Russia Bombs Anti-ISIS Rebels, Marines Threaten Gay Bar, Gary Johnson's Favorite Edibles: A.M. Links

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  chotda/Flickr

  Russian airstrikes hit U.S.-backed rebels fighting ISIS in southern Syria. "We will seek an explanation from Russia on why it took this action and assurances this will not happen again," officials said. 

• Atlantic City may be the next to get legal marijuana.
• Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!" 
• "The reality is that Donald Trump is not an aberration; he is an apotheosis" of modern American conservatism. —The American Conservative magazine
• "I think we'll actually see a world where most babies born to people with good health coverage will be conceived in the lab." 
• "Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on guns." 
• Gary Johnson's preferred method of marijuana consumption is gluten-free brownies. 

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Comments

[Bee Tagger]

Atlantic City may be the next to get legal marijuana.

This isn't going to motivate anyone to clean up the beach.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Tonio]

Good Morning, Rufus.

Gov. Christie is not going to like this one bit.

[Free Society]

No he won't. How does Atlantic City even have the power to do this? Does it have some special governance status within New Jersey?

[Tonio]

The article doesn't give specifics. Even though they can't overturn state law, they can set enforcement of that as the lowest priority for law enforcement. Which is something. But of course they want to tax it and put that money into slush funds.

[WTF]

Nucky Johnson approves.

[Free Society]

The fact that they envision a a full fledged marijuana industry of brick-and-mortar stores and a legal supply, the sales of which can be taxed, tells me that this isn't just a non-enforcement of the law being proposed.

[Stone Cold Snark]

For your own good - The government wants to throw you into jail and do everything possible to ruin your life because you were caught selling weed.

For the government's own good - Hey we need some money. Lets sell some weed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Gary Johnson's preferred method of marijuana consumption is gluten-free brownies.

Cake brownies or GTFO.

[Bee Tagger]

You can listen to Cake while you make brownies til youre blue in the face, but you better be making fudge brownies.

[Krabappel]

I always use the Ghirardelli dark chocolate mix. My French genetics allows me to eat all the gluten that would destroy the intestines of lesser beings.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dark chocolate is the most vile, disgusting thing on the planet. Right up there with bread mold, which is the most vile, disgusting thing on the planet. Right up there with dark chocolate.

[Krabappel]

What is this, I don't even.

[UnCivilServant]

Fist says he really likes bread mold.

[Citizen X]

No, you see, "Dark Chocolate" is Winston's mom's nickname. Which is weird, because her skin is actually sort of grayish.

[Trigger Warning]

That shit will get you high. Dark chocolate, I mean.

[Mike Laursen]

Isn't that supposed to be WAS gluten-free brownies. Didn't he make a declaration right after his winning the Libertarian candidacy that he has stopped using marijuana?

[Jerryskids]

Nope - he specifically said he was not going to be smoking marijuana. Typical lawyerish politispeak.

[Mike Laursen]

Hmm, that is obfuscation worthy of Bill Clinton.

[Rasilio]

Well on the plus side Brownies are just about the only baked item that work just as well without Gluten as they do with it

[Overt]

That GJ has bought into the Gluten Free movement is yet another example of his thought processes. My bet is that he has a frequent shopper card chock full of points at the nearest herbal remedy store too. Which makes me want to drill into his views on Climate Change even more.

[Clich? Bandit]

see my comment below. He legitimately has Celiacs and has his whole life. Not some trendy thing about gluten free.

[Clich? Bandit]

Gary has legit Celiacs...not the trendy kind.

[mad.casual]

Gary has legit Celiacs...not the trendy kind.

Any evidence to support this? Celiac's was originally noted/defined by 'failure to thrive' among children in a time/place where a male growing to Gary's size would've been regarded as exceptionally vigorous. I don't know Gary's exact stats but he, IMO, shows no evidence of stunted growth. Moreover, I see no evidence of Gary complaining about wheat outside the last several years (i.e. needing to be raised on a special diet, consistently sick as a child, etc.)

A bit of the problem is, IMO, the absolutely shitty science-to-public-fact chain (the actual science part gets neglected). I don't doubt that Gary has intestinal distress and/or feels better avoiding some foods. I find his preoccupation with how 'bad' wheat makes him feel in contrast to how 'good' cannabis does to be inconsistent and insincere.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

193) A number of maddening/mystifying moments in the Washington Post today. For instance, did you know the US economy has been growing more slowly in recent years due to sexism and racism?

You know what, never mind that. These posts only allow one link at a time. Now, I try to avoid taking the news too seriously, but here's a line that left me spluttering. In an article on the killing of a British lawmaker, the Post says the "killing was of the sort that has become all too common in the United States, but is virtually unheard of in Britain."

Wha? Have we had a wave of political assassinations in the United States I'm unaware of? Or does the article mean to say murder in general is unheard of in Britain?I just checked, they had 574 in 2015. What in the world is this article referring to?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I hope people keep responding in the comments threads pointing facts out.

[Drake]

Crime exploited in the media for political goals?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

WaPo has spent the past seven years, if not longer, completely destroying any iota of credibility or journalistic integrity that it might have had. It's all just political hack jobs and hyperbolic whining these days.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They need readers apparently and the bulk of readers like hysteria.

But here's my opinion. If the death of traditional papers is inevitable why bother trying to pander? If you're gonna go, go with your dignity and integrity in tact, no?

Like those musicians who sank with The Titanic in that movie.

[commodious spittoon]

Nobody comes for facts. They want polemical tirades.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Oh, facts and logical analysis are toats out. Emotional ranting is the new Enlightenment. Enlightenmener, if you will.

[Suthenboy]

Dude, gun grabbers lie. They lie their asses off. Everything they say is a lie. Everything they say is a calculated deception.

Even that number, 574, is a lie. They probably had four times that many but the cops cook the numbers and pretend their gun control laws haven been a complete disaster, turning a country that used to have single digit murders into a bloodbath.

[Atanarjuat]

I wonder if they report every killing by an Islamic suspect, or if that's considered racist, like reporting rapes by Islamic suspects.

[VG Zaytsev]

My understanding is that a death in UK is only officially called a murder after someone he been convicted of the crime. Prior to a conviction they are called 'undetermined cause! Or some such.

[SimonD]

Japan 'catches' every murderer for a similar reason. It's not called a murder unless they are almost certain they can convict someone of the crime.

[Rhywun]

What in the world is this article referring to?

Virtue signaling?

[Tonio]

[the] killing was of the sort that has become all too common in the United States, but is virtually unheard of in Britain.

I think they mean gunz, of course. Also, what could broadly be termed as a hate crime (I'm not a fan of that phrase, but they decidedly are) the killing of strangers because of their beliefs as opposed to killing people you know over love, money or jealousy.

[AlexInCT]

We can't beat them on people sawing off the head of soldiers in the middle of the road with a rusty knife though... They win that one hands down so far...

[Agent Cooper]

Their murder rate increased 11% as well to last year.

[Free Society]

Have we had a wave of political assassinations in the United States I'm unaware of?

It's not even clear this was a political assassination. The only witness that supposedly heard the killer say "Britain first!" repudiated that quote, saying that the newspaper that attributed it was lying and misquoted him. There's reason to believe that this woman interceded into some kind of fight or brawl in the street and she herself was killed.

Of course the the socialist weasels that make-up the Remain Campaign wasted no time in exploiting this murder for political gain.

[Bee Tagger]

"I think we'll actually see a world where most babies born to people with good health coverage will be conceived in the lab."

Sexy scientists. Sure, why not?

[John]

there is no sex like lab sex. Its all about those lab coats and the sexy geek glasses.

[mad.casual]

For get down-stuffed and thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton bullshit. Chemical-resistant epoxy resin and stainless steel, or GTFO.

[Brett L]

Tell me about it. I'm watching some training videos that feature an ubercute Applied Math PhD with glasses. I would like to apply some biology if you know what I mean.

[pan fried wylie]

non-prescription frames available in the supply closet.

[Zeb]

What? Why? Is everyone going to become those insufferable people who want to make sure their little monsters are perfectly engineered in every way?

Seems to me most people who have kids just fuck until they have enough kids and then find some kind of birth control. I don't really see that changing. But what do I know?

[Overt]

I don't believe we will ever get to the day where "Most" babies are lab created, but it really wouldn't shock me.

Our lives have slowly been filled with mechanisms to reduce the likelihood or impact of life-changing events. From the first shelters that protected us from unpredictable storms to animal husbandry that reduced the variability of hunting and agriculture to provide consistent staples; from insurance that alleviates unpredictable expenses to cell phones that reduce the unpredictability of communication. One of the chief values of technology has been turning variable events in life to predictable and plannable occurrences.

The ability to have wanton (or even wonton) sex without consequences using birth control has been one way that families plan their lives. I don't see why lab babies isn't a logical next step. I don't see a huge difference between cultivating land for a consistent harvest and cultivating embryos to guarantee that your life isn't turned upside down by some deformity or down syndrome.

Note I am not making a moral statement here- just noting that this seems a logical progression. I know a lot of people are wary, but I also remember when a majority of my friends also thought it was insane that anyone would want to be "chained" to a cell phone where they could be reached at any time or any place.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I think the implication is that millenials will be so intolerable no one want to have sex with them.

[Illocust]

Preganancy sucks. Lab babies if I'm assuming correctly should be born in an artificial womb. Less time dealing with pregnancy hormones and bloating like a parade float.

[Rasilio]

Yeah but Pregnant chicks are hot

[Atanarjuat]

Truth.

[Atanarjuat]

Truth.

[BigT]

"Pregnant chicks are hot"

Yeah, they turn the A/C way up.

[gimmeasammich]

At least you know they put out.

[Zeb]

I think we are pretty far from artificial wombs. I suspect that they just mean "test tube babies", to use a somewhat dated term.

And some people do enjoy being pregnant.

[Free Society]

Female Tleilaxu for example.

[Zeb]

I can't remember if they were still supposed to have higher brain functions or not.

[Free Society]

Since they were almost exclusively referred to as inanimate objects, I think not.

[Mickey Rat]

I remember in Chapterhouse, the Bene Gesserit asking for volunteers from their ranks to start their own program. I don't think it mattered to the Tlielaxu how aware they were or not.

[Mickey Rat]

Does "axolotl tank" pay a living wage?

[Free Society]

Yes, they pay in life sustaining goo.

[Tonio]

Paging Aldous Huxley...

[commodious spittoon]

Stupid sexy scientists.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on guns."

GASP! Mr. President!

[Drake]

I'm pretty indifferent to the opinions of fat feminists so we can agree to ignore each other.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

"As I was in therapy last night..."

Thankfully the little tidbit was near the beginning of the rant.

[Suthenboy]

Yeeeeep. I caught that.

It is clearly and anti-gun control argument but that person is completely nuts.

[VG Zaytsev]

He's arguing against gun control to SJW in their own language.

[Juice]

*she

[How You Like Me Now?]

There's nothing wrong with therapy.

By contrast, there's everything wrong with dismissing an argument before you've even heard it just because the person is "white and middle class." It's too bad that this weak-brained child didn't stop to think that there was a time when the opinions of women, young people, and non-Caucasians were thought to be unworthy of consideration.

It was wrong then and it's wrong now.

How hard would it be to consider an argument based on... wait for it... the strength of the argument?

The poor lady is empty-headed and immoral and I am saddened to have to share a planet with her.

[Tonio]

"That's different..." /progs

[Rhywun]

Can you imagine, if some little white girl grows up feeling this afraid, how scared and helpless people who aren't white feel?

I don't know, why don't you tell us?

[AlmightyJB]

These white priviledge assholes are the worst racists.

[How You Like Me Now?]

No 'd' in privilege, son

[BigT]

Women with Ds are privileged.

[Juice]

Chicks with dicks are quite maligned in our society.

[Cyto]

You gotta have the full quote:

And look, folks. I'm white. No matter what other parts of my life may be lacking in privilege, the fact that I'm white will always afford me protection. It will always trump everything else. I didn't know that then, but I do know that now. Can you imagine, if some little white girl grows up feeling this afraid, how scared and helpless people who aren't white feel?

Eh.... yeah.

My white must be broken, because it doesn't seem to be working like that for me. I missed out on taking advantage of being whitey.

[Free Society]

The blacks that invaded my home three times in 2010 must not have known that I was protected by white privilege.

[Zunalter]

We should start a home security company called White Privilege.

[Free Society]

I already modified one of those "This Home Protected by ADT" signs to read "This Home Protected by White Privilege"

[The Fusionist]

"Our society should not be one where anyone needs a firearm to feel safe, but until that day comes, vulnerable people deserve to have that option."

So she's a gun-rights person with a bunch of SJW baggage.

Better than nothing, I guess.

[Lee G]

Unless she's explicitly defending the right to self-defense as an individual right, then I'm not sure her argument helps.

[Caput Lupinum]

She seems to be supportive of an individual right to self defense, but her confused and garbled diatribe makes it a little hard to say for certain what her actual points are.

[Hamster of Doom]

Ah. I think I see the problem. She's speaking in Liberal and y'all are listening in Libertarian.

It was a solid article, decidedly pro-2A, and framed in the only language opponents will hear. I enjoyed it a great deal. I'm not going to hold my breath that the message is penetrating until I see a few more like it, though.

[Atanarjuat]

My problem was more not reading it at all. As far as its penetrance, I'm sure it will be ignored by the true believers. The left seems to prefer echo chambers.

[bacon-magic]

Yeah I had to change my filter on my glasses to get the smug out of the translation. If it changes a few proggies minds...no I still don't like it much and trying to convince a prog on truth is like trying to argue with a rock.

[Hamster of Doom]

Look at the number of people here who had negative reactions to a pro-2A article. Using common tribal language to get the message across is really that important.

[Bill Dalasio]

Except the standard is contemptible. Arguments stand or fall on their merits, not on who is making them. Period. Full fucking stop.

I want to slap the shit out of proglodytes when they pull this on arguments I agree with. It doesn't make it all of a sudden better because its being used to dismiss arguments I don't.

[Hamster of Doom]

That's because you have principles, Bill.

What is a meritorious argument? Many moons ago, when I was young(er) and stupid(er), I would have thought a meritorious argument was was one advanced from a position of experience and/or firsthand knowledge of a subject, and I believed most others defined it similarly. I don't pay too much attention to gardening advice from people who work in the garden when the ground's still wet. They probably do not have the experience or firsthand knowledge to make their advice useful.

Things changed, or perceptions changed, it's difficult to tell which. And whether you perceive the writer to be explaining why there is less intellectual weight behind people who are happy to grab others' guns from a place of self-idealized safety, or to be calling for widespread censorship of white gun-grabbing liberals, being told to check your privilege has power. It's a form of credentialism ? modern credentialism, which is not an indicator of experience or firsthand knowledge of a subject, but a signal that one has performed the proper ritual in order to be important in this area.

You should be disgusted. This sort of thing should never have let get so far.

[Bill Dalasio]

Good point. I'd pick just a slight nit. Experience and firsthand knowledge is how one acquires the means for a good argument. They aren't by themselves a good argument.

[How You Like Me Now?]

aiyyo, that handle is bad-ass

[John]

Our society should not need guns. Yeah, I should not have to live in a society where Eva Green does not realize my awesomeness and show up at my door. I don't think either of us are getting what we want dear.

Life is hard and doesn't conform to my expectations, so everyone should have to suffer, is at the heart of every leftist.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

"Gina Luttrell is the Editor-in-Chief of the libertarian women's magazine"

Goddammit. Motherfucker. Shit fuck cunt ass fuck... god fuck... GAH!!

These "check you privilege" jackasses are now "libertarians"!? Oh fuck that. They can fucking keep it. I hate labels as is but I figured I was kinda safe with this one. Guess not. Bring on the fucking meteor. Wipe it all out and start from scratch. Or let me have my island out in international waters. Just burn it all to the ground.

[Tonio]

Yeah, I keep hearing about left libertarians, but the only one I know is indistinguishable from a prog.

Look for all manner of lunatics who claim to be libertarians to come out of the woodwork in the coming months. Normally the two parties ignore libertarians but they are going to go full force to try to discredit us this election.

[Free Society]

Think of all the former Bernie supporters that will switch to the Libertarian ticket and then call themselves, and their beliefs, libertarianism. Then you get to be accused of purity seeking and No True Scotsman arguments when you point out to these unprincipled leftoids that they're not even remotely libertarian just because they want legal pot.

[Cyto]

No true Libertarian would complain about purity tests.

[Zeb]

It is an interesting twist on "check your privilege", though. She does sound a bit nuts, but I kind of like the turning around of a SJW argument and using it against the elite urban whites who think they know what's best for everyone.

[Lee G]

I think all it illustrates is that the privilege argument is fallacious.

[Zeb]

I think it also points out how awful and offensive the urban white elites who think they know what's best for poor minorities when it comes to guns and everything else are. And shoves it right in their faces.

[Jerryskids]

I'm assuming you're one of those weirdos that actually read the article before commenting on it. Maybe the point would be clearer if she had said ""Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on gun control." With "white and middle class" being an inaccurate generalization about gun control advocates. But I suspect in her circle, urban upper-middle class whites who think they're middle class, the sort that don't need a gun because their neighborhood is safe and the cops are only a phone call away, the two things do go hand-in-hand. You might just as well make the argument that if you're a high-level government official who enjoys Secret Service protection, I'll start giving a shit about your views on gun control the day you dismiss your tax-payer-supplied armed bodyguards.

[Zeb]

Yeah. Weirdo.

I'm not saying I love her argument. But I do enjoy the messing with typical SJW, progressive assumptions.

[Bill Dalasio]

Except it ultimately only validates the approach. Sorry, I don't have much respect for someone who's arguing "Shut the hell up1"

[VG Zaytsev]

I agree, it's a good sign when someone is opposing gun control to SJW with their own bs.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Frankly, I don't see the SJW crowd listening to anything that isn't presented with their buzzwords and rhetoric. This might, at the very least, convince some of the SJWs that they should shut up about their opinions on the subject. At the most, it might convince some to become pro second amendment. Honestly, we could do with more of this sort of thing...

[Juice]

libertarian women

Is this a hoax?

[Injun, as in from India]

Please add "male" to that list of attributes.

Btw, fun fact: I was accused online of privilege recently for taking a stance favoring gun rights.

The person thought they could shut down the discussion by doing so - that's the whole point of "privilege" accusations.

Then I told them I was Indian and grew up poor under a socialist regime and didn't inherit a dime.

Response: Total silence.

[commodious spittoon]

Color me shocked.

Despite all the privilege garbage, she makes a solid argument.

[snipped after insufferable prog-talk] ...don't forget how vital armed means of defense has been to guaranteeing rights and basic safety for marginalized communities in our country's history?and today. Think about how legislation, no matter how well worded, is often disproportionately used against marginalized communities ... Remember that not everyone can rely on the police to come?or to not kill them when they get there.

[Free Society]

White privilege theory poisoned the well. I don't care what else she wrote because I'm just going to chalk it up to the Law of the Broken Clock.

[Illocust]

The latter argument is correct, that people need to remember that not everybody lives the same lives as themselves, but the initial argument is still wrong and needs to be called out. Their being white and middle class does not invalidate their arguments or make them less worthy to hear. Lived experience and privilige theory are a bane on rational arguments, and I won't reward them just because they come to a conclusion I agree with this time.

[commodious spittoon]

I'll take a gun rights ally wherever I can. There's far too much eagerness to give them up.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Indians are part of the same Proto-Indo-Aryan ancestor group as white people. Be quiet, whitey!!

[Cyto]

Depends..... south India, or north India?

[Tonio]

Hi, Injun! Good for you.

[Injun, as in from India]

Thanks Tonio.

Here's the thing though. Let's say if it was one of the white males on this board who was in my place.

They force you to defend your very existence by accusing you of "privilege" whatever the heck that means.

I can needle them because I'm brown-skinned. But if it's someone who's white, the discussion is effectively ended.

This thing is intended to be divisive and I detest Leftist shrieks who bring up "privilege" for that reason.

[Tonio]

You're welcome, Injun. Of course it's intended to shut down debate, but I think it's delicious how they STFU when they are confronted by someone they aren't allowed to shout down because MINORITY!!1! As such, one pushback from you is worth scores of pushbacks from white males. And I know that you and Heroic (et als) risk being branded as race traitors or practitioners of false consciousness so extra points for that.

[Mike Laursen]

In her defense, I don't think she said a word about male privilege.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

I saw someone draw out a gun rights argument before revealing that she is a woman who was once followed home and raped and does not feel safe without a gun. Conversation ended after that post.

[AlmightyJB]

If only you could stop white middle class people from voting.

[Illocust]

I'm surprised it's taken this long for this opinion to start showing up. It's been a strong argument in abortion circles when they can just ignore anyone that doesn't have XX chromosomes or that they believe doesn't have XX chromosomes.

[Mike Laursen]

In her post, she didn't make any argument about male privilege, actually.

[Illocust]

I was addressing the type of argument not its target this time, but yeah, it does seem the target is those who live in a safe middle class neighborhood. Argument is still invalid that people living in those neighborhoods should be excluded from the conversation or ignored.

[Ron]

I read the article this woman is even scared of her own shadow. I hope she never gets a gun because she would probably shoot the mirror out of fright somme night.

[Juice]

The article wasn't what I expected. It's true. She (and Reason) got me. Nicely done.

[Brian]

It is sad: when regressive pro-state tendencies collide with SJW tendencies, pro-state always wins.

[Rich]

Russian airstrikes hit U.S.-backed rebels fighting ISIS in southern Syria.

Oops!

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Apparently they all look the same to the Russians too.

[DJF]

Not really oops since the Russians are supporting Assad so these rebels are fair game.

[Rich]

"Oops!" for us. 8-(

[Suthenboy]

Putin takes action to support his ally. Who could have seen that coming?

Worth noting that he also had Hillary's gun running operation in Libya shut down, an operation he knew about by stealing Hillary's emails.

[Injun, as in from India]

"We will seek an explanation from Russia on why it took this action and assurances this will not happen again," officials said.

If I was Putin, I would respond the way Alex Epstein did to the Massachusetts AG:

"Fuck off".

[SimonD]

I expect the response to be three pages of flowery words and nonsensical phrases, which when boiled down to their actual meaning, will say exactly that.....'fuck off'.

[Citizen X]

If you take the first letter of each paragraph of the original Russian text, it'll spell out "Yob tvoyu mat'."

[Lord Humungus]

Texas: Giant unstable sinkholes are growing, could be on verge of catastrophic collapse

Two giant sinkholes in Texas are getting bigger and are at risk of collapsing ? the effects of which could be "catastrophic", scientists have warned. The sinkholes, found in the towns of Wink and Kermit, have been observed via satellite, and images indicate major changes could be underway.

The two sinkholes are currently a mile apart. The first one ? Wink 1 - appeared in 1980, while the second ? Wink 2 ? opened up in 2002. They were caused by intense gas and oil extraction in the region from the 1920s to the 1960s. Wink 1 is currently 110m across, while Wink 2 can reach up to 270m.

I blame Warty and his uh...

[Rufus The Monocled]

CLIMATE CHANGE, RACISM AND SEXISM LEADS TO SINKHOLES!

Think of it, we're sinking.

[This Machine]

Um, what are you sinking about?

[Free Society]

https://youtu.be/7nQ9lmriWOc?t=9

[RBS]

Armadillarodeo1 hour ago
I hope that somebody has stocked some bream in them holes.

I like where this guy's head is at.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"110m across"--miles or meters? A 110-mile sinkhole would be pretty damaging, but this really strains the bounds of plausibility.

I just checked the map and Wink and Kermit are about 30 miles from Odessa, for reference.

[Zeb]

meter

[Chip Woodier]

And only 100 miles from Carlsbad Caverns. I bet there's quite a number of sinkholes around there.

[Tonio]

The link is to a UK site, so meters.

[Agammamon]

m is meter

mi is mile

[Rich]

Giant unstable sinkholes

Nice band name.

[Citizen X]

That phrase is also found on Winston's mom's business cards.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Places named Wink and Kermit probably deserve to be swallowed by the Earth.

[Suthenboy]

Notice that all of those are on stream banks. It is a natural phenomena that has been happening forever.

More lies from the AGW crowd.

[Suthenboy]

Ooops. I was thinking of the article about arctic sinkholes someone posted yesterday.

Yes, I am drinking early.

[Lee G]

We're really redefining catastrophic downwards these days.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

It's a 110-meter sinkhole in the middle of nowhere, Lee G.! Fracking &*()^Sinkholes()&(*aaaaaggghhhhh!

[UnCivilServant]

It's a 110-meter sinkhole in the middle of nowhere a known karst where this sort of thing is normal

FTFY

[Krabappel]

Those holes filled with water look pretty nice to me. It breaks up the dead barren scrub land around them.

[Spoonman.]

I am interested in the history of all the other circular structures visible in the area. Are these old filled-in sinkholes and this part of the Earth just sometimes swallows a spot, or do they have another history?

Google Maps link to what they're talking about.

[UnCivilServant]

a lot of those circles look artifical - too uniform in diameter and too neat with regards to the road placements.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I think we'll actually see a world where most babies born to people with good health coverage will be conceived in the lab."

"The Lab" is actually what I call my bed.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Scientists should really use protection if they are going to be fucking at work all the time.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

This really makes me think I should have stuck with my freshman plans of majoring in biology.

[Rasilio]

So you're saying you like to experiment in bed?

[Mickey Rat]

Maybe a place where bunnies would prefer not to be?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

But I thought DADT was over and gays were allowed in the military now?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

On second thought, I'd like to take back the above joke.

[Tonio]

While that was tasteless, the numbered comments are more offensive.

[Crusty Juggler]

Ha

[UnCivilServant]

The use of the Uniform in unsanctioned statements is forbidden by regulations.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The service and social media simply do not mix.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

You can replace "The service" with just about anything else and that statement remains true.

[WTF]

I don't see that as a threat, I see that as a poorly-thought-out warning to Muslim terrorists. Based on the fact that there was in fact a marine in Pulse who was responsible for helping dozens of people escape the gunman.

[Drake]

Maybe they think they'll be standing guard-duty in gay clubs. Maybe not that far-fetched.

[Bra Ket]

I just assumed they were calling him gay.

[John]

That is how I see it too.

[Agammamon]

You don't see this in the context of their other posts. It was definitely a threat. When I saw the picture I thought that it was ambiguous and that people were freaking out, but there's more stuff form these guys that pinpoint what they actually meant and it wasn't a 'pro-gun, we'll keep you safe' message.

[WTF]

How did you get to see their other posts? I went to their page, but it's a closed group.

[Agammamon]

I can't find it - but it was mentioned in an article about this from yesterday. I think a link was posted in the comments and it was in that article.

[Krabappel]

So they didn't mean they'd be taking off their shirts and showing off their guns at the club?

[Tonio]

If it was intended as a gesture of support, it was clumsy and ill-considered.

[Lord at War]

I thought it was just a couple of his platoon mates busting his balls.

[Lord Humungus]

Alien contact could be 1,500 years away, say Cornell astronomers

The astronomers' research is based partly on deconstructing the Fermi Paradox described by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1950, when he noted that aliens have had plenty of time to make contact with Earth. The Cornell experts paired this analysis with the Mediocrity Principle devised by 16th-century mathematician Copernicus, which says that Earth's physical attributes are not unique and that natural processes are likely common throughout the cosmos, so it could take a while for aliens to discover us. The resulting equation gives a 1,500-year estimate for contact.

"It's possible to hear any time at all, but it becomes likely we will have heard around 1,500 years from now," said Solomonides. "Until then, it is possible that we appear to be alone ? even if we are not. But if we stop listening or looking, we may miss the signals. So we should keep looking."

[UnCivilServant]

The four big probable reasons for not hearing from other intelliegent life yet (aside from the "we don't qualify" joke) are still:

1: we are alone

2: we are the first

3: they are too far away

4: they want nothing to do with us.

With one more that kinda falls under #4 a bit:

5: they are so alien as to not recognize us.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

The number one reason you don't mention is there are lots of other civilizations in the galaxy, but they have the good sense not to advertise their presence to others.

[Drake]

This.

The Killing Star scenario. Same reason deer and rabbits don't howl at the moon.

[Rhywun]

Read somewhere that any civilization sufficiently advanced will progress beyond the radio waves that would give away their presence and so there is only a short window during which we would be detectable.

[Rufus The Monocled]

That was some interesting game last night.

[Rhywun]

Dos a uno?

[Timon 19]

I came pretty close to death when Brooks almost put one past Guzan for the equalizer.

[Agammamon]

That's . . . some conjecture. It depends on the existence of a suitable communication means that we don't know about - multiplying entities needlessly.

Even a cabled up, tightbeamed civilization will leak and the more powerful it is the more it will leak.

Far more likely the reason we don't hear from anyone is that, given the normal 'lifetimes' of species on this planet (using it as a baseline since we don't have any other data points) and the age of the galaxy, there are relatively few to no intelligent species that exist at the same time, separated by hundreds of thousands of light years (making communication extraordinarily difficult) and they die out before significant interstellar colonization (otherwise we would not exist as this place would have been cannibalized for parts a million years ago).

Apes and angels, but no men other than us.

[Agammamon]

Here's a sobering thought.

The vast majority of the mass of the universe is 'dark' - so there could be a thriving intra-universal civilization that we can never see as we can only interact weakly with these people through gravity.

Universally speaking, that puts us lower than a virus infecting the gut bacteria in a cockroach living in your wall.

[Timon 19]

It's virtually impossible to conduct any human activities without emitting telltale wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.

[Danny Rand]

For us. Now.

[The Fusionist]

6. The alien government declared our planet off limits, but there's always a few alien good old boys who like to joy-ride in the Forbidden Zone, thus accounting for the flying-saucer reports.

[Private Chipperbot]

And the probing.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

+1 super off-the-books

[Lord Humungus]

STEVE SMITH PROBE WHOLE UNIVERSE ONE ANUS AT A TIME

[Col. Chestbridge]

-1 Finland

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Also, the universe is incomprehensibly enormous. Finding intelligent life from among the trillions and trillions of possible solar systems would be like swimming through the ocean trying to track down a specific water molecule.

[Agammamon]

100-400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

[Free Society]

And if we accept the possibility that only Earth-like conditions can allow life to form, currently it's thought that only 8% of the Earth-like planets have been born so far. So we might very well be the first if the constraints on forming life are that stringent.

[Zeb]

And perhaps it is very rare for intelligent life to become as advanced even as we are now. Humans spent a very long time not sending any signals out that anyone else would be likely to detect. And we've only been at that level of advancement for a very short time. For all I know it will all be gone in a few hundred years. It seems quite possible that there is tons of intelligent life out there but very little of it ever advances to the level where anyone else would notice for very long.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Never mind that the universe is rumored to be billions of years old and super-advanced alien races could have swung by long before there was any type of life on Earth.

[Chip Woodier]

And that the universe is so vast that expecting aliens to haphazardly come across signs of human life is like expecting to find one unique grain of sand on the beach...in a sea of billions of beaches.

[Zeb]

That too. Most sci-fi visions of interstellar travel or communication are pretty far fetched and require physics and engineering that are largely just speculative or made up.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

So you are saying that my recent investment in an ansible manufacturer may have been unwise?

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

So you are saying that my recent investment in an ansible manufacturer may have been unwise?

[iVOTED4Kodos]

Their ansibles are obviously infested with squirrels.

[Agent Cooper]

I always thought aliens were just time-traveling humans from the future.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Or (prepare to have your mind blown)....from the past?

[B.P.]

"Damn you all to hell!!"

[Clich? Bandit]

I think you are leaving out one of the more important ones.

Any sufficiently advanced interstellar (hell, interplanetary) civilization will have progressed well beyond the EM spectrum for power, communication, and travel. It is the height of species arrogance and ignorance to think ONLY EM forces (and as we use them) can be used to communicate or travel. Envision a farmer in 4000 BC, who think a bronze plow is the shit. Well, a gps driven combine just drove by.

The laws as understood now require that if you use EM forces your speed limit is c. That says absolutely nothing about the speed limits of of forces not yet discovered/understood. My favorite analogy is "You can't break the sound barrier in a prop plane. You need a jet."

[Agammamon]

Except you're assuming there are forces not yet discovered. Given that we don't observe anything that needs explanation from an as yet unobserved new type of force . . .

Don't multiply entities needlessly.

[AlexInCT]

Physicists are discovering all sorts of new stuff constantly, and for all we know, much of what we take for granted today might all have to be redifined because of some detail we are wrong or unware of right now. Assuming no new discoveries, especially of the universe shattering type, are out there is a bad way to go about this.

[Free Society]

I don't think anyone is claiming there will be no new discoveries that falsify the current prevailing theories. What is being said, is that there's no reason to assume there are undiscovered forces of nature at work. Maybe alien communications are whizzing through our bodies every second of the day, but putting on a tinfoil hat to improve your reception of unicorn waves would still be nonsensical because as of yet there's reason to think unicorn waves exist.

[AlexInCT]

My point is that we might know of the laws and mechanisms involved but not yet have thought up the practical application. Me I think particle entanglement would allow instantaneous communications over distances that would take radio millions of years cover, but we are still at the infancy of what that could even mean...

And that is just one example.

[Free Society]

c isn't just the speed-limit of the EM spectrum, it's better understood as the speed-limit of causality, or at the very least the default speed of any massless particle.

As for forces yet discovered, there may well be other forces in the universe, but it stands to reason that any additional forces either have a range too small to have an effect at this stage of the universe's existence, or the strength of the force is much too weak to exert any kind of measurable effect on the universe, making that force essentially irrelevant to the study and application of physics.

[Atanarjuat]

"Sure, it's almost certain there won't be results in anyone's lifetime, but it's very important you don't cut off our funding."

[(((Renegade)))]

Best explanation ever. Seriously.

[DJF]

Thanks!

[Agammamon]

So says the guy who's livelihood is dependent on big government checks to listen.

[Injun, as in from India]

1500 years is far, far away that you won't be subjected to the ridicule of climate alarmists.

"Our grandchildren won't know snow." /chuckle after grandkids get to play with snow.

"Global warming will run away starting in 2012." /chuckle on January 1, 2013

1500 years is a giant-size sandbagged estimate.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Well, there won't be an *earth* if climate change continues and don't carbon tax! Plus it gives us more than enough time narrow the pay gap.

[Bee Tagger]

"Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on guns."

Richies skate, again Will their privilege never cease?

[(((Renegade)))]

I said in therapy the other night...

That's the tell.

[Lord Humungus]

Only when a Republican president is in office...

Do Democrats Care About The Constitution Anymore?

It's not just some Rolling Stone writer calling for gun confiscation or Vox calling on the president to discard the Constitution unilaterally; it's West Virginia's Joe Manchin openly arguing that due process is what's really "killing us." A senator, sworn to uphold the Constitution, actually said this. Playing on the fears of Americans after an act of terror, his colleagues ? led by Connecticut's Chris Murphy, who believes calls for due process are a "red herring" ? are proposing to bar Americans from buying guns if the FBI decides they belong on a list. The Senate will take up four bills on Monday.

This is an attack on the Fifth Amendment, not only the Second. We're talking about approximately a million people. These watchlists are tools for law enforcement, not a way to adjudicate your rights. (It must be pointed out that not all liberals are on board. The ACLU and others have remained consistent on the issue.) And since Omar Mateen wasn't on any list anyway, similar legislation Democrats proposed last year wouldn't have stopped him. None of their proposals would have stopped him. So what do Senate Democrats do? They propose we create a new list that isn't even tied to law enforcement concerns. Via The New York Times:

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

In a word: No.

But NYT, WaPo, and their ilk are kinda starting to care, at least in regard to Trump. They would have a bit more credibility if they had spoken up when Obama actually did some of the atrocities Trump is promising.

I imagine they will promptly go back to ignoring it if Hillbot is elected.

[Brochettaward]

I grew up listening to the left howl fascism endlessly under Bush. So in the last 16 years in which I was politically aware I've only noticed that when you put any of these cunts in power any pretense of having principles goes out the window as the base adopts the position of whatever fucknut they elected. We don't hold politicians and the two parties accountable - they are two giant tribes of people come up with ad hoc rationalizations to justify their stupidity.

[Dallas H.]

Unfamiliar with Betteridge's Law of Headlines? The answer is obviously no.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

The message seems ambiguous.

[Hamster of Doom]

Around here, we could have done that if we'd hyperlinked the pic with the caption "Too Soon?"

Postrel probably has a point.

[BigT]

Maybe they're looking for gay action?

[(((Renegade)))]

Why we need mass firings at State.

[Crusty Juggler]

There are no high-level names but they reflect a widespread view in the State Department that tougher military action in Syria is needed to force Assad to negotiate a diplomatic solution. Secretary of State John Kerry himself has advocated a more muscular U.S. military posture in Syria to force Assad to negotiate a political settlement.

Career diplomats want Obama to harden the fuck up.

[(((Renegade)))]

Career diplomats ...

...should be the first to be fed into the woodchipper.

[DJF]

"""There are no high-level names"""

They bravely and anonomously fight the battles in the cocktail parties of Washington

[Brochettaward]

Ha. it's nearly impossible to fire government bureaucrats.

[Brochettaward]

And when they aren't performing in their job, the government's solution is to hire more of them.

[paranoid android]

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but it's my feeling that if you are a diplomat who is urging your superiors to start a war, you are, definitionally, an absolutely terrible diplomat.

[commodious spittoon]

Someone, I forget whom, made the point that diplomats are probably insufficiently aggressive with resort to hostilities because handing matters over to Congress for a declaration of war demonstrates a failure of the State Department. So matters which likely should or must be handled by soldiers instead fester while diplomatic measures continue to fail.

[WTF]

I forget who said it, but the point was that diplomatic measures will always fail unless there exists a credible "or else" - the "or else" generally being war.

[commodious spittoon]

Someone, I forget whom

[WTF]

War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means
-Carl von Clausewitz

All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.
~ Zhou Enlai

[Agammamon]

Which a lot of people do not get fully.

War is not about killing, its not about destroying an enemy. Its about the imposition of your will on another - even if that will is 'leave me alone'. Diplomacy - war, its all a continuum and if you can 'win' without firing a shot, you do.

[Crusty Juggler]

Gary Johnson's preferred method of marijuana consumption is gluten-free brownies.

So he is gay...

[lap83]

hipstertarian

[Mickey Rat]

Does Johnson have a medical reason to avoid gluten? If not, then he is just a trendy twit.

[Rich]

"But until you fall asleep at night to the sounds of gunfire in the distance, until your children keep knives by their beds for fear of the serial rapist going through their neighborhood, until your neighborhoods are invaded by people who use force to intimidate or to get what they want and the police don't care to help, I really don't care what you have to say about guns."

OK. Hope you're making progress with that therapy.

[UnCivilServant]

The thugs didn't need to invade my neighborhood growing up - they lived there.

I didn't need therapy to get over growing up in a shitty place where murder was a common tale and when a store was robbed the only question was "are they still open?"

[Atanarjuat]

I don't care what that person has to say about guns either, so fair's fair.

[straffinrun]

Nothing sharpens cognitive ability like prolonged exposure to dangerous and high stress environments. That's what this person is arguing, right?

[Zeb]

No, she's saying that people who live in safe places and don't have any need to defend themselves shouldn't be telling everyone else whether or not they can have guns.

[(((Renegade)))]

To be fair, she actually articulates the argument pretty well. The scumbags who can't count to ten without skipping 2 are mostly people leading wiffleball lives, who have no clue what living in a dangerous place is like, who can't understand the desire or need for self-protection.

[(((Renegade)))]

Gun control advocacy loses its teeth for me when it's advocated for by people who are protected by the state. And that is largely who I see talking about this.

How can any libertarian disagree with this?

[Crusty Juggler]

They're libertarians, so they can disagree about anything and everything. This is why nobody likes them.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

But she say privilege and stuff. That bad.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: The Real Gun-Control Story

Remember how, during the Tea Party rallies, so much attention was paid to the fact that some participants were obese and using mobility scooters? That wasn't an accident. It's loathing substituting for analysis. For much the same reason, cartoons purporting to depict gun-rights supporters after Orlando almost invariably depicted obese, aging, white, and downscale (rumpled, ill-kempt) subjects. That is whom the Left believes to be the problem when it comes to violence in these United States ? and most other problems, too. The relevant psychology here is that of intellectual development arrested in adolescence. If you've ever heard a 50-year-old lefty raging about Middle America and thought that it sounded a lot like a 14-year-old raging about his stick-in-the-mud father, you're not the first to whom that has occurred.

...

The cultural role of the NRA is to be the fat white face that absorbs the Left's hatred for the hunting, shooting, and gun-collecting demographics. This has nothing to do with the NRA's opposition to some kinds of gun control, a fact that can be readily appreciated by looking at the sort of thing gun-rights advocates generally do support in the way of gun control, which progressives either ignore or actively oppose

[Brochettaward]

The worst gun problems in the country are in blue cities filled with black people.

[Agent Cooper]

If the left really gave a shit about curbing gun violence, they would legalize drugs.

[John]

The cultural role of the NRA is to be the fat white face that absorbs the Left's hatred for the hunting, shooting, and gun-collecting demographics.

That is true. It is however a bit remarkable that Kevin D. Williamson can write it with a straight face.

[commodious spittoon]

We need gun rights so the poor white narcotized assholes can off themselves more easily.

[Rich]

"We joked that he'd become a terrorist. And then he did."

"HATE SPEECH drove him to it!"

[Drake]

That is kind of funny, except for all the dead people...

[Rhywun]

Paywall 🙁

[Juvenile Bluster]

Cut and paste the URL, enter it into google. Way around WSJ paywalls.

[Rhywun]

Didn't work in Chrome but I got it via Bing.

OT: I also found a way around anti-AdBlockers if anyone is interested. Which is pretty amusing because this is same software I used 15 years ago.

[Juice]

Or just use private/incognito mode.

[Rhywun]

I don't know what the point of these hindsight-retrospectives is other than to satisfy morbid curiosity - the calls for "they should have done something!" are particularly worrisome. Done what?

[Lord Humungus]

Sure why not?

Are killer robots a necessity?

New technology could lead humans to relinquish control over decisions to use lethal force. As artificial intelligence advances, the possibility that machines could independently select and fire on targets is fast approaching. Fully autonomous weapons, also known as "killer robots," are quickly moving from the realm of science fiction toward reality.

These weapons, which could operate on land, in the air or at sea, threaten to revolutionize armed conflict and law enforcement in alarming ways. Proponents say these killer robots are necessary because modern combat moves so quickly, and because having robots do the fighting would keep soldiers and police officers out of harm's way. But the threats to humanity would outweigh any military or law enforcement benefits.

Removing humans from the targeting decision would create a dangerous world. Machines would make life-and-death determinations outside of human control. The risk of disproportionate harm or erroneous targeting of civilians would increase. No person could be held responsible.

[commodious spittoon]

Removing humans from the targeting decision would create a dangerous world. Machines would make life-and-death determinations outside of human control. The risk of disproportionate harm or erroneous targeting of civilians would increase. No person could be held responsible.

Business as usual?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Removing humans from the targeting decision would create a dangerous world. Machines would make life-and-death determinations outside of human control. The risk of disproportionate harm or erroneous targeting of civilians would increase. No person could be held responsible."

To be fair, INCLUDING humans and human control still seems to carry a huge risk of disproportionate harm, erroneous targeting of civilians, and no one is held responsible.

[Agammamon]

So, it would actually change nothing from our current stance.

If anything, it will, like automation does, make war even more efficient (read: inexpensive) and thus more attractive as a first option.

[Agammamon]

So, it would actually change nothing from our current stance.

If anything, it will, like automation does, make war even more efficient (read: inexpensive) and thus more attractive as a first option.

[Free Society]

No person could be held responsible.

Anyone who thinks this is exactly the case under present circumstances are delusional.

[Free Society]

exactly not the case* [...] are is*

[Crusty Juggler]

Activity among white supremacists continues to surge

Inspired by a series of hate crimes and the current election season, white supremacists have grown angrier and more energetic in 2016, according to experts.

"A lot of the extreme right perceives Trump as being largely sympathetic to many of their views," said Mark Pitcavage, a historian for the Anti-Defamation League. "They rather enthusiastically support what they perceive as anti-Hispanic attitudes on his part, anti-Muslim attitudes on his part and other similar ideas."

Pitcavage said the current surge ? which he said began in 2009 shortly after President Obama took office ? has been an unusually long one, something he said could be due to Trump's rhetoric.

Kathleen Blee, a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, added that lone wolf white supremacists often take inspiration from those types of crimes, which she said might explain the pattern in attacks.

"They feel like they're acting on behalf of a larger movement," Blee said. "People in uniforms marching around is pretty small, but then there's these other tendencies, which are really disturbing."

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"white supremacists have grown angrier and more energetic in 2016,"

C'mon, how could you possibly measure this?

[UnCivilServant]

Their new FEELZ meter. They FEEL it is so, thus it must be

[straffinrun]

White electric sheet sales?

[Palin's Buttplug]

C'mon, how could you possibly measure this?

Votes for Trump.

[Citizen X]

Good thing he got trounced by Jeb in the primaries, right?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

A Reason poll?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Who classifies as white supremacists these days?

According to the narrative, we may qualify.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Personally, I can report my anger and energy levels are up 12% since this morning, but that may be because i had a good breakfast.

[Domestic Dissident]

If you don't think America needs to be "fundamentally transformed", you definitely qualify.

[Private Chipperbot]

Pitcavage said the current surge ? which he said began in 2009 shortly after President Obama took office ? has been an unusually long one, something he said could be due to Trump's rhetoric.

Wow. Trump must have a time machine.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

It's helpful that in late 2008, dissent stopped being counted as "patriotic duty" and was instead labeled "racism"

[Free Society]

Who could have foreseen identity politics leading to that?

[WTF]

Kathleen Blee, a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, added that lone wolf white supremacists often take inspiration from those types of crimes, which she said might explain the pattern in attacks.

So, wait, is this idiot saying white supremacists had something to do with San Bernadino, Fort Hood, and Orlando?

[Brochettaward]

They are just reinforcing the narrative that the real threat is from white Christian males. I mean, didn't you hear that the FBI is just as concerned about radical right wingers launching attacks as Muslims after Orlando?

[JWW]

They've actually given up waiting for the perpetrator to be a straight white male conservative and are now just pretending that every mass shooter is/was.

[Vapourwear]

What a coincidence, Gina. After reading that, this "redneck with a shotgun" doesn't give a shit about your opinion on much of anything.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...he is an apotheosis" of modern American conservatism.

Replace conservatism with populism.

[Lord Humungus]

Drunk Restaurant Customer Leaves $1,000 Tip, Returns Next Day to Ask for It Back>/a>

Over the weekend, it appeared as if another random act of extreme generosity took place at Thailicious, a restaurant in the Denver suburb of Edgewater, Colo. As the Denver Post reported, one of the waiters received an enormous tip of $1,088, on a dinner that cost about $60.

Thailicious's owners were overjoyed but also uneasy, and held onto the money in case it was a mistake. Sure enough, the next day the mysterious customer returned and asked for the money back.

"He said, 'I'm sorry, I was drunk,'" the restaurant's owner, Bee Anantatho, related. It seems as if in his deep state of hammeredness, the customer was unaware of just how much cash he had on him. The owner assumes that the customer thought the bills he was leaving as a tip were $1 each, but in fact they were $100s.

[DJF]

Say sorry no refunds but we will allow you an open bar tonight and then when he is drunk see if he will sign over his car or house.

[Hamster of Doom]

People have tried that "Ooops, I was drunk and didn't realize what I was doing" with Scores NY (and other places one can only presume). It does not generally end well for the drunk.

[Get To Da Chippah]

Then you go home and hit Twitter: "Restaurant overserved me and stole $1000 when I meant to give a $10.00 tip!"

[Injun, as in from India]

Indian giving.

[Tonio]

I'm going to get wrinkles around my eyes because of you. Are you happy now young man?

[commodious spittoon]

...And later the owner is sued for tens of thousands for overserving a patron.

[lafe.long]

Gadsden Flag: Signs Blending the 'Don't Tread on Me' and Pride Flags Appear in West Hollywood, Calif.

Signs appeared Thursday depicting the flag's snake in front of a rainbow ? instead of the traditional yellow backdrop ? and #ShootBack to show support for the Second Amendment and the LGBT community.

[Hamster of Doom]

This should not be surprising from a demographic known for balls.

[Injun, as in from India]

a demographic known for balls

Ping pong players?

[Citizen X]

American soccer fans (all three of them)?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"I understand the sentiment behind them and 1st Amendment rights, but it's a bad message. I hope it's just people venting that they could do this, and I'm hoping their calmness will take over. It's our job to keep you safe." -Capt. Holly Perez, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department West Hollywood Station

Well if you people DID YOUR JOB then people wouldn't need to defend themselves. Either don't takeit upon yourself to do jobs that are literally impossible (to protect everyone from all violence is impossible) or don't bitch when people do your job for you because you can't...

[KerryW]

They understand 1st amendment rights, but apparently not the 2nd...

[Tonio]

I've actually got one of those that I got several years back at a midwestern pride festival - libertarian booth. It lives on my fridge since it's a magnet and I don't want it stolen as I'm sure it would be if I put it on my car.

However, a gay friend just posted a pic of one of these on the FB, with the caption "what kind of bullshit is this?"

[Crusty Juggler]

Revolutionary Guard, Kurdish Insurgents Battle in Iran

Iran's Revolutionary Guard has battled armed members of an insurgent Kurdish group, leading to fatalities.

The situation is not complicated in any way whatsoever.

[John]

The entire NW corner of Iran is majority Kurdish. If the Kurds ever got a country, it would cover: most of Northern Iraq, including about half of Iraq's oil reserves, about the NW 8th of Iran, the NW quarter of Syria, including most of Syria's water, and the SW quarter of Turkey. The only thing it wouldn't have is access to the ocean, though they Kurds could likely just take a chunk of Syria necessary for that. They are all terrified of Kurdish nationalism. If the US had any brains, we would would arming them to the teeth. All they want to do is kill Arabs and Iranians. Is that so bad?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I've been saying for years to arm the Kurds.

[Free Society]

If the Kurds do get a state, it will be carved out of Iraq and Iraq alone. All countries ruling over a piece of Greater Kurdistan oppose Kurdish nationalism, but Iraq is the only one weak enough not to be able to do anything about it. I dare say that in a war between the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi government in Baghdad, the Kurds would handily win.

[spqr2008]

And they're generally the most U.S. positive Middle Easterners there are. Plus, they even are almost as polite as Mormons. What's not to like? The fact that it'd piss off the Saudis.... wait...

[Timon 19]

I can confirm that Kurds are super-friendly and love talking to Americans. They especially love talking politics and giving you all the tea you could ever drink while completely neglecting their primary business, which is to sell rugs and trinkets to Eurotourists.

They're good folk.

[Rich]

"Yet the light is piercing, and it is hot, and it can be unbearable at times, particularly for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere during the Summer Solstice, when the Sun scorches down and we have our longest day of the year. Coinciding with this celestial event (a day before) we have a Full Moon at the final degree of Sagittarius square to Chiron."

"To Say that this is a stable time to be awake and aware would be a lie. The transitioning occurring now is like a giant wave crashing onto the shore of our own perspectives and beliefs, scattering debris everywhere, and in so doing also ripping a hole through the veil; Exposing a reality we never knew existed underneath. We are in the closing square. This is when this s***t starts to fall apart."

Sheesh, man -- get a grip.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Rich.

Get a haircut and a real job.

[Rich]

Rufus.

You don't consider "running the Rasa Lila Healing YouTube astrology channel" a real job?

[Rufus The Monocled]

If it employs orphans and makes profitzzz, then yes I do consider it real.

[Agammamon]

Yeah, I'm going ot say that Timmy there has no idea what a 'piercing' light is or 'scorching sun'. He can come hang out down here for a day or so.

[lafe.long]

Pornhub: Adult Entertainment Website Offers Audio Content for the Blind

On Wednesday, the company launched "Described Video," which features spoken narration for 50 videos on its site. The feature is for those who are visually impaired.

[straffinrun]

Fitting since Pornhub is responsible for my blindness.

[Lord Humungus]

and the hairy palms.

[commodious spittoon]

+2 hair palms

[Rufus The Monocled]

Fun fact: Pornhub is owned by two Montreal wops.

[Get To Da Chippah]

Wonder who they'd get to narrate.

Morgan Freeman - "Andy wasn't a well hung fellow, but he made up for it by being very eager."

That guy from the Superfriends - "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Pubis!"

Or maybe it would play out like an episode of How It's Made.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Mike Rowe.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Or Christopher Walken.

Or Norm MacDonald.

[Crusty Juggler]

Or Gilbert Gottfried

NSFW, of course.

[WTF]

Norm MacDonald doing his Bob Dole impression would just be awesome. As would Walken. "I got a fever, and the only medicine is MORE ASS PLAY!"

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm surprised they did this without the threat of lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Free market profiteering b*******s.

[Chip Woodier]

Do they have a feature for those of us with hairy palms? I can barely use the mouse any more.

[Free Society]

They got Morgan Freeman to narrate Midget Gangbang Creampies 5.

[Crusty Juggler]

Iraqi Forces Enter Falluja, Encountering Little Fight From ISIS

After weeks of fighting, Iraqi forces entered central areas of Falluja on Friday, facing little resistance by the Islamic State, as thousands of civilians fled in a new wave of displacement that has overwhelmed the ability of aid agencies to care for them.

Counterterrorism forces raised the Iraqi flag over the main government building in central Falluja, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, and they moved on to besiege the city's main hospital, which was the first target of American forces when they invaded the city in 2004, according to officers and news reports on state television.

The rapid, and unexpected, gains suggested a shift in tactics by the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, or perhaps a sign of their weakness, as they abandoned their dug-in positions and regrouped in western neighborhoods. That allowed thousands of civilians, which aid groups had said were being held as human shields, to flee across two bridges over the Euphrates River beginning on Thursday.

[Lord Humungus]

property values in Falluja must be hell.

[Drake]

Lots of well-ventilated bungalows available.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I was going to make a snarky comment about Detroit, but you know what--I bet Detroit property values are actually lower.

Think about it this way--Detroit has low demand for housing, but much of its housing stock remains intact.

Fallujah's housing stock is probably largely destroyed. Supply might actually not meet demand, and prices could very well be rising.

Just speculation on my part, though.

[John]

Values in Fallujah are low but things are bound to get better in the future. Things are never going to get better in Detroit.

[WTF]

Things would get better in Detroit if it wasn't for the obstructionist RethugliKKKans!

[commodious spittoon]

Things are never going to get better in Detroit.

In a few years people may be taking walking tours through suburban Detroit.

[Rasilio]

That's why OCP needs to come in and build New Detroit

[Free Society]

Fallujah is heavily polluted with radioactive isotopes with extraordinarily high rates of cancer and birth defects, I don't think people will be clamoring to move to Fallujah when this war is over, assuming that it doesn't remain a warzone for the rest of time.

[John]

You are right. It has Detroit beat hands down.

[Hamster of Doom]

As of right now, I am irritated to no end seeing the same people who are so careful about acknowledging their privilege so brazenly forget it here, and in so doing have the potential to make people who are already vulnerable even more so. I agree that we have a lot of work to do as a society on all the things that create violence. You'll never hear me say otherwise. But until you fall asleep at night to the sounds of gunfire in the distance, until your children keep knives by their beds for fear of the serial rapist going through their neighborhood, until your neighborhoods are invaded by people who use force to intimidate or to get what they want and the police don't care to help, I really don't care what you have to say about guns.

MIC DROP.

Seriously good read, ENB.

[Tonio]

until your neighborhoods are invaded by people who use force to intimidate or to get what they want

Um, there was a home invasion a few months back less than a mile from my house, but not really in my neighborhood. I wonder if that shitstain would consider that justification, or does it have to happen regularly.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Gary Johnson's preferred method of marijuana consumption is gluten-free brownies.

You know, the Gary Johnson and pot thing really pisses me off. I fully support his and all people's right to do with their bodies as they like, believe marijuana and all other drugs should be legal, insert whatever other libertarian disclaimer needed, but it really bothers me. It calls forth all the stupid, negative stereotypes of libertarians just being dumbass potheads or whatever. The argument isn't "Yay, pot is awesome, everyone should smoke it!" but "The government shouldn't care whether or not you smoke pot."

Add to the fact that his a pretty bad salesman for liberty and that he and Weld are basically just moderate Republicans...well, not a fan of where the LP is going this cycle.

[Injun, as in from India]

He's actually a smart, decent guy. The big thing about him is that he is 100% self-made.

He actually built that, even if Obama disagrees.

But, he has to go doofus on smug Samantha Bee's show, do the whole pot rigmarole, and just come across as unserious and unpresidential.

This year could have been great for the LP, but somehow the LP candidate manages to sabotage himself.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

You know, I'm really sick of motherfuckers trying to see how extreme they can take slave morality. I cannot fathom how people could assign the greatest good to the biggest victim. I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

For fuck sake, people are actually fighting over victimhood now! All theses "enlightened" assholes deserve every bad thing that happens to them. Unfortunately they're masochistic enough to like being beaten down.

Fuck I hate these fucking people!

/rant

[John]

Sparky, wherever there is a victim there is a perpetrator. You can't be a victim unless someone made you that way. So when people compete to be the biggest victim, they are just competing for the biggest reason to hate someone.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Sure, but that doesn't change how fucked up it is to WANT to be a victim. The values of self-reliance, self-esteem, pride in one's work, and responsibility are being absolutely slaughtered on a daily basis. It's seriously fucking disgusting.

[John]

It is totally fucked up and sick. There is nothing more miserable than being a victim and feeling powerless. Talk any therapist who works with people who have suffered real trauma and they will tell you the key to getting over it is to stop thinking of yourself as a victim and letting the experience define your life. These people are intentionally taking small or in some cases imaginary slights and letting them define their lives. They are making themselves mentally ill. It is the most evil thing I have ever seen.

[tarran]

You could say that again!

[John]

It is totally fucked up and sick. There is nothing more miserable than being a victim and feeling powerless. Talk any therapist who works with people who have suffered real trauma and they will tell you the key to getting over it is to stop thinking of yourself as a victim and letting the experience define your life. These people are intentionally taking small or in some cases imaginary slights and letting them define their lives. They are making themselves mentally ill. It is the most evil thing I have ever seen.

[bacon-magic]

You could say that again!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

This is the result of decades of according special privileges, legal statuses, and other prizes (cush university jobs, for example) to "victims." It becomes a race to be the most aggrieved and completely discourages the incentive, and eventually as we are seeing, the capacity, to take charge and improve your situation. It fosters dependence and childishness and, as you correctly observe, gives them something to hate. It's divisive and destructive to society and, of course, very profitable for certain people.

[Rufus The Monocled]

A prog explained in a thread that individual self-reliance and responsibility comes from cultural norms helped along by laws the government sets.

[WTF]

Anything to justify their own helplessness and dependency, I guess.

[WTF]

Add in their fucking uselessness, as well.

[kbolino]

How did those laws come to be if nobody believed in them in the first place?

[Col. Chestbridge]

It's governments all the way down.

[WTF]

As usual, the progs confuse cause and effect.

[Bwana]

Fake Japanese commercial for Trump

[Rich]

Well done!

[Agammamon]

"Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on guns."

But wait - the author is white and middle class (and crazy) - so . . . *head aspoldes*

[Marty Comanche]

Came here to say that. So much cringe.

[Crusty Juggler]

Two Americans killed after a massive wave swept them from a Mexico beach while they were on vacation

[Rich]

Hey! Did the beach have a warning sign about that?

[UnCivilServant]

The beach had warning signs about the roving kidnap gangs and cartel gunmen.

[lap83]

a wave of immigration?

[Injun, as in from India]

Is that an intended pun of the Pixies song?

[lap83]

Zika fetus, giving my goodbye
Take my raft into the ocean
Am I committed or just want welfare pay?

On a wave of immigration
On a wave of immigration
Wave of immigration
Wave of immigration
Wave
Wave

[lap83]

blah, -1 on a wave...

[Injun, as in from India]

That was very creative! Nice!

[Citizen X]

Something something Surfer Rosa

[Crusty Juggler]

Nice one.

[commodious spittoon]

Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

...Nobody actually thinks this is a threat, do they?

[WTF]

Look, a mere pop tart chewed into the shape of a gun is perceived as a threat these days.

[Crusty Juggler]

'People DO care': Entire JetBlue flight comes together to comfort grandmother en route to Orlando after her grandson was killed in nightclub massacre

On Tuesday, JetBlue employees knew Omar's grandmother was making this difficult journey alone, so made sure to stay by her side every step of the way and make her as comfortable as possible.

But flight attendant Kelly Davis Karas had an idea to pass around a piece of paper for fellow passengers to write messages of condolences on ? and she was blown away by the response.

In a Facebook post that has since gone viral with nearly 90,000 shares, she revealed that not only did passengers write heartfelt messages of support for the woman, but every single person stopped to offer their condolences to her on their way off the plane.

I blame Trump for all of this hate.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Like Chik-Fil-A, they were obviously just doing this for good publicity. It's impossible to be sympathetic to the families and friends of victims of a horrific murder unless you yourself fit into the same narrow demographic. Numerous publications have told me so.

[Hamster of Doom]

This is their time, Derp.

[Free Society]

Russian airstrikes hit U.S.-backed rebels fighting ISIS in southern Syria. "We will seek an explanation from Russia on why it took this action and assurances this will not happen again," officials said.

US backed terrorists.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Unpossible! The people the US backs are the good guys because the US only backs good guys.

[UnCivilServant]

+1 School of the Americas.

[Crusty Juggler]

Atlantic City may be the next to get legal marijuana.

Do not let that entice you to visit Atlantic City.

[geo1113]

Bring back the diving horse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF6KQpR5_xk

[WTF]

Paterson by the Sea.

[Rhywun]

I used to *love* our yearly vacations in Atlantic City when I was a kid. I do like a seedy carnival atmosphere. Plus the pier rides have that slightly wobbly feel that adds a bit of thrill.

[Crusty Juggler]

Suspected killer of British lawmaker had ties to neo-Nazi group, watchdog says

The man detained by police in connection with the killing of a rising star of British politics had long-standing ties to a U.S.-based neo-Nazi organization and, in the past, had ordered a how-to guide for assembling a homemade gun, according to a watchdog group that tracks extremist behavior.

Cox's suspected killer was not named by police, but was identified in the British media as 52-year-old Tommy Mair, a local resident whom neighbors described as quiet and devoted to his mother.

Ban moms.

Mair was a longtime supporter of the National Alliance, a once-prominent white supremacist group.

In all, Mair sent $620 to the group's publishing imprint for titles including "Incendiaries," "Chemistry of Powder and Explosives," "Improvised Munitions Handbook" and "Ich Kampfe," published by the World War II-era Nazi party, the law center said.

The Daily Telegraph also reported that Mair had subscribed to a South African magazine published by the White Rhino Club, a pro-apartheid group.

[John]

What happened in Orlando had nothing to do with religion. What this guy did, however, is completely the responsibility of anyone who objects to the EU.

[Brett L]

They aten't afraid of the British whites yet. A couple more incidents like this and it will start to be the victims' fault.

[AddictionMyth]

I demand that Russia explain why it is supporting our enemies. Don't they know that ISIS represents an existential threat to the Western Secular Caliphate??

[Lee G]

Think you can keep your handles straight today?

[Hyperion]

It was butthead all day yesterday.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH TEH DRRUGZ????

[Crusty Juggler]

A starving wolf stalked a woman and her dog for 12 hours. Then along came a bear.

or twelve hours, the wolf had pursued Barnaby and her dog through the wildfire-scorched forests of the Northwest Territories.
And for twelve hours, the starving animal had tried to separate Barnaby and Joey, driving them all deeper into the bush.
Night settled around Barnaby, hiding the swarms of mosquitoes that blanketed her arms, legs and face.
And still the wolf snapped and growled, waiting for the woman or her dog to drop their guard.
Barnaby was near collapse when dawn began to creep across the sky.That's when she heard the bear grunt.
And that's when she got an idea.

"I sat there and I thought about it and I prayed about it," Barnaby said. She struck upon a seemingly insane plan. She would put herself between the mother bear and her cub in the hope that the mama bear would drive off the wolf.

[Lee G]

Needs more dingos.

[Drake]

The WaPost is publishing Jack London stories now?

[Brett L]

This woman has more balls than the entire Vox staff. Fucking awesome.

[Domestic Dissident]

Come on people. The biggest news of the day is that Cleveland is one win away from its first major sports championship in two generations.

Go Cavs!!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Good on them for fighting back, but man are those long odds to win three in a row on the road.

[How You Like Me Now?]

Fuck the Cavs, fuck Lebron the narcisstic cunt-majeur, and fuck me for caring about professional sports which is a goddamn ridiculous thing to think about

[Rufus The Monocled]

Money on the Warriors then?

[Crusty Juggler]

Bring the flamethrowers: A rare, risky mission is underway to rescue sick scientists from the South Pole

The second Twin Otter will continue on toward the pole, flying into the deeper cold (current temperature at Amundsen-Scott is minus-76 degrees Fahrenheit) and impenetrable night. If all goes well, it could arrive as early as June 19, though that depends on whether the pilots can find a window in the brutal Antarctic winter weather to fly.

"It's a 10-hour flight, and you only have 12 or 13 hours of fuel on board," Alberta bush pilot Sean Loutitt said. "You're monitoring the weather the whole time, but eventually you get to a point of no return. Then you're committed to the pole, no matter what."

[This Machine]

Ha, a Twin Otter. We always called them "Twatters."

[Lord Humungus]

+1 The Thing and that awesome hat

[Hyperion]

Hey all, there's some wiminz over there, pretending to be libertarians, which we know is something that doesn't exist, like unicorns. I haven't even figured out what this rambling rant is all about.

There's even an article on this site named: 'The Surprising Rise of the Hispanic Millennial Libertarian'. I lol'd.

Someone has to do something:

GUNZ!

[The Fusionist]

OK, so here (from her Web site) is what Sen. Feinstein wants to do to the 2nd Amendment.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it allows the Attorney General to deny the transfer of a gun to someone whom the AG deems connected to terrorism in one of various ways.

There are two ways of challenging the AG's decision (cross-referenced with previous laws) - (a) ask the AG to explain the reasons for her action and to reconsider (b) seeking judicial review with the same procedures with a Brady Act denial, PROVIDED that the AG gets to avoid disclosing certain allegedly sensitive information, so that we won't help the terrorists by telling them all the evidence against them.

[The Fusionist]

Oops, try this

[Hyperion]

If that wretched old cunt was dying in a fire, who would piss on her to put her out?

[The Fusionist]

I would be honored to have the chance to save someone's life, wouldn't you?

[Hyperion]

I don't consider that a person, it's a monster.

[The Fusionist]

I believe that is literal de-humanization.

🙁

[Injun, as in from India]

Careful, bro.

Niketh Velamoor and other Attorneys-General with too much time on their hands are reading this.

[AlmightyJB]

He never said that he was going to set her on fire. He didn't even say he wouldn't put her out. He just asked a hypothetical question.

[Injun, as in from India]

Hypothetically speaking, Reason.com can still get a subpoena for that. 🙂

I should note though that it would be more fun to feed the subpoena into a wood chipper instead of a puny paper shredder.

[Crusty Juggler]

I would set her body on fire via a zealous rogering.

[AlmightyJB]

There was a young maid from Cape Cod
Who thought that babies came from God.
But it wasn't the Almighty
That lifted her nightie--
It was Roger the Lodger, by God!

[Chip Woodier]

+1 dry, rough friction

[AlmightyJB]

I would wait patiently and then piss on her ashes.

[Injun, as in from India]

The list will start out as "we will ONLY put terrorists on it".

Then, it will become "we will add everyone to it".

Voila! You just converted the 2nd amendment from a right to a government-granted privilege.

Of course, the approval criteria will keep going bigger until no one gets to own a gun.

[Brett L]

Yes. It is nearly impossible to get off the "No Fly List" once you are on it. There is no botification, and even when you do discover you are on it, the procedure for getting off is essentially convincing a bureaucrat who has no incentive to take you off that they should take you off. Which is why actual due process with the full rights before the law in a judicial setting is the only way to deny 2A rights.

[Hyperion]

Exactly this. I can 100% guarantee you if the Democrats can slip this through, the next thing you know there will be 100 million people on that list. This is their plan. It's unconstitutional as hell because it's a complete circumvention of due process to strip people of their constitutional rights.

If the government wants to have a watch list then fine, but they cannot use that in such a manner as they are proposing. It's only supposed to be a list of people who they think they need to watch as potential terrorists.

The no fly list itself is a travesty of justice that needs to be shit canned right now. If someone is so dangerous they cannot be on a plane, then you best have a warrant for their arrest or deportation if they are here in the USA already.

[Tonio]

seeking judicial review

Good luck getting standing. IIRC, it's not enough that you might be affected; you have to prove that you actually were affected which is doubly hard to prove if they keep everything secret which they always do.

Standing is the great unsung libertarian cause. Everyone who pays taxes or is a citizen should have the standing to sue a government agency for anything. Standing and immunity form an interlocking system to prevent government from ever being held accountable.

[Warty]

I love when Google News brings me things that I absolutely do not have the patience to read today.

Sorry, Gary Johnson: The libertarian movement is fringe and it will remain fringe
Salon - ?1 hour ago?
Last week, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld made a cordial appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to pitch their libertarian message to America.

Nope, nope, nope, no thank you, Googly Noogly.

[The Fusionist]

Let me go where Warty fears to tread...

[The Fusionist]

"Consider the Koch brothers [wow, didn't see this one coming], who are ideologically libertarian. Both brothers have admitted to being socially liberal, but these issues aren't nearly as important to them as deregulating the market, slashing taxes for the wealthy, and so on; and these issues don't dictate their political spending and activism (if they did, the Koch's would support Democrats)....

"It is this extreme economic dogma that makes the libertarian movement a fringe movement, not their social or foreign policies like drug legalization or ending military misadventures overseas (besides, if someone is considering supporting a libertarian for these reasons, they are probably better off voting for a left candidate like the Green Party's Jill Stein)...."

[Rufus The Monocled]

Sooo, in their world being socially liberal is mutually exclusive with lower taxes and free markets? Nice.

Aaaand, arguing for lower taxes is 'extreme economic dogma' now, huh.

/flashers 'L' on forehead.

[Tonio]

Ok, it's Salon, so utterly predictable and ignorable. As I noted above, we're going to see all types of crazies come out of the woodwork in the coming months; these people will claim to be libertarians, or presume to tell libertarians what their best interests are, but in reality will be trying to undermine the cause. They won't have much affect on actual libertarians who are an ornery and not-easily-led bunch, but they will wreak havoc with potential supporters who are inclined towards libertarianism but don't think that much about it.

[The Grinch]

It's actually not that bad. About as fair as Salon could be expected to be.

[Krabappel]

There is a section called "recommended for you" where I had to tell them I wasn't interested in Hillary Clinton so they can stop showing all the "Hillary Clinton SAVAGES Trump for his comments over X"

[Tornado16nb]

Does salon realize they are on the fringe? So is the green party which are a bunch of totalitarians.

[Tonio]

See above. This is a deliberate attempt to siphon off potential libertarian votes. They know Johnson won't win, but they truly fear libertarian ideas getting a proper airing.

[Juvenile Bluster]

At least Salon ran out of writers that were once libertarian but saw the light and are now progressive. For a while they were running that storyline once every other week.

[Tornado16nb]

Lol

[Warty]

The time to stop Trump was in the 1990s, when the movement's intellectuals were busy prostrating themselves before Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as they sought to remake the GOP into a party for white Christians. The time to stop Trump was during the George W. Bush administration, when Republicans swallowed the nonsense that deposing secular dictators was a great way to promote moderate Islam. The time to stop Trump was in 2009, when Sarah Palin was dumbing down conservatism into an alternative lifestyle that glorified anti-intellectualism. The time to stop Donald Trump was in 2013, when Ted Cruz was opportunistically telling Republican voters that obstreperousness was the equivalent of conservative philosophy.

2016 was far too late to stop the Trump Train.

Eyup.

[Hyperion]

when Republicans swallowed the nonsense that deposing secular dictators was a great way to promote moderate Islam

Well, at least there's one sensible sentence in there. So why did Democrats, instead of stopping that, just pick the ball up and run with it?

[Warty]

Because they had always been into starting pointless foreign wars.

[Brett L]

Its amazing how much, in retrospect, the 2000s American foreign policy looks like the 1960s policy that fucked up South and Central America until we left them alone more often than not in the Carter administration.

[John]

What amazes me about these people is how much they really believe in top men. Trump's success isn't the result of people deciding on their own for their own reasons to support him. No, Trump's success is the result of top men failing in their responsibility to properly herd the ignorant masses. The typical media pundit really is a disgusting and stupid person.

[Tornado16nb]

What is up with intellectuals....they overrate their abilities and are condescending. I think they are full of themselves.

[Illocust]

Also note, only other people's top men are responsible at that. All those proto-top men on campus calling to ban anything 'offensive' have no responsibility for the rise of Trump whatsoever.

[Drake]

Nope. "read my Lips..."

Every time since 1989 when the supposed conservative Republicans decided to surrender to the Democrats, they missed an opportunity to stop Trump. They have so destroyed their brand since Reagan left town that it's now worthless.

They turned themselves into laughingstock wimps - so they lost to the only guy who actually seems to fight. What he fights for is almost irrelevant as long it is against the left and political correctness.

[Tornado16nb]

Who wrote this?

[Ken Shultz]

Adolf Hitler.

[The Fusionist]

The LA Times seems to agree with Gary Johnson

"More than two decades ago, Democrats and Republicans united around a bill designed to provide an extra measure of protection for Americans whose religious beliefs made it difficult for them to comply with some laws.

"The 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (or RFRA) says that a person may be exempted from laws that "substantially burden" the free exercise of religion....

"We continue to believe that RFRA and a similar federal law protecting religious freedom in prisons serve a legitimate purpose. The beneficiaries of those laws have included a Muslim prisoner who successfully challenged a rule preventing him from growing a beard; a Native American who sued to force the federal government to return ceremonial eagle feathers it had confiscated; and a Sikh employee of the Internal Revenue Service who was sent home for carrying a kirpan, a ceremonial blade emblematic of her faith that posed no danger to her co-workers.

"But in those cases, accommodating the religious scruples of one person didn't intrude on the civil rights of others. Those who want to amend RFRA insist that Congress should make it crystal clear that the law can't be used to justify discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. We agree."

[AlmightyJB]

Religious freedom is important as long as it's convenient

[Ken Shultz]

I think they genuinely see it as a liberty maximizing thing--one person shouldn't be allowed to impose his religious beliefs on other people.

They simply do not see the line between public and private where we do. Private to them means in your home--not in a business that's open to the public

If we're going to address their arguments specifically, we need to address where they put that line between public and private. Maybe not claim that they don't care about religious rights--because that isn't necessarily the problem, here.

P.S. They also see social justice as a game of "Who's the biggest victim?". They don't see Christian business owners as big victims, so they side with gays. We can attack the arbitrariness of that formulation, too. The first time a Muslim owned business is shut down for refusing to accommodate gays, they'll be scratching their heads.

P.P.S. Gays, Muslims, and Jews have all been sitting around eating hummus together in Westwood without any problems for decades. I've seen it with my own eyes. There was a hilarious episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm about that. Larry David is screwing a woman from a Palestinian restaurant, and while they're doing it, she screams at him, "I'm going to fuck the Jew right out of you!".

[Tonio]

The first time a Muslim owned business is shut down for refusing to accommodate gays, they'll be scratching their heads.

We are regularly informed in these comments that will never happen because the gays are scared of the muslims and only pick on poor, virtuous peaceful christians.

[Ken Shultz]

That may have changed recently.

Eventually, you gotta know gay activists and Muslims will go head to head.

Like I said, they've thrived among each other in Westwood for decades, but it's the nature of activism to fuck everything up for the fuck of it.

[spqr2008]

My personal view is that if a fundamentalist Muslim were to refuse a gay wedding cake, and were to be sued, some of his crazy relatives would "take out" the plaintiff.

[Trigger Warning]

If that chick got some guns, she might be less afraid.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

You mean 'bigguns' is not just shorthand for 'big guns'?

[Brett L]

Today is moving day. We're going back to the land of self-hating gay shooters and baby eating alligators. On a theme we often touch on, I'm watching the movers load my house faster than shit through a goose. I appreciate a job well done, even if it is a job many people think is "unskilled". These guys showed up ready to work and went at it. That's skilled enough for me.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

There's never shame in honest work and a job well done, regardless of the skill or education required.

[Tonio]

^This. And if you've ever tried to get even five minutes of decent manual labor out of an entitled academic you really appreciate those moving guys.

[WTF]

Especially if they don't break any of your stuff.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

I'll tell you what, I've never had a single problem with "low skill" manual laborers. Every one that I've dealt with just knew how to get their shit done fast.

[spqr2008]

I just am jealous of how fast they can move. I want to be that efficient doing manual tasks. My dad is that way, and I can never get as fast as he is at manual labor tasks (even just handyman type ones).

[Brett L]

Note to slooopy: This is why you pay #BigMoving and not Vitos Craigslist Sketchy Co.

[Rhywun]

Totally. Also, the first time I paid someone to move my stuff instead of doing it myself I worried it might be "too expensive". Needless to say it was money well-spent. I'll sell my pets to pay for it next time if it comes to that.

[Injun, as in from India]

We know that the Democrats are a lost cause. How many GOP turncoats are going to vote for gun control?

Senate schedules Monday votes on gun control

[Lord Humungus]

A few - especially 'pub senators in blue states. But they're depending on the House to not pass them. That's my guess.

[Injun, as in from India]

What worries me is that the House and Senate will flip to the Democrats, thanks to the Orange Ape ruining down ballot races.

Next time something like this happens. I'd worry about a bill passing and President Hillary signing it.

[Illocust]

Some republicans will vote for it, and some democrats will vote against it. The only way this subject has remained toxic for so long is that even some blue states have large subsections of the population that hunt in them.

[Rhywun]

Hell, I grew up in inner-city rust-belt and my stepfather and his family were big hunters.

[AlmightyJB]

Speaking of gun lies

http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2.....y-mention/

[geo1113]

I expect nothing less than lies from a congressman from my district.

[Injun, as in from India]

It's one thing to keep your mouth shut and simply vote to slowly destroy the Second Amendment.

It's another thing to willfully lie and pander. With that lie, this man has proven he has no honor, despite being in the USMC.

[Ken Shultz]

"Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

It doesn't appear to be a threat at all.

If I understand the humor properly, it looks like he may be both half-jokingly making fun of gays for being "limp-wristed" (marines don't hold their rifles that way) and quite seriously suggesting that marines are there to defend gay people from terrorism.

"Coming to a gay bar near you" seems to suggest that the photo itself should be a recruitment poster that will be put up in gay bars to recruit gay people into the marines so that they can go fight ISIS.

I don't see how that's a threat. Looks more like an overzealous prosecutor seeing something that isn't there.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Either it's a threat or it's phenomenally stupid.

Or it's his way of coming out of the closet.

[Ken Shultz]

I don't know.

If the upper brass can't conceive of it as a recruitment poster for gay bars, then they're the ones who are homophobes.

Given official policy on being gay in the military these days, recruiting for the marines in gay bars makes a lot of sense right now.

A lot of angry people joined the marines after 9/11. Right now there are a lot of angry people in gay bars.

Why can't the prosecutor see that? What, is he some kind of homophobe?

[tarran]

In my experience, prosecutors do not necessarily believe the arguments they present to the court. They advance arguments to see what sticks. And usually they know what will resonate with the judge and what won't.

Then again, my experiences are with prosecutors are in MA with the sort of people who worked for fascist authoritarian scumbags like Martha Coakley and Maura Healey.

[Brett L]

I know several friends who would love it if they were to "send in the Marines" to their local club. And several are lesbians. I didn't know until I had a hookup with one that there is a subset of leabians who get drunk and want to have a real dick in them. I guess that's why the fag hags hang around -- in case one of their guy friends is like that.

[Rhywun]

There's a pretty large subset of straight chicks who get drunk and want to get handsy with another chick too. I don't what it is with women and booze 🙂

[Ken Shultz]

I think the fag hags are women who wish their boyfriends were more like their women friends.

I'd rather go to the dentist than shopping with my significant other. It's torture.

Gay guys do that stuff I hate--because they like it. They'll actually talk about shopping.

[Rhywun]

One of the best things about my last SO is he hated shopping just like me.

[Ken Shultz]

I've had gay friends who, like women, don't like shopping with me.

I go looking for a suit, I know exactly where I'm going, exactly what I want, exactly how I want it tailored, and pretty much how much I'm willing to pay.

There's not much "shopping" in my shopping. It's like going to get a haircut.

[Rhywun]

It's like going to get a haircut.

Exactly. Any "browsing" I need to do, I do online.

[Krabappel]

I live in a small city so there isn't much shopping to be done any ways. I buy all my clothes online. I really want to convert to a lifestyle where I am like a cartoon character and wear the same jeans and shirt every day (and I have like 5 pairs of each).

[Rhywun]

Ha, I had the same thought. If I ever find a pair of pants I like & that fits just right, I intend to buy at least five copies for work.

[Illocust]

So I've heard a lovely new Trump derangement syndrome argument. Apparently trump is going to pass a bunch of libel laws that will turn us into Russia. He's going to unilaterally take over the media and only allow it to publish stuff that puts him in the best light. Have any of you heard this particular brand of derp floating around, or is it just me that gets to be lucky?

[Drake]

I keep forgetting how a President passes laws.

[UnCivilServant]

Okay, but we'll only go over the process one more time.

He calls the regulatory agency and gives them a directive to do X, which they then codify with the force of law with no oversight and enforce upon the unsuspecting populace.

[mad.casual]

He calls the regulatory agency and gives them a directive to do X, which they then codify with the force of law with no oversight and enforce upon the unsuspecting populace.

You left off the part where he signs off on the executive order. It's really easy to remember with this simple mnemonic; "Phone and pen". If you ever forget how a dictator President passes laws just remember, "Phone and pen."

[Tornado16nb]

The funny thing is wouldn't liberal pundits have loved this totalitarianism if it was their guy?

[tarran]

They loved Hillary when she railed against Mexican immigration, newspapers publishing smears against her and a robust "America First" foreign policy.

So, yeah.

And please don't call the progressives "liberal". They are fucking illiberal.

[Injun, as in from India]

only allow it to publish stuff that puts him in the best light.

That's Hillary's official position: Overturn the Citizens United decision, so Citizens United can't make Hillary: The Movie.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

This really needs to be emphasized when Hillary talks about Citizens United. Hillary is explicitly advocating making it a crime to criticize her.

[Illocust]

You know. I've noticed something weird about that point. There is a huge subset that would love to ban speech they disagree with. Then there is this smaller but not insignificant subset that is completely unaware and sheltered from the first, that believes those sort of beliefs are only held by Republicans. They live in this weird fantasy land where they believe ridiculous things like the "the democrats don't really want to ban guns" and "I wish my candidate would stop saying he wants to do so because he won't be able to get elected if he does". It's a fucked up weird twilight zone I haven't been able to pierce.

[kbolino]

they believe ridiculous things like the "the democrats don't really want to ban guns"

Well, the mainstream gun grabbers have keep saying that's not what they want. Their blatantly obvious glee at the thought of doing it, however, says otherwise. Like that idiot I was arguing with the other day. "Nobody's taking any guns! But wouldn't it be great if we did?"

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The funny thing is wouldn't liberal pundits have loved this totalitarianism if it was their guy?

As they currently do under Obama.

[DenverJ]

There must be some kind of comic book convention downtown; the light rail is full of people dressed like super heroes. Thanks to my extreme regiment, and Warty's advice, they thought I was one of them. Fake muscle guy looked like a punk ass bitch next to me.

[Warty]

You tore off your shirt and went, "OH YEAH BROTHER!", right?

[Brett L]

Denver Comicon.

[Lord Humungus]

I admit I've been deadlifting and squatting as part of my new workout plan. I've never suffered from puny legs before - Dutch Farmer genes - but damn...

/and that's the end of my story

[Domestic Dissident]

Fat-assed Wookie compares life in the White House to "living in a cave".

This from the woman who has a retinue of dozens and routinely spends millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on lavish vacation junkets, often while flying on a separate plane. What a nasty, disgusting piece of work.

[Rhywun]

"Good Lord. Watching my husband walk off of Marine One and go to the Oval Office, it's like, mmm, mmm, mmm," she added.

*puke*

[Cdr Lytton]

She's a Crash Test Dummies fan?

[Juice]

Barack Hussein Obama Mmm Mmm Mmm

[Krabappel]

I'm not watching the video but based on the title I am assuming they are singing to the tune of crash test dummies... "Once there was this president, who ran on a platform of being anti-warrrr but whennnn he finally became president, he, dropped, bombs all over the middle east! MMmmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm"

[This Machine]

I will not read that article, because I refuse to get mad on a perfectly good Friday morning before my second cup of coffee.

[Cdr Lytton]

Not to mention locking down the neighborhood when she went to visit her brother (thankfully finally fired for his incompetence and moved) in a town safer than Mayberry. Ridiculous amount of "protection" for a private citizen.

[Free Society]

She also recently claimed that is uncommon for a woman not to be abused by her husband and that most husbands are also lazy good-for-nothing fathers. So there's that. GIRL POWER

[Bacha Bazi]

Johnson's Favorite Edibles: A.M. Links

How does one eat the A.m. Links?

[Bacha Bazi]

Johnson's Favorite Edibles: A.M. Links

How does one eat the A.m. Links?

[UnCivilServant]

I donno, but I hear it tastes like squirrel.

[John]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.co.....suspended/

Facebook suspends Transgendered woman's pro Trump facebook page. Facebook, Twitter and Google are seriously evil organizations staffed by totalitarian fuckwits.

[Hayeksplosives]

Gah! I know. I have an android phone & smart watch, use Chrome at home and at work, and my personal email is a gmail account. I would love to get away from Google but I don't see how!

[Clich? Bandit]

An apple a day keeps the google away.

[UnCivilServant]

My work issued me an iPhone - and I still can't figure the stupid thing out. How do I remove all the worthless crap apps that are using data bandwidth and battery power even though I will never use any of them?

[Rhywun]

I think you hold down on an icon for a few seconds and the click the X that appears. But as long as you cradle it every night you shouldn't have to worry about the battery at all.

[UnCivilServant]

The X only shows up on the two apps that were installed when the phone was issued to me.

Also, anyone who charges a Lithium ion battery on a daily basis deserves it when their device craps out after only two years. I got eleven days out of an android the salesman insisted would never have the battery last past two. (and half a decade out of the phone before it)

[Rhywun]

Fine, I'll have my company buy me another phone in two years.

[Rhywun]

Oh for uninstalling you can also do it through iTunes.

[commodious spittoon]

Aw. That's sweet.

[Rhywun]

And that site uses Facebook comments.

*facepalm*

[GILMORE?]

"We will seek an explanation from Russia on why it took this action and assurances this will not happen again," officials said

Maybe you should also write a strongly worded letter.

[GILMORE?]

"Basically, if you're white and middle class, I don't give a shit about your opinion on guns."

Well its only fair. If you're race/class-obsessed, i already don't give a shit about your opinion on anything.

[GILMORE?]

Any piece titled "The Truth About..._______" is actually titled, "A Minority Opinion About _______"

[Free Society]

In my experience, the vast majority of people are dead wrong about almost any topic that's even slightly complicated or outside of their wheelhouse.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Two active-duty U.S. marines are under investigation after allegedly posting a photo of a uniformed corporal holding a rifle and the caption "Coming to a gay bar near you!"

It never occurred to anyone that the marine was gay?