A.M. Links: Gary Johnson Gains Ground in Polls, Russia Uses Iranian Base to Launch Air Strikes in Syria, 15 Guantanamo Detainees Transferred to U.A.E.

• 

  Gary Johnson

  Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson "is polling at 15 percent in Colorado."

• Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been found guilty of nine criminal charges in a perjury and obstruction case.
• Russian forces are reportedly using an Iranian base to launch air attacks in Syria.
• Fifteen Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred to the United Arab Emirates.
• A Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen struck a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders, killing at least 11.
• Comedy Central has cancelled The Nightly Show hosted by Larry Wilmore.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson "is polling at 15 percent in Colorado."

HE'S IN!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

He's got the Jo-mentum!

[Rich]

It's happening!

[Agent Cooper]

It's Happening! is the single greatest GIF ever created.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Gary Johnson "is polling"

Phrasing?

[commodious, blithering idjit]

Hell no.

[The Fusionist]

Oh, re last night's discussion - did I manage to be more or less responsive to your concerns?

[commodious, blithering idjit]

Thanks for reminding me. I was actually quite drunk. Lemme take a look-see.

[commodious, blithering idjit]

Yeah, that was a little bit out of line. Not sure what got me worked up. Sorry for that, I wasn't feeling indignant or anything. News has me down, I think.

And I think you're right re: yours probably being the only dose of Catholicism most people around here get. My grandmother was Catholic, but it never brushed off. Funny thing, I went up to see her over the weekend and we had a brilliant discussion about religion and politics. She confessed she no longer believes in God and couldn't square her views with attending, but she still quite likes the paraphernalia. Whenever she and dad go traveling, they tour all the local churches.

[R C Dean]

I've been around Catholics for most of my professional life. I think anti- and non-Catholics seriously underestimate the amount of intellectual horsepower that Catholics have devoted, over very long time periods, to their various projects. Its interesting to see their perspective, and get some insight into where it comes from.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

As for throwing a vote away on a 3rd party, what would you call voting for either major party candidate? Cynical acceptance of the status quo, and choosing to elect a giant douche or a turd sandwich for POTUS?

[TheZeitgeist]

At least the turd sandwich is made using Wonderbread - the way it is supposed to be.

[Brian]

Voting for the major parties = pretending to choose the rule of Top Men, so you can feel good about it.

As if your vote had something to do with the trajectory of politics.

Lots of adults enjoy fantasies as coping mechanisms.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

And that's your answer: cynical acceptance. As much as I like this site and all of the clever if not snarky comments [and it is one of the few I can stand to get my "news" from anymore] libertarians are often the least excited about libertarianism and any place it me have in the world of realpolitik.

I sometimes suspect [as a group] your greatest fear is being accused of naivete, and being "upsnarked" by a more jaded misanthrope. It's like they revel in "it just can't happen here." And that is one sure way to make sure it doesn't.

I've been around for several decades, and am just as discouraged and given to sarcasm about anything coming out of government as anyone [thus my belief that government is seldom, if ever, the "answer" to much of anything] but still voting my conscience, which will be for the Libertarian ticket. Sure, the douche or the turd on Wonderbread may likely win, but it will not be my fault if they do.

Hey, if 20% vote Johson/Weld the election could at least be thrown to the House with no clear majority, and at worst we would get Ryan [per 12th Amendment rules]? Still better than turd or douche, at least in my humble opinion.

[Azathoth!!]

realizing that vinegar and water--which is basically just seriously crappy salad dressing--is way better than a turd sandwich at any time.

[Bee Tagger]

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson "is polling at 15 percent in Colorado."

Phew, and here I was worried something that would be easily mocked and dismissed would happen.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

"Easily mocked and dismissed." Seems to be the Hit and Run mantra [see comment just above].

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Comedy Central has cancelled The Nightly Show hosted by Larry Wilmore.

MUST-SEE: The Nielsen ratings TOTALLY DESTROY Larry Wilmore!

[RBS]

Larry Wilmore SAVAGED by Ratings.

[RBS]

or "How Covert Racism Destroyed Larry Wilmore's Show"

[Jerryskids]

But with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Comedy Central still has at least one African-American in the line-up.

[Agent Cooper]

That's African-American.

[Red Rocks Okey-Dokein]

Noah's ratings aren't anything to brag about, either.

It's pretty obvious by this point that Comedy Central's virtue-signaling tokenism blew up in their face. Stewart and Colbert's audience all went over to John Oliver, because Noah and Wilmore just aren't very funny. At least the former knew how to manipulate the audience with his snark while the latter had his O'Reilly character mastered. The new guys couldn't figure out how to fill either niche.

[SFC B]

It also hurts that their audience are apparently such bigots that they can't bear getting their fake news and social justice signals from black men.

[Mickey Rat]

Who?

[The Fusionist]

No, not what's-his-name!

[commodious, blithering idjit]

"But I'm also saddened and surprised we won't be covering this crazy election or 'The Unblackening' as we've coined it. And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn't counted on 'The Unblackening' happening to my time slot as well."

Maybe this has something to do with your poor ratings, Lar.

[Citizen X]

Ratings are cis-het white patriarchal oppression.

[Agent Cooper]

The basic problem is that the show sucked.

[R C Dean]

The white audience's failure to appreciate his blackitude is proof positive that this is still a racist country, duh.

[Tom Bombadil]

Larry Wilmore will always be 'my nigger'.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

214) Here's something you won't hear from BLM: the incarceration rate for black males is down 23% from its peak in 2001. Okay, at 2.7% of the total black male population, it's still ludicrously high. But the rate in 2014 was the lowest since 1993. The rate for white males is up slightly over the same period, though still less than 1/5th of the rate for black males.

Notice this quote: "Stanford Law School Professor Joan Petersilia noted another possible cause: 'sex offenders, who are disproportionately white and tend to receive long sentences, are a new target for the war on crime.' Consistent with this explanation, a larger proportion of white inmates have been convicted of sex crimes (16.4 percent) than have black inmates (8 percent)."

Not sure replacing a war on drugs with a war on sex offenders is a great trade-off, but at least for the moment it's resulting in a net improvement, concentrated among the most heavily incarcerated population sub-group. Progress, I guess?

[Tonio]

Interesting and a good sign on its own. But we all know where this is leading - those jail cells can't be left empty or you have to start laying people off.

[thom]

Nah. Adjust some ratios. Change some security levels. You're right back where you need to be.

[Brian]

16% of all white inmates are there for sex crimes?

Never would have guessed.

[commodious, blithering idjit]

#WhitePervsMatter

[Red Rocks Okey-Dokein]

Wonder how many of those whites are "white Hispanics" like George Zimmerman.

[Zeb]

If we focus on sex offenders who actually deserve to be in prison (e.g. not people getting blowjobs in the park or young adults fucking their underage girlfriends), I think I'm OK with a war on sex offenders. Would be better to get rid of the "war on" rhetoric in general, but at least it's something that has actual victims.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Well, the war on drugs seems great when it's all about locking away amoral drug dealers selling heroin to grade schoolers, when you're actually locking away grandmothers who smoke pot to deal with their glaucoma, or whatever. I suspect the war on sex offenders would operate with similar precision.

[Suthenboy]

"... locking away grandmothers who smoke pot to deal with their glaucoma..."

Get rid of the property forfeiture laws that allow cops to steal with impunity and this shit will grind to a halt.

I am not sure how those laws will apply to sex offenders but I suspect there isnt nearly as much loot to be had, therefore the war on drugs will continue unabated while a new one is waged on drunks pissing in alleys.

[R C Dean]

I suspect the war on sex offenders would operate with similar precision.

- 1 affirmative consent.

We're well on our way, thanks.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Here's something you won't hear from BLM: the incarceration rate for black males is down 23% from its peak in 2001.

Well, duh, because the cops keep shooting them before they can be incarcerated.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been found guilty of nine criminal charges in a perjury and obstruction case.

What??? A PA Democrat guilty of something?

[Bee Tagger]

It's a shame when bad things are done by people with cool names.

[Fist of Etiquette]

She's basically a DC Comics character.

[Rich]

Kathleen "Kandy" Kane?

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

+1 Kill and Kill Again

[Swiss Servator]

Next thing you will tell me, an IL Donkey might have done something wrong at some time in the past!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

The prisons in Illinois are too stuffed with ex-governors to hold more politicos.

[The Fusionist]

At least with those ex-governors behind bars, foie gras is available at the prison cafeteria.

[DEG]

Yep, and Wolf even wants her to resign. Strange days.

[Bee Tagger]

Russian forces are reportedly using an Iranian base to launch air attacks in Syria.

Why can't they just focus on all of the things they have in common like a shared interest in buying American elections.

[dan'o en barrel]

Or buying a gold medal for heavyweight boxing. Sad to see that boxing corruption isn't just relegated to the pros

[Drake]

"Libertarian" VP candidate Bill Weld thinks the military still uses the 1903 Springfield.

"The five-shot rifle, that's a standard military rifle; the problem is if you attach a clip to it so it can fire more shells and if you remove the pin so that it becomes an automatic weapon, and those are independent criminal offenses," Weld said. "That is when they become, essentially, a weapon of mass destruction. The problem with handguns probably is even worse than the problem of the AR15."

http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2.....ven-worse/

[RBS]

There is so much wrong in that quote. I. Can't. Even.

[Zeb]

At least he seems to know the difference between semi-auto and auto. But yeah, what the fuck?

[Drake]

He seems to think that removing a pin (the firing pin?) will instantly convert a rifle to full-auto.

[Zeb]

Yeah, not sure what he was thinking there.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

All I could imagine was grenades. Make no worse sense.

[tarran]

Remember, *he* thinks he's one of the grownups.

[Zeb]

Grownups are overrated.

[Suthenboy]

I think the worst thing wrong with that quote is that it is from a candidate for vice president, the candidate for the libertarian party no less.

Libertarian, my ass.

[Groovus Maximus]

WE ARE THE WELD!

[Zeb]

Yeah, you are at least supposed to pretend to have some clue what the party you are running for represents.

[WTF]

Holy fuck. What an idiot.

[0x90]

That may be the single dumbest thing I have ever read.

[robc]

The good news is that if Johnson/Weld win enough Ec votes to throw the election into congress (best case scenario), Weld wont be in tge top 2 for the senate to consider.

Which is worse for Ores Johnson, Kaine or Pence as his Veep?

[Princess Trigger]

Now I want to buy me a '03.

[Suthenboy]

Winchester model 70 is the superior bolt gun and is widely available.

[Princess Trigger]

If I remove the pin, does it become an automatic?

[DenverJ]

Automatically worthless

[Free Society]

Libertarian moment.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

I never understand people like that. They don't actually have the relevant knowledge, but they posture and speak as if they are an authority on the subject. I don't know if it is or related to pathological lying; they just seem to have no shame talking about something that they know (should know) they have not invested much time in researching or understanding.

[Crusty Juggler]

He is a politician.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

That whole interview is filled with reminders that Weld is, in fact, a Massachusetts Red varietal.

[R C Dean]

The density of derp in Weld's comment is impressive.

[perlchpr]

Maybe he hangs out with Joe Biden at the range?

But yeah, this word-salad of anti-2A rhetoric is damn near as bad as "shoulder thing that goes up" in terms of vapid verbiage.

[B.P.]

Clip. Shells. Pin.

Jesus.

[Rich]

Fifteen Guantanamo Bay detainees have been transferred to the United Arab Emirates

, in a brief stopover on their way to Europe and the United States.

[Swiss Servator]

Angela Merkel greets at the Hauptbahnhof?

[Tonio]

Well done, lads.

[Lord Humungus]

A Candidate You Can Trust (to Lie)

Thanks to her efforts, she has her party's nomination and her country's distrust. According to a recent CNN poll, 66 percent of voters find her dishonest and untrustworthy. About as many people find her trustworthy as find Bigfoot plausible.

Clinton knows she has trust issues. "You can't just talk someone into trusting you," she said in June. "You've got to earn it."

The way to earn people's trust is by proving yourself trustworthy. That takes time, which Clinton doesn't have.

What should she do? Simple: Clinton should be honest about her dishonesty.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Well, that's the thing. If she admitted she lied about anything, at least it would be something. But not only does she lie to cover her own ass, she lies about lying. She also lies about what other people said about her lying.

[Rich]

She lies when she doesn't *have* to. She can't *not* lie.

[Suthenboy]

^This

She would lie if the truth served her better.

[Bee Tagger]

About as many people find her trustworthy as find Bigfoot plausible.

Hillary, do you realize the opportunity you have here? If you issue one simple statment "Bigfoot is alive", the country will no longer have any Bigfoot believers.

[Swiss Servator]

STEVE SMITH'S GREATEST TRICK WAS CONVINCING THE WORLD HE DIDN'T EXIST.

[robc]

Narrows gaze.

[Groovus Maximus]

You do realise that's STEVE SMITH'S method of affirming presentation, right? robc....

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

+1 boomerang

[Hamster of Doom]

Truth! Hillary's talk of releasing UFO files was taken by my husband as proof the government knew nothing interesting about UFOs. He was very disappointed.

[commodious, blithering idjit]

Like they'd trust Hillary and her leaky email with information like that?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"The way to earn people's trust is by proving yourself trustworthy. That takes time, which Clinton doesn't have."

I doubt she'd have time if she lived to be 1,000 years old.

[R C Dean]

It takes more than just time. It takes actions which Hillary is incapable of taking.

[WTF]

Why should she be concerned? Her lying hasn't had any real consequences for her so far. And she's going to be the next President, for fucks sake. What would her motivation be to start being honest?

[Rich]

This.

[lap83]

"You've got to earn it."

Like she "earned" the trust of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.?

[commodious, blithering idjit]

We need to make a huge donation to the Foundation before she'll start taking American interests seriously.

[Brian]

You know: the way Bill earns it.

[Trshmnstr, green and mangy]

By ejaculating on women's dresses?

[Citizen X]

About as many people find her trustworthy as find Bigfoot plausible.

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA. STEVE SMITH RESENT IMPLICATION THAT STEVE SMITH HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH CROOKED HILLARY.

[SugarFree]

STEVE SMITH ALWAYS HONEST ABOUT YOUR CHANCES! 0%!

[Groovus Maximus]

STEVE SMITH RESENT IMPLICATION THAT STEVE SMITH HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH CROOKED HILLARY.

A Crooked Bill, OTOH...

(NSFW - quite possibly leaked by Ru-Krainian hooligans)

[R C Dean]

According to a recent CNN poll, 66 percent of voters find her dishonest and untrustworthy.

That means that, at a minimum, @ 12% of this country will vote for a politician that they believe is dishonest and untrustworthy.

Yay, democracy!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been found guilty of nine criminal charges in a perjury and obstruction case.

An impressive audition to be AG under President Clinton.

[Tonio]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been found guilty of nine criminal charges in a perjury and obstruction case.

Oh, my.

[Swiss Servator]

No, no! Kane, not Takei!

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

KAAAAAAAAANE!!!

[Lord Humungus]

Obamacare hikes: Average rate request of 24 percent

OBAMACARE HIKES ? Average rate request of 24 percent this year. That's according to findings from independent analyst Charles Gaba, who has crunched the numbers for insurers participating in the ACA exchanges in all 50 states, including a handful of recent updates.

For instance, Cigna and Humana recently revised their rate requests in Tennessee, and the new filings are dramatically higher. Cigna is now asking for a 46 percent average increase, up from 23 percent, and Humana is requesting a 44 percent increase, up from 29 percent, The Tennessean reported on Friday.

Average approved rate increase so far: 17 percent. That's according to weighted averages across just five states ? Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont ? Gaba reports, so there's bound to be fluctuation.

Gee didn't we predict this a few years ago? Nah... crazy wingnuts

[Juvenile Bluster]

In related news

In the latest blow to Obamacare, Aetna is vastly reducing its presence on the individual exchanges in 2017.
The insurer will stop offering policies on the exchanges in 11 of the 15 states where it currently operates, according to a press release it issued Monday evening. Aetna (AET) will only sell Obamacare products in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia.

Aetna said earlier this month that it was halting its exchange expansion plans for 2017 and reviewing its participation in President Obama's signature health reform program. The company noted Monday that it has lost $430 million in its individual policies unit since the exchanges opened in January 2014.

Aetna, which had 838,000 exchange customers at the end of June, said its policyholders are turning out to be sicker and costlier than expected. The company, along with its peers, has criticized the federal program designed to mitigate those risks.

"Providing affordable, high-quality health care options to consumers is not possible without a balanced risk pool," said Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini.

The company will continue to offer individual policies outside of the Obamacare exchanges in the vast majority of markets where it now does business. Off-exchange products are not eligible for federal subsidies.

[Hamster of Doom]

"Look, the only way this will work is if you sacrifice your youth and finances for everyone else. Why can't you get on board with this?"

[Princess Trigger]

I heard about an interesting play provider groups and hospitals are working.
Caution this is anecdotal and may not be true (but an interesting idea.
Local provider groups and hospitals have a pool of very sick medicare and medicaid patients that they receive less compensation for services. The provider groups set up and fund a non-profit that then generously helps this pool of very sick people to get on Obamacare insurance plans. Those plans payout significantly higher for the medical care of the very sick people.
Fatcat Insurance companies see their pool of insured becoming sicker and more of drain than predicted since they thought a lot of these people would stay on medicare.

DEATH SPIRAL!

[R C Dean]

That's been around for awhile, although I think there's been a recent order-of-magnitude uptick.

I really don't see how the insurers have much to complain about. They are getting paid their premiums, after all. Sometimes those premiums are paid by individuals, sometimes by companies, sometimes by non-profits.

[Red Rocks Okey-Dokein]

Gee, hospitals practicing monopolistic behavior? Why, I never!

[Cyto]

I don't know if this is true. Here in Florida there are many specialties where you cannot find a doctor accepting patients on Obamacare plans. Many, many doctors won't accept any Obamacare plans, but will accept medicare and medicaid.

This despite huge increases in costs each year.

There might be a component of mandate in the medicare/medicaid thing - as in they might be required to accept certain amounts of patients.

[DEG]

Wreckers! Kulaks!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

"You fucked up, you trusted us."--HHS Secretary Otter.

[LynchPin1477]

And just in time for the election. Can Trump take advantage? I doubt it.

[WTF]

Count on the media to bury this under a dozen "Trump said mean things!" stories.

[Suthenboy]

I think we all have it on good authority that Obumblecare was the best free market solution.

[Agent Cooper]

It's all a plan to get to single payer.

[R C Dean]

I have to admit, the death spiral took a year, maybe two, more than I thought it would to show up.

But this is textbook early-to-mid stage death spiral. You're locked in when healthy people quit buying because the prices are too high, meaning the risk pool is very risky indeed. Insurers withdrawing means that bad risk pool will get concentrated in one or two insurers, and then you are well and truly locked in.

[Lord Humungus]

The Hills Have Eyes: Dyatlov Pass Incident

During the time that Igor and his team were camping in the Ural Mountains, the temperatures were sub-zero, but for some reason these professional well-seasoned ski hikers ran out of their tents in fear, not appropriately dressed, either running in their bare feet or with socks on. When they were found, they were all dead, frozen stiff from the ice cold elements. Some had chest fractures. Some had fractured skulls or cracks in their skulls. One had severe brain damage. One female ski hiker was missing her tongue.

Photographs were taken by the ski hiking party and on one photo there appears to be an odd primate in the woods staring back at them. Could this be Yeti? There are rumors that a Russian missile exploded in the Ural Mountains when the ski hikers were camping and there are rumors that there were orange globes hovering over the area. Theories are thrown out that the explosion of the Russian missile caused a Yeti to panic. The panic turned to rage and the Yeti killed the ski hikers. Many UFO witnesses say that UFOs are associated with Bigfoot or Sasquatch. When UFOs are seen, then Bigfoot is seen. Or when Bigfoot is seen, UFOs are seen. Are Bigfoot, Sasquatch and Yeti the experiments of extraterrestrials? Were the orange globes observing the behavior of one of their creations, the Yeti?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"One female ski hiker was missing her tongue."

Steve Smith needs to work on his French kissing skills.

[RBS]

Found Footage

[Juvenile Bluster]

During the time that Igor and his team were camping in the Ural Mountains, the temperatures were sub-zero, but for some reason these professional well-seasoned ski hikers ran out of their tents in fear, not appropriately dressed, either running in their bare feet or with socks on.

Which is pretty common with severe hypothermia.

[Swiss Servator]

OR SEVERE STEVE SMITH ROAD TRIP!

[Princess Trigger]

Or an avalanche hitting them, or near by.

[tarran]

The thing that gets me is all the blunt force trauma, and the wounds on the hands of two of the guys who died last. They fought something.

It's like something out of a horror movie.

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

Is this a commercial for Kholat?

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

"Theories"

[B.P.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ualAO9xvtlc

[Pat (PM)]

Probably been covered already, but...

German intelligence warns of ISIL 'hit squads' among refugees

German intelligence services have evidence that "hit squads" from the Islamic State terror group have infiltrated the country disguised as refugees, the deputy head of Bavaria's spy agency told the BBC Thursday.

"We have to accept that we have hit squads and sleeper cells in Germany," Manfred Hauser, the vice president of the Bavaria region's intelligence gathering agency, BayLfV, told the Today program.

"We have substantial reports that among the refugees there are hit squads. There are hundreds of these reports, some from refugees themselves. We are still following up on these, and we haven't investigated all of them fully," said Hauser.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizi?re will present a set of new security measures in Berlin on Thursday, following recent attacks in the country inspired by ISIL.

Of course, we all know this is not true, because it is literally not possible, and even if it were, it wouldn't be worth terrorists' time and effort to infiltrate refugee camps.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"We have to accept that we have hit squads and sleeper cells in Germany,"

A small price to pay for virtue signaling!

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Rich]

Hey! Even hit squads and sleeper cells want a better quality of life!

[Tonio]

Wow, someone actually said that on the record.

[WTF]

So what? Hillary will still bring 100,000 Syrian "refugees" to America. Because reasons.

[Free Society]

Terrorism is just the price we should be thankful to pay in exchange for the privilege of having all of these wonderful Muslim migrants teach us their valuable culture.

[Drake]

Anyone else watch the Olympic Heavyweight gold medal fight last night? Biggest fix I've seen in a while. The color commentator was screaming that the Judges' cards were filled out before the fight even started. Even the Russian guy who supposedly won - after taking a beating for 3 rounds looked stunned.

http://www.badlefthook.com/2016/8/15/.....gold-medal

[Rufus The Monocled]

Olympic boxing always pulls that like in figure skating.

Infamously Roy Jones jr., Cammarralle in 2012 etc.

And forget us Canadians who always get jobbed:

http://news.nationalpost.com/s.....our-rounds

http://www.torontosun.com/2012.....nal-boxing

[Fist of Etiquette]

Russian forces are reportedly using an Iranian base to launch air attacks in Syria.

The Russian equipment was already there.

[Groovus Maximus]

The Russian equipment was already there.

Fist of JUFEMIZMY!

(Fuck you, REASON, for taking away Cyrilic. Some of us are sometimes stuck with a JCUKEN.)

[Citizen X]

Fuck you, REASON, for taking away Cyrilic.

??, ??? ??? You can haz Cyrillic, Groovus.

[Groovus Maximus]

Already tried, multiple times, on an actual Ru-Krainian workstation. Skvirrels gave me the finger multiple times, and I have never had a problem typing in non-English fonts since my return. SMDH.

[Citizen X]

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Lord Humungus]

warning: creepy dolls

Paedophile doll maker insists he's an 'artist who is saving children'

A man who makes child-like dolls for paedophiles has said that he is an artist after his creations were seized by border officials.

Since 2013, 18 crates of the horrifyingly life-like sex dolls were confiscated by border control officials in Australia.

Shin Takagi, who created them and admits he's a paedophile, told Fairfax Media: I am an artist.'

He added that he was preventing child abusers from targeting children.

He told the Atlantic earlier this year: 'I am helping people express their desires, legally and ethically. It's not worth living if you have to live with repressed desire.'

[Drake]

Somebody has been reading Charles Stross?

[Citizen X]

Fun fact: Stross says that he wrote Rule 34 after the plot to the original sequel he had planned for Halting State came true in real life before he could finish writing it.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

If child-sized sex doll sales were shown to actually reduce sexual abuse incidents by pedophiles, would people still reject them because it's so creepy?

[RBS]

Yes.

[Rich]

preventing child abusers from targeting children.

But, enough about Pokemon Go.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

CAPTION CONTEST

"This Fall, They're Getting the Gang Back Together For One Last Score"

[Private Chipperbot]

Pictured left to right: Paul Ryan, Shrek, President Trump, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry.

[Rich]

Calais Locals Warned to Stay Away from Main Roads As Migrants Smash Vehicles

One surmises that's not Calais, Texas or Calais, Louisiana.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Broken windows fallacy!

[Zeb]

So, Canadians fucking shit up in Calais, Maine?

[commodious, blithering idjit]

Some of them, I assume, are good people.

[FreeRadical]

"One resident has posted pictures to Facebook of her brother-in-law's car"

I read a statement like that and I immediately think of spam/clickbait/made-up-shit. Why it never the actual brother-in-law posting the info but some third party? It seems like the whole article is based on that statement.

[Free Society]

But then you see the youtube videos of truckers stuck in traffic near Calais trying fend off the migrant vandals roaming through traffic pulling off people's mirrors and apparently trying to carjack.

[Lord Humungus]

Wartyium?

Has a New, Fifth Force of Nature Been Found?

The new work by Feng and his team suggests that the Hungarians found not a "dark photon" but rather a "protophobic X boson" ? a strange particle whose existence could indicate a fifth force of nature. The known electromagnetic force acts on protons and electrons, but this newfound particle apparently interacts only with protons and neutrons, and then only at very short distances, researchers said.

"There's no other boson that we've observed that has this same characteristic," co-author Timothy Tait, also a professor of physics and astronomy at UC-Irvine, said in the same statement. "Sometimes we also just call it the 'X boson,' where 'X' means unknown."

The potential fifth force may be linked to the electromagnetic and strong and weak nuclear forces, as "manifestations of one grander, more fundamental force," Feng said.

It's also possible that the universe of "normal" matter and forces has a parallel "dark" sector, with its own matter and forces, Feng added.

[Rich]

"Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think."

? Werner Heisenberg

[Tonio]

Meh. You can never be sure, after all.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows and doesn't narrow gaze*

[Citizen X]

+/-1 cat

[Zeb]

Unless someone finds some more intuitive alternative to quantum physics (which seems unlikely), I think that's fair to say.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Something I always wonder when I read about the latest physics discoveries: To what extent does our conception of the universe *actually* reflect what's going on, or are we basically searching for the best metaphor to describe for the situation for our inadequate human senses?

[Rich]

"If we tweak this elegant mathematical model enough, the Universe is *sure* to correspond to it!"

[Zeb]

Well, that is kind of the premise that all of science is based on. That the universe is intelligible.

[Zeb]

Not a metaphor, really.

Science, especially physics, is the attempt to find a consistent mathematical model that correctly describes the results of experiments. Or at least that's how I look at it.
It doesn't actually reflect what's going on in that we can't directly observe what is actually going on (whatever that actually means).

[Brett L]

GPS relies on General Relativity
Every semi-conductor in every computer device on the planet runs on quantum theory

So at some point, our mathematical models are precise enough to generate the same effect every time the same inputs are fed to them, and do so in useful ways. We can observe the effect of individual protons, neutrons, and electrons on other matter via Scanning Tunnelling Microscopes. I think they may have some fractional lensing that might let us see them with light on the near horizon. So that is real. Some things are inferred (dark matter, quantum gravity) from existing models that are extremely predictive over large areas, but fail in strange ways in others. These are theoretical, but not really metaphorical. If Newton-Einstein gravity scales with the inverse square of distance at every distance, for any mass, dark matter MUST exist. (Look up MOND on wikipedia for a competing theory that doesn't require this.) Other unobservable things are probably metaphorical -- like "what is the best interpretation of congealing quantum states when observed"? We don't yet have a way of testing that.

[Suthenboy]

"...searching for the best metaphor to describe for the situation for our inadequate human senses?"

This.

All of our understanding is based on metaphor. Our senses are adequate...for an animal that evolved in the environment we did. They are great for hunting, gathering and interacting with each other. We excel at that. For understanding the universe beyond the scale of those activities, atomic/subatomic and macro scale, not so much.

[Pompey (91% LOLLOLZ)]

Shaka, when the walls fell.

[R C Dean]

are we basically searching for the best metaphor to describe for the situation for our inadequate human senses

I don't think there's any question this is it. Even mathematics is a metaphor, as in, something created by our minds, not something that exists without a mind. Now, if you are a deist and believe that the universe is a mind, then its not a metaphor, I suppose.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Comedy Central has cancelled The Nightly Show hosted by Larry Wilmore.

Democrat in the White House and lousy Democrat candidate to replace him spells trouble for comedy shows reluctant to zing the left.

[Pat (PM)]

CNN: I watched the special last night, and I noticed that you did a lot of jokes about John McCain -- his age, his war hero story -- but not so many about Barack Obama. Is it harder to make fun of Obama?

Chris Rock: He's just one of those guys, you know, like Will Smith. There's no Will Smith jokes. There's no Brad Pitt jokes. You know, what are you going to say? "Ooh, you used to have sex with Jennifer Anniston. Now you have sex with Angelina Jolie. You're such a loser." What do you say? "Ooh, your movies are big. You make $20 million." There's nothing to say about Brad Pitt.

CNN: Why is Obama like that?

Rock: It's like "Ooh, you're young and virile and you've got a beautiful wife and kids. You're the first African-American president." You know, what do you say?

[Rufus The Monocled]

He's sooooo fucking full of shit.

You can totally spoof him.

[Krapulent Kristen]

Things to make fun of Obama about:

-Chicago politician (this could make a a comic's entire career)
-Dad jeans
-His similarities to GWB (war, torture, Gitmo)
-War on Drugs despite his own and his daughter's drug use
-How poorly race relations are going in this country despite FIRST BLACK PREZNIT OMG!

[Agent Cooper]

Dem ears doe.

[Lord Humungus]

North Carolina homeowner angry that cars keep crashing into his house

A North Carolina man says he's getting close to giving up on his home in Raleigh after it was hit by a driver for the sixth time.

WTVD-TV reports Sunday that Carlo Bernarte says he's fed up with the half-dozen crashes since he and his family moved in 2004. A drunken driver hit the home in October and later died.

Authorities confirm that a car crashed through a wall and into Bernarte's property about 5 a.m. Saturday.

Bernarte says his insurance company canceled his homeowner's policy over the crashes. He says city engineers have told him extending a nearby guardrail would be a safety issue because it could block the line of sight for drivers leaving the neighborhood.

[Swiss Servator]

Jersey barriers, man.

[Rich]

Yep. I've seen plenty of houses like that with, um, nice landscaping rocks.

[Lord Humungus]

Yeah - the boulders at the entrance to my twenty acres aren't just for show. They also stop any vehicle from getting around the gate.

[1775]

I'm thinking moat. Or an empty trench at the very least. I haven't seen pics of the property, is there room for that?

[R C Dean]

Yard art. Along these lines:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

My neighbor's house was one of those. I can't quite recall the details, it may have been at the wrong spot of a 3-way intersection. But for the few years that my family lived near there, that house had a car crash into its gate 3 or 4 times.

[Lord Humungus]

When a lad's night out takes an unexpected turn

When these two pulled a pair of cougars on a night out they thought they were in luck. Until one of them got them home, that is.

Cheeky-duo Arran Brown and Adam Kisby claim they thought they'd hit the jackpot after an older woman invited them back to her home for an 'after party'.

But instead of cosying up under the covers with their new female friends, the pair say they found themselves crashing in her daughter's Disney princess room.

So they had to Snapchat the bizarre experience? obviously.

*hangs head in shame for posting this*

[BigT]

So, did Longtorso nail the daughter?

[Pat (PM)]

Professor Brian Cox clashes with Australian climate sceptic

Professor Brian Cox has verbally sparred with a newly elected Australian politician who believes climate change is a global conspiracy.

The British physicist behind BBC's Wonders of the Universe was a guest on the adversarial panel show Q&A.

Also on the Australian TV show was senator-elect Malcolm Roberts from the anti-immigration One Nation party.

The celebrity scientist was dumbfounded by Mr Roberts' claim that climate change data was manipulated by Nasa.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. panel show puts politicians, commentators and experts from different fields in front of a live studio audience to face questions about the issues of the week.

Mr Roberts has previously claimed that the United Nations is using climate change to lay the foundations for an unelected global government.

[Krapulent Kristen]

I know a bunch of chicks whow are gaga for that Cox guy. There's no accounting for taste. Personally I'm a Joao Magueijo kinda gal.

[Free Society]

I'm a believer of changing climate, I'm a skeptic of the popular climate change narrative, I'm a skeptic of government centric financing and accreditation of research, I'm a skeptic of the convergence between the political and the scientific, I'm a skeptic of the idea that unlocking CO2 from the depths of the carbon cycle is an altogether bad thing for the biosphere. I think that is all very reasonable and I don't see where this Australian politician necessarily went wrong for this Brian Cox to be so dumbfounded. His dumbfoundedness then, stems from the fact that someone isn't on board the orthodox catastrophist narrative that is so useful for inflating the budget of his institution, or that of his colleagues and their respective fields of research.

[Zeb]

Ugh, why can't these people just stick to their fields. Cox is a pretty good physicist as far as I know and I've really enjoyed some of his medium difficulty lectures on various subjects.

[Drake]

So yesterday as Joe Biden, as he was telling people that Trump can't be trusted with nuclear codes, actually pointed out the guy holding the codes.

http://www.americanthinker.com....._else.html

[Brian]

Politicians: the human element weak link of national security.

[Krapulent Kristen]

Standing here at the Pentagon bus station, I've been "subtly" sniffed by a cop dog at least 3 times. I love my commute.

[Swiss Servator]

Put a pack of Braunschweiger in your pocket next time.

[Rich]

See? I told you rubbing all your possessions with essence of female dog would pay off!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Obviously due to your callipygian status. They just can't help themselves.

[Brett L]

Tell him you want a PBA card for it.

[Lord Humungus]

Search Resumes for Nazi Gold Train That Might Not Even Exist

Explorers in Poland began digging Tuesday for a legendary Nazi train said to be laden with treasure and armaments.

They're not dissuaded by decades of fruitless searches, a scientific determination that no train is there and warnings by historians that such a train might have never even existed.

The search in southeastern Poland attests to the power of a local legend claiming a Nazi "gold train" disappeared in a mountain tunnel as the Germans escaped the advancing Soviet army at the end of World War II.

As the dig got underway, a yellow excavator moved earth along railroad tracks above the spot where two explorers believe the train is buried. The work is expected to last several days.

The two men claimed last year to have located the elusive train with radar equipment deep in the bowels of the earth in the city of Walbrzych, sparking a gold rush in that area.

[Swiss Servator]

HA HA! The fools! We found that...er...nevermind.

*scurries off*

[Lord Humungus]

German intelligence warns of ISIL 'hit squads' among refugees

German intelligence services have evidence that "hit squads" from the Islamic State terror group have infiltrated the country disguised as refugees, the deputy head of Bavaria's spy agency told the BBC Thursday.

"We have to accept that we have hit squads and sleeper cells in Germany," Manfred Hauser, the vice president of the Bavaria region's intelligence gathering agency, BayLfV, told the Today program.

"We have substantial reports that among the refugees there are hit squads. There are hundreds of these reports, some from refugees themselves. We are still following up on these, and we haven't investigated all of them fully," said Hauser.

[Lord Humungus]

ack! beaten to the punch.

[Pat (PM)]

Hey!

[Rich]

A woman spent nearly 10 minutes trashing a Florida market after the owner caught her stealing candy bars and locked the front door

After the woman started smashing and throwing bottles, it appears an employee relented and unlocked the door, allowing the suspect to escape on foot.

Any reasonable employee would have just left her in there *forever*.

[Lord Humungus]

Kathleen Kane Was an Honorary Clinton All Along

Roughly 30 minutes after Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted on two counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor counts of abusing the powers of her office, Gov. Wolf called for her immediate resignation.

It may not have been a tough call for Wolf, who had already called for her step down one year ago ? after his fellow Democrat had been charged criminally, but before the state Supreme Court revoked Kane's law license, rendering her unable to take part in any of the legal aspects of her job as the state's top law-enforcement officer.

...

Let that sink in for a bit. She's a prosecutor who is legally prohibited from doing any legal work. What does she do all day? Attend ribbon-cutting ceremonies? How epically arrogant and power-mad do you have to be to refuse to resign under these circumstances?

[straffinrun'sbrother]

Do we sit Simon down and tell him all the guys in the bar have had sex with his new fianc?e? He loves her and, well, she has hasn't fucked anyone we know for six months. *Posting from the bar tonight*

[Lord Humungus]

*whoah*

[Florida Hipster]

I would want to know before getting government married.

[Florida Hipster]

Wait, has she slept with anyone after they started dating?

[Lord Humungus]

Slutty girls are the best girls.

[Florida Hipster]

I agree, but if you are marrying her, it's time to put away your promiscuous ways.

[Mr Lizard]

Nothing wrong with an accomodating female mammal. You stooopid bipeds need all the help you can get.

[Groovus Maximus]

So says the being with an anaboner fide assgina. A well-nestled mite in one of your meatus scales and you couldn't drop a load in a thimble.-)

[Brian]

Yes.

[Brian]

You need to tell your friend to pull his head out of his ass and move on.

[0x90]

Well, there are two possibilities: either she has changed, or she hasn't. If she has, you can only do harm by telling him. If she hasn't, the situation is more complex, but you say yourself you don't have evidence to this effect, so I would opt to mind my own business, and let him mind his. In the event it goes awry, he will learn a life lesson that he needs to learn, and one which cannot be taught, but only delayed, by your telling him.

[robc]

Is Simon a friend or just a guy you know?

[robc]

And if so, how does he not already know this about her?

[Lord Humungus]

I know a married couple - the guy was a keyboardist in a local group while the gal was pretty much the band's groupie who had slept/gone out with every other member. He was just the last one.

They ended up with two girls, and as far as I know, are still married ten years later.

[Lord Humungus]

*ended up having two children

[R C Dean]

Yes, go on . . . oh, never mind.

[Groovus Maximus]

Do we sit Simon down and tell him all the guys in the bar have had sex with his new fianc?e? He loves her and, well, she has hasn't fucked anyone we know for six months.

Yes. I would also highly suggest a thorough battery of tests for STD's and other creepy crawlies that don't wash off. A good preventive worming from a physician Board Certified in Carnival Medicine is strongly suggested as well.

[tarran]

Man! What put you in such a mood?

[Groovus Maximus]

Had a case that didn't go smoothly (idiot scrub tech - threw her out of theatre), Dr. ZG and I are arguing, and my first sentence was serious (frequent testing for STD, especially when fucking a bar full of whatevers, is sound advice); the second was (mostly) tongue-in-cheek.-)

[tarran]

A spat with the wife was at the top of the list of expected responses.

Sigh.

[R C Dean]

I doubt Dr. G needs this advice, but . . . In my experience, its never worth winning an argument with your wife.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin D. Williamson ?@KevinNR 13m13 minutes ago

Kevin D. Williamson Retweeted jeffm8
As I've said, the real attraction of politics to many people is that it gives them moral permission to hate.

[Pat (PM)]

Report Finds These Gun Owners Are Least Likely Criminals

Concealed-carry permit holders are nearly the most law-abiding demographic of Americans, a new report by the Crime Prevention Research Center says?comparing the permit holders foremost with police.

"Indeed, it is impossible to think of any other group in the U.S. that is anywhere near as law-abiding," says the report, titled "Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States 2016."

From 2007 through 2015, permits issued by state and local governments increased by 215 percent, to more than 14 million Americans, according to the data.

The study compared permit holders to police, who committed 703 crimes from 2005 to 2007, and 113 of those were firearm violations.[...]

"We find that permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at less than a sixth the rate for police officers," the report says. "Among police, firearms violations occur at a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 officers. Among permit holders in Florida and Texas, the rate is only 2.4 per 100,000.10. That is just one-seventh of the rate for police officers."

[Rich]

Concealed-carry permit holders are nearly the most law-abiding demographic of Americans

Don't worry. Hillary will take care of that.

[0x90]

"We find that permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at less than a sixth the rate for police officers," the report says.

[Mr. Flanders]

Cause they kill the witnesses?

[Rufus The Monocled]

But...2.4%!!!

[Brian]

Listen, guns are scary. Just because you're one of the safest demographics, doesn't mean I shouldn't be scared shitless of you.

[Free Society]

If this new proposed law saves but one life... (and even if the law actually ends lives, it's okay as long as that can't be measured.)

[Johnny Hit n Run Paulene]

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted ? and you create a nation of law-breakers ? and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

[Lee Genes]

I'm feeling hateful this morning.

Don't you dare suggest hard work and a positive attitude are important attributes.

Towards the middle of the recording, Gina can be seen boxing as her father tells her, "Every single day when you wake up, step in front of that mirror and say: 'Today is going to be a great day. I can and I will. Say it or it won't happen.'" This belief in the power of positive thinking is both common and incredibly harmful. The attention is focused on an individual's behavior with no mention of the structural problems and inequalities that keep them down both emotionally and socio-economically. It tells us our attitudes ? not the obstacles stacked against us ? are the problem.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Damn society, not giving individuals all the goodies they deserve just for existing!

[WTF]

It tells us our attitudes ? not the obstacles stacked against us ? are the problem.

And it is correct.

[Suthenboy]

Every time I read the demoralizing propaganda these people write I imagine the grey, dismal and hopeless world of grinding poverty that they want to inflict on us.

They truly are evil.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

You have no control over society. You do have control over your own attitude and how you spend your time.

It's very simple.

[Zeb]

Positive thinking definitely gets oversold. If you aren't a talented boxer, or whatever, positive thinking won't make you one.

But this is dumb. Focusing on all the bad shit life throws at you definitely isn't going to help.

[Krabappel]

SJW feminists are miserable human beings. I'm betting most of them also have "fibromyalgia".

[Lee Genes]

More retardation...

4 Reasons 'People of Color' Isn't Always the Best Choice of Words

Diversity culture, or this push to challenge the societal norms that subconsciously support heteronormative whiteness at the cost of all others, could be responsible for how the term people of color can be used maliciously ? albeit unintentionally.

In an effort to raise awareness without fully understanding the implications of how to incorporate a better foundation for equitable solutions, we're contributing to the same system by handing it another tool.

Ironically, the trap of people of color can be permitted by the very people who identify as such ? mainly by non-Black people of color, who in their efforts to raise awareness against oppression, continue to rely on exploitation and subconscious violence rooted in language.

Lately, language has pushed to better encompass the sensitivity and awareness needed to navigate within racial identity and ethnicity. But the term people of color ? an umbrella term used to encompass everyone who identifies as someone from a non-white background ? can be the easiest way for us to fall in the trap of "one size fits all" thinking.

And what's worse, the term people of color can contribute to the violence that specific communities face every day in a white supremacist society.

[Rich]

Not to mention it offends Albino-African-Americans.

[0x90]

But the term people of color ? an umbrella term used to encompass everyone who identifies as someone from a non-white background ? can be the easiest way for us to fall in the trap of "one size fits all" thinking.

(she wrote without a hint of irony)

[WTF]

societal norms that subconsciously support heteronormative whiteness at the cost of all others

Well there's a phrase with a lot of big words that has no fucking meaning.

[Suthenboy]

I still use the term 'black' when I want to refer to someone I don't know, but if I know them I just use their name.

So negro is out, colored is out, black is out, african american is on its way out and now people of color? How exactly are we supposed to refer to someone ?

Fuck these idiots.

[JW]

Many-colored people?

[Zeb]

"Black" is good still. I think. I'm sticking with it.

[ant1sthenes]

You're supposed to ignore their wishes for as long as legally possible, lest you have to learn lots of made up pronouns and shit too.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Hey, I'm in agreement with this guy, but it was HIS SIDE that chose to bring back the "colored people" moniker and just shift the words around.

[Zeb]

Goes off the rails with the "white supremacist" bit. But I've had similar thoughts for quite some time about "people of color". As if the world is somehow divided up into white people and "other". It completely glosses over the tremendous diversity in the world and the country. I'm surprised more non-white people don't find the term highly offensive.

[Lee Genes]

And for the piece duh retardance

DU accuses Trump of working for Russia while ignoring the Clinton Foundation's ties to same...

[Rich]

I am *so* looking forward to the debates.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Me too. More time to catch up on Netflix. I'm behind on a bunch of shows.

[Suthenboy]

Remember, if you want to know what the left is up to just listen to what they accuse their enemies of. Works every time.

[R C Dean]

9 shareholders in a Russian company gave over $140 million dollars to the Clinton Foundation shortly before State signed off on their acquisition of massive uranium reserves in the US.

Totes coincidental, I'm sure.

[CatoTheChipper]

A Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen struck a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders, killing at least 11.

Explosives supplied by one Nobel Peace Prize laureate were used to destroy a hospital supported by another Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Somehow I don't think that Alfred Nobel envisioned this sort of thing would happen when he initiated the Nobel Peace Prize to assuage his conscience for his role in making dynamite the explosive of choice for military use.

[Mongo]

The two Republican and Democratic parties are pretty close to being open criminal organizations with this latest.

[Free Society]

Comedy Central has cancelled The Nightly Show hosted by Larry Wilmore.

After a quick search, I found him praised by all manner of leftist hackmedia for his non-stop racialism. Glad to see him get shit for ratings.

[Brian]

He can go back to being the Zodiac Killer.

[Free Society]

The resemblance is uncanny.

[DEG]

Some quotes from another Kathleen Kane story

Warning: auto-play video

"It seemed that we had somebody who felt that she was above the law and that's not the case because no one is above the law.

The Feds don't think so if your name is Clinton.

"We are a very honorable profession here. We have rules that we have to abide by and there are no exceptions to that," said prosecutor Kevin Steele.

HAHAHAHA!

"There are great men and women who work in the office of the Attorney General. Great prosecutors, great agents, great support staff, and they have had to suffer through what this defendant has done.

I guess wondering if they'll be charged next counts as suffering.

The entire episode, Kane claimed, began with a series of "pornographic, racial and religiously offensive emails" from the office of former Attorney General Tom Corbett -- who was elected governor in 2010 -- and uncovered in an investigation.

The Sandusky case that Corbett sandbagged or another case?

"It is time to bring honor and respect back to the Office of the Attorney General," Gleason said.

Nah, let her stay. That would bring the honor and respect the office deserves.

[R C Dean]

Great prosecutors, great agents, great support staff, and they have had to suffer through what this defendant has done.

Reminds me of Hillary's quote about women being the primary victims of war because their menfolk get killed.

[Ken Shultz]

"At launch, The Nightly Show had the benefit of stalwart The Daily Show With Jon Stewart as its opener, and a landscape seemingly in desperate need of a diverse voice just as the Black Lives Matter movement was taking shape. In the many months since, however, Wilmore lost Stewart as his lead-in (he remains an executive producer on The Nightly Show) and instead follows another black voice in new Daily Show host Trevor Noah.

Wilmore, who informed his staff of the network's decision early Monday, didn't hide his disappointment. "I'm really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity," he says in a statement to THR, leaning on his "Keeping it 100" mantra as he continued: "But I'm also saddened and surprised we won't be covering this crazy election or 'The Unblackening' as we've coined it. And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn't counted on 'The Unblackening' happening to my time slot as well."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.c.....led-919407

Three points:

1) Never mind that he doesn't draw enough viewers to justify the show, he wants the network to keep the show anyway because he's black?

2) If you want to be accused of "unblackening" should a new show not work out, make sure you hire Larry Wilmore to host it.

3) Stewart and Colbert were unusual in their ability to be both progressive and funny, and one of them had to pretend he was a retarded version of George Will to manage that.

[Stormy Dragon]

One of my favorite bits on Colbert was one time he had George Will on as the interview guest and Will's strategy seemed to be to do Colbert's character until Colbert starts losing it:

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/.....eorge-will

[DEG]

Hacker claims to be selling stolen NSA hacking tools

Warning: auto-play video

The NSA develops high-powered hacking tools. Now a hacker claims to be selling a stolen batch of them.

On Saturday, a load of computer code -- whose purpose is to break into other computers -- was leaked to the public by an anonymous entity called "The Shadow Brokers."

The same mysterious entity also promised an upcoming "cyber weapons auction" -- the digital equivalent to putting stolen military missiles up for sale.

The gang claims the stolen hacking tools were developed by "the Equation Group" -- a spying entity widely thought to be the U.S. National Security Agency and spying departments from four international allies: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Together, that group is called the "Five Eyes."

[SFC B]

When did Liara start franchising?

[Mr. Flanders]

I can't wait for Mass Effect 4 ^_^

[Chip Woodier]

A real hacker would give them away.

[Ken Shultz]

With New Year's Day Rape Day rapidly approaching in Germany, German women having few options to protect themselves (other than hiding), and the German government's unwillingness to do anything to staunch the tide of rapey refugees, I've been doing some creative thinking on what to do about that problem.

The first time someone was convicted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court on the basis of rape was just a few months ago. See UN Security Council Resolution 1820 and the case of Congo's ex-Vice President, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. Note this line in the story linked below:

"The conviction of Bemba also showed the court's willingness to hold commanders responsible for the crimes of their subordinates ? a link some questioned the court would make."

----Washington Post

http://tinyurl.com/hr2tla3

That's interesting because it's more natural to go after the perpetrators themselves; after all, they're the ones who actually did the raping. Certainly, it's easier to go after the perpetrators of rape for what they did themselves rather than some third party for allegedly telling the rapers what to do.

[commodious, blithering idjit]

(other than hiding)

Frauleiiiiin.... come out and plaaaay....

[Ken Shultz]

Now, some might say there's a difference in going after systematic rapers in Germany because there isn't a war going on there, but refugees fleeing into, say, Congo or elsewhere are often the perpetrators of the rape war crime. Aren't the refugees who are raping their way across Europe fleeing conflict just like the Hutus were fleeing war in Rwanda when they raped their way into Congo?

So, anyway, when a government is powerless to stop mass rape, maybe the international Criminal Court should step in. If Merkel and her equivalents in other countries are unwilling or unable to target rapey refugees for whatever reason, then that seems like the same kind of thing that happens in Africa. I guess the pertinent questions are 1) whether countries like Germany and Sweden will admit that they're unwilling or unable to target rapey refugees, and 2) whether rape is only a war crime when the victims are African.

The second question is particularly interesting. Why is the internationalist left on the side of rape victims in Africa, and why are they so defensive about the perpetrators of rape in Europe?

[tarran]

So, anyway, when a government is powerless to stop mass rape, maybe the international Criminal Court should step in.

And do what, Kenny? Sprtinkle magic fairy dust and arrest the mastermind that is revealed when the dust sticks to him?

[Groovus Maximus]

And do what, Kenny? Sprtinkle magic fairy dust and arrest the mastermind that is revealed when the dust sticks to him?

You'll have to clear that first with HazelMeade, to screen for any possible racism, bigotry, or xenophobia first. I gather she is a self-appointed Torquemadette WRT all things race these days, administering Purity Tests, at will.

[tarran]

She also cast me out of the libertarian fold for declining to vote for Gary Johnson.

I don't condemn. This election cycle seems to be sowing the seeds of wrath in all of us.

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, whenever I conjure up rich visual images of bigotry, racism, and xenophobia, yeppers, that rat-bastard tarran just springs to mind..../snark.

We are barely paying attention to the USA election, for the most part. All I care about, voting wise, is voting absentee downballot, since the OK legislature ultimately determines my licencing req. and US residency (FATCA shit). (I also happen to tolerate my Congresscritter). And I can't vote in UKR elections anyway, so's being apolitical seems to be best (especially being a 'furriner).

I am not voting for any USA Presidential candidate, either, and will mock them all mercilessly.

[Ken Shultz]

I think the ICC might lend the German government the moral authority the German government can't seem to muster for themselves. And I think that's telling.

The interesting question really is the last one: Why is collective guilt such a powerful force throughout the West?

I once thought our collective guilt here in the U.S. was rooted in the legacy of slavery. Go to Australia, where the colonizers were sent as convicts, and listen to the left there. The left says the same things in the same way about aboriginal Australians that our left says about the descendants of American slavery today.

The Australians don't have any collective responsibility for the holocaust like the Germans do--but the rhetoric and logic on the left in Germany regarding refugees and immigrants is the same in Germany as it is about aboriginals in Australia. In the U.S. we don't have collaborators with the Nazis to feel guilty about like the Swedish do, but listen to the left in Sweden talk about immigrants and refugees, and they could be American progressives talking about the problems among African-Americans.

[tarran]

I think the ICC might lend the German government the moral authority the German government can't seem to muster for themselves. And I think that's telling.

Are you high? What is the ICC supposed to do? Bless the German police the way popes used to bless armies sent to supress heretics like the Cathars?

[Ken Shultz]

You apparently want the point of my post to be about something that it isn't.

[Ken Shultz]

P.S. Theoretically, the ICC could issue warrants and hold trials.

Remember when John Murtha did the unthinkable and started criticizing the Iraq War?

After that, for a lot of people on the left, criticizing the Iraq War suddenly became okay.

That's the way morality seems to work on the left. Someone with moral authority (in their eyes) has to say it's okay in public before it can be okay, and the German government on their own probably cannot muster the moral authority necessary to address this problem.

[tarran]

Warrants against *whom* kenny? Trials accusing *whom* of *what*?

[ant1sthenes]

The German government? I can't think of any other party that has any actual authority.

[Ken Shultz]

Sure!

Why not?

"The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer investigations to the Court."

http://tinyurl.com/llfmkcp

Germany could refer cases itself if it feels it's too sensitive a thing for them to do, and maybe some enterprising German politician will do that.

Or if the court itself feels that Germany is either unable or unwilling to prosecute criminals, . . .

But let's not chase the McGuffiin around too far and miss the rest of the plot. What's in the suitcase really isn't what the story is about.

1) "Why is the internationalist left on the side of rape victims in Africa, and why are they so defensive about the perpetrators of rape in Europe?"

2) "The interesting question really is the last one: Why is collective guilt such a powerful force throughout the West?"

3) "Why does the ICC get the moral authority while those who bring attention to the rapey refugees of Europe get condemned by default?"

[Ken Shultz]

The ICC isn't going to embarrass Germany by going after rapey refugees. Hell, they're not going to prosecute refugees for crimes in the wealthy West on principle ever.

Merkel isn't about to refer cases to the ICC because she's too embarrassed to do something about the refugees herself either. That's not the point.

The interesting question to me is . . . I've stated it more than three times in more than three different ways. That's why I brought it up.--to show that there's a double or triple standard at play here, and to help try to explain it. I'd also like to hear what other smart people think about these questions and why things are as they are.

The explanation for the observation that even if America had no legacy of slavery, our leftists would in all likelihood still be saying the same things anyway--is an interesting question in itself.

The McGuffin not so much. The ICC is an interesting point of contrast that requires explanation. It's probably not the actual solution to rapey refugees.

[tarran]

The McGuffin not so much. The ICC is an interesting point of contrast that requires explanation. It's probably not the actual solution to rapey refugees.

Gosh! You could avoided all the fuss by actually writing clearly something to the effect of asking why the european left is turning a blind eye to rapes by middle eastern and north african migrants and (via the ICC) not turning a similar blind eye to black african on black aftican rape as subjugation.

The answer is very simple.

1) The prosecution of that warlord in no way made leftists in Europe look bad. So it went forward without anyone remarking on it let alone condemning it. If anything it cemented leftists' feeling of superiority over the Africans they see as being subhuman vermin.

2) To admit they've got a very serious violence problem with the refugees from the ME and NA, the left would have to admit:
a) The rightists' fears of rapes and violence against women was actually legitimate - and the left will sacrifice millions of women to be raped to death before admitting rightists have a point about anything, and
b) That the leftist government cannot guarantee security, and they are loath to admit such inability.

[Ken Shultz]

At some point, we might be tempted to start thinking that the left's rhetoric and logic doesn't really have anything to do with any particular historical legacy. Cross culturally, the left's rhetoric and logic mostly seems to be a function of their own ideology.

Indeed, why does the ICC have so much prestige on the left, so much that they can target rapers for war crimes and be cheered for it? And yet why is the left, simultaneously, so tied up in knots about going after rapey refugees in the West?

Why does the ICC get the moral authority while those who bring attention to the rapey refugees of Europe get condemned by default?

Pardon me, but I think those are interesting questions.

[Free Society]

Why is the internationalist left on the side of rape victims in Africa, and why are they so defensive about the perpetrators of rape in Europe?

I chalk it up to a desire to eradicate western civilization, whether that's a conscious objective of the individual apologists or not.

[R C Dean]

I can't imagine anything less likely to stop the rapefugees than the International Court taking a hand.

"Remain calm! All is well!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro

[Lord Humungus]

bow to your open border masters. peons...

Leaked Soros Memo: Refugee Crisis 'New Normal,' Gives 'New Opportunities' For Global Influence

According to the review, immigration policy-makers need to accept the refugee crisis as a "new normal."

One of the conclusions listed in the memo is, "Accepting the current crisis as the new normal and moving beyond the need to react."

"Observing our partners as they respond and adjust to the new reality in light of the crisis in Europe and the Mediterranean, we see little attention given to long-term planning or fundamentally new approaches to advocacy." The conclusion also stresses the need to fight back against "growing intolerance toward migrants."

[Free Society]

Europe has tolerance in abundance. That's why they're in this mess, they don't have the stomach to enforce anything resembling in-group preference.

[Lord Humungus]

Drudge gets the most flattering photos of Hill-dog

Behold the Witch riseth from the grave

[Free Society]

An unusual array of white people behind Hilary in that shot. I wonder if she's trying to shore up her support among white males now that she's already got the Taliban vote locked down.

[0x90]

Uncanny.

[GILMORE?]

Comedy Central has cancelled The Nightly Show hosted by Larry Wilmore.

Who?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Not sure, but I've already seen articles saying that it was racist to fire him.

[Free Society]

So clearly it was a good decision.

[DWB]

"Live Free"

Well, unless you really don't want to bake that Nazi cake. And ...

[Hank Phillips]

Here's hoping Chrissy Adams--the Seneca solicitor who protected murdering Trooper Tiller from even so much as a mock trial for shooting that kid in the back--gets the same treatment as A.G. Kathleen Kane. Since the Henry Virkula murder of 1929, prohibitionist fanaticism has been a license to rob and kill in the hands of political hired killers. Going after the higher-ups that protect these stooges will probably further the cause of repeal.

[Drake]

One more round and Levit wound have knocked him out. The Russian was wobbly and bleeding at the end.

[BigT]

"That's precisely why I detest judged sports. Run faster, score more goals, jump higher - you win! No fucking style points, no politics just sport."

The US men's Olympic basketball team disagrees.

[BigT]

1972