NYU Prof Lied About Censorship, Donald Trump's Odds, Rolling Stone Defeated: P.M. Links

• 

  Aftonbladet/ZUMA Press/Newscom

  It certainly sounds like the New York University professor who claimed he was forced to go on leave for offending liberal students made up the story.

• Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.
• Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously.
• For those of you keeping score in the campus holiday wars: it's okay to mock Pilgrims.
• Paul Krugman: Everything is Paul Ryan's fault. Everything.
• And in case you hadn't heard, Nicole Eramo won her defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone. (Sorry, I promise I'll stop congratulating myself now.)

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Thank you, Soave.

[Playa Manhattan.]

No, thank YOU.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I WASN'T BEING SARCASTIC, I JUST THINK WE SHOULD THANK CONTRIBUTORS NOW AND THEN FOR GIVING US LINKS AND A FORUM FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO DISCUSS THINGS IN ALL CAPS.

[Mr Lizard]

STEVE SMITH APPRECIATE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SELF

[But Enough About Me]

STEVE SMITH APPRECIATE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SELF

Well, Pooky, somebody's gotta be you, so it might as well be you.

And thank you for being, well, you.

[SugarFree]

Politeness hurts us all.

[Rich]

"A polite society is an armed society."

[Charles Easterly]

Politeness hurts us all.

H&R commentators hardest hit.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Why don't you come over here and politely say that to my face!

[Microaggressor]

Is it polite for Robby to return from the Derp Mines to shower us with almost nothing but links to Heavy Derp?

[OneOut]

Robby posted the first link to a story that he knew would bring him praise from the Reasonettes.

Is it a mystery that he posted them on time too ?

I'm surprised they weren't early.

They would have been if it were me in that position.

[Cy]

STOP YELLING IN LIBERALESE!

[Chip Woodier]

Thank you, Soave.

I think that was the F5 key talking.

[Tonio]

Yes, thanks Robby. I know you were ostracized for a while there. Glad you've been vindicated.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I think the thanks was for being on time.

It's all about expectations management. If you miss the deadline often enough, people will thank you for merely doing your job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

NO THAT'S NOT IT.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

We have to thank him for doing his job now?

[Free Society]

It's a rare enough occurrence. If we don't give him positive reinforcement we could backslide in the dark old days of 5/17. NEVER AGAIN.

[bacon-magic]

I will not forget.

[Suthenboy]

Goddamnit. Vodka burns when you blow it out of your nose.

[Charles Easterly]

Similar to platinum, eh, Suthen?

[BigT]

"Suthenboy|11.4.16 @ 5:07PM|#

Goddamnit. Vodka burns when you blow it out of your nose."

Thank you for doing your job.

[OneOut]

That never gets old,

Thanks Injun.

[Pan Zagloba]

He's even wearing The Jacket!

[Hayeksplosives]

Dear Lord, forgive me for missing this the first time. Totally priceless.

Thank you.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Why do you people keep blaming him for that? His hair was messed up, and he was out of gel. WHAT DO PEOPLE EXPECT HIM TO DO?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Only to stay beautiful forever. Robby's never let me down.

[GILMORE?]

GOD DO YOU PEOPLE EVER STOP WHINING

[Tonio]

You could choose to not be here, Gilmore.

[Charles Easterly]

Oh sure, Tonio, GIL could choose not to be here, but like so many others here, could he bring himself to stay away?

Unrelated - no worries about the misunderstanding.

[Tonio]

Loud and clear, Charles. Glad we're cool.

[GILMORE?]

why?

[Jerryskids]

GOD: "DO YOU PEOPLE EVER STOP WHINING?"

It's a direct quote. It's somewhere in the back, Chad $4.99 or something. Look it up.

[AFSlade]

+1 for the (less well known) Book of Frustration (aka "God's Holy Epistle to the Maggotry.")

[BigT]

"GILMORE?|11.4.16 @ 4:39PM|#

GOD DO YOU PEOPLE EVER STOP WHINING"

Thank you for doing your job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We don't have to do anything, but we should. I've decided the country is too divided and that, while it's fun, dumping on someone constantly without occasional positive feedback is poison to the soul and will eventually

You know what? Constantly dumping on certain contributors is pretty fun, and it's not like he doesn't

No, I stand by my original intent. Thanks, not digs.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

If I dump on Robby, it's not because it's fun. It's a burden, not a pleasure.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously."

I thought we got past the clown panic.

[BigT]

"Rufus The Monocled|11.4.16 @ 4:47PM|#

Hello."

Thanks for doing YOUR job.

[Gojira]

Thick tootsie rolls look like cat turds.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Taste like them too, but you already knew that.

[Gojira]

They're delicious. I'm eating one now.

[RBS]

Cat turd?

[Rufus The Monocled]

This place.

[Charles Easterly]

I suppose that some individuals try to eat H&R, and others Christmas.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

My GOD, but there are some very ugly "actors" in that movie.

[Charles Easterly]

The H&R comments aren't always placed correctly, Sir.

If you were responding to Rufus' comment This place. and implying that we are merely actors upon its stage, then your comment makes a great amount of sense to me.

If you were replying to my post and I can take your words at face value, Sir, then your comments still make sense to me.

Others might question the existence of some form of collective squirrel mentality, but I offer this event as evidence.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Yes, I found your linked movie clip to be... well, traumatizing, Mr. E. Of course, my priorities are f'd when I'm more bothered by ugly thespians than I am chocolate cat shit.

So, make of that what you will. 😉

[Charles Easterly]

I shall embrace the mystery and add that temporarily diverted priorities seem to be a side effect of reading the commentary on H&R and, especially, interacting with the commentators.

[Tonio]

You are a terrible human being, Digby. But you've found a home here.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

I just....this light....allergies....

::quickly turns and walks out of room::

[Charles Easterly]

Phew.

Hopefully he or she left before realizing that you and I posted our comments at the same time

[Jerryskids]

Heat 'em up in the nukulator for a few seconds and you can shape them into cat turds even better. Leave one on the counter and "discover" it just as the wife walks in, start yelling about the damn cat, then pick it up and pop it in your mouth "to confirm your suspicions" that it is indeed a cat turd.

[Gojira]

^^ I know what I'm doing this weekend. And again at work on Monday morning.

[LarryA]

Jerryswife:
"Lips that touch cat turds will never touch mine!"

[Suthenboy]

I thought it was the other way about.

[EDG reppin LBC]

Back when we could handle-hop with impunity, I used to do a Mary Stack character that would eat tootsie rolls, only to discover they were cat turds, then her dad would get real mad at her. She would also bite brown crayolas, and other cat turd like things. I miss those days.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It certainly sounds like the New York University professor who claimed he was forced to go on leave for offending liberal students made up the story.

That's a new one.

[Playa Manhattan.]

"Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is."

Isn't that the guy who was really wrong last time?

[SIV]

He's trying to be somewhat less wrong this time.

[Echo Chamber]

Go, Trump, go!
Go, Trump, go!
Hey, America, what do you say
The Donald is gonna win Tuesday

[Private Chipperbot]

Name checks out.

[Domestic Dissident]

He's been wrong about darn near almost everything this entire cycle.

Oddly, that doesn't stop left-liberals and fake libertarians from citing him as though he's the smartest guy in the world.

[Calidissident]

Silver's not very popular among liberals right now because his model is more bullish for Trump than most of the others.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

When the facts change, I change my source of information. What do you do, sir?

[Calidissident]

In the primaries, Silver the pundit was definitely wrong, as the quotes on that site show. However, that was mostly because he ignored the polling evidence and instead stuck to the conventional wisdom assumptions that Trump would eventually fall off. Trump's performance in the primaries was in line with what 538's polls-only statistical models showed at the time.

He did pretty well in 2012. Underestimated Obama's national margin somewhat, but less than raw polling averages. Got all 50 states correct.

Overall, he's not an oracle by any means, but I think he's pretty good when he sticks to stats and away from punditry.

[GILMORE?]

I think he's pretty good when he sticks to stats and away from punditry

per my other comment somewhere else around here.... anyone can crunch numbers. He became a media-darling because he helps pump narratives. If he just did his job and didn't help provide ammo to pol-hacks, he'd be just another number-monkey.

[Calidissident]

"per my other comment somewhere else around here.... anyone can crunch numbers"

I don't think an election forecast model is quite that simple.

I think he got attention because he was one of the first people to build that sort of model and put it on the Internet. His projections were fairly favorable for Obama the last two times, so that gave the media extra reason to latch on. But there's little to suggest those projections were due to bias - in both 2008 and 2012 he underestimated Obama's national margin of victory by at least a point.

[GILMORE?]

still missing my point. No, forecasting not some magical super-science, and being right a few times begs the age old disclaimer, "past performance is no guarantee of future results", and my point was simply that this guy was made into a media-star more for his punditry than his technical expertise.

Remember Dr Doom? (Roubini) where's he been lately? They're all destined to eventually blow a call.

[Calidissident]

Ok. I'm not sure I agree with that, I never thought his punditry was ever taken as seriously or given as much attention as his forecasts. Pre-primaries is probably when his punditry was most respected, but Trump threw a wrench into that. I don't even really recall hearing much about his punditry in 2008 or 2012.

[BigT]

So Silver was wrong b/c he consistently underestimated Trump the past year. So maybe he's still underestimating Trump.

[Calidissident]

He underestimated Trump as a pundit before the primaries began. His statistical, polling-based forecasts, didn't underestimate him in the primaries. Silver also wrote a lot about why his commentary was wrong about Trump, and acknowledged that it was largely because he ignored the polls in favor of conventional wisdom.

[Jgalt1975]

Define "last time." Silver correctly forecast 51 out of 51 EV jurisdictions in 2012 and 50 out of 51 in 2008: http://rationality.org/2012/11.....on-pundit/ He was wrong about Trump in primaries this year, but Silver has always pointed out that polling for primaries is much lower volume and lower sample size than general election polling.

[Calidissident]

It wasn't even his (polls-only) model that got the primaries wrong. As a pundit, he thought Trump would eventually falter off the way that Cain, Perry, etc. did in 2012. That didn't happen, but I think it shows more that predicting whose polling, particularly in a primary, will or won't fall off is a lot more difficult than projecting outcomes based off polling data when you get close to election day.

[jack sprat]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com.....story.html

[jack sprat]

those squirrels

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

And they're YUUUUUUGE. They're the best odds, the classiest odds around, believe me.

[Free Society]

We're going to grab those bookies by the pussy, and they'll let you do it because you're a star.

[Ayn Random Variation]

The place I bet hasn't had the presidential odds up for a couple of weeks. Anybody have current betting odds?

[Pan Zagloba]

Ladbrokes (large uk site) has

Clinton 1/3
Trump 9/4

Was 1/5, 4/1 last week.

[BakedPenguin]

Paddy Power still has Trump at 11/4.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

I guess he really wants a fall from grace.

[SIV]

Nate Silver is just trying to cover his (((ass))).

[Juvenile Bluster]

I appreciate that you're so willing to out yourself as an idiot and an anti-Semite, SIV. Most people deny it.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I just learned what that meant yesterday. Does this mean that my wife needs to change the way she signs checks?

[Citizen X]

She signs them "SIV"?

[(((Renegade)))]

Didn't my handle give you a fucking CLUE?

[bacon-magic]

Playa thought that was a warning to children of stranger danger.

[(((Renegade)))]

That was the old me. This is the new me. I poison wells, drink the blood of christian babies, and hire the wops to kill Jesus.

[bacon-magic]

Do you whirl chickens around your head after killing them? I heard that's a thing too. NTTAWWTOMTI

[waffles]

(((bastard)))

[OneOut]

Do you spin chickens around your head ?

[Playa Manhattan.]

I thought ((o)) was a butthole.

[bacon-magic]

You win today. Thanks everyone for playing.

[(((Renegade)))]

For those of us who aren't dumb shaygetzes and can count to shlosha, (((o))) is entirely different.

[Joe M]

))>>((

forever

[Joe M]

god damn it...

))((

forever

[Joe M]

I give up. Time to start drinking.

[DOOMco]

[DOOMco]

(>")>

[GamerFromJump]

Nice of Kirby to join us.

[IndyEleven]

{()}

[BigT]

Playa Manhattan"|11.4.16 @ 4:47PM|#

I thought ((o)) was a butthole."

Thanks for doing your job.

[gaoxiaen]

( . Y . )

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Is she still using the little swastika to dot her i?

[Playa Manhattan.]

No, it's that hebrew character that keeps her from having to pay bank fees.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

So not woke.

[OneOut]

She still writes checks ?

[SugarFree]

Think he's saying that just Silver's ass is Jewish. Which makes me wonder what the mohel cut off.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Are we sure that it's an "echos" thing as opposed to an attempt at an ideographic depiction of how thicc Nate Silver is?

[bacon-magic]

Keep linking these ladies. Meow.

[RBS]

Something tells me I shouldn't click on a link from thickasians.co at work.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You should tell Mr. Something to take a hike.

Take a thicc break.

[Tim from Philly]

You sir, truly do Heroic work. Thank you, I needed that after the last couple of shit filled days.

[SIV]

You seem to be a proud of yourself.

[SugarFree]

BURN!

JB is a proud. That fucker.

[Crusty Juggler]

Jasy Basy is a troble.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Cen subudy gibe de pusi pls?

[John Titor]

I'm really starting to warm to Nietzsche's solution to the 'Jewish Problem': Have all the anti-Semites shot.

[JayU]

That would take a while.

[John Titor]

I'll clear my calendar.

[GamerFromJump]

And we thought the Black Plague depopulated Europe.

[chemjeff]

Gee what a surprise. One of the loudest pro-Trump voices around here turns out to be an alt-right anti-Jewish asshole.

[Bee Tagger]

It certainly sounds like the New York University professor who claimed he was forced to go on leave for offending liberal students made up the story.

This sounds like it might offend someone, so maybe he just got his temporal causality mixed up.

[Joe M]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

His site is the only one I watch for election predictions. It's been fascinating to see things get so close. I can't stand either of them, but a Trump victory will definitely be more amusing, especially because it's almost certain that even if he wins the electoral college, he'll still lose the popular vote. That will be so hilarious.

[The Last American Hero]

I kind of hope he wins the popular and loses the electoral. It will cause lefties who've been bitching about the EC since 2000 fits trying to justify why the EC is such a good and necessary institution after bagging on it for 15 years.

Alternatively, I hope Trump wins only so I can watch the salty ham tears make the sea levels rise and flood the coasts.

[geo1113]

I want to see it the other way around and watch all the progs go absolutely batshit crazy.

[Homple]

Part of the fun of a Trump victory would be watching the proggies fleeing to Canada learn how real immigration law enforcement works.

[Joe M]

That scenario is just about impossible. Hillary has massive leads in pointless states like New York and California.

[Ayn Random Variation]

And jersey

[PapayaSF]

Last I saw, her "massive" lead in CA was only 5 points.

[CZmacure]

Last I saw, her "massive" lead in CA was only 5 points.

huh?

[PapayaSF]

Well, I was wrong.

[Zombie Jimbo]

I want Trump to win so we can see if Chris Matthews tries to suck start a .45 on the air.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I am one of those who think the two are similarly terrible, but only a Trump victory will have me laughing my ass off for a good while.

A Clinton win is just depressing.

[Joe M]

Exactly. If we're going to hell I want a chuckle on the way.

[Calidissident]

The meltdown by Trump's fanboys will be pretty entertaining if he loses. As will the progressive meltdown if Clinton loses. You just got to scour the Internet for popcorn and you'll be fine.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Definitely true. But I know and read content by way more progressives and liberals than Trumpkins.

I depend on the folks here to link me to alt-right meltdowns. I don't go searching for those folks.

[anticollective]

Seems to me the majority of the quarter million subscribers on the Trump subreddit are libertarians, or at least close to it.

[Calidissident]

I've definitely not had the same perception. And that's probably even less true on most of the pro-Trump sites around.

[anticollective]

I post about closing federal bureaucracies and get tons of upvotes. I make those same posts on the "libertarian" forum, filled with Johnson/Weld/Reason type "left libertarians", and it gets shit on, as if no one could ever be educated again without the Department of Education.

The libertarian movement by and large has gotten on board with the populists and Old Right conservatives to defeat the corrupt establishment.

[Calidissident]

That doesn't strike me as all that meaningful of an anecdote. I don't think most Trump fans particularly care one or the other about bureaucracies like the DOE. How do they respond when you propose cutting or shutting down law enforcement and national security bureaucracies? From what I've seen, to the extent they're ideological (and a lot of them seem to simply care more about shitposting or just being anti-establishment) they seem to mostly care about controlling immigration and trade, and law-and-order toughness. They don't seem very concerned with economic issues other than trade (and their stance on that is contrary to libertarianism). This isn't surprising, considering Trump barely has has any coherent economic policy outside of that, wants to increase spending above the current baseline almost as much as Clinton, and whose fiscal plan adds more debt than any other candidate this cycle, possibly excepting Sanders (I'd have to go back and check those numbers again). Their views on civil liberties, criminal justice, etc. also don't seem to align with libertarians either. And a disturbing number of them outright embrace white nationalism. I know it's the Internet and crazies like that are almost always overrepresented, but it's still off-putting.

[anticollective]

On the reddit forum Edward Snowden posts get thousands of upvotes. So do posts about legalizing pot. Foreign policy posts almost always push non interventionism.

I know the Koch brothers support Hillary because they are crony corporatists, but the vast majority of libertarians in this country support Trump because we know he is the best we can hope for.

[Calidissident]

Do Snowden's posts get upvoted because they make Clinton or Obama look bad? Or because of a sincere, principled support for him and civil liberties? Their preferred candidate has repeatedly called for Snowden's execution, so I seriously doubt it's the latter. What do you think they'll say when Snowden criticizes President Trump's surveillance and civil liberties policies? And don't confuse rejecting the multilateral foreign policy consensus with being non-interventionist. Trump's "occupy and take the oil" schtick doesn't exactly jive with the latter.

"but the vast majority of libertarians in this country support Trump because we know he is the best we can hope for."

What source, other than your ass, did you pull this assertion out of?

[Heedless]

If Trump wins, we will just have to wait 6 months for him to fail, renege on, or forget about all the promises he made during the election, then we can watch both his followers and the Hill Street Gang throw a tantrum.

Downside: all of his screwups will be blamed on libertarians.

[Calidissident]

Honestly, I think Trump has a lot of these people wrapped so tightly around his finger that he could do the exact opposite of everything he promised and still have them cheering him on.

[Ayn Random Variation]

It depends where you live in guess. I'm in progtopia so I'm pulling for prog tears.

[Calidissident]

For me, the tears from my personal connections are never that good regardless of who ones. An occasional gem here or there. But the magic of the Internet allows you to access a near infinite supply of salt and tears regardless of who wins. Thus I'll be taking advantage of that either way.

[Calidissident]

*wins.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...it's okay to mock Pilgrims.

Like, to Mecca?

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[bacon-magic]

Ululates.

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously.

DELETE YOUR - oh, you did. Okay, never mind.

[kinnath]

A FB friend posted a link to Sad Beard's article this morning. I so dearly wanted to shit all over that post, but I restrained myself.

[Microaggressor]

I actually read that. Man, lying so much must be exhausting. But maybe that's just because I feel bad about lying in general. Is there a way to flip on the sociopath gene?

[DenverJ]

Huffing paint might do it.

[bacon-magic]

And in case you hadn't heard, Nicole Eramo won her defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone. (Sorry, I promise I'll stop congratulating myself now.)

Sure you will, Robbo.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I'm fine with it. Robby should strut his shit over this.

[Tonio]

My orphans are detailing the ceremonial chariot as we speak. There will be a fine tribute.

[John Titor]

Robby will Triumph through the main street of the city of Reasona, dressed in the garb of Murray Rothbard. But an orphan will be perched behind him, always whispering in his ear that in the end he is nothing but a Millennial.

[Horatio]

You allow your orphans to speak? Bleeding heart pussy

[But Enough About Me]

Sheer fucking poetry, mang.

[End Child Unemployment]

Do not trust this man, fellow citizens. We all know there are no streets in Reasona! Streets are how the evil of the government serpent enters to inevitably destroy society.

[Pan Zagloba]

The poster works hard on his post, making sure links are not broken and HTML is correctly formatted. But The Parasite says "NOOOO! Your post belongs to the Squirrels of the People! They shall shatter it into oblivion and you shall be mocked!"

In Resona, everyone is entitled to the fruit of the sweat of his brow! I'm Andrew Reason, and I welcome you to The Great Chain.

[gaoxiaen]

Remember that you are a only a man. Sort of.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It probably does feel pretty nice to be on the winning side of a national conversation. I'm sure my wins are just around the corner. Probably just waylaid for some standard maintenance or swung around the city to avoid traffic. I'm just going to sit here and watch the horizon... Any second now...

[DOOMco]

He got a lot of flack for that first article.

[GILMORE?]

second. the first was credulous.

[R C Dean]

Yeah, we kicked him pretty hard for giving any credence to an article that was an obvious fabrication.

[bacon-magic]

Fruit sushi for everybody! On hot bodies! (not just womyn bodies either, I appreciate the gay element around here...right [insert name of whoever is the most homophobic on here]?)

[The Last American Hero]

I wonder how it feels, to have peaked at so young an age.

[Tonio]

"The candle that burns twice as brightly burns out twice as fast."

[Playa Manhattan.]

Something something premature... never mind.

[Sandi]

What a sad euphemism.

[Private Chipperbot]

He is our own Icarus!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Also supergiant blue stars.

[LarryA]

I remember Rolling Stone back in the day, when it defined "counterculture" and pretty much everyone wanted to sue/prosecute for all sorts of reasons. I never thought they'd lose for defamatng Eramo.

The Mighty have Fallen.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Life. /nods head. Walks away.

[Bee Tagger]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

So instead of just eviscerating his chance he's just crushing them?

[Rich]

Because Clinton herself apologized for it and because it does not appear to be in any way important, Clinton allies, surrogates, and co-partisans have largely not familiarized themselves with the details of the matter, instead saying vaguely that it was an error of judgment and she apologized and America has bigger fish to fry.

Now, *that* is bullshit.

[John]

He is such a sad stupid little retard. He is just not right in the head

[geo1113]

Went a little funny in the head

[Rich]

It's probably time to watch that film again. 8-(

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Keep in mind that these are the same type of people clutching their pearls about Trump's supposed threat to freedom of the press by suing them.

Well, when the press repeatedly lies and works in the service of advancing the interests of a particular political party, they're really in no position to bitch when people sue them or dismiss anything they have to say outright. When you have a track record of being a political whore, you're not allowed to complain when people don't want to buy what you're selling.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

It certainly sounds like the New York University professor who claimed he was forced to go on leave for offending liberal students made up the story.

We should believe the accuser!

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Paul Krugman: Everything is Paul Ryan's fault. Everything.

We already knew it wasn't Shaggy.

[Citizen X]

Zoiks!

[Juvenile Bluster]

::pulls off Paul Ryan's mask::

Why it's old man Winters, the guy from the haunted amusement park!

[(((Renegade)))]

And it would have worked if it wasn't for you meddling commenters!

[Zero Sum Game]

You seem uniquely qualified to comment about the hidden hands orchestrating everything.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Go easy on Krooooooogman. He has the conscience of a liberal. Scratch that. Progressive.

[Zero Sum Game]

The progressive never seems to be aware that you can make progress towards anything at all, even bad things.

You continue walking towards a swimming pool filled with feces. You're making progress. You don't want to make progress anymore, but your feed trudge onward.

[Holger da Dane]

He has the conscience of a liberal. Scratch that. Progressive.

*Golf clap*

[Playa Manhattan.]

Public service announcement: Costco is selling USDA Prime tomahawk steaks. And they're 1/4 the price of anywhere else.

[The Last American Hero]

Is Costco presenting an image of native americans as warlike with their tomahawk steaks?

[0x90]

It was a typo. Tokamak steaks. Flash-seared at 150,000,000?C.

[Butts Wagner]

Seals in the genetic mutations

[PurityDiluting]

Thanks, I'll cruise by after work

[Playa Manhattan.]

I went to the snack bar for lunch to get a slice of pizza. Did a quick walkthrough and saw this.

[gaoxiaen]

Would.

[Juice]

Aren't they just ribeyes with a big ass bone on it?

[Playa Manhattan.]

JUST ribeyes? Cut from the small end of the rib roast with the big fat lip (cap) on the edge.

[OneOut]

Yes.

[Playa Manhattan.]

NO.

Consult the NAMP manual. Tomahawks have the intercostals and other bullshit removed. Just the goodies: eye, cap, and bone.

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

Playa, (and any other food nerds snobs experts) you got any go-to side/covered dish type things, I need something I can do tomorrow morning for an afternoon clam bake type thing. I've over done my handful of recipes and need something new.

[SIV]

Sour cream and Lipton's onion soup mix. Potato chips celery and carrot sticks for dipping.

You can't go wrong with California dip.

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

I'm not feeding a basket of deplorables here, I need something with a bit of class.

[gaoxiaen]

Add a little blue cheese.

[BigT]

I prefer a 7-layer dip. Sour cream, chopped tomatoes, onions, gr peppers, taco sauce, lettuce, cheddar cheese.

[Charles Easterly]

Hyp,

Although I don't self-identify as the types of individuals you mentioned in this regard, I nonetheless looked for good advice via Google.

I quickly surmised why you did not find many satisfactory solutions to your question of side dishes (one example).

Is there something you are well known for cooking/preparing/providing which has consistently been popular by the invitees? If not, would some form of genial humor substitute? If most of the invitees aren't politically active, for example, you might capitalize upon this common feature since this is the weekend before the presidential election.

I doubt that my first idea is appropriate, yet if it stimulates your imagination and solves your small dilemma I will be satisfied. It seems to me that a great many individuals enjoy cake as a dessert. You could buy two cakes and have them decorated differently. Regardless of which cake the invitees choose they find that both cakes are identical under the frosting.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Clam bake?

ELOTE. Hands down. If you live in an area that has hispanic foods in the grocery stores, buy lime mayonnaise.

Recipe.

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

Love Elote, I should have mentioned that I'm bringing not hosting, was thinking more of a stand alone, no on-site prep dish. I'll probably go with the ol' hot pickle potato salad* and call it a day.

*not an euphemism......yet.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

I've never been to a clam bake, but if it's anything like a barbecue I'd go with whipped mashed potatoes. Boil russet potatoes with one or two whole cloves of garlic per pound of potatoes. Drain and push through a ricer if you have it, the finer the better. Salt, butter (when you think you've put too much in, add another tablespoon) and start pouring in heavy cream as you whip. You're looking for something like a meringue in consistency. You could add some white pepper but I think it fights the creamy taste too much.

Or, steam some collard greens with diced tomatoes, pork belly, and sweet onions in some white wine. Or just do a pan of roasted fall veg: squashes, fingerling potatoes, turnips, carrots, cauliflower. Drizzle with a good olive oil and hit with some sea salt. Don't add any herbs or pepper or anything, because the roast will bring the flavors of the vegetables out.

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

steam some collard greens with diced tomatoes, pork belly, and sweet onions in some white wine

mmmm, I like that, thanks.

[But Enough About Me]

Costco is selling USDA Prime tomahawk steaks. And they're 1/4 the price of anywhere else.

Man, every time I hear an American tell me about the U.S. Costco's deals, I realize just how incredibly shitty Canadian Costco is in comparison.

Hating you a little bit right now, Playa.

[OneOut]

Playa.

How much are they ?

They're about $15 where I buy meat.

I've never bought one because I'm not paying $15 for extra bone.

[Playa Manhattan.]

11.99 for Prime.

Choice tomahawks are 32/lb everywhere else.

[Bee Tagger]

For those of you keeping score in the campus holiday wars: it's okay to mock Pilgrims.

The Instagram pogrom on pilgrims!

[AlmightyJB]

Just because you're on time Robby doesn't mean you need to get cocky

[Auric Demonocles]

He's not on time. We're 7 minutes late and he still hasn't finished the post.

[Tonio]

I suspect he was a wee bit late (despite the ostensible time stamp), but we'll let that slide just this once, Rico.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Nice alt-text, though.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Everything is Paul Ryan's fault. Everything.

And, by extension, Ayn Rand.

[Crusty Juggler]

Fist has a soulmate.

Here, listed in no particular order, is definitive evidence that Milk Chocolate Is Superior to Dark Chocolate and If You Do Not Agree You Are Wrong Both Factually and Morally The End

[Citizen X]

Good, they can settle down and raise a bunch of kids who are also wrong about basic facts.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Seriously, it's worse than Cytotoxic's fondness for Star Trek Into Darkness.

I'm sorry to go there, Fist, but it's true.

[Horatio]

Where's he been? Was he deported or something?

[gaoxiaen]

Teleported.

[Ayn Random Variation]

Departed hopefully

[Crusty Juggler]

Fist is worse than Cytotoxic.

[darius404]

I think he just transformed into Free Society. He gives off a "too retarded to make cogent arguments" vibe.

[Free Society]

My retarded non-cogent arguments are diametrically opposed to those of Cytotoxic, I'll have you know.

[darius404]

Aw, sure they are. Aren't you cute.

[Free Society]

Or you could make some kind of argument or provide some kind of evidence or citation of any kind. But ad hominem is way easier, so clearly you're the genius.

[darius404]

Naw, don't care. Doesn't matter all that much really. And I'd explain the difference between arguments and insults, but as we've already settled you're Cytotoxic levels of stupid. You go ahead and keep saying stuff though. It's funny.

[Free Society]

Yeah it really is easier that way huh? Now you can pat yourself on the back and have a great rest of the evening.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Milk Chocolate Is Superior to Dark Chocolate

Wait, wait wait....Are there really people who had to be told that???

[Fist of Etiquette]

Apparently dumb people can't not be dumb.

[Fist of Etiquette]

INTO DARKNESS WAS AN ABOMINATION. They might as well have called it Into Dark Chocolateness.

[Pan Zagloba]

#istandwithFist

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

#istandwithFist

You damned skippy!

[Charles Easterly]

Nice.

[Tim from Philly]

I believe that is "stands like a fist".

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Early 90's Mary Mc? Yup!

[Charles Easterly]

Stands With a Fist: When I came to live on the prairie, I worked every day... very hard... there was a woman who didn't like me. She called me bad names... sometimes she beat me. One day she was calling me these bad names, her face in my face, and I hit her. I was not very big, but she fell down. She fell hard and didn't move. I stood over her with my fist and asked if any other woman wanted to call me bad names... No one bothered me after that day.

with.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Oh, certainly, With

Just noting the yummy-ness, regardless of how it's iterated here.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

More lies from big milk.

[Enough About Palin]

+1 Chesty Morgan

[Mickey Rat]

But someone who could write that obviously has no soul.

[Chip Woodier]

Here, listed in no particular order, is definitive evidence that Milk Chocolate Is Superior to Dark Chocolate and If You

I'll be the judge of that. A big bowl of each, if you please.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

That's like deciding whether your an ass man or a breast man. Can't you be both?

[waffles]

Nate Silver just doesn't want to be wrong.

Check the date. These are the end times. Shop smart.

[Playa Manhattan.]

S-mart?

[Ted S.]

Close enough

[Ted S.]

Also from Finland

[Playa Manhattan.]

Movie. See link below.

[gaoxiaen]

That's where I buy all my sheets.

[Juvenile Bluster]

This is my boomstick?

[Playa Manhattan.]

Gimme some sugar?

[Private Chipperbot]

Now I swear...

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

I think we should get a list together of top 15 must-read books for libertarian thought. Let's throw our suggestions out there, and make an argument for which should make the list.

I'll put a few out there to start:
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
Theodore and Woodrow by Judge Napolitano

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

Sorry, shouldve described more. These should be accessible to somebody who isn't familiar with libertarian thought, relevant to modern libertarian issues, and engaging to a wide swath of humanity. Ideally, this list will be what you hand your friend when they say "I don't know much about libertarianism, what does it mean?"

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Libertarian 101, so to speak? How about Matt Kibbe's Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff?

[PurityDiluting]

The Libertarian Reader. The piece entitled something like "If you're paying, then I'll have steak" is priceless

[But Enough About Me]

"If you're paying, I'll have top sirloin."

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

Very good. Thanks.

[But Enough About Me]

No worries. And yeah, it's pretty good. (Not Harrison Bergeron good, but okay.)

[Rich]

accessible to somebody who isn't familiar with libertarian thought, relevant to modern libertarian issues, and engaging to a wide swath of humanity

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne

[The Fusionist]

Hayek, Constitution of Liberty
The book linked in my handle

[SugarFree]

Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim

[gaoxiaen]

Fight Club.

[Crusty Juggler]

Rockin' Steady: A Guide to Basketball and Cool by Walt Frazier:

"Cool I think is reactions, reflexes, and attitude. You got to feel out the situation, You can't be out of control."

[Tonio]

The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. Not about liberty, but does explain the mindset of those who would take our liberties from us.

[GILMORE?]

Seconded. "True Believer" is really one of the best explanations why libertarianism *does poorly* with most people.

I also think Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays deserve a shout-out. Self-reliance, etc.

he's the guy who said, "The less government we have, the better."

[BigT]

I read True Believer at the suggestion of someone here. Meh. Not a very engaging read. No sizzle.

[GILMORE?]

True = It lacks the car-chases, sultry-dames, & shootouts that made Capitalism and Freedom such a quick Book-to-Film project

*on a serious level - are you kidding?

[BigT]

It's not that I disagree with anything there, but it didn't reveal anything new or interesting, or have new insights. I think it would not be a convincing read for someone just checking out libertarian ideas.

Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do, by contrast, is full of startling and gripping segments that convey the spirit of libertarianism veryvividly. I've given away several copies of it.

[GILMORE?]

it would not be a convincing read for someone just checking out libertarian ideas.

True Believer really has very little to do with libertarian ideas, and much more to do with the "non-libertarian" thinking which has dominated politics for centuries

it didn't reveal anything new or interesting

...not sure what you were expecting. I think you're entirely wrong - its is as much a book about mass-psychology as politics, and is entirely unique

Typically a book like that is written by someone with narrow academic expertise. Being an autodidact, Hoffer borrows liberally from literature, philosophy, classics, modern-history wherever he wants to make a particular point. It also has a prose quality that is closer to 18th century essayists than 20th century academics - not everyone's stylistic cup of tea maybe, but imo untouchable in terms of the hundreds of quotable sentences littered throughout.

It honestly sounds like you're confusing Hoffer with someone else..

[OneOut]

Boomeritis...A novel that will set you free

Written by a true progie Ken Wilber an MIT something or other. It exposes what the proggies really think and explains why they think it and why what they think is so devastating to those they claim to help.

This book is a hard read but he put a sex scene in each chapter to try to keep you in until the end.

If you try it please at least read the last chapter. It exposes his own tribe for what it truly is.

I can't believe a true proggie wrote the truth about his tribe but he did. I'm kinda curious if he is still a true believer after his own eye awakening.

[Col. Chestbridge]

I remember thinking Free Market Revolution by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook was quite good and a pretty easily digestible introduction, but it's been awhile since I read it.

[bacon-magic]

The little engine that could, for a fee. By Jack Handy.

[The Hyperbole ((Very Tall))]

Been awhile since I read 'em but two that helped turn me are

Ain't Nobody's Buisness If You Do by Peter McWilliams
and
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne

The former is exactly what I hand the "I don't know much about libertarianism, what does it mean?" guy. Have done so half a dozen times or so.

[Jerryskids]

I'll second both of those. Ain't Nobody's Business is a bathroom reader sort of book - lots of short stand-alone essays. You can pick it up and open to a page at random and read a few minutes and get something out of it.

PJ O'Rourke's Parlament of Whores is a good way to get your foot in the door if you're trying for a little subversive undermining of somebody's faith in central planning and top men. Hell, just the chapter titles - "Would you kill your mother to pave I-95?", "Our government: What the fuck do they do all day and why does it cost so goddamned much money?", "Special interest groups: the original barrel of monkeys nothing is more fun than" - are enough to get some gears turning.

[Jerryskids]

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teen-age boys" comes from PoW.

[BigT]

"Ain't Nobody's Business " is the best. It teaches by example with hundreds of great quotes from thinkers from history.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Oh man, I second Parliament of Whores. PJ isn't a libertarian, but he gets pretty damn close.

[DOOMco]

Capitalism and freedom, milton Friedman

[GILMORE?]

Also seconded.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Economic Sophisms by Bastiat (or, fine, The Law)
The Man Versus the State by Herbert Spencer
The State by Anthony de Jasay
Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume

In descending order of accessibility.

[Pan Zagloba]

Bastiat for sure. For extra fun, ask them not to read the copyright, then have them guess when it was written.

[RBS]

Radical for Capitalism

[RBS]

s

[Horatio]

Buttsecks, Mexicans, and Deep Dish: A Sugarfree Nutpunch

[Enough About Palin]

Personal Knowledge towards a post-critical philosophy by Michael Polanyi

[But Enough About Me]

YES!!!!!!! SO MUCH ^THIS!

[Guestus III]

For me it was Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick. Probably too dense as a primer. I'll second Capitalism and Freedom.

A subscription to Reason is probably the best way to indoctrinate someone. The magazine, not this here blog. And not the comments. God, not the comments.

[Rufus The Monocled]

/farts in Guestus III's direction.

[Stormy Dragon]

Eat the Rich and All the Troubles in the World by P. J. O'Rourke

[darius404]

Radicals for Capitalism by Brian Doherty. It really is a great and unbiased record of the modern American libertarian movement.

[Ayn Random Variation]

1984
Animal Farm
Harrison Bergeron
Atlas shrugged cliff notes
Bartleby the scrivener
When the sacred ginmill closes

[dschwar]

The Moon isa Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. Still one of my favorites.

[dschwar]

is a. Should have previewed.

[GamerFromJump]

Chapter 1 of On Basilisk Station by David Weber. Puts the issues of a Basic Income Guarantee front and center, and how the bottomless appetite of the welfare state leads to a it being a danger to everyone around it.

[0x90]

The Trial.

[Bee Tagger]

Clinton decided to do something about it. Namely, she told her top aides to just email her at her personal address so she could keep using whichever devices she wanted.

Her only deficiency was being TOO efficient!

[Juice]

Like most people who started a federal job in 2009, she was also disheartened to learn that the then-current state of federal IT departments was such that she could not connect her personal smartphone to a State Department email address.

Hey Matty, you wanna fucking know why?

[Juice]

Clinton decided to do something about it.

Clinton decided she was above the law. And she's right!

[Citizen X]

Go easy on Matty, he's medically retarded.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I wonder if he's aware of the scorn he gets around here.

[Playa Manhattan.]

That's the worst kind of retarded!

[BigT]

"Go easy on Matty, he's medically retarded"

Welch or Iglesias? or both?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

BTW, even though I believe with pretty much most of my heart that Hillary will be the next President until 2024, I do believe that whatever Trump's poll numbers are, are showing lower than they are. It's like the "Brexit" polls. People voting for Brexit were so vilified in the runup, that no one would answer honestly to a pollster about their feelings on the matter. Same with Trump voters. I believe there are a statistically significant number of Trump voters who either lie or stay hidden because they don't want to hear about it on Facebook.

[John]

If there really is a Bradley effect for Trump, Hillary is doomed. The Daily Caller is saying Michigan is now tied. Look at it this way, think of how much worse Hillary is doing today than she was even on Monday. When the undecideds break that strongly this late against a candidate, how often do they hold on and win? Not often

[PurityDiluting]

Can there really be undecided voters at this point?
Other than being undecided as to even bothering to show up and vote

[Rich]

Can there really be undecided voters at this point?

"Last scandal standing"

[gaoxiaen]

Trump missed and grabbed some chick's asshole?

[LarryA]

Down where I live about one out of four eligible voters has already early voted.

[Ayn Random Variation]

I change my mind every 5 minutes between Johnson and trump.
Conundrum: live in blue state, despise hillary, wanted McAfee, hate weld, dovish on Johnson.. Do I want to help LP get 5% or do I go for fuck you vote and go trump.
Ultimately I'm #neverhillary but my vote doesn't matter so I'm undecided.

[Tim from Philly]

After Weld, fuck the LP. Vote Trump for the lulz and salty ham tears if he wins.

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

^This. If I was voting this cycle, I'd be voting Trump. I was all primed to vote for the LP ticket until they started opening their mouths. Now I'll sit at home and laugh at all involved.

[Tumulus]

Vote LP and get them numbers up. I'm in a blue state, mad at Weld, voting LP. I have a good feeling about local and statewide races in 2018. Not that we'll win a bunch, but we'll be less ignored.

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Wow, that's pretty much exactly where I am. I'm taking Walter Block's advice and voting Johnson since Maryland's going for Hillary 100%. In fact, I'll be surprised when I show up if someone hasn't thoughtfully cast a vote for her on my behalf in case I might have had pressing business that kept me from voting in person.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Same here. i like the independent guy for Senate (Steve something, i think) and there are some down ballot things i want to vote against, ad well

[Playa Manhattan.]

2020. She'll fuck it up and get impeached, or she'll get sick and die.

[John]

She will almost certainly be dead before 2020 win or lose.

[Jgalt1975]

Ah yes, just like she was imminently about to die around Labor Day, right, John? And she was definitely going to back out of the debates, because she would be physically incapable of standing all that time. And if she did show up at the debates, she would definitely start hacking and coughing and look horribly ill....

[Jerryskids]

Some people's money's on she'll be dead before 2017. Not anybody I know of course thinks that, I've just heard rumors that some people have heard such comments. From other people, not from anybody I know or have ever met. Which I personally am absoutely horrified that anybody could possibly even think such a thing.

[John]

Do you think she is healthy? Did you take a marijuana?

[tarran]

John, I don't know if you read this article penned by Daniel Hannan:

Populism, III: Insects of the hour

The vilest slur in Brussels, the insult to end all insults, is "populist." Eurocrats spit it out, rather in the manner of a teenager at a party who mistakenly takes a swig from a beer can that was being used as an ashtray. Yet, monstrous as the word is in a Eurocrat's vocabulary, he is surprisingly vague about its meaning.

The one thing that he unequivocally understands populism to signify is "something that other people like, but I don't." Thus, calling for a referendum is populist. Accepting the result of a referendum is populist. Free speech for Eurosceptics is populist. Tax cuts are populist. Cutting waste is populist.

My neighbor in the European Parliament chamber when I was first elected was a hefty Belgian Christian Democrat. He used the word frequently and ferociously, applying it with particular venom to supporters of Flemish independence. I once asked him whether the Flemish separatists weren't simply representing their voters, just as he represented his. "As politicians we have a duty to lead, not just to do what people want!" he replied. Got it, I said. What you mean by "populism" is "having a legislature that broadly reflects public opinion." In my country, we call that "democracy."

[Jerryskids]

I don't know about her health currently, but I've heard her ancestors in the old country used to work in the lead mines and lead poisoning is an inheritable condition. Sudden-onset lead poisoning is a terrible thing.

[Mr Lizard]

My consolation back up plan is that I will likely be able to shit on her grave while I'm still agile enough to sneak in and not get caught.

[Can you see it?]

You and I have the same plans, apparently.

[The Last American Hero]

Assuming she dies before the end of her first term, who gets their statue on the Mall first - Hillary or Obama?

[kinnath]

If she wins, she will be impeached the day after she takes the oath.

[Troy muy grande boner]

No way. There is nothing so gutless or cowardly as a congressional Republican.

[Jerryskids]

Impeached with extreme prejudice?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

2020. She'll fuck it up and get impeached, or she'll get sick and die.

The Democrats will reanimate her and no one will be able to tell.

[Pope Jimbo]

I'd vote for Dead Hillary. Of course, that is the only Hillary I'd vote for.

[Ayn Random Variation]

Ok I like that. Hillary 2020. She'll be dead soon anyway.

[Ayn Random Variation]

Ok I like that. Hillary 2020. She'll be dead soon anyway.

[Joe M]

She has zero chance of being reelected. The GOP will nominate someone who is not Trump and whip her ass.

[John]

The Dems won't nominate her. And the GOP will either nominate someone who is open borders and crony capitalist trade and lose the Trump supporters or someone who isn't and have the same problem they do with Trump.

[RBS]

That would be something. Incumbent Hilary not getting her turn for a second term.

[End Child Unemployment]

Yeah I thought no way could Team Red lose 2012. Or 2016. Never underestimate the power of incompetence.

[LarryA]

^^This. ALL the Republicans had to do was nominate someone with enough focus to keep talking about ACA and the economy.

But Noooo.

[I can't even]

I think Trump wins pretty easily if the vote counting is close to clean.

Otherwise, I agree with Playa - she wins a rigged election, gets impeached in the House, and dies in a year or 2. (She's already sick)

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

These links are -- how you say? Shit.

[Citizen X]

Merde!

[Tonio]

Shush, you. Today is a special day. He gets a pass.

[bacon-magic]

Today is Rico's free pass day, we have 364 other days that he can be roasted.

[gaoxiaen]

Ploopy.

[Auric Demonocles]

I didn't see any posts about Harvard forfeiting the rest of the men's soccer season because it came to light that they had a document ranking the attractiveness of the women's team members. Did I miss it, or have we not brought it up yet?

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Lord Humungus posted that link this morning.

[I can't even]

That's what you get for letting hetros play. Most soccer teams don't have that problem.

[Microaggressor]

Do they rank themselves?

[BigT]

"they had a document ranking the attractiveness of the women's team members."

Wasn't something similar the origin of Facebook? But progs love the FB.

[Auric Demonocles]

Make Alt-Text Great Again.

[Aloysious]

Caption for the picture: "It's that big! Honest."

[Crusty Juggler]

Free Shipping Is A Lie

The implications of the lie aren't often felt by us consumers, who have come to expect free shipping. The biggest impact is felt by e-commerce businesses, particularly smaller ones, which face what some have called an emerging crisis: The cost of free shipping, in many cases, is unsustainable.

The cost of free shipping can be especially onerous for smaller e-commerce companies, but it's even impacting Amazon and Target, two of the giants often considered responsible for popularizing the trend to begin with. Typically, Amazon recovers only about 55% of the amount it spends on shipping, a number that has drawn new scrutiny after the company's third-quarter earnings significantly missed expectations. As it expands its Prime service and other recent offerings, Amazon's net shipping costs?the difference between what it pays for shipping and the amount customers pay in shipping fees and Prime memberships?reached nearly $1.75 billion in the third quarter, its highest quarterly total ever outside of the peak holiday season, according to data compiled by GeekWire from the company's earnings reports.

Amazon is a fascinating company.

[Juice]

If you can scam a student Prime membership and then share it with someone, that's the way to go.

[The Last American Hero]

I've given up on trying to figure out how they can defy every normal financial metric and still have a share price at about 10x what it should be.

[Juice]

Still better than TSLA. And NFLX.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Tesla laughs at your puny 10X!

[Playa Manhattan.]

Because they're taking over the world.

[Stormy Dragon]

It's the same way charities are "non-profit" and movies never seem to turn a profit. Just because Amazon is losing money on paper doesn't mean no money is being made.

[Ted S.]

If you suggest there's such a thing as tax incidence, these same people will go nuts.

[IndyEleven]

What am I missing here (from the fine article):
"Direct-to-home has a supply chain cost three times higher than a store-based model. So when we say the internet retailer can charge less, how can that be? "

WTF? How could maintaining stores and surly teens to staff them cost *less* than a web site and some well-placed DCs? A lot of retail chains end up with regional DCs anyway so is this only for small one or two-location companies?

I've worked with small companies before that did little more than host a small site and drop-ship completed orders from the manufacturer, no way that's more expensive than opening a storefront somewhere.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Volume. the surly teen is in a sea of products at one point of sale. Amazon has to hire the same surly teen in its warehouse, and then ship those products to millions of different points around the globe.

[IndyEleven]

Probably true, but that seems ripe for automation. I think I saw last week Amazon is down to one minute of human interaction to pick and ship an order and I imagine they're trying to push that further down. I don't doubt the article is correct on Amazon's numbers, but the concept of cutting out a showroom and it costing *more* seems surprising to me.

[OneOut]

I walked into my local convenience store yesterday to see one wall taken up by lockers with an Amazon nameplate.

I suppose it is a local pickup location ?

[OneOut]

Why can't they just drone it on over to my house from there ?

I'm waiting !

It's been almost 3 hours since I placed my order.

[PurityDiluting]

Once upon a time their was a pricing mechanism to inform consumers about costs. Then some clever Top Man figured out that it's better to make things free and then bury the costs somewhere else. Free shipping. Free e-mail. Free healthcare. Free college. Free childcare. Free ...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Jeff Bezos supports Hillary. Maybe he wants to make internet retail great again.

[Microaggressor]

I like the word "sustainable". It lets you know, right off the bat, the speaker is a dumbass who doesn't understand market forces.

[(((Renegade)))]

Paul Krugman: Everything is Paul Ryan's fault. Everything.

On Hate Radio today, I was informed that Ryan, Comey, and Giuliani should be immediately arrested, their computers seized, and that they be charged with treason and executed.

[(((Renegade)))]

Oh, and Donald Trump is a thousand times more perverted than Anthony Weiner.

[John]

I bet the stench of desperation was getting pretty thick.

[Playa Manhattan.]

And this was before his morning coffee.

Oh, you were talking about the democrats.

[(((Renegade)))]

I admit to uncontrolled giggling.

[tarran]

On facederp my most proggie high school classmate is posting anti-neocon propaganda.

I didn't have the heart to ask him if he had turned on Hillary Clinton since she had supported all those bad things.

I'm done arguing with them.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I'm done arguing with them.

If you ever argued with them, you already lost.

[DOOMco]

I like asking a question on those memes. Just a simple one that, if they thought about it, would realize the errror. Its mostly for other people who look, like when we debate a troll here

[Col. Chestbridge]

It's just playing chess with pigeons.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Ie, you're playing a game by yourself while everyone else poops on you?

[Pan Zagloba]

They scatter the pieces, shit on you, then fly off.

[tarran]

Talking about the stench of desperation. Here's the latest:

To anyone who is planning to vote Green, particularly those in a key state, please take a moment and consider that a Trump presidency is now a real possibility and the consequences of that. I understand that you are angry, feel rightly cheated, and that Hillary is the type of corrupt politician that you loathe. I understand it is your right to vote for a 3rd party and for your ideals.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

and that Hillary is the type of corrupt politician that you loathe.

At least they're honest and not trying trying to convince people how awesome she is.

[tarran]

It's kind of nauseating and thrilling to watch the double-think in action.

John was correct that those guys would put me in a cattle car and send me to a death camp if they were ordered to by the right people.

[LarryA]

"Ordered to?" Most of them would do it for fun.

[Rufus The Monocled]

That's the part we don't want to admit. Wouldn't surprise me in the bit if it were the case.

[darius404]

But at least you wouldn't be loaded and sent off because of the WRONG people, right? THINK OF WHAT'S AT STAKE HERE!

[The Last American Hero]

Perhaps instead of seizing the computers, Paul Ryan and company could print out the files they deem to be applicable to whatever charges have been leveled and then destroy their hard drives.

[Rat's voting Chipper-Shredder]

They can also sit in as counsel for each other during questioning.

[OneOut]

OT

Lame duck status ?

Obama can't even get his own peeps to pay attention to him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfkVLcZuCA4

[CZmacure]

That video is so good it's fattening. I especially like where he pretends to be "black" by speaking AAVE to try to calm the crowd down...

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ay, ay, yo! Hol' up! Hol' up!

[Crusty Juggler]

Dat nigga gun need a smoke after dat noise.

[Horatio]

Excuse me, I speak jive!

[Junior Juniorson, III]

Just awesome.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Cultural approbation!

[Ted S.]

Those of you with AdBlock are missing the new Supreme Court.

[PurityDiluting]

This might have been covered earlier:

Overweight, tattooed, stoned? The Pentagon may still want you

[Horatio]

They take 2/3?

[GILMORE?]

Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is.

Isn't this just CYA? he was hurt before. Now he's overcompensating.

I hate how the media will take whatever goofball who happens to "call one thing correctly" and treat them like the oracle of delphi for the next few years. It pretty much guaratees that the next time the same person makes a call that they'll be complete pussies about it because they're terrified of losing their special-status in the media. The very thing that made them good at their jobs before is entirely compromised by their own newfound stature.

[John]

Probably CYA. I don't what will happen Tuesday but I do know that Nate Silver has no idea

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

cops: GPS harpoon.

Discuss 20 second video.

[Playa Manhattan.]

A harpoon is just a tool. Like a gun, or an alligator.

[Mr Lizard]

Or your mother

[Quincy.]

No skateboard Kourier attached to bimbo box. I am the disappoint.

[GILMORE?]

The real Clinton email scandal is that a bullshit story has dominated the campaign

this guy

When Hillary Clinton took office as secretary of state, she, like most people, already had a personal email account. Like most people who started a federal job in 2009, she was also disheartened to learn that the then-current state of federal IT departments was such that she could not connect her personal smartphone to a State Department email address. If she wanted ready access to both her email accounts, she would need to carry two smartphones.

As any reporter in Washington knows, this indignity was in fact visited upon a huge number of DC denizens for many years. Everyone working in government felt that this was kinda bullshit, but nobody could really do anything about it. (Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts has opined that carrying two phones could be reasonable grounds to suspect someone is a drug dealer.)

Clinton decided to do something about it....

....There are two possible interpretations here. One is that Clinton hatched the private email account plan as an elaborate dodge of federal record-keeping laws, but then months before the public became aware of the server's existence complied with requests to turn them over. The other is that the federal records rule on the book was antiquated and a bit absurd,

[John]

She turned them over after deleting anything she considered "personal"which was of course the whole point. I know he is retarded but no one is this stupid.

[tarran]

As an aside, does anybody believe Hillary Clinton, who clearly has a blood clot in her brain is doing yoga?

[RBS]

Yoga yoga or hungover white chick yoga?

[Horatio]

Do they make yoga pantsuits? Asking for a friend

[The Other Kevin]

Why oh why did I click that link? I just glanced over the article and felt my IQ drop.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The other is that the federal records rule on the book was antiquated and a bit absurd,

So what now? What rule is he talking about? Is he suggesting that sans an antiquated and absurd rule, that everyone at the top level of the Federal government could be setting up private email servers with no oversight, no FOIA accessibility, and everyone would be totally finger-snap-applause with the idea?

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

So... is he admitting that Clinton (intentionally!) broke the law? "Clinton decided to do something about it" by ignoring the regulations that everyone else begrudgingly followed?

This is the kind of spin where I have to imagine the writer is cognizant of their spin. There's no way that even someone like MattY looks at the Clinton email situation and naturally comes to these conclusions. At least part of him knows that he's actively shaping an unintuitive narrative, right?

[Pan Zagloba]

So this is what, fourth article with said subject linked in the last 24 hours?

Jesus, Journolist, can you try to make it less obvious when you have a new talking point to distribute?

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

Oh, but it doesn't matter because of the Great Bush Email Scandal of 2007. I've been informed that this is the case.

[Agammamon]

Sorry, I promise I'll stop congratulating myself now.

Nah, you earned this one fair and square. Now, doesn't this feel better than all those participation trophies you got growing up?

[The Last American Hero]

I keep picturing a 70-year old Robbie, at a bar, drunk, telling some bartender for the 400th time about that big story he broke back in the early 2000's.

"I waz sumthin', I tell ya'. I was goin' places. King o the world. Then a couple years later when Queen Hillary shut down the non-State press, I was outta work."

[BigW]

Hey Robby, no matter how much we bug you, your work on the Rolling Stone stuff was excellent, you do deserve congratulations there....

[waffles]

When you use commas and ellipses like that it makes you seem insincere.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It, kind of, does.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The Anna Merlan epic fail insult bit alone was worth the price of admission.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

congratulations there....

To clarify BigW: But only there...

[Can you see it?]

"(Sorry, I promise I'll stop congratulating myself now.)"

Great, seeing as you didn't really do anything.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Thank you for your valuable contribution.

[GILMORE?]

Cuban Socialism Under Threat From Hawkers of Multiple Brands of Deodorant

Unilever broke ground Friday on a $35 million joint venture with the Cuban government to produce personal care products.

Unilever will hold a 60 percent stake in the venture, which will produce shampoo, soaps and other products for local and international distribution. The factory is expected to generate 300 local jobs and will be managed by Unilever officials.

Only seven other foreign firms have moved to open operations in the special economic zone since it was inaugurated in 2014. Many have yet to break ground or remain in the early stages. Cuba says it is hopeful of accelerating the pace of foreign investment in the country, a pace lagging at less than half the annual goal of more than $2 billion a year.

[Juice]

If there's a god, it has a great sense of irony.

[Rufus The Monocled]

More irony. Ahem, I believe Unilever also owns Ben's, I mean, Ben & Jerry's.

[Rufus The Monocled]

More irony. Ahem, I believe Unilever also owns Ben and Commie's, I mean, Ben & Jerry's.

*I distinctly wrote Commie's but for some reason it mysteriously got cut.

[GILMORE?]

& Lipton Iced Tea, Hellmann's Mayonnaise, Breyer's Ice Cream, etc.

[Cdr Lytton]

Interestingly, I saw Hellmanns in Vancouver, BC.

[But Enough About Me]

Hellmann's is all over Western Canada. I've lived in Edmonton (Edmondchukskianovich), Calgary and now the Lower Rainland? (Vancouver and environs for you know-nothings), and Hellmann's was readily available in all three.

[But Enough About Me]

Lipton Iced Tea sucks. Goodhost, or GTFO.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

I really, really want to argue with you, but I've never had Goodhost. Or, heard of it. I sincerely hope it kicks ass, but I don't know how different iced tea in Texas is compared to Canuckian iced tea.

[But Enough About Me]

Ah. Well, you can be forgiven, then.

First off: the iced tea I had in Texas (BBQ joint, quite good, DFW area) was unsweetened. I assume that's normal? I actually quite liked it, 'cause you could add as much or as little sugar (including none, of course) as you wished. Libertarian iced tea, kinda. 😉

The Lipton Iced Tea up here is sweetened, and it's more sugar than tea flavour, if you catch my meaning. Goodhost (Canadian powdered product, also available to the trade as concentrated syrup) is much more about the tea taste and lemon flavour, and while sweet, is nowhere near the diabetes-inducing-fest that is Lipton. You can tell the difference betwixt 'em immediately, and in a restaurant I always ask which one they're serving.

Oh yeah, almost forgot: I've never seen canned Goodhost.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Canned? CANNNED?!? May God damn to Hell the person that ever decided iced tea could/should be put in a can. As such, Nestea can kiss the fattest part of my ass.

Anyway-
Lipton in tea bags: awesome
Lipton, as it used to be sold years ago in glass bottles: de-lish*
This Pure Leaf stuff they got now? Only if it's the unsweetened. The regular* sweetened is chemical-ly.

*Lipton/Pure Leaf does a "Southern Sweet/Extra Sweet" that will kill your mouth almost instantly.

As for unsweetened/sweetened tea in Texas-I didn't notice sweetened tea in Texas restaurants/fast food until late 90's/early Aughts. I could have just been obtuse about it (Chick-Fil-A was definitely around, and they do both well), but it's standard in most places to have both.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

*it's now standard

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Unilever broke ground Friday on a $35 million joint venture with the Cuban government to produce personal care products.

Unilever will hold a 60 percent stake in the venture,

So, you're going into business with the Cuban government and you only own 60% of the action?

[GILMORE?]

That's the way it works in almost all developing markets. They are forced to partner with the govt. That's the way it was with most companies in China in the early 2000s (and may still be afaik)

Often it means the investor-company buying out the govt's nationalized assets, and integrating their legacy businesses w/ the new company operations. The idea is basically to prevent the corporation coming in and building a greenfield-operation, force them to help upgrade the existing manufacturing & logistics infrastructure, etc. It makes sense on some levels.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

At least China understands capitalism.

[GILMORE?]

Call-Out Culture Gets Serious

Misused pronouns, now fighting words

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? The suspect in a shooting at a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart store told police he opened fire on his co-worker because the employee was offended he was changing genders to female and had threatened him, police say.

Zachary McClimans, 22, of Sharon, told police he raised his concerns to management at the Hermitage store last week but "no decision had been made" regarding the other employee, police said in a criminal complaint Friday.

McClimans decided one "solution" to the problem was shooting his co-worker so McClimans took his grandfather's .380-caliber pistol and drove to the store, the complaint said. Although McClimans originally planned to shoot the other employee outside the store, McClimans went in and shot him about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the complaint said.

[tarran]

I'll bet his shrink is really regretting having encouraged him to be more assertive. 😉

[Playa Manhattan.]

So... it's going to be a taxpayer funded sex change.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Nice to see they are taking up the "driven to murder by every slight, real or imagined" thing up from the Muslims.

The Gender of Peace!

[Quincy.]

Tranny Gunpersons of Walmart. It's a disgrace that TruTV hasn't yet picked this up for a full season.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Your story text doesn't match the story text in your link at all. Like they're two different stories.

Also: Everyone inside the building was evacuated.

Everyone inside the building received enemas? Really?

[Pan Zagloba]

The suspect in a shooting at a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart store told police he opened fire on his co-worker because the employee was offended he was changing genders to female

Wait, who is changing the gender to female and who is being shot at?
If I get this right

A is M-to-Fing
B is offended by this?
A shoots B

Please, if one of the persons involved is M-to-Fing, can you use "she" for that person? It'll improve readability.

And no, link says nothing about motives or stuff, so...

[GILMORE?]

NO ONE COMPLAINS ABOUT ROBBY-LINKS LIKE THIS! I AM BEING PERSECUTED

kidding. here's the local news coverage

[Crusty Juggler]

Today is National Candy Day, a day in which we celebrate beautiful women named Candy.

[AlmightyJB]

Would would pass

[Troy muy grande boner]

I stupidly clicked the.link.

[But Enough About Me]

Yum, would, wouldn't, Hell no.

[american socialist]

"Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously."

I agree. If you want to go after Clinton why not go after her vote on Iraq, her instigation of the war against Libya, her militarism, her tendency to support laws that throw tens of thousands of non-violent drug offenders in jail. To do that would require conservatives to reveal their complicity in each one of these matters so fat chance. Better to go after votes from people that think she had Vince Foster and Chris Stevens executed.

[John Titor]

Of course you agree, you're both goddamn morons.

Now quick, spew out a random non-sequitur where you narcissistically pat yourself on the back for goodthink at me!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Why not talk about ALL those things?

The email thing - you know, the part she had an unsecured private server - points to trust, respect of the law and competence.

But being a socialist, those things have little value to you and thus to be poo-pooed and shooed away.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Why do we have to pick just 12?

[Juice]

So that list you had the other day was complete bullshit and you don't believe the only thing with criticizing her about is that she's "bad with email"?

[Juice]

worth

[LarryA]

Actually the Republicans would have done better to ignore Hillary's deeds and spent the election talking about ACA and the economy.

[Brian]

Well, according to the FBI, Hillary Clinton's bathroom email server was a possible violation of the law.

On the other hand, poor governance is completely legal.

I know, I know: the scandal is what's legal.

[GILMORE?]

Teachers are Underpaid and Overworked: More Proof

[Heroic Mulatto]

Wait, isn't corporal punishment legal in Texas?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

TRUMP MADE HER DO IT!

[Juice]

totally worth it

[Horatio]

*Clicks to make sure it wasn't my wife*

That monster!

[Bra Ket]

I dunno, kid sounds like a pain in the ass that deserved it.

[GILMORE?]

WaPo updates reporting on the Eramo case ruling.

The jury ruled that Erdely acted with actual malice when she published two statements about Eramo, the first being that Eramo discouraged Jackie from reporting her allegations and a reference to Eramo's "nonreaction" when Jackie first told her about the alleged assault. The jury's finding means that they concluded Erdely knew the statements about Eramo were false ? or had reason to doubt them and failed to investigate further--- but published them anyway.

The jury also found that Erdely acted with actual malice in four statements she made in interviews after the article published...

The jury also ruled that Rolling Stone, and its parent company Wenner Media, had republished the article on Dec. 5, 2014, when the magazine posted an editor's note at the top of the story acknowledging that there had been doubts cast on Jackie's account. Lawyers for Rolling Stone argued that the magazine had in effect retracted the article on that date, but the jury found otherwise, noting that an official retraction did not come until April. The jury found that by keeping the article up online in its entirety ? while simultaneously acknowledging its flawed reporting ? Rolling Stone editors knew the article was false but published it again anyway, a key indicator of actual malice.

still weird that they report different phrasing of the ruling for edley vs. RS, but that's clearer on the reasoning

[Ken Shultz]

Even after all of this, the Washington Post still won't give the same weight to a finding that questions the veracity of a woman who claims to be a rape victim.

Meanwhile, I was groped by Hillary Clinton.

[Ken Shultz]

"Nate Silver is giving Donald Trump better odds than anyone else is."

At this point, if Hillary Clinton raped, killed, and ate a refugee child in front of the cameras in broad daylight, very few news sources would report on it before the election--and average people would have no idea what we were talking about.

Hillary Clinton accepted money from foreign governments while she was the Secretary of State, huh?!

The Hillary Clinton campaign paid people to instigate violence at Trump events, what?!

At least half the voters in this country are clinically delusional.

[JayU]

It's funny, but it seems like a lot of the pollsters have begun hedging their bets in the last week or so, talking about the "undercurrent" and "invisible" Trump support.

See this way, if Trump wins, they can claim their polls were still right all along, because it was just secret Trump voters that made the difference. And they couldn't have shown up in the polls because they were purposefully hiding in the shadows.

But if you didn't follow a narrative and looked at the facts all along, it was always kind of obvious that this election was gonna be close and not a landslide for Clinton. There's been a worldwide move to the right recently, the recent polls have all undersold those movements (2014 mid-terms, Brexit) and that's not even getting into the Bradley effect surrounding Trump. Or the fact that many of these polls that were showing Clinton up were polling 30%+ Democrats while underselling Independents, who Trump has been winning all along. Those same polls which are still using that technique, which now show the race within the margin of error.

[Ken Shultz]

"It's funny, but it seems like a lot of the pollsters have begun hedging their bets in the last week or so, talking about the "undercurrent" and "invisible" Trump support."

The shifts in momentum don't seem to square with events.

Public opinion is a consequence of causes. If you know there are causes but you can't find proportional consequences, I guess you start thinkin' something's up.

And just on a perception of magnitude scale, hardly anybody seems to be talking about how gropey Trumpmaster D is anymore, and everybody seems to be talking about the FBI.

There's gotta be a cognitive bias out there about how people perceive the last thing they saw as the most important thing. If all the groping allegations had come out after Comey hit the tabloids, Hillary probably would have liked that better.

[JayU]

The pussy grabbing story broke too soon. There was enough time for people to forget about it and the polls had already been narrowing before the FBI story broke.

Although whether anyone had actually decided to not vote for Trump based on that or simply didn't want to tell the pollster on the phone that they were voting for the self-admitted molester, I dunno.

Same really goes for the FBI thing. If you don't already think Clinton's e-mails are a problem, it doesn't seem likely that you're now going to suddenly change your mind based on new incomplete information about them.

[tarran]

She's lost 50 electoral votes on the Real clear politics electoral map over the past few days.

I expect something else will come out in the next 24 hours to kick her down further.

[JayU]

Yup. Pretty much all the swing states Trump would need to win are within the margin of error at this point.

From my perspective, this is pretty much a 50/50 election and I wouldn't be surprised by either outcome.

Senate control also seems to be 50/50. The only sure thing is Republicans will retain The House.

[Ken Shultz]

That map is fascinating.

States that used to be blue are gray now--like Colorado and Michigan.

States that used be gray are red---wasn't Texas gray for a long time?

[R C Dean]

I'm still standing by my "toss-up, edge to Trump" call from months ago.

I wonder if the Dems have vote manufacturing operations in the states where they need them?

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

The pussy grabbing story broke too soon. There was enough time for people to forget about it and the polls had already been narrowing before the FBI story broke.

Makes you wonder if they did it out of panic because Hillary was sliding so bad in the polls.

[DOOMco]

How do you think colorado will go?

[Ken Shultz]

I'm guessing that the less time they've been gray, the less likely they are to have changed direction.

I think you pencil Colorado for Hillary.

Fucking John Denver!

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Hillary. Too many Californi-tards in the state now.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously.

Yglesias is a prime example of a progressive that 100% believes the ends justify the means. Like if we lived in the alternate reality world of The Man in the High Castle he'd be an SS staff officer because the Nazis got stuff done. It's the kind of sick mentality that most people who write for Vox are afflicted with.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

The fact Yglesias has any sort of influence or audience is a testament to how rotten and debased mass media has become. To take your analogy further, he's exactly like Squealer in Animal Farm--a vicious, brown-nosing propagandist that uses the employs the most tortured "reasoning" to manipulate those who aren't as well-versed in the type of sophistry his kind wear like a pair of pajamas. People like him are nothing more than parasites who contribute shit-all to increasing social trust, nerds who are still pissed that they didn't get to fuck the head cheerleader in high school and want to make society pay for it the rest of their lives.

[Horatio]

WHY NOT JUST RAPE CHEERLEADER. THEN RAPE SOCIETY

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

At least STEVE SMITH is upfront about his intentions.

[darius404]

"Rape the cheerleader. Rape the world."?

[Chip Your Pets]

To take your analogy further, he's exactly like Squealer in Animal Farm--a vicious, brown-nosing propagandist that uses the employs the most tortured "reasoning" to manipulate those who aren't as well-versed in the type of sophistry his kind wear like a pair of pajamas.

And Reasonoid libertarians are Benjamin the donkey.

[John Titor]

He does kind of have the nerdy SS officer look down.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

It's always the intellectuals and pseudointellectuals that have the least difficulty in rationalizing away horrific actions.

[Juice]

Yglesias is a prime example of a progressive that 100% believes the ends justify the means.

He has explicitly stated that he does believe this.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The Man in the High Castle he'd be an SS staff officer because the Nazis got stuff done.

Cue Joe and Tony.

[Sandi]

Hillary Deleted Email Showing She Forwarded Classified Information To Her Daughter

[Crusty Juggler]

I still don't understand why she had a pseudonym. Has she ever been asked that?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

It was weapons grade retard to not pseudonym the fucking server. "@Clintonemail"... really?

Hack us, I dare you. I double dog dare you. I TRIPLE dog dare you!

[Butts Wagner]

Now we have @rahmemail in Chicago. They used the same people.

[Sevo]

"It is unclear when or why Clinton deleted the email."

Well, the "when" is unclear; the "why" not so much.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The email, which is redacted because it contains information classified as "Confidential," was sent to Jake Sullivan, Clinton's foreign policy adivser at the State Department, and several Obama aides. Sullivan sent it to Hillary Clinton who then forwarded it to Chelsea, who emailed under the pseudonym "Diane Reynolds."

I never received any such email.

[Jerryskids]

I would ask to examine your computer for evidence of that e-mail, but I probably don't want to see your browser history or what you have in that folder named "Household Appliance Warranties".

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

but I probably don't want to see your browser history

No, no you don't.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Meh, the way I see it this is probably the best outcome for Trump given the way the polls are now.

It'll be embarrassingly close for the Democrats but a win is a win. Sure hope the Republicans don't learn the wrong lesson from this election as far as policy goes.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What does it say about Democrats that beating trump isn't a sure thing?

[lafe.long]

I know it's late and nobody will read this far down the lynx but:

SA cop fired for attempting to feed fecal sandwich to homeless person

"This was a vile and disgusting act that violates our guiding principles of 'treating all with integrity, compassion, fairness and respect,' Chief William McManus said in a prepared statement. "The fact that his fellow officers were so disgusted with his actions that they reported him to Internal Affairs demonstrates that this type of behavior will never be tolerated. The action of this one former officer in no way reflects the actions of all the other good men and women who respectfully serve this community."

Literal shit sandwich

[CZmacure]

Our Heroes.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Ironic, considering that shit-eating grin of his.

[Microaggressor]

Yglesias is a cop?

[Sevo]

"Matt Yglesias: What email scandal?"

Yeah, what's with the FBI collecting evidence, for pete's sake?

[Sevo]

Cultural appropriation!!!

"Francis Ford Coppola explains why he's opening a Native American-themed restaurant"
http://www.sfgate.com/food/art.....593803.php

'We have some very local and tasty rocks this evening; would you like some lichen with that?'

[Bra Ket]

My favorite part of the Yglesias story:

Now, is it possible that Clinton's legal team simply decided to entirely disregard the law and delete work-related emails?

In some sense, sure. But there's no evidence that this happened.

That's right there's no evidence that evidence was destroyed. Well I guess it's settled then.

I actually agree that it is a pretty weak and overrated scandal though. But the reason it persists is not just conspiracies and hype. It hurts Clinton because it keeps reminding everyone of what they don't like about her character.

[Juice]

It's not that weak. If other people are in prison for doing less with classified documents and she walks free and is allowed to become president, that's pretty damned scandalous.

[Bra Ket]

I certainly agree the hypocrisy of the system is bullshit. Even when they nail a member of the aristocracy dead to rights, presidents just pardon them. And I distinctly remember being told at a job I had that if you mistakenly walk out with anything classified on your laptop or stuck to your shoe or what the hell ever, your ass will go to jail. Forget this mens rea business.

But the crime itself is just weak as crimes and corruption go. I personally think the stonewalling and destruction of evidence is worse (another source of massive double standards). Though still also kind of meh. Sleazy lawyer's gonna sleazy lawyer. Same story since the 90's.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Not really, if you take into account the perjury, obstruction of justice, and the fact that it was done to avoid FOIA while operating her corrupt foundation while serving as SoS

[Rufus The Monocled]

In my view, I don't think it's weak. At all. It establishes a pattern of behavior Americans will have to expect if she's elected.

And it's not good.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

It reminds people not only of how corrupt she is, but how that corruption follows her and her associates around like a snail's slime trail. It gets to the heart of how nearly everything she and her family touches resembles that of a mafia operation. I suspect the Podesta email links and O'Keefe videos are causing a lot more damage than the media realizes because they outline, on paper and on video, that corruption in explicit detail and confirms all but the most partisan idiots' suspicions about her.

Comey's biggest mistake was not initially recommending some sort of penalty, even something as innocuous as a fine. That way, people could have said, "well, she shouldn't have done it, but she did pay for messing up" and this latest incident would have looked like piling on. A lot of people, even Democrats, at least will acknowledge that she dodged a major bullet when no indictment recommendation came down because most of them know that anyone not named Hillary Clinton would have gotten cornholed for a lot less than what she did.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The only thing that may be 'weak' is the level or amount of classified information she had on her server. Sure, some may be overclassified, some may not be.

But that was never the core of the issue, and Democrats did a pretty decent job of spinning the case into that.

[GILMORE?]

I actually agree that it is a pretty weak and overrated scandal though.

The Clintons had their own DoJ prosecute (*then pardon) their own former head of CIA over having classified documents @ home

Petraeus was prosecuted for the same. and many other Govt officials have been convicted of crimes with far less evidence than came out of Hillary's homebrew-server.

If you don't understand the seriousness what she did, you haven't been paying attention. Some of the stuff she was exchanging via things like "Sydneys AOL account" included raw NSA intercepts. Stuff you can't see unless you're in a locked room in a govt facility.

[R C Dean]

Considering each classified email on her system is at least one felony, I think it's not weak ar all.

[Hyperion]

I just got home from the office, but has anyone else noticed or has it been posted here that Bing is apparently trying to hide DrudgeReport from web search results? Lol. Also, hear that Obama is all wee-weed up.

[SIV]

If the DemocRATS lose the Justice Department Obama is just going to be another black man in prison.

[DOOMco]

What about obama?

[But Enough About Me]

I just used Bing to look up "Matt Drudge". Tons of hits.

What's this all about?

[Hyperion]

It's gone now. There were no hits for the actual site, but all of these fake sites like 'drudgereport.report.org' and lots of others and HuffPo was at the top of the search. Now it's back to normal.

[But Enough About Me]

Odd. Mayhaps someone at Microsoft is actually doing their job. !!!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Matt Yglesias: What email scandal? Seriously.

Rico, it's not nice to make fun of the mentally disabled.

[Quincy.]

Cat video.

[Libertarian]

Perhaps I've missed it, but I've seen no discussion on how a Trump win might affect the stock market -- at least temporarily. Isn't the S&P down for the past nine days as Trump gains in the polls -- coincidence?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

All that means is time to buy

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

You have to go to CNBC for those articles-- which pretty much run 7 days a week.

[Butts Wagner]

Not one comment about #SpiritCooking? Pathetic. I expect more from you all.

[Hyperion]

Not true. At the dinner, Hillary snatched up the large goblet of Syian children's blood from the table and shreeked 'It's all mine, step back lessers! I am your queen!' *cackle* *cackle* *cackle* *cackle* before drinking the entire contents. *woof* *woof* *woof* *woof* barked Hilary as her eyes darted about wildly.

[Butts Wagner]

Hillary snatched up the large goblet of SyianHaitian children's blood

FTFY

[Hyperion]

Hillary ran US weapons to 'the good' terrorists in Haiti too?

[Butts Wagner]

Hillary is a weapon. Spirit Cooking. Follow the white rabbit, Hyper.

[Hyperion]

Sounds like a bunch of new age dumbshits to me.

[Butts Wagner]

No fun. Bathe in the dipshittery. ::leans back and opens mouth::

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

Not one comment about #SpiritCooking? Pathetic. I expect more from you all.

It should bother us all that reality is scooting closer and closer to SF's slashfic.

[Butts Wagner]

Thanks to SF, the weirdest boners are now normal.

[Jerryskids]

So here's what I've been thinking about: Let's say Hillary wins. And let's imagine the GOP were smart. Wouldn't it be smart to wait and see who Hillary nominates to her cabinet and then go hard digging on them? We all know what Hillary's like - she's paranoid and defensive and she's paranoid and defensive for good reason. She's a major-league crook. Who's she going to have in her inner circle, who's she gonna trust? The only people I can imagine her trusting is people she's got dirt on, the serious suicide-is-the-only-way-out sort of dirt. Hillary trusts people when she's got pictures and video tape and murder weapons with fingerprints to insure that trust. Go after those people, see if one of them can be turned.

I sort of imagine getting inducted into Hillary's inner circle is like a mob initiation - you gotta go shoot this guy while we film it and then we're going to keep the film and the gun with your prints on it in a safe space. You'll be one of us until the day you die, but you ever betray us that'll be the day you die.

[Hyperion]

Hillary would enter office as the most unpopular president in recent history, maybe ever. Her favorability rating is -13.8. That's astonishing that a known politician with that sort of unpopularity could even have made it anyway near this far. A 4 year term will be 4 years of constant scandal. Electing her is completely insane. There will be buyer's remorse like we've never seen before.

[JayU]

All of those things also apply to Trump, outside of the "known politician" part.

[Hyperion]

And the scandals and add to it, the known criminal behavior. Only the unpopularity part applies to Trump as far as we know now.

[JayU]

You honestly believe Trump is scandal free?

[JeremyR]

That kind of glosses over Trump's mafia ties.

In his defense, you can't do business in NY without it. But still,,,

[__Warren__]

There's good odds the Rs will roll over though. They have shown themselves to be weakling simpletons on numerous occasions.

[Hyperion]

Of course they will. That makes Hillary twice as dangerous. They'll gleefully go right along with her most insane war mongering.

[Chip Your Pets]

Hillary would enter office as the most unpopular president in recent history, maybe ever. Her favorability rating is -13.8. That's astonishing that a known politician with that sort of unpopularity could even have made it anyway near this far.

Says something about her opponent, doesn't it.

[Jerryskids]

Or how rigged the system is. And how few people realize how rigged the system is.

[GILMORE?]

via Glenn Reynolds via someone else via the Wash Examiner....

LA Times Fires Reporter Who Wished Trump Dead

The Los Angeles Times on Thursday fired a freelance reporter who tweeted that he hoped Donald Trump would die.

"Earlier today, Steven Borowiec, a freelance journalist in South Korea, posted a tweet about Donald Trump on his personal Twitter profile that violated our professional standards," the paper said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

"The Los Angeles Times is committed to fair, evenhanded coverage of the presidential campaign, and expects all journalists representing the paper, including non-staff contributors such as Mr. Borowiec, to adhere to this standard in their articles and social media posts," it said. "We regard Mr. Borowiec's comment as inexcusable, and we have ended our relationship with him."

I think the important thing is to keep these people on until Election day, THEN fire them ... for show.

[GILMORE?]

also via recent glance at Instapundit...

Moar Terrors In Germany

German police have arrested a Syrian man in Berlin suspected of plotting a terror attack on a city airport, it has emerged.

The man, who has lived in Germany since 2015 and claims to be 27, was seized late last night at an apartment in the Schoeneberg district of the capital.

He is suspected of belonging to a foreign terror organization - believed to be ISIS, according to reports in Germany.

It comes just weeks after a 22-year-old bogus refugee* called Jaber Al-Bakr was captured after police raided his apartment in the city of Chemnitz to discover a bomb under construction.
...
In August, German authorities arrested a man on suspicion of storing materials that could be used as explosives. The suspect also had items in his apartment glorifying ISIS.

In late September, police arrested a 16-year-old Syrian refugee in Cologne on suspicion he was planning a bombing.

A week earlier, they detained three men with forged Syrian passports who were believed to be a possible ISIS 'sleeper cell' linked to those behind the November Paris attack

"wir shaffen das" say German officials.

[JayU]

Well, at least for the Germans, having the government monitor them all the time isn't anything new.

But my parents were in Berlin over the summer. Their tour-guide was very open with them about his negative feelings towards the refugees. Of course, ze Germans tamp that down too. Bratwurst for everyone!

[Hyperion]

Did you see anywhere what airport it was he was trying to attack? My wife is going there this month. Fuck this shit, Merkel needs to hang.

[CZmacure]

Merkel needs to hang

What is German for "wood-chipper"?

[__Warren__]

Merkel. One look at her and your wood disappears.

[Hyperion]

She looks like an insane wooden puppet from a B horror movie. Imagine what Hillary will look like after 4 years in office. Terrifying.

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

Artist's representation

[To: Trshmnstr From: Hrod [C]]

Alternate Joke

[Libertarian]

Holzhackmaschine

[ammythomas66]

until I looked at the paycheck saying $4730 , I did not believe that...my... brother woz like actualy bringing in money part time from there computar. . there friend brother started doing this for less than 7 months and resently paid for the morgage on there home and bought a new Cadillac .......

........ http://www.jobprofit9.com

[Rockabilly]

Douchebag's sub header

If you agree with her on policy, vote with a clear conscience about the server.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-.....l-bullshit

Well Yglesias, Hillary Clinton has been for ever war since she begged Bill to bomb Serbia.
She also supports the racist and un Constitutional war on drugs.

So douchebag, I won't hold my nose and waste my vote on the racist warmonger Hillary Clinton.
Fuck off

[Mr Lizard]

You mean to tell me that an object with enough stored energy to push an automobile 200 miles that can discharge at the speed of light ended up causing a bit of collateral damage...hold on while I 3D print a new shocked face.

(Background) I you take a wrench across the terminals of any car battery you will get quite the impressive little blue spark. If you hold it there it will weld the screw driver in place and probably kill you.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Drunk chick crashing into a tree and a building at high speed. Fatal in any car.

[Juice]

If it wasn't the autopilot's fault, then I don't see how you can blame the car. Ok, you can blame the batteries for burning everything to smithereens. And no, an IC car can't catch on fire nearly as easily.

[DOOMco]

Damn

[waffles]

Some firefighters compared the scene to fireworks.

Some firefighters are assholes.

[Joe M]

Does the screwdriver teleport in from a remote location?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The lithium ion batteries in the Tesla broke apart and burned in sparking, violent flames. Some firefighters compared the scene to fireworks.

"Crews were preparing to make the rescue effort," Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Jones said. "At the same time, some of those smaller (battery) cells that had broken apart were firing off almost like projectiles around the rescuers."

Creates an interesting dynamic though. Imagine being in a bad car accident and white hot bits of burning magnesium hitting everything in the area, including another vehicle with leaking gas.

Hmm.

[The Last American Hero]

Well of course not. Based on every movie I've seen, there isn't anything left to burn after the IC car explodes in a fireball after an accident.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"Even though he was pretty much upper-level, VP-type, management-wise, you couldn't tell that from him talking with you," Denny said. "And even when we had a Christmas party, he was out there dancing and having a great time, just like everybody else."

Duuuude! He's one of us! He's doin' brodies in the PL with his new Tesla!

[Mr Lizard]

Screw driver/wrench, potato/your mother

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

After enough juice, the wrench turns into a screwdriver.

"Transformers...Hand-tools in disguise!"

[Playa Manhattan.]

I have my assistants do that for me.

[Playa Manhattan.]

What is that? Figure skating with sticks?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Ehhh, this wasn't really insensitive on their behalf. It was an observation... just describing how hot a fire is or what it was like to be near the accident doesn't make them assholes.

If that was your point. If your point was merely to take an aside and point out that Yes, It's true, firefighters can be assholes, then carry on.

[DOOMco]

It seems natural to try to take away the emotional responses as a rescue/emt. That might come across as insensitive.

[DOOMco]

Lacrosse on Slippery stuff

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

woof woof!

[AlmightyJB]

Would

[SIV]

Candy did 3 years of a 15 year sentence for possession of 4/5 oz. of marijuana. This is one of many reasons I get offended by the dope-addled morons and partisan political hacks who believe, or like to pretend President Nixon made the weed illegal because he hated hippies.

[gaoxiaen]

Imagine this in your face when firemen start spraying your burning car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvVUtpdK7xw

[Pan Zagloba]

Welp, if you ever want to open a Tesla dealership in Florida, you have your commercial's stinger. You'd be a thousandairre in no time!