Everyone Loves Government Spying Again, Human Gene-Editing Experiment Approved, GOP Can't Jump Into Lawsuit Against Cleveland: A.M. Links

• 
  

  

  EDrost88/Flickr

  The U.S. Senate is expected to pass a bill broadening the FBI's authority to secretly spy on American citizens in the wake of the Orlando shooting, because power never met a tragedy it couldn't exploit. The bill would let the FBI demand more telephone and internet records without a warrant, and—as Reuters puts it—"represents a bi-partisan drift away from policy positions that favored digital privacy." 

• The National Institutes of Health approved the first human gene-editing trial in the U.S. The research, funded by Napster co-creator Sean Parker's Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, will be carried out at the University of Pennsylvania, where researchers will use gene-editing on immune cells as part of cancer-patient treatment.
• Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda. 
• New York City will begin providing free tampons and other menstrual products in public schools and shelters, and stop capping the number of pads or tampons provided to female prisoners. The City Council also voted Tuesday to require all single-stall public bathrooms to be gender neutral. 
• A bill passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would ban abortion after 20 weeks as well as ban a common surgical-abortion procedure known as dilation and curettage. 
• The District of Columbia is considering micromanaging retail and restaurant employee schedules.
• U.S. District Court Judge James Gwin told the Republican National Convention's Committee on Arrangements to butt out of a First Amendment lawsuit filed by several nonprofits against the City of Cleveland. 

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Just a thought not a sermon]

195) Allegedly eating fast food increases your exposure to "non-natural" chemicals, whatever those are. This is supposed to increase your risk of diabetes, somehow.

I always notice during pool season how many fat kids there are nowadays. A lot more than when I was a kid. But you know, I think we ate just as much fast food and watched just as much TV in the 1980s, probably more. Heck, my mom talks about how she used to get a whole bag of candy for a dime in the 1950s and eat it all day.

In my neighborhood, there's an old school building used for community services, but until 2000 it was an elementary school. In that year, my city consolidated its four elementary schools into two, the better to offer "services" to all children in the city. If that neighborhood school was still open, my son and other kids in the neighborhood would all walk to school, rather than taking the bus.

My theory: increases in childhood obesity, diabetes, etc., are due mainly to increased busing. It's not chemicals or fast food, and kids are no more lazy than they were in decades past, but even the most avid TV and video game junkies had to walk to and from school 30 years ago. School consolidation and increased busing have resulted in huge numbers of kids who get no exercise whatsoever.

[Tonio]

It means chemicals that the author doesn't like. Duh. But seriously, alarmists of various stripes have been screeching about "contains like a zillion chemicals, omg..." forever; looks like they're finally realizing that even moderately informed voters understand that even water is a chemical.

[Atanarjuat]

Well, that, and if you let your kid walk down the street by himself, a swat team swoops in and puts all of you in rape cages. At least I think that's how it works.

[Zeb]

I am pleased to be able to say that at least where I live, that is not at all how it works.

[AlmightyJB]

I agree that it has much more to do with lack of physical acivity than diets although both are a factor. Kids played outside all the time when I was growing up. Now they arrest the parents if they let their kids do that

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda."

You will eat what we tell you to eat. And unintended consequences.

Here's the funny thing about free shit. Take me for example. My clients get a tax credit on the 15th of each month specifically to help pay for daycare fees. There's nothing complicated about it. The fees are, say, $1000, the government kicks in, say, $600 (or whatever based on income) and you pay me. It's all regulated through what we call R-24s. Yet, I still get stuff like 'Can you cash my check on the 20th because I used the money to buy clothes for my kid's school!"

People will use 'free' money the way they want. If they're irresponsible with their own funds, guess what? I'll let you fill in the blanks.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Yeh, yeh. I mean 'school clothes'.

/waves torch to keep Reasonoids away.

[bacon-magic]

/puts pitchfork down

[Rufus The Monocled]

I should add, from what I hear and read about EBT, the whole thing got out of hand.

What a surprise.

[dan'o en barrel]

My guess is that is increased screen time. I'm pretty damned grateful that I didn't have a thousand cable channels, the internet, smart phone/tablet or sophisticated games (could only stomach so many hours of NES.) I doubt I would have spent most of my free time outside riding bikes, building forts, playing sports etc. if I had access to so much digital entertainment.

[kbolino]

Forget busing. I cannot count the number of times I have seen minivans lined up at the bus stops, on sunny days, to ferry the precious snowflakes a few hundred yards. WTF

[Zeb]

That's what seems most nuts to me. Schools have so many parents dropping kids off now that they have to have a whole system for it. Don't these parents have better things to do with their time?

[Rhywun]

LOL in middle school I was the only kid in my neighborhood to attend the magnet school on the other (bad) side of town. The city mailed me a bus pass and said "you're on your own". My mom sure as hell wasn't going to drive me.

[Elspeth Flashman]

We got bus passes too, to the city routes, which made it seem so edgy. A 14 year old riding the city bus both ways, to a private school on the dangerous side of downtown. It rocked, actually.

[Juice]

I went to a magnet school far away in the bad part of town, but there was a transfer bus system. The short bus would go around a huge route to gather 10 kids to drop them off at the transfer point where you go on a bigger bus to go to your school. It was about an hour bus ride to school every morning starting at about 6 am.

[Derp Diggler]

helicopters gonna helicopt

[Juice]

illegal not to

[DesigNate]

Yes, they actually do have better things to do with their time. AND they wish they were doing it.

But somebody decided that the precious little snowflakes couldn't make it home in one piece by walking and thought it would be swell to force parents to pick kids up in a long line of cars. (I'll give you two guesses who made that decision.)

[Zeb]

A lot of people who have the option of putting their kids on a school bus and still drive them. Where I live kids are allowed to walk to school. And don't have the option of a bus if they live within a mile of the school. But there are still parents lining up to drop the kids off.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Yes. I have seen parents in my neighborhood waiting at bus stops in their minivan. WTF? Your kid can't walk half a block?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

My grandkids have to have someone waiting for them, even though the bus actually drops them in front of the fucking house.

That is lawyers, nannies, and liability (cue Warren Zevon) fucking things up.

[Rasilio]

Actually it is starting to become ever more common that no your kids can't walk, the school has no provision for students who walk to school and do not allow it, they must either take a school provided bus or be driven anything else will result in corrective action on the schools part against you.

[spqr2008]

And the other annoying thing is that in 2nd grade, I moved into a house where the school was halfway across town, in another locality (our district bought and used another district's old Junior High for my elementary school). Then, when both my brother and I were out of elementary school, they built the new elementary school literally right behind our neighborhood. We could have easily walked to school from our house if it had been there in the first place.

[Robert]

Do they have no street entrance, so the only access is via garage? If they do have a street entrance, why can't you walk & blend in w the crowd getting onto or off the bus?

[spqr2008]

Only time any parent would do this is if it was bad weather. One of our neighbors, or my parents, would sit at the stop with a van we could all cram into so we'd be out of the weather (and only if it was thunderstorms, or 0 degrees Fahrenheit or less). The crazy part is that my parents didn't do this very often, since Dad grew up in California, and mom grew up in Hawaii. I guess they got used to the weather, and figured I would too.

[Rich]

WTF, indeed. The first time I was aware this was a thing blew my mind.

"No! Really? REALLY?!"

[Juvenile Bluster]

I live on a cul de sac. There's a family near us that has a middle school-aged daughter. The bus stops at the end of the street, a few hundred yards away, easily visible. And the mother will drive the kid to the end of the street and sit in her car until the bus comes.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm not jumping into the hyperbolic claims of hardship. My parents both worked. They were at work before we had to leave the house to catch the bus. They didn't get home until after we did.

Even with our crime-riddled neighborhood, nothing went wrong.

[commodious spittoon]

+4 Yorkshiremen

[Adans smith]

We lived in a old tire at the bottom of the lake.We got up a hour before we went to bed and cleaned the lake.At night,our farther would bet us with a beat us with a belt until we fell into a bloody sleep.

[tarran]

Luxury!

[Adans smith]

And,we never learned to proof read before we posted.

[Cdr Lytton]

I'm in a semi-rural location and many parents wait at the end of the their (short) driveway until the school bus comes, then back up to the house and go inside. I can't figure out if letting the child wait inside the car or stand outside is more helicopterish.

[Rufus The Monocled]

We're the original video game generation and while it's true we did spend quite a bit of time playing Galaga and B.C. on Colego Vision and Odysse and Commodore 64 and Sega and Intelligentsia (sp. ?) and those little mini video arcades like Q-Bert and...

We did play outside. A LOT. It was play for a couple of hours trying to beat the high score and then go play baseball. Come home, replenish and head for the woods. Come home, replenish and gather up the boys for another game of something. Come home, replenish get on the bike and head to the park and hang out. Then go walking around.

[bacon-magic]

Atari 2600 was an hour long event...then you threw the joystick and went outside to terrorize the neighborhood.

[Azathoth!!]

Different kind of game.

Only so much you can get out of Space Invaders, Asteroids, Centipede, Pac-man. There was no story, no real adventure.

And there was, for a long time, no 'continue'.

Eventually you got bored of the endless repetition and went looking for something else to do.

Today, there's whole worlds to explore inside.

[Crusty Juggler]

I walked back and forth the entire ten miles to school every day, and that was after I milked our farm's cows, fed our pigs, gathered our chicken's eggs, and tended to our compost garden.

Kids these days are lazy.

[lap83]

and their euphemisms aren't even creative

[Crusty Juggler]

Ugh. You have such a dirty mind. Grow up.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

This was my grandmother's actual childhood, although her school was only a mile away. She and her brother rode a horse to school and then it would find it's own way back home.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Luxury!

I had to get up one hour before I went to sleep, build a farm, and then crawl on my hands and knees to school because my family couldn't afford feet until I was in 6th grade. All the while dodging blows from my parents who were both drunken kung-fu masters.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Why does everyone have a better upbringing than mine?

[Heroic Mulatto]

2,000 sit-ups a day, to make your body stone,
4,000 leg kicks to the tree to harden bone,
600 finger push-ups to tighten up your grasp,
and you'll become a student of mine and walk the path.

[Crusty Juggler]

All the while dodging blows from my parents who were both drunken kung-fu masters.

Ugh. At least you had parents! I was raised by my two older brothers and their friends, and those guys had a rivalry with the gang across town. The Socs didn't look tough, but man they were trouble.

[Citizen X]

Oh yeah? At least you got BORN. I was aborted, twice!

[commodious spittoon]

Look at Mr. I was Conceived, here! TWICE, no less. I wasn't even a gleam in my parents' eyes! They never even met! My would'v'been father contracted syphilis in a Vietnamese brothel and died an opium addict, and my never-was mother was a seventeenth century spinster.

[See Double You]

At least you're not Aquaman!

[thrakkorzog]

Luxury. My dad used to to stab me twice in the head in the morning, and kill me several times before going to school. And if you tell those kids that, they don't believe you.

[thrakkorzog]

OK without doing a four yorkshiremen bit.

Back when I was kid, my parents gave me a key to the house when I was eight, and that officially made me a latch key kid. I really didn't spend that much time around the house. One of by best friend's mom was a housewife who told my friend to stay out until the streetlights came on. And we rode our bikes all over the place.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

My upbringing was pretty nice, really. All of the stories here sound horrible.

[Zeb]

I don't know about walking to school being the main thing. I lived in a geographically very large school district so most kids were definitely not in walking distance (unless you take literally "20 miles in the snow uphill both ways" stories) and there were hardly any fat kids.

I think most of it is because there was a generally higher level of activity. If there is any social trend behind it, I'd say that it is the trend towards having kids supervised or indoors a lot more of the time rather than just being out doing whatever.

[Robert]

Read Homer Hickam's acc't in "The Rocket Boys" of sledding over 2 mtns. to HS.

Even after corresponding w him a little in rec.pyrotechnics, though, I don't believe all he wrote in that book. Why would they go to a moonshiner for alcohol, when I'm sure the hardware store stocked denatured to make their zinc-sulfur rocket propellant grains? So I gotta conclude they drank the 'shine.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

As to kid diets, the only significant difference from when I was a kid (70's) is the size of sodas.

A Big Gulp came out in early 80's and was too much most of the time. Me and my buddy Danny would split one while playing Galaga/PacMan/Asteroids and giving the Pakistani guy running the 7-11 shit all afternoon.

And we rode our bikes everywhere.

[robc]

Fun fact:. In many areas, the increased transportation costs due to bussing kids to consolidated schools more than offset the savings due to consolidated schools.

[Cdr Lytton]

Interesting. There's been similar results for consolidating smaller districts together to share overhead.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I think your theory is down to all obesity. We're pretty much hard-wired to eat a certain amount of food, but our brains have evolved on the assumption that we're going to be doing a lot of walking or agricultural work to burn off the carbs we eat.

Essentially evolution is lagging behind technology by a bit.

I think the solution is we have to get more clever about things. For those with the time, working out is a good idea. But not everyone has time to work all day, then go home and work out enough to make up for the fact their job doesn't involve manual labor.

Unfortunately "eating less" diets don't ever seem to stick, because or brains have evolved to think that the amount we eat now is the healthy, normal amount, because our brains assume we'll be burning it all off with manual labor.

I think we need to shift the idea of dieting from "eating less" to "eating smarter". We need to be looking at genetic modification of foods to mess with the chemical composition. We need more carbless sugar-free sweeteners, low carb flour alternatives, and other things so that we can eat the amount that our brains want without getting an intake of food energy that modern notions of work isn't cut out to deal with.

[thrakkorzog]

Actually, I can testify from personal experience that one can switch to an eat less diet.

It just takes a little bit of self control, and just don't try to completely change your diet all in one go. If you try to completely change your diet, then it's really easy to backslide. But if you make a few minor changes here and there, like asking for a salad instead of fries, then you can actually lose weight without making it a struggle.

[Mickey Rat]

30 years ago? Not really.

[Juice]

It's because kids aren't allowed outside to play anymore. Kids used to roam neighborhoods, ride bikes, or participating in some other physical activity. You may have watched a lot of TV when you were a kid and maybe even played video games, but I'll bet you also spent a lot of time outside playing. All kids are pretty sheltered nowadays.

[? Aggressor]

i'm glad i still live in the sane midwest, there are kids cruising around on bikes and skateboards unattended all the time, so far zero KIA

[Fist of Etiquette]

The District of Columbia is considering micromanaging retail and restaurant employee schedules.

DC is proven pretty good at management.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"A D.C. Council committee on Thursday will consider a bill that would require chain stores and restaurants to give employees three weeks' notice in changing their schedules"

Holy shit, when I used to work crappy jobs during summers in college, we would usually get our schedules at the beginning of every week. Considering that turnover was high enough that the stores usually didn't have the same employees from week to week, requiring a schedule three weeks out would have been suicide for the pizza places and retail outlets I worked for.

[Tonio]

So, if someone quits they have to wait three weeks before filling his shift? I suppose you could work around that by filling the shift with a brand new employee, but that's still a ridiculous imposition.

[commodious spittoon]

that's still a ridiculous imposition

Somewhere in DC, a bureaucrat is nodding vigorously.

[Rhywun]

They probably didn't pay you enough to support a family of four in comfort either, those monsters.

[Illocust]

It will cause plenty of places to shut down, but because everyone has to deal with it it will mostly just cause a huge raise in prices to pay for it.

[DJF]

They will do for retail what they have done to the Washington subway.

[Bee Tagger]

The District of Columbia is considering micromanaging retail and restaurant employee schedules.

Cool, cool... look, my uh... 2nd cousin is getting married and we're like crazy close... i'm going to need all of July off. K, byeeee.

[UnCivilServant]

You can have as much time as you want. Oh, and don't bother to ever come back. And we won't be paying you anymore.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

My last day at a construction job the foreman was really surprised when I told him it was my last day and I didn't even bother telling him off.

[Cdr Lytton]

Draconian attendance policies would be one expected result. Better to get someone who will disrupt your 3 week schedule off the books as soon as possible.

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York City will begin providing free tampons and other menstrual products in public schools and shelters...

Encouraging teens to menstruate. ABSTINENCE IS THE BEST POLICY.

[WTF]

MOAR FREE SHIT!!11!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Do you want bears? Because that's how you get bears.

[commodious spittoon]

If you have to trek into the woods to get their shit, it's not free.

[Injun, as in from India]

New York City will begin providing free tampons and other menstrual products in public schools and shelters...

Is it Caracas, Venezuela?

NO! It's New York City, NY!

[Lord Humungus]

Who could say no to those crazy eyes?

Man, 69, shoots up home of woman who refused his advances, cops say

A 69-year-old man was arrested Monday night in The Villages on allegations of firing 33 rounds into the home of a woman who refused his sexual overtures, according to deputies.

Sumter County sheriff's deputies said that Howard Sparber, 69, of The Villages, was arrested on charges of armed burglary, aggravated stalking, shooting into a dwelling and criminal mischief.

According to sheriff's officials, deputies were called to a home in the 2500 block of Landale Loop in The Villages after dozens of gunshots were fired into the house.

Deputies said an investigation found that Sparber, who was intoxicated, shot into the residence of a neighbor with whom he had become infatuated.

[Tonio]

Marcus "I'm totally straight, really" Bachmann?

[Atanarjuat]

Longtorso, Sr.?

[Citizen X]

He's a keeper! How come the bitch doesn't see that?!?

[commodious spittoon]

A "keeper" in the sense that he has a radiator and handcuffs.

[Rich]

stop capping the number of pads or tampons provided to female prisoners.

What could *possibly* go wrong?

[Tonio]

OITNB has covered some innovative uses of menstrual products that have nothing to do with their intended use.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Umm, it's actually not clear to me what that would be. They could clog the toilets? Bankrupt the state by requesting 8,000 tampons a month? I guess prisoners do have a lot of time to think up creative ways to fuck with the system...

[Rich]

Yep. Use your imagination.

[Crusty Juggler]

I guess prisoners do have a lot of time to think up creative ways to fuck

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Great! Now Crusty's gonna be busy for a while!

Phrasing is a dangerous thing.

[commodious spittoon]

So do prison guards, apparently.

[Rhywun]

Mythbusters did a bit once on creative ways to break out of prison. You'd be surprised what they're making shivs out of.

[Bee Tagger]

if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda.

But don't you dare try to stop him from using his political benefits for signing junk bills.

[DJF]

This will really confuse the left.

One one hand he is cutting off benefits to the "poor', on the other hand he is stopping them from eating evil junk food and soda

[JWatts]

"This will really confuse the left."

That's not confusing. Power to control people is in their hearts. They are always in favor of making people follow the rules for their own good..

[Rhywun]

I worked a lot of supermarket jobs in college - let me tell you, the families on food stamps ate a HELL of a lot better than I did.

[Bee Tagger]

The City Council also voted Tuesday to require all single-stall public bathrooms to be gender neutral.

Everybody pee in the sink.

[Hamster of Doom]

Challenge accepted.

[Crusty Juggler]

I'm way ahead of you.

[Citizen X]

You mean the 'kitchen toilet'?

[thrakkorzog]

Some people weren't already peeing in the sink?

[Fist of Etiquette]

U.S. District Court Judge James Gwin told the Republican National Convention's Committee on Arrangements to butt out of a First Amendment lawsuit filed by several nonprofits against the City of Cleveland.

He was so good as the judge in My Cousin Vinny.

[Tonio]

FTFA:

A judge has rejected the GOP's bid to step into a federal lawsuit charging the City of Cleveland with violating the First Amendment by restricting demonstrations during the Republican National Convention next month.

The convention's Committee on Arrangements asked to intervene in the lawsuit to defend limits on marches as well as other security restrictions in the areas surrounding the Quicken Loans Arena.

[...]

Lawyers for the City of Cleveland also sought to compel convention organizers involvement in the suit, saying they had the most expertise on the need for the restrictions.

However, U.S. District Court Judge James Gwin ruled Tuesday that the GOP entity was not a proper party to the suit, since only the government owes First Amendment rights to demonstrators.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cleveland can one last time let down Free Speech all on its own, thank you very much.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

+ 2 yutes

[Hamster of Doom]

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda.

He's trying to signal here! How dare they get in his way? Don't they know who he is?

[Citizen X]

Some shitty dude with terrible ideas who somehow became governor of Maine?

[Bee Tagger]

a First Amendment lawsuit filed by several nonprofits against the City of Cleveland.

Since when is Skip Bayless considered a non-profit?

[Lord Humungus]

Women most likely to have?

Feeling talkative? 'Chatty' gene discovered by scientists in study breakthrough

The gene which makes people chatty has been discovered in a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for autism and other social disorders.

A study of 129 people found those with less of the protein had more difficulty recognising emotional facial expressions - and tended to have more anxiety about their relationships with loved ones.

It could lead to the development of medications that boost its production in patients who have difficulty socialising.

Scientists found when the gene OXT was reduced by a process called methylation participants produced less oxytocin - known as the 'cuddle hormone' because of the part it plays in human bonding.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I'm sorry, making quiet people more chatty is not my idea of an ideal solution here.

[Tonio]

#1 comment!

[Citizen X]

Now, if they could make chatty people quieter, that would be something. There are a bunch of dudes on my floor who somehow think it's okay to strike up a conversation at the urinals while peeing, and it is NOT OKAY.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

"Hmm, nice penis. Do you dress right or left? I dress left..."

[The Grinch]

Agreed. They need to find a med that suppresses the protein for people who talk too damn much.

[lap83]

Without quiet people, no one will be listening, so everyone will just talk to themselves or stray animals.

[But Enough About Me]

I could get behind that outcome, since it's pretty much the only way my wife claims I talk right now.

[Atanarjuat]

The headline is always a lie. They're talking about gene expression. Methylation is a reversible process.

[Lee G]

Interesting. Methylation plays into a number of biochemical processes associated with autistic behavior. My son doesn't produce methyl folate because of a genetic defect so he takes it as a supplement. The difference it makes in his mental and physical health is startling.

[Lord Humungus]

Would methyl folate supplements help those with autism / aspergers?

[Lee G]

Technically, my son has Aspergers (although that's not a diagnosis anymore, it's autistic spectrum disorder).

Methyl folate helps if you have a double copy of the MHTFR defect. I know some people take it when they have a single copy of the defect, but I don't know how effective that trreatment is.

[Lord Humungus]

ah interesting.

My nephew is an aspie - back when Asperger's was a diagnosis - now he's a computer programmer (how fitting).

[thrakkorzog]

I think all the cool kids are going with schizoid personality disorders these day. It's kind of like Aspergers, except they have no problem recognizing social cues. They just don't give a fuck.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The National Institutes of Health approved the first human gene-editing trial in the U.S.

They're offering the world ORDER.

[Doctor Whom]

The vote also represents a bi-partisan drift away from policy positions that favored digital privacy

"Bipartisan" is one of the euphemisms for "FYTW."

[Juvenile Bluster]

What's the old quote? There's a stupid party and an evil party, and once in a while they do something both stupid and evil and call it "bipartisan."

[Citizen X]

I think of "bipartisanship" as being two muggers who wait until AFTER they've got your wallet before they start fighting over it.

[Injun, as in from India]

^THIS.

There is no honor among bipartisan thieves.

[Juvenile Bluster]

The U.S. Senate is expected to pass a bill broadening the FBI's authority to secretly spy on American citizens in the wake of the Orlando shooting, because power never met a tragedy it couldn't exploit. The bill would let the FBI demand more telephone and internet records without a warrant, and?as Reuters puts it?"represents a bi-partisan drift away from policy positions that favored digital privacy."

Never let a tragedy go on without using it to increase government power.

[Princess Trigger]

Why does the FBI need more spying power?
Literally every person in Florida reported Crazy Omar to the FBI.

[WTF]

Shut up, they explained.

[The Grinch]

Let's give the very same agency that botched his investigation more power to botch investigations. Makes sense if you're dain bramaged.

[Derp Diggler]

they are going to spy harder in the future. In fact they will spy their very best. It's just that "due process its killing [them] right now."

[WTF]

The FBI had already investigated this guy, twice, and had more recently been contacted by a gun store owner who reported odd and suspicious behavior. Lack of knowledge due to insufficient spying was not the problem here.

[Lee G]

SHUT UP. THE TERRORISTS ARE WINNING.

[Atanarjuat]

New York City will begin providing free tampons and other menstrual products in public schools and shelters, and stop capping the number of pads or tampons provided to female prisoners.

I think I know how the escape is going to work in the Shawshank sequel.

[Tonio]

Fiber being fiber I suppose it would be possible to twist the cotton (or wtf they use) into a rope. Would require a lot of product to produce a rope long and strong enough to do anything useful.

[WTF]

People in prison have nothing but time.

[Lord Humungus]

Yes I went there...

Uranus May Be Salty And Electric, And So May Neptune

The team theorized this type of ice might be able to conduct electricity under certain conditions, and that's where the salt comes in. When two types of salt (regular table salt and lithium chloride) were added to ice VII, the researchers found that ice X could be formed at higher pressures than expected. Meaning Uranus and Neptune may indeed have salty, icy cores which can conduct electricity, thus explaining why Uranus is so magnetic. (And also Neptune, we suppose.) It wouldn't have been surprising for NaCl and LiCl to be present when Neptune and Uranus were formed.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Yes I went there..."

I've been to Uranus, but I've never been to me.

[Tonio]

Have they found Ice9 yet?

[Tonio]

Oops, they actually have but it is nothing like Vonnegut's fictional substance.

[Zeb]

They knew what would happen and skipped past it to ice 10.

[WTF]

thus explaining why Uranus is so magnetic

Paging SugarFree, SugarFree to the white courtesy phone...

[Bee Tagger]

The research, funded by Napster co-creator Sean Parker's Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Yikes, there are going to be so many incorrectly tagged genes.

[commodious spittoon]

James Hetfield is getting vapors.

[Rich]

The bill, which the Obama administration has sought for years, "will allow the FBI to collect the dots so they can connect the dots, and that's been the biggest problem that they've had in identifying these homegrown, radicalized terrorists,'" Senator John Cornyn, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, said Tuesday.

"Mr. President, we cannot allow a dots gap!"

[Rufus The Monocled]

Obama furnished the FBI with these:

http://www.hellokids.com/r_277.....ring-pages

[commodious spittoon]

Worse than that, they're trying to solve connect-the-dots puzzles by adding a ton more randomly distributed dots. Sure, the doodle would be easier to solve if they had any idea which dots are relevant.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

With enough dots, you can find any pattern you want, which is exactly the point.

[commodious spittoon]

Good point. No way the cure won't be worse than the disease, no siree.

[WTF]

Of course, if the connected dots are Muslim, nothing will be done, because racism.

[Slammer]

No, dots are Hindus

[Rich]

"Get back in the kitchen!"

[Col. Chestbridge]

+1 big board

[The Fusionist]

Now that the meticulously careful theologian Josef Ratzinger is neither the pope, nor the pope's ghostwriter, we're likely to deal with many popes expressing themselves in spectacularly unhelpful or stupid ways. Forgive them, and move on.

[Juice]

What he said about cohabitation isn't stupid, it's just not Catholic.

[Emmerson Biggins]

The guy who played Cliff Clavern on cheers is not the Pope?

I sorta already assumed that.

[Lord Humungus]

Smiths Falls, Ont., funeral business dissolves the dead, pours them into town sewers

Waterworks officials in a small town southwest of Ottawa are monitoring a funeral company that has become the first in Ontario to use an alkaline solution to dissolve human remains, and then drain the leftover coffee-coloured effluents into the sewer system.

Aquagreen Dispositions began operating in a rental unit within the former Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls in May 2015 after receiving a licence from the Ontario government. Hilton's Unforgettable Tails, a parallel business handling the remains of pets, had been using the same process for a couple of years prior to Aquagreen Dispositions, but it took longer to get a licence to handle human remains.

The owner, Dale Hilton, who is from a family of funeral home operators in Smiths Falls, said he watched as the "green wave" swept through the funeral industry, bringing biodegradable caskets and urns.

[UnCivilServant]

I seem to recall this from a year or so back, so it's not new news.

[Tonio]

"Dammit, Jesse, I told you to use a plastic tub for a reason."

[Atanarjuat]

Ninja Turtles hardest hit.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I hear the town drinks Nilbog milk.

[Rufus The Monocled]

http://bit.ly/28MAAhM

[lap83]

+1 Nilbog is goblin spelled backwards!!!1

[Rich]

drain the leftover coffee-coloured effluents into the sewer system

Well, I suppose it's not that much different from scattering your ashes over the ocean.

[Rhywun]

Of course, the ocean doesn't occasionally back up into people's bathtubs.

[commodious spittoon]

A little less sentimental, perhaps.

[Mickey Rat]

Your mortal remains get scattered over tons of crap at the sanitary waste treatment plant.

[Zeb]

As long as it isn't causing any harmful pollution, sounds like a great idea. If it costs less than cremation.

[The Fusionist]

"There's a little of him in all of us."

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Any funeral that is not a VIKING FUNERAL is stupid simply based on the grounds it has nothing to do with boats and arson.

[Juice]

Surely they neutralize the waste before dumping.

[Bee Tagger]

"represents a bi-partisan drift away from policy positions that favored digital privacy."

Doesn't all this bipartisanship make you feel all warm and ethically fuzzy?

[UnCivilServant]

If it's warm and fuzzy, it's probably mold.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

It could also be a grizzly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda.

Next he's going to try his hand at his own Let's Move campaign.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

He'd just be encouraging pop dealers to come up to Maine and impregnate their white women.

(I always say soda, but pop dealers sounds better, doesn't it?)

[Tak Kak]

I just say coke. Coke dealers sounds best.

[Agent Cooper]

+1 Southern accent

[Slammer]

New York City will begin providing free tampons and other menstrual products in public schools and shelters, and stop capping the number of pads or tampons provided to female prisoners.

Women aren't the only people who menstruate

"We're inclusive of everyone with a period?men, women, it doesn't matter. We wanted to have it be expressed in a ten-foot poster," Agrawal says. "If you have a period, we've got you."

[Rich]

Not having those bins is one of the ways that menstruation could actually out someone, along with a leaky pad or tampon or simply the presence of menstrual products in a person's bag, home, or office. This can be risky

Oh, FFS!

[Aloysious]

Men have periods?

[Atanarjuat]

Well, it requires functioning female reproductive anatomy, but my brain has been scrambled by leftist propaganda, so...yes?

[Crusty Juggler]

Real feminists do. It is well established that in order to further understand the struggles that women go through I menstruate one week each month. You should try it sometime - you learn a lot.

[Tonio]

A just-declared F2M who had not yet begun hormone therapy would still menstruate. Contrary to what some people here seem to think, you can't just waltz into a clinic, declare yourself trans, and get a hormone shot right then and there, let alone surgery.

[Heroic Mulatto]

you can't just waltz into a clinic, declare yourself trans, and get a hormone shot right then and there, let alone surgery.

Outside of Bangkok, you mean.

[Tonio]

Oh, didn't know that. I'm only familiar with US programs, and that mostly from a former friend who had begun to transition and then decided not to go through with it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

@ 2:50-ish the pearl-clutching begins about 'lack of regulation'.

[SugarFree]

A just-declared F2M who had not yet begun hormone therapy would still menstruate.

The objection is to having to consider this individual to be male.

[Tonio]

I know that. I was just having a bit of sport with the lads, Sugar.

[Aloysious]

That's a relief. My sarc meter is broken this morning, and I was starting to think I was going to have to spike my whiskey with coffee.

[Tonio]

Don't let me stop you, but I hope you brought enough to share with everyone.

[commodious spittoon]

I was just having a bit of sport with the lads, Sugar.

*triggered*

[SugarFree]

It's just that our bathroom at work is filled with menstrual products. They are everywhere. It's horrible.

[Rasilio]

So that would account for what, 8 maybe 10 people in NYC?

How many of those in a public school or shelter? maybe 2?

Doesn't seem like a big societal problem to solve

[Princess Trigger]

Traditionalists call them 'knife wounds' - but the times a changin'.

[Hamster of Doom]

Customs Agents, Local Doctor Subject 18-Year-Old To Vaginal, Rectal Probing In Search Of Nonexistent Drugs

The Holy Cross records from Ashley's time at the facility include a number of factual inaccuracies, including inaccurately setting out that Ashley was accompanied by her mother and arrived in a private vehicle. In reality, Ashley was transported in a CBP vehicle. Her handcuffs were not removed until she changed into a hospital gown for the alleged purpose of undergoing an X-Ray.

Cervantes never underwent an X-ray. Instead, she underwent a series of non-consensual penetrations -- something most people refer to as "rape."

Seven hours worth of it.

[Jerryskids]

Damn! I could have posted my snark as a reply!

[Drake]

Know who else.... too easy?

[Tonio]

Kenyans?

[Juvenile Bluster]

You SF'd the link.

She was raped by the authorities, who will receive far less punishment than Brock Turner, and nobody will care.

[Hamster of Doom]

Damn. Thanks for the heads-up.

[SugarFree]

[muntz laugh]

[Hamster of Doom]

My pancreas works.

*eats cinnamon roll, staring at you*

[Hamster of Doom]

My pancreas works.

*eats cinnamon roll, staring at you*

[SugarFree]

[double muntz laugh]

[Citizen X]

Hamster brought enough cinnamon rolls for the squirrels, it seems.

[Rhywun]

Thanks for the link. Now I want to punch my hand through a wall.

[Free Society]

If Brock Turner didn't want to be in this mess, he should have thought about that before he decided to rape while not wearing a cop costume. Or at least he could have made up a story about his drug detecting penis.

[See Double You]

Fucking animals. While I hope she gets a large payout, true justice would see those pricks hanged.

[Jerryskids]

"represents a bi-partisan drift away from policy positions that favored digital privacy."

Less digital privacy? So we're cool with the roadside cavity searches now?

[commodious spittoon]

That's digital piracy.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Yar matey! Ye need ta trim yer nails, arrr!

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else used a playbook written in the 1930s...

Nervy global investors revisit 1930s playbook

Stalling trade growth has already led the world economy to the brink of recession for the second time in a decade, with growth now hovering just above the 2.0-2.5 percent level most economists say is needed to keep per capita world output stable.

Three-month averages for growth of world trade volumes through March this year have turned negative compared with the prior three months, according to the Dutch government statistics body widely cited as the arbiter of global trade data.

And it's not a seasonal blip. Last year saw the biggest drop in imports and exports since 2009 and their average annual growth of 3 percent over the intervening seven years was itself half that of the 25 years before, according to Swiss asset manager Pictet. 2016 is set to be the fifth sub-par year in row.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"You know who else used a playbook written in the 1930s..."

Knute Rockne?

[Citizen X]

Bernie Sanders?

[Juvenile Bluster]

No, that's 1830s. (well, 1840s)

[Tonio]

Progressives?

[Drake]

That private email Hillary was using? It didn't have a password. No fucking password on the Secretary of State's email account.

She isn't competent enough to be a cashier at Walmart.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....e-password

[Hamster of Doom]

She has power and money. She doesn't have to be.

[Atanarjuat]

Well, I'm slightly less impressed with Guccifer's hacking skills, then.

[UnCivilServant]

But it does suggest that he might not be lying about having the e-mails.

[Injun, as in from India]

Hillary: "Passwords are too hard to remember. Can you guys just remove the nuclear launch codes? I just want to answer the 3 AM phone call and say, 'LAUNCH!'"

[prolefeed]

Which could make for an ... embarrassing ... international incident if she were to talk about lunch.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

This is an interesting story, but isn't the implication here that government Information Assurance standards are superior to industry standards? (not that Hillary seemed too interested in either)

[commodious spittoon]

Only as superior as their enforcement.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Fair enough, of course all of this makes it even more damning. For the chief diplomat of a country to first, place a server outside the security umbrella of their parent organization and second not ensure measures are taken to make it at least SANS level secure... willful negligence is probably the most charitable characterization that can applied here.

[R C Dean]

isn't the implication here that government Information Assurance standards are superior to industry standards

I am unaware of any industry standards that say "no passwords necessary".

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Hence my caveat regarding team Hillary's disregard of all of them.

[Lord Humungus]

Wife of Omar Mateen 'no longer here,' not in area, Mateen's father says in Fort Pierce; deputies visit house

At a Fort Pierce home where members of the Mateen family were believed to have gathered inside, Seddique Mateen ? father of the Orlando massacre shooter Omar Mateen ? said Wednesday morning that Omar's wife Noor Salman was "no longer here" and that she was no longer in the area. He would not say where she had gone.

Reporters were outside the house again Wednesday after also gathering there Tuesday.

At about noon, St. Lucie County sheriff's deputies arrived, went into the house for a few minutes, then left. The deputies who came and went did not comment.

[Drake]

That's a crack team we have there. Let's give them some more arbitrary authority to revoke my Constitutional rights.

[Tonio]

Meh. It's unclear whether she has actually vanished, or whether he simply doesn't want to talk to the press.

I thought the FBI was questioning her. Had they actually arrested her that would have put her under federal pre-trial supervision and would have been subject to electronic monitoring, aka electronic tracker cuff.

[WTF]

They intentionally let her go because when they interviewed her they learned there actually was a larger conspiracy of Islamic Terrorism that Mateen was a part of.
*adjusts tin foil hat*

[thrakkorzog]

They let her walk when she should be getting charged with 49 conspiracy charges. The charitable part of me wants to say that they're keeping close tabs on her so they can bust another cell. The cynic in me says that the FBI really is that incompetent.

[R C Dean]

I can't believe the FBI would intentionally embarrass itself in public just to make a case. So, incompetent it must be.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Golden Girls restaurant coming to NYC

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I bet Sofia could cook up some mean Italian dishes.

[Citizen X]

"What else did i miss?"

"Oh! Betty White's back."

"Cool, cool. What about the rest of the Golden Girls?"

"They're all dead, man."

[Fist of Etiquette]

The bill would let the FBI demand more telephone and internet records without a warrant...

That oath to defend the United States Constitution couldn't possibly hold up against the Omar Mateens of the world.

[Lord Humungus]

Is there anything Clinton that hasn't been breached?

Clinton Foundation Said to Be Breached by Russian Hackers

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation was among the organizations breached by suspected Russian hackers in a dragnet of the U.S. political apparatus ahead of the November election, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The attacks on the foundation's network, as well as those of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, compound concerns about her digital security even as the FBI continues to investigate her use of a personal e-mail server while she was secretary of state.

Clinton Foundation officials said the organization hadn't been notified of the breach and declined to comment further. The compromise of the foundation's computers was first identified by government investigators as recently as last week, the people familiar with the matter said. Agents monitor servers used by hackers to communicate with their targets, giving them a back channel view of attacks, often even before the victims detect them.

[Free Society]

Hilary's vagina.

[Krabappel]

That's where the snuke is.

[Injun, as in from India]

What is Putin up to?

Is he trying to get dirt to blackmail Hillary, or is trying to throw the election to his fan boy Trump?

[WTF]

I would bet Putin would prefer dealing with a black-mailable Hillary than an unpredictable Trump.

[Free Society]

Terrible links today.

[Slammer]

Criminal nuisance, unreasonable noise, unlawful assembly, "exorbitantly loud"

Haters.

[Lord Humungus]

Sowell: The Gun-Control Farce

Many gun-control advocates have cited the much higher murder rates in the United States than in England as due to tighter gun-control laws in England. But Professor Malcolm's study points out that the murder rate in New York has been some multiple of the murder rate in London for two centuries ? and, during most of that time, neither city had serious restrictions on gun ownership.

As late as 1954, "there were no controls on shotguns" in England, Professor Malcolm reported, but only twelve cases of armed robbery in London. Of these only four had real guns. But in the remainder of the 20th century, gun-control laws became ever more severe ? and armed robberies in London soared to 1,400 by 1974.

"As the numbers of legal firearms have dwindled, the numbers of armed crimes have risen" is her summary of that history in England. Conversely, in the United States the number of handguns in American homes more than doubled between 1973 and 1992, while the murder rate went down.

[Hamster of Doom]

Theory: As the rates of education and job opportunities increase, teen pregnancy and crime decrease.

[Injun, as in from India]

Sowell needs to stop his Assault Logic.

[Lord Humungus]

Pulp Friction
If Barnes & Noble goes out of business, it'll be a disaster for book lovers.

But the focus on sales masks the deeper degree to which the publishing industry relies on Barnes & Noble. The retailer provides much of the up-front cash publishers need to survive, in the form of initial orders. Most independent bookstores can't afford to buy many books in advance; a single carton of 24 books would represent a large order. Amazon also buys few books in advance, preferring to let supplies run down so as to prompt online shoppers to "add to cart" because there are "only five left in stock."

Barnes & Noble, by contrast, often takes very large initial orders. For books it believes will fly off the shelves, initials can reach the mid-five figures?hundreds of thousands of dollars that go to the publisher before a single book is even sold. That money, in turn, allows publishers to run ads in magazines and on Facebook, send authors on book tours, and pay for publicists. Without Barnes & Noble, it would become much harder for publishers to turn books into best-sellers.

[UnCivilServant]

Awww, poor babies.

But publishing and literature will survive. The death of the old houses would be a net benefit, in my opinion. The publishing industry relics are hunting for blockbusters, relying on old printing methods and failing to take full advantage of advances in technology while ignoring the changes in the market.

Let them die.

[Hamster of Doom]

POD should have revolutionized the industry. Kindle and E-readers should have revolutionized the industry.

I mean, yay Gutenberg, great guy. Great guy.

Can we move beyond 1875 now?

[Heroic Mulatto]

POD should have revolutionized the industry. Kindle and E-readers should have revolutionized the industry.

Technology can't make up for the fact that 95 percent of the product is complete and utter shit.

Except dinosaur erotica. That's 100 percent pure gold.

[UnCivilServant]

That's where the market comes in.

Especially with the ability to leave ample feedback for other potential customers, crap will quickly be recognized as such and not move many units (or at all if the creator can't disguise the fact that they only have crap)

[Rhywun]

I haven't read a novel on paper in ten years or more.

[Citizen X]

Hey, remember when Barnes & Noble was the Big Bad, driving mom 'n' pop booksellers out of business? Remember that? Remember? Hello?

[Lee G]

I think you've got mail.

[Rhywun]

Talk to the hand.

[Crusty Juggler]

James Patterson hardest hit.

[Hamster of Doom]

He's going to write a gripping 60,000 wordcount novel about this that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

[UnCivilServant]

So, a short story?

I keeed, I keeed. My current project has a target length of only 40k words. (It's the Tarnished Sterling books that clock in at ~100K each)

[Lord Humungus]

I have a hard time cracking the novella length - anything above 70k words - just my style I guess.

btw, I am working - haphazardly - on a new book. But I lost a bunch of work due to a USB failure that coincided with a PC death. I guess I should have been using Google drive. It's hard to go back to a project after losing weeks worth of work.

[UnCivilServant]

Having had drive failures in the past, I keep multiple backups. The hard part is when the time comes to find the most recent version of each project...

[Rufus The Monocled]

Why don't you write my auto-biography?

[Lord Humungus]

I am CANADIAN!

The Rufus Story of Saying Hello

[Hamster of Doom]

MY EMPATHY, LET ME SHOW YOU IT.

My husband knew my laptop was bogging down, so one day he said, "Lemme see that real quick, love."

And then he handed it back to me later completely wiped clean. Factory reset. 50k words poofed.

I... I... I... love you, sweetheart.

My own boneheaded fault for not having an external copy. First time I've ever lost that big of a chunk though. I couldn't even think about that plot for weeks.

[spqr2008]

Buy one of those cloud backup drives that connects to your laptop by wifi and uploads changes incrementally, then set it up to backup to an external drive hooked to your router. Double backup, and if you're really paranoid, USB flash drive too!

[See Double You]

And then he handed it back to me later completely wiped clean. Factory reset. 50k words poofed.

I'm surprised you didn't murder him.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"If Barnes & Noble goes out of business, it'll be a disaster for book lovers."

OH NO!! If B&N goes out of business then I'll have to... rely on my kindle fire and go to half price books instead. THE HORROR. Now I am forced to use a system that lets me read in the dark and purchase books without driving to 76th street. And if I want a handheld, traditional book I am FORCED to go to a store that has much lower prices on their products!!

It's like the end of literature!!

[Rich]

Intelligent robot that 'remembers and learns' could be scrapped after escaping a lab for a second time

How about just firing its handlers?

[Citizen X]

Jesus, THIS is the kind of shit that's gonna lead to the robot uprising.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

IG-88 killed his makers upon achieving consciousness. The day can't be far off.

[AlmightyJB]

Must get away from stupid humans

[Rhywun]

"Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother."

[commodious spittoon]

This wasn't so much a mistake as an advertisement.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

The comments are hilarious. People are actually idiots who think this thing gained sentience rather than just a robot designed to avoid "obstacles", interact with humans, and remember solutions to problems seeing humans outside the gate and figuring out how to go around a gate and remembering that solution.

People are actually saying it is immoral to scrap the robot.

[Mickey Rat]

Apparently it's handlers need the the ability to remember and learn.

[Lord Humungus]

Jonah Goldberg: England's Brexit Issues Mirror Our Own

The thing about the rule of unaccountable rulers is that people will defer to them so long as they feel things are moving in the right direction, economically and otherwise. But when their incompetence and self-dealing seems to come at the expense of the public, the deference ends. This is where the populism of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump overlap. Both ran on very similar claims that the elite are in it for themselves. Both insisted that their respective parties were "rigged." Neither wants to get rid of interventionist government (alas). Rather, they want government to be even stronger and more activist for their chosen constituencies. Trump's success in the primaries was a direct result of the widespread sentiment ? right or wrong ? that the "establishment" had different priorities on trade, immigration, etc., than the rank and file.

No matter how Brexit turns out, and no matter who wins the presidential campaign, this populist discontent isn't going away any time soon. In fact, it's shaping up to be the new normal.

[The Fusionist]

"A bill passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would ban abortion after 20 weeks as well as ban a common surgical-abortion procedure known as dilation and curettage."

So common and uncontroversial that I probably need to include a trigger warning for this diagram.

And the 20 week ban would replace an existing ban on abortions after 24 weeks.

According to the article, the governor threatens a veto, though the bill passed on a bipartisan basis. But Democrat legislator Madeleine Dean is against it: "Non-genetic fetal abnormalities that a pregnant woman and her husband or her partner may want to consider are generally not diagnosable until 20 weeks gestation."

I don't have my abortionspeak-to-English dictionary handy, but I think that means the bill would make it harder to kill disabled babies.

[Drake]

Is there a medical exception?

[The Fusionist]

Let me check...

[The Fusionist]

The bill can be accessed from this page.

Yes, there's an exception when two physicians certify that a dismemberment abortion is needed to prevent the woman's death or the "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." If the dismemberment abortion is done after 20 weeks, they have to take steps to see if the baby can be saved.

[The Fusionist]

(and what does she mean by referring to the mother's "husband or...partner"? Is she suggesting that the husband or partner has a voice in deciding whether to abort his child? Of course, he does not.

[(((Renegade)))]

But he's on the hook for support.

[lap83]

ban a common surgical-abortion procedure known as dilation and curettage.

They also use those with missed miscarriages. I wonder if they'll be affected too.

[The Fusionist]

Here's what the law restricts:

""Dismemberment abortion." The act of knowingly and purposefully causing the death of an unborn child by means of dismembering the unborn child and extracting the unborn child one piece at a time from the uterus through the use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments. The term does not include an abortion which is exclusively performed through suction curettage."

[Robert]

Then who do we blame for reporting that as D&C?

[Robert]

A "common" procedure? Unless things have changed a lot, it is the standard way to do it!

[Robert]

Never mind. I meant D&C. According to a comment above, the procedure banned was misreported.

[R C Dean]

Perhaps a fact or two would be of interest:

Talking to our neonatal intensivists, the age of viability hasn't really moved in 30 years or more. Its basically stuck at around 22 weeks, maybe a little longer. It has mostly to do with lung development, I gather.

So, 22 weeks seems like a pretty solid place to draw a legal line for viability. I was a little surprised to learn that it hasn't been coming down, and nobody really expects it to.

Personally, I like viability as a place to draw the line on abortion on demand. I see no difference between a 22 week old fetus who hasn't been delivered, and one who has, as far as personhood goes. It seems unlikely to me that the trip down the birth canal confers personhood.

[Slammer]

Naked Florida Man Poops Self During Home Invasion, Shot by Female Homeowner

27-year-old Victor Etherington, who, according to deputies was intoxicated, demanded entry to an Ocala residence. The homeowner (name still unknown), not recognizing him, told him to leave.

The poopetrator kicked in the door, prompting the woman to take refuge in her bedroom, grab a .22, and call 911. Etherington chased her upstairs, removed his soiled shorts and forced his way into the closet, and that's when the homeowner shot him once in the gut.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Etherington in his birthday suit, bleeding, covered in poop, hiding behind the bedroom door.

[DJF]

"""" kicked in the door"""

Just as a note, most doors, even outside ones won't withstand a good kick. At the very least they need reinforcing on the frame where the deadbolt and hinges are.

[mad.casual]

Just as a note, most doors, even outside ones won't withstand a good kick. At the very least they need reinforcing on the frame where the deadbolt and hinges are.

If the perp can kick the door off the hinges, the .22 is only going to make him angry.

[commodious spittoon]

Hinges, probably not. The deadbolt though, that's easy. I idiotically locked myself out, then drunkenly kicked the door in. The frame parted around the striker and I was able to convincingly screw it back in and paint over it before the landlord found it.

[DJF]

Yeah, there is usually just a small metal striker plate with a couple of small screws holding it that only has a inch or so of soft wood holding it in place. One good kick can break the wood and pull out the screws

[Lord Humungus]

Amazon jaguar shot dead after Olympic torch ceremony

A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus as the animal escaped from its handlers, an army statement said.

The jaguar was killed on Monday at a zoo attached to a military training center where the Olympic torch ceremony was held. A soldier fired a single pistol shot when the escaped animal, despite being tranquilized, approached the soldier, the army said.

"We made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal. This image goes against our beliefs and our values," the local organizing committee Rio 2016 said in a statement.

[UnCivilServant]

This image goes against our beliefs and our values

But the massive crime filled slums and rivers of shit, those are just a-ok.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

Oh! Don't forget the bays of corpses!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Soooo, will Facestupidbook go nuts?

[Drake]

It isn't already?

[Rich]

Trump's address Wednesday morning at his hotel in New York's SoHo neighborhood marks his official opening salvo against Clinton, the prospective Democratic presidential nominee, in the general election.

"Hillary Clinton had a four-year tryout for the presidency as secretary of state," said Stephen Miller, a Trump policy adviser. "She ran the State Department and the world went up in flames. Everything took a nosedive, except for Hillary Clinton's bank account ? which swelled to new highs."

The debates will be simply *delightful*.

[commodious spittoon]

Sure, if someone who could at least telephone in an articulate, point-driven speech were debating her. Trump's free-association ramblings barely qualify as smoke signals. His somnambulent peripatetic perorations win over emotional blue-collar LIVs, but everyone else sees it for bullshit. Hillary is going to be measured and calm and factual while she lies through her teeth. She's going to give intellectual cover to semi-informed white-collar voters who can't hold their nose for Trump.

[R C Dean]

Damn, but I can't help but like the guy for telling pretty straightforward facts in a colorful way.

[Ken Shultz]

"Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda."

Good for him!

Every goddamn gas station and liquor store I see has a sign up that says "We accept EBT!".

I don't care if they do it under the guise of nanny state dietary concerns--I don't want to pay for whatever food stamp program is buying these people something at the liquor store.

If you have to send these people something, send them a bag of rice, a sack of beans, and a block of government cheese.

We're giving them all EBT cards to use at 7-11, and we live in society where obesity among the poor is a legitimate problem? Welcome to Bizarro World.

[AlmightyJB]

They use them at bars to pay for drinks.

[Crusty Juggler]

They

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AlmightyJB]

Deadbeats. Bums. Losers. Freeloaders. Democrats. Insert whatever you want.

[Crusty Juggler]

Insert whatever you want.

Winston's mom much?

[AlmightyJB]

She's here right now. I'm sure she would say hi but her mouths full at the moment.

[Tonio]

They use them at bars to pay for drinks.

That's straight up welfare fraud and both the "recipient" (welfare person) and the vendor could get in deep trouble for that.

[WTF]

Someone would actually have to be interested in cracking down on it, though.

[commodious spittoon]

That's why we need Trump. He's going to get rid of all the waste fraud and abuse clogging up our perfectly fine welfare programs.

[Ken Shultz]

"If you have to send these people something, send them a bag of rice, a sack of beans, and a block of government cheese."

Maybe the anti-immigrant boneheads think that's pandering to illegal aliens.

Okay, send them a big bag of dried corn, a sack of lima beans, and a block of government cheese.

I've seen that government cheese. The great thing about it is that if you don't eat it (and most people can't), you can build yourself a house with it, block by block.

[AlmightyJB]

That's nacho cheese!

[Tonio]

The convenience store near where I work has a refrigerated case labelled "EBT sandwiches." These are basic cold sandwiches, nothing fancy (ie, bologna and cheese on commercial white bread). I'm kind of torn about this.

[Rhywun]

You can't use food stamps for prepared foods.

[commodious spittoon]

Thankfully they don't qualify as food.

[R C Dean]

There's all kinds of games around what counts as "prepared" food, mostly for sales tax purposes. I wouldn't be surprised if plain sandwiches didn't count.

[SugarFree]

Man Says He Was Orlando Shooter's Gay Lover, Says Omar Mateen Targeted Latinos as Revenge

"I've cried like you have no idea. But the thing that makes me want to tell the truth is that he didn't do it for terrorism. In my opinion he did it for revenge," he told Univision Noticias anchor Maria Elena Salinas in an exclusive interview in English and Spanish on Tuesday. He said Mateen was angry and upset after a man he had sex with later revealed he was infected with the HIV virus. The man said he had approached the FBI and been interviewed three times in person by agents. Univision was unable to independently verify his account. The FBI confirmed to Univision that it had met with him?

He described Mateen as "a very sweet guy" who never showed a violent side. He loved to be cuddled. "He was looking for love," he said? He said he believed Mateen's second wife knew he frequented gay bars and that his marriage was a smoke screen to hide that he was "100 percent" gay. "He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin ? but he felt rejected. He felt used by them ? there were moments in the Pulse nightclub that made him feel really bad. Guys used him. That really affected him," Miguel said. "I believe this crazy horrible thing he did ? that was revenge."

[Rich]

Nice disguise, "Miguel".

[Fist of Etiquette]

This Omar Mateen character needs to get his stories straight.

[This Machine]

GET YOUR STORY STRAAAAAIGHT

[WTF]

He's also Howard Hughes' illegitimate grandson. Trust him, he wouldn't make shit up.

[Derp Diggler]

This article is a distraction from the real issue. It has been thoroughly established by that this tragedy wall 100%propigated by white, gun-owning Christian types. Any and all illusions to his sexual orientation or religion is victim blaming and the Progs won't stand for it!!!

[WTF]

The fucking NRA and RethugliKKKans killed those people!!11!!!!

I still wonder how many of the victims were actually shot by the cops.

[Tonio]

I was wondering if something like this would come out. Interesting to see if his story holds up.

"He adored Latinos, gay Latinos, with brown skin ? but he felt rejected.

Well, those latin guys are really proud of their Virgin Mary tattoos...

He felt used by them ? there were moments in the Pulse nightclub that made him feel really bad. Guys used him.

Which is actually consistent with my very limited experience with Muslim guys from "traditional" muslim cultures. They tend to have very unrealistic expectations and no concept of the whole dating thing.

[Injun, as in from India]

So what his whole deal with pledging allegiance to ISIS?

Self-aggrandizement?

[Tonio]

I don't know, Hiawatha. Now I'm regretting having gone there with any speculation as to motives.

I'm not sure that any of us can ever really understand what was going on there, because to do that would mean going to that place where it's ok to shoot up a nightclub.

[Rhywun]

To cover his being gay? In his scrambled brain that was probably worse than being a terrorist. Assuming of course all of this pans out...

[commodious spittoon]

Is it any different from a deathbed conversion? However nonpracticing he was, he knew he was going to hell according to Muslim orthodoxy. So he tries to buy back in.

[Rhywun]

Guys used him.

Yeah, that's what guys do.

[R C Dean]

I'm pretty fucking worn out on the insistence on binary thinking about motive.

It can only be 100% ISIS, or it can only be 100% homophobia/self-hating gaiety.

I think it can easily be both: this was a fucked up Muslim guy with homosexual leanings. Being Muslim made him extra fucked up about being gay, and being extra fucked up made him easy for Islamists to radicalize and turn violent.

[Injun, as in from India]

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he'll halt the state's participation in the federal food stamps program if the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't allow him to stop Maine residents from using benefits for junk food and soda.

LePage is threatening to give it to the Feds without providing vaseline.

[The Fusionist]

I don't think I'd want this guy as my gov based on the other shit he's done/said, but this particular initiative of his sounds good to me.

[Injun, as in from India]

+1 Ziki Fly

[The Fusionist]

I'd love to see how Michelle Obama justifies the government getting junk food and soda for the poor, given that they already live in food deserts.

[Drake]

I don't think anyone actually lives in the desert of Maine.

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

[kbolino]

One of the linked articles mentions a desert in Poland that arose from glacial depositing of sand. It was mostly taken over by trees until recently, when they decided to cut down the trees to conserve the desert. I am utterly dumbfounded.

[commodious spittoon]

Oddball deserts may be worth preserving. It makes for a pretty fantastic camping trip.

[Juice]

But what about oddball deserts created by man, but then later recovered, but then were "conserved" by cutting down all the trees?

Link

[Citizen X]

Would you say he's threatening to do to the Feds what D-Money, Smoothie, and Shifty are doing to Maine girls?

[Injun, as in from India]

LOL.

are doing to Maine white girls?

[R C Dean]

Are there any other kind?

[Lord Humungus]

What's next? STEVE SMITH?

EU proposal would classify robots as 'electronic persons'

A new proposal from the European Parliament calls for working robots to be classified as "electronic persons," and for their owners to pay social security on their behalf. The draft motion, published online this month, aims to address the new challenges that Europe's robotic workforce will present as robot technology becomes more pervasive and intelligent. The proposal says growing automation will require new frameworks for taxation and legal liability, but as Reuters reports, it faces opposition from some robotics companies.

The rise in automation and artificial intelligence has raised concerns in Europe and elsewhere over economic effects, including unemployment, inequality, and social security systems. The proposal aims to address those concerns with a legal framework that would consider "that at least the most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations."

[Rufus The Monocled]

Parasites are gonna parasite.

So min. wage for robots?

[Cyto]

They clearly are not worried about robots. The minimum they are looking for is their cut. As long as they can wet their beak, they are fine with it.

I used to think that people who said things like "the government is just organized crime with a layer of legitimacy over it" were complete nutjobs. Then you see things like this - over and over again - and you realize that government is indeed just one big protection racket. They've kinda quit trying to hide it at all the last several years.

[commodious spittoon]

You're short-changing organized crime. Criminals can be reasoned with. Government cannot.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Are MEPs functionally insane?

(rhetorical)

[Heroic Mulatto]

Stellaris has taught us that this policy is the only way to stave of the 'Machine Consciousness' late-game crisis event.

[Injun, as in from India]

Off-topic rant.

I was recently at a coffee shop waiting in line to order a coffee. The guy behind me in line stared at me for ~30 seconds, and asked if I was feeling charitable enough to buy him a coffee. I was majorly annoyed. I just said "No" and looked away. He bought his own coffee when it was his turn.

But I can't believe the idiocy of walking into an upscale-ish coffee place and begging a stranger to give you something. The guy was able-bodied and young. And his question basically made it about me: are _you_ feeling _charitable_. It wasn't about him sacrificing his self-respect to beg. It was about someone else being charitable.

I'm still kind of fuming about it, hence the rant. I moved to America with all of $500 in cash in my pocket. That's it. No family connections, no line of credit, nothing. Never once did I beg another man to give me something.

[Aloysious]

You did the right thing, Injun. You didn't enable bad behavior. There is a possibility, albeit very slim, that dude might learn something from you telling him 'no'.

[Injun, as in from India]

I hope he did.

IMHO sacrificing self-respect/self-reliance is one step away from justifying theft from others.

"Are you feeling charitable enough?"
"No, it's not about me being charitable."
"Well, f*** you, I'm voting in a government which will force you to be charitable." (In Prof. Melissa Click's words, "Let's get some muscle over here!")

[Cyto]

He was hitting on you. The coffee shop is the new pick-up location.

So is the gas-station super-mart style store. I have had two separate incidents of guys picking up the tab for my big gulp in the last few months.

So there are benefits to living near the gay neighborhood that go beyond the manicured houses and increased property values.

[Lord Humungus]

picking up the tab for my big gulp

No euphemism there.. no sirree

[Hamster of Doom]

In other news, today we learned that Cyto has a nice ass.

[Private Chipperbot]

Or he could have missed a chance to be in a commercial. Here's my college roommate being a hero - returning a cell phone...

[SugarFree]

You were probably filmed and will be part of a smdh thinkpiece at Salon tomorrow.

[Private Chipperbot]

See my link just above.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Wow.

I hear and feel ya buddy.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

There has been a spike in white youngish homelessness recently and it annoys the hell out of me. These kids aren't incapacitated really, just so lazy and useless that they'd rather be crustafarians than employed.

Walked by one the other day who had spelled out PEAC in quarters on the sidewalk: "Hey man, I'm trying to spell 'PEACE', can you help out?"
"No."

[Col. Chestbridge]

You should have told him the next letter was an E.

Some people just have trouble spelling, no need to judge.

[Atanarjuat]

In our wealthy society some people lack perspective to the point where giving up a luxury once in a while is the same thing as poverty. Mockery is probably the best reaction. Or maybe you should have just said to him your last paragraph, verbatim, and then told the cashier I'm not coming back in here if I get panhandled again.

On an unrelated note my new girlfriend is an Injun from India. She seems nice.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Seems? Didn't you get that info. during the arrangement with the parents?

/dead pan smirk.

[Atanarjuat]

Ha. Actually her mother constantly texts her pictures of Indian guys who she has never met with a note like "like him? You need to get married soon!".

[Injun, as in from India]

Is she an immigrant or born to immigrant parents?

With the former, you can expect a lot more traditionalism.

[Atanarjuat]

Not even an immigrant. Just here working. Her family is Catholic, from Goa though.

[spqr2008]

Goa girls are awesome. Friend of a friend is one, and she's one of the coolest people I know.

[Ken Shultz]

There was this girl I ran into a few months ago at the gas station. She was stuck at the gas pump out of gas and out of money. She needed some money to buy gas, and would I help her out? She has a kid in the car. In a baby seat. No money. No gas. Could I help her out?

Over the past few months, I've seen her parked at three different gas stations and two grocery stores.

No money. No gas. No diapers. No formula. Kid in the car. Could you help her out?

While I was in Whole Foods, I had a girl walk up and offer to buy me whatever off her EBT card in exchange for cash. When I was inside the store--not in the parking lot. In the store.

[(((Renegade)))]

She needed some money to buy gas, and would I help her out?

Cue porno wah-wah guitar.

[Tonio]

No, because then you're probably liable for charges of accessory to child neglect, exposing yourself to a kid, etc.

Using kids as props in begging is as old as begging.

Pointing her out to the store people is the best thing to do. Hopefully they can grab her image from the security camera footage and share that about with other area merchants.

[robc]

That used to happen in the parking lot where I used to work. Once I told the guy, " this is the 3rd time this month your car has run out of gas and you need bus money. Get some new material."

[Ken Shultz]

Or go to a new location, right?

[Cyto]

I used to engage these guys - it's how I learned that it was a scam. When I was living in Atlanta I would offer to take them where they were going. Suddenly the story would start morphing. (I'm pretty trusting by nature. Probably downright gullible, If I"m being honest with myself.)

I stopped for one guy on I-75 who had "run out of gas and needed to get his family to the train station". I told him that I didn't have any money, but I'd give them a ride. When he opted out of that one, I realized that he was looking for someone who wasn't dead broke so he could rob them. A couple of days later I heard about the string of robberies by 'stranded motorists' on the news. Not carrying cash came in handy a few times, I suppose.

[Crusty Juggler]

(I'm pretty trusting by nature. Probably downright gullible, If I"m being honest with myself.)

Hi. I'm a Canadian Duke, and I was wondering if you would help me out.

[robc]

I friend of mine used to give the bums asking for "money to buy a meal" on North Ave ham sandwiches and fruit. Sometimes they would eat the sandwich, sometime they would throw it all away. Oranges went straight in the garbage.

[Cyto]

I have a couple of friends who drive around with extra sandwiches just for the occasion. They use it to teach their kids about charity.

Well, that and to attract more homeless to the area. Because we only have about 30 per square kilometer. We really need to up our game.

[Tonio]

*SPOILER ALERT* for Better Call Saul

One of the most revelatory moments on Better Call Saul is when young (~12 yo) Jimmy sees his dad get totally worked by a grifter. We realize this is not the first time that Jimmy has seen this. We see Jimmy's contempt for his father's gullibility and budding respect for con artistry.

[R C Dean]

I WANT SEASON 3, DAMMIT!

Its the only lawyer show I've ever been able to stand watching.

[KerryW]

30 years ago I had somebody come up to me in a city park saying they needed gas money home (they were from out of town). He didn't seem like a panhandler. He said he would repay me when he could, so I gave them the money and my address (this was pre-PayPal, of course). I totally forgot about it, but several weeks later he sent me a money order for the correct amount.

I don't think that would happen today.

[Derp Diggler]

I got scammed by a lady claiming she was driving from a town like an hour away to drop her daughter at a friends house. She said she'd forgotten her purse and run out of gas and her husband was out of town. Could she please just borrow $20 to get home on, she'd mail me a check. I fell for it and then saw her approaching people at the gas station across the street like 20 min later. Never again. The next time I got approached with a similar sob story I told the kid to get the fuck out of my way. I felt like a dick but leeches like these are what are screwing over people who actually find themselves in a bind.

[Tonio]

And you gave her the home address of a known "mark" (aka sucker, one who falls for scams).

[Derp Diggler]

I didn't actually, I was thinking I was genuinely doing something nice for someone so I told her not to worry about paying me back........guess that doesn't really thwart your 'sucker' accusation though, does it?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I've had the "buy your food for you" in exchange for cash scam attempted in the store a few times. Crummier neighborhood, same guy with the proposal both times. Uh, no.

[thrakkorzog]

It reminds of an episode of "My Name is Earl." A beggar tried the 'whole, hey my car broke down. I just need 20 dollars to get home' scam.

So Joy just said 'oh you poor dear, why don't you come with me?' And then lead the beggar to the local bar, where they all laughed at him for thinking anybody would fall for that old schtick.

[(((Renegade)))]

Ever get hit up by a Mexican beggar?

Me neither.

[The Fusionist]

Begging for work, maybe.

[(((Renegade)))]

Yeah, those lazy fucking brown leeches.

[The Fusionist]

In the sense that they go to where the labor recruiters hang out, I don't mean going to highway intersections.

[Cyto]

In Mexico City they run a "scam" where you hop into a taxi and the driver takes you around the corner to meet a bunch of thugs and they shake you down.

A buddy of mine from Mexico ran into that when he was a teenager. They jumped into the back seat with him and threatened to beat him up if he didn't take them to the ATM and take out all his cash. He turned to the big one next to him and put up his dukes and said "let's go". They ended up letting him go when they figured out he was a turnip and they wouldn't get any blood.

[Lord Humungus]

I have - out in Arizona.

and quite a number of Puerto Rican beggars

[R C Dean]

I've seen a few around Tucson.

Overwhelmingly white people, though.

[Injun, as in from India]

In India, it's the Sikhs who never beg.

It's something about their religion and culture. They're industrious and gutsy people.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The fact that you can get a free meal daily at your local gurdwara doesn't hurt either.

[Injun, as in from India]

The Langar represents the best of humanity. It's volunteer-driven, and charity is not coerced.

You may know this better than I do, given your knowledge of Eastern religions, but AFAIK there's no tithing in Sikhism either.

[Citizen X]

Plus, you get to carry around a badass dagger.

[Heroic Mulatto]

They do believe in tithing. It's called das vand.

[lap83]

I got a free coffee from a coffee shop I frequent the other day because the owner was kind enough to give me one even though I had forgotten my check card. I had no intention of asking and was planning on leaving, but she offered because I'm a regular. That is how charity is done. Guilting someone isn't charity.

[(((Renegade)))]

Charity or fear of a preggo going on a hormone-fueled rampage?

[Crusty Juggler]

"I AM WITH CHILD!"

[commodious spittoon]

"I AM WITH STUPID" says the shirt, arrow pointing up.

[Tonio]

Not charity since you are a regular. She just bought your loyalty as a customer, and hopefully some good word-of-mouth publicity all for her cost for a cup of coffee.

[R C Dean]

And, odds are you will pay for it next time you're in, anyway. Right?

[Tonio]

Good for you. As an added note, most stores take a really dim view of panhandling their customers since it's really bad for business.

I moved to America with all of $500 in cash in my pocket.

Someday I hope to hear more of your "coming to America" story, though understand you might not want to share it here.

[commodious spittoon]

I think you met an insecure gay man trying to up his game by overcompensating for lack of confidence. Like the guy at the bar who strikes a jaunty pose, smiles a bit too widely, and asks a girl if she'd like to buy him a drink.

[Lord Humungus]

My parents had an unsolicited offer to buy his lakeshore house. They've decided to take the offer - but instead of simplifying their lives and moving to a condo (they're getting up there in age), they've instead decided to buy two houses - one in the city (close to me) and a smaller house up north - with lake access - for summertime use.

I think it's nuts but my old man is too stubborn to be talked out of the idea.

[Lee G]

I feel for you.

[Lord Humungus]

to buy *their - not his.

[SugarFree]

Um, just inherit a lake house with good grace.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I was thinking that too!

C'man LH!

[Lord Humungus]

You mean sell the house and split the proceeds with my siblings? Oh headache.

[SugarFree]

Siblings? See, there's your problem.

[Citizen X]

Yeah, seriously. You didn't take all the nutrients and absorb them in the womb?

[Lord Humungus]

Life would be easier without them *evil cackle*

[R C Dean]

At least siblings are a solvable problem.

*pulls tarp over shovel and roll of duct tape*

[tarran]

Ha! I just got a call from the realtor; our offer to buy a lake front house just was accepted!

The house reeks of cat piss and needs a bunch of work. I'm going to try to lure warty with five-egg steak omelettes so he can teach me the way of the belt-sander.

Once we are done, it'll be really something. The rooms are yuuuge and it has two fireplaces!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Real estate agents are constantly passing by my house and sending me note pads.

It's a great start-up home and I will sell it soon but in the meantime I can feel them drooling down my neck and nipples.

[Atanarjuat]

Your Canadian slang gives Australian a run for its money.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I don't get it, EH?

[Atanarjuat]

Don't drool on my nipples, Rufus.

[Citizen X]

Forget the omelets, Warty will do it for the cat piss reek. And a series of sexual favors so degrading there isn't even a porn category for it, but you knew that already.

[Atanarjuat]

Warty, the exception that proves the Rule 34?

[SugarFree]

Warty is Rule 34.

[Citizen X]

And SugarFree is His prophet.

[commodious spittoon]

Peace be up on him.

[Crusty Juggler]

Congratulations, Tarran. After you do all of the hard work on the house feel free to invite me over.

[Lord Humungus]

Party at Tarran's house!

[OldMexican Trained Philosopher]

A bill passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would ban abortion after 20 weeks as well as ban a common surgical-abortion procedure known as dilation and curettage.

What a huge waste of time. Everybody should realize by now that the humanity of a baby and therefore his rights are brought into reality the moment the mother spares the baby's life graciously and not before. Just like our rights exist because our putative mother - the state - is the one that graciously confers rights to us, doesn't it? What is it about this principle that you don't understand?

[arbitrary wavefunction]

*looks up curettage*
*regrets it*

[The Fusionist]

That reminds me of this provision from the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776:

"Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, *when they enter into a state of society,* [emphasis added] they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

Notice the phrase "when they enter into a state of society"? That language was put in there to prevent slaves from claiming any "inherent rights," since of course slaves haven't entered into a state of society, because society hasn't allowed them to do so. QED.

Fortunately, another Virginian at the same time sought to establish the principle that they are endowed with inherent and inalienable right when they are created, not when the state chooses to recognize them as rights-bearing individuals.

[robc]

not when the state chooses to recognize them as rights-bearing individuals.

That doesnt apply, as Common Sense, published the same year, makes very clear in its opening that society and government have nothing to do with each other.

[The Fusionist]

According to this, "The slaveholders of Virginia recognized the import of these universal principles for slavery and added the section about not being divested of those rights "when they enter into a state of society.""

[robc]

I am not saying that isnt why it was added, I am saying the slaves were already in a state of society.

[Crusty Juggler]

The U.S. Senate is expected to pass a bill broadening the FBI's authority to secretly spy on American citizens in the wake of the Orlando shooting

Every inch of my home - with the exception of the bathroom - is lined with aluminum foil. Have fun with that, FBI.

[Citizen X]

The bathroom is glass-walled and on the top of the house, with spotlights pointed at it.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's where I do my best work.

[Citizen X]

It's too bad YouTube keeps taking down your poocasts.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

POOcasts!?! What tha...

*Notices who we're talking about*

"Never mind"

[Hamster of Doom]

You would have been interested otherwise?

[thrakkorzog]

You know it's just as effective to line the house with chicken wire. Seriously, do I have to go around giving lectures about Faraday cages?

[SugarFree]

The Battle of the Bastards Is Sure Looking Like the Final Blow for the Patriarchy on Game of Thrones

Um, OK.

[Citizen X]

When you have a 'tarded little brain, every thing in the world looks like cake.

[Aloysious]

If Martin doesn't finish the next book soon, I'm going to write him a strongly worded letter, filled with vague threats and obscenities. The show is fine, but I started by reading the books (thank you, Dragon magazine for introducing the author to me) and the wait is killing me.

[Free Society]

She's Ned Stark's eldest living child, and despite her inexplicable decision not to mention that more troops were on the way, she showed more cool-headedness in the face of battle than Jon Snow did. (Men: always letting their emotions get the better of them.)

Projection alert.

[UnCivilServant]

I don't understand. That show ended years ago, why are people still making shit up about it?

[Citizen X]

You're just mad that Downton Abbey is over, aren't you.

[UnCivilServant]

? Never heard of it.

[SugarFree]

(Men: always letting their emotions get the better of them.)

Yeah. He wanted to save the life of his little brother. What a pussy.

[Private Chipperbot]

Her brother. His...cousin.

[WTF]

she showed more cool-headedness in the face of battle than Jon Snow did

Maybe because she wasn't actually fighting and risking getting hacked and/or trampled to death?

[Rasilio]

Sorry Rikon deserved to die.

even the vaguest attempt to evade would have made that longbow Ramsay was using useless past 100 yards

[Private Chipperbot]

Yes. Letting a few thousand people die. What a tactician. And she's now beholden to Littlefinger along with the Vale army that could walk over the remnants of her forces. Great leadership.

[Free Society]

I think it's fair to say, Sansa's mind for strategy is rather unimpressive. All she did was write a letter to request an army that she stupidly turned down the first time it was offered and in the process weakened her position by unnecessarily diminishing the strength of her own forces. And as you point out, now Littlefinger holds all the cards.

[Citizen X]

To be fair, she never got a reply from Littlefinger, and wouldn't have known whether or not the Vale knights were coming at all, so it's sort of understandable that she didn't want to tell Jon about them. Probably not wise, but understandable. Especially since similar letters to Cerwyn and Manderly also never got responses.

From Sansa's perspective, she and Littlefinger are now even - his aid was owed her for marrying her off to Ramsay. I doubt Littlefinger sees it that way, though.

[Derp Diggler]

^^This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0dA9eUP85s

[Citizen X]

Of course, the bigger issue is: who gets to use which bathrooms at Winterfell?

[Mickey Rat]

I think her decision was entirely explicable. She wanted Ramsay to take the field and not hole up in Winterfell for a siege. Of course she did not trust Jon would accept her strategy so she omitted that there was a big army coming to help.

[Certified Public Asshat]

She is forgetting about #whitewalkerprivilege.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

. The City Council also voted Tuesday to require all single-stall public bathrooms to be gender neutral.

I assume this just means removing urinals. Isn't this discriminatory against female to male trans? Or are feminists back higher on the victim hierarchy than trans now?

[Rufus The Monocled]

When is it safe to tell everyone to go fuck themselves?

[UnCivilServant]

Autofornicators are not on the approved list of deviancies.

[Citizen X]

Crusty hardest hit.

[Rasilio]

Till they go blind then they qualify as disabled

[arbitrary wavefunction]

Another thought...

I have never been into a single-stall urinal-only restroom... If it has a urinal and a toilet, isn't that two stalls? Or are only toilets stalls? If only toilets are stalls, then aren't they already gender-neutral? In that case, does this just mean taking down the sign?

God this is retarded. I can't believe I have to think about these things.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

I assume they mean single-holers similar to those you would find in a small gas station, dive bars and the like. Which to my mind have always been gender neutral. I have no problem defecating in a one stool restroom that is designated for the other gender if the toilet for my gender is occupied.

[Free Society]

If it's legitimate to start crafting universally applicable laws to accommodate less than a tenth of a percent of the whole population, then think about all the stupid shit you'll be thinking about in a few years from now. This is only the beginning of The Derpening.

[Tonio]

Good to know that rights are not actual individual rights, but are group rights dependent upon having a sufficient number of group members.

[kbolino]

What right?

[Free Society]

Good to know that unisex bathrooms are an individual right. Lecture me more about these "rights" things that you're so familiar with.

I suppose next you'll tell me that it's an "individual right" that a guy with abnormally large feet be able to buy a size 16 shoe at any shoe store he wants to shop at.

[Tonio]

Nope, I didn't say that. But you clearly objected to granting rights solely on the basis of the number of people affected. I'm not responsible for your inability to articulate clearly.

But please accept this lesson in logic and rhetoric as my free gift to you for the benefit of all.

[commodious spittoon]

But you clearly objected to granting rights solely on the basis of the number of people affected.

[Free Society]

Nope, I didn't say that.

You did.

But you clearly objected to granting rights solely on the basis of the number of people affected.

First, individual rights of the natural variety are not granted. Second, I objected to a public accommodation law that forces an entire class of property owners to modify their property to accommodate a ridiculously tiny subset of the population as though they are some sort of vast underclass. I even used the word "accommodate" so as to ward off retards from twisting my words, clearly I couldn't ward them all off.

But please accept this lesson in logic and rhetoric as my free gift to you for the benefit of all.

I can see that you don't really know what those words mean. But you make up for it with all your smugness.

[R C Dean]

There is no right to use a bathroom without the permission of the owner.

"Public accommodation" laws grant privileges. They do not recognize rights. People need to learn the difference.

Bottom line: there is no right to unisex bathrooms, or to use the bathroom of the other sex. The owner may, or may not, grant permission. Requiring him by law to grant permission to a given group is the creation of a privilege for that group, and a violation of the owner's rights.

[Free Society]

Now now, Mr Dean. He didn't say that potty privileges are an individual right, even though he very clearly did indicate that in his rebuttal to my initial post. Who are you to move the goal posts back to where they actually were?

[Zeb]

I always thought it was weird when there are bathrooms with a urinal and a toilet just in one room without any divider. Seems unlikely that both would be used at the same time. I imagine a lot of people wouldn't be too thrilled if someone came in while they were taking a dump and starting peeing in front of them.

[arbitrary wavefunction]

I think I'd be even more pissed if I was peeing and someone came in and took a dump right in front of me.

[Cyto]

I'd be even more pissed if I was peeing

I see what you did there.

[Atanarjuat]

Those usually have a lock on the door so after you come in you lock it, even though I'm sure such a thing would be extremely rare.

[Zeb]

So why is there a urinal? Uses less water, I guess.

[Zeb]

The funny thing is, I think that in most restaurants and other businesses that have single toilets that are sex specific probably mostly have it that way because of laws requiring separate bathrooms for men and women.

[WTF]

Bingo. Same rule for construction sites if there are women working there, even though everyone just uses PortaJohns.

[Mickey Rat]

I think there is a utilitarian consideration of wanting to avoid emphatic complaints if a woman needs to go potty and both restrooms are occupied by men.

[Lord Humungus]

some local news:

Insane Clown Posse cancels show in Lansing over Faygo mess

The Insane Clown Posse might have to look for a new venue for future performances in Lansing after the Detroit-area rap group's Faygo soda spraying forced the cancellation of a second sold-out show.

The Lansing State Journal reports that the hip-hop duo declined to perform Saturday at The Loft without its Faygo-spraying 2-liter guns after venue officials told them it was the only option. The members, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, felt that performing without the Detroit-made beverages would've been a disservice to loyal fans, known as juggalos.

The venue spent the weekend cleaning up the sticky mess caused by the soda Friday at the first Insane Clown Posse show.

[SugarFree]

hip-hop duo

Own it, rap fans.

[GILMORE?]

I'm not sure why ICP are supposed to be an albatross around the neck of Hip-Hop

also, they're hilarious

[commodious spittoon]

I guess that depends; is ICP like pro-wrestling in that the only people not in on the joke are pretentious douches who write off their fans?

Or are ICP fans dead serious about the juggalo life?

[GILMORE?]

Does it matter?

i'm not sure why their steez is supposed to be any sillier than hippies at Phish shows, or .... whatever it is these people are doing

[commodious spittoon]

At least they're not larpers.

[GILMORE?]

-1 Lightning bolt

[Citizen X]

Fucking common courtesy, how does it work?

[Glide]

So apparently Elizabeth Warren recommends that we harangue strangers at the grocery store and gas pump to spread the gospel of "Donald Trump should release his taxes".

I'm gonna pass.

[The Fusionist]

"Talk to the person behind you in the grocery store."

Yeah, because when I think of the person I most empathize with and totally want to spend more time with, I think "the person in front of me in the checkout line."

[Doctor Whom]

The right-thinking people tell me it can't happen at all, often in response to evidence that it is.

[kbolino]

Eh, my family followed the starch + vegetable + meat model for home-cooked meals, which wasn't much better when the "vegetable" in question was corn or peas.

[Rhywun]

What's the difference whether your carbs come out of a box or not? I was a skinny kid in the 80s and we ate mostly food that suffered the horrors of "processing".

[Injun, as in from India]

Even back in the dark days of the '70s, home-cooked meals were the norm. I gotta believe that getting the bulk of your calories from yummy, yummy pre-processed carbs might make you a little chunky.

From yesterday's AM Links, courtesy of "Just a thought, not a sermon":

Just a thought not a sermon|6.21.16 @ 9:36AM|#

I think my favorite Marcotte column ever was this one: Let's Stop Idealizing the Home-Cooked Family Dinner

What a woman!

[Crusty Juggler]

Where my sandwich technicians gone?

[DJF]

Everyday I wake up and find more and more evidence that insanity is not just possible but the norm.

[Hamster of Doom]

He was serious. No one stands with a sign unless they're getting something out of it.

[Rufus The Monocled]

My buddy used to hate rich kids who acted poor.

[Free Society]

The acceptance and promotion of insanity is a byproduct of the fact that stupidity is the norm.

[Citizen X]

So did Jarvis Cocker.

[Rhywun]

I'm just griping because I've never seen a satisfactory explanation of what is so bad about "processed" food. Is it just the scary chemicals?

[WTF]

You can pick up perfectly serviceable pots and pans for a couple bucks apiece at yard sales and Goodwill stores. And you keep pests at bay through cleanliness and proper storage, not by having a bigger space. And fresh produce at the farmer's market, which are everywhere these days, is quite cheap. What a jackass.

[Zeb]

I don't see a problem with "processed" per se. But the fact of the matter is that highly processed foods tend to have a lot of low quality fats and carbs in them that aren't great for you.

[Atanarjuat]

here ya go, to start with.

[Red Rocks Okey-Dokein]

Most of it's loaded with empty carbs and a shit-ton of sugar.

[WhatAboutBob]

And try here: http://nutritionfacts.org/

[Robert]

That depends on how it's processed, and it's only bad in certain ways under certain conditions for certain individuals. For instance, as a general rule, processing vegetables (autoclaved & canned, blanched & frozen, salted & soured) diminishes their potassium content in favor of sodium, and even that effect is to a degree that depends on the process and the taste the manufacturer wants to impart. But most people are tolerant of the K diminution & Na increase. Some mineral micronutrients may be diminished along with the K.

[Zeb]

And frozen veggies are even cheaper and often better than "fresh" produce at a grocery store.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

And is staying in a "hotel room" a cost-effective arrangement?

[DesigNate]

Her class hatred really shows through with her disdain of anyone not living in at least 3,000 square feet.

"You live in a 700 square foot apartment? I'm so sorry you live in such dirty and gross conditions."

[Robert]

If you're in an apt. bldg. where the vigilance vs. pests is not unanimous, your own efforts will be mostly wasted. If the bldg. provides paths thru the walls for mice to get in, they'll pay you visits no matter how clean your place is.

[Krabappel]

I love the William Shatner cover of that song.

[Zeb]

My whole house was 900 square feet before I enlarged it. Somehow I managed to cook and keep the cockroaches and mice at bay.

[thrakkorzog]

I think they're hanging with the Snowden's of yesteryears.

[Citizen X]

Shatner's version is actually better than the original, it is known. He sounds furious about this rich girl slumming, whereas Cocker just sounds bored.

[thrakkorzog]

Yeah, although props should also go to Beck for helping to produce that cover.