Trump's Formula for Success Is Typical Cronyism, Hollande Won't Seek Re-Election, Baltimore Releases Body Camera Footage of Police Shooting: P.M. Links

• 

  Jeremy Hogan/Polaris/Newscom

  How did President-Elect Donald Trump (and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence) get Carrier and United Technologies to keep jobs in the United States instead of shipping them out of the country? Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

• Sources tell the Washington Post Trump has selected retired Gen. James N. Mattis as secretary of defense.
• Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags.
• France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election. He was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning anyway.
• A police officer in Tacoma, Washington, was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. The suspect inside the home of the call was also killed.
• Police in Baltimore are releasing—for the first time—body camera footage of police shooting a suspect, in this case of a man shot after refusing to drop knives. The man survived the shooting and is being treated at a hospital.
• Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

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[Playa Manhattan.]

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[Tonio]

+1 Groucho Marx

[Hamster of Doom]

If you're going to watch the stripper dance, you ought to tip the stage?

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Props to whoever put the J sub D Memoriam in the donation scroller.

[Rich]

RIP

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For you N00bs: J sub D was a longtime regular poster who gave us the phrase "fuck off, slaver(s)." He was a homeless guy who posted from his local public library; we only found out about this after his death.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

*raises his glass for the honored dead*

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He is missed every day. Thank you to the person who donated in his name.

[Atanarjuat]

+1 old fire-controlman

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[bacon-magic]

This fellating of the commentariat has me this " " close to changing my mind about donating. I really do like this site and you all(no, not sexually, unless you want to send some pics)...so I might just subscribe to the magazine instead of going back on my no donation stance this year. This site is the only place I've ever donated $ to based not on charity but ideology. *ponders it all - ass sex, messicans & weed

[Fist of Etiquette]

Where do we go to pick up our fellatio? I missed the line.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

The line starts around the block at Winston's place.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Well, how much did you donate?

[Injun, as in from India]

Well, how much did you donate?

Sheesh!

Just one mention of fellatio and you talk about Reason like it's a sperm bank.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It is.

But most of the sperm isn't viable, and all of the doorknobs are sticky.

[Injun, as in from India]

Where do we go to pick up our fellatio?

Ask the new Editor-in-Chief if she knows.

[Rich]

This site is the only place I've ever donated $ to based not on charity but ideology.

*** rising intonation ***

What about the US Treasury?

[bacon-magic]

That is compulsory.

[RBS]

Get a subscription, the print mag is great.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The pictorials are usually very tasteful. (No bush.)

[Rich]

LOL

[Chipper Morning Wood]

No Obama, either.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Frick, I think I did digital because maybe I'll go back and read Reason articles from the 70's.

[C. Anacreon]

Just a pro tip -- the $100 donation comes with a ton of free stuff. Besides getting the print Reason in the mail, you get Reason Readers, other interesting compilations of stories on interesting topics, and every once in awhile you get invited to a free cocktail party. It pretty much gives you equivalent value back for the c-note, which is a tax deductible gift, so go for it!

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How much for a leather bound edition of SugarFree's Christmas tales?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

In real money or blood money?

[Tonio]

Cocktail parties...

[Playa Manhattan.]

Last year, they sent all of my swag to my brother. I GOT NOTHING.

[RBS]

I just renewed my subscription, what more do they want? I'm just a poor law talkin' guy.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I rest my case. Er... case closed.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Works on contingency? No, money down!

[Krabappel]

I suppose I need to start digging in my couch cushions.

[Crusty Juggler]

Nice euphemism.

[Invisible Finger]

No donations until the social signaling stops.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

It's spelled negotiation.

[John]

He is a cronyist. Don't you understand!!

Scott has a sad. And I bet those people who work at Carrier are not gay affirming at all. Just saying. They are like from Indiana or somewhere. Definitely not gay affirming.

[Playa Manhattan.]

John, is there something gay on your mind?

[John]

There is a lot gay on my mind Playa. Never let it be said that I am not gay affirming.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

So, one of them Q's at the end of LGBTQA... alphabet?

[John]

There is a letter for everyone Bob.

[Rich]

That's a real good philosophical way of life, John.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

John cc's the LGBT alphabet.
CC stands for "chubby chaser."

[Juice]

So...tax relief is cronyism now?

[John]

Good point.,

[Texasmotiv]

It is when it goes to one company. Had they cut taxes for all businesses (not just Carrier) then Trump would be a hero.

[cavalier973]

If Trump offered a "tax break" to Carrier only if they put a hand-carved statue of Trump (produced by Trump Carving Company) in every office, then it's not a tax break; its cronyism.

[Zero Sum Game]

Isn't it a bit premature to complain about?

I'd like to know what distinguishes a "cronyist tax break" from any other sort of tax break. Even if a sweeping tax break for everyone occurs, isn't it still cronyist to leave the tax inequality that remains?

If the motivation for a federal contract is to keep jobs in the country and that contract was going to happen anyway, is it necessarily cronyist? I have always been under the impression that cronyism implied kick-backs or tit-for-tat.

Finally, isn't tax breaks a generally libertarian answer to lots of problems with governmental market meddling? Are we going down that road that proggies did where they believe that the state is entitled to tax money and that reducing the burden on anyone necessarily implies that the burden shifts to everyone else, which makes it a form of unconscionable theft from the public purse? If we start thinking like that, then it's always ratchet mentality; the taxes always go up and never go down for anyone, that's why the proggy economics is so flawed.

I'm not optimistic, it will probably turn out exactly like it looks like it will, but I just don't think we have enough information about anything to render a verdict yet.

[Invisible Finger]

The art of the cronyism.

[Zero Sum Game]

My point being: if a government contracts are still going to exist and tax breaks are a good thing, how should they be distributed? The crony capitalist would pick all those who would enrich himself and his friends or those who support his political ideology (or, more usually, his campaign). What would someone who wasn't a crony capitalist do? Random lottery? That doesn't end up in the best interests of anyone as some of those federal contracts would end up in the hands of fraudsters or be wasted. A market solution where a combination of factors come into play seems best. Is it necessarily wrong if maintaining employment/reducing foreign outsourcing were one of those factors as long as all comers are treated fairly by the process?

What we have is a single data point. That seems like hardly a reason for running around like proggy chicken littles.

[Invisible Finger]

I understand what you're saying, even agree for the most part.

But it's STILL the exact opposite of "Fuck you, cut spending." Which is going to be the ONLY thing that starts reversing the cronyism.

[Zero Sum Game]

But... he's president elect. He can't actually cut spending. All he can do right now is make promises that he may or may not be able to keep.

The cynic says he doesn't intend to keep this one either and that Carrier will regret listening to him and is only doing it to buy some credibility for positive press now and political capital later on. Is it possible that he actually gave a shit about the workers he made a promise to? Who knows?

I'm not actually sure whether he'll be able to cut spending even if he wants to. Congress just loves its spending, both sides. Fucking omnibus bills stuffed with pork and other surprise legislation that nobody would accept otherwise come to mind. If he were so inclined, he could wield a veto pen on it but they can override it and, again, congress loves spending.

Maybe he could use a nuclear option actually available to him: keep firing executive branch employees until Congress screams "uncle!" Threaten their power now and in the future and follow through. He seems like exactly the kind of person to play hardball like that, again assuming inclination to do so.

[Ted S.]

Don't civil service laws present the president from firing employees willy-nilly?

[Zero Sum Game]

A surprising number serve at the President's discretion. For example, every seat on the board of the Federal Reserve except for the chair.

Oh, you want to obstruct spending cuts? Maybe I'll call up Ron Paul and see if he'd like to sit on the board of the Federal Reserve and how about that Peter Schiff guy too? We'll see how long the chair lasts if I put enough libertarians in those seats. That audit will probably happen if I replace enough of them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags.

Oh, people always wave those flags when they transition. Like gender dysphoria equals homosexual.

[R C Dean]

Whoa, the VP is transitioning? And people accuse Trump of anti-gay bigotry.

[Brett L]

I think he's transitioning from regular political scumbag to the neo-traditional Republican VP position as Lord of Malevolence and Evil.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

"I have no idea what [the Vice-President Elect] will think about, but I hope he will change his mind."

Yeah, that's the power of a flag: To change someone's mind.

[SimonD]

...as an aside, I wonder how many of those people work in the Executive Branch of the government? How smart is it to try to shame your soon-to-be boss? Is that one of the perks of being in a public employee union?

Hmm. perhaps I've been reading too many of the Judge's all-question editorials.

[Bronson, Missouri]

The only way you'll face any career jeopardy in the government is to do Hillary-type stuff - recklessness with data/security/etc. You could watch porn at your desk, shit on the floor in the bathroom and tell your boss to go fuck himself - they'll just promote you to be the next guy's problem.

[JaimeRoberto]

35% of them said they would quit if Trump won, so they're likely on the way out anyway. If we're lucky.

[Darth Squirrel]

35% said they would consider quitting, and even that much was probably bald-faced lying. Nobody who's gotten into of one of those civil service sinecures is going to be pried out of it with anything short of C4, the Jaws of Life, and a lot of Crisco.

[AlmightyJB]

Nothing says I'm better than you like an effortless gesture.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

More important than saying "I'm better than you," it lets all other goodthinkers know that you are better than that person!

[Libertarian]

How did President-Elect Donald Trump (and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence) get Carrier and United Technologies to keep jobs in the United States instead of shipping them out of the country? Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

Not exactly my idea of "draining the swamp."

[Nick W B]

Why not? Oh, you thought DC was the swamp they were draining OUT of.

[Injun, as in from India]

Not exactly my idea of "draining the swamp."

There will be no:

Lock her up
Drain the swamp
YUUGE Border wall

[Libertarian]

You forgot Obamacare repeal.

[Invisible Finger]

Pretty much.

Although he was mostly talking about lobbyists writing legislation. That won't cease either, but if it decreases then it's a least a start. It's a YUUUGE swamp after all.

[Bill Dalasio]

I don't know about the last. I'm pretty sure we'll see the Great Wall of Donald. It just won't really do all that much to actually stop illegal immigration.

[Bronson, Missouri]

Do you even swamp, bro? Every swamp has a drain at the bottom. In order to drain the swamp, you first must enter the swamp. That's where we are right now. Dec 1 and he's already making his way to the drain!

[Playa Manhattan.]

"Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them"

So it doesn't count as one of my 5 servings a day of fruit and vegetables?

What about ketchup?

[Libertarian]

I don't think Krispy Kreme puts ketchup in any of their donuts.

[Citizen X]

Yeah you have to do that yourself.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Sriracha or GTFO.

[Playa Manhattan.]

That's my evening donut.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Which is why I bring it with me.

[AlmightyJB]

And their donuts don't actually have nuts in them.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

They do after Crusty buys them.

[Mickey Rat]

"Ya ya ya ya, your father refills creme donuts!"

[JJ]

+1 Valby

[Jimbo]

Another lawsuit on its way!

[Hamster of Doom]

Not eve the little crusty bits around the top of the bottle.

[gaoxiaen]

Those are dingleberries because, well, you don't want to know where that bottles been.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

The Krispy Kreme Catsup-filled donuts do actually have some ketchup in them. And raspberries.

[B.P.]

Yeah, what's up with Krispy Kreme stealthily diminishing the nutritional value of their donuts?

[Injun, as in from India]

LOL

[Nick W B]

You'll be fine as long as you eat an extra slice of pizza for dinner.

[jesse.in.mb]

Quick, call THE FOOD BABE. She was the first to clue America's basic bitches in to the fact that there IS NO REAL PUMPKIN in a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Basic bitches all over the nation thought that they were getting a healthy dose of pureed gourd in every PSL, Playa, and The Food Babe learned them something fierce.

[Playa Manhattan.]

If we're suing for fraud, where's the fucking "babe"?

[kbolino]

That is... a whole mountain of derp.

[jesse.in.mb]

If you've never waded into Food Babe territory, you've never truly derped.

[Zero Sum Game]

That one "infographic" is enough to convince me not to. Wading in intellectual raw sewage isn't my idea of a good time.

[SimonD]

Quick, call THE FOOD BABE. She was the first to clue America's basic bitches in to the fact that there IS NO REAL PUMPKIN in a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Hmm. this may be a bit off-topic, but where in the phrase 'Pumpkin Spice Latte' does it claim that there is pumpkin in it? It claims there is pumpkin spice in it (which is an explicit thing).

[jesse.in.mb]

Pumpkin pie spice is an explicit thing. Pumpkin spice didn't have currency as a shortening for pumpkin pie spice until Starbucks started up with it.

[Atanarjuat]

Little known fact, artificial raspberry flavoring comes from a gland inside the anus of a beaver.

I have no idea how extracting that stuff is cheaper than boiling down some berries, but there you go.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I did know that, and that's why I like it.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

We use the whole animal, like injuin's, it's beautiful. That or science is a blight on God's creation.

[gaoxiaen]

+1 shot of B?verhojt

[jesse.in.mb]

Smell nerd friend: It's crazy what they use as the base of most perfumes and scents
Me: whale vomit and beaver anal gland secretions?
He: You have no idea how close you are!
Me: You didn't think those descriptions were uncannily close to ambergris and castoreum for random guesses?

[Playa Manhattan.]

He: Nerd.

[AceDroman]

"Smell nerd" haha

[Zero Sum Game]

flavoring comes used to come from a gland inside the anus of a beaver.

It pretty much doesn't anymore. Virtually all of it is synthetic now.

So the question remains: does it bother anyone if the chemical doesn't actually come from a beaver's anal gland but that it is a synthesized copy of a molecule that does?

[jesse.in.mb]

SYNTHETIC?

I only want hand-massaged, organic-beaver, beaver anal gland secretions in my raspberry flavoring.

[Zero Sum Game]

You forgot free-range and fair-trade. When you're massaging a beaver's anal gland, it's important that you're not a child laborer or propping up a dictatorship and that you get a proggy's idea of a fair wage for it. And happy free-range beavers produce only the finest butt-spunk, if you can catch them.

[jesse.in.mb]

This is probably the most I've discussed massaging beavers in my life.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

All records are meant to broken. So, go on...

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

/facepalm

[Fist of Etiquette]

He was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning anyway.

Castro, a socialist, had a plan for that.

[Flakfizer is Ballet, Jr.]

Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags.

This is the kind of hard-hitting provocation that led to Trump's defeat in the first place.

[rts]

City of Vancouver quadruples fines for unlicensed businesses

This article got me thinking, and maybe someone here can enlighten me.

How did we get here? When the first city government to implement a scheme whereby you had to beg permission and pay money just to do business there, why wasn't that city's City Hall burned to the ground and their administration tarred and feathered?

Actually, I have the same question for a lot of what government does...

[Gojira]

It probably grew out of the corporatist structure of pre-industrial society, in which the guilds would get their certs for operation from the municipal authorities in exchange for autonomy in using violence to keep out competition.

Remember: it isn't a case of all poor, oppressed business owners on one side, and evil conniving gov't on the other. They work hand-in-glove - established businesses love anything that cuts down on competition.

[rts]

Remember: it isn't a case of all poor, oppressed business owners on one side, and evil conniving gov't on the other. They work hand-in-glove - established businesses love anything that cuts down on competition.

Yes, I keep forgetting this angle of it.

[Bubba Jones]

Yes, Guilds. A big feature in Wealth of Nations.

[Gojira]

People forget how powerful they were. They would pay the local authority a hefty sum for operation, and were essentially autonomous powers other than that. Hell they even waged low-intensity war on each other, within the same city sometimes. And Lord help you if you tried to set up shop without apprenticing yourself to a master for a fucking decade first (and giving the guild their cut of your earnings).

[Rufus The Monocled]

They were the mafia by other means.

[Hamster of Doom]

We don't need those jobs. We have plenty of other jobs. Better jobs. We don't need those jobs.

[PapayaSF]

You should try having a movable vending business that sells things at street fairs and festivals and so on. Some cities require you to buy a one-year business license for $$$ in order to sell for a weekend.

[Injun, as in from India]

No idea how we got here.

But I do hope that getting out of here doesn't necessitate guns.

[Juice]

Dude, "we got here" thousands of years ago. Asking the local (or national) lord or king for permission to do business has been the default since the beginning.

[Invisible Finger]

"First they made the Irish Catholic businesses beg permission, and I did not object because I am not filthy scum."

Insert any enclave of your own choice, but that's the gist of it. When the filthy scum actually gets elected, he expands the program to all other enclaves and then gives his filthy scum buddies jobs on the police force and regulatory bodies so that the regulation is overlooked for his own enclave.

[Citizen X]

How did President-Elect Donald Trump (and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence) get Carrier and United Technologies to keep jobs in the United States instead of shipping them out of the country? Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

Well, it was either that or cut taxes and spending.

?\_(?)_/?

[Injun, as in from India]

Trump's acting like a Democrat.

"General Motor lives, and Osama bin Laden is dead."

The only thing I care about it the SCOTUS and it will be interesting to see who he nominates to replace Scalia and possibly another retiring justice.

[jack sprat]

^agree with these priorities

[Invisible Finger]

America had nostalgia for 1976 Democrats after the 2008 Democrats raised their taxes.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients.

This seems fair-ish? Though numerous other companies and products got to be on the hook for the same thing.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It's implied that it's a flavor, and even idiots should understand that. This is yet another over lawyering problem.

I'm chewing watermelon gum right now. *checks label* Nope, no watermelon.

[TheZeitgeist]

Ford Fusions do no such thing.

Thanks Obama.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

"Goddamnit. Michelle, we are returning this Subaru Legacy."

[cavalier973]

[gold clap]

[Rich]

And don't even get me started on "banana oil"!

[Nick W B]

I hope that canned unicorn meat I just bought isn't fake.

[Nick W B]

I hope that canned unicorn meat I just bought isn't fake.

[Jimbo]

We really need squirrel meat...

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Fantasy books always make squirrel seem like roasted veal for our hungry heroes.

[C. Anacreon]

I just learned that sauerkraut has no bits of unhappy Germans in it!

[Free Society]

Just found out my full flavor e-ciggarette doesn't contain any tobacco. And my mint refills don't contain any mint. I'm pissed.

[bacon-magic]

What kind of e-cig do you have?

[Free Society]

Criss Cross and Vuze

[Chip Woodier]

My Girl Scout Cookies had no cookie in them.

[Playa Manhattan.]

What about Girl Scouts?

[Bubba Jones]

They have labels that clearly absent raspberries.

Why is this even an issue?

[Gojira]

I hate "year end push" at work.

That is all.

[AlmightyJB]

I'm with you bro

[Hamster of Doom]

You're saying it so they don't have to.

[Brett L]

TWO go-lives next week. FML.

[Playa Manhattan.]

What about your "after coffee morning push"?

[Gojira]

Didn't have one today. I go from two shits a day to constipation. Or maybe I just had a surplus of poop and exhausted it. Who knows? I'll ask God when I die.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Especially if that's why you die.

[Gojira]

"So, my son, what questions do you have? Would you like to know the meaning of all existence?"

"No. In no particular order, was the '02 Kings/Lakers series really rigged, and, what the fuck was up with my irregularity? FFS dude."

[C. Anacreon]

"My son, interestingly enough, the answer to both your questions involves 'white chocolate'.

[Playa Manhattan.]

"No, Robert Horry IS that good!"

[Injun, as in from India]

Just eat a bottle full of Ghost Pepper Salsa.

You'll have THE pooping experience of a lifetime.

[GILMORE?]

I hate "year end push" at work.

I don't think i'm wrong when i point out that most businesses do between 30-50% of their deals in Q4 (and the ones that don't close are usually done in early Q1). Same with most retail - Q4 is best Q.

I sympathize, but when i was in consulting, we'd go bonkers in Nov / Dec raking in deals.

The reason is mainly because most corporate budgeting "has to be spent before the end of the year". Executives spend the first half of the year window-shopping, then the last half of the year is when they actually sign checks. Often the process is so backed up that they don't actually get the purchase orders signed etc. before the last minute.

Hence - 'year end push'. Everyone goes nuts to get that money before the vacations start. I spent many a holiday season in the office (or on the road) because of it.

[Gojira]

Oh I'm well aware of the reasons. I just want to petulantly stamp my feet and grouse about it because this is the time of year I least feel like working tons of extra hours.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Your cat misses you?

[C. Anacreon]

My wife kept saying recently how "O.N.D." is the most important time of the year for her business. She was surprised I had to ask her what it stands for, she thought it's a well-known expression.

"October, November, December."

[Krabappel]

I don't think we have a year end push. We've completely failed at making budget for the year and I think everyone has just kind of given up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A police officer in Tacoma, Wash., was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. The suspect inside the home of the call was also killed.

Shackford's passive voice here means I can't tell from those two sentences any of the relevant details other than two people died. Boo.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I think it's pretty clear that it's a double suicide. An amazing coincidence, if you ask me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I wonder if it had anything to do with doughnut recipes.

[TheZeitgeist]

Somebody got a little despondent after figuring out the blueberry conspiracy over at Big Donut.

[Playa Manhattan.]

That's definitely why the guy was beating his girlfriend.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Artificial raspberry poisoning.

[C. Anacreon]

I think it's pretty clear that it's a double suicide. An amazing coincidence, if you ask me.

Can you have a Mexican Standoff in Tacoma?

[Rich]

France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election. He was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning anyway.

American Senator Bernie Sanders, a Socialist, announced today that he would be running for the Presidential election. He was deeply popular and had little chance of winning anyway.

[Juvenile Bluster]

France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election. He was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning anyway.

If only he'd raised the tax rate on rich people to 99%...

[Citizen X]

When you've lost Gerard Depardieu...

[JayU]

Find the closest bar?

[jack sprat]

Don't get saucy with me Bernays....

[Fist of Etiquette]

The man survived the shooting and is being treated at a hospital.

Charm City, you big softies.

[Citizen X]

Pronounced "Ballmer."

[gaoxiaen]

I think they just dubbed over the cops yelling "Dance".

[The Late P Brooks]

Common sense gun control wanted.

Having embraced Donald Trump for the presidency, the National Rifle Association is planning a major push to nationalize its "concealed carry" campaign, which has already enabled millions of citizens to go armed into public places in the name of self-defense.

------

But since 2007, concealed-carry permit holders have been responsible for at least 898 deaths not involving self-defense, according to the Violence Policy Center, a gun safety group. This includes 29 mass shootings by permit holders who killed 139 people. Separate research has found that despite the overwhelming number of guns in America, they are very rarely used in self-defense or to stop crimes. The self-defense myth of concealed carry nevertheless carries on, at the expense of public safety.

Does that 898 include car crashes and bathtub drownings? It seems... high.

[John]

This includes 29 mass shootings by permit holders who killed 139 people.

I call complete bullshit. there hasn't been 29 mass shootings total in the last 40 years.

[Brett L]

Yeah. There's no fucking way. I might believe that 840 were suicides and 58 were fatally negligent discharges.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

C'mon fellas, most cops are considered concealed-carry permit holders, so's imma say that number's way low (but no one knows for sure).

[kbolino]

And it also averages out to almost 5 people per incident. I want to see a list of these incidents which have mysteriously gone unnoticed by the national media.

[Chip Woodier]

In 84 percent of the incidents (591) the concealed carry killer committed suicide

That's a non-starter, right there. I didn't bother to read any more.

[kbolino]

I'm assuming the suicides happened after the multiple murders, which is a bit different from just a straight suicide with no murders on the side, but I wouldn't be surprised if they juiced some stats.

[Citizen X]

Everybody who lives with a concealed carry permit holder will one day die. Fact.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Imminent Death Syndrome?

[Playa Manhattan.]

Yeah, that's some odd phrasing.

[Libertarian]

I think the word you're looking for is "bullshit."

[Rich]

Does that 898 include car crashes and bathtub drownings?

Yep, and choking on "raspberry donuts".

[Playa Manhattan.]

Don't call it that. Unless you have a really good lawyer.

[kbolino]

a gun safety group

I'm going to guess that they're an anti-gun group, not a gun safety group.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

This includes 29 mass shootings by permit holders who killed 139 people.

That's actually a pretty low number if one takes it seriously. How many have been shot by NON-PERMIT holders?

Separate research has found that despite the overwhelming number of guns in America, they are very rarely used in self-defense or to stop crimes.

Indeed, just like it "very rarely" rains in Georgia or "very rarely" do pitbulls bite people.

[Cy]

http://crimeresearch.org/2014/.....y-killers/

[Caput Lupinum]

Here is their source. No idea how legit these numbers are, but I'll dig through them. I'm curious, now.

[Caput Lupinum]

Damnit, that was there page for mass shootings, here is the page for everything.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Their registered domain name is concealedcarrykillers.org? Sure, we can trust them!

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Tally of Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Concealed Carry Killers Continues to Grow, Latest VPC Research Shows

Notice that it's a "Tally", not a percentage, or rate.

I'm going to go out on a limb, and speculate that the VPC in no way doubts the veracity of the government's determination of "non-self defense" in every single incident, regardless of differences is legislation, political affiliation, etc.

Screw them with an M-60.

[SimonD]

With a name like that, they must be legit. If they were a fake B.S. agenda group, they'd probably give themselves a provocative name.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

according to the Violence Policy Center, a gun safety group.

Fake News.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Separate research has found that despite the overwhelming number of guns in America, they are very rarely used in self-defense or to stop crimes.

Huh...That's a bit odd. I read almost every day about people who use guns to stop criminal activity around them. I guess the VPC doesn't actually pay attention to that kind of reporting.

I wonder why....

[Bubba Jones]

CHL holders were much less likely than nonlicensees to be convicted of crimes. Most nonholder convictions involved higher-prevalence crimes (burglary, robbery, or simple assault). CHL holders' convictions were more likely to involve lower-prevalence crimes, such as sexual offenses, gun offenses, or offenses involving a death.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm.....MC3518334/

Holders of a CHL in Texas in 2001 to 2009 were almost universally a law-abiding population, like most individuals who shared their demographic characteristics. However, in those rare instances when they committed crimes?by contrast to criminality among nonholders of CHLs?they were more likely to be convicted for serious weapons-related offenses (illegally carrying a firearm, threatening persons with a firearm, or intentionally killing another person)

I don't like this analysis in general because it overemphasizes "carry mistakes" as a weapons offense. It shouldn't be a surprise that when a CHL holder is convicted, it might be for carrying his gun where he shouldn't.

I'm not terribly interested in the observation that the distributions of convictions are different. What I really want to know is whether a CHL holder is more likely to murder than a non-holder.

[Bubba Jones]

Look at the raw data and you will see they are extrapolating from very small numbers.

http://www.dps.texas.gov/RSD/C.....rt2015.pdf

http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/c.....vrates.htm

If we look a the categories of "murder" and/or "deadly conduct" we see that CHL holders commit about 1.3% of these offenses. (eyeball estimate).

According to google
In total, there are 937,419 active CHL holders in Texas ? about 3.6 percent of the state's population ? according to the records, and 299 Texas ZIP codes are home to 1,000 or more individuals who are licensed to carry.

If that's true, then CHL holders are underrepresented by 3 fold relative to the general population.

[Invisible Finger]

I'm surprised government permission slips don't perform the magic that was promised.

[OneOut]

"This includes 29 mass shootings by permit holders who killed 139 people. '

In the name of Allah the most ....(fill in the blank).

Between the guy in California and the one in Florida those two take up a chunk of this.

Maybe this guy is wanting to outlaw the wrong ingredient in the recipe.

[GILMORE?]

Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags.

Political Semaphore.

Maybe he should respond with something to confuse them.

[John]

Mattis famously told tribal leaders in Iraq

I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." (Speaking to tribal leaders in Iraq)

I don't think Sheldon Richman is going to like that pick very much.

[Brett L]

What's really going to drive them nuts is that he is probably better read than everyone in the Senate, combined. I mean that literally. Not to even mention the news folks.

[John]

Yeah, he is a lot smarter, worldly and better informed than any of them

[Bubba Jones]

LOL Epic.

This might be tough, though.

It is unclear whether the legislation required to make Mattis the Pentagon chief will be difficult to obtain from Congress. The 1947 national security law said that a general must wait 10 years from leaving active duty before becoming defense secretary. An exception was granted on a one-time basis for Marshall, with lawmakers saying in special legislation at the time that it was the "sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves the office of Secretary of Defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved."

The 10-year period was reduced to seven years in 2008 for several senior civilian defense positions, including defense secretary.

[John]

Congress can wave that. I bet they do.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It's almost like it isn't even a law, then.

[Darth Squirrel]

Rather like the debt ceiling. Sorry, but if it goes up every time you bump your head against it, it's not a ceiling, it's a hat.

[I can't even]

He's probably the most best regarded General by his Marines since Al Gray. Enlisted Marines have the most sensitive bullshit detectors in the world. If he's up there with Gray, he's okay. Both were Mustangs and worshiped by the troops. The story of his post-retirement trip across the country visiting families of KIA Marines is the kind of stuff that earned that loyalty.

I can't wait until he purges Obama's political Generals out of the Pentagon.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

How did President-Elect Donald Trump (and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence) get Carrier [...] to keep jobs in the United States[...]? Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

"At least he keeps the trains running on time!"

Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags.

But they won't burn those.

France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election.

Aww.

Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients.

I'm entitled to a blueberry jelly-filled donut!

[The Late P Brooks]

Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients.

[insert Homer Simpson gif]

[Rich]

The plaintiff, a California man, says he bought the raspberry filled doughnut because raspberries are rich in Vitamins C, K, potassium and dietary fiber. But when he checked the nutritional guide, he found the raspberry doughnut doesn't say it contains actually raspberries.

There oughta be a law: "The So-Called 'Raspberry Donut' Act of 2017".

[Citizen X]

Look, California Man, if you actually give a shit about nutrition you're not eating donuts, period.

[Libertarian]

I've got your raspberry right here: tthhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbttthhhhhhh!

[Tonio]

Actually, a case of simple fraud unless it is explicitly labeled as artificially-flavored.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Lawyer involved, hoping for class action. Lawyer gets rich, "harmed" get nothing.

[Bubba Jones]

Sounds like the nutritional guide is pretty clear.

His remedy should be a free donut.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

It'll be cream filled...

Krusty Kreme

[Quincy.]

Buzz Aldrin Is Medically Evacuated From Antarctica

[Brett L]

I mean, they checked the dog before they called the helicopter, right?

[Citizen X]

+a handful of shouting Norwegians

[Chipper Morning Wood]

So, all of them?

[Playa Manhattan.]

I'm right here.

[gaoxiaen]

No, but they had him tied to a couch.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Hang in there man, you're a fucking legend and hero.

[OneOut]

Hero ?

He was the SECOND man to walk on the moon.

What a LOOSER !

Do you even remember who came in second in the Super Bowl that same year ?

[SimonD]

Any true NFL fan will be able to tell you almost immediately who won the Super Bowl that year. It was possibly the most famous NFL game in history.

(assuming that said NFL fan isn't a complete idiot about everything else).

[SimonD]

oh.... and by extension, who came in second.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

OK I've checked nothing, I could show my ignorance and stupidity and be made a fool here. (I don't think I'd get it without Simon's clues)

My guess:
Apollo 11 -- 1969 (jesus god if that's wrong ima hang myself)
twenty years before my birth -- Simon says arguably most famous game.

Superbowl 3 -- Jets beat (Baltimore) Colts -- the Joe Namath 'called it' game (whatever the moniker is for that).

[C. Anacreon]

No doubt some guy now will claim that Buzz has never actually been to Antarctica, and Buzz will punch him out.

[Playa Manhattan.]

As opposed to remaining in Antartica for treatment.

[GILMORE?]

France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election.

Nothing disappoints lefties quite so much as giving them exactly what they want.

[John]

Is Hollande one of those socialist libertarians that reason is talking about on the previous post?

[GILMORE?]

Is this what you're referring to? =

Day thinks it's "completely untrue" to say that he was in direct competition for votes with Libertarian Brian Chabot, who he writes off as a "left-libertarian" who believed in single-payer health care, the very opposite of Day's stance.

I'm not sure what the gripe is. He's running on the LP of New Hampshire ticket. So if Reason calls him 'libertarian', its because technically that's the party he's running with. I don't think it amounts to an endorsement.

[John]

I didn't say it was an endorsement. And it wasn't a slam on reason. It is a slam on the entire idea that someone could support socialized medicine and still be called a Libertarian. If that is true, the term has no meaning.

[Libertarian]

Amen.

[Crusty Juggler]

Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients.

Do the snozzberries taste like snozzberries?

[Bronson, Missouri]

You are freaking out...MAN

[Jimbo]

+ 1 ever-lasting Gobstopper

[AlmightyJB]

CNN trying to grab Fox's pussy.

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....gyn-kelly/

[John]

Does Kelly become the next Jane Paulie or does she end up dong informercials in five years because she no longer has an audience without Fox?

[AlmightyJB]

Maybe she'll do crime shoes like Paula Zhan. She's too hot to do infomercials.

[John]

She is pushing 50. She might not be so hot in five years. But crime shows and host in Discovery ID or whatever it is, is likely a good guess.

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

Re: John,

She is pushing 50. She might not be so hot in five years.

She bathes in the blood that squirted from her... you can imagine. That is what will keep her looking youthful.

[TheZeitgeist]

Fox would be smart keeping Kelly around; she's an effective counterpoint to Trump among the redstate set, and frankly her turning Trump down is better porn than Hannity's soap-shower-swallow routine.

[John]

She wants $20 million a year. The question is how many viewers does she really bring. How many people are watching her and how many people would watch Fox at that time slot if there were a lesser paid alternative. I don't know the answer to those questions but I would be surprised if the first group generates enough revenue to justify paying her that kind of bank.

[TheZeitgeist]

Kelly has unique 'frenemy' rapport with incoming President - she's A-lister at his rah-rah network yet his most notable, credible, critic in mass-media. That's an intangible worth a great deal of money over the next four years; and that asset is worth a lot less at a lefty media property.

In other words I think she's got growth potential to be worth $20 million a year to Fox (if not there yet), but isn't worth half that to a CNN.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

She wants $20 million a year. The question is how many viewers does she really bring

What's lost in all this cord-cutting stuff for cable is that it's not just ESPN that's taking a hit with subscribers; all the cable channels included in these packages are going to feel the pinch, too, from not getting their subscriber fee.

CNN would probably be willing to pay her $20 mill, but I suspect Fox won't match that.

[B.P.]

"Dong infomercials"?

Okay, now I'm paying attention.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

dong informercials

Are those likethese commercials?

[OneOut]

"does she end up dong informercials"

She still looks hot enough for dong infomercials.

[jack sprat]

Would.

[AlmightyJB]

All day

[GILMORE?]

raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them

If this lawsuit wins, soon everything in the supermarket will have labels like this

[John]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....e047f4972?

How long before we do something about the criminal beaver menace?

[Rich]

criminal beaver menace

Nice band name; but maybe too similar to ICP.

[Libertarian]

Hey, the beaver was upset that the artificial trees didn't contain wood. Sorta like that Krispy Kreme guy.

It goes without saying that Criminal Beaver Menace would make a hell of a band name, so I'm not going to say it.

[John]

It would be a great band name, but only if it were an all girl band.

[B.P.]

War on Christmas?!

[gaoxiaen]

Paging Wynona.

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

[bacon-magic]

We all need to grab a beaver and pound it into submission to do our part to make America great again.

[GILMORE?]

Ailing Buzz Aldrin medically evacuated from South Pole

Scott, you can't pass on links like this. I mean, come on. Doesn't anyone want to know WTF buzz aldrin was doing at the South Pole?? Was he chasing down John Kerry.... to kick his ass?

[Brett L]

I love you for this.

[lafe.long]

Apologies if this has been covered...

Mike Rowe wonders why we give federal money to colleges who refuse to fly the American flag

Here's the problem. Tuition at Hampshire College is about $60,000 a year. That's not a problem because it's expensive ? it's a problem because 85% of Hampshire students qualify for some form of federal financial aid. http://bit.ly/2gsZxnk. That means that We the People are enabling schools like Hampshire to sell a liberal arts degree for approximately $250,000. With $1.3 trillion dollars of student debt currently on the books, I found myself thinking how nice it would be to hear a more persuasive argument from those who will happily take money from a country whose flag they despise.

[John]

People making 20,000 a year are paying taxes and seeing their government run up debt so snowflakes can affored to pay $60,000 a year in pursuit of a hate studies degree. Social Justice!!

[Ted S.]

Mike Rowe wonders why we give federal money to colleges

He should have stopped there.

[Bronson, Missouri]

People pay 60k/year to go to Hampshire College? Paying 250k to go to a college that nobody has heard of?

[John]

They do it all of the time. How exclusive private schools stay in business is beyond me.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

A lot of them have pretty sweet endowments--the Ivy League schools at this point are basically hedge funds that run a university as a hobby.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Why do we give federal money to ANY colleges??

But fuck the flag. It looks stupid as hell. It's no Raven Banner that's for sure.

[Juice]

Well, there goes a lot of respect I might have had for Mike Rowe.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I know. He used "We the People" without irony.

[Rich]

"But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all."

"Be polite. Be professional ...."

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Krispy Kreme is facing a lawsuit because its raspberry-filled donuts don't actually have raspberry in them and the blueberry donuts don't actually have blueberries in them, at least according to the list of ingredients."

See, this is just a lawsuit by assholes who know damnfucking well there's no 'real' fruit in doughnuts. Unless KK misleads people about that (at which point I take back what I say), these people should be told to f-off.

[Certified Public Asshat]

In Canada, Double standard extends to sterilization

Andy Prosserman will never be a father ? and he couldn't be more delighted.

The 31-year-old Torontonian commemorated his recent vasectomy with a celebratory photo shoot. In one photo, he tenderly cradles a head of kale like a green, leafy infant. In others, he clutches a bottle of scotch, a Nintendo controller, and his Canadian passport ? all things he'll have time to enjoy in the absence of parental responsibilities.

No need to read the rest, I can see why Canada is ok with sterilizing the men there.

[B.P.]

In my eight years of parental responsibilities, enjoying liquor has not been a problem.

[Juice]

young women denied even a doctor's advice on tubal ligation

um...why?

[John Titor]

I believe that man has done our species a favour.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Kale? I don't think he was the procreating type in the first place!

/ducks, runs

[ant1sthenes]

The biological double standard where one sex's bits are external and easily operated on, and the other's are tucked in with their guts, requiring major surgery to access?

[Crusty Juggler]

Krispy Kreme inspired one of the great HBO Hard Knocks moments.

TW: poor quality, Herm Edwards.

[GILMORE?]

Family Counseling = 0
Breaking Bad = 1

[Juice]

Right under a story about vasectomies. Coincidence?

[lafe.long]

Family: Cyberbullying led to teen's suicide

On Tuesday, Brandy sent out an email to her family members telling them she was going to kill herself. They rushed home and found her alive.

"And we tried to persuade her to put the gun down but she was determined. She said she'd come too far to turn back. It was very unfortunate that I had to see that. It's hard when your daughter tells you to turn around. You feel helpless."

Brandy committed suicide in front of her family moments later.

Texas City Police are investigating what happened as a cyber-bullying crime. So far, no one has been arrested.

[John]

That is horrible.

[OneOut]

" It's hard when your daughter tells you to turn around. You feel helpless."

Was it too hard to take the gun away from her ? She wouldn't have shot her father but even if she did at least you would have died like a man.

I have all the sympathy for the girl but none for the father.

[John]

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

Chicago tops 700 homicides and no one in the media gives a shit or holds the mayor in any way accountable because Black Lives Matter so much.

[Brett L]

They only matter if they can be used to hurt Republicans, John.

[Invisible Finger]

As long as they can still vote, who cares?

[lafe.long]

On this day, Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her bus seat

Today marks the 61st anniversary of Rosa Parks' decision to sit down for her rights on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, putting the effort to end segregation on a fast track.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

FYI: A new "We The Fifth" episode is now live on thefifthcolumn.net

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

Kmele!

[Crusty Juggler]

TW: Near the beginning of the episode Moynihan abbreviates the segue by saying "seg," and no one bats an eye.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Thanks for the trig warn, hombre.

[Crusty Juggler]

I'm here for you, homeslice.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Thanks for the trig warn

OOOHHHHHHH!!!!........ I was thinking, "To Wit", or, something like that.

/unwoke

[GILMORE?]

Why do they not tell us here anymore?

I am assuming its because nick doesn't like the podcast competition (i.e. his gets fewer click than the 5th does). And i will continue assuming this until told otherwise.

[Juice]

Apache is functioning normally

Thanks?

[GILMORE?]

live on thefifthcolumn.net

incorrect
http://www.wethefifth.com/

[lafe.long]

Tomi Lahren: The young right-wing star breaking the internet

Tomi Lahren is a 24-year-old conservative political commentator, with a show on right-wing media outlet TheBlaze.
But she is most famous for her segment "Final Thoughts" ? short video rants which regularly go viral on Facebook.

Autoplay vid

[John]

Would

[Bubba Jones]

Very much.

But I don't give a fck what a 24 year old thinks.

[John]

Me either. But I would pretend I did if that is what it took.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

What about 27 year old's? O.o

[Juice]

I wish she wouldn't bleach her hair. Makes her look like a tramp.

[OneOut]

It's the poorly blended hair extensions that make her look fakey.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Why are all conservative chicks platinum blonds?

I mean I would, but not as hard as I would an all natural beauty.

[TheZenomeProject]

There's a down-home vibe to bleached blonde hair; it's the same reason that country music women choose to bleach their hair. Not my cup of tea, but I get it.

[jack sprat]

Very hard would.

[C. Anacreon]

Put big horn-rimmed glasses on her and she's Kat Timpf.

*imagines self in intense 'three-way debate' with Kat and Tomi*

[bacon-magic]

I used to think about Kat Timpf and Joanne Nosuchinsky(?)...still do. I'll be in my bunk.

[C. Anacreon]

You mean this Joanne Nosuchinsky?

Yeah, baby. Tell me more about your thoughts on the trade deal.

[Crusty Juggler]

She rants on Facebook? Sign me the fuck up!

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Sign me the fuck up!

I couldn't find it online, but this seemed appropriate for you, CJ.

Also, this.

[TheZenomeProject]

I'm the same age as her (or close to it), and I'll tell you that she terrifies the progs on my FB feed. I would say that she's a net positive because of it, even though she's basically your run-of-the-mill talking head that barks a little more and is a tad more clueless about real life.

[GILMORE?]

Feds to Ban Smoking In Public Housing

NYC gets in on it first. Because the poor *need more nannying*

NEW YORK (AP) ? Elba Acosta was distressed to learn that her morning habit of coffee and a smoke inside her New York City Housing Authority apartment will be banned under new federal rules prohibiting smoking in public housing.

"I have my black coffee and a cigarette at home," Acosta, 67, said Thursday outside the Chelsea-Elliot Houses. "I mean, that's my freedom. You do whatever you want to do because it's your body. The government has no business in your personal choice."

Acosta was reacting to U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro's announcement Wednesday that smoking will be banned in public housing developments nationwide. Housing agencies will have 18 months to implement the ban, which will apply to apartments and indoor common areas as well as outside areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative offices.

Castro stressed the dangers of secondhand smoke for children, saying, "Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home, free from harmful secondhand cigarette smoke."

Oh, you don't have children? Fuck you anyway,

[John]

They won't ban anything. What they will do is give housing authorities more arbitrary authority to evict anyone they don't like.

[Ted S.]

I hope Trump overturns this.

[Bronson, Missouri]

What's that? You need some bureaucratic oversight and administrative support? Let's put out 50 recs for GS-14 positions!

[Injun, as in from India]

He who pays the Piper gets to bitch slap the Piper.

[Invisible Finger]

You have the right to housing. Provided of course you don't mind a little investigation, humliation, rehabilitation.

/joestrummer

[Invisible Finger]

First they came for the PUBLIC housing residents...

[Invisible Finger]

Prohibition works!

As long as you ignore the entirety of human history which indicates that it has never ever worked.

[DOOMco]

ot.
all you pc gamers, I've been playing BF1(really good) but for the life of me can't find a fricken hardcore server that isnt official dice. there are two servers that seem to fit my style, both with groups i played with in BF4 (rTr and banzore) but they are both either empty or overfilled. I looked into renting my own, but they really have no good administrative control. no auto balance, kill or class limits.
I can't go back to normal, 100% damage is silliness.
has anyone found anything?

[lafe.long]

The Walking Dead's Negan is Just Like Government

Negan and the Saviors are here to bring order and security to his land. If you live on his land, you now work for him. A fraction of your production (he decides the amount) goes to him. If you behave in a way he doesn't approve, you'll likely get thrown into a cell, or worse. If he decides you can't be trusted with weapons, he takes them from you. If you try to resist him or the Saviors, you will be beaten or even killed, so don't even think about it!

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I agree with the point made here overall, but...

"We have watched these people manage to form a community that works without any need for somebody else governing over it. After getting rid of a few bad apples and eliminating a horde of walkers, the people of Alexandria grew to be peaceful and productive. They all found their own roles in society, worked together, helped each other when needed, and even recently began trading with another nearby community."

This author's a bit dumb. Alexandria had a government, it was a Ricktatorship. The author acts as if The Walking Dead is about some Anarchist paradise (like Glorious Somalia) but really the characters have been lurching from one form of government to another.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It's mostly been: holdover democracy after the apoc, followed by Rick as warrior king (fuckin' sign me up), followed by wars with other groups. A person might get confused and think they have a communism/socialism thing going, but it's not really the case.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Also

Glorious Somalia

Excellent album name.

[Darth Squirrel]

May the Lord amend her.

[CE]

Negan is exactly like the government -- being ruled by either is not optional. You can only flee. The only real difference is the tax rate, and it's not off by much (50% vs. what, 40%), and the lack of trial by jury.

[GILMORE?]

CNN's Jake Tapper borrows Obama Line = "I'm as furious as you are!"

CNN and host Jake Tapper have apologized for an on-screen banner Tapper says "horrified" him when it appeared during his show.

The vacationing Tapper responded to outraged viewers with Twitter posts explaining he's "furious."

The offending phrase appeared Monday during a discussion among substitute host of "The Lead" Jim Sciutto and two journalists about Republican President-elect Donald Trump's support from the alt-right.

The segment focused on a white nationalist leader whose anti-Semitic declarations Sciutto called "hate-filled garbage." An on-screen caption stated, "Alt-Right Founder Questions if Jews are People."

CNN has issued a statement calling the caption "poor judgment" and saying it very much regrets it and apologizes.

One of the journalists on the show was The Boston Globe's Matt Viser , who said Tuesday he was bombarded with messages calling him a "closet Nazi" because the caption appeared below his image and led people to believe he's the white nationalist leader.

You gotta love how the rabble-rousing turns back upon the rousers sometimes.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Funny how the left believes themselves to be uber-intellectually sophisticated, yet the mere presence of a fucking banner leads them to reflexively pull out the pitchforks without bothering to determine whether it's actually true or not.

[mad.casual]

How did President-Elect Donald Trump (and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence) get Carrier and United Technologies to keep jobs in the United States instead of shipping them out of the country? Typical cronyist government tax breaks and federal contracts.

Thursday to claim credit for will save at least 1,100 jobs, and Carrier will receive multiyear state economic incentives worth a total of $7 million, ... Mr. Trump, while offering a carrot through the state incentives, also held an implicit stick: the threat of pulling $5 billion to $6 billion in federal contracts from Carrier's parent, United Technologies. Mr. Trump and his team were well aware that the amount United Technologies stood to lose in those contracts dwarfed the estimated $65 million Carrier sought to save by moving to Monterrey from Indiana.

"You're cronying wrong!" - California, Detroit, Nevada, Oregon, City and State of New York, etc., etc., etc.

[GILMORE?]

"Aww, Mom!? I had a plan and everyting"

Parents Disarm School-Shooter

Student Dan Fowers, 15, told The Associated Press that the teenager came into a classroom minutes after class began and fired one round from a shotgun into the ceiling before a woman grabbed the gun from the boy and told him to stop.

Fowers said the woman threw the gun on the ground and pulled the boy back into a hallway.

[John]

http://news.grabien.com/story-.....r-plant-us

Whatever you think of the Carrier deal, it does continue Obama's perfect run of having a reverse Midas touch.

[creech]

I know what I'd think if I was CEO of another Indiana (or any other state) company: "Let's start looking into threatening to move out of here unless the governor, president lines up tax relief like Carrier got."
I'd be pretty pissed if my taxes were higher than my competitor Carrier's taxes.

[mad.casual]

Look at the deal though. It jeopardized billions in contracts and got them $7M over the course of a few years. They'll probably pay out more in raises over the same course.

I'm not in favor of cronyism by any means and am not denouncing it's criticism. Merely pointing out that this is a very different beast and/or small potatoes compared to the typical state-level 'Take 5% forever as long as your HQ is here.', let alone the routine state-and-federal-level 'White House, Governor of California combine to pledge $64B build Elon Musk's solar powered railroad to nowhere.'-type shovel-ready jobs program.

[Juice]

Damn. That's devastating. Obama's know-nothingness laid bare.

[ant1sthenes]

The Merdes touch.

[The Late P Brooks]

CNN's Jake Tapper borrows Obama Line = "I'm as furious as you are!"

Naturally, my first thought was this:

I'm sorry too, Dmitri. I'm very sorry. All right, you're sorrier than I am. But I am sorry as well. I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri. Don't say that you're the more sorry than I am because I am capable of being just as sorry as you are. So we're both sorry, all right? All right.

[Invisible Finger]

Lol. That was mine too.

[GILMORE?]

On the upside, people in Kazakhstan have had 2.5 tons of Russian ready-meals rain into their backyards

[CE]

In glorious Soviet Union, you don't line up for food, food lines up for you.

[GILMORE?]

Reminder = The UN Fucks Up Everything

[Rufus The Monocled]

The UN needs more money, dictators on the human rights commission,and understanding. And Trudeau and Obama co-chairing a big chair.

Add those and you will see shit get done properly.

[CE]

If democracy is such a great thing, why isn't it used for electing people to the UN? Or to the EU?

[Mr Drew]

OT:
Kmele gave me a shout out on the fifth column podcast. Suck it bitches, I exist!

[GILMORE?]

My jealousy knows no bounds.

[Crusty Juggler]

Stop sending him lewd photos.

[GILMORE?]

? i don't get it.

I haven't listened to the actual podcast yet.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

"Who are you and how did you get in here!?" is a kind of shout-out.

[GILMORE?]

Strange question =

I threw out a desk i'd used for many years a while back when i was putting things in storage, thinking i'd get a new one when i got more time to use my studio equipment. it was pretty beat-up.

I recently started looking, and discovered that they don't actually make that model anymore

it was the old "Ikea Jerker"... which was apparently kind of popular.

what was nice about it was that it was very very robust, and modular, allowing multiple levels and various peripheral floating shelves.

Anyone know of a source to get something similar? It doesn't need to be fancy furniture - but it needs to be solid. I'm up to drop ~$500 or so.

[Rufus The Monocled]

It looks like one of those old Atari space invaders.

[GILMORE?]

I had to look at it again to see what you mean, and i laughed.

the 'wings' things really aren't all that helpful. But the chassis the whole thing is built on is like very-solid-steel framing. you could put like 200lbs of stuff on it and it wouldn't even wiggle.

[__Warren__]

So you could bang Winston's mom on it!

[SimonD]

Neighbors where Pence is temporarily staying pre-transition in Washington, D.C., are showing their support for gay issues (and presumably disagreement with Pence) by putting up rainbow flags

I'd like to see a combination of two of the current freakout topics. I'd like to see a protest in which people started burning rainbow flags.

It would be funny to watch the progs do the splody-head thing (especially after they've said burning an American flag is a legitimate form of protest and should be applauded).

[GILMORE?]

I'd like to see a protest in which people started burning rainbow flags.

OMG HATE CRIME EVEN TO THINK IT

[CE]

France's President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, announced today that he would not be running for re-election. He was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning anyway.

You know who else they said was deeply unpopular and had little chance of winning?

[Akira]

OT: This is just an idea I've been ruminating on for a while...

Everyone knows that presidential candidates vow to do tons of things but never do them, and they're often things that are doable by executive order, which precludes the ol' "I want to, but Congress won't let me" line.

So, what if we allowed candidates on the ballot to write executive orders that would take effect as soon as they take office? Obviously, if they lost, the order would just be thrown out.

It would lower the amount of bullshit promises that get made; pundits would be able to say, "oh yea? If you're so serious about Issue X, why not issue a pre-election order right now?"

[Citizen X]

Winning?

[Playa Manhattan.]

Again? I just snaked the pipes!

[AlmightyJB]

These euphemisms

[PBR Streetgang]

In Washington swamp drains you?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You know who else swamped the drain?

[Brett L]

You monsters!

[Citizen X]

Jesus, that sucks. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your hardy people.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Wait I seem to remember Krispy Kreme coming back to MN and it being a 'big' deal?

[Certified Public Asshat]

Most are gone in MD, but a few gas station chains sell them.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It does. *checks wallet* Yes it does.

[RBS]

Particularly in August.

[John]

I bet so.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Me too, but I leave out the "if" part of it.

[C. Anacreon]

Our kindergarten teacher used to say that to us every morning, right after the pledge of allegiance.

[C. Anacreon]

I kept hearing Dunkin Donuts was coming to the Bay Area but I've yet to see them.
I'm eagerly waiting on those. Love them frosted with sprinkles or chopped nuts kinds!

[Playa Manhattan.]

If you're going to do it for me, I don't need to.

But I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my 2nd lunch. 1st one was a double double. No big deal. On my way home, I stopped at Whole Foods. They now have a Kogi (inventor of Korean tacos). So I was forced to get 2 tacos. 1 beef short, 1 spicy pork.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

In his digits.

[Bubba Jones]

I liked the recent South Park episode on quitting social media.

Obviously more kids should watch it.

[mad.casual]

I am slightly annoyed that the solutions of leaving all social media and changing phone numbers were not employed, however.

^This.^ Annoyed to the edge of being disrespectful for complaining to anyone who would listen, except the phone company, for a year.

[Playa Manhattan.]

For the longest time, they only had one here. On base at Camp Pendleton.

[SimonD]

Here in our area, we've had three or four variations of Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts, etc. come into the neighborhood, but none of them can compete with the local bakery (it's awesome). They all fail fairly quickly.

The new Dunkin Donuts may survive because of the coffee if they tried again.

[Krabappel]

If I lived in the bay area I'd be stuffing my face with Dynamo Donuts.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Back of her throat?

/oh, I'm sorry for that one, right there...

[Invisible Finger]

Oral

[GILMORE?]

What those school-trainers need is more training! Preferably with Federal Funding!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

If it can stop a nuke, it can stop a bullet.

[Juice]

15-year-old son at a Utah junior high school

I think I see the problem.

[Playa Manhattan.]

This was completely independent of one another. Same last name, one zip code away. It's happened for 3 years in a row.

[The Curse of Carl Island]

I checked, and the school in question teaches ninth grade -- so not unusual.