Alton Sterling Shot by Cops Who Already Had Him Pinned, U.K. Inquiry Finds Iraq War Reasoning Flawed, Toke Up to Prevent Alzheimer's: A.M. Links

• 

  Baton Rouge Police/Flickr

  A seven-year U.K. inquiry into the Iraq War has concluded, with officials determining that the U.K. chose military action "before peaceful options [were] exhausted," that the invasion was based on "flawed intelligence," and that fears of Hussein possessing "weapons of mass destruction" were "not justified." 

• The fatal shooting of black Baton Rouge resident Alton Sterling by white police officers early Wednesday morning set off protests after video showed Sterling being shot in the back by officers while they were already pinning him down.
• This is what real sex trafficking looks like.
• Inside the deadly world of private prisoner transport.
• Psychoactive compounds in marijuana could help fight Alzheimer's disease by cutting cellular inflammation and obliterating the toxic amyloid beta protein that builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. 
• People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein.

Golden toilets? What's not for Trump to support?

[Swiss Servator]

Palaces!

[BigT]

Yeah, >500,000 people would not have been killed if Saddam were still there. Awful!!!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[But Enough About Me]

D00d.

[Get To Da Chippah]

It's amazing how politically idiotic Trump is. A good chunk of the country is pissed that Hillary gets to skate on charges any lesser person would be strung up for, and he goes, "You know folks, that Saddam Hussein guy wasn't all that bad."

[Lee G]

The theory that he's actually working for Clinton ass a GOP spoiler is sounding less and less far-fetched.

[Clich? Bandit]

to me, at this point, I am having difficult removing my foil fedora. It is firmly stuck to my head.

[Domestic Dissident]

That's not what he's saying at all. He's saying what everyone with a brain already knows anyway, which is that overthrowing Saddam and his government was one of the worst strategic blunders in modern history.

The faux outrage and strawman beating is entertainng though.

[Atanarjuat]

That's what the press is talking about--they're not Trump's most current remarks. The one strength the reality star has is skill in front of a mic. The media wants to talk about anything but Hillary right now.

[(((Renegade)))]

Psychoactive compounds in marijuana could help fight Alzheimer's disease

Uh.... whaaaa...?

[Tonio]

Don't worry, Rennie, they will suck all the fun, er "undesireable side effects," out of it before they approve this as a treatment.

[(((Renegade)))]

At least I can take comfort that I will never get Alzheimer's or glaucoma.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Or at least never know you got them.

/not a cure, but an effective treatment.

[PBR Streetgang]

Or if you do get them, you won't see it coming.

[Clich? Bandit]

so weed is the spanish inquisition?

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows unmedicated gaze*

[Slammer]

The fatal shooting of black Baton Rouge resident Alton Sterling by white police officers early Wednesday morning set off protests after video showed Sterling being shot in the back by officers while they were already pinning him down.

So what? It's not like laws mean anything anymore.

[Juvenile Bluster]

How were those officers supposed to know that murder is illegal?

Good shoot, haters.

[RBS]

smooches!

[Catatafish & Woodchips]

They were just extremely careless.

[timbo]

Stay away from baton rouge

But good points made here. What is a law when certain people get to define it?

[Hamster of Doom]

Pure, naked force. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

[Krabappel]

They didn't intend to kill him.

[Free Society]

"We give officers normally a day or so to go home and think about it" before being interviewed, McKneely told the Advocate.

How kind. Do other suspects get a day to concoct their story and corroborate it with their potential co-conspirators?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Psychoactive compounds in marijuana could help fight Alzheimer's disease...

Yeah, it could also help troops recover but that hasn't softened drug warriors. You think the prospect of helping the demented will? DO THEY EVEN VOTE?

[Citizen X]

Sure, the demented vote. Some of them even run for president.

[Lord Humungus]

Prosecutor: Argument over hummus led to shooting of man, deputy

And no mention of what kind of hummus... *harumph*

[Slammer]

There sure is a lot of homos related violence in the Middle East.

[CatoTheChipper]

It's always about the tahini.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...video showed Sterling being shot in the back by officers while they were already pinning him down.

His spine was going for an officer's weapon.

[timbo]

Time for some new pimpin.

[Lord Humungus]

Outflow from Warty's dungeon?

Putrid algae overtakes Florida's south coast just days before July Fourth

The bloom, which is occurring just days before a major tourism weekend for Florida's Treasure Coast, has caused double red flag warnings at area beaches.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office advises that swimmers stay clear of any water which contains blue-green algae.

According to the Florida Department of Health, the algae's toxins can affect the liver, nervous system and skin. If swallowed, it can result in abdominal cramps, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

Those who are sensitive to the algae may develop a rash or respiratory irritation.

[Tonio]

Perhaps the toxic waste from Debbie Wasserman Shultz' latest hair curling session?

[SugarFree]

Just what they scrap off her face in a week could poison Lake Michigan.

[Elspeth Flashman]

You meant to say "the Great Lakes."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

At least it isn't as bad as her notorious 'red tide' incident.

Tampons are not waterproof , People!

[Fist of Etiquette]

A seven-year U.K. inquiry into the Iraq War has concluded...

And they've decided on an Iraxit.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Rufus The Monocled]

Do you tell these jokes over the intercom at school?

[Crusty Juggler]

This is what real sex trafficking looks like.

Ugh. Those women aren't even American.

[Swiss Servator]

Where is Mrs. Obama's hashtag campaign for them?!?!?!

[BigT]

Barry smoked it to prevent Alzheimer's.

[Lord Humungus]

Refugees who cannot pay people smugglers 'being sold for organs'

Nuredein Wehabrebi Atta, who has been sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in moving migrants, told Italian police that migrants who couldn't pay for journeys across the Meditteranean "were sold for ?15,000 to groups, particularly Egyptians, who are equipped for harvesting organs".

His testimony has helped break open a transnational network dedicated to migrant trafficking with Italian police confirming they have detained 38 people suspected of being involved - 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the authorities had dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network, which used Rome for its financial transactions hub.

[Tonio]

Now this is human trafficking.

[Tonio]

Inside the deadly world of private prisoner transport.

Don't see how they could be any worse than the Baltimore PD.

[(((Renegade)))]

The article keeps talking about for-profit for-profit for-profit. The begged question is, what is the record for comparable public sector interstate extradition?

[RBS]

Doesn't even matter. It's the for-profit that makes it bad.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

All the blatant abuse and injury would be fine if no one (apart from State Employees) was making money off it, damn it!!

[thom]

Exactly. It's a question of intent. The for-profit transporters intend to make money at the expense of safety. The public sector transport only intends safe transport.

[Mr. Flanders]

When it comes to locking people in cages, yes. We should definitely not add in the profit motive. Its not hard to wrap your mind around why this exacerbates the problem...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

And those government employees are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts either.

[Lord Humungus]

Martin Armstrong: "James Comey Had No Problem Keeping Me In Prison Without Any Charges"

James Comey was the chief prosecutor in the Southern District of New York between 2003 and 2005. He had no problem keeping me in Federal Prison on contempt of court without any charges, indictment, or a civil complaint describing any crime whatsoever that they even admitted openly in court. There were never any charges or complaint filed, and they publicly stated, "[T]here is no description of criminal liability." Yet, Comey allowed me to be held in prison, entirely arbitrarily, with absolutely nothing whatsoever; Comey completely violated my civil rights, those of my family, and all 240 employees. So he is not someone who upholds the Constitution when it goes against government or the banks. As they say, the Department of Justice is really "Just Us" in reality. He has proven that once again.

[Citizen X]

Gee, dude. Maybe you should have tried being Hillary Clinton.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

At minimum, he could have made a large contribution to the Clinton bank account Foundation.

[Lee G]

Comey is a law and order guy. Emphasis on order.

[Overt]

I dunno, I get the feeling that Comey wanted to recommend prosecution. However whatever leverage the Dems have over him made that impossible. So he cut a deal. He wouldn't recommend prosecution, but he would get to spend 10 minutes excoriating her in a prepared statement.

[BigT]

See Stewart, Martha.

[Lord Humungus]

Feminist Swedish Politicians Defends Migrant Rapists, 'Worse' When Western Men Do It

"The Swedish men who rape do it despite the growing gender equality. They make an active choice. It's worse?" Tweeted Barbro S?rman of the socialist and feminist Left Party.

Mrs. S?rman, who represents a district of the capital Stockholm, was responding to what she claimed was too much media focus on the fact that the majority of rapes in Sweden are committed by immigrants.

[The Grinch]

As long as you believe a woman is worth half of what a man's worth it's not that bad.

It's amazing how some will twist logic to desperately hold onto a narrative.

[Tonio]

They make an active choice. It's worse?

So, those migrants lack agency.

And that "teaching not to rape" is merely a pretext for assigning responsibility.

[Lee G]

This is moral relativism.

[Tonio]

Winner, winner, meatball dinner.

[Citizen X]

When Tonio says "meatball dinner," he does not mean what you want "meatball dinner" to mean.

[Drake]

They are completely unhinged and cannot submit fast enough to Muslims.

Left-wing German politician who was raped by migrants admits she LIED to police about her attackers? nationality because she did not want to encourage racism

http://lucianne.com/thread/?artnum=879216

[Tonio]

#trustwomen

[Suthenboy]

She wants them to have a shot at the good life.

*Snark aside that is completely insane. That is some pretty hard-core brainwashing.

[The Fusionist]

The full Daily Mail article

[Rufus The Monocled]

She's morally repugnant, intellectually depraved, and a cunt.

[Free Society]

*golf clap*

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I don't get how these people aren't called out for being racist. They're saying nothing more than "Hur, dur, Brown People don't know any better than to rape people!!"

[BigT]

Maybe that's why the keep their women in burkas. They know their brothers.

[Free Society]

Feminist Swedish Politicians Defends Migrant Rapists, 'Worse' When Western Men Do It

And somehow people sneer at the term 'cuckold' being applied to those this mindset. Pretty damn apt.

[Pope Jimbo]

Can Squirrel Girl contend with Lobster Girl for the hearts and minds of HyR?

[Citizen X]

No.

[Pope Jimbo]

You are nuts!

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

NO SIDE BOOB.

/Lobster Girl FTW

[Crusty Juggler]

I do not understand Anna Kendrick's wide-ranging appeal, but then again I am not a fan of Pitch Perfect duology.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I with you on this, Crusty.

[Pope Jimbo]

In fairness, she looks much hotter when she is standing next to the fat chick in Pitch Perfect (John excepted).

[Lee G]

Christ no. Crazy eyes.

[Swiss Servator]

Ha, you can't fool me. That is a squirrel built Fembot!

[Atanarjuat]

I've seen their attempt at creating a functioning website. I shudder to think about the bugs that might be in such a fembot.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Squirrel Girl is the one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse.

[Slammer]

Would

[Slammer]

Would

[Slammer]

Would

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Are you sure?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

One "would" for the girl, one for each squirrel.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pfizer agrees to truth in opioid marketing

Pfizer, the world's second- ?largest drug company, has agreed to a written code of conduct for the marketing of opioids that some officials hope will set a standard for manufacturers of narcotics and help curb the use of the addictive painkillers.

Pfizer has agreed to disclose in its promotional material that narcotic painkillers carry serious risk of addiction ? even when used properly ? and promised not to promote opioids for unapproved, "off-label" uses such as long-term back pain. The company also will acknowledge there is no good research on opioids' effectiveness beyond 12 weeks.

The terms of the agreement were reached with the city of Chicago, which two years ago sued five other opioid manufacturers over alleged misleading marketing of opioids. An announcement of the agreement is expected Wednesday. Pfizer has also been aiding the city's investigation and lawsuit.

[Crusty Juggler]

Aggressive, sometimes fraudulent marketing of OxyContin by Purdue Pharma, one of the targets of Chicago's lawsuit, is widely blamed for the rapid growth of painkiller use across the United States. Around the turn of the century, the company mounted an aggressive campaign, initially claiming that the long-acting formulation reduced the risk of abuse and addiction.

Nearly 165,000 people have died from overdoses of prescription narcotics since the turn of the century, in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called an epidemic of opiate use. The government estimates that 2.1 million people are addicted to prescription painkillers.

In its lawsuit, Chicago contends that in 2009, about 1,100 emergency room visits were the result of opioid misuse or overdose. The city also said it paid out $12.3 million in insurance claims for painkiller prescriptions between 2008 and 2015.

The rest of the emergency room visits were gunshot victims.

[Lee G]

Oh FFS. Nobody believes opiods aren't addictive to some extent. They're just looking for someone else to blame for their personal failures and the government is looking for money.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Pfizer has also been aiding the city's investigation and lawsuit.

This is how you do crony capitalism.

[Pope Jimbo]

Thankfully for St. Paul, they hired a chick. After firing Valeria Silva 6 months into a 3 year contract they only have to pay out $800K. Since they are only paying her 78cents on the dollar, they lucked out. A guy would have cost them over a million.

I love the rationale for granting her such a generous contract. "Well if we don't put that in, we can't attract the top flight talent." Yeah, and you fired her after half a year. Must have been great talent.

[Tonio]

???

[The Fusionist]

I found this pertinent article.

[Pope Jimbo]

Shit! No wonder I never get contracts that get me shit tons of money when I get fired.

The article

On July 15, Silva will serve her last day as the St. Paul superintendent. Her payout includes $270,000 in salary, $75,000 in accrued vacation time, $100,000 in severance and $208,000 in health insurance benefits.

[Spartacus]

How do you accrue $75K of vacation time in 6 months?
For the sake of my blood pressure, I'm not going to read the article.

[Pope Jimbo]

I think that she worked there before as well for several years. The 3 year contract she was fired from was the just the last contract she signed. Still....

[Mickey Rat]

You can attract top flight talent with that kind of money, but you also have to be able to recognize it.

[Hamster of Doom]

A seven-year U.K. inquiry into the Iraq War has concluded, with officials determining that the U.K. chose military action "before peaceful options [were] exhausted," that the invasion was based on "flawed intelligence," and that fears of Hussein possessing "weapons of mass destruction" were "not justified."

And having determined that there was no intent to harm Britain and the culpable parties were too important, officials recommended no charges be filed and the world move on with its life.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

What difference, at this point, does it make?

[Crusty Juggler]

Man punches a bear in Ontario and walks away with only scratches

Nelson looked around him. He had nothing to fight off the bear ? no rocks or sticks ? but he had spent a lot of time in the ring perfecting his boxing technique.

As the bear took a swing at him, Nelson responded with a right-hand jab, grazing the bear's lips and teeth and tearing up his knuckles in the process. The bear struck back, carving inches-long gashes into Nelson's face and chest.

Nelson readied himself to take another swing at the bear. "I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed," he said.

This time his punch landed exactly as he had hoped. "I did an underhand and hit it right in the snout," he said. "Believe me, when you've got adrenaline pumping, you can hit. Even at 61 with grey hair, you can still hit hard."

[Citizen X]

Canadian masturbation euphemisms are weird.

[Lee G]

"I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed," he said.

Obviously graduated with honors from Bear School.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

"They call me Grizzly Adams... cause I fucks b'ars."

/old men's magazine cartoon showing frontiersman with scars, missing eye and fingers.

[Swiss Servator]

The bear was too polite to maul him to death?

[LynchPin1477]

I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed

It is known.

[np]

So fighting bears is like fighting sharks: aim for the snout?

[Crusty Juggler]

For a short time it did work for Tim Treadwell, but it is not a great long-term strategy.

[Rufus The Monocled]

"I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed," he said."

George Chuvalo is that you?

[Libertarian]

Obligatory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyeDEAWtAR8

[The Fusionist]

Ontario? For a second I thought it said Orlando.

Maybe I was just expecting a Florida dateline.

[lap83]

It was a black bear, which is not nearly as dangerous as a grizzly, but that's still pretty impressive.

[BigT]

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee is how Ali took down the Bear.

"Clay entered the room where the weigh-in would be held wearing a denim jacket with the words "Bear Huntin'" on the back and carrying an African walking stick. He began waving the stick, screaming, "I'm the champ! Tell Sonny I'm here. Bring that big ugly bear on."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Inside the deadly world of private prisoner transport.

Con Air 2: Con Van

[SugarFree]

Decry, decry the 5th of July,
The James Comey and Clinton Plot
I know of no reason
Why the Clinton treason
Should ever be forgot!
Foul Hillary and her cronies
Did the scheme contrive,
To mock the law and Useless Congress
with Thirty minute of Lousy Loretta,
To prove Lady Justice's overthrow.
Her schemes she did hatch,
And red-handed they did her catch
But they gave her a break
For goddamn fuck's sake!
30,000 email deleted for her,
20,000 deleted for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the witch,
A stake for her black heart,
Holy water to scar her twisted face,
A jolly fire over which to roast her...
All they failed to bring
Holloa, Huffpost! holloa, Slate! make the bells ring!
Holloa, DU! holloa Salon! God save the Queen!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

[Swiss Servator]

*stands to applaud and throw laurel wreath*

[Slammer]

Awesome

[Tonio]

Niiiiice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What old English drinking song tune are we setting this to? "Shake It Off"?

[SugarFree]

Like Emily Dickinson, everything I write can be sung to the tune of "Yellow Rose of Texas."

[Citizen X]

It's true, but don't try to sing any of his stories at karaoke. It will not end well.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

How about Tears For Fears's Shout:

In, out, aim for the snout,
Theeeeese are the things bears worry about,
C'mon, use this vital clue,
Knock'im down.

[Rufus The Monocled]

/wipes tear.

Throw the bitch DOWN!

[BigT]

Her schemes she did hatch,
And red-handed they did her catch
In her dried rotten snatch,

..
I'm surprised you left that hanging.

[Agent Cooper]

You know what else was left hanging?

[Tonio]

NPR gets a clue about SWAT teams, alas too late:

KASTE: That's Steven Barnett, an ex-Marine in Georgia. He's one of the people who sent angry emails to Orlando Police about the apparent delay. He talked to us last week about why he's still upset.

BARNETT: You know, the SWAT team can go bust down a door on a drug dealer's house, but when there's a chance that there may be that one of them could actually get shot, then they stand around outside, plotting on, well, how's the best way to handle this? Let's talk to this guy, you know?

[LynchPin1477]

the SWAT team can go bust down a door on a drug dealer's house

And that's when they show up at the right house.

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Citizen X]

-1 sleeping toddler's nose and chin

[Eternal Blue Sky]

So when Trump says Hussein was a "bad guy" but offers a bit of praise in that he was good at killing terrorists, people freak out and condemn Trump for his support.

And when Obama issues a statement of nothing but glowing praise and support for Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, no one thinks THAT is worthy of condemnation...

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Yeah, that's the standard. Like when no one says a word while Obama blunders us into wars, but are deeply scared that Trump might do the same. Or when Obama murders scores of noncombatants, but engage in much hand-wringing that Trump might do the same.

Rinse, repeat.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Yeah, I couldn't believe the outrage over Trump saying we should kill terrorists' families.

We already do that. If you REALLY have a problem with it, and not just with the color of Trump's Party, then I suggest you petition the CURRENT president.

[LynchPin1477]

Didn't take long for the news cycle to completely move past the overt death of equal justice, did it?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Rule of law has been dead for sometime now. At least since 2010, but more likely during the Bush years. Yesterday was just the day they dug up its moldering corpse and let Hillary have her way with it on live television for a few hours.

[LynchPin1477]

Yeah, hence the "overt" part. I think they at least tried to put on a show in the past. That they don't even care about pretense - and are getting away with it! - is one of the most disturbing aspects of all this. They are only going to get bolder going forward.

[Suthenboy]

"...more likely during the Bush years."

It dawned on me on this day as I watched in horror -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400FMTMeYmg

[Swiss Servator]

Moveon!

[SugarFree]

They were already crouched in their starting blocks.

[colorblindkid]

What's hilarious is that what Trump said about Saddam is what liberals have been saying for years. They like to downplay Saddam's genocidal crimes and said that he really wasn't that bad, because he took out some terrorists. They still believe that al Qaeda was the only Islamic terrorist group in the world at the time and because Saddam didn't support them he didn't support terrorism. The war was bungled to all hell, but let's not forget that Saddam was arguably the most brutal and dangerous dictator since Hitler.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Absolutely. One of the reasons they loved to use was 'Saddam kept order' when it came to criticizing the invasion. He was secular and hated religious nuts so he killed them. Of course, he was an equal opportunist killer but that's neither here or there. Him and his sons were psychos.

Justin Trudeau admires China because they can get things done and has a special place in his heart for Castro. Watch what he does when that piece of shit dies.

[colorblindkid]

These people are more likely to call Bush and Cheney war criminals than Saddam, and have no problem with Obama assassinated American citizens with drone strikes. They are delusional brainwashed idiots. It is so depressing.

[Free Society]

Just because Saddam was a dirtbag doesn't mean it's a good idea to topple his regime. When it comes to governance in the middle east, there are basically no good guys. Assuming that there are at least some good guys vying for the reigns of power, they have the staying power of a fart in the wind. It seems to be the goal of the liberal interventionists to obliterate every last bulwark against Islamism in the region which is about as close as you can get to calling something an objectively bad policy.

[colorblindkid]

I do think the idea to invade was a terrible idea, but I don't really blame people for doing it at the time and don't think they are evil people. There is no Halliburton oil-for-money conspiracy theory. Just naive idealistic idiots who didn't quite understand the underlying dynamics of the region. I just think it's dangerous to downplay just how terrible Saddam was. On principle, Clinton continuing to intervene in the Middle East is much worse of a sin than Bush's invasion of Iraq. We now have an extra decade of very clear and obvious evidence that we can not help.

[Free Society]

but I don't really blame people for doing it at the time

I can fathom no reason why not.

here is no Halliburton oil-for-money conspiracy theory. Just naive idealistic idiots who didn't quite understand the underlying dynamics of the region.

So they're absolutely to blame? I can't blame someone if they think their intentions are good? Terrorists don't blow up public places because they think of themselves as evil, they do it because they think they're doing something good. Likewise with politicians. Fuck yes I blame them.

I just think it's dangerous to downplay just how terrible Saddam was.

I don't see any downplaying going on, I see the obvious being stated; Iraq and the region was better off with Saddam than it is with a power vacuum being filled by Islamists.

If his governance was so bad as to warrant an intervention, then the interventionists should also be pushing for war with Turkey after they're done carpet bombing Tehran and then they can ride the perpetual war train onward into the sunset to right every wrong in existence.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"let's not forget that Saddam was arguably the most brutal and dangerous dictator since Hitler."

Bro. Stalin?? Mao?? Al-Saud?? Kim?? Do you just not know of many dictators?? 'Cause there's been PLENTY worse than Hussein!!

[BigT]

Sarc detector on the fritz?

[colorblindkid]

I consider Stalin as a contemporary of Hitler, but yes he was worse. Kim has not killed as many people as Saddam did, and has not yet actually invaded any other countries. Most of Mao's deaths were due to famine and terrible policies, but yes he was responsible for 10X the amount of deaths as Saddam. Saddam was directly and personally responsible for multiple attempts at clear genocide and use of chemical WMDs, massive numbers of direct executions and a record number of "disappearances", and massive ground wars to conquer other countries. Note how I said "arguably". It is obviously up to debate who is the "worst", and if we go by overall death counts he might not win, but I do consider Saddam a contender for the title.

[Lord Humungus]

Congress Buys the Navy a $400 Million Pork Ship

"The ship is not reliable," the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation director said in a report released in January, only the most recent such judgment it has made. During 113 days of testing on one ship last year, some of the engines and water jets responsible for propelling the ship forward were out of commission for 45 days.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter expressed his concern last December by ordering the overall number of new ships trimmed from 52 to 40, saving billions of dollars. The department's leaders also ordered production scaled back from three to two ships in 2017 and said all the work should eventually go to just one of the two shipyards.

But lawmakers on Capitol Hill?provoked or perhaps inspired by a steady stream of contractor donations and unusually determined Navy lobbying?are now on the verge of ordering the Pentagon to build more than Carter wanted.

[Juvenile Bluster]

The fatal shooting of black Baton Rouge resident Alton Sterling by white police officers early Wednesday morning set off protests after video showed Sterling being shot in the back by officers while they were already pinning him down.

"Our guys will most likely review the video tomorrow," McKneely told The Washington Post in an email Tuesday night.

"We give officers normally a day or so to go home and think about it" before being interviewed, McKneely told the Advocate.

"Oh, that murder investigation? Yeah, we'll get around to it whenever." I'm sure this is how they handle all their investigations, amirite?

[Lord Humungus]

Is this the 'Coming Apart' election? A Q&A with Charles Murray

Murray: I think what went on in Britain has direct parallels with what went on in the United States, or what's going on in the United States. Just think about it for a minute: a lot of what was going on in Britain was a very visceral pride in Great Britain as an independent, sovereign country, and not wanting to have the rules dictated to them by this anonymous bureaucracy in Brussels. Well, there are a lot of Americans who love the idea of America ? as Donald Trump says, "Making America Great Again" ? but also one in which they sense that they have an anonymous bureaucracy in Washington trying to run their lives.

"In a visceral sense, I probably would have voted Leave if I had been in Britain."

And the resentment that they feel about that is entirely understandable to me. In a visceral sense, I probably would have voted Leave if I had been in Britain. I'm persuaded by many of the economic arguments, though people I respect very much, especially economists, say they shouldn't have done it. I think that the fact that there are legitimate economic arguments saying they should not have done it should not obscure the legitimate reasons that people have for wanting their countries to be once again their nation, in a very fundamental sense of that term.

[LynchPin1477]

Impossible. I was clearly told that Brexit was entirely about fear and racism.

[Free Society]

Listening to BBC or reading any British media, you can see they are just absolutely beating the British public over their heads about how racist Brexit is. "Hate crimes are up ten million percent!"

[ant1sthenes]

Fuck, I hope so. The only hope for our country is for the states to either secede from or, better yet, dissolve the federal government. Format the hard drive, put the OS disk in and start from scratch. Stronger checks and balances, more limited federal powers, and ban any federal employee or office holder from serving in the new government.

[Free Society]

Yes please.

[Lord Humungus]

David French: Dear Iowa Christians, Use the Right Pronouns in Church . . . Or Else

I'm old enough to remember when Christians who expressed concern that LGBT activists would attempt to regulate church services were dismissed as paranoid nutjobs. Well, welcome to our new paranoid future. My friends and colleagues at the Alliance Defending Freedom announced today that they were filing suit against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission to block enforcement of gender identity guidelines that purport to regulate "a church service open to the public." News flash ? virtually every church service is open to the public.

The guidelines, published in a "public accommodations providers guide to Iowa law" contain the usual nondiscrimination catch-all phrases, noting that a "public accommodation" commits an act of gender identity discrimination when it, to take a few examples, intentionally uses names and pronouns inconsistent with the person's "presented gender" (whatever that means), refuses access to preferred bathrooms, or even "indirectly" advertises that a transgender person is "unwelcome" or "not acceptable."

[Suthenboy]

I am pretty sure they will lose that fight.

Jebus, the mask is off. They really are just trying to put their fingers in the eyes of those they hate. Pure spite.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Yeah but they totes aren't trying to bully people into thinking the way we think they should be thinking....

[Lord Humungus]

more info: The Federalist

This seems like perfect John gruel. Haven't seen him around lately.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

I agree with John insofar as there are very vocal elements of the LGTB(etc.) movement that wish to use the levers of power to ensure goodthink is thought. But I hardly think they are unique, wanting power to punish one's enemies is hardly a new phenomena. I also think they are just the means du jour for the larger progressive movement.

[Tonio]

Hope for a policy reversal in the war on painkillers: Afghan governor seeks to legitimize and tax poppy crop. Prog "nation-building" policy (face-saving for the political classes) overrides domestic puritanism. They are going to need legitimate markets for that which means US doctors have to do their part.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Moving poppy production from the black/grey market will do more to harm the Taliban then all of the senseless eradication campaigns combined.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: The Bright Side of 2016

The Democrats are offering a corrupt, lifelong machine politician who just narrowly avoided indictment with the help of a remarkably solicitous FBI; short of a rebellion in Cleveland, the Republicans are set to offer one of that Democratic crook's friends and financial patrons, a semiliterate aspiring strongman whose greatest contribution to public life has been a stint as a game-show host. We are being given a choice between gonorrhea and syphilis.

If there is a silver lining in that ugly cumulonimbus mess, it is this: The country probably will muddle through, just as it usually does. Things will go on very much as they have in the past, and the things that are dramatically different will be things that we are not thinking about very much right now. And that will provide us with an opportunity to learn something important: Yes, it matters who the president is, but not as much as we think. It matters what the character of our government is and who we entrust to run it, but not as much as we think. Jackass A or Jackass B will do his or her worst, to be sure, and the damage will be both real and painful, but America will go on, because America doesn't actually need these jackasses as much as Americans think.

[LynchPin1477]

I like that sentiment, but I worry that it's not about whether or not America needs these jackasses. These jackasses absolutely need America, or more specifically our freedom and treasure, and they seem more brazen about doing whatever it takes to get it.

[Suthenboy]

About 30 years ago an acquaintance of mine lost his left big toe in a work accident. After healing he said it was no big deal so he went back to work. Not a big deal, one toe doesnt matter as much as you think. He did have a small limp from it, but not a big deal.

Over time the uneven weight and stress caused his right knee and hip to start giving him problems, and over time the now increased unevenness of his weight bearing caused his back to go out, rather badly. The last couple of years of his life he could barely get around and was in excruciating pain all of the time. He couldn't sleep well, he couldn't do the things he loved, he couldn't have sex with his wife and he became addicted to pain killers.

When he finally died they said he had a heart attack in his sleep, but I am convinced he committed suicide with his pain pills.

Turns out that one toe does matter, a lot. You just don't notice it right away.

[Slammer]

You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me.

Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon...

[Suthenboy]

I rewatched that just the other day.

Pure. Fucking. Gold.

[B.P.]

Very apt comparison.

[BigT]

And 2-4 Justices on SCOTUS are more like losing both kidneys than a toe.

Anyone who thinks letting Hitlary win won't seriously and irrevocably damage freedom is delusional. And worse by far than Trump.

[Free Society]

So that makes Trump gonorrhea and Clinton syphilis. Sounds about right.

[Free Society]

We are being given a choice between gonorrhea and syphilis.

I guess I'll have half a portion of gonorrhea, please. If I remember correctly, that one is somewhat curable and doesn't involve a chronic descent into madness.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Three months after Mr. Galack was found in the back of the van, P.T.S. sent Butler County a bill for $1,061 ? the cost of the 752 miles he was transported before dying.

Wonder if they paid it.

[The Late P Brooks]

"We give officers normally a day or so to go home and think about it" before being interviewed, McKneely told the Advocate.

Yeah. I'm sure that will work for just anybody.

"Jeepers, guys. I've got a splitting headache. I had no idea how much noise a .357 makes when you shoot it in your living room. What if I take a couple of days to calm down, and then drop by the station house to tell you the whole story about why I shot my wife. She was coming right for me, I can assure you of that."

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

We give officers normally a day or so to go home and think about it" before being interviewed, McKneely told the Advocate

Which is completely different from their protocol when interviewing witnesses of absolutely anything else.

Gotta give him time to come up with a story, I guess.

[The Late P Brooks]

The country probably will muddle through, just as it usually does. Things will go on very much as they have in the past

This is pretty much where I am.

Donald Trump is not going to send his Palace Guard to round up the people's elected representatives and shut down Congress.There will be no Executive Orders to clear the barrios of Mexican job-pilferers and confiscate their remittances. There will be no Southern Wall. Mosques will not be razed, the borders will not be sealed against the Warriors of Allah. The schoolchildren of America will not be forced to turn their shining faces toward Atlantic City and offer up their praises and allegiance to the One True Trump. We will not bomb Brussels.There will be no exodus of true American patriots, no brain drain, no wave of Progressives cashing in their chips and heading for Paris.

The vast majority of boobs and ignoramuses, who merely want to work and play and love and hate within their small sphere of influence will keep their heads down and carry on.

SCOTUS will continue to chip away at the foundations of freedom. Bureaucrats from the EPA will torment the weak. NGOs and nonprofits will fleece the gullible, and petty local tyrannies will thrive.

Life will go on.

[B.P.]

And a President Trump would have some actual pushback from the media and both parties.

[BigT]

"no wave of Progressives cashing in their chips and heading for Paris."

So much worse than we fear.

[Azathoth!!]

President Trump isn't the problem.

President Clinton is.

She is a monster. A monster that the media worships.

She will wreak havoc and the media will tell us Paradise has been achieved.

She must be avoided at all costs.

[Ken Shultz]

"People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein."

Is ENB's hatred of Donald Trump so complete that regretting the Iraq War seems like supporting Saddam Hussein?

Will we go after Trump again tomorrow for being a warmonger, too?

Jesus, it's starting to feel like Salon around here. If disagreeing with Trump on some point is wrong, then I guess progressives don't want to be right.

That article ENB linked is a conflagration of Clinton campaign aids defending Hillary's championing of the Iraq War. It's true, Hillary is a bigger neocon (as understood in the public imagination) than George W. Bush ever was. Her criticism of the Iraq War was that Bush wasn't going far enough. That's why she lost the Democrat nomination to Obama in 2008.

I wonder if it's even possible to oppose the Iraq War in some people's minds without supporting Saddam Hussein. No, pointing out that Saddam Hussein was a bulwark against terror and that removing him from power and occupying Iraq turned Iraq into "Harvard for terrorists" is not equal to support for authoritarian brutality against average people. It's just a statement of fact. That Hillary supported that stupid war--even though the Iraq War failed to stop terrorism in retrospect--is a legitimate criticism.

[Crusty Juggler]

Will we go after Trump again tomorrow for being a warmonger, too?

I hope so.

[Ken Shultz]

Does it matter whether what we going after him for saying really amounts to warmongering, or is it okay to pretend his statements of regret for us having invaded Iraq are actually warmongering, too?

[Crusty Juggler]

I choose whichever makes Donald look the most dreamiest in your eyes, because that is what matters.

[Ken Shultz]

O.J. got off because the police tried to frame a guilty man.

Why don't we focus on Trump's actual crimes rather than make shit up?

Jesus, that linked article is so full of statements from Clinton campaign officials, it's practically written by the Clinton campaign.

But it's a free country. If you want to grab a bucket, there's the well. Just don't come to Reason and expect me to ignore that you're carrying their water.

[Crusty Juggler]

Is Reason is carrying Hillary's water, or are you carrying Trump's water? I'm confused.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm sticking by my original formulation:

Trump > Hillary

Trump < Piece of Shit Ergo, Hillary < Trump < Piece of Shit. I won't vote for Trump because he's less than a piece of shit, but I prefer him to Hillary because Hillary has disqualified herself by accepting money from foreign governments 1) while she was Secretary of State and 2) even now while she's running for President. http://www.motherjones.com/pol.....arms-deals

The difference is that I'm not misrepresenting either Hillary or Trump.

I'll stick up for Trump when he's right--even though I think he's less than a piece of shit.

I'll stick up for Hillary when she's right--even though she's less than Donald Trump.

You see the difference there, right? Just because I despise somebody doesn't mean they're wrong, and it doesn't mean I should make up shitty things about them either. There's this thing called personal integrity. I'm not perfect, but I don't go around willfully misrepresenting what other people say for the greater good either. Being a progressive journalist is all about misrepresenting what other people say for the greater good. That's what being a progressive journalist means.

See the rub?

[Domestic Dissident]

The total Weigelification of Reason appears to be approaching its nexus.

[Ken Shultz]

+1

[Idle Hands]

not so, Wiegal is actually on trumps side on this issue.

Defining "the media" so broadly rarely makes sense. It made sense Tuesday night. Trump's insistence that Hussein should have remained in power to "kill terrorists" is actually one of his most consistent lines. It clashes completely with the Washington consensus but taps into voter anger at how the Iraq War, sold as a quick-and-easy crusade against evil, destabilized the Middle East and allowed groups such as the Islamic State to form and grow.

Trump began saying this at his campaign rallies last summer. (As Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski has reported, there is no record of him saying it before the 2003 invasion.) Reporters followed up; Trump repeated himself. In an October 2015 interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, long before votes were cast, Trump reiterated his view that the world was better off with Hussein in power -- and using brutal peacekeeping tactics.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

It's rhetoric, not reason.

ENB is more SJW than libertarian, so expecting her to accept anti-war messaging from a rich old white man who wants her to believe that Saddam was better for Iraq than Hillary (he was) is like expecting a pumpkin to sprout wings and fly. She's cognitively incapable of that task.

[Ken Shultz]

That Hillary refuses to take responsibility for her cheer leading of the Iraq War and refuses to learn the most basic lessons from our mistakes in Iraq--as the prospect of invading Syria looms ahead of us--are both excellent and legitimate campaign issues. If the only differences between Trump and Hilary were their retrospective stances on Iraq, Trump should beat Hillary hands down. Thank you for bringing that to the attention of thinking libertarians everywhere, ENB. That's why I give money to Reason.

[SugarFree]

Jezebel, still not out of business, shits once again in the mouth of the English language.

[Ken Shultz]

That doesn't paint a pretty picture.

I speak the English language. I don't want Jezebel shitting in my . . .

"Wokest Baes"? OMG, WTF is that?

[SugarFree]

They keep trying to make "fetch" happen.

[Crusty Juggler]

SugarFree's poetry is hype.

[Citizen X]

I'm not clicking that link. If SUGARFREE thinks a piece of writing defiles the English language...

[Swiss Servator]

Then our mere mortal heads would explode like something out of Scanners....

[Crusty Juggler]

I clicked. I read. I have lost the will to live.

[lap83]

totes

[Suthenboy]

Jesus tittyfuckin' Christ, whatever you do don't read the comments.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

I can't really which to be most angry about, your soul staining erotic fiction or the fact that you exposed me to that article.

[SugarFree]

But how else would you know that Kendrick Lamar is the bae-ist?

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Or that Joe Mande really wants his punchable face punched...

[R C Dean]

Oh, you think SugarFree writes fiction?

You just keep on thinking that.

[Free Society]

People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein.

Which is dumb because Iraq has been ten hundred times better off without him. Like totally. And stuff.

[Troy Woodchipper]

Yeah. In hindsight, he only kept the Kurds at bay, mostly. And he put a clamp on the Sunni/Schism that has been burning since the beginning of that fucked up religion. And apparently that religion is so savage that you have to do it with an iron fist.

I was a cheerleader for getting him out of there. That was really stupid.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I was a cheerleader for getting him out of there. That was really stupid.

That entire disaster (and Syria, and Libya, and Pakistan, and...) has been a reminder that the people of the ME and North Africa aren't just white Americans with a tan who are stuck with repressive governments.

It took thousands of years of philosophy and Christianity for the West to stop killing itself in perpetual tribal war. Expecting Arabs to do the same in a period of a few years without any of the cultural stabilizers of the West was always insane.

[Free Society]

Expecting Arabs to do the same in a period of a few years without any of the cultural stabilizers of the West was always insane.

Because the left has a fundamental misunderstanding of humanity and human nature and are thus entirely unable to understand what has made the west so successful historically. Not that they care about continuing that success anyways, they want to destroy it all.

[BigT]

Is Islam the only religion that doesn't ascribe to: "Do unto others"?

[robc]

The japanese managed.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Speaking from a western perspective to westerners. Japan, Korea, and China have had the civilizing influences of the Vedic religions and Confucius for millennia; the ME and Africa got stuck with an imperial, totalitarian Christian heresy that's been nothing but trouble from day one.

[Free Society]

ME and Africa got stuck with got violently conquered by an imperial, totalitarian Christian heresy that's been nothing but trouble from day one

[Spartacus]

I think our middle east strategy should be to give every Kurd their own tank, and tell everyone else to fuck off. The Kurds seem more than capable of cleaning up the mess, with the least chance of arms slipping through to ISIS. Maybe they can take care of Erdogan while they're at it.

[The Late P Brooks]

Saddam Hussein: We were with him, before we were against him.

[The Late P Brooks]

President Dipshit is on my teevee, patting himself on the back for doing such an awesome job in Afghanistan.

Hand that torch to Hillary.

[Ken Shultz]

You just hate her because she's a woman.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

One would need to have clear objectives in Afghanistan in order to say you did or did not accomplish them.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Oh, he had objectives - don't do anything so disastrous that the media will report on it for more than a 5-10 second segment at the bottom of the hour. Mission Accomplished!

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

You mean like lose most of Helmand and Kunduz to the Taliban? To be fair almost all of that can be chalked up to the ANA being a mostly worthless fighting force.

[Free Society]

To be fair almost all of that can be chalked up to the ANA being a mostly worthless fighting force.

They're heavily infiltrated by Taliban loyalists for one thing.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Yes there is that and they are bereft of good leadership, plagued by internecine rivalries along ethnic and tribal lines. It's almost like it is a bad idea to continue to spend blood, treasure, and prestige trying to convince these people that they should not be the feudal state they clearly want to be.

[Free Society]

I can respect a feudal order, feudalism is just a system of contracts between property owners. Serfdom is another beast entirely. But what's going on over there isn't feudalism or serfdom, it's tribalism meets statism.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

I am not watching it but I am sure he is high-fiving himself over the Abottabad raid... a raid that would have been executed even if Vermin Supreme was sitting in the oval office.

[The Late P Brooks]

People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein.

Is this in some way an untrue statement? It is possible to link to a story without in any way endorsing or agreeing with its content; merely as a window into the minds of others.

also- I looked, and ENB is not the author of the piece. I'm not sure what justifies all the huffing and puffing.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Well why didn't she link to Breitbart's take on the story then, huh?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

People aren't taking kindly to Donald Trump's support for Saddam Hussein.

Which people are those? Oh, you mean Iraq War supporters and corrupt establishment whores.

The_donald is right: Hussein stabilized the region largely by suppressing and killing the Islamist savages who now infest the entire ME. The world was a better place with Hussein & Gaddafi than it is without them.

[Free Society]

I don't see how that's even up for debate, but such are the times in which we live...

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Not debate, just rhetoric. I can't remember the last time I saw an actual debate between left and right on any subject.

The left has understood that rhetoric wins the day over reason for centuries; the right is just beginning to wake up to that truth, which is why we're developing immunity to the breathless pearl-clutching of the racist-sexist-homophobic ninnies who infest media and campuses. Sooner or later, reality always wins.

[Free Society]

The left has understood that rhetoric wins the day over reason for centuries;

The left cannot afford to engage in any kind of real argument, just sophistry.

which is why we're developing immunity to the breathless pearl-clutching of the racist-sexist-homophobic ninnies who infest media and campuses

Which is actually a good contribution of the alt-right to the discourse. It's essential that the left be disarmed of their linguistic weapons.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

The revelation of this election cycle is how much more ancaps have in common with the paleocons and alt-right than we do "libertarians" like Welch and co. Rothbardians fit in well with the Gamergate crowd and fierce right culture warriors, whereas Reason's slate of teacup libertarians sound more like Christian rock with every passing day.

[Free Society]

The revelation of this election cycle is how much more ancaps have in common with the paleocons and alt-right than we do "libertarians" like Welch and co.

And their brand of thinking will ultimately fade into oblivion like any entity programmed to oppose its own survival. This Chicago school style libertarianism offers nothing that people aren't getting from the myriad of socialist ideologies and their associated culture warriors.

The gulf between the Von Misesians and Catonians is widening.

[BigT]

"The left has understood that rhetoric wins the day over reason for centuries; the right is just beginning to wake up to that truth"

Hence, Trump

[Domestic Dissident]

Hillary and the bloodthirsty, psychotic bull dykes who make up the core of her inner circle not only still think that removing Hussein and Ghadafi was a good idea, they want to triple down and overthrow Assad. It's item number one on the top of their agenda list. Never mind that even attempting to do would bring us closer to World War III than we've been in decades.

I can think of no better reason to never allow her to set foot in the White House.

[Free Society]

I can think of a few but sitting where we are in 2016, I don't think we're capable of fully appreciating her capacity to promote state power for her own sake. The hypothetical leftist future is a terrifying place.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

She's a tone-deaf sociopath who's completely incapable of learning. If she thinks the American people are going to blindly stumble into another ground war in the ME even with the press whoring itself out again, she's got another thing coming. Even Paul Ryan will grow a spine when the silent majority is no longer silent.

The TP is going to be small potatoes compared to what the right does if we somehow get stuck with Prez Hillary and her endless list of unwinnable, unaffordable kinetic operations.

[BigT]

"Even Paul Ryan will grow a spine when the silent majority is no longer silent."

Where can I score some of that.

[Swiss Servator]

Wait for Agile Cyborg to show up?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Meant to say a temporary thickening of his dorsal carapace.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

I'm not even going to read that prisoner transport story, since the subhead says

run by for-profit companies with almost no oversight

Making "for-profit" seem evil when government is far less accountable because it has no competition. I'd have a lot more trust in any for-profit government (and I don't mean the corrupt kind 🙂 than any coercive one.