginia because of beavers damming up the drainage ditches.

[Azathoth!!]

I have never understood this.

If humans see a beaver pond, or a towering termite mound, or the intricacies of a honeycomb, all get classed as 'nature'--but the constructions of homo sapiens, an 'intelligent' offshoot of the ape line, as seen as not being part of the same nature as the earthworks of beavers?

Why? Because you favor the beavers work more?

[Bee Tagger]

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson expects a boost in the polls once Bernie Sanders drops out.

JohnsonJoes?

[Pat (PM)]

Kimbo Slice dies at age 42

Professional mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice died Monday at age 42, Bellator MMA announced.

"We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family," Bellator president Scott Coker said in a statement, calling Slice "a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport."

"Outside of the cage he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man," Coker said. "His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo's friends, fans, and teammates."

There was no word on the cause of Slice's death.

Slice had been hospitalized earlier Monday in Margate, Florida, for undisclosed reasons, according to Coral Springs police, who had been dispatched to his residence to prevent a potential gathering outside. They said no foul play was suspected.

[WTF]

Years of anabolic steroid abuse?

[straffinrun]

Too many Hadokens to the head as a street fighter.

[Trigger Warning]

Guessing stroke or heart attack.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Voters head to the polls today in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Wishing they mattered.

[WTF]

If Bernie wins them all, and Hillary is still coronated, it just might matter.

[Libertarian]

Funny how the media can't dare declare winners during the night of an actual election until all votes are counted, but they now seem to be saying, "California? Meh."

[Mike Laursen]

There's not even any interesting Propositions on the California ballot. Just one boring one. We usually have at least twenty, with no fewer than three big spending initiatives.

[Aloysious]

Ukraine border guards discover bootleg alcohol pipeline

Groovus?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Now that Russia is trying to circumvent the Ukrainian natural gas pipelines when shipping gas to Europe, it only makes sense for Ukrainians to repurpose them.

[Libertarian]

Wish we could have that here. I picture myself sitting on the front porch, the first week of each month, sipping a martini and waving the the meter-reader at the curb as he checks how much gin I used last month.

[Rich]

A car bomb attack in central Istanbul has killed at least 11 and injured dozens more.

IOW, Tuesday. 8-(

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Does Damon ever use a different picture for the Morning Lynx?

[SugarFree]

"Why eat hamburger when you can have steak?"

[But Enough About Me]

Meh. Why bother?

[Pat (PM)]

Were Trump's Comments About Judicial Bias Really That Horrible?

Once again, comments by Donald Trump have exposed massive double standards in our society.

Trump is under fire from virtually everyone for his comments about the judge assigned to his Trump University fraud case. He commented that because the judge is Mexican, he will have it in for Trump in the case.

Granted, people's race should not be the central factor in evaluating the appropriateness of a judge's qualifications. However, taken in context, Trump seems to be saying that because of his controversial views on building a wall to keep out illegal Mexican immigrants, a judge of Mexican descent ? particularly one known not to favor such policies ? might be biased, given that Trump is currently running for president and taking a controversial stand. Is that really so outrageous?[...]

Donald Trump is considered a bully, and I don't doubt he comes across as one, at times. But his bullying seems minor compared to the bullying done every day by people like Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, who have called people who oppose their policies things like "economic terrorists," racist or misogynists. They throw these attack labels around far more liberally than Trump on his worst day. Why don't we call them mean?

[Rich]

Were Trump's Comments About Judicial Bias Really That Horrible?

Perhaps we should ask a wise Latina.

[kbolino]

SFed the link

[Pat (PM)]

Let's try again.

[DJF]

It appears that this impartial judge is a member of La Raza (The Race)

[Rhywun]

BORN IN INDIANA.

I laugh at that because the other day was another Mexican national soccer match in Arizona. As usual the entire crowd was garbed in the most ridiculous Mexican stereotypes. These mostly "born in America" folks go apeshit rabid with nationalism whenever their team is playing.

[Timon 19]

You know, it's pretty interesting that the offspring of a lot of those fans are just as nuts about the US (and no, I am most certainly NOT kidding). Lots of people have noticed an increase in the younger Mexican-Americans actually showing up in both teams' gear simultaneously, or - in the case of US v Mexico matches - specially-made dual-colors garb. Three things have led to this:
1. A string of US 2-0 Mexico whuppings in important matches on US soil.
2. The overall evolution of US sporting culture into becoming one of many bona fide "soccer nations" (as opposed to a nation with a team that does pretty well).
3. The usual generational trajectory of assimilation of immigrant communities.

[Timon 19]

I think it's also worth mentioning that the "rabid fandom" of the US team has been Hispanifying over the last 15 years or so, in some cases rapidly. When Mexico is not involved, they will wear US colors to the hilt.

[WTF]

I think that the fact that the judge a member of the La Raza Lawyers of San Diego and oversaw the gift of a law school scholarship to an illegal alien might actually be significant regarding his potential to be prejudiced against the guy who wants to build a wall on the Mexican border and deport illegal aliens.

[tarran]

Ken White's take:

Lawsplainer: When Must Federal Judges Recuse Themselves, Anyway?

Even if one argues that Judge Curiel's membership in a Latino attorney organization might show bias, Trump's lawyers would have a problem: they'd be arguing that the alleged bias didn't arise until long after Judge Curiel started hearing the case. Trump's argument, to the extent it can be nailed down, is that Trump wants to build a wall and Judge Curiel is a member of a Latino organization and therefore Judge Curiel is biased. But Trump didn't start talking about building a wall until Judge Curiel had already been hearing the case for years. In general, a party can't manufacture bias through new conduct after the judge has been assigned. That stops parties from judge-shopping. So, for instance, if I don't like how my case is going before a Turkish-American federal judge who is a member of a Turkish-American group, I can't force a judge-switch by becoming a loud advocate for official recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

[Rhywun]

So... one can reasonably conclude that Trump is floating the Wall project in order to get another judge reassigned to the Trump U. case. Seems legit.

[VG Zaytsev]

He's also a member of HNBA which has officially called for a boycott of all things Trump.

So it's hard to see how the judge can't be biased given his associations.

[Clint Eastwoodchipper]

Were Trump's Comments About Judicial Bias Really That Horrible?

Yes. Trump is essentially saying that the judge can't be trusted with impartiality because "he's a Mexican," so unless you publicly pledge support for Trump's policies (not just the border wall but the Muslim ban) then minority judges are not "fair" judges. It's a tacit admission that his stupid wall is just pandering to white nationalists.

Donald Trump is considered a bully, and I don't doubt he comes across as one, at times. But his bullying seems minor compared to the bullying done every day by people like Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, who have called people who oppose their policies things like "economic terrorists," racist or misogynists. They throw these attack labels around far more liberally than Trump on his worst day. Why don't we call them mean?

And also, I'm tired of this stupid logic.

"Obama, Clinton and Biden are turds who treat people poorly so who cares if Trump is also a turd who treats people poorly?" DURR...

[SugarFree]

But... but... but... BUSH!

[Clint Eastwoodchipper]

CHENEYYYYYYYY!!!!

We get it; there are a lot of assholes in politics.

[The Brakeless MAGA Train]

If you "got it", then we wouldn't need five pants shitting posts a day about how "uniquely awful" Trump allegedly is.

[VG Zaytsev]

No, he's saying that the judges racist associations will lead him to be biased, intentionally or not, against a person that publicly opposes the racist goals of those associations.

[Pat (PM)]

Ironically, a lot of the people most upset about Trump's remarks believe that the institutional racism and bias of white male judges against women and racial minorities causes daily miscarriages of justice. Even a lot of people otherwise predisposed to mistrust the legal system, like Reason, have jumped into the fray to dispel any suggestion that a judge would ever behave in a less than impartial manner.

[WTF]

Racism only goes one way. When it goes the other way it's social justice.

[The Brakeless MAGA Train]

Right - those rape trials in the 1950s South were just great, according to Bizzaro Reason Logic

[WTF]

Trump is essentially saying that the judge can't be trusted with impartiality because "he's a Mexican,"

No, that's not actually what the argument is. The argument is that the fact that the judge a member of the La Raza Lawyers of San Diego and oversaw the gift of a law school scholarship to an illegal alien might actually be significant regarding the judge's potential to be prejudiced against the guy who wants to build a wall on the Mexican border and deport illegal aliens. While it may or may not result in actual prejudice on the part of the judge, questioning the judge's impartiality under these circumstances is neither racist nor unreasonable.

[Pat (PM)]

I believe Trump's initial remarks didn't mention the judge's "problematic" associations, only his ancestry, so it's not unfair to say that Trump argued against the judge's impartiality primarily based on his ancestry. It's still kind of a "so what" though. As I mentioned above, the race and sex of white judges is frequently discussed in the context of disproportionate sentencing and over-prosecution of minority offenders. The racial makeup of the OJ Simpson jury was an important and controversial factor. There's nothing new in the suggestion that a person's race may bias their judgment. In fact, it's orthodoxy among many of the very same people blowing their stack over Trump's remarks.

[Jerryskids]

Bullshit. Trump had no idea the judge was a member of the latino bar group or anything about the scholarship until after he said the dirty spic member of the Hispanics that Donald loves so much and who love El Donaldo right back was biased against him. Not that this means anything to Trump's fanbois.

[The Brakeless MAGA Train]

But white judges and juries presiding over black defendants is just peachy keen with you all, right?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

'Yes. Trump is essentially saying that the judge can't be trusted with impartiality because "he's a Mexican,"'

Nah. I haven't found any links where Trump claims the reason the judge can't be trusted with impartiality is due solely to his "Mexican heritage". Trump has, to my knowledge, only ever said he could not be trusted because of his "pride in his heritage", which is significantly different.

I mean, his position is still really stupid because the judge took up the case before Trump took up the call for building walls, but media outlets shortening the quote from "pride in his Mexican heritage" to "his Mexican heritage" is just willfully dishonest and stupid.

I've said it before: You shouldn't NEED dishonesty to argue against TRUMP. Therefore, writers who resort to it are just idiots.

[The Brakeless MAGA Train]

I tried saying that before I jumped on the train. I'm supporting Trump precisely because this kind of hackery will not stop.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Actually, it is the judge that is racist, so Trump is in the right.

[Lord Humungus]

A Very Unhappy Birthday for Somaliland

On May 18 of this year, Somaliland turned twenty-five. Yet the anniversary is cause for a bittersweet celebration at best. Peace has improbably reigned since this enclave of the Horn of Africa obtained de facto independence in 1991. During those two and a half decades, the world has forgotten this unlikely outpost of functioning government, which has run free democratic elections since 2003 embedded in the chaos of the failed State of Somalia. As a result, 3.5 million Somalilanders have been raised stateless, victims of a legal asterisk that shuts them off from the world and?by extension?prosperity.

[Mr Lizard]

Roadz builders harde$t h1111ttttt

[straffinrun]

Is that some new Disney theme park?

[WTF]

It's an exhibit in Libertarian World.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

60 Flags Over Somalia

[Chip Woodier]

Not the best idea Roy Disney had for a theme park.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

They don't get to enjoy Big Ideas and the warm embrace of the state. Poor souls.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination...

I'm picturing some kind of championship belt helping cinch in a canary yellow pantsuit. And it's hawt.

[Lord Humungus]

Scientist says he found definitive proof that God exists.

The theoretical physicist Michio Kaku claims to have developed a theory that might point to the existence of God. The information has created a great stir in the scientific community because Kaku is considered one of the most important scientists of our times, one of the creators and developers of the revolutionary String Theory which is highly respected throughout the world.

To to come to his conclusions, the physicist made ??use of what he calls "primitive semi ? radius tachyons ".

Tachyons are theoretical particles capable to "unstick " the Universe matter or vacuum space between matter particles, leaving everything free from the influences of the surrounding universe.

After conducting the tests, Kaku came to the conclusion that we live in a "Matrix".

"I have concluded that we are in a world made by rules created by an intelligence", he affirmed. "Believe me, everything that we call chance today won't make sense anymore."

[Rich]

Meh. It's been obvious for a long time that this Universe if just some Kid's science project.

[Rich]

*is*

SEE?! CHANCE!!

[Nativist, Racist & Xenophobe]

I wonder how it will affect the world's religions when it turns out that God is a couple of grad students, who are currently sitting in the dean's office doing a lot of explaining...

[SugarFree]

Simulation theory again? And, of course, even if we are in a simulation, it doesn't prove that Jehovah is real,

[Lee G]

My god and your god are gonna have a throwdown someday and my god is gonna go all Kimbo on your ass.

[SugarFree]

Your god is going to die at 42 all over my god?

[Lee G]

Right after he posts a youtube video of beating up a hobo.

[robc]

I dont think he claimed any specific creator.

[SugarFree]

I know. But I can make fun of the stupid headline too.

[(((Renegade)))]

Uhhhh.... no.

[Conan the Libertarian]

I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death.

[The Last American Hero]

Crommm!!

[kbolino]

From what I've heard, Kaku hasn't had anything interesting to say for a while. It is unsurprising that he would try to gin up some attention.

[Florida Hipster]

Right? He's on every science show ever. Even stupid pop science shows.

[PBR Streetgang]

So he and Elon Musk and kinda on the same page?

[Pat (PM)]

Well, Elon Musk believes himself to be the creator of the universe, so in a roundabout way.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Well all those theoretical theories have to lead somewhere.

Call this proof that even the smartest people believe stupid things.

[Michael]

Didn't Konrad Zuse already determine this?

[Jerryskids]

I thought it was the Wachowski brothers.

[Florida Hipster]

It seems like he is jumping to conclusions. Just because the universe has laws, doesn't mean it is intelligent design. If you roll the dice to create new laws and life arises, of course that set of laws would make sense to that form of life.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

In his defense, this is what theoretical physicists and philosophers get paid to do. It's not necessarily wrong to have stupid ideas and try to prove them.

[Florida Hipster]

I'm not mad at him. I'm a little envious. I wish I had the time and money to probe life's mysteries.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

These masturbation euphemisms are getting existential.

[Shit Pyrate]

^ This.

Also some of those stupid ideas lead to innovations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_theory

[Acosmist]

Metaphysics isn't physics, so no.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Are you saying that since he is a theoretical physicist he is not a philosopher?

[Rich]

A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes super delegates

*and* she hasn't been indicted yet *and* the Secret Service tell-all isn't out yet, right? RIGHT?!

[WTF]

Don't worry, the media will do their very best to drag her across the finish line.

[Pat (PM)]

Sorry Liberals, A Violent Response To Trump Is As Logical As Any

There are so many examples of Trump inciting violence the New York Times put together this video documenting some of them. [...] There's been an upswing in anti-Muslim hate crimes that correlates with his candidacy?including several offenders who cite him as their inspiration. Another of his supporters beat an unhoused Latino man. Yet another sucker punched a demonstrator at a rally and then, more alarmingly, went on to say, "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him." Trump has not just flagrantly violated the typical boundaries of political discourse, his candidacy is linked to multiple instances of violence. It shouldn't be a surprise that opposition to him has responded in kind. Yet, a lot of people seem shocked and appalled at this perfectly logical reaction. In the face of media, politicians, and GOP primary voters normalizing Trump as a presidential candidate?whatever your personal beliefs regarding violent resistance?there's an inherent value in forestalling Trump's normalization. Violent resistance accomplishes this. In spite of this, such resistance is apparently more offensive and unacceptable to societal norms and liberal sensibilities than the nastiness being resisted in the first place.

[kbolino]

Setting aside the "substance" of the argument, is there any truth to this part:

There's been an upswing in anti-Muslim hate crimes that correlates with his candidacy?including several offenders who cite him as their inspiration.

?

[Mr Lizard]

Ya there's just a whole lot of ammo buying, marking off perimeter ranges, and sighting in...just in case the religion of peace decides to not

[kbolino]

Well, I'm sure lots of people have said "mean" things (something no Muslim would ever do) but I'm talking about assaults or at least some kind of clear threat ("grab its motherfucking Koran").

[lap83]

Saying mean things is enough. Words have power /prog

[Overt]

It's at times like these that some of my Prog friends get soooo close to enlightenment. Many of them are coming very close to "You want to round up a bunch of mexicans and ship them home? That is violence. You are advocating men with guns to come pick them up- even if it is an unarmed functionary, they have men with guns ultimately backing them up."

I always wonder how much closer they can get to the line of "All government action is violence" before a few lines of rhetoric will push them over.

[WTF]

It doesn't matter, because as this idiot Huffpo article demonstrates, violence in the service of leftist causes is good and acceptable.

[Haven "Irish" Monahan]

The article he links to says there's been a slight uptick, but that uptick also happens to have occurred right around the time of the Bataclan attack and the San Bernardino attack. So there have been two terrorist attacks over this period and they think the uptick in anti-Muslim hate crimes is the fault of...Donald Trump

[Eternal Blue Sky]

There has been an uptick since the attack in California.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us.....sm-n482456

A couple assaults, arson attempts, overt threats, graffiti. The article I linked also blames Trump for the increase along with other things.

Here's the thing, though. The recent acts of terrorism have caused Trump's rhetoric on Muslims. The recent acts of terrorism have increased the instances of anti-Muslim hate crime. The two things correlate because they have a shared cause, they do not correlate because one is causing the other.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

And, of course, because people either deny any and all events of anti-Muslim hate exist or lump in benign things that aren't actually acts of bigotry in with real bigotry, the article I linked includes some bogus crap as well, such as someone spraypainting the circle-A anarchy symbol on a building being interpreted as an "Eiffel Tower in a circle". But there's still the handful of assaults and arsons and actually malicious graffiti.

[(((Renegade)))]

his candidacy is linked to multiple instances of violence

"Linked to" and passive voice. Sure indications of bullshit.

[Slammer]

Looking at the anti-Trump rallies, and listening to the anti-Trump protestors I've noticed that the vast majority of them are incapable of simply articulating why the oppose him. It's a lot of frothing and screaming and cursing, but nary a one can clearly express what it is they're against.

[WTF]

The media will continue to excuse their violence while simultaneously blaming their violence on Trump.

[The Last American Hero]

They are against the perosnna of Trump. They still love themselves some authoritarianism, they just want a different top man.

[Rhywun]

He's a meanie who punches down. Huffpo is entirely justified in whipping up more violence here.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

They want someone with real class.

[VG Zaytsev]

Many of them are paid rioters.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Nothing like reading Beta-male progs justify violence.

Maybe he's in line for a beating. Then we'll see if he'll write the same crap.

Asshole.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

From comments:

"Whitey McPrivilege ? Commie Skull Smasher at Team America
This is why General Pinochet threw communists like Jesse (((Benn))) out of helicopters. The left has always supported violence as a means to an end. Leftists want to use the power of the state to take away your money, your private property, and ultimately - your life. They will use violence in order to seize that state power to achieve their "utopia". That's why throwing leftists out of helicopters like Pinochet is really just self defense."

[Haven "Irish" Monahan]

Yeah, normalizing political violence isn't going to end well for the sort of mincing leftist pseudointellectuals who write these articles. They'd live about 25 minutes in the lawless anarchy they're trying to bring into existence

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Holy shit that reads like a parody.

[Azathoth!!]

You think?

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

"We're all savages, so how can you blame us?"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson expects a boost in the polls once Bernie Sanders drops out.

Sounds like he'll be waiting a while. Bernie's economic plans show that reality and he are not on speaking terms.

[Michael]

Have we reached peak hipster yet?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....story.html

[colorblindkid]

Trump's an idiot, but America's hypocrisy on the issue is so angering, from the left and the right. Sotomayor specifically said that she would be a better judge than a white male specifically because she's a Hispanic female; that she would rule differently because of her ethnicity. White and male judges are accused of being incapable of judging reasonably solely because they're white or male every fucking time the left doesn't like a ruling. So please, Reason, don't jump on the "that's racist" train. A judge who was the son of an illegal immigrant will definitely have a bias in a ruling about illegal immigration. Doesn't mean he should recuse himself, but there's nothing wrong with pointing out that he is probably biased.

[Feminist Killjoy]

Everyone is probably biased. Many children of immigrants get a "I got mine" attitude and become biased against immigrants. Come up with a better argument.

I personally give a lot of weight to the idea that a diverse group from a variety of backgrounds is going to overall better understand people as a whole, but not convinced that applies to something like the supreme Court, where so much of what they do is based on study and expertise, not life experience.

[kbolino]

I personally give a lot of weight to the idea that a diverse group from a variety of backgrounds is going to overall better understand people as a whole

The only form of diversity that Sotomayor actually brought to the Court was her experience as a trial court judge. That has resulted in a few 8-1 decisions where she is the only one who could speak with actual knowledge of the matter at hand.

Otherwise, the question of "diversity" is shallower than ice cream flavors. "What skin color and/or sex would you like on your Harvard/Yale J.D. with a mostly academic background?"

[Feminist Killjoy]

Everyone is probably biased. Many children of immigrants get a "I got mine" attitude and become biased against immigrants. Come up with a better argument.

I personally give a lot of weight to the idea that a diverse group from a variety of backgrounds is going to overall better understand people as a whole, but not convinced that applies to something like the supreme Court, where so much of what they do is based on study and expertise, not life experience.

[Florida Hipster]

It use to be, until cultural appropriation became a sin.

[Free Society]

So please, Reason, don't jump on the "that's racist" train.

That train left the station some time ago.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

A judge who was the son of an illegal immigrant will definitely have a bias in a ruling about illegal immigration.

What does Trump U have to do with illegal immigration?

[colorblindkid]

Nothing at all. It's just a point.

[Citizen X]

A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes superdelegates.

Fucking reality, how does it work?

[prolefeed]

Well, the superdelegates COULD change their minds - say, if she got indicted today. They aren't committed to voting for her on the first round.

She hasn't mathematically eliminated Sanders from winning.

[Glide]

To be fair, what the hell else has Bernie Sanders got to do with the next month?

[Rhywun]

Shake his fist at passing teenagers?

[Citizen X]

Yell at clouds?

[Lord Humungus]

I've got something in my eye...

Last known 9/11 search dog euthanized in Houston area

The dog, named Bretagne, was retired and had slowed down considerably because of her age. But she was still a beloved fixture at the firehouse.

The canine and her owner Denise Corliss, of Cypress, were deployed at Ground Zero by the Texas Task Force 1. After her retirement age 10, Bretagne aided other search dogs in training and volunteered at a reading program at a local elementary school.

About two-dozen firefighters and members of the search-and-rescue dog community lined the sidewalk to the veterinarian's office to honor and bid a tearful goodbye to the ailing dog as she walked by them for the last time. An American flag was draped over Bretagne's body as she was carried back out of the hospital.

[SugarFree]

So the cover-up is finally complete.

[commodious spittoon]

9/11 was an inside dog.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Well, we determined yesterday a parrot wouldn't testify in court, so why would a doggie?

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Damn, the dog could read, too. What an amazing creature.

[Pat (PM)]

Mentally Ill Easily Buy Guns, Study Says

People with severe mental illness who commit suicide using a gun likely purchased the firearm legally, a new Duke Health study finds.

From 2002 to 2012, researchers analyzed gun use, violent crime, and suicide among 81,704 people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression in Florida's Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties. During that time, 254 committed suicide; 50 of them used a gun.

Despite a past of involuntary mental health examination and/or brief hospitalization, 72 percent of those who used a gun to commit suicide legally purchased the weapon. The other 28 percent were not supposed to own or purchase a gun, but still used one to end their life.

Lead by Jeffrey Swanson, Ph.D., the study focuses on restricting access to guns as a means of public health intervention. "There is a lot of focus on people with mental illness in the discussion of gun violence prevention, and that's both wrong and right," Swanson said in a a Duke Health video.
Swanson said that when focusing on interpersonal violence, mental illness contributes very little. The conversation should be focused on suicide?after all, two-thirds of firearm deaths are suicides and mental illness significantly increases the risk.

[John]

after all, two-thirds of firearm deaths are suicides

I did not know the percentage was that high. That is tragic of course. Funny how the media never mentions this. If you just went by what the media says, you would think 2/3rds of all firearm deaths were kids under 18 who accidentally shot themselves because their evil parents didn't lock up their guns or were murdered in a school shooting.

[colorblindkid]

Many Nordic and European countries have suicide rates higher than ours, and we're not even close to South Korea and Japan. Internationally, gun ownership has absolutely no correlation to suicide. The gun grabbers completely ignore these facts, however. They also ignore the fact that white men are the most likely to commit suicide by a substantial margin. That damned patriarchy made them do it anyway, so it's their own fault.

[commodious spittoon]

White men most likely to kill selves, women and minorities hardest hit.

[VG Zaytsev]

Those transfer payments don't just find themselves.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

So, two-thirds of firearm deaths are people who likely would have sought an alternate way to kill themselves even if guns were not available?

[John]

Pretty much that. Since a firearm is easy to obtain and provides a very quick death, lack of access to firearms does lower the suicide rate somewhat. That was the main effect of the Brady law. A decent percentage of people who would otherwise have bought a gun and shot themselves that day ended up thinking better of it during the three day waiting period. Even that, however is a minority. Most of that 2/3rds would still kill themselves just by other means.

[Citizen X]

Suicide attempts are usually a cry for help rather than a straight-up wish for death, and that a lot of other methods can be counteracted when second thoughts hit - you can vomit up pills, untie a noose, put a tourniquet on sliced wrists, etc., but it's hard to un-shoot yourself in the head.

I don't see how this is actually germane to arguments about gun violence, however.

[WTF]

Yes. But they are touted as "gun deaths" by the left, and used to try to justify restricting gun rights.

[Citizen X]

Yes. But they are touted as "gun deaths" by the left

Yes, which is disingenuous, is my point.

[Citizen X]

Yes. But they are touted as "gun deaths" by the left

Yes, which is disingenuous, is my point.

[Overt]

Yes, and when you remove suicides from firearm deaths, the number is far below dozens of other causes of death, including auto accidents and influenza.

One of my last facebook arguments a couple years ago was with a reasonably honest prog, about guns. I broke down these numbers for him, and at first he was resistant to exclude suicide deaths. But we got through that, and he was shocked by how small the problem of firearm deaths really is. He didn't concede the argument of course, but he admitted that had trouble justifying all the restrictions we place on guns when the problem is sooooo small compared to all of the other problems we have in this country.

[tarran]

I did not know the percentage was that high.

Which makes the whole liability insurance bullshit even more infuriating.

If the estates of 'gun-violence victims' are to receive payouts, then the biggest question is what to do with the suicides. Do you not pay their estates (meaning they were forced to buy insurance they didn't want), or do you pay out and create a larger incentive for people to kill themselves?

If you don't pay out for suicides, the liability insurance becomes a tiny speed bump. If you do, congrats, you will see a wave of suicides that will revolt the conscience of anyone who isn't a prog.

[John]

The whole point of requiring liability insurance is to make it too expensive for anyone but the rich to afford owning a gun. So, you bet it would be required to pay out for suicides.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Double indemnity, the gun made them commit suicide.

[But Enough About Me]

In Canada, firearm deaths that are suicides make up close to 80% of all firearm deaths. Knew 2 guys on my street a few years back who were both suicides using long-guns.

[Mr Lizard]

Self-correcting problem?

[Slammer]

I would assume the metric for being crazy in Florida is a little different than everywhere else.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The metric is "being crazy in Florida"

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Don't progs define 'mentally ill' simply as 'those people who want to own a gun?'

I mean, progs are simpletons with simplistic world views, no?

[Cdr Lytton]

254 committed suicide; 50 of them used a gun

So over 80% used other methods and the focus should be on firearms? And this is 50 out of 81,704 people with mental illness of some sort over a ten year period? Wow, talk about working backwards from preconceived notions.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

As someone who has dealt with depression and other mental health stuff: good. I am so tired of the second ammendment rights of those whose brain chemistry ain't right being thrown under the bus by everyone (including, at times, the NRA).

The mentally ill, I swear, will remain the final group its totally okay to be a shit, long after racism and sexism die. Sorry, but these kinds of attitudes piss me off

[John]

Piers Morgan is generally a loathsome douche but you have to give credit where credit is due. He did some first class trolling about Muhammad Ali yesterday. This is awesome.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-tune.html

[Eternal Blue Sky]

There's something funny about Morgan tweeting a deliberately inflammatory statement at the beginning to cause controversy, then trying to lecture Trump on toning it down...

[Bee Tagger]

during a conference call on Monday in which he ordered them to question the judge's credibility and impugn reporters as racists

Anyone else read the article at the link? I didn't see any actual quotes of Trump ordering anyone to do anything. This was as close as it came and it's not really close. Even in this example the description of what Trump said barely aligns with what he said.

A clearly irritated Trump told his supporters to attack journalists who ask questions about the lawsuit and his comments about the judge.
"The people asking the questions?those are the racists," Trump said. "I would go at 'em."

[WTF]

You mean, they wrote a dishonest headline to try to damage Trump?!
Let me see if I can find my shocked face.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Philadelphia wants to avoid a repeat of 2000 when it arrested more than 400 protesters at the Republican National Convention, only to see most cases end in acquittals.

Then stop hiring assholes for law enforcement. Admittedly, that means opening your pool of candidates to non-Filthadelphia citizens...

[PBR Streetgang]

I SO can't wait for the DNC to get here. I may go down and watch the street carnival that is going to come along with it.

[Agent Cooper]

only to see most cases end in acquittals.

This is probably the real concern.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination with 2,384 delegates. A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes superdelegates."

Give it up Granpa Gulag. She ain't gonna go to jail or face justice. Go back to Vermontia or Germania or wherever you're from.

[Clint Eastwoodchipper]

North Korea?

[Pat (PM)]

Mystery of Mongol Retreat from Hungary Solved

In 1241, the Mongol army marched into Hungary, defeating the Polish and Hungarian armies and forcing the Hungarian king to flee. In 1242, despite meeting no significant military resistance, the Mongols abruptly packed up and left.

Now, a new study of the climate in Eastern Europe that year suggests a reason for this mysterious military retreat: The Mongols got bogged down. Literally.

A cold and snowy winter yielded to a particularly wet spring in Hungary in 1242, according to data from tree rings. As a result, the grasslands of Hungary turned to marsh, said study researcher Nicola Di Cosmo, a historian at Princeton University. The Mongols, dependent on their horses, wouldn't have been able to move effectively across the squishy land, and their steeds would have had few fields to graze.

"This is one of the very few cases in which we can identify a minor climatic change on just one winter and link it to a particularly important historical event," Di Cosmo told Live Science.

It was the fossil fuels what done it.

[kbolino]

This is one of the very few cases in which we can identify a minor climatic change on just one winter and link it to a particularly important historical event

History is littered with wars whose outcomes were decided more by weather than by the relative strengths of the opposing sides. What is this moron smoking?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Seriously--the Spanish Armada; Napoleon's invasion of Russia; Hitler at Stalingrad; Hannibal was notable for passing through the Alps in winter which was thought to be impossible, I seem to remember that Gustavus Adolphus or some Swedish leader crossed the Oresund strait with an army one year when it froze over. That's off the top of my head--I bet there are a dozen others if I went searching for it.

[John]

Even the Spanish Armada was not just the weather. The British had more maneuverable ships and better tactics. The only reason the Armada ended up getting hammered by the weather is because the British had beaten them in the Channel and the Armada ended up having to sail through the North Sea.

The best example of weather being the only factor in a battle, rather than being a factor that one side was able to use, is the Mongol invasion of Japan that was wiped out by the Typhoon. The Japanese didn't have a navy and were just waiting for the Mongols to arrive and likely take over.

One similar example, though in the negative, is William of Normandy's invasion of England. He came across the Channel in October and had there been so much as a thunderstorm during the crossing, he likely would not have made it.

[tarran]

So he risked his men on a gamble with the weather in a channel notorious for bad weather?!? The bastard!!!!! 😉

[John]

He did. He had no choice because he was a bastard and had a tenuous claim to be Duke. Edward the Confessor, who was a bit of a flake, told William he would get the crown after Edward's death. And William went around and told all of his nobles he was going to be king of England. When Edward died and the English did what they had always done and elected a new king, William either had to go take his thrown or risk looking foolish and weak and his own nobles feeling emboldened to turn on him.

[tarran]

You were supposed to laugh, dammit!

[John]

I did. I am just hopelessly earnest about this stuff.

[commodious spittoon]

Something something weather channel.

[Florida Hipster]

+1 kamikaze

[John]

I am not sure if they were decided by weather as much as one side's better ability to adapt or use weather. The classic example of weather having an effect on a war is Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Was it really the winter that defeated Napoleon or was it Napoleon's misjudgment of the Russian will to fight and Kutuzov's understanding of the distances involved and the imperative to deprive Napoleon of a decisive fight until he was too far inside Russia for it to make any difference absent complete destruction of the Russian army? I would say it was the latter. Kutuzov wanted to retreat in 1805 and do the same thing to Napoleon then he did to him in 1812. The Austrians refused to agree and Napoleon rolled both of them at Austerlitz as a result.

[kbolino]

The attrition Napoleon's army suffered retreating from Russia due largely to the weather played a part in his subsequent losses, however.

Moreover, I find the explanation given somewhat lacking. The Mongols marched across the largest continent in the world. I'm pretty sure they had seen a swamp or two before.

[John]

Yes the winter did Napoleon in. I don't see that as the winter deciding the battle. It is not like Russia wasn't known to have cold winters. It is Kutuzov winning the war by drawing Napoleon into Russia and Napoleon losing it by taking the bait. Kutuzov could have met Napoleon at the border and given him another Austerlitz instead of retreating before finally giving Napoleon an indecisive bloodbath at Borodino. Had that happened, no one would be talking about the winter defeating Napoleon.

[Spoonman.]

It makes sense that a really bad year for grass would mean a bad year for Mongols. Obviously they had seen swamps before, but that doesn't mean they found them useful.

[kbolino]

You would think someone might have written down "they ran out of grass" somewhere, though.

[Tonio]

Meh. First they need to draw a dividing line between a short weather incidents, ie the storm which thwarted the invasion of England by the Spanish armada, and bigger events which last months or years, ie the "Year without Summer" in 1815.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Another example of weather impacting outcomes: The Battle of Fornovo.

If that went Italy's way, Europe would have arguably been different.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Not even the only time it has stopped the Mongols in particular. I mean, TWO attempted invasions of Japan were defeated by weather!!

[Citizen X]

+2 divine winds

[Tonio]

"This is one of the very few cases in which we can identify a minor climatic change on just one winter and link it to a particularly important historical event," Di Cosmo told Live Science.

Actually, we need to encourage research like this. It would be a stretch for all but the most hysterical warmists to blame this weather change on human activity since there were (probably) only a few million people total worldwide in 1215. Stuff like this shows that climate change, or less-severe-but-still-significant year-long or season-long weather events have happened many times in the past. Somebody capture all that tree ring data before they disappear it.

[Feminist Killjoy]

I think certain climate change worriers are like those people that are convinced weird stuff only happens during a full moon. Superstition sneaks into the thinking of even the most logical people.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Climate change. Is there anything it can't do?

/spins Bill 'Fuckhead' Nye's bow tie. Squirts water from rose on lapel in eye. Blows into whistle.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

My understanding was that it had a bit to do with the death of the then khan, ans mongols held their elections in Mongolia, so they pulled back from Hungary mid-campaign to deal with internal political stuff.

How much do you guys credit the lack of Mongol invasion for Europe's later success? I certainly think it explains the relative decline of the middle east at the time, with the invasion by the Ottomans sealing the end of Arab powers in the ME.

[Citizen X]

-1 Library of Baghdad

[Bee Tagger]

"Philadelphia wants to avoid a repeat of 2000 when it arrested more than 400 protesters at the Republican National Convention, only to see most cases end in acquittals."

You hear that judges and prosecutors? Shape up.

[Tonio]

This is going to be delicious.

[Lord Humungus]

Dixie Chicks Perform In Front Of Defaced Photo Of Donald Trump

While performing at a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, this weekend, the all-female band performed in front of a photo of the Republican presidential candidate with drawn-on horns and facial hair.

As they sang their song "Goodbye Earl" ? which is about two women murdering one's abusive husband ? Trump dangled in the background.

In the past, the band's lead singer, Natalie Maines, has made her feelings about Trump very clear.

As long as Donald Trump's decisions for America are as solid as his decision about his hair, we're in good shape.

[John]

Looks like someone wants another 15 minutes. Sorry girls, you only get one of those. Its a new decade.

[Cdr Lytton]

No way. If they don't get maximum airplay, it's because the vast country radio conspiracy is out to silence them for their views. Not that they offended a sizable number of the listening audience. Or their music turned to crap and non-country covers of pop music. It's got to be the korporashuns.

[Lee G]

One trick pony

[straffinrun]

Hey now. Lord H works hard finding this links.

[Atanarjuat]

No, that's a different country act from the Aughts.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Ha ha.

They've been silence on Obama's own dubious record on race but come out of their cocoon with Trump.

These people.

Too funny.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

"As they sang their song "Goodbye Earl" ? which is about two women murdering one's abusive husband ? Trump dangled in the background."

Cute. Subtle.

More of that good ole liberal violence, eh?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The most pathetic part about the Dixie Chicks fall from country grace was the Hollywood left lining up to condemn the "rednecks" that got them kicked off the stations. This is a group that sold millions under a name deliberately designed to evoke Lost Cause nostalgia.

[W. Chipper Dove]

OK, guys. My sister - who is a Hillary supporter, ugh - was actually at this show. She said that the Chicks showed pictures of all of the presidential candidates at one point or another, not just Trump. This is the media being a bunch of lying bastards to further gin up trouble.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The federal government should buy coal plants, shut them down and pay to retrain their employees

...There is another alternative ? which I'll call Plan A ? that would avoid the considerable litigation risks of the Clean Power Plan and achieve more quickly and with greater certainty a reduction in emissions at least equal to those of the Clean Power initiative. Under Plan A, the federal government would buy or, if necessary, seize under eminent domain all existing U.S. coal plants and close them over 10 years. Such a use of federal authority is well-established and would not be subject to serious legal challenge. (Plant owners could dispute the amount of compensation offered but not the public purpose of federal action intended to protect the environment.) ...

[colorblindkid]

If the government shuts down all coal plants, which is at some point likely to happen even though it's incredibly stupid and unconstitutional, the only way I would be not incredibly pissed about it is if they replaced them all with a nuclear plant. Train the coal workers to work at the nuclear plant. Most jobs there are not nuclear physicist-type jobs. We need to loosen environmental restrictions on uranium mining as well. I do hope the government lets the market figure out all this stuff on it's own, but I am incredibly pessimistic about that happening.

[Tonio]

Thorium, not Uranium. Molten salt thorium reactors are the future, or would be if the enviros would embrace a reality-based energy policy. Industry would probably be abandoning coal plants if they were allowed to build nuclear plants.

[Florida Hipster]

I read thorium isn't cheaper because the infrastructure is already geared towards uranium. Kind of like converting a gasoline car to CNG. The fuel is cheaper, but the upgrade costly.

[Tonio]

Upgrading existing facilities from Uranium (or coal) to Thorium probably isn't practical. We should be opening 3-4 MST plants per year to replace existing coal plants and eventually the Uranium nuclear plants. Molten Salt Thorium uses molten salt as primary (and secondary) coolant - this runs at high temperature but low pressure.

But the greenies won't let us have even one of those as a demo because the technology is "new" and "untested," therefore dangerous. And they won't let us test those, because, dangerous.

[Mr. Flanders]

No, they wouldn't. Although nuclear power plants offer very stable energy output, they are very expensive and complicated to build. Coal is much, much cheaper.

[Rhywun]

the only way I would be not incredibly pissed about it is if they replaced them all with a nuclear plant

LOL I doubt that's what they have in mind.

"As the recent bankruptcy of coal titan Peabody Energy illustrated, coal-plant owners and institutional investors, as well as their lenders, are locked in to deteriorating assets that are losing the competition against natural gas and renewable energy sources"

No mention of the fedgov's role in bringing about that bankruptcy? I am shocked.

[John]

Take people who are now productively employed providing a vital resource to the economy and put them on welfare. That is some real solid thinking there.

[commodious spittoon]

It's not welfare, it's jobs training. The welfare comes after the jobs fail to materialize.

[Tonio]

^This.

[Chip Woodier]

....then force Chinese companies to replace them with solar and wind farms sans subsidies.

[Private Chipperbot]

There is another alternative ? which I'll call Plan A ? that would avoid the considerable litigation risks...and achieve more quickly and with greater certainty a reduction in emissions abortions... Under Plan A, the federal government would buy or, if necessary, seize under eminent domain all existing U.S. abortion clinics and close them over 10 years. Such a use of federal authority is well-established and would not be subject to serious legal challenge. (Clinic owners could dispute the amount of compensation offered but not the public purpose of federal action intended to protect unborn children.) ..

Ha! Neat!

[Libertarian]

"Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination with 2,384 delegates."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall the AP or anyone else ever "declaring a winner" at this point in the process. Labeling someone the "presumptive nominee," sure, but the "winner?" Something smells.

[Mr Lizard]

That water ain't gonna carry itself

[WTF]

They had to do something to discourage turnout among the Bernie supporters. Otherwise Hillary might be embarrassed by going into the convention to be declared the winner while actually losing most of the state primaries.

[Lord Humungus]

Donald Trump Says He Doesn't Believe in American Exceptionalism

Trump didn't hesitate to shoot down the premise of the question, saying he didn't "like the term." He questioned whether the United States was "more exceptional" and "more outstanding" than other nations. He also said that those who refer to American exceptionalism were "insulting the world" and offending people in other countries, such as Russia, China, Germany, and Japan. It is "not a nice term," he said, maintaining it was wrong to equate patriotism with a belief in American exceptionalism. He derided politicians who use the phrase.

Explaining his negative reaction to this idea long cherished and promoted by Republicans and Democrats, Trump said, "perhaps that's because I don't have a very big ego, and I don't need terms like that." Audience members laughed in response. Trump added, "I want to take everything back from the world that we've given them. We've given them so much." He suggested that were he to become president, he would make the United States exceptional.

[VG Zaytsev]

Attacking the hubris of our political elites will no doubt be the next point reason.com uses to demonize him.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Professional Educator: Grades, Showing Up On Time Are A Form Of White Supremacy

...Heather Hackman operates Hackman Consulting Group and was formerly a professor of multicultural education at Minnesota's St. Cloud State University, where she taught future teachers. On Friday, Hackman was given a platform at WPC to deliver a workshop with the lengthy title "No Freedom Unless We Call Out the Wizard Behind The Curtain: Critically Addressing the Corrosive Effects of Whiteness in Teacher Education and Professional Development." The long title masked a simple thesis on Hackman's part: Modern education is hopelessly tainted by white supremacy and the "white imperial gaze," and the solution is to train prospective teachers in college to be activists as well as pedagogues....

But Hackman acknowledged in the current white supremacist system, there is some expectation that teachers will know conventional English and possess other basic knowledge. As a result, she admitted modern activist teachers should try to learn those things sufficiently to get a job, but only for the purpose of infiltrating schools to change them from within.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

"My long game was, get you in, get you tenured, get you in that system and change that system," she said.......She predicted her approach will triumph, and the sinister force she dubbed "Super-Whitey" (and compared to the Eye of Sauron) will eventually be swept aside.

"Your time has come," Hackman said. "If I was a white faculty member and unwilling to get with the program, I do not have any business in teacher education ? We do see you, Super-Whitey. We're coming for you."

[commodious spittoon]

Yes, yes... infest the post-secondary superstructure just in time to watch it crumble when the credit bubble bursts.

[Rich]

Hackman said when she was a professor, she ... allowed students to write in ... foreign languages she herself couldn't read. "If I don't know [your language,] frankly, that's my issue," she said. "All I need to know is that you're thinking about it, I don't really care how you do it."

With all due respect, Heather -- are you retarded?

[Aloysious]

Yes.

The need for change is pressing, Hackman said, because the current white supremacist school system is literally killing off non-white Americans.
"Inside, I am screaming," she said.

[Elspeth Flashman]

So are we.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

You ain't been gazed at until you've felt the White Imperial Gaze.

[commodious spittoon]

AKA Blue Steel

[Agent Cooper]

Is it narrow-able?

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Lee G]

professor of multicultural education

I stopped there. No need to read the ramblings of a certified idiot.

[Slammer]

Why all this infiltrate and takeover shit. Start your own fucking school. What's stopping you?

[Tonio]

Whitey, obviously. Duh.

[commodious spittoon]

For one thing, an accreditation process heavily biased in favor of people who, you know, know things.

[Free Society]

Because they seek vengeance and conquest, not equality or any other euphemism for knocking whites down a peg.

[WTF]

I guess this is more proof of improved race relations in the US.

[Florida Hipster]

The improvement is white people have stopped resisting.

[WTF]

More like they haven't bothered to resist so far. Trumpamania might be just the early stirrings of a backlash. I suspect things may get really ugly before they get better.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Did you go to her website?

Check that pic with the 'U' image.

Always look for the faux-info graph to give the appearance of smartness!

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Yeh. And we're so fucked.

Being punctual is simply a form of respect.

Don't tell someone you will meet them at 8 and show up at 9. That gives the impression you don't care for people's time.

Same for work. People depend on each other to be honest with time.

Man, we're so fucked.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Around the world in 80 lays: Traveller who bonked her way out of heartbreak after split with long-term boyfriend
HEARTBROKEN after being dumped, Laura Jane Williams indulged her passion for travelling ? but instead of sight-seeing, she immersed herself in local culture by sleeping with countless men.

The 30-year-old writer from Derby went on a sex spree in Europe, America and the UK ? detailed in her book, Becoming ? until her bed-hopping came to a sudden and bizarre end...

... pulled one man in a bar while carrying a tray of greasy chips.

Another was a 19-year-old father of one who I had sex with every night for a month. I treated him like dirt ? and when I ended it he chased me down his road in his pyjamas to tell me he loved me....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Rational Male: The Talk
...There are a few reasons women will move for something like The Talk. First and foremost is the Hypergamic need for certainty. When a woman presses for exclusivity with a man she tips her hand in the Hypergamic scheme of things. In this instance the root message is twofold ? she perceives you as high enough value to seek some kind of exclusive permanency and / or she acknowledges (or is beginning to) that her capacity to attract other prospective men is depreciating. Women with greater sexual market options and a commensurate self-impression rarely push for this relationship formality.

Another reason for The Talk is that women, on some level of consciousness, seek to alleviate the competition anxiety that comes with making an emotional investment in a man she perceives is 1-2 steps above her own sexual market value. A passive form of Dread almost certainly plays a role in the prompt to formalize an LTR, however, what's prompting that Dread can range from an emotional investment based on a genuine desire to the pragmatic necessity to settle on a guy who meets her security needs in contrast to her ability to attract a better prospect....

[commodious spittoon]

You get three strikes in the Needlessly Capitalized Words Game. Three chances to flag a word as Super Important before I zone out.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

She's not exactly the first woman to go on a sex spree after breaking up. Why is this news?

[Citizen X]

'Cause Johnny's pissed that none of these rampant sluts will sleep with him.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

California to extend Obamacare to illegal immigrants using 'innovation waiver'
California legislators have passed a bill which would allow illegal immigrants to purchase insurance on the state's Obamacare exchange. The bill first has to be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown and then the change would need to be approved by the federal government.

If approved, the change would break another promise made by President Obama when selling the law to Americans. During a 2009 address to Congress Obama said, "There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants." He added, "This too is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." That was when Rep. Joe Wilson famously interjected, "You lie!" The break in decorum earned him an official rebuke....

[commodious spittoon]

Selling tickets to the Titanic.

[Tonio]

Well, in all fairness, that California law was not in force, then. However, this was foreseeable and inevitable. First establish the enabling framework at the federal level, then let the states change the eligibility requirements.

[Free Society]

He also claimed that Obamacare wasn't designed to crash the market, that it was a penalty not a tax and then a tax not a penalty and on and on. Leftists always lie.

[WTF]

"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

[Bee Tagger]

Voters head to the polls today in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

You don't have to! Voters, I promise you, you don't have to do this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They'd like to retain their right to complain.

[WTF]

Yeah, what article of the constitution is that?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The 5th amendment?

[Lord Humungus]

The surprising strategy behind Hillary Clinton's designer wardrobe

Hillary Clinton's New York primary victory speech in April focused on topics including income inequality, job creation and helping people secure their retirement. It was a clear attempt to position herself as an everywoman.

But an everywoman she is not ? she gave the speech in a $12,495 Giorgio Armani tweed jacket.

The polished outfit was a stark contrast to the fashion choices Clinton has made in the past. As first lady, Clinton wore frumpy pastel skirtsuits. As New York senator and secretary of state, she attempted a more serious look, wearing pantsuits in a rainbow of colors ? so mocked that they sparked memes. In comparison to Michelle Obama, who's become known as a style icon during her time in the White House and appeared on the cover of Vogue twice, Clinton has never been able to nail down a personal aesthetic that works for her.

Giorgio Armani jacket looks like something a hobo would wear.

[Bee Tagger]

You're saying it's more hobo than boho? If that's not a saying already, I want credit for it.

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's a brilliant saying. Wish I'd said it first.

[Bee Tagger]

A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes superdelegates.

Crowns and superdelegates. What a world we live in.

[Hamster of Doom]

They hate us for our freedom.

[Lord Humungus]

California and the Myth of Proposition 187

Keith Humphreys points out today that California used to be a solidly Republican place. But then Republicans reacted to the state's growing non-white population by supporting the infamous Proposition 187:

...

This is the conventional wisdom, and I've never questioned it. For some reason, though, I got curious about it today. Here's what California has looked like in presidential elections over the past 35 years:

Unless I made a mistake somewhere, Prop 187 had precisely zero effect. As the non-white population of California rose, the Democratic share of the presidential vote rose in almost perfect tandem. After 1994, it continued growing at the same rate as ever.

This is just the presidential vote, and maybe things are different in other contests. But I'd be interested to see someone take a more detailed look at this. The real lesson here seems to be that Donald Trump's racist blatherings are likely to have no effect at all on the Republican Party. Non-whites don't like Republicans, and will go on not liking them.

[Chip Woodier]

Non-whites would totally be for Republicans if not for Trump.

[SugarFree]

"I expect a concession speech tonight, Bernie," Hillary rasped, her throat as dry as a turtle's asshole. "I have the Superdelegates, you crusty old fuck. You cannot withstand their power."

"I'm from the Bronx. I am tough. You do not control the Bernie Rev-rev-revolution!" the old man stuttered. The wheeze in his breath sounded like the rustle of beetle wings. She loved listening to him die on the phone.

"See if you can give him a heart attack," her goiter whispered. She stroked its bulging mass and smiled.

"I'm rubbing maple syrup all over my pussies, Bernie. New Hampshire maple syrup," she said.

"No! You witch!" You'll feel the Bern for this!"

"Now I'm opening a bottle of Canadian maple syrup."

"You wouldn't! You wouldn't dare!"

[SugarFree]

"Tariff-free. Bernie. Tariff-free syrup. Hmm. Free trade feels so good on my pornucopia of back-up labias." Hillary held the phone away as she and the goiter chortled.

"I WILL DESTROY YOU AT THE CONVENTION!" Bernie screamed, but it was tinny and far away on the phones tiny speaker.

"No you won't, Bernie," she said, drawing the phone back. "I'm taking away the millennials. The Tumblristas are mine. All your little college lackeys and dick-drunk bros are mine. I'll call them sexist if they stay home."

"It won't work. They are mine, you dried up old hag. I am the youth movement!" He was so agitated his jowls made a flapping sound as they shook with rage.

"They are going to vote vagina now. AND I HAVE ALL THE VAGINAS!"

She let the goiter laugh into the phone for a long moment before she hung up on his raving and tucked Convenience Phone #17 into her wetly pulsated gunt pouch.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"her throat as dry as a turtle's asshole"

Poetry.

[Tonio]

Sea turtles haz a sad. Tortoise would have been a better choice since all species terrestrial and some are desert-living. I, know, everyone's a critic.

[SugarFree]

"Tortoise's asshole" doesn't really roll off the tongue.

NTTIAWWT

[Clint Eastwoodchipper]

ROFL

*slow clap*

[Citizen X]

Fun fact: some species of turtles can actually absorb oxygen from the water via their assholes, allowing them to go without breathing during hibernation.

Not sure why i thought of that, but there it is.

[Lee G]

I have a whole new perspective on you now.

[Crusty Juggler]

He is our foremost expert on turtle anus.

[Citizen X]

Hey man, if you wanna go through life being ignorant all the time, go ahead!

[Tonio]

That is so cool. Linky?

[Citizen X]

Hier.

[Tonio]

Totes cool. Thanks.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Are turtles' assholes known to be dry?

Either way, a fine work. I enjoy Bernie.

[Lord Humungus]

Jay Nordlinger: #ExGOP

But then they nominated, or were poised to nominate, Donald J. Trump for president. And that's where I get off. I ceased to be a Republican on the night of May 3, when the results of the Indiana primary came in. A party that thinks Donald Trump ought to be president is not a party I should belong to.

Think of it in different terms: If there were a party somewhere that thought Donald Trump ought to be president, would you belong to it? I wouldn't. And that party exists: It is my old party.

"But Trump is only the presidential nominee!" you might say. "There are millions of other Republicans. Susana Martinez is governor of New Mexico, for heaven's sake! She's as different from Trump as a daisy is from an eel." Yes. But a presidential nominee is the face of the party: its symbol, its representative, on the national stage and the world stage. Every party has its clowns, fools, and embarrassments. But if they are down-ballot, it doesn't matter so much. In nominating someone for president, a party says, "This is who we are."

[John]

His reasons for hating Trump boil down to he admitted to sleeping around and said mean things about John McCain. The McCain thing is especially galling. McCain is known as one of the biggest assholes in Washington. And McCain has said some extremely nasty things about other Republicans and conservatives and libertarians in particular. And we are all supposed to jump to the defense of him because Donald Trump pointed out the truth that John McCain wasn't much of a navy pilot? Really?

[VG Zaytsev]

He also only,said mean things about McCain after the old douche attached his own constituents for listening to Trump.

[Private Chipperbot]

Salty ham tears are the best tears.

[Citizen X]

And that's where I get off.

Phrasing?

[John]

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....side-story

Inside Bill Kristol's quest to find a third party candidate. For a long time it was very puzzling to me why people like Kristol have lost their shit over Trump. The leftwing media has lost its shit over him but they always go insane over the GOP nominee. It is what they do. The right wing media in contrast happily supported Dole and McCain and Romney, all three of which were every bit as liberal as Trump. So, its not like they won't sell out to the guy who wins.

What the right wing media has also done is happily stood by or in some case quietly stuck a knife in their backs as the media has destroyed one outsider candidate figure who attracted a following after another. Palin and Herman Cain come to mind in this regard. Here is Trump and they all stood back figuring the media would whack him and he handed them their ass. People like Kristol hate Trump because his ascendancy means an end to their influence. If the media can't stop Trump from being President who can they stop? And if they can't stop anyone who shows enough balls to tell them to fuck off why should anyone care what they think?

[Atanarjuat]

Dead on. I am voting for Johnson, but I'm hoping Trump wins just as a fuck you to people like him (and because Hil-liary is anti-2A rights).

[Lord Humungus]

2016's States with the Highest & Lowest Tax Burdens

1 New York 13.12%
2 Hawaii 11.86%
3 Maine 11.13%
3 Vermont 11.13%
5 Connecticut 10.91%
6 Minnesota 10.46%
7 New Jersey 10.38%
8 Rhode Island 10.36%
9 Wisconsin 10.32%
10 Illinois 10.19%

more detailed info/breakdown in the link

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I'm surprised California's not in the Top 10, although I guess Prop 9 might have something to do with that. Glad to see Virginia down near the bottom at #39.

[Florida Hipster]

FL #44.

*fires off matched pair of percussion revolvers*

[Swiss Servator]

IL, #10.

*cries*

[robc]

I would like to see the correlation between internal immigration and that chart. Pretty high, I would guess.

[Lord Humungus]

As subprime auto borrowers default, collection suits pile up in local courts

Wanting to buy his son a car as a high school graduation gift, Lesinski put $1,750 down and drove off the lot in a 2003 Ford Mustang. The loan for the car was $11,367, and it carried 29 percent annual interest over nearly four years. His son would make the payments, but the loan was in Lesinski's name.

After paying the balance down to a little more than $10,000, his son, who had stopped making insurance payments, wrecked the car, Lesinski said. In 2011, after more than $4,000 in interest had accrued, Car Credit City's in-house finance arm, General Credit Acceptance, sued Lesinski. Factoring in attorney fees, the court judgment came to more than $15,000.

After Lesinski fell behind on a payment plan later that year, General Credit Acceptance began garnishing a portion of his check from a Fenton painting company. It hasn't stopped since.

As of Friday, the company has taken $22,600 of Lesinski's wages. Because Missouri court judgments can carry the interest from the initial contract, little of that money has gone toward principal. Lesinski assumed the balance was near zero. In fact, he still owes almost $13,000.

[Hamster of Doom]

it carried 29 percent annual interest

This should have been his first sign.

[Private Chipperbot]

He'd have been better off going to the mob.

[Lord Humungus]

Black students nearly 4x as likely to be suspended

From gifted-and-talented programs to teacher experience to advanced science and math courses, the data show, the schools that enroll large numbers of minority students are unequal in nearly every way.

U.S. Education Secretary John King said the findings lay bare the USA's "systemic failure" to educate all students equally.

"These data show that we still fall far short of that ideal," he said, noting that students of color, those whose first language is not English and those with disabilities are "not getting same opportunities to learn" as other classmates.

"When we deny some students access to a high-quality education, we all lose out in multiple ways," he said.

[Rich]

U.S. Education Secretary John King said the findings lay bare the USA's "systemic failure" to educate all students equally.

You know, John, this could easily be remedied by abolishing the Department of Education.

[straffinrun]

My Japanese isn't as good as native Japanese people. Bigots takin away muh opportunities.

[DJF]

I blame the Japanese, why can't they speak English like normal people, it would be a lot easier to learn their language?

[Hamster of Doom]

Bah. Silliness.

We'll fix our education woes when we stop fretting about non-white children getting the education they deserve whether they want it or not, and start fretting about giving the genius children of every demographic the best education mankind can provide.

[Florida Hipster]

It really the middle that benefits from a good education. Geniuses will be geniuses, idiots will be idiots. The middle has unused potential.

[Tonio]

Careful, there, Ham, that will just end up with a redefinition (not in a good way) of "genius." There will always be scholarships, at all grade levels, for the truly gifted. If we're stuck with a public education system, let's gear that towards the B students, realizing that the C students have a place there. The "A" students will flourish despite their teachers, but there's only so far they can go in certain fields without access to lab equipment, etc.

[Rhywun]

"Schools can do things to reduce the rate at which they suspend kids," he said. "Some schools have figured out a way to deal with this problem without suspending kids."

Yes, by letting (certain) kids beat the shit out of their teachers. That's the official policy in NYC now.

[Rich]

Protests over Ramadan prayers held at Turkey's historic cathedral

Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move in a statement calling it "bigotry" and "not compatible with modern, democratic and secular societies." "Muslim rituals in a monument of world cultural heritage are incomprehensible and reveal a lack of respect for and connection with reality," the statement said.

"'We're all Children of God', my ass!"

[John]

If we would kick the Turks out of NATO, we could let Putin launch a crusade to put the cross back on the Sophia.

[tarran]

That would end ... badly ... for the Russians.

[John]

There would be a lot of dead Russians for sure. But there are still a lot of Russians to kill and mass has a quality all its own. Unless Russia broke out the nukes, that would be an old fashioned slugfest.

[Chip Woodier]

I can't see NATO defending Turkey except in a half-hearted token effort, much less with the use of nukes.

[John]

I wouldn't go to war for Turkey, at least not as long as they have that paper hanging bastard they have as President.

[Warty]

Um...the Hagia Sophia has been a mosque for half a millennium and a third of its existence. It's understandable that some Greek dead-enders are still upset about losing their empire to a bunch of steppe barbarians, but it's kind of a fait accompli at this point.

[Chip Woodier]

So...no take backs? Did they call it? It's not legal unless they call it.

[Timon 19]

Since 1923 it has, by custom - and I believe by statute - been an officially areligious cultural shrine, backed up by the Republic of Turkey's soldiers and police. Of course Erdogan has pretty much purged the military of secularists.

I'm sure tarran has more correct details.

By the by, that place is truly an awesome building on the inside, even with scaffolding all over the place blocking views and access.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Why Do Echidnas Have Four-Headed Penises?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...male echidnas ejaculate with just two heads (half of the penis) at a time.

"Hey, uh, intern, I need you to come over here and jerk this anteater off while I film it up close. It's for science."

[Lord Humungus]

I first read that as Enchilada and began to wonder what I've been eating all my life.

[Lord Humungus]

The Playboy Mansion Will Be Sold to Its Next-Door Neighbor

The Playboy Mansion, Hollywood's ultimate party palace and scene of celebrity debauchery, is no longer up for sale. The five-acre property's next-door neighbor has picked it up for an undisclosed price, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Put on the market in January for $200 million ? making it easily one of the most expensive residential listenings in U.S. history ? the mansion comes with a curious caveat: 90-year-old Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has a life estate on the property, meaning that he'll live out the rest of his days at the historic Holmby Hills house as the new owner's roommate. That new owner is 32-year-old Daren Metropoulos, a private equity principal, owner of Hostess Brands, former co-CEO of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and son of a billionaire.

Heineken? Fuck that shit!

[SugarFree]

When he takes over the property, the tidal wave of bleach used to clean it will scour the West Coast of all life.

[Lee G]

dammit

[Lee G]

It would make more sense if he were the CEO of Clorox.

[sarcasmic]

Pabst! Blue! Ribbon!

[GILMORE?]

former co-CEO of Pabst Blue Ribbon

Pabst spent most of the 2000s being a not-for-profit, run for the sake of paying its enormous unpaid-tax bills

When Kalmanovitz died in 1987 S&P Co. became legally inseparable from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust.[13] S&P Company was ordered by the IRS to sell the Pabst Brewing Company by 2005 or lose its not-for-profit, tax-free status. After a while, PBC claimed that they were unable to find a buyer at market value and requested an extension until 2010 that the IRS granted.[citation needed]

On May 26, 2010, investor C. Dean Metropoulos reached a deal to purchase Pabst for about $250 million.[18] On May 14, 2011, it was announced that Pabst would be relocating to Los Angeles, California.[2]

Basically = hipster millionaire over-pays for brand; quickly flips to private-equity friends.

more amusingly - the international appeal =

Pabst Blue Ribbon America has a licensing agreement and joint venture arrangement with China Pabst Blue Ribbon. China Pabst recently released a new beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 for consumption in the domestic market; it sells for 44 U.S. dollars a bottle.[26]

[sarcasmic]

it sells for 44 U.S. dollars a bottle

What the...

[Crusty Juggler]

What is he going to do with the secret tunnels?

[commodious spittoon]

...cover them up with g-strings?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

They never let you see the tunnels at Playboy.

[Lord Humungus]

Axl Rose Is Abusing Copyright to Kill an Embarrassing Meme

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose is fat now. He knows it, you know it, and it's fine because he's not 20 anymore. Still, the internet did its thing with a particularly unflattering photo taken at a 2010 concert and turned it into a meme that's pretty much just about how chubby Axl Rose is these days.

Rose has been desperately trying to wipe this image and the memes it's spawned off of the face of the internet through numerous takedown requests under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. According to TorrentFreak, the company that sent the takedown requests maintains that Rose asks all photographers at his shows to sign a contract that transfers copyright of the image to him.

...

This makes Rose the latest celebrity to try and use copyright to remove embarrassing photos from the internet?Lenny Kravitz notoriously claimed copyright on the many videos and images of his floppy dong that circulated around the web last year?a practice that Canadian internet lawyer David Fraser described as "abusive.

[The Last American Hero]

If the douchebag was smart, he'd get an endorsement deal with Weight Watchers, P90x, or 30-10 weightloss for life and get some extra blow money.

[commodious spittoon]

Not bothering to click the link, but if it's the one I sent around a couple months ago the caption reads "Welcome to the jungle, we've got tons of cake.

[Atanarjuat]

No one ever learns the lesson of the Streisand Effect.

[DocMike]

Mainstream media "It's not the scary La Raza the judge is associated with, it's an entirely different cute and cuddly La Raza."

Sweet Buddha on a pogo stick, it took me 5 seconds to find the militant gringo hating La Raza in their hyperlinks and affiliates page:

http://larazalawyers.net/id3.html

Does anyone imagine if an organization had a link to Stormfront in its hyperlinks and affiliates page, that would not be a point of interest? I sure as heck like to know what is in the links page of an organization I am a member of and give money and time to.

[WTF]

You don't understand. TRUMP!!! Okay?

[sarcasmic]

'Your rubbish comments ain't ruining my happiness': Plus size bride-to-be hits back at body shamers who criticised her for being 'fat' in her engagement photos

Mzznaki Tetteh from Ghana posted engagement photos on Instagram
A snap of hr fiance lifting her attracted negative comments
Trolls said she was 'fat' and should lose weight for her health
But Mzznaki hit back with a defiantly confident photo

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....hotos.html

Look at his face. He's giving himself a hernia picking her up.

Oh, and [insert John joke here].

[Libertarian]

Laughing at overweight people is easy to do -- ask any 5 year old. These people need to find an interest in life that doesn't involve denigrating others for the most superficial of reasons. Either that, or play solitaire on their computers -- it would be more productive.

[Crusty Juggler]

Don't worry Poland, we mean it this time: NATO countries begin largest wargame in Poland since Cold War

[Aloysious]

The Russian people won't view that as any kind of threat. Nope.

[The Last American Hero]

Imagine if Russia and China played a large wargame in Mexico.

[WTF]

Depends who the President is.

[Mazakon]

I Left Socialism Behind; Don't Let It Come Here

Bernie Sanders supporters should note socialist Venezuela's descent into poverty and chaos.

Socialism has been the defining theme of the Democratic contest. Bernie Sanders, a self-described "Democratic Socialist," has come closer to toppling Hillary Clinton than most people thought possible. College students and recent graduates in particular have flocked to his message of a government controlled and directed economy and a cradle-to-grave welfare state.

Although he will likely fall short, Sanders' success has nonetheless pulled both Clinton and the entire Democratic Party to the left, giving socialism a mainstream pedigree that will undoubtedly affect future elections.

[sarcasmic]

No socialist intends to create poverty and chaos. They've got good intentions. They want equality for everyone. Free stuff for everyone. They're not going to destroy the fruits of prosperity like every other socialist regime in the past. No, because they've got good intentions. They're not going to pave the road to hell. Because, um, I dunno. Good intentions and stuff.

[kbolino]

No socialist intends to create poverty and chaos.

Oh, but they do. They want to make "the rich" poor and remove them from the social order. They just pretend they can do that without any spillover to the rest of society.

[sarcasmic]

Sure they want to take down the rich. But they want to build up the poor at the same time. They don't understand that in free markets people get rich by creating wealth in the form of goods and services that make people happy. They only understand intentions. Business people intend to make profits. That is selfish and bad. Business people must be taken down because they have selfish intentions. Whereas those who want to distribute wealth have good intentions. They're selfless. They want life to be fair. They don't understand that the results of their good intentions are poverty and chaos. They don't intend that to happen, so how could it possibly be the result?

[commodious spittoon]

Not to mention socialism having an obvious appeal to cultural Marxists who would love to advance their grievances through a more, ahem, direct application of public policy.

[The Last American Hero]

They're going to turn us into Norway. An oil-rich, ethnically uniform, secular country of 5 million people. Where's everybody else going to go you ask? They will be loaded into railcars and shipped to the camps. Why do you think they want trains so badly?

[Rich]

Janet Yellen Speech Indicates Fed Will Rethink Interest-Rate Plans

"If incoming data are consistent with labor market conditions strengthening and inflation making progress toward our 2 percent objective, as I expect, further gradual increases in the federal funds rate are likely to be appropriate," she said.

So the Fed's admitted objective is 2% inflation, despite their charter mandating stability?

Audit the Fed!

[Hamster of Doom]

Per year. 2% per year.

It's like they've never heard of compound interest.

Stability? They keep using this word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

[Libertarian]

The dollar from 1913, when the Fed was established, is now worth 4 cents. The elderly who depend on income from a lifetime of savings are earning nothing, or being forced to riskier investments. This is just smart governing.

/Krugman

[kbolino]

The dollar from 1913, when the Fed was established, is now worth 4 cents.

A 1913 dollar would be worth $24 today. The present dollar would be worth $0.04 in 1913.

[Lord Humungus]

I think I mentioned this before, but reading Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" published in 1939.

"It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark little clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars."

Philip Marlowe is being hired by the Sternwoods, who live in a massive mansion with servants and a chauffeur.

4 Million today isn't bad - but it isn't anything like it used to be

[GILMORE?]

The bulk of my jokes about men's attire comes from reading (and re-reading) Chandler.

He had an Englishman's eye for suits, & saw dress as useful characterization tool. Philip Marlow always knew what socks to wear.

[Rhywun]

I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it.

LOL - great line.

[John]

The fed keeping interest rates below the rate of inflation for going on two decades now is one of the greatest robberies in history. They have totally fucked the middle class by slowly destroying their savings. Meanwhile, artificially low interest rates have allowed the rich to prosper by borrowing money at effectively negative interest rates. If people were sophisticated enough to understand what has and continues to occur, people like Yellen and Greenspan would be fleeing the country for their lives.

[Warty]

Thrift is for suckers. Get rich, buy debt.

[John]

That is what I keep telling my wife. She is constantly worried we don't have enough savings. My attitude is we are basically paying the bank to keep that money there. I would rather have liquid assets that will if not appreciate at least be useful or not depreciate like our house and cars. If we ever really need money, sell one of our cars and get by with one or take out a home equity loan.

I certainly don't advocate blowing money, or at least not too much of it. But I don't worry about having a lot of cash savings either. I would rather the money go to improving and maintaining the house or buying some other hard asset we can use and can be sold or borrowed against in an emergency.

[Warty]

I have enough German Lutheran farmer in my upbringing that I save a lot, regardless of what the Fed wants me to do. But I know it's stupid in today's world.

[John]

I save too. I just save it in the form of assets these days, which is a result of the sorry state of affairs today.

[Citizen X]

Warty has some German Lutheran farmer in him... digesting, slowly.

[Warty]

Langeschwein

[Swiss Servator]

*sardonic applause*

[kbolino]

According to JFree, this is all the fault of "free-market ideologues" and "ancaps". Who knew the Federal Reserve was anarcho-capitalist? But I guess he's right, Greenspan said nice things about Ayn Rand once and really, what's the difference between being a total hack and a capitalist?

[Overt]

This is why I loved Hayek so much. His school of thought is so obscure that most people don't realize how applicable it is to literally every decision we make in life- from schooling to marriage to retirement. Interest is a price, and we have been price fixing for over 100 years. Even fiscal conservatives- who understand that price fixing for, say, gas causes all sorts of hardship- will defend the Fed even as it creates great gluts and shortages of money through their policy.

This isn't just about savings (though that is a big part). Companies have taken on more debt for stock-buy-backs over the last 10 years than in recent history. Think about that- they aren't taking out bonds to build something. They are just buying back their stock. All this money is circulating through the system without building any wealth. It's just artificially inflating stock prices.

The pervasiveness of Fed meddling touches everything, and people don't even realize it.

[John]

You are exactly right. And I love Hayek too. I wish people would read the Constitution of Liberty as much as the read the Road to Surfdom. The Constitution of Liberty makes the best case for freedom and why giving people freedom allows society's collective wisdom to create the best result of any book I have ever read.

[John]

Yutes love Bernie Sanders more than they did Obama. Of course it is a different set of yutes than it was 8 years ago. I am starting to think those reason polls about the yutes being libertarian and hating government might be flawed.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelli.....obama.html

[Warty]

I'm an optimist in the long term, but in the short term....not so much. We're entering a pretty dangerous time for the Republic, I think. Abject socialism is popular with one set of wet-behind-the-ears dipshits who consider themselves educated but aren't really, and contemptible simple-minded nationalism is popular with a huge swath of regular jerkoffs. It's bad news.

[Haven "Irish" Monahan]

If Hillary is okay dropping $12,000 on a jacket, why do all of her clothes look so terrible?

[John]

Even the best designer can only do so much. Also, her scales and cloven hooves limit the available choices of fabric.

[Crusty Juggler]

'You know these things that happen in your life that just stick? She walked by and she shook my hand and our eyes connected and I just remember having this moment where I thought; "Wow, this is amazing,"' said Abedin.

'And it just inspired me. You know, I still remember the look on her face. And it's funny, and she would probably be so annoyed that I say this, but I remember thinking; "Oh my God, she's so beautiful and she's so little!"'

[Citizen X]

This is worse than anything SugarFree has ever written.

[Krabappel]

The bile is making it's way up my esophagus...

[SugarFree]

"Oh my God, she's so beautiful and she's so little!"'

So she's even more delusional than Trump fans. Yay.

[This Machine]

'And it just inspired me. You know, I still remember the look on her face. And it's funny, and she would probably be so annoyed that I say this, but I remember thinking; "Oh my God, she's so beautiful and she's so little!"'

Must... resist... urge to... smash things....

[Aloysious]

I don't believe for one second Hillary is spending her own money on designer clothing.

[Atanarjuat]

From the article, the designers probably aren't giving her the clothes for free. It's probably Clinton Global Initiative or her campaign paying for it, if so.

[geo1113]

Because Hilary has no taste.

[Notorious UGCC]

Where Was the Crowd for the Reason Rally?

"But one of the storylines coming out of the event is that, compared to the estimated 30,000 people who showed up in 2012, this Rally brought together far fewer people....

"No official crowd estimates have been released. But even in the early afternoon, when the crowd was likely at its peak, nothing I saw suggested "15,000 to 20,000" in attendance, as the organizers told Religion News Service. I'd put the range at about half of that, but we'll see.

"Did something go wrong?"

[Warty]

The nice thing about realizing that there are no gods is that you don't have to go to church. Some people don't understand that part and invent atheist churches and atheist camp meetings and tent revivals.

[kbolino]

Eh, churches also serve as social hubs. Although I don't understand the social benefits of getting together with a bunch of people whose only shared idea is "ain't no gods".

[Warty]

I don't particularly see the benefits of hanging out with a bunch of people who eat magic godflesh crackers, either. But I'm the weird one, I'm not denying that.

[Citizen X]

magic godflesh crackers

Hey, thanks for naming my new psychobilly band.

[Warty]

Fleshgod Apocalypse

[Slammer]

You coluld have went earlier...Godflesh

[kbolino]

Technically, they share a lot more than just that one belief. And it's only Catholics who believe that, anyway. Protestants who have communion just think of it as a symbolic, shared meal.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Body of Christ with Cheese

[Azathoth!!]

Which protestants? There are different flavors.

[kbolino]

Which protestants?

The ones who agree with Zwingli. Apparently the Lutherans and Calvinists have a doctrine which is totally not the same as transubstantiation, but basically amounts to the same thing (the bread and wine are the body and blood).

[Crusty Juggler]

Someone didn't attend the Reason Rally.

[Lord Humungus]

There's Now a Porn Genre About How Broke Millennials Are

You're an on-site landlord, and also a horny straight dude. Yesterday, you kicked out some obnoxious tenants and want to fill that vacancy as quickly as possible, but you also realize you've got a desirable space in a nice area, which, in the words of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, is "a fucking valuable thing." You can't just give it to the first person you interview.

But the first applicant is a gorgeous brunette named Sophia and it never hurts to live with attractive ladies. She's also in a desperate situation, having just been kicked out of her previous place. You'd like to help her out, but all she has is $1,200 for first month, last month, and security deposit. "I feel bad that you're in a tight spot," you tell her, "but there's nothing I can do."

"Well," she says as she slides open her shirt, "is there anything I can do to change your mind?" And suddenly, you think of something.

Of course, this is not real life. This is the world of PropertySex, a porn series that "puts you behind the camera as you make dirty sex videos with the naughtiest of desperate tenants and with the most alluring real estate agents." Currently, it's the 7th most popular channel on PornHub, boasting over 54,000 subscribers and 369 million views in a little over a year.

[John]

I defer to others on this board's knowledge of porn but I am pretty sure that the "I am sorry Mr. Landlord I don't have the money for my rent, is there anything else I can do?" theme is not exactly something new.

[Citizen X]

Why do you think Crusty is so keen to own property?

[commodious spittoon]

Perhaps this is more your speed.

[Zeb]

Yeah, but it used to be about how broke Gen-X was. Big difference.

[GILMORE?]

Hillary Clinton has effectively cinched the Democratic presidential nomination with 2,384 delegates. A spokesman for Bernie Sanders says it's still too soon to crown Clinton the Democratic nominee because her vote total includes superdelegates.

The only reason for the news media to run this as a headline on the day before the largest last bunch of primaries is to attempt to suppress the vote, which natch favors hillary.

Why was this not the story before puerto rico? Was there any less "clinchiness" without it? The same bullshit assumptions about her expected share of delegates in the primaries today would apply, and the same bullshit assumptions (which happen to be true, but need not be) that Superdelegates never change their intended vote would also apply.

Honestly, its the first time I've heard Bernie people shrieking about a corporate conspiracy and i think they're correct.

[WhatAboutBob]

Scott Adams sums up the Trump vs Curiel controversy this way:

I'm probably leaving out a few points of confirmation bias. But you get the point. Once you see Trump as a probable racist, you see "evidence" everywhere, even if there is none. That's confirmation bias.

Judges have bias too. Except for the robot kind like Curiel.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/1.....obot-judge

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Seriously. But at least they're trying. Pittsburgh is just plain better and want it more. Crosby may not be scoring but what a beast.

Unlike the Cavs those bums!

[Hamster of Doom]

Instead, Dad gave the kid a major life lesson for graduation.

[WTF]

What's that saying about a fool and his money?

[commodious spittoon]

Something tells me dad and kid are a little bit estranged these days.

[Private Chipperbot]

Ash!

[Pope Jimbo]

It is the reason it only takes one Minnesodan to change a light bulb. We just need to stand there while the world revolves around us.

[WTF]

He recently cosigned a car loan for his daughter, which carried 9 percent interest.

What does it take for this guy to learn?