French Force Muslim Beachgoer to Strip, Armed Cops Chase Child They Mistook for Grown Suspect, Trump's All-White Black-Outreach Tour: A.M. Links

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  PHOTOPQR/NICE MATIN/MAXPPP

  French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip and issued her a citation for the illegal garment, which apparently violated "good morals and secularism."

• Black Republicans suggest Donald Trump conduct his African-American-outreach tour among actual black voters.
• Cook County, Illinois, is arguing that rap, rock, country, and electronic music do not constitute "culture" and should therefore be subject to the county's three percent tax on "amusements."
• A 10-year-old child was chased and cornered by armed cops who said they mistook him for a 20-year-old robbery suspect.
• The Donald Trump campaign spent $55,055 on retail-price copies of the candidate's own book, which could violate Federal Election Committee rules.
• The sharing economy has proved a huge boon for tourism in small towns like Joshua Tree, California, prompting city officials to complain about too many people.
• "With few exceptions, 'the best' people do not go into government."
• Rafts and tubes carrying some 1,500 drunk Americans accidentally drifted into Canadian territory this week, and nobody really cared.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip and issued her a citation for the illegal garment, which apparently violated "good morals and secularism.",/i>

They refuse to let women lose their ability to dress themselves.

[WTF]

Still first, but I assess a point deduction for HTML tag failure.

[Fist of Etiquette]

#GrittyAndRaw

[Atanarjuat]

Just another example of how the patriarchy enables men to assert ownership of women's bodies.

[ant1sthenes]

I guess that's the secular caliphate I keep hearing so much about?

[SIV]

Vice President Weld will task some his thousands of new FBI agents to strip Muslim women in enforcing President GayJay's burqa ban.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Atanarjuat]

You're alive!

Can you explain what the deal is with the bags of milk?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I've been around - just later.

And no.

You guys are OBSESSED with the bags of milk. It's not like we sell beer in bags....

Hang on a sec...

/gets on phone to pitch idea.

[bacon-magic]

In America we call bags of milk "fun bags". You can find a pair on most human females.

[Enough About Palin]

Here's what I want to know about milk. There is a billboard in downtown Minneapolis for Cub Foods and it's advertising White Milk. WTF is White Milk?

[B.P.]

Milk for white people. You know, like soy milk, coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, etc.

[bacon-magic]

1% milk.

[Raven Nation]

Where ya been?

We're going to war!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hm. What do you think of that?

Mixed for me but leaning on 'dumb'.

[Raven Nation]

In general, I don't think independent "Super Leagues" really work. They may have novelty for a couple of years but, ultimately, if you're a Juventus fan, you've grown up with a historical legacy of winning Serie A and/or the Champion's League. Winning a newly created super league wouldn't have much cache I suspect.

[Rufus The Monocled]

My thinking too. If you have Bayern, Real, Juve, Man Utd etc. After a while...meh.

[bacon-magic]

1% Milk.

[Bee Tagger]

Rafts and tubes carrying some 1,500 drunk Americans accidentally drifted into Canadian territory this week

White americans floating along like so many bags of milk.

[Citizen X]

"Now. Leave Canada, please."

[yet another dave]

"Perhaps Canada should build a wall?" They send their rapists and murderers, don't get me wrong some of them are good people. We need to build a wall and America will pay for it too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Uh, Canada is above us so how could they drift there? You can only drift downward. I smell a rat.

[Shirley Knott]

You can stand in Windsor Ontario and look north into Detroit. It's the only place on the borders where that's true.

[robc]

Also true along Alaska/Canada border if you allow North to allow a tiny degree of drift.

[robc]

And literally true in some parts of British Columbia that are due south of parts of AK.

[robc]

Lax Kw'alaams
Prince Rupert
Graham Island
etc

[Mock-star]

I highly doubt you can see detroit from these places.

[Mickey Rat]

Fort Erie and Niagara Falls beg to differ with that assertion.

[robc]

Northwestern edge of St Joseph Island too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe you're not allowed to stand at these places.

[robc]

The people of Graham Island have to scoot around everywhere?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

YOU"RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR!

[Mike Laursen]

Slowly, I turned! Inch by inch! Step by step!

[Mainer2]

+1 Eye Poke
+2 Face Slaps

[Isaac Bartram]

The St Clair River runs south south westerly from Port Huron/Sarnia, so that if you go due south from downtown Port Huron you end up in Canada.

[Agammamon]

Its funny - the Canadians probably just pushed them back out and pointed the way back to the US, whereupon they were immediately arrested by US CBP for not entering the country at an official port of entry. And probably charged with smuggling alcohol.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

And don't forget 'stripped out of their burquinis'.

[Citizen X]

Cook County, Illinois, is arguing that rap, rock, country, and electronic music do not constitute "culture"

In many cases, i have a hard time disagreeing with this logic.

[RBS]

Florida Georgia Line hardest hit.

[Atanarjuat]

Looking back, they will be seen as the Nickelback of country.

[PBR Streetgang]

God, if only someone would hit them hard.

[Shirley Knott]

But there's nothing amusing in Cook County. Nothing at all.

[Monty Crisco]

In what dimension is this not a violation of the first amendment? Will liberal wackjobs just stop at NOTHING to infringe it? Is Hillary drooling in anticipation of endorsing this act?

[Zeb]

Right. Only things that most people aren't interested in and receive state subsidies count as culture.

[thom]

To lefties, yes. They don't see any distinction between "the state" and "society", so "culture" is what the state says it is.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Then what's all this "rap culture" I keep hearing about?

And rock'n'roll lifestyle? Eh?

[Lord Humungus]

Angler catches more than he bargains for after hooking nudist swimmer's penis on the end of his line

A nudist swimming in a lake was left in agony after an angler managed to 'catch' him on a fishing hook - through his penis.

Herbert Fendt first thought he had got stuck in some water plants, but soon realised that it was far too painful to be weeds.

When he put his hands down towards his legs he felt the line and the hook and realised he had been pierced through his penis.

The incident happened at the Kaisersee, a lake in the Bavarian city of Augsburg in Germany.

[Lee Genes]

*shifts uncomfortably in seat*

[Rich]

"Go 'way. Baitin'."

[PBR Streetgang]

BRAVO!!

[Lee Genes]

*golf clap*

[Swiss Servator]

*applause*

[Trigger Warning]

Aaaaaand Rich wins the thread.

[Idle Hands]

that's one hell of an intricate piercing.

[Crusty Juggler]

That is exactly how I was circumcised.

[SugarFree]

He had to the throw the swimmer back in because he was under the size limit.

[Lord Humungus]

It was this long *hold hands as far apart as he can*

[Mickey Rat]

If you are skinny dipping, how do you not notice the guy fishing and vice versa?

[GILMORE?]

Just play along with the story mr cinema verite

[Fist of Etiquette]

A 10-year-old child was chased and cornered by armed cops who said they mistook him for a 20-year-old robbery suspect.

He ended up being the most convenient black person to focus on at the time. So sue them.

[Swiss Servator]

If only Reason had covered this...

ENB, mailing it in today.

[WTF]

Hey, at least it's on time.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Christ, man. They didn't even get to shoot him. Where's your sympathy for these cops?

[thom]

Maybe their weapons were on a break and didn't want to shoot? Can't blame the cops for something their guns failed to do.

[Bee Tagger]

Cook County, Illinois, is arguing that rap, rock, country, and electronic music do not constitute "culture"

I imagine listeners of each genre agree whole-heartedly about the other genres.

[Zeb]

Only if they are assholes.

Of course it's all culture. It's contemporary American musical culture. It's more legitimately culture than orchestras and art museums which mostly (though certainly not only) represent the culture of the past.

[NebulousFocus]

Exactly. The government would define black as white if it gained them tax revenue.

[NebulousFocus]

Exactly. The government would define black as white if it gained them tax revenue.

[(((Renegade)))]

Black Republicans suggest Donald Trump conduct his African-American-outreach tour among actual black voters.

Good way to get killed.

[Lord Humungus]

For Almanian:

Playing the bagpipes could kill you, scientists warn

Doctors in Manchester identified the condition following the recent death of a 61-year-old man, who died from chronic inflammatory lung condition hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

The condition, which meant the unnamed man experienced breathlessness and eventually could not walk more than 20 yards, caused irreversible scarring to his lungs.

When the man was first diagnosed in 2009, doctors could not work out the cause of his condition because his house contained no mold and he had never smoked.

But when he went to Australia for three months without his bagpipes and his condition improved, doctors tested his instrument.

Samples were taken from several areas, including the bag, the neck and the chanter reed protector, and were found to contain six types of mold and fungi.

Despite treatment, the man died and a post-mortem examination revealed extensive lung damage and lung tissue scarring.

[Swiss Servator]

That is why you sanitize your pipes with whisky!

[Agammamon]

Sanitizing the pipe does nothing for stab wounds - the major cause of bagpiper deaths.

[Rich]

Playing the bagpipes could kill you

"If I hear that damn squealing 'Amazing Grace' *one more time* ...."

[Anomalous]

One definition of a gentleman: a man who knows how to play the bagpipes, but refrains from doing so.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The sharing economy has proved a huge boon for tourism in small towns like Joshua Tree, California, prompting city officials to complain about too many people.

They can live with or without you.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Mr Lizard]

Are you narrowing your gaze because you still haven't found what you're looking for?...

[Crusty Juggler]

He narrows his gaze when it's a beautiful day.

[Swiss Servator]

Bah!

[Anomalous]

By narrowing your gaze, you give yourself away.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Uber is probably helpful in navigating where the streets have no name.

[IndyEleven]

Protip: If you're on MLK it might be in a Bad neighborhood.

[Atanarjuat]

Their busiest day for rentals? Sunday, bloody Sunday.

[Fruit Sushi 2 Go]

Such a robust economy and all these shops, yet I still have't found what I'm looking for.

[Mr Lizard]

2 minutes too late, suck it mammal

[Fruit Sushi 2 Go]

DAMN! Later y'all....

/seppuku

[Lord Humungus]

UPI/CVoter poll: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump hold steady in virtual tie

The UPI/CVoter daily presidential tracking poll released Tuesday shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by less than 1 percentage point for a second consecutive day.

The online poll shows 47.98 for Clinton, compared to 47.24 for Trump.

Each candidate dropped two-tenths of a point in Tuesday's poll, with the percentage of "others" increasing by four-tenths. "Others" in the poll are defined as respondents who decline to pick either Clinton or Trump.

The UPI/CVoter online tracking poll surveys about 200 people each day, leading to a sample size of roughly 1,400 people during any seven-day span.

[Idle Hands]

The national polls don't matter, Trump is down big in all the states that matter. It's a looking like he's gonna lose by 20 here in VA.

[Injun, as in from India]

To steal a line from Chris Rock:

"Spread your cheeks and lift your sack"

...and say "I'm ready for Hillary!"

[Matrix]

I thought that was from Chappelle

[Injun, as in from India]

I think you're right. I just had a "Y'all look alike to me" moment.

That was a line from Rush Hour btw. I'm pretty sure it was Chris Tucker in that movie. 🙂

[Matrix]

Jackie Chan says the same in one of the sequels.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I read that as 'in a virtual lie'.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Donald Trump campaign spent $55,055 on retail-price copies of the candidate's own book, which could violate Federal Election Committee rules.

We can't have a candidate for president breaking rules now, can we?

[WTF]

The Donald Trump campaign spent $55,055 on retail-price copies of the candidate's own book

They should appoint a special prosecutor.

[Injun, as in from India]

A reasonable prosecutor or an unreasonable prosecutor?

[Certified Public Asshat]

We won't be seeing Sarcasmic today:

Bella Thorne reveals she's bisexual

[Swiss Servator]

Bunk, he will be in it.

[SugarFree]

That man, he exploded.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Sarcasmic right now.

[Idle Hands]

Call me when she's outed as a fatneckbeard sexual. Also when she is no longer a child.

[Certified Public Asshat]

She's 18 now, I no longer cringe when he posts a link to her.

[Zeb]

And she is starting to look pretty nice an mature.

[Lee Genes]

Bella Thorne reveals she's bisexual she needs a media boost

[IndyEleven]

Uh huh. Megan Mullally and Anne Heche "bisexual"

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

What do you mean? "This chick is constantly real af'." Believe her!

And she really looks like a wax statue in some of those pics.

[Crusty Juggler]

"Bella Thorne has been eating so much pussy she's shitting clits."

[invisible furry hand]

+1 fucking shaved Sasquatch

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Watch your spewing mouth!

[Suthenboy]

I just read some of the text on that page. I think a million brain cells just died.

[Certified Public Asshat]

You were supposed to only look at the pictures.

[W. Chipper Dove]

Dammit! I came here just to post this link.

[Juice]

Meh.She's not that great looking and she has dead eyes.

[Bee Tagger]

French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip

Rude and nude: I can think of nothing Frencher.

[Citizen X]

You have to sort of appreciate a country where NOT being nearly naked in public is considered a "threat to morals."

[Swiss Servator]

Oh yeah? Ever seen a bunch of 50 something Germans at the beach?!

*shudders*

[(((Renegade)))]

O'Rourke's Law: The larger the German body, the smaller the German bathing suit.

[Rhywun]

I have, and in Spain no less. Where the ample flesh is roasted a nut brown.

[Crusty Juggler]

Go on...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I had a college room-mate who went to a nude beach in Spain.

He was a nice irish boy from Boston who did not tan well. He, in fact, glowed in the dark.

Some Spanish kid runs up and points and says "El Blanco!"

We still call him that 30 years later.

[Rhywun]

Yeah, I was the pale one in my group of Germans-vacationing-in-Spain. Nearly every German person I met when I was living there had a California tan. It's unbelievable how much time they spend on the beaches of southern Europe.

[Citizen X]

Well, when you've got three months of state-mandated vacation time a year, you might as well go someplace nice.

[Cyto]

You also have to appreciate the irony of four guys dressed in police uniforms with bullet proof vests (and slacks, etc.) standing on a beach telling a woman wearing yoga pants and a rayon blouse that she's wearing too many clothes to be on a beach.

Not sure how four armed men ordering a woman to take off her clothes doesn't qualify as a sexual assault either.

[Rhywun]

Can't we just skip this nonsense and go straight to the camps?

[Citizen X]

Because if agents of the state do a terrible thing on behalf of The People, that's somehow qualitatively different than if a random person does the same terrible thing for any reason.

[Injun, as in from India]

This is going to cajole and nicely assimilate the Muslims they invited over.

[Bee Tagger]

prompting city officials to complain about too many people.

I believe the modifier you're missing in that sentence is "untaxed"

[Lord Humungus]

Well Duh...

Stoned rats make lazier choices, UBC study finds

A group of rats high on THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, chose to perform the easiest possible task to get a reward, according to research done at the University of British Columbia.

In a test case of 29 rats, the majority preferred a harder challenge in order to gain a larger batch of sugary treats.

But after being given THC, they chose an easier challenge, even though it gave them a smaller reward.

"Their ability to do the difficult challenge was unaffected by THC. The rats could still do the task ? they just didn't want to," said Mason Silveira, the study's lead author and a PhD candidate in UBC's department of psychology.

[Citizen X]

"The rats could still do the task ? they just didn't want to," said Mason Silveira

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[Swiss Servator]

I was gonna run the maze until I got high
I was gonna get up and find the end but then I got high
My task is undone and I know why
'Cause I got high

I was gonna do a challenge before I got high
I coulda cheated and I coulda passed but I got high
I am taking it tomorrow and I know why
'Cause I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

[Zeb]

"Getting stoned promotes efficiency". There's your headline.

[Drave Robber]

So THC made them even more intelligent?

[Injun, as in from India]

I've never smoked pot, so I don't know the influence it has on your brain.

But is this real or just a stereotype-reinforcer that pot makes you lazy and stupid?

[(((Renegade)))]

It's... uhhhh... sorta.... later, dude.

[bacon-magic]

It does make you lazy. I don't think it affects your intelligence, but will affect short term memory. What was I saying? Ah, fuck it.

[Zeb]

Sounds like lazy and smart to me.

Pot seems to work differently for different people. Some people get stoned and can't do much but zone out and be lazy. Other people can get stoned every morning and be completely functional and show no apparent impairment. In my experience, there really isn't a typical weed consumer.

[CatoTheChipper]

I smoked a lot in college.

From personal experience and observation of friends, relatives, and acquaintances who smoked pot, I confirm that cannabis-induced amotivational syndrome is real.

[Zeb]

It's certainly real, but hardly a guaranteed side-effect. Several of the most motivated, hardest working people I know are daily wake-and-bakers.

[Riven]

*nods and winks*

[Emmerson Biggins]

Ya, I think it's real. But it's not guaranteed, it gets some people and doesn't get others. And even when it does happen, it goes away in say, 2 weeks (max), if you stop smoking.

[robc]

What they didnt tell us was the reward/effort ratio of the various challenges.

[Bee Tagger]

A 10-year-old child was chased and cornered by armed cops who said they mistook him for a 20-year-old robbery suspect.

He should be charged with disrupting a police investigation and as an adult.

[Shirley Knott]

And then go after the parents for aiding and abetting.

[Lord Humungus]

'Secret second Earth' that could be home to ALIENS will be exposed tomorrow

Last month, sources leaked news that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) had spotted an alien world orbiting Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbour.

An anonymous source from the ESO told German publication Der Spiegel the discovery is the closest habitable planet to Earth, which means we could reach it within our lifetime.

But the astonishing finding was not officially announced, sparking furious speculation that the second Earth has deliberately been kept a secret.

Now the ESO is set to finally reveal details of the planet at a press conference tomorrow and astronomers are also likely to discuss whether it has the potential to support life.

[Swiss Servator]

*prepares foil hats*

Tonio! We had best lay in a big supply...

[Juvenile Bluster]

Christ, I'm glad I hovered over that link before clicking. Fuck the S*n and anyone who's ever written for it, read it, looked at it in a shop, or used it for anything other than toilet paper.

[Zeb]

But there are tits.

[Zeb]

astronomers are also likely to discuss whether it has the potential to support life.

In other words, they will say something vague about the possibility that life could exist there and then the press will completely misrepresent it in the headlines.

[LynchPin1477]

Probably, although the next generation of big optical telescopes could potentially do spectroscopy and look for biomarkers.

[FreeRadical]

"Reach it in our lifetime" is utterly out of reach with our current and even realistically imagined future technology.

The "Starshot" idea currently being explored would use a 100 gigawatt laser to propel a gram-sized probe to the nearest star. It would reach 20% of the speed of light and get to Alpha Centauri in 20 years. Senors, controls, and communications that can span light years will all be packed into a gram. Pointing and navigating will be many orders of magnitude better than ever obtained before.

Anything other than this would take thousands of years to get there.

It's a pipe dream that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is.

[Lord Humungus]

We could have reached decent sub-light speeds with the ol' power of nuclear bombs.

Project Orion

133 years to Alpha Centauri - so a multi-generational spacecraft.

[robc]

Dammit, I was about to comment with Orion.

[FreeRadical]

I've always loved the ballsy idea of Orion. Look at the specs of the interstellar vehicles on that page. They're mind-boggling. And that is with no slow down.

[Chip Woodier]

There is no evidence that there is anything to be found in other star systems that can't be found in abundance in our own system. Why claw your way, as a species, out of one gravity well just to toss yourselves down into another?

[Guy Behind the Guy, Jr.]

So you're telling me there's a chance!

[SugarFree]

How does it slow down on the other end?

[LynchPin1477]

It doesn't. The Starshot approach is to do a flyby and then keep on going.

Ryan

[SugarFree]

So all that to see what a gram-sized probe can gather at .2C?

And don't call me "Ryan."

[FreeRadical]

And it is expected to be able to take data on the system as it goes by at 20% the speed of light. The project is so wildly over-optimistic that it should not be treated seriously.

But, for some reason, Stephen Hawking is behind it, so everyone thinks it is real and plausible.

[LynchPin1477]

I'm pretty skeptical myself, but to be fair it is being treated as R&D into whether it could be done. They aren't building anything yet.

[FreeRadical]

Yes, that is true. I do desperately hope that something like this could succeed.

But, in my heart of hearts, I believe humans themselves will never, and I really mean never, reach another star, without some kind of fundamental new discovery about the very fabric of the universe.

[Zeb]

But, in my heart of hearts, I believe humans themselves will never, and I really mean never, reach another star

Yeah, I think that's pretty likely as well. Maybe the reason why we don't meet any aliens, despite the huge numbers of planets out there, is that interstellar travel and communications really just isn't practically possible in any useful way.

[robc]

The Earth is located in the slow zone...for now. But hopefully we arent heading into the Unthinking Depths.

[LynchPin1477]

I believe humans themselves will never, and I really mean never, reach another star

I'm far more bullish on that. If you are willing to make it a one-way journey that only your children or children's children might actually see the end of, then it's actually fairly conceivable. Not easy, for sure, not possible with current tech, but feasible.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Ya, I think the 3rd or 4rth time we tried that it'd probably work.

[bacon-magic]

That is too pessimistic of a view for me. The only way humanity will survive is by migrating from Earth. They didn't think we could get to the moon 50+ years ago, we proved that we could. Never underestimate the capacity for Humanity to achieve anything.

[Cyto]

Just the notion of a gram-sized probe that can communicate with earth from a light year away is kinda remarkable.

[bacon-magic]

Methane gas.

[Zeb]

How does it slow down on the other end?

That part people like to gloss over. It's really the main problem for interstellar travel. It is going to take you just as much time and energy to stop at the other end as it did to get you there.

[robc]

Lightsail and dive into the star.

Duh.

Moties have this figured out.

[Zeb]

OK, but you try it first.

[LynchPin1477]

Seems like a good time to remind people of this

Breakthrough Starshot, a project whose goal is to send probes to Proxima Centauri.

[Agammamon]

An anonymous source from the ESO told German publication Der Spiegel the discovery is the closest habitable planet to Earth, which means we could reach it within our lifetime.

Uh, no - our best engines couldn't get a design that could average 1% of the speed of light. Meaning the best we could do right now would still have us taking over 4 centuries to get there.

[Lord Humungus]

So you're saying bring a lot of crossword puzzle books?

[Rich]

Since "burkini" is a portmanteau of burqa and *bikini* these garments are *inherently* offensive.

[Citizen X]

It's difficult to say to whom, however.

[Rich]

Believers have no such difficulty.

[Injun, as in from India]

It's difficult to say to whom, however.

The default answer is 'feminists'.

Burqa? Patriarchy!!!!
Bikini? Self-debasing objectification!!

When in doubt, you can always count on feminists to b1tch and moan about one thing or another.

[DOOMco]

my favorite version

[LynchPin1477]

French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip and issued her a citation for the illegal garment, which apparently violated "good morals and secularism."

Stories like this remind me that the US is still remarkably free compared to the rest of the world.

[FreeRadical]

True. It's helpful to get that context from time to time.

The pictures of them standing around and making her take her shirt off are heartbreaking.

[Rhywun]

the local Socialist mayor, Ange-Pierre Vivoni, banned the garments, describing the measure as necessary to "protect the population".

Unbelievable. This amid "skirmishes" at other beaches.

Man, France is going down the toilet far faster than I would have thought.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

WaPo still being deliberately obtuse in connecting the dots with Hillary

As with the last data release, the new information, provided by the conservative activist group Judicial Watch and Fox News, does not show or imply corruption stemming from the relationship between Ms. Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. . . .

. . . . And a foundation donor who apparently did get a meeting, Slim-Fast billionaire S. Daniel Abraham, might well have secured it in any case given his long record of donating to Democratic campaigns and his work on Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Many others apparently got through, according to an AP analysis released Tuesday, which found that "More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money ? either personally or through companies or groups ? to the Clinton Foundation." Again, many of them might have received appointments even had they not contributed. But why were these emails going back and forth between State and foundation staff at all?

[ant1sthenes]

I think the media really do have this much contempt for the people.

[WTF]

the new information . . . does not show or imply corruption stemming from the relationship between Ms. Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. . . .

According to WaPo, words have no meaning.

[Idle Hands]

At this point I'm kind of torn between the cynical it's a dem running against literally hitler or the equally depressing this type of shit is so common we don't actually see anything wrong here so why would anyone else lines of thought. If it's the first can't these people see they are literally shitting on their product to the point where people will just cancel their subscriptions? I mean someone in that building has to realize that this is a product that they are trying to sell to consumers right? Even the most ardent democrat can see that this is propaganda.

[Suthenboy]

They have been lying and spinning propaganda for so long they have lost all sense of where the line is.

[Injun, as in from India]

Even the most ardent democrat can see that this is propaganda.

I doubt it.

Democrats have their heads so deep in their asses [pun intended] that they can't see it.

[Idle Hands]

I think your underestimating them, most people can tell when they are being fed propaganda it's not like these people are super excited about Hillary they just fear team red at a level that I don't quite understand.

[Rhywun]

Ask the NY Daily News. They're circling the drain but they will ride their anti-gun hysteria to the end. I think these papers are well past the point of worrying about subscriptions.

[Lord Humungus]

Turkish tanks, special forces launch first major push into Syria to battle IS

Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the U.S.-led coalition launched their first co-ordinated offensive into Syria on Wednesday to try to drive Islamic State from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish militia fighters.

Turkish tank units and Syrian rebels backed by the NATO member crossed into northern Syria to push Islamic State out of the border town of Jarablus, military sources said. A Reuters reporter at the border counted six Turkish tanks inside Syria and witnessed intense bombardments.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said the operation was targeting Islamic State and the Kurdish PYD party, whose gains in northern Syria have alarmed Turkey. Ankara views the PYD as an extension of Kurdish militants fighting an insurgency on its own soil, putting it at odds with Washington, which sees the group as an ally in the fight against Islamic State.

Kill them all and let God sort them out?

[WTF]

They're not going after ISIS, they're going after the Kurds. Aided and abetted by Washington.

[ant1sthenes]

They're just using ISIS as an excuse to go after Kurds. Odd that "ISIS" keeps attacking their domestic enemies.

[(((Renegade)))]

The Donald Trump campaign spent $55,055 on retail-price copies of the candidate's own book, which could violate Federal Election Committee rules.

Didn't Hillary do the same thing a few years ago? Serious question.

[Rich]

*** offers (((Renegade))) a jar of pickles ***

[(((Renegade)))]

They fucking well had better be kosher.

[Rich]

Of course!

[(((Renegade)))]

Holy fuck. OK, I'm gonna talk to Eddie about conversion.

[Zeb]

What would make a pickle un-Kosher?

[(((Renegade)))]

Being processed in a plant that hasn't had rabbinical inspection to ensure that there's nothing trayf that could contact the food or the packaging.

[JWatts]

Yeah, but she's a Democrat. So, it's different.

[Lee Genes]

God Sent Donald Trump to Wage War Against Destructive Spirits

With 15 candidates running, and many of them strong Christians, it didn't seem likely that Mr. Trump, the business man outsider, would go very far. But I heard the Lord say something: "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political correctness." That was the first word I heard about him. Immediately I began to wonder what God was doing. How far will Trump go? Could this odd man out be the unpredictable instrument of God for a nation entering what authors of The Fourth Turning call "the crucible," a cycle of American history where we are put to the ultimate test?

Rationalizing your way to voting for Trump, Apocalyptic Christian Edition

[Citizen X]

For large values of "rationalizing."

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, there's a lot of that going on on both sides this year. Of course, on the prog side, it's not rationalizing it's "after doing careful research and reading, while I don't agree with Hillary on everything, I've come to the conclusion I have enough in common to vote for her." For Team Red it seems to be some variation of your post or "he'll be good on national defense."

I find much more sympathy with the, "I always vote for my Team no matter how much they suck" attitude.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Which is in line with fans who support their team through thick and thin.

[Lord Humungus]

Yep - my Team Red co-workers are already coming up with the rationalizations to vote for Trump, even though they hated him through the primaries because he isn't a true conservative (whatever that means).

[Guy Behind the Guy, Jr.]

because he isn't a true conservative (whatever that means).

"True ____x_______" = "A version of ____x_______ which completely aligns with my own"

I know you were turning a phrase LH; just defining the term for those unaware.

[Suthenboy]

What a mishmash of nonsense. I don't think there is one coherent thought in that.

[Bee Tagger]

The Donald Trump campaign spent $55,055 on retail-price copies of the candidate's own book, which could violate Federal Election Committee rules.

I don't trust all those 5s. It looks like the price of something you'd find in a movie.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's a number Luniz would approve of.

[Lord Humungus]

Illinois governor's office warns of crippling pension payment hike

A Monday memo from a top Rauner aide said the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) board could decide at its meeting this week to lower the assumed investment return rate, a move that would automatically boost Illinois' annual pension payment.

"If the (TRS) board were to approve a lower assumed rate of return taxpayers will be automatically and immediately on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes or reduced services," Michael Mahoney, Rauner's senior advisor for revenue and pensions, wrote to the governor's chief of staff, Richard Goldberg.

When TRS lowered the investment return rate to 7.5 percent from 8 percent in 2014 the state's pension payment increased by more than $200 million, according to the memo.

Apparently a pension plan is a suicide pact.

[(((Renegade)))]

I feel so lucky to be living here.

[bacon-magic]

Me too. Rauner at least is trying. Uphill battle.

[SimonD]

It didn't help that Illinois' Supreme Court said 'fuck you, raise taxes'.

[Doctor Whom]

"With few exceptions, 'the best' people do not go into government."

Since government holds a monopoly on force, the tendency will be to attract all the misfits of society that have a desire to wield it.

Government is a playground for narcissists who seek undeserved praise from individuals & corporations that are looking for the easy way in life.

Paging Frank Herbert to a white courtesy phone.

[Swiss Servator]

*readies crysknife*

[Jerryskids]

But the best people do go into politics - the best at getting elected. Getting elected does not take the same skill set as administering the office, however. Getting elected takes a bullshit artist good at glad-handing and shmoozing and vaguely promising everybody everything. (And it helps if they're a telegenic bullshit artist.) And you wonder why government is a failure when we keep voting for the best-looking smoothest-talking bullshit artist instead of the person who can do the job the best? As they say, try to imagine a fat pig like Howard Taft or a fugly baboon like Abraham Lincoln or a fat bald-headed midget like James Madison trying to run for President today. And then look at JFK or Barack Obama, both of whom got elected almost solely on their looks and charm without a damn bit of substance behind them.

[Lord Humungus]

Something 'Unexpected' Happened When Seattle Raised The Minimum Wage

Yet, our best estimates find that the Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance appears to have lowered employment rates of low-wage workers. This negative unintended consequence (which are predicted by some of the existing economic literature) is concerning and needs to be followed closely in future years, because the long-run effects are likely to be greater as businesses and workers have more time to adapt to the ordinance. Finally, we find only modest impacts on earnings. The effects of disemployment appear to be roughly offsetting the gain in hourly wage rates, leaving the earnings for the average low-wage worker unchanged. Of course, we are talking about the average result.

More specifically, we find that median wages for low-wage workers (those earning less than $11 per hour during the 2nd quarter of 2014) rose by $1.18 per hour, and we estimate that the impact of the Ordinance was to increase these workers' median wage by $0.73 per hour. Further, while these low-wage workers increased their likelihood of being employed relative to prior years, this increase was less than in comparison regions. We estimate that the impact of the Ordinance was a 1.1 percentage point decrease in likelihood of low-wage Seattle workers remaining employed.

RC Dean ftw!

[Swiss Servator]

"disemployment"?

[DOOMco]

That was odd

[Citizen X]

"Unexpected" is a weird word to use to describe a situation that was not only completely predictable but was actually explicitly expected by everyone with even the slightest familiarity with economics.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I think the bill's supporters truly believed the power of their good intentions would overcome math and/or that the opponents of the increase were just making things up out of greed and racism.

[Rhywun]

I think they knew this would happen and don't give a shit. They can dole out jobs like favors now, and let the rest rot on the dole - which is where they would prefer everyone was anyway.

Remember, always go with "evil" before "stupid".

[Swiss Servator]

Well, they did admit (which are predicted by some of the existing economic literature) .

[Tornado16nb]

But isn't zero hedge non prog?

[Lord Humungus]

It's a quote from the University of Washington for the City of Seattle.

[Tornado16nb]

Whoa huge steps for theme!

[robc]

some?

There is more of a consensus on this than on global warming.

[Lee Genes]

The effects of disemployment appear to be roughly offsetting the gain in hourly wage rates, leaving the earnings for the average low-wage worker unchanged. Of course, we are talking about the average result.

I guarantee the person who wrote that also uses the term "wealth inequality" without any sense of irony.

[Lee Genes]

wealth income

[Rufus The Monocled]

You can't even apply 'unintended consequences' anymore; particularly as a type of defense for stupid actions.

There's ample literature and minds who warned of this.

But they don't care. They just don't. Know why? Because their ideals and ideology drives their maniac egos that suppress rational thought and keeps them ignorant.

[Tornado16nb]

I think it is because it makes them feel good about themselves.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

"some"

I guess 99%, including works by Paul Krugman, counts as "some" of the existing economic literature.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Ya, they act like the law of Supply and Demand is some weird controversial aspect of right wing economic theory.

PRICE GO UP. AMOUNT BOUGHT GO DOWN. UNGAWA.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Cook County, Illinois, is arguing that rap, rock, country, and electronic music do not constitute "culture" and should therefore be subject to the county's three percent tax on "amusements."

1. WTF is an "expert musicologist"?

[Hearing Officer Anita] Richardson said she would be "happy to hear your DJ witnesses" but insisted that the attorneys need to also supply expert musicologists to argue the definition of "fine art" and "further testify the music you are talking about falls within any disciplines considered fine art."

2. The people on that Chicago Reader article can't identify sarcasm, as this heavily downvoted comment shows:

As if you stupid Communist homosexual Millennials think that your inane punk rock and gangster rap is real music. The only real music is the MUSIC OF THE MASTERS played by PROPERLY-TRAINED MUSICIANS. Since when is a homosexual dope addict playing records and pressing buttons a "musician?"

[DOOMco]

That is gold.

[SimonD]

...True, but it's also scary, because all of those downvoters probably think all conservatives are actually like that.

It's even scarier that they think this even though I wouldn't be surprised to find every single person involved in pushing this concept are Proggie Democrats.

[Lee Genes]

I Do Not Want To Be Around Open Carry People Even In Public. (tautology for the win)]

I do not want to be around someone who is carrying a gun openly or even concealed. That means I do not want to be in the same business establishment with them either. And I will never accept them in or near my home.

My view is that if you are so paranoid that you feel you must be armed you should NOT be carrying a gun. You are a danger to people around you. And as a group we have a right to ask you to leave. WE HAVE OUR RIGHTS TOO. And I am sick of hearing about their God damned rights.

[RBS]

Someone certainly is paranoid...

[Tornado16nb]

With the left it is all projection

[ant1sthenes]

My view is that if you are so paranoid that you think a person with a gun is going to murder you, you should probably go somewhere that doesn't have cops, like the fucking far-flung wilderness. But you should take a gun with you when you go.

[Crusty Juggler]

Or, a person is rightly concerned that a gun is going to murder them, because guns kill.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Man, are they clinically insane or what?

[Monty Crisco]

JESUS!!! There is not this much projection in all the movie theaters in North America!!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

And I am sick of hearing about their God damned rights

Prog ideology in a nutshell.

[Tornado16nb]

Rights for me not for thee!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

And as a group we have a right to ask you to leave.

What, like kick them out of town? Yeah, i mean, I guess you do have a right to ask, but I'm pretty sure you don't actually have the right to do anything beyond that. And I imagine this author would get rather upset if someone made a similar assertion about, say, blacks or homosexuals.

[Suthenboy]

Ah, Democratic Underground.

Guess what motherfucker? I don't want you around me either.

[SimonD]

Ah, OK. That explains it. D.U. is where you go when Salon is just too damn right-wing to tolerate.

I think he may have reached near-terminal levels of derp

[Injun, as in from India]

Check out this professor's Twitter rant on Campus Carry

#CampusCarry harms academic freedom bc it limits how I run my class. I can ban laptops & texting from my classroom, but not guns. #ksleg

[Agammamon]

Someone should tell the good perfessor that its the *university* that limits how he can run his class. If the university says laptops (why the fuck would you ban laptops? Its a classroom) and texting are kosher then you're going to damn well be expected to buck up and deal with it.

As for Campus Carry - I don't believe these laws are *requiring* universities to allow carry - only that there will no longer be a state-wide automatic prohibition of it.

And for *state* universities - you know, the ones run by the state - that campus *is* public and the same rules should prevail on the quad that prevail on the sidewalk outside.

[Injun, as in from India]

It looks like the woman who made that rant is a *law* professor. Oh the irony.

[Agammamon]

And as a group we have a right to ask you to leave. WE HAVE OUR RIGHTS TOO.

Nice strawman there Dorothy.

Is anybody denying you the right to demand that people disarm themselves *when on your property*? Has anyone made it illegal for a business owner to delineate his property as 'gun free'?

Nope.

Worst case scenario is that some places have mandated specific signage to be posted to notify the public that that property disallows firearms on it. And they have every right to do so. I won't shop there of course, but that's the price of free association.

[Atanarjuat]

Shouldn't you be working?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Shouldn't your mom be working?

[RBS]

French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip

/checks xHamster

[Crusty Juggler]

Rafts and tubes carrying some 1,500 drunk Americans accidentally drifted into Canadian territory this week, and nobody really cared.

The first phase of War Plan Red was a failure. Or was it...?

[Swiss Servator]

"Recce"

[The Fusionist]

"Rafts and tubes carrying some 1,500 drunk Americans accidentally drifted into Canadian territory this week, and nobody really cared."

Immigration lawyers should explore this defense.

"Wait, you mean I'm not in Aleppo any more? Man, my imam warned me not to touch alcohol."

[Certified Public Asshat]

The morning radio show I listen to was discussing no homework policies this morning, when a teacher called in to say she cannot grade lower than a 50, even if the kid does 0 work.

Lo and behold, this is a real policy:

Is it becoming too hard to fail? Schools are shifting toward no-zero grading policies

A teacher from Baltimore City then called in to say this is his school's policy as well, so he has already had one student pass by only showing up a quarter of the time, because the student told him he did the math and he'll still be able to pass this way. This kid was correct, and did pass.

[Swiss Servator]

Sounds like the kid knew his math already.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Can't be short on the count.

[Lee Genes]

Yes. I have encountered this and it is not limited to effed-up city school systems like Baltimore's/

[Injun, as in from India]

Participation trophy culture infects academics after infecting sports.

[DWB]

That was the policy at my wife's old district and she absolutely HATED it!

[robc]

On a slightly related note, I think that tests should use the entire range of scores.

IMO, the perfectly designed exam would have a mean score of 60% and a standard deviation of 20%.

[KerryW]

That almost exactly matches the scores on the exams I give.

[Agammamon]

Except - isn't 50 a failing grade? It used to be. 60% was the minimum to get a D (which, IMO, should still be a failure - with it just noting that there's still a chance that you're not a hopeless loser).

[Agammamon]

As for showing up a quarter of the time and still being able to pass - that's nothing new. If you know the subject well enough then you just show up for tests and fuck those teachers that incorporate 'quiz' scores into the grading.

Classes have two completely separate functions - to teach you the subject and to certify your knowledge of the subject.

[Lord Humungus]

The Senator's Daughter Who Raised Prices on Anti-Allergy EpiPen

Members of Congress are in an unusual position as they demand an explanation for Mylan NV's 400 percent price hike for the EpiPen and focus attention squarely on its CEO: Heather Bresch.

If lawmakers follow the usual script, Bresch could get called up to Capitol Hill next month to explain her company's justification for raising the price on the life-saving allergy shot. But that could be awkward, since she's the daughter of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

While Bresch's family ties may mute the ire of some lawmakers, others are already asking the company about taxpayers having to foot the bill for these price increases -- particularly after Bresch and the company successfully pushed legislation to encourage use of the EpiPen in schools nationwide.

[(((Renegade)))]

Coincidentally, my wife was reading about this last night and cursing up a storm. She was flabbergasted at how FDA interference essentially eliminated competition and drove up the prices. "EVERYTHING THE GOVERNMENT TOUCHES GETS TOTALLY FUCKED UP!!!"

My wife. I think I'll keep her.

[SugarFree]

In millennial news... a co-worker had a 50 cent piece refused at the campus Starbucks because the cashier didn't think it was real money.

[Rich]

"I'd like to speak with your supervisor."

[The Fusionist]

How about, "yo momma is a 50 cent piece."

[Agammamon]

Or die trying.

[Swiss Servator]

*clings to Eisenhower silver dollars*

[SugarFree]

I love those, but man they must have been kind of pain to lug around.

On the opposite end, I have an 1852 gold dollar, only 13mm. I can't imagine how many of those were just lost out of pockets.

[(((Renegade)))]

But have you been jerking it to Sacajawea dollars?

[SugarFree]

They were sort of rough on my, uh, sensitive areas.

[SugarFree]

Oh, yeah...

Shoot me an email and you shall receive a boon.

sugarfreejay (@) gmail.com

[Zeb]

I thought the Eisenhower dollar was just weird. Eisenhower? I guess he was the big war hero and all, but still. And so soon after he died.

The first time I came across one, I'd never heard of it before and wasn't sure it was real (being spray painted gold and mounted in a belt buckle added to the confusion, I think.).

[Glide]

The vending machine at work gave me a Millard Fillmore dollar as change the other day. I found that hilarious.

[Agammamon]

when I was a kid I saw another kid dropping Susan B Anthony dollar coins into the quarter slots of an arcade machine. Wouldn't fucking listen when I tried to explain that those weren't quarters and he should exchange them at the counter.

[lafe.long]

I loved Susan Bs as a paperboy on collecting day. Lots of old people on my route giving me "quarters".

[Juice]

I used to have several rolls of them but they were stolen in a burglary.

[Crusty Juggler]

50 Cent has money named after him? You learn something new every day.

[Lord Humungus]

Sometimes I wonder if my Morgan dollars will be worth anything in the future beyond the silver value. By the time I'm dead 'n' gone coin collectors will be a tiny minority.

[Zeb]

You think? I would think that as they become less relevant, they might become more popular as collectables.

I have a lot of silver coins, but almost all of them are so worn that they probably won't ever be worth more than the silver value.

[Idle Hands]

meh, I could see some 16-18 year old making this mistake those coins are queerer than the two dollar bill. I've learned to stop taking my silver dollars into the local strip clubs for similar reasons, well that and other reasons chief among them being I'm no longer allowed to enter the premises.

[Lord Humungus]

Insert coin into slot?

[Swiss Servator]

*loud applause*

[Agammamon]

Where I live is sufficiently poor that one of the local strip clubs has a 'coin night'. Drinks are any coin, people throw change down for the strippers.

Its kind of sad. Like sadder than usual for a low-end nude establishment.

[Zeb]

I think that should be "three dollar bill".

[lafe.long]

I've learned to stop taking my silver dollars into the local strip clubs for similar reasons

-1 "Makin' it hail"

[Fist of Etiquette]

I call for a ban on pricing to anything other than the whole dollar.

[Zeb]

I like to spend $2 bills (on the rare occasion I get money from a bank teller). Occasionally people look confused, but mostly people think it's cool.

[DOOMco]

I usually use them for tips. I get a few 2s from the bank every paycheck.

[DOOMco]

I've had that happen with 2 dollar bills.

[Rich]

Today's blockbuster report from the Associated Press about Hillary Clinton's meetings with Clinton Foundation donors during her time as Secretary of State contained the following nugget: "The AP sought Clinton's calendar and schedules three years ago, but delays led the AP to sue the State Department last year in federal court for those materials and other records."

*Now* can we ban "early voting"?

Also, if all these messages are unclassified, why does State have to "go through" them? "Fifteen minutes, motherfucker -- cough 'em up."

[The Fusionist]

The song of the French reverse-morals beach police

[The Fusionist]

(It's going to take a while for them to process all those job applications)

[The Fusionist]

(The song might be NSFW)

[SugarFree]

Twitter Needs to Move On From Its "Free Speech" Ideals

Early last week, Twitter announced that it would be using new tools to curb hate speech and harassment on its site. The news came on the heels of a tell-all report on BuzzFeed that chronicled how 10 years of dogmatic commitment to "free speech" combined with persistent mismanagement led to the popular social media app becoming "a honeypot for assholes." Twitter's former head of news, Vivian Schiller, told BuzzFeed, "The whole 'free speech wing of the free speech party' thing ? that's not a slogan, that's deeply, deeply embedded in the DNA of the company." That ethos made it all the more difficult to regulate abuse on the site.

But absent from discussion is a more fundamental question: Should we be using the notion of "free speech" to understand online speech at all?

[The Fusionist]

"a honeypot for assholes."

Hey, they're stealing H&R's business model!

[Rich]

honeypot for assholes

Nice album name.

[Monty Crisco]

My only question when I saw that was would it be slate or salon?

[Rhywun]

That ethos made it all the more difficult to regulate abuse on the site.

Don't they already have DU for people who want to be regulated and controlled?

[Rich]

State University Now Offers 'Stop White People' Training

when encountered with "good" arguments from uneducated people, how do you respond?

Oh, probably with more bullshit.

[Lee Genes]

We can't end federally guaranteed education loans soon enough.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Stop them driving like this; get them driving more like this."

[NebulousFocus]

It's funny cuz it's true!

[Rhywun]

I couldn't get out of the dorms fast enough in 1989. I can't imagine how horrible it must be now.

[Agile Cyborg]

Chains manifest cleverly as fanged letters scribbled from the puckered angst of pleasure-hating brooders suited handsomely while jiving violently on the collective scattering of individualism.

[Rich]

Good Morning, A C!

[Lord Humungus]

puckered angst

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[Fist of Etiquette]

This would be in reference to the Trump link?

[The Fusionist]

Following the links in the Chicago tax story, we get this:

"County code defines live musical and cultural performances as "any of the disciplines which are commonly regarded as part of the fine arts, such as live theater, music, opera, drama, comedy, ballet, modern or traditional dance, and book or poetry readings."" (small venues which present such performances are exempt from the amusement tax)

Chicago legal eagles can correct me, but it sounds like *any* "music" is exempt as "fine arts."

[KerryW]

You should know by now that words don't always mean what they say...

[Krabappel]

US Military Distances itself from War in Yemen

Kind of late for that, eh?

[The Late P Brooks]

Surprise- the NYT has published a rambling, incoherent thumbsucker.

The British vote to leave the European Union has had many consequences, among them a plunge in sterling, sagging business confidence, an identity crisis in Britain's two main political parties, confusion and uncertainty. One of its less-known results is that my daughter Adele is now contemplating becoming a Pole.

----------

Adele, who is 18 and a sophomore at the University of Southern California, adores her Brazilian grandmother. Still, she's ready to become a Pole.

I am not sure whom to blame for this, or whether blame is the right word (see below). The world was full of fear and anger in the 1930s, enough to propel a hatemonger to power in Germany. It is full of fear and anger again today, enough to propel Britain out of the European Union and a man as flawed as Donald Trump to the brink of the American presidency.

When in doubt, blame Trump.

This guy's daughter should study opera; she's got the "Mi mi mi mi!" part locked down.

[The Fusionist]

Trump inspires a woman to became a citizen of an Eastern European nation?

Maybe because Trump likes East European women? Help me out here.

[Lee Genes]

Who the fuck cares? Seriously, stop your whining, pick a country, and live with the consequences.

[SugarFree]

That is some full-force gibberish. The daughter is seeking to reclaim her Polish citizenship for the pretty clear advantage of free travel in the EU, and because her grandmother was driven out of Poland by Nazis. And this is some sort of outrage that the author can't really seem to articulate but it is definitely going to mean more Nazis somehow.

Roger Cohen doesn't need a publishing platform for his ideas, he needs a good therapist.

[GILMORE?]

I sort of tried to get Irish dual-citizenship back in the late 90s when they were allowing open application to anyone with a direct family-member. the whole point was to get backdoor access to the EU. never went through with it. but a friend did.

[SugarFree]

I don't know any family members still in Europe, but I would do it if I could. Cohen acts like a little bureaucrat slight-of-hand is the dark night of fascism falling on Europe. Hyperbole isn't a strong enough word.

[Chipwooder]

If you have an Italian immigrant ancestor, particularly if it's a paternal line of ancestry, it can be relatively easy to get dual US-Italian citizenship. I've thought about it, but since I can't afford to go to Europe anytime soon, it didn't seem worth the trouble.

[Citizen X]

"No, Dad, you STILL aren't paying attention to me. I said i'm going to become a pole DANCER, jeez!"

[(((Renegade)))]

Still, she's ready to become a Pole.

Here again is shoddy journalism. What she said was that she's ready to become a Pole-Dancer.

[Tornado16nb]

What does Trump and the Brexit have to do with his daughter wanting to become a Pole? Isn't Poland closing off immigration?

[Injun, as in from India]

Still, she's ready to become a Pole.

North Pole?
South Pole?
Totem Pole?

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

This seems very, very racist.

[invisible furry hand]

Lucille Bluth Quotes On Pictures Of Donald Trump

[Crusty Juggler]

This one is great.

[(((Renegade)))]

Are you flirting with me?

[Agammamon]

To be honest - these should all be Clinton captions.

[FreeRadical]

"You want your belt to buckle, not your chair", wow that is funny.

[Krabappel]

One of my favorite Lucille Bluth quotes is from when she was at a restaurant and she was asked if she wanted the "plate or the platter" and she responded "I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it"

[Swiss Servator]

Then you will get nothing.

/haughty waiter

[invisible furry hand]

Co-author of "Yes Minister" dies - his obituary reveals it was ll just agit-prop for public choice theory

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

I recall reading that he was knowledgeable about public choice theory, but I didn't realize it was that central to the creation of the show. Make sense, of course. RIP and all that.

[DWB]

Critics: Stanford's new alcohol ban won't prevent sexual assaults

Because alcohol is NOT the problem but yes, please punish those who are doing no wrong.

[AlmightyJB]

Me, all the hot girls, then in descending order by weight.

http://nbc4i.com/2015/10/15/fl.....boat-test/

[invisible furry hand]

1 Me
2 someone really fat to provide us with food if we are not saved in a timely manner
3 people who can keep their mouths shut

[tarran]

then in descending order by weight.

Ballast?

[AlmightyJB]

Food

[The Fusionist]

"According to Leah, other students in her history class were uncomfortable. One was so upset, the pre-teen claims, that her classmate refused the assignment, ripped up the paper and was then reprimanded by the teacher, Mr. Hagerman. Leah went on to say that the student was sent next door in a "time-out.""

That student had the right idea.

[The Fusionist]

That student's name...James Tiberius Kirk.

[robc]

That was so good I will ignore one days worth of concern trolling.

[Agammamon]

He doesn't believe in the 'bullshit class assignment'.

[The Fusionist]

The lifeboat test is who do you put on the boat before getting yourself on?

If I have the courage, which I won't know until put to the test, I'd put the children and women on first, and then grab one of the remaining seats for myself.

[SugarFree]

Anyone who thinks lifeboat ethics has anything to say about anything other than people on lifeboats should be set adrift on a lifeboat.

[robc]

The only thing worse than the lifeboat ethics are the "falling from the sky and catch onto the window" ethics. And the push the fat guy onto the train track ethics.

[SugarFree]

There is also "ticking time bombs" ethics for an extra layer of bullshitiness.

"My principles are so dearly held I'm looking for any excuse to violate them!"

[robc]

Its more of a "I can destroy you entirely if I can find some strange corner case in which you admit to violating your principles."

Although my response is then, "Goedel, bitches."

[SugarFree]

True.

[robc]

Or more even, "Thus I can justify my principle free life."

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

[GILMORE?]

Obligatory

[Lord Humungus]

I'll take:

Warty - he could row the boat to shore
SugarFree - to write the epic tale of our survival
Swiss - for his narrowed gaze
Brett L - to build a build us a bigger boat
Renegade - to make the coconut powered radio
invisible furry hand - because I love Aussie accents
Agile Cyborg - to keep our spirits up
myself
and Shreek - to be boiled alive by the natives

[GILMORE?]

Agile Cyborg - to keep our spirits up

no no no. to convince the natives he's a God and to turn them into our personal army. Has no one even read Heart of Darkness?

[Lord Humungus]

I saw Apocalypse Now - does that count?

[SugarFree]

"Mistah Cyborg--he dead."

[Agammamon]

I saw 'the man who would be king' and know how that ends.

[(((Renegade)))]

I'd add:

Riven- for anal on those long, tropical nights, and to use her nipple studs as detectors for the radio

[Riven]

I'd imagine you could totally use those in conjunction with my weird-ass earring to get some decent reception.

But yeah, I find it a little telling that in some kind of disaster scenario, you included zero females.

[(((Renegade)))]

Don't blame me, Humungus was the guy with sausage party fantasies.

[Riven]

Stock the boat with men's men and zero women and see how well that turns out!

[Lord Humungus]

There ARE NO LIBERTARIAN WOMEN!

and I thought ifh was of the female persuasion. ??

[Riven]

Really? I had no idea! *re-evaluates the bangable list to add IFH*

[(((Renegade)))]

She is indeed. But she's Aussie, and Aussie women have bigger dicks than American men.

[Riven]

Luckily I don't have to worry about penis-envy or anything. I'd try her on.

[Zeb]

OK, well you and IFH are definitely on my lifeboat too.

[bacon-magic]

Pics?

[Crusty Juggler]

*takes note*

[bacon-magic]

If you need a food source...I taste like bacon. *thrusts pelvis suggestively and to waft aroma

[Zeb]

Sounds like an amusing assignment. But putting race into the descriptions just seems shitty. Whatever the intention behind that was, I'm sure it would piss me off.

[The Late P Brooks]

Roger Cohen doesn't need a publishing platform for his ideas, he needs a good therapist.

The New York Times is just an insane asylum with typewriters.

[Tornado16nb]

What is the deal with progs....

Like are they low self esteem people who need to feel better about themselves? Signal back to their hive their nobility? Admittely i have no non-prog friends so i am trying to understand those that do as to what drives their nuttiness.

[Tornado16nb]

I mean i have no prog friends*

[SugarFree]

If what other people think about you is the highest value you cherish, the madness of crowds becomes your personal madness.

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes. My theory is that social media enhances that thought process, which is how we get the Bernie Bros and alt right and white privilege and whatever other pointless shit can be conjured by self-obsession.

[TheZeitgeist]

If what other people think about you is the highest value you cherish, the madness of crowds becomes your personal madness.

This is the hell Hillary et al live in.

Disdaining hoi polloi from behind a fence while craving their validation is tough needle to thread so-to-speak. It is kinda like screaming at the cocaine on the mirror before grabbing the straw.

[Suthenboy]

There is a lot of accurate observation around here, for instance Sugarfree's comment is sound, but I don't think the kind of person attracted to leavemealoneism can ever really get into the head of a prog and truly understand them. You are observing a different species than yourself.

[Lord Humungus]

I have a lot of prog friends - it sort of comes with the territory of the "underground" music and art scene, and some of it is a backlash against the conservative area I live in. "The hillbillies here are just a bunch of religious nuts that are stupid. Since I'm such a do-gooding free-thinker I'm a liberal."

It leads to some awkward social moments so I try not to discuss politics. And if they bring it up I just say "SMOD 2016!"

[AddictionMyth]

Laicite!

[Ken Shultz]

"French police forced a Muslim woman wearing a "burkini" on a public beach to partially strip and issued her a citation for the illegal garment, which apparently violated "good morals and secularism."

Many people here in the United States have come to imagine that "multiculturalism" is a thing of the left, and that because France is a lefty country that has been overrun by Muslim immigrants and refugees, it represents a failure of multiculturalism.

That narrative gets it completely backwards.

France is not an example of multiculturalism. It is a failed experiment in forced assimilation, which is the opposite of multiculturalism.

Just because the American left has used "multiculturalism" as a buzzword, as if its opposite were synonymous with racism, doesn't mean they do so correctly.

You know who else was against multiculturalism?

The correct answer is not "James Madison, when he wrote the First Amendment".

That's right, the freedom of individuals to choose their own religion free of government interference is a big part of what we're really talking about when we're talking about multiculturalism, and if the U.S. has been more successful in integrating Muslims than France, it very well may be because we have multiculturalism by way of the First Amendment and they don't.

[AddictionMyth]

Ya think?

[Injun, as in from India]

Wave after wave of immigrants have assimilated into American society.

There's something to say about that.

[Suthenboy]

During the 19th century that most popular answer given when immigrants were asked why they wanted to come to the US was "They don't have any kings in America".

In other words, they were coming here to be Americans.

[Injun, as in from India]

I immigrated because of corruption. Most Indians do. That and earning potential.

[Ken Shultz]

I spent a lot of time with Muslim immigrants at various mosques in Los Angeles--before the Arab Spring.

Plenty of them came to the United States to escape tyrants, too.

If you should find yourself in LA sometime, go over to Westwood, the area around UCLA, and go to one of the Persian restaurants there. There are three main groups of people there: the descendants of Jews who fled tyrants in Russia and Germany, gays who fled persecution in the rest of America, and Muslims who fled tyrants in the wake of the Iranian Revolution.

There is no reason why those three groups should get along so well together, but get along well together, they do.

Sure, Jews were freer to be Jews in LA than they were in Russia or Germany and Muslims were free to be Muslims in LA, as well, but that isn't the only reason Jews and Muslims integrated so well amid the emergence of a gigantically gay neighborhood. It also had a lot to do with prosperity and capitalism--something else at which France fails miserably.

Nothing facilitates people putting aside their differences and getting along like getting rich, and gays, Jews, and Persians have all emerged as particularly wealthy groups in Los Angeles. It's easy to get along with other people when you're all getting rich--especially when the government isn't there to discriminate against Muslims for the supposed benefit of secular gays or something stupid like that.

[Jake Stone]

French Force Muslim Beachgoer to Strip

The good libertarian in me cringes at the disregard for civil liberties here but....

DAMN that is satisfying to read. Am I going to hell?

[AddictionMyth]

No 72 raisins for you!

[Suthenboy]

Are you going to hell? Dude, wake up. Take a look around.

[Ken Shultz]

No, you're only going to hell if you support Obama using the coercive power of government to force secularism on Christians.

It's wrong for ObamaCare to force Catholic nuns to provide birth control if doing so violates their right to religious freedom, and it's wrong to force fundamentalist Christians to bake cakes for gay weddings.

But using the coercive power of government to violate people's First Amendment rights in the name of secularism is a good thing in this instance because "multiculturalism" is bad.

P.S. Anybody that cheers this on has no business going after buddy Gary on free association and gay wedding cakes.

[TheZeitgeist]

French Riviera Fashion Police I think is also a show on Bravo.

[Injun, as in from India]

Just remember that Iran and the Taliban have a similar fashion police.

Just that they *want* women to wear burqas, and the French fashion police don't.

[Injun, as in from India]

I immigrated because of corruption. Most Indians do. That and earning potential.

[Injun, as in from India]

^Oops. Wrong thread.

[Lord Humungus]

So you immigrated for the bikinis? 😉

[Suthenboy]

Corruption. Thus the 'kings' part of their answer.

From what I can tell Indians seem to assimilate here quite readily. Of course all of the ones I know are doctors or engineers, i.e. highly educated and relatively worldly. After meeting their children I would never have guessed they were first generation Americans.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Why is that satisfying? You smile at the idea of some innocent woman being publicly embarrassed by the state?

[Jake Stone]

Yes

[AddictionMyth]

Stanford Office of Alcohol Policy and Education:

Spot the not:

Goals:
Enhance alcohol education and risk reduction efforts across campus
Provide clarity and consistency in the application of the Student Alcohol Policy
Create ongoing social outlets for students that deemphasize alcohol
Shift campus culture away from hard liquor consumption in the form of shots
Collect data to assess trends and evaluate needs on an ongoing basis
Provide excuses for kids to have sex with each other and later blame it in the a-a-alcohol and cry rape!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The answer is AddictionMyth. He is not Derptologist.

[Ken Shultz]

So let's review:

If you think France is a good example of multiculturalism, then you are wrong.

If you say you're against multiculturalism but also say you're in favor of religious freedom and the First Amendment, then you're acting like Tony.

Don't be wrong.

Don't act like Tony.

[AddictionMyth]

I'm all for freedom of speech - absolutely. But I'm against freedom of religion because extremist religion threatens the security upon which all freedoms are predicated.

[Ken Shultz]

The First Amendment is like Vietnam?

"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it".

http://tinyurl.com/zqzcaov

It became necessary to strangle religious freedom in order to save it!

[TheZeitgeist]

But I'm against freedom of religion speech because extremist religion speech threatens the security upon which all freedoms are predicated.

Religion is just a genre.

[The Late P Brooks]

are they low self esteem people who need to feel better about themselves?

"What do you mean, you don't care what I think? What's wrong with you?"

[TheZeitgeist]

Cook County, Illinois, is arguing that rap, rock, country, and electronic music do not constitute "culture" and should therefore be subject to the county's three percent tax on "amusements."

The listed genres encompass most all what people actually pay money for to hear live. A strange, magical coincidence.

[Sevo]

They're not sure what's in it:

"Even a company specifically designed for Obamacare is struggling to figure out Obamacare"
[...]
"Oscar, the $2.8 billion health-insurance startup, is pulling out of some Obamacare exchanges.
[...]
Despite the attempts at disruption and focus on Obamacare exchanges, it appears to be facing the same challenges that the largest insurance providers ? such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and Humana ? are facing in the ACA exchanges."
http://www.sfgate.com/technolo.....179964.php

Reality, she's such a bitch.

[The Late P Brooks]

Meanwhile, over in the world inside David Brooks' head...

It's easy to be cynical, but I really do think most people entered public life with this sense of idealistic calling. When you spend time around government officials you are constantly struck by the fact that they are more impressive in private than in public. Somewhere at the base of their personal story you usually find an earnest desire to serve some vulnerable group.

The fact is, political lives are simply not that glamorous or powerful or fun. Most politicians wouldn't put up with all the fund-raising, the stupid partisan games, unless they were driven at some level by the right reasons.

--------------

And so I think it possible to imagine a revival of vocation. If Clinton is elected, maybe even she can remind us that we've all developed these bad habits, that most of us secretly detest the game we're in and the way we are playing it.

It would be an act of amazing bravery if she could lead people to strip away all the careerist defense mechanisms and remember their original vows and passions.

Hillary just wants to make the world a better place. Politicians are intrinsically more noble and better than you.

[Suthenboy]

Jesus, that is more delusional than the WaPo piece assuring us that Cankles totally didn't sell out her country.

*I know, she will be elected and half way through her second term she will run out of wrongthinkers to shake down and prosecute. Then an army of apparatchiks will be poring over sites like this one and making lists of people like me.

[Rhywun]

I really do think most people entered public life with this sense of idealistic calling.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

You have to wonder what it's like to stumble through life being that naive.

[Krabappel]

He's not naive. That fucker is in on the scam.

[Rhywun]

Normally I go with "evil" over "stupid" but he's not a politician so what's his take? The "token right-ish patsy at the NYT" isn't some plum position of power.

[Krabappel]

That he would be unemployable if he didn't write this kind of garbage for the NYT? I don't know, it's hard to tell if these people really believe their own shit.

[ant1sthenes]

He's displaying faith in Gov. He will be rewarded in the next world.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

If Clinton is elected, maybe even she can remind us that we've all developed these bad habits

By, um, demonstrating the absolute worst example of the problem?

[KerryW]

From the Guardian piece: The burkini was "liable to offend the religious convictions or (religious) non-convictions of other users of the beach," and "be felt as a defiance or a provocation exacerbating tensions felt by" the community, it added.

So if a Catholic is wearing a large cross and someone is offended, then what?

[Matrix]

nail the Catholics to those very same crosses

[Flemur]

"1,500 drunk Americans accidentally drifted into Canadian territory"

No evidence of "drunk". No bad behavior mentioned.

"this week, and nobody really cared."

Why would anyone care?

Article: "While the off-side Americans were quickly returned home, it's hard to not to imagine how different the situation might have been had 1,500 people blown over the Mexican instead of the Canadian border."

They already mentioned the differences: accidentally and quickly returned home.

But if they're talking about accidentally floating into Mexico, they'd likely get robbed, raped, assaulted and arrested by Mexicans.

"Despite the demonstrable ease with which over a thousand people were able to accidentally float between the U.S. and Canada, it seems unlikely that Donald Trump will suddenly refocus his border plan on America's northern neighbor."

Why would he? To prevent people from accidentally floating into Canada for a short time?

Calling out a contrived hypocrisy = very poor attempt at virtue signaling.

[Heroic Mulatto]

^Reason Derangement Syndrome co-morbid with Internet Autism^

[Lord Humungus]

(((Mark Krikorian))) ?@MarkSKrikorian 1h1 hour ago
Maybe Hillary will do a press conference if the reporters pass the hat and make a donation to the Clinton Foundation.

[Sevo]

Special marked-down rates before the election! Tell us the price that would make you happy!

[jack sprat]

"French Force Muslim Beachgoer to Strip"

Actually it was a drug bust. They found a large quantity of crack.