Trump Tweets About Criminalizing Flag Burning, Learning the Wrong Lessons from Animal Farm, Donate Now: P.M. Links

• 

  Andreitsalko

  Donald Trump tweeted that people who burn the American flag should lose their citizenship or be put in jail. But please, tell us more about how he wants to appoint Supreme Court justices like Antonin Scalia (who famously held thst flag burning was absolutely protected by the First Amendment).

• You know who else wanted to prohibit flag burning? (Hint: It's not Hitler. Well, probably Hitler did as well, but that's not relevant here.)
• Animal Farm, teaching kids to love animals. Wait, that wasn't the point?
• Elaine Chao will be Trump's Transportation Secretary.
• Vox voxsplains everything that's wrong with cops, and comes up with eight solutions to out-of-control policing, including say they're sorry and pay them more.
• Jacobin says it's a great time to be a socialist, which might be true. It's never a good time to live under socialism, though.
• Donate to Reason! Because we read your comments, and we care.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donate to Reason! Because we read your comments, and we care.

And you care about mine most of all.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

PM links?

Enjoy this douchebag:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Wb1QCSuMg

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Never heard Ben Shapiro before -- word bullets + infinite ammo headband.

[John Titor]

Shapiro's great on some issues, and absolutely awful on others, he was a big proponent of the whole 'War on Cops' thing (but credit where credit's due, he has pointed out police misconduct as well).

[Ted S.]

You mean he thinks there should be a war on cops? 😉

[Zeb]

They started it. It takes 2 to have a war.

[Agammamon]

If there's only one its a 'kinetic military action' then. Or 'murder'.

[bacon-magic]

Lol.

[bacon-magic]

That's the second Ben Shapiro clip today in the comments. I've not heard much of him, his smugness and ability to take down an SJW is admirable.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

He is good at taking down SJWs, but then he expresses his opinion on some other subject and exposes himself for the fucktard douche that he is.

[John Titor]

Remember, atheists are responsible for anything the Soviet Union did.

Also, he has the same Stalinist view of art that the left has. If something furthers a leftist talking point he'll whine and whine about it.

[The Fusionist]

"Remember, atheists are responsible for anything the Soviet Union did."

Do you have a cite?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

That's Eddie's pleading tone.

[John Titor]

He's said it a couple times, but one I remember the most clearly is when he's bitching about Lennon's Imagine, and gets to the part about 'no religion' and starts talking about how atheism killed millions of people.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Imagine killed millions of people sense of good music taste.

[John Titor]

I can't disagree with anyone shitting on Imagine, but Shapiro is such a whiny little bitch about it.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Maybe it's a bit of a hippie utopia but the song itself is primo Beetles.

[Zeb]

It was solo John Lennon. But I think it's a fine song.

There is nothing wrong with imagining that stuff (though some just ain't gonna work) as long as you don't try to use force to bring it about.

[mr simple]

Imagine was from Lennon's solo work, post-Beatles.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

My bad. Some Beatles songs play out like solo stuff for Paul or John, hard to keep them all together in my head.

[TheZeitgeist]

He's said it a couple times, but one I remember the most clearly is when he's bitching about Lennon's Imagine, and gets to the part about 'no religion' and starts talking about how atheism killed millions of people.

Stalinism is a kind of religion for secular totalitarians - and it is totalitarians as a psychological demographic that gather together on one end of the political spectrum; it really has nothing to do with the animating ideology.

A modern pure prog like Elizabeth Warren was one of those old ladies waving hatchets and bibles at whiskey barrels more than a century ago. The founding need of such people is to be messing with other people and their business; the associated ideological hocus-pocus is just a mental crutch to excuse all the bad behavior to follow.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

So off topic but do you guys believe in the possibility that: Lennon, MLK, Malcolm X could have been potentially offed by the United States Government?

I definitely believe it is possible. And if ever found out as true, I'd be for burning down government buildings.

All those classified CIA folders, and from the operations we do know, the heads of state who have been killed during to protect Cold War Doctrines. History basically shows the feds shitting their pants when they look at the people gathered up in massive movements for change by MLK etc. etc.

[TheZeitgeist]

Lennon, MLK, Malcolm X

I don't think as a political or cultural force Lennon is in quite same league as the darker options. If Lennon is on same hit list as these two dudes, then likes of Jimmy Hendrix and Elvis could be CIA hits too. One could write a bad novel about a CIA superagent tasked with taking out such celebs going rogue, explaining many, many untimely ends from Diana to Michael Jackson - with likes of Corey Haim and the Crocodile Hunter sprinkled in for giggles. Tin-foil hat shit is easy.

[CatoTheChipper]

Malcolm X was offed by the NOI for being an apostate. It's really pretty simple.

[The Fusionist]

OK, Shapiro should acknowledge that there are plenty of atheists who *don't* kill millions of people, like the atheist commies of China were doing at the time Lennon was singing against religion.

Fair is fair. There are atheists in foxholes, and in peaceful pursuits.

[Mickey Rat]

Shapiro is criticizing a line in a song that implies the world would be better without religion by pointing out the evils done by people following atheist ideologies and atheists get their tender feelings hurt thinking it is calling out their particular belief as evil.

Are cognitive dissonance and projection required traits of atheists?

[John Titor]

Shapiro is criticizing a line in a song that implies the world would be better without religion by pointing out the evils done by people following atheist ideologies

Except that's just one example that I could source easily because I'm lazy and don't want to go through a billion podcasts. He's pretty consistent in arguing that atheists are inherently immoral.

[John Titor]

Also it's profoundly disingenuous of him to scream "Atheists did this!!!!!" and just handwave the whole "but they had a dogmatic cult-like faith in their utopian heaven-on-earth andbasically worshipped their dead ideological leaders." thing.

[The Fusionist]

"atheist" means "doesn't believe in God." That's it. Nothing about rejecting cult-like faith in human leaders.

[Zeb]

That is what "atheist" means. But the fact that those Communist countries had religion-like devotion to ideology and past leaders is significant, I think, as an argument that it wasn't the atheism that made them evil, but the things they did believe in (or professed to believe in) with great fervor.

[The Fusionist]

OK, but the guys like George Washington who worried about atheism didn't think it was the atheism itself which makes you evil, it's that it removes restraints on evildoing.

"Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

I'd be the last to deny that your minds at H&R have *very* peculiar structures!

[BigT]

reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle

Religious principle is NOT religion. No dogma. No faith necessary. Libertarianism, in the NAP, can be considered a religious principle. No god needed.

[Mickey Rat]

Zeb, that would be a no true Scotsman argument. You are making "atheists are always rational" into a non-falsifiable statement. An atheist who does terrible things is not actually an atheist.

[John Titor]

God, singular. But 'modern atheists' don't exactly believe in the pagan pantheons either, or the works of Buddha or Laozi in a spiritual context. Atheist is more of a generalized term that's had an initial definition driven by a monotheistic society, but it's modern definition is more broad than that.

[Mickey Rat]

Maybe the point is that atheism does not inoculate the world from that kind of thinking (which is what Lennon's lyrics suggest).

[Xavier T. Sexington]

Not for me. But as an atheist I'll be the first to admit that a lot of my "brethren" are complete assholes who need to dial-it-the-fuck-back.

[Xavier T. Sexington]

*Responding to Mickey Rat. Damn I type slow!

[Mickey Rat]

I understand that, but so many atheists online seem to make Trump's skin seem like rhino hide.

[Hyperion]

Yeah, he's sort of kryponite to SJWs, like Milo.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The left thrive on the power of the masses, on rabble rousing, on the deafening shout of the collective. Which explains how a loud motor mouth meeting them blow for blow in verbal confrontation is their one true weakness. Lord knows, if they get the advantage, the verbal storm they will lay down on people through the internet and twitter can destroy lives. This Ben Shapiro guy looks like he never gives them solid footing.

[JW]

The left thrive on the power of the masses, on rabble rousing, on the deafening shout of the collective.

Don't forget the smug condescension. It's like crack to them.

[TheZeitgeist]

For what it is worth, smug condescension only seems to work in Lefty world. Jeb! tried rolling with Smug-C routine a year ago, and he's still behind the dumpster looking for his panties. If there is one positive about Big Orange, it's that he obliterated both America's political quasi-dynasties in one election cycle.

[Free Society]

Argggggg. Leftists are so god damn dense. Ben Shapiro told him that government compulsion is not the answer, the guy responds with "government compulsion gives you religious freedom!", because of course a leftist who has purportedly studied these topics for many decades of his life and career concludes that rights to things like 'being alive' come from government. Jesus Titty Fucking Christ, I'm convinced that a person has to work hard to be that fucking dumb.

[Hyperion]

Well, how else are you supposed to be free to do something unless government gives you permission?

[SimonD]

I'm convinced that a person has to work hard to be that fucking dumb.

It is hard work. It takes years and years of study at an Ivy League college to make someone THAT dumb.

[Clegg]

Government is a contract between US. You ninnies keep referring to government as if it's something "out there" -- a big green monster that's out to get you. Hey, if that's how you feel, change it. But stop with this schizophrenic babble about somehow being "above" or "not apart of" government. It's juvenile, just like most Libertarian thinking.

[BigT]

Government is a contract between US

..

..that gives power and the right to do violence to the public with very minimal accountability to a small group of people. Unless you are part of that group, government is out there.

Yes, it can be changed. But it moves glacially, with about as much momentum. Oh, and it grows in power monotonically.

[deepspeed]

Obligatory show me my signature.

[C. Anacreon]

I just donated, so now you're going to have to see my name scroll across the top of your screen all week long.

Take that, commentariat!

[bacon-magic]

Reason cuck! (((I'm learning all kinds of new things here in the comments)))

[Zeb]

Learning new things is a Jewish plot.

[Zeb]

Or should I say (((plot))).

[bacon-magic]

I didn't know about ((())) until OMWC had a name change. I'm a noob.

[__Warren__]

Is this still a thing?

[Tonio]

PM Links? They aren't just a thing; they're an institution.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Interesting fact: They were started during a donation drive. Cavanaugh coughed up the first batch, I believe.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You seem to know all kinds of insider trivia.

[Tonio]

He has been here approximately as long as I have, and I'm one of the senior commenters.

[bacon-magic]

Here's your medal. PS- I don't know if he's a hottie or not, but figured all that gold has to be a good point.

[jesse.in.mb]

Bit of a butterface. He grew into himself a bit later in his career.

[bacon-magic]

I will try better next time. Better?

[bacon-magic]

I googled "hot guy with medal." I hope my boss doesn't check up on what I'm doing on the netz, heaven forbid he finds out I'm a closet libertarian.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm trying to find a picture of Matthew James Lister (Brit slalom canoeist) with a (bronze) medal, but am coming up empty handed.

I mean, I don't see any medals in that pic, but I've got nothing against those gams.

[bacon-magic]

Don't tell my fellow straights I did this for you or they will send me to the trump camps.

[jesse.in.mb]

I can get past the guy not having legs, but not the pulled back hair. That disheveled man-bun that athletes seem so fond of doesn't do anything for me. Can't speak for anyone else though.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The writers must hate that guy for setting up the standard.

[C. Anacreon]

It took me four days to hitchhike from Cavanaugh.

[Darth Squirrel]

But did you find America?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Elaine Chao will be Trump's Transportation Secretary.

Women and driving don't mix. And don't even get me started on the other aspect.

[commodious got a stew going]

Belittling a woman by giving her a secretarial role?

[Crusty Juggler]

An Asian woman in charge of transportation?

Hide your kids and hide your wife, am I right?

[Jerry on the sea]

Couldn't find a better spokesperson spokeswoman for the self-driving car though....

[C. Anacreon]

Plus, she's married to Mitch McConnell.

[robc]

I am about 97% sure she has never been in the state of KY.

Okay, that isnt true, but they wont be moving back here after he retires.

[Cdr Lytton]

Most don't. "They never go back to Pocatello."

[Crusty Juggler]

And she has a turtle fetish?

[TheZeitgeist]

Plus, she's married to Mitch McConnell.

Senator McConnell (R-KY) has Asian sister?

[Ted S.]

Not Rosalind Chao?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Miles always did the runabout piloting.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Could have been worse. Could have been Elaine Pao.

[josh]

it's better than the person he originally wanted to appoint -his chauffeur- who trump insisted knew more about getting people where they needed to go than anyone other than him. plus he's an immigrant, but not a drug dealer, and he loves him some mr. trump.

[Citizen X]

Vox voxsplains everything that's wrong with cops, and comes up with eight solutions to out-of-control policing, including say they're sorry and pay them more.

Jesus. Shut the fuck up, Vox.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Animal Farm, teaching kids to love animals. Wait, that wasn't the point?

My favorite character was the horse, never finished the book, I assume he lived forever in the land of milk and honey.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Everyone loved Snowball.

[jesse.in.mb]

Snowball

Pervert!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Everyone knows what snowballing is. You don't have to link to a definition.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm providing a rich tapestry of context for those who may not have gone to middle school, Fist.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

In addition to snowballing, Jesse also like to Napoleon.

[jesse.in.mb]

I haven't had a good napoleon in 15 years.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Jesse, I don't even wanna know...

[jesse.in.mb]

It's a totally SFW link. I used to work at a French cafe and they had the best napoleons. I left after it was bought out and I helped manage the transition to the new ownership. The food went dramatically downhill. The couple of times I've tried napoleons since they've been absolute garbage and few people still bother to make them because they're a pain and more decadent than most people are willing to order.

[Crusty Juggler]

Everyone knows what snowballing is

Delicious?

[GILMORE?]

"Something kids do after school", duh

[Darth Squirrel]

I didn't, I still don't, and I intend to dedicate the rest of my life to never finding out.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Dude I wouldn't even click a link to 'Snowballing' if I was hammy and looking at porn.

[Crusty Juggler]

'Snowballing.'

[Crusty Juggler]

Maybe NSFW.

[Mad Scientist]

Crusty wins!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It defies all reason, but I trust Crusty links; this one did not disappoint.

[bacon-magic]

I clicked too. Snowballing indeed.

[Crusty Juggler]

I trust you too, Half-Virtue, Half-Vice.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

OMG! -- BSG bros stick together for life! Or at least until the toasters blow our vipers outta the sky...

[jesse.in.mb]

Look at you with your links to pretty sci-fi actresses nearly exposing breasts while near motorcycles.

I'm not sure you could produce a better picture for your audience in a lab.

[Crusty Juggler]

They did an entire calendar together. I am shocked the perverted Sci-Fi dorks who pollute these comments with their nerd-drivel were not aware of this.

[jesse.in.mb]

I didn't realize they had a calendar. I know they did a lady power with more boobs roadtrip blog or something.

[Crusty Juggler]

I know they did a lady power with more boobs roadtrip blog or something.

I believe the calender's are related to that blog, which has to do with a charity. They ride motorcycles around and once a year release erotic, NSFW pictures.

Welch and Gillespie could learn something from those two.

[XenoZooValentine]

I resemble that remark.

[XenoZooValentine]

This was supposed to be in response to CJ's remark about dorks and nerds. Perhaps the squirrels took offense.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

And please, call me 'Half', the full title is a bit of a mouthful.

[jesse.in.mb]

a bit of a mouthful

Way to bring the whole thing full circle.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Nothing I do is unintentional... except for the criminal stuff, woeful ignorance I swearz!

[BigW]

Yep, he ended up in the utopian paradise.

Either that or he ended up as glue.

Whichever one of those seems more logical....

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

I'm kidding, I did read the book : (

[John Titor]

He just had to work harder.

[gaoxiaen]

A French restaurant?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

In keeping with this:

Jacobin says it's a great time to be a socialist,

Because some animals are more equal than others.

[John Titor]

In high school a friend of mine named her pet rabbit after the farmer who was clearly an allegory for Hitler and Nazism. She didn't appreciate me calling her rabbit Hitler every time I was over.

[Crusty Juggler]

On time? Apparently Soave will do anything on donation day. Hmmm...

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Oh holeeeee sheee-it!

There is alt-text, and it is funny!

Seventh seal busted!

[bacon-magic]

"Come on Robbo, color your hair purple!" -KMW

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

$300 US right here if we can make it happen!

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Wow, Robby. You really know how to pander when money is on the line!

Because the tone doesn't carry over the Internet, that was high praise, even if whatever tiny scrap of good opinion Groovus may once have had of me is lost forever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The alt-text alone buys Reason a few extra donations.

[Raven Nation]

But - at least 1 (for Robby) for not including the phrase "PM Links."

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I assume there's only so many characters a headline will take, and money grab ("Donate now") takes precedence over the obvious (it's a list of links, it's PM in America). I respect the money grab.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't like it. I don't think this can be counted as an official Links post.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

You know who else respected a good grab?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

If we can't say Trump does that mean he really is Hitler?

[Raven Nation]

And, now it shows PM links.

[Ted S.]

Did anybody actually use their real name to donate? 🙂

[Zeb]

Does part of my first name count?

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know who else wanted to prohibit flag burning?

Probably some strawman. Because straw is flammable.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

And now I hear FoE singing in my head.

[Tonio]

Following up on the OSU attack:

One of the victims had a gunshot wound to her foot. "Officials have not said how she was shot."

I can't find anything on the older (than college age) black guy wearing the ID badge around his neck - this guy was shown handcuffed in initial pictures from the scene. Anyone else got anything on that?

[commodious got a stew going]

One person on the scene had a firearm. Right? One person who happens to be a cop. Are they really going to dispute this?

[Citizen X]

They're hoping nobody else puts 2 and 2 together.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Nothing to see here, move along.

[Tonio]

There were a crap-ton of cops on scene, but the only one to have been reported to have discharged a weapon was the OSU cop who took down the attacker.

I suspect they (OSU, particularly its PD) hope it will go away.

[commodious got a stew going]

It's not even all that controversial, or doesn't have to be. He took down a would-be murderer and in the process accidentally non-fatally wounded another student. In the scheme of officer incompetence that barely ranks a 3.

[Tonio]

I agree it's not the worst thing ever, and perhaps was unavoidable. I just don't like the fact that the authorities seem to be trying to cover it up.

Also, if the black guy, who I (and others here) assume was a university employee because of the badge was mistakenly arrested and then released that's not necessarily a bad thing either. But I do want to know more about why he was taken into custody.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, they're going to quietly pay some hospital bills and 'pain and suffering'.

[Cdr Lytton]

And send a bill for the bullet plus service fee for "saving her life".

[Cdr Lytton]

And send a bill for the bullet plus service fee for "saving her life".

[Ted S.]

The gun discharged itself.

[Hyperion]

I'd guess the cop shot her, maybe ricocheted bullet?

[Ted S.]

She was probably shot by the po-po.

[Hyperion]

A quick analysis of the bullet casing will answer that. But I suspect authorities already know the answer.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Some gun, being an evil, sentient creature, decided to engage in misogyny?

[Hyperion]

"Donald Trump tweeted that people who burn the American flag should lose their citizenship".

What are you going do, send them to Mars or something?

LOL

[Sevo]

Well, it seems the knifer was a bit confused. He didn't like the way Muslims are stereotyped as murderous thugs and to show his displeasure he decided to be a murderous thug:

"Official: Ohio attacker was angry about treatment of Muslims"
[?]
"Every single Muslim who disapproves of my actions is a sleeper cell, waiting for a signal. I am warning you Oh America!" Artan also wrote."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/cri.....641415.php

[Tonio]

That doesn't comport with the narrative.

[Darth Squirrel]

The whole thing is like the anti-narrative. Not a single Christianist redneck neonazi murican to be had. Not even a gun to hang their Hat of Outrage upon.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Vox voxsplains everything that's wrong with cops, and comes up with eight solutions to out-of-control policing, including say they're sorry and pay them more.

Ima beat my own dead drum and say, "don't fire unless fired upon!" 90% of problems solved with that one weird trick.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Joe Friday never fired his gun unless he was fired upon first.

(Of course, those shows came from the officers' own stories, and back then there wasn't any way in the world to check them 99% of the time, so....)

[Chipwooder]

I don't think Joe Friday ever fired his gun, actually. At least not in any episode I ever saw.

The '60s Dragnet revival is peerless unintentional comedy, especially in any episode involving hippies and/or drugs.

[Juvenile Bluster]

He did it all the time on the radio drama, and most of the radio drama episodes were recycled into TV episodes, so it must've happened at some point in the 50s show.

Jack Webb actually spent a decent part of the 40s hanging out with musicians and seeing how fucked up they'd get on heroin, which is why Dragnet had such a reefer madness style to it at times.

[Ted S.]

I wonder if that also explains Pete Kelly's Blues.

[__Warren__]

At least one TV ep had him shooting and killing a guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump tweeted that people who burn the American flag should lose their citizenship or be put in jail.

I think people are right. This is a misdirection for some progressive thing in the Trump pipeline.

[Crusty Juggler]

The police in the mildewy recces that is North America's attic are big meanies:

"When we catch you, and we will catch you, on top of a hefty fine, a criminal charge and a years driving suspension we will also provide you with a bonus gift of playing the office's copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail," the post stated.

Also, I think that makes Nickleback cool now. Way to go, Rufus.

[Citizen X]

Fun fact: All vehicles sold in Canada since 2004 are required by law to have a Nickelback album stuck in the cd player. Prior to 2004, it had to be a Bryan Adams album.

[Chipwooder]

Nah - Barenaked Ladies and Rush

[Rhywun]

Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

What aboot the Canadian National Anthem?

[But Enough About Me]

What aboot the Canadian National Anthem?

Only the old version with the better lyrics. The new version blows. Possibly penned by Nickelback.

[John Titor]

You joke but Nickelback gets way too much goddamn play on our radio stations because of the laws requiring a certain percentage of Canadian content.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I'M SWAMPED RULING OVER CANADA AND CHANGING JUSTIN'S DIAPER. CUT ME SOME SLACK.

[But Enough About Me]

Why on Earth would you even consider changing that diaper? Isn't that his "wife's" job?

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

But it punishes the cop too. This is inexplicable.

[But Enough About Me]

Think of it as the equivalent to the slave whispering into the Roman hero's ear "memento mori."

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

So, according to the BBC the new French right-wing candidate for President is basically...well, not as horrible as Trump (or Hitler) but...worse than Berlusconi (Mussolini). I guess that makes him....Himmler? Or, I dunno, Torquemada?

Mr Fillon's "virage liberal" (liberal U-turn) is a bold strategy in a country where fans of Margaret Thatcher, as he says he is, are not exactly thick on the ground.

And as his opponents seek to portray Mr Fillon as a dangerous right-winger, another weapon will also be to hand: his Catholicism.

He is a practising Catholic. He is personally opposed to abortion, but says he would never seek to repeal the law. Nor would he seek to ban adoption by gay male couples - though he wants the law changed so that a child can trace its birth mother.

For the left, these are signs of worrying ambiguity on matters that are central to a progressive society. The left-wing newspaper Liberation headlined last week on fears of a return of clerical power.

Such right-wingery! Clearly, first order of business if he's elected will be reenacting St Bartholomew's Day Massacre but with gays and abortionists.

[Hamster of Doom]

He is personally opposed to abortion, but says he would never seek to repeal the law. Nor would he seek to ban adoption by gay male couples - though he wants the law changed so that a child can trace its birth mother.

Seems entirely reasonable, except let's ditch the mystical maternal bonds shit and just say "birth parents". I'm willing to give a pass when the mother and the father are a functional hermaphrodite.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

And as his opponents seek to portray Mr Fillon as a dangerous right-winger, another weapon will also be to hand: his Catholicism.

Oh, right, France.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Arm the French with baguettes. Rebuild their man hood in small steps.

[Jerry on the sea]

It's always those Catholics shooting up some hip 11th district nightclub in Paris.

[John Titor]

but...worse than Berlusconi (Mussolini). I guess that makes him....Himmler? Or, I dunno, Torquemada?

Come on Pan, this is easy. Philippe P?tain.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Hmmm....not old enough, too energetic, would not take orders from Trump. J-M Le Pen would have been a good fit, though.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

J-M Le Pen always has this "don't make me go get the strap-on" look on her face.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I meant the dad, Jean Marie.

[John Titor]

Trump's not a war vet, vegetarian or animal lover either, we can be a little arbitrary.

[Jerry on the sea]

"Qu'est-ce que je suis, chopped liver?" -- Pierre Poujade

[Eternal Blue Sky]

So from what I'm getting from this is that France's head is so far up its asshole with La?cit? that they'd call someone as left leaning as Joseph Stalin or Justin Trudeau a dangerous right-winger if either of those persons also happened to be Catholic.

[Juice]

I thought France was majority Catholic.

[Hamster of Doom]

Donate to Reason! Because we read your comments, and we care.

If you're going to lie, at least offer that the staff will work on their editing.

[Hyperion]

There's nothing like showing you care by creating an edit feature, right?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It's more real to never be able to adjust the words you spoke or in the case wrote. Own the mistakes and move on. You don't think I want to go back and delete silly comments made to ENB when she's dipping a toe in the commentariat? I wish I could but this is life; we live and die by the words spoken in the moment.

[Hamster of Doom]

All I want for Christmas are collapsible threads.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Striving for the singularity?

[Hamster of Doom]

Look, all it takes is for John or Bo to have a little too much coffee on a bad hair day, and the threads turn into whitespace blocks of doom. Do you know how much a gal has to masturbate to work up the finger strength to scroll past miles of that shit?

[Mad Scientist]

That's got to be equivalent to 3 Fabios.

[bacon-magic]

Pics?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You don't want to see all of Eddie's conversations with Eddie?

[Ted S.]

ENB, Bailey, and Rico all read the comments.

[Hamster of Doom]

Yes, Ted. I am teasing them.

[Hyperion]

Welch reads them also, at least occasionally.

[Citizen X]

As do Welch, Shackleford, and Eddie Kray.

[bacon-magic]

Dalmia, Suderman & Chapman read them aloud at cocktail parties.

[BigW]

Gillespie just has his jacket read the comments....

[Juvenile Bluster]

Which one of them is Fist of Etiquette?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This is the million dollar question.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

There is only Fist. They are but facets in his multi-dimensional madness.

Just like we are all Tulpa.

Yin and Yang, Black and White, Siskel and Ebert.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

What if Fist is multiple writers? Like 5 of them??

[Mad Scientist]

I have it on good authority that Fist is actually the Dread Pirate Roberts.

[Hamster of Doom]

Fist had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. "I am not Fist of Etiquette" he said. "My name is Eugene; I inherited the handle from the previous Fist of Etiquette, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Fist of Etiquette either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Fist has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia."

[bacon-magic]

The Five Fists of SugarFree. Or FFS, if you like acronyms.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Is that the secret attack? Like the rapid fists from Fist of the North Star, except it's SugarFree imagery coming at you so fast your brain shuts down.

[bacon-magic]

It shuts your brain down when slow. I imagine fast would just lead to implosion.

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

Is there a group like Correct The Record, but for posting first?

[Fist of Etiquette]

You mean coming together, like Voltron?

[Trigger Hippie]

My money is on Welch. Gillespie comes off as too serious to be FoE.

Almost like he's too focused on some future occurrence for humor.

[Crusty Juggler]

A future occurrence like always being first on an Internet comment board?

[Trigger Hippie]

...something, something, moment, something...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Welch wishes.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

Can you guys really not delete your own comments?

[Free Society]

But please, tell us more about how he wants to appoint Supreme Court justices like Antonin Scalia

Great smug there, Robby. Hilary's SCOTUS picks would have been sooooooo much better.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Side A: "This thing is good!!"

Side B: "That thing isn't good!!"

Side A: "Oh, so you're saying opposite thing would have been SOOOO much better!!"

Man I love living in the Satire Dimension.

[Free Society]

Okay maybe you sat out Reason's, particularly Robby's, hyperbolic coverage of the election.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Uncontrollable pants-shitting about Trump is certainly an endorsement of Clinton. Or, at least, it is here in Satire Dimension in all it's glory.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Uncontrollable pants-shitting about Trump is certainly an endorsement of Clinton. Or, at least, it is here in Satire Dimension in all it's glory.

[Juice]

Hilary's SCOTUS picks would have been sooooooo much better.

In some respects, maybe.

[Crusty Juggler]

Why the new James Webb telescope folds like origami

The telescope is slated to be an engineering marvel: in order to fit inside the rocket that will launch it into space, it must fold up completely. The infrared telescope also features a folding shield to protect the vulnerable lens from the sun's heat, since infrared telescopes must remain cold to work properly.

Approximately the size of a tennis court, the James Webb telescope's sunshield must squeeze into a much smaller package. Other parts must be carefully engineered to fit into a compact space, as well.

Euphemism much?

[Ted S.]

Why Crusty's link folds like SugarFree....

[Crusty Juggler]

Don't you ever compare me to SugarFree again. The link.

[Ted S.]

If you don't want to be compared to SugarFree, don't fuck up your links.

[Crusty Juggler]

I fuck up my links with panache and class.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

panache and class == frantic masturbation.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

panache and class == frantic masturbation.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Squirrels should have left this one alone.

[bacon-magic]

Wasn't Webb on of the Dem nominees that folded under the Elder Hillary?

[Jerryskids]

First Fidel, now Net Neutrality?

The horrors of ATT offering free streaming if you're a DirecTv/ATT subscriber. Why exactly this is a problem I don't know, but the "solution" seems to be either offer everybody free streaming or nobody and, since streaming ain't free, it seems what they're wanting is to make ATT stop giving people free stuff. "Net Neutrality" seems to be "Make Everybody Equally Miserable".

[robc]

I read that whole article.

My IQ dropped by about 180 pts.

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

Mine's also did as well. too, I dint have a bird! In the France?

[kbolino]

"Net Neutrality" seems to be "Make Everybody Equally Miserable".

For the consumer. For the network engineer, "net neutrality" means "do your job as stupidly as possible".

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

For the many fans of PM Zoolander among the commenters, couple items of note.

First, he had to walk back his praise of Castro because he basically dropped his trousers on the world stage and everyone saw he still wears his Aquamen undies (and not the cool Brave an Bold Aquaman).

Second, as we post, he is revealing his Stunning and Brave pipeline plan that Will Make Everything Better!

[John Titor]

I say we go full Jerry Springer and demand a paternity test for Justin and get some Pierre DNA. Because I may actually laugh myself to death if Justin turns out to be Fidel Castro's bastard.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Wow, the Castro commentary must have really stung. He approved 2 out of 3 proposed pipeline projects!

I guess the fact that one expands an existing pipeline, and one sends it off to US made it more palatable.

[John Titor]

I really wonder how much influence the Old Guard Liberals have over him. Like, do they let him do his thing until shit hits the fan, then have a little conversation about how he has do something worthwhile to make up for it?

[Rufus The Monocled]

I was wondering that too; especially since someone clearly told him to sit the fuck down and not attend his father's funeral.

[Rufus The Monocled]

There are fans of our Top Foreman older than 15?

[John]

The Vox article is tragic comic. On its face, this

3) Police should avoid situations that lead them to use force

doesn't seem like a bad suggestion. The problem is that its Vox so it turns out to be utterly retarded. Instead of saying "we should reduce the number of laws and justifications that police have to confront people", which is very sensible, the Vox version is that police need to approach areas more slowly and park further away and give people more warning of their arrival. I am not fucking kidding, they actually think there are no downsides to police taking their time to respond to a call. You really can't overstate how stupid these people are.

[John]

And if the problem is cops being too trigger happy, it is a bit of a mystery how forcing them to apologize for "their history of racism" is going to make them less so. The amount of stupid that goes on at Vox is really frightening.

[Hyperion]

This is leftist thought. Which makes clear why leftist thought never works. Ideas void of reason and logic and driven by 'feelz' don't work. Imagine if rocket scientists decided everything based on feelz?

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Well, when they don't use their feelings, shit like this can happen.

It was a shirt, damn you! A SHIRT!!! But, you wouldn't be able to understand, you cis-het shitheel!

/cunt rant

[Hyperion]

You beat me by 6 minutes on that, I have to start paying more attention.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Shit, it's all good!

You can believe that, coming from me-I do that shit all the time.

[gaoxiaen]

It's science. They're miniature 50-foot women.

[BigW]

"Shit, another one blew up on the launchpad. We should try a different color for the next one....."

[Hyperion]

It would have worked but some of the scientists were wearing sexist t-shirts!

[__Warren__]

Why eat your burrito outside when there's a perfectly good inside?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Stopping a rape is not something you want to rush into.

[__Warren__]

I need to finish first, then I'll help her.

[John]

Vox thinks you don't need to own a gun because you can call the police but also thinks the police should take their time getting to your house lets they shoot the guy breaking in.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Isn't vox Latin for "shitty people"?

I mean, it pretty much is now.

[BigW]

Fuck off Robby. No matter who the hell Trump nominates for the Supreme Court they'll be a whole hell of a lot better than the drooling progressive sycophants that Hillary would have picked....

[Juvenile Bluster]

I ain't too sure of that. I'm afeared that anyone he picks is going to be terrible on everything but the 2nd amendment.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

But Hillary's pick was going to be terrible on everything but the 2nd amendment.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Ah yes, that means Trump's choices are perfect and cannot be criticized because, don't'cha know, the opposition's choices would have been way worse.

[Azathoth!!]

these are just the best.

of all the tears shed, these are just amazing.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Might have been not-terrible to decent on some issues, like Sotomayor is. POTUS does not nominate clones of themselves, nor do they have much control over the justice once approved.

[Tonio]

Perhaps so, but they are still fair game for criticism on their own merits. Butt-hurt much?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

That is very debatable.

[Chipwooder]

Reason: reading the pure shit at Jacobin so you don't have to!

Now, pay us.

[Mazakon]

Elaine Chao will be Trump's Transportation Secretary.

HuffPo journalists have a sad she's not a white male.

[Hyperion]

Oh don't worry, she's not a real Asian American, coming in 3... 2... 1...

[Crusty Juggler]

In 1918, California Drafted Children Into a War On Squirrels

In April 1918, as American doughboys faced down the Germans in France, California's schoolchildren were enlisted to open a new Western Front. "We have enemies here at home more destructive, perhaps, than some of the enemies our boys are fighting in the trenches," state horticulture commissioner George H. Hecke warned in an impassioned call-up for "School Soldiers." He exhorted children to do their part for Uncle Sam by organizing "a company of soldiers in your class or in your school" and marching out to destroy their foe: "the squirrel army."

This children's crusade was part of Squirrel Week, a seven-day frenzy in which California tried to kill off its ground squirrels. The state's farmers and ranchers had long struggled to decimate the critters (also known as Otospermophilus beecheyi), which were seen as pests and a source of pestilence, particularly the bubonic plague. The burrowing foragers?not to be confused with tree squirrels?devoured an estimated $30 million worth of crops annually, about $480 million in current dollars.

[Crusty Juggler]

"Children, we must kill the squirrels to save food," she smiles. "But use poisons carefully." The pamphlet included a recipe for strychnine-laced grain as well as suggestions for other extermination methods, such as shooting, drowning, and poison gas.

By the time Squirrel Week ended on May 4, children across the state had turned in 104,509 tails, though this was thought to represent a fraction of the total casualties. Even after the contest ended, the Commission of Horticulture reported that kids' enthusiasm for killing squirrels continued for "an indefinite period." During an anti-squirrel campaign in Lassen County later in the year, one girl brought in 3,780 tails; a boy brought in 3,770.

[Chipwooder]

Sounds like Mao's Four Pests campaigns, when he brilliantly ordered the extermination of, among other actual pests, sparrows. Sparrows eat grains, so if you kill off the sparrows, your harvest improves, right?

Except.....sparrows eat more insects than they do grains. With their natural predator nearly eradicated from China, locust populations exploded and caused a famine.

[The Last American Hero]

Top. Fucking. Men.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Not for nothing, but those ground squirrels are nasty motherfuckers.

[Zeb]

Yeah. Fuck squirrels.

[Darth Squirrel]

Damn well better buy me dinner first.

[XenoZooValentine]

"Children, we must kill the squirrels to save food,"

They make good eatin'?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

state horticulture commissioner George H. Hecke

Finally, a California state official Reason commenters can respect!

Long may his memory live.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"We have enemies here at home more destructive, perhaps, than some of the enemies our boys are fighting in the trenches," state horticulture commissioner George H. Hecke

It's good to know that as far back as 1918, petty officials of middling rank were just as prone to hyperbole as they are today.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Dangerous Enemy

Not a dangerous enemy

[bacon-magic]

CJ,
Are you saying that we need to use our orphans to eradicate the squirrels?

[Zero Sum Game]

The trifecta has been met. Soave worked his hair into alt text.

For those keeping track, we've now had a Robbyhorses joke, a late links joke, and a hair joke.

[Col. Chestbridge]

Thanks to whomever mentioned The Three Languages of Politics yesterday. Interesting read.

[GILMORE?]

Because we read your comments, and we care.

Bitter sarcasm is unbecoming. It also leads to hair loss. And where would you be then?

[Stormy Dragon]

Elaine Chao will be Trump's Transportation Secretary.

Got Elaine Chao confused with Ellen Pao and was all "wait, whut?"

[Hyperion]

So basically, they all look alike to you?

[Stormy Dragon]

I have no idea what either looks like, but their names do look alike.

[__Warren__]

Not if you squint.

[Hyperion]

If it's a female, I feel that yelling 'show me your tits!' is the only way to tell for sure.

[GILMORE?]

Trump Already Causing Escalation of Syrian War

[Crusty Juggler]

What a fucking disaster.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Oh no!! Those people we definitely shouldn't be fighting might take over a city from an even worse group of people!! Teh horror.

[GILMORE?]

Would be interested in seeing the current employment-status of the people arrested

[Free Society]

"When we started demanding $15 ... people thought we were crazy, but we were just demanding the basic minimum to survive," said protestor Alvin Major, 50, a Guyanese immigrant who lives in Brooklyn and works at a KFC (YUM.N) restaurant.

So uhh, this Guyanese immigrant is making the case that the United States is an expensive place to live for third worlders with low skills. Imagine how expensive it will seem after he came to this country to demand more government regulation when he becomes completely unemployable because of said regulation.

[GILMORE?]

"Girls-School On Fire" = Also the title of a 'film' I once saw

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Was it not good? I imagine that one would be worth multiple viewings.

[GILMORE?]

For some reason.... every time i started it, i only would get halfway through. I have no idea how it ends.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Gilmore has never made it past 3 minutes in. But he has watched that 3 minutes a lot.

[Voros McCracken]

Yes, at 10 minutes a crack. Okay, five minutes. Okay, 30 seconds.

[Free Society]

The seventh installment was the best one.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I approve of the Asian Little Mermaid, even if it is racist.

[gaoxiaen]

Nice piece of tail.

[MythicalLibertarianWoman]

She looks great! I really liked the Brandy version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella when I was a kid. No one seemed to say anything about it (unless they did and I missed it because of my age/the lack of internet). I'm for that. Cast whoever but stop posturing about it.

[Mickey Rat]

As long as Bill Berry would be OK with casting a white woman as the lead in a story based on Asian folklore for the same reason

[John Titor]

Decent amount of links, on time, no Robbyhorses? How desperate for funding are you guys? Is Soave's fruit sushi addiction driving up costs?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

That donation bar is looking mighty thin....

[Hamster of Doom]

I say we drag it out and, on the last day, open negotiations.

[BakedPenguin]

"NO MORE CHAPMAN"

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

This.

[But Enough About Me]

Alas, thou art a "sTrumpet"!

See what I did there? Huh? HUH? See it? Huh? . . .

. . . oh, never mind.

[OneOut]

I'm still stinging from the constant barrage of #neverTrump posts while ignoring the evil that was the only true opposition.

[John]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/four-.....40153.html

So the Ohio State guy was a crazy Muslim. While I support conceal and carry, I have never wanted to do it myself. Having gun doesn't do you any good if the other guy draws his first, which is almost certain to happen. And frankly I am not going to shoot someone to protect my car. If he wants it that bad, he can have it. But I always assumed that no one was going to be dumb enough to bring a knife to a gun fight. I never counted on Muslims I guess. If attacking people with Machetes is going to be these clown's weapon of choice, I may have to reconsider my aversion to conceal and carry.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Conceal carry isn't always about a 1 on 1 encounter in the middle of the street where you're playing defense.

[John]

True. But carrying a loaded weapon is a real responsibility and a pain in the ass. So the question is, is it worth it. Understand that if the guy doesn't have a gun or at least a knife, i can't shoot him without going down for murder. And pulling a gun that you don't plan to use is a very bad idea. So the only time it will do me any good is when I know the other guy has a gun or a knife. For me to know that, he has to have drawn it. That is no big deal with a knife. But if it is a gun, I am fucked. If I go for my gun, he is going to shoot me long before I can ever draw it and shoot him. So why have it?

Maybe if a mob of teenagers attacked me or something. But mos of them cheap shot people and knock you out before you can draw your gun. Understand, I have nothing against other people carrying. I just don't think it is worth it.

[Free Society]

The only downside to having the permit is that you're essentially on a government registry, which is a pretty big downside as far as I'm concerned. But other than that, it's not a pain in the ass. About 65% of the time I'm not carrying. I generally only carry on days when I work in the shitty town 15 miles away, or if I'm out shopping with the family among them thar city folk in a bigger cities. I even used my pistol once to defend my family in a parking lot without ever having to fire a shot.

[John]

The government registry is a big downside. And pain in the ass is a subjective thing. You may not think it is but I do.

As far as using it, I understand pulling it doesn't mean you have to use it, but it does mean you should be prepared to use it. And I don't see that many situations where I could both pull it and lawfully use it and also would actually want to kill the guy. In any kind of a robbery, he can have it. I am not going to go through the hassle of shooting someone to avoid an insurance claim.

The gangs of teenagers who go around attacking people are a real problem and make me want to carry. The problem there is if I ever were attacked by a gang of teenagers and were afraid enough to pull a gun, I am not just going to fire one time. I am going to keep shooting and there are going to be a whole lot of dead and bleeding teenagers before I am done. I don't think the law would look too kindly on that and I do not want to go down on for murder. .

[bacon-magic]

Who would you go down on?

[John]

Probably a lot of people if I went to prison for murder and I would like to avoid that thank you.

[bacon-magic]

LOL.

[Lee Genes]

Now we know, John is Bernie Goetz.

[John]

No. I am smart enough to avoid being Bernie Goetz. But I don't believe in drawing a weapon unless you intend to use it and use it well. I never want to be in a fair fight again in my life. Only unfair ones.

[gaoxiaen]

Better tried by twelve than carried by six.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"But if it is a gun, I am fucked. If I go for my gun, he is going to shoot me long before I can ever draw it and shoot him. So why have it?"

This is all assuming the shooter is going to shoot you first. Which, in the case of crazy assholes with raging killboners, is probably not the case.

[John]

That is true. If it is one of these mass shooting things, then yeah, I want a gun. But those are still pretty rare. What are my chances? If they ever become more common or I think I might be in a place where it could happen, then I will reconsider.

[mad.casual]

I'm with you on this. My day-to-day isn't so bad that I feel the need to carry a firearm. Given the variability/predictability of psycho-mass killings, I don't feel that concealed carry significantly raises my life expectancy all that much. Whether that's getting blown up by a pressure cooker in Boston, getting hit by a rental van in Nice, or getting hit by a car and then stabbed in Columbus.

Keeping guns in the home is a different story with different rationalizations altogether.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

It depends on your personality. I carry concealed and I honestly never expect to draw it in anger, let alone fire it. What cracks me up is the youtube videos of people living in flyover country with a negligible crime rate acting as if deadly attackers hide around every corner.

I live in a place where real street crime takes place all around me, but again, the chances of that street crime crossing you is minimal. Basically, I'm arguing against my need to carry.

I do it for more philosophical reasons: I believe in a form of distributed security where the state doesn't hold a monopoly on violence.

But to your point, if someone draws a gun on me, I'm not going to draw mine without a clear opportunity and chance to do so- or unless I really believe that his next step is to kill me. I carry two different weapons, one is a micro pistol where I engage the mechanical safety. That's not getting drawn quickly, so the purpose of it is not to quickdraw it on a guy who's already holding me a gun or knifepoint, but to simply have it if a general danger presents itself.

[DOOMco]

the other?

[OneOut]

When CC was first passed in Texas soon after there was a court case over a man defending himself with his CC weapon.

A man was in his truck and pulled up to a red light in heavy traffic. His extended side mirror clipped the van truck's mirror next to him. A trainee in the passenger seat who wasn't even an official employee yet got out and started beating the man through the open window.

The man had on his seat belt and couldn't escape the blows. He warned the attacker he had a gun but the beating continued. He pulled his gun and shot the unarmed attacker dead.

He was no billed.

[OneOut]

No billed or found not guilty.

The memory fades.

[John]

If I lived in Texas, I would feel more confident about conceal and carry.

[ant1sthenes]

In fairness, the guy grew up in environments where Muslims could pretty much hunt non-Muslims for sport if they felt like it. It's like a guy who's used to kicking his dog to vent his anger running into a couple of wolves while in a shitty mood and trying the same thing. "What, they fight back?" he thinks as his throat is ripped out. No loss for humanity, of course.

[GILMORE?]

Rest Easy = Your Corn Flakes are No Longer Racist

*political virtue-signaling-as-marketing was something Apple seemed to break the seal on... with their boycott(?) of North Carolina? something like that. I think, much like CSR (*corporate social responsibility), it will be a new fad during the trump admin.

[GILMORE?]

I can only assume this dude did it because *he wanted to*, not because he *had to*

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I don't trust a man who's prettier than most women. Except The Rock. I Trust The Rock.

[GILMORE?]

Seriously. I meant more in the sense that he was just "an Ex-NFL star"... and shouldn't have trouble finding dates. But yes, he's actually pretty handsome to boot. Tho the "evil goatee" is probably not the best look for a jury.

[BakedPenguin]

Are you kidding? It perfectly sets up the "alternative universe Darren Sharper" defense.

[GILMORE?]

Why does anyone cite the SPLC anymore?

I just don't get it. Who believes their bullshit? Who haven't they accused of being a hate-criminal at this point?

And they basically hammered this story last week. I suspect they feel the need to re-run some version of it whenever some Muslim dude goes on a stab-spree.

[Zero Sum Game]

Do they keep track of leftist false flags? When I see that category in their pie chart then we can have a better discussion on their "data."

[Juvenile Bluster]

Did they ever say anything about the dude that shot up Focus on the Family (or whatever group it was) who said he did it because they were a anti-gay group because the SPLC said so?

[GILMORE?]

Whenever they want to make the numbers go up (and aren't they always going up?) to make it seem like Racist White Right-Wing Hate is on the rise? They just change the definitions, or change the metric they're tracking.

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

I'm gonna have to become a welfare freeloader. This is my first post in either AM or PM links today, and it's because I've been too busy working. UNACCEPTABLE.

[DOOMco]

terrible. take a lap.

[Real and Legitimate News, Jr.]

Do I look like I need a diet soda?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

+1 Red Bull ripping apart your insides with vitamins

[DOOMco]

thanks for getting this reference you guys.

[GILMORE?]

Jacobin says it's a great time to be a socialist, which might be true. It's never a good time to live under socialism, though.

I can't bring myself to read Jacobin. What's their claim?

And why would that *ever* be true? "being a socialist" basically means you advocate for the subordination of everyone to the state. Is there supposed to be some upside, like = "it helps picking up chicks"?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Being a socialist means never needing to be accountable, responsible, logically consistent, moral or any other that icky stuff you need to be as an upstanding individual.

[GILMORE?]

Sounds like perpetual childhood.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Two names are why I will not donate to Reason this year. Shikha Dalmia, and Richmond.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Phew. Thought for a second there you were going to say 'Rufus'.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Rufus you are the man. =D

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwzRkjn86w

=D

[bacon-magic]

Rufus,
You are loved because you smell like maple syrup.

[Lee Genes]

That's spoiled poutine.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This guy's glass is half-empty.

[Trigger Hippie]

If Reason ever did a Fire a Reason Writer! donation drive they may never need to beg for the fetti again.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It rakes in rating for Survivor!

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

If Reason manages to hire Sargon of Akkad, Bearing, and Brendan O'Neil. I will donate double.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I'll donate triple to not hire Sargon.

And quadruple to remain ignorant of who or what a Bearing is.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCAc8wdmjCE

=D

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'll never get the appeal of the ranting, whinging Brit youtube genre. I even had to stop watching Pat Condell's videos after he decided to make their average length greater than 5 minutes.

[MetalBard]

You could always switch to the ranting, whinging American youtube genre...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGZEwHoDkwE&t=26s

[A Cynic's Guide to Zen]

Class. Brits have class, I have heard.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

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

[bacon-magic]

Sargon has smug down pat. I'm still leaning towards he goes a bit far, but at least he's interesting.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

A smug classical liberal is worth 100 Dalmias.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

So you want the site to have 100 Dalmias?? Are... are you listening to the words you are saying?? I don't think the site awash in that much Dalmia would be good... or readable...

[Heroic Mulatto]

I think he meant a coat of 100 Dalmias.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

=D

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

He's not a classical liberal. He fits the definition of a modern liberal (as opposed to a progressive) just fine.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs4AOqMxF10

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

You are a Prog. You are a Prog.

[John]

You know who they should hire, Kevin D. Williamson. His name is mud with a huge part of his readership at NRO. He needs to get out of there and go somewhere else. He is being a total whinny bitch about Trump winning, but that just means he would fit in with the staff. Meanwhile, before he decided going after Breitbart and slaying the evil lazy white working class was his ticket to fame, he did some decent libertarian leaning work. He would be a huge improvement over about anyone reason has. Reason taking Williamson would be like when a major league team takes a pitcher who fucked up and flipped off its fans or did something else to piss everyone off and ships them to the other league. Those things usually work out well for all involved.

[bacon-magic]

Kevin might work.

[commodious got a stew going]

Christ, you are tiresome.

[John]

Do interject into conversations with things that make no sense a lot or just when you feel you need to prove you are an idiot?

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Personally I think bullet proof vests should be banned because of guns. =D

[commodious got a stew going]

No, John, sometimes I simply disagree with your screeds. You are wrong about Williamson. Not merely incorrect in your conclusions but purposely, deliberately wrong about your interpretation. For whatever reason you've allied yourself with the Trumpians, not without some success, but you are terribly wrong about what it means for working class whites to be turned in to a vassal of the right wing and whether it's wise to emulate Democrats in that respect. And as such you've construed Williamson's bootstrap advice to poor whites in flyover country to mean Williamson is some white-hating progressive ideologue. And that's where you've idiotically strayed into progressive territory, because for whatever reason you've been caught hook line and sinker in the Trumpian narrative. No, if Williamson wanted to destroy the white working class, he'd advocate for the sort of progressive shit you seem to be wanting these days, e.g. political patronage and boundless racial favoritism. Instead he's suggesting whites abandon their infertile, inhospitable towns and counties where prosperity is minimal and welfarism is majority. You've taken issue with Williamson's #NeverTrump affiliation and used it to excuse your total rejection of his immanently libertarian credentials. You are being a concern troll nationalist.

[ant1sthenes]

Uh, did he get fired or something? Not that I would mind having him replace, oh, say, Shikha.

[GILMORE?]

i know 2 of those, and they're both left/liberal

being "anti SJW" isn't really much of a general-recommendation. Tho i think sargon picks better stories to cover than, say, Shikha

[John]

I am pretty sure the staff at Vox picks better stories than Shika.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Agreed Gilmore. =)

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I cannot express how much I don't want the magazine taking on a left-leaning nationalist who routinely takes stands against Libertarianism as an employee.

Surely the site has ENOUGH anti-liberty lefties??

[John Titor]

Sargon is Old Left, he has no place here.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Really.
I will take the so called "old left" over the new progressive left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en1uwIzI3SE

[John Titor]

As us Canadian commenters have pointed out numerous times, Reason should get Mark Steyn to write for them, he leans very libertarian on many issues, but they'll never do it because he is extremely anti-Muslim immigration.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I said nothing, John Titor!

[ant1sthenes]

No, no, yes. Not that Sargon can't be entertaining, but that doesn't mean he belongs at Reason. I'd take Greenwald before Sargon, he does at least write about civil liberties, as opposed to what asshats SJWs are. I mean, he has a gig, I'm just saying.

[GILMORE?]

The second word in this article is "Stylish". I am not convinced.

Tho = Coke binges with whores that result in phone calls to your parents claiming you've been kidnapped and need immediate ransom money? Never goes out of style.

[gaoxiaen]

He has a publicist and can't afford hookers and blow?

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

"This doesn't really work, because people don't care. So, let's double down!"

Screw this budding "expert".

[josh]

this sucks. totally makes me want to burn something.....oh, look, a flag!

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Seriously. If Reason is going to hire left leaning Libertarians, ones that still have faith in the Social Contract. Reason may as well hire writers that are funny, make a point, even a utilitarian one.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

A libertarian rejects the Social Contract.

That's how it oughta be, anyway!

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Oh, but not those libertarian socialists. They are able to straddle that fence real good.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Tony, AMSOC, Hinh, and Nikki, are not the best sparring partners. =)

[jesse.in.mb]

and Nikki

Are we playing "one of these things is not like the other"?

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Are we. =D

[XenoZooValentine]

"Social contract?" Is that the thing I clicked through while I was installing? TL;DR

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Dan Quayle for Secretary of State.

[Lee Genes]

Make him ambassador to Mexicoe

[Crusty Juggler]

*claps*

[__Warren__]

You get claps from Mexihos.

[__Warren__]

Libertarian moment?

[Lee Genes]

An entertaining moment for libertarians at least.

[Jimmy Free Trade Pirate]

Hey somebody has to be the asshole. =D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX4hN2KAaww

[AlmightyJB]

That gave me a bit of a chubby

[Juice]

Vox voxsplains everything that's wrong with cops

It's written like they're explaining it to children. It's basically saying that cops should be nice from now on, after they are trained to be nice.

[XenoZooValentine]

They know their audience, then?

[Cyto]

Late to the party again. But I am really surprised that Reason allowed itself to get trolled by Trump on the flag burning thing.

Look, you have to be some sort of simpleton to think that Trump just randomly got a bug up his ass about flag burning and decided that it was worthy of revoking citizenships over. He's an idiot, but he's clearly not that sort of an idiot.

He's using the same tactics he used throughout the campaign to misdirect and deflect. Flag burning is of zero consequence, and everyone knows it. So he has managed to get everyone all in a twist about it without any risk to himself whatsoever. Nobody who ever supported Trump either A) believes for a second they are going to deport people for burning a flag nor B) thinks there is any sort of flag-burning epidemic. So they are going to see everyone on the left going nuts over this as more of their bizarre left-wing overreaching behavior.

And you knuckleheads keep falling for it.

I really was convinced that Trump was a complete buffoon. But this one tweet has me suspecting that Scott Adams was right about Trump's communication tactics. Because this is so far out in left field, and utterly disconnected from anything the transition team is working on, and because it is such a tightly crafted little message, designed to tweak the progressive SJW I'm sure that this was an intended misdirection.

And it worked. Whether it is that he's a genius or you guys are morons is the only outstanding question.

[Curt]

"You know who else wanted to prohibit flag burning? (Hint: It's not Hitler...)" Turns out it was Hillary.

Distinction without a difference.

[bacon-magic]

I agree.

[BakedPenguin]

Pretty and dumb! That girl's the trifecta!

[Juice]

Her nose looks like a badly drawn penis and her husband(?) looks like a badly drawn penis.

[Zeb]

I'll be damned, it really does.

Still, I think I could look past that.