'Hashtag He's Your President' Says Conway, White House Wants Women to Register for Draft, Congress to Spend $1.5 Million Investigating Planned Parenthood: A.M. Links

• 

  CJ GUNTHER/EPA/Newscom

  A meeting between managers from the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns yesterday involved some substantive discussion but also a lot of shouting about whether Trump's campaign relied on appeals to racism. "Are you gonna look me in the face and say I ran a campaign that was a platform for white supremacists?" Trump campaign manager KellyAnne Conway asked. Yes, said Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary for America communications director. But Conway had the final word: "Hashtag-he's-your-president, how about that? We won."

• The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft.
• The Department of Justice has declared that the Americans With Disabilities Act requires all movie theaters to "provide closed movie captioning and audio description when showing a digital movie" in order "to provide effective communication to patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision."
• "I pray you find compassion for his life, as troubled as it clearly was." That's the sentiment, expressed by an Ohio State University professor about the student who carried out a knife attack on campus earlier this week, that has Ohio State students calling for her job.
• Congress is on track to spend $1.5 million investigating Planned Parenthood.
• The U.S. put at least 67,000 people in solitary confinement last year.
• France may ban "misleading" abortion websites.
• Proof that red wine is better than white wine.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Someone knows how to read a clock, I see.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Not really a first comment. Two days in a row!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sad!

[AlmightyJB]

YOU'RE FIRED! - El Presidente elect

[gaoxiaen]

We need a tequila study.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Tequila is my blackout sauce. Not joining that study.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Progs are like the losing team and their coach who leave the field yelling and shouting at the refs and everyone about how the games was fixed and unfair.

Horrible sore losers and winners. No pride.

[Citizen X]

Not classy. Sad!

[gaoxiaen]

The American people lost, no matter who won the election.

[Zero Sum Game]

It didn't have to be this way, but the duopoly race-to-the-bottom seems inevitable at this point.

Here's to hoping a bunch of states go the way of Maine and bring us ranked choice voting.

[Enough About Palin]

Ranked choice voting is bullshit. The current mayor of Minneapolis polled in third place on election day. What we got for mayor was everyone 2 - 15th choice. What bullshit. It's well known that she will not win re-election and very likely will not even seek a second term. One man ONE FUCKING vote.

[Zero Sum Game]

One man ONE FUCKING vote.

Repeating a mantra doesn't actually make it a universal truth, you know?

You neglect the simple fact that ranked choice voting would necessarily change the behavior of parties. Those positions that parties must take in order to pander to a minority bloc even though the rest of the country doesn't want them will be stripped of their ability to dominate the discussion.

The goal then becomes to choose the candidate that best appeals to everyone. It busts the duopoly's grip by stripping them of the power to whine about "spoiler" candidates ever again. If they want to win, they'll have to pick good candidates, not by relying on people to vote for the lesser of two evils. That represents a radical shift in how candidates are chosen. The ticket would not look like what it does now with ranked choice voting in place.

[Gadfly]

The goal then becomes to choose the candidate that best appeals to everyone.

So ranked-choice voting would produce even worse results than the current system. Most policy positions that are crafted to appeal to everyone are incoherent, unworkable, and unkillable (see low taxes + high spending).

Those positions that parties must take in order to pander to a minority bloc even though the rest of the country doesn't want them will be stripped of their ability to dominate the discussion.

Except, that in RCV pandering becomes even more important, since the third party voters are actually up for grabs now and generally hold the most extreme positions (note: extreme does not necessarily mean incorrect).

[Zero Sum Game]

So ranked-choice voting would produce even worse results than the current system.

But you follow up with a sentence about how it would produce equal results to what we already have?

Except, that in RCV pandering becomes even more important, since the third party voters are actually up for grabs now and generally hold the most extreme positions (note: extreme does not necessarily mean incorrect).

Not necessarily. The worst outcomes of RCV are all from having a full ticket of terrible candidates that nobody can agree on. Neonazis aren't suddenly going to get seats as a result. Commies aren't either. What is more likely to happen is that someone that nobody likes gets in - the shitty compromise candidate. I guess we can just see what happens in Maine.

It's not like we don't have all kinds of checks in place to help with that. Term limits, supermajority veto overrides, a supreme court, impeachment, etc. The boat can always be rocked, but it probably won't capsize. There's a reason we don't have a pure democracy. I think that the last few election proved that the duopoly no longer represent the voters. What do you propose in order to fix that?

[Zero Sum Game]

Also, the current President-elect of the United States was given a 4-6% chance of success by pollsters in the run-up to the election. Polling clearly doesn't have the predictive power you seem to think it does.

[Bubba Jones]

Sounds like you got everyone's second choice.

Would be funny if it happened again.

[ant1sthenes]

Ranked choice voting isn't great at capturing preferences either, and it's unnecessarily complicated. Just assume every voter gives a candidate 5 votes by default, and let them increase or decrease that by 5. (Ie, a 0-10 rating sytem). Add up all the votes and pick the candidate with the most, who will necessarily have the highest average approval rating.

They don't necessarily have to try to appeal to everyone, they just need to appeal to their own bloc while avoiding disgusting everyone else.

[Zero Sum Game]

What you are saying is entirely unclear to me because of how you said it. I can't tell if you think that ranked-choice voting is the equivalent of the Borda count or if you are proposing a Borda count instead of RCV.

[ant1sthenes]

No, something much simpler than either. A system where each voter can give or take away a limited number of points from each candidate, whoever gets the most points wins. On further thought, to reduce the skew in favor of unknowns, it should be possible to add more than to take away.

So, let each vote add up to 5 votes for each candidate, or remove up to 3. Add up all the votes. The person with the most wins.

[Bubba Jones]

I think in practice people vote10 for their guy and 0 for the other.

[Zero Sum Game]

You've described a Borda count.

[to the point]

Ahahahahaha so salty! Next time try ro be more industrious!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

264) I once read the Rolling Stones song Some Girls described as "Mick Jagger's nasty dating advice." That got me thinking what other rock songs could be construed as advice, and if any of it was actually good advice.

My kids like the song You Can't Always Get What You Want, and I often sing it to them when I have to turn them down for dessert, trips to the pet store, or whatever. This is possibly the most useful rock song for a parent ever.

Tom Petty's Refugee is pretty good life advice. Every college student who's ever been a "victim" of a microaggression should take this song to hear.

Bust a Move (I know it's a rap song) always seemed like good advice for teen-agers who don't know how to approach girls. Don't overthink it, just bust a move.

I'm not sure it's actually advice so much as general wisdom, but I've always liked All Things Must Pass. Kansas tried to do the same thing with Dust in the Wind several years later, but that song is trying too hard and just comes off as pretentious. All Things Must Pass makes the idea sound natural.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Soul music is full of good advice: You Can't Hurry Love, Try a Little Tenderness, Do Right Woman Do Right Man. Does anybody know the Jody Miller song Take Time to Know Him? A really beautiful soul song, and good words to live by for young lovers in the first flush of love.

Worst advice: Love the One You're With, Give It Away Now, Imagine

[Rufus The Monocled]

My fricken neighbour sang 'Hurts so good' to me as blood gushed down my head after being hit by an errand hockey stick when I was 12 or 13. He even used his hockey stick as a guitar. Hockey is for sickos.

[AceDroman]

Lol picturing a young toque-wearing Canuck wailing on his hockey stick

[Rufus The Monocled]

It was glorious. The French kids had no idea what he was singing to add to the goof's antics.

[BigW]

Oh that's right, you're from Canada, Hockey is mandatory there..... 😉

[NuckenFutz]

I'm saddened that there was no mention of Rush. Dare I say some Canadian bias.

They have so many to choose from but for this venue I would suggest the song Trees from the album Hemispheres

- "And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw"

[UnCivilServant]

Even then, the trees ar enot equal, you get different grades and quality of wood from different trees. Some are only fit to be mulched in the end.

[Zero Sum Game]

Seek equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. In song form.

[robc]

Kansas was relying on Eclesiastes.

Which I cant spell.

[Libertarian]

And from Matthew (which I can spell):

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass

[Brett L]

"Venus in Furs" by the Velvet Underground

[invisible furry hand]

Or another song on that album:

He's never early
He's always late
The first thing you learn is that you always gotta wait

[Brett L]

I almost used that one.

[Password: pode$ta]

More good advice: Andrew WK "Party Hard"
Really, really bad advice: Rage "How I Could Just Kill a Man"

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Good call--that was originally a Cypress Hill song.

[Chipwooder]

Hummin', comin' atcha

[bacon-magic]

and you know I had to gatcha.

[Password: pode$ta]

Didn't know that. Interesting!

[thrakkorzog]

Well how do you plan to become a Rock Superstar? It's a fun job, but it's still a job.

[EDG reppin LBC]

Misfits- Where Eagles Dare
Fear- I Don't Care About You
DOA- 2+2
Descendents- Pep Talk

[Michael]

+1 beef bologna

[Chipwooder]

+2 a double dose

[Chipwooder]

We park our cars in the same garage, my friend.

Nothing beats watching Lee Ving bait the crowd in The Decline of Western Civilization.

[Crusty Juggler]

Ew.

[Chipwooder]

I wish we could be more like you people, but we were born with problems.

[to the point]

While I am not any god damned sonofabitch, I'm not sure what the advice in that one is?

[Chipwooder]

You think they really care?

[EDG reppin LBC]

^^^ exactly.

[Elspeth Flashman]

You better think about it baby.

[Cyto]

You better think about it baby.

I wasn't a huge fan at the time, but I saw this over the weekend and it is just brilliant.

[AlmightyJB]

Hit me baby one more time?

[straffinrun]

*Slap*

[Rich]

Nice!

[some guy]

It's not advice, but the sooner a young person listens to and understands Time by Pink Floyd, the better off they'll be.

[gaoxiaen]

Dust in the Wind.

[straffinrun]

Damn, Bernie. Open a window when you do that.

[gaoxiaen]

Okay. Whole lotta love.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

On the letting go theme, I like Hem's The Part Where You Let Go

[Rasilio]

I've never been to me by Charlene certainly tries to be a good advice song with it's message of be happy where you are the grass isn't always greener on the other side but honestly comes off as smug moralizing of someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

Roll the Bones by Rush could be a good or bad advice song as it basically boils down to saying "metaphysical questions about what should be are irrelivant live your life and take a chance"

[This Machine]

Growing up I was a huge Rush fan, even though by that point they were on hiatus. I count the guitar solo in "Roll the Bones" as one of my favorites of all time; it taught young me that you don't need a 3+ minute epic solo to really make your axe come to life.

[Cyto]

What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound....

[SugarFree]

"I've found you can find happiness in slavery."

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Most of the music I've been listening too advises me to mount up my horse and ride for glorious conquest, but then again this past week I've been mainly just listening to Tengger Cavalry.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Oh, but then being a libertarian site, I should probably mention this song has some good advice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8_2bjJqbo

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"And you wanted someone to save you
But every day we go through voluntary exchanges
You say 'who'll build the roads without taxation?'
So you give 'em a reason to confiscate my payments.
And that's exactly what the State needs,
For you to think you need them but it's fake, see?
Maybe you see that they are what they swore to prevent
A monopolized corporation, it's called 'the Government'"

[bacon-magic]

Black Sabbath - War Pigs
Tool - Aenima
Rush - Passage to Bangkok
Slipknot - Wait and Bleed
Mudvayne - Dig
Fiona Apple - Shadowboxer
Highly Suspect - My name is Human

[Rufus The Monocled]

You have chick songs down to a science.

[bacon-magic]

Yes, I do like canadian bands. Poontang over poutine.

[Mike Laursen]

Cats in the Cradle - the most maudlin, heavy-handed cautionary tale song ever

[BigW]

God I hate that song..... I can't change the channel fast enough.

[Enough About Palin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY

[Darth Squirrel]

I'm partial to "I Hope You Dance" and "Happy Girl."

[Fist of Etiquette]

A meeting between managers from the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns yesterday involved some substantive discussion but also a lot of shouting about whether Trump's campaign relied on appeals to racism.

Save that for the twittersphere.

[Libertarian]

A post election meeting between campaign mangers -- is that a thing? I'm surprised. What would be the purpose?

[Endless Mike]

We know what Carville and Matalin were doing...

[juris imprudent]

Any bets that he refers to his junk as Needle?

[Endless Mike]

I was thinking more My Precious

[sesuncedu]

Apparently a long time thing. Usually tempers have calmed down, and scholars get some useful information about what the campaigns were thinking.

Which may have been the case this time too.

[BigW]

Apparently it was so Kellyanne could execute a truly epic beatdown of an absolute moron....

[Injun, as in from India]

France may ban "misleading" abortion websites.

If you can't convince them, shut their mouths up with duct tape.

[Mr Drew]

Hey, did I mention that Kmele gave me a shout out on The FIfth Column podcast??

I did? Well, expect to hear it again, peasants!

[UnCivilServant]

Who are you?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

A strange Mr. Pibb/Mt. Dew cross-over?

[Mr Drew]

That's pretty funny!

[to the point]

Seriously tho no one has any idea who you are.

[Citizen Nothing]

Except, reportedly, Kmele.

[Mr Drew]

The proof is in the podcast.

Well, jeez TTP, what do you need to know? Regular reader, semi-regular commenter. I just don't have the body count of the guys who apparently don't have jobs or children.

I have had a gaze narrowed at me, been tricked into clinking a link to SugarFree's blog, argued with Hihn (giggle), called Nikki the Worst, nominated jessie.in.mb for commenter of the year, and feasted at Heorot Hall. Do I get my membership card now?

[Citizen X]

Did Hihn tell you that your parents didn't raise you right? That's a badge of honor right there.

[Mr Drew]

He did accuse me of aggressing him and kept trying to get me to pass some kind of libertarian quiz, then luckily a good samaritan chimed in and said "don't argue with Hihn, he's just a dick".

I have lived by that creed ever since.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are you doing the fan art?

[Mr Drew]

jean valjean?

[Citizen X]

I don't believe you. Kmele is too busy making money to do shoutouts.

[bacon-magic]

^Tulpa

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Are you gonna look me in the face and say I ran a campaign that was a platform for white supremacists?"

"I can't, the eyeholes in your hood don't line up!"

[gaoxiaen]

+ 1 Dave Chappelle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFJAAMS8U5Y

[invisible furry hand]

According to Popbitch, New Hampshire is the only US state where Google searches for "Trump Policies" outnumbered searches for "Melania Trump nude" in the 30 days before the election.

[Swiss Servator]

Those oddballs!

[Libertarian]

They prefer the term "Free Staters"!

[Princess Trigger]

Fags!

[gaoxiaen]

I'll be in my bunk.

[Rich]

"We won."

"What goes around, comes around."

[Injun, as in from India]

But Conway had the final word: "Hashtag-he's-your-president, how about that? We won."

I remember Obama saying something like "I won."

Your turn to suck it up, Democrats.

[Cyto]

Yeah, but this "we won" is way, way different than Obama's "we won".

This is a couple of campaign wonks arguing over campaigning tactics and trying to lay blame on "dirty pool" for their loss. This is totally "back office" sniping.

Obama's "we won" was directly aimed at policy making. He directly told the Republicans in congress that they would not be consulted and their opinions and priorities were not going to be considered.

In short, he did everything that the DNC and the media have been trying to blame the Republicans in congress for over the last 6+ years.... and he did it loudly on day 3 of his administration.

I'm always amazed that the Democrats can claim with a straight face that the republicans have been "obstructionist" and refuse to work with Obama when the entire first 2 years of his administration was spent rubbing their noses in the fact that he was manifestly not going to work with them, and that he was perfectly willing to use them for fake photo-ops when he needed one (e.g. the "healthcare summit" at the White House).

[Libertarian]

+1,000,000,000,000

[Enough About Palin]

X 20

[to the point]

I want to have sex with your comment.

[SugarFree]

Slap it a few times and it will get harder.

[Darth Squirrel]

Hold its motherfucking comma.

[Citizen X]

Grab it by the predicate?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

My, what a dangling participle you have there.

[gaoxiaen]

The Republican's job was to be obstructionist. Now it's the Democrats' job.

[Cyto]

I think the Democrats thought the Republicans job was to lay back and think of England.

[Injun, as in from India]

When the Democrats do it, it's not obstructionism. It's patriotic dissent.

Btw, nice comment Cyto.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

But she got more votes!!

[thrakkorzog]

And the Giants could beat the Cowboys at basketball. But they're not playing basketball.

[BigW]

The response to that should be "say you know theres are rulebook somewhere that explains how you become President of the United States, maybe you should read it" (hands them a Constitution)...

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

What's hilarious is that this was the same problem for her in 2008 against Obama. She complained that she had gained more votes and Obama's victory was somehow cheating, because he focused on caucus states.

You're running for the presidency, lady. Maybe double-check the rules every now and then.

[Swiss Servator]

"Proof that red wine is better than white wine."

Port is red, duh!

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"A new study suggests white wine may be a melanoma risk factor."

The only way to be sure is to always drink at least one of each at one sitting.

[invisible furry hand]

Or just stick to scotchka

[Citizen X]

Is that some kind of Ozzie beverage?

[invisible furry hand]

A reference to the disgusting mix of Scotch and vodka in cult film The Room

[Chipwooder]

Oh HI invisible furry hand!

[invisible furry hand]

I'm Johnny's best friend

[Citizen X]

+1 awkward game of football

[Rufus The Monocled]

Or ignore whatever it is they say?

[Libertarian]

And starboard is green. What's your point?

[OneOut]

I see it.

[gaoxiaen]

Tequila or GTFO.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. put at least 67,000 people in solitary confinement last year.

I guess we're not that overcrowded in our prisons if we have that many singles available.

[straffinrun]

Ooh, I thought they meant in one cell.

[invisible furry hand]

http://undresstrump.com/

Does what it says on the tin

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Not clicking, and why would somebody invent such a thing?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Not even SugarFree's sick and twisted mind would've thought of making a website like that.

(Didn't click)

[Rich]

Clicked, and *slap!*

[invisible furry hand]

*slap!*

[straffinrun]

*Slap* (wife in view of screen, so no clicky)

[Rich]

She may very well find it amusing.

[straffinrun]

I was afraid I would.

[Cdr Lytton]

Bunch of commentators just got slaprolled apparently.

What the heck.. *slap*

[Princess Trigger]

So it's like that naked Obama on unicorn painting?

[Chipwooder]

maybe they mean Ivanka

[Playa Manhattan.]

I would have thought that he was circumcised.

[Injun, as in from India]

The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft.

How about no draft for anyone, dipsh1t?

[UnCivilServant]

That's crazy talk

/Barry

[straffinrun]

Can't we just use Vandals and Goths?

[UnCivilServant]

Their track record in the past few decades is not impressing us.

Besides, Foederati proved to be a security risk.

[straffinrun]

Ricimer or GTFO.

[Chipwooder]

Well, The Legend of Pat Brown is always welcome, but I don't care for goth music.

[Citizen X]

Bela Lugosi's dead.

[Holger da Dane]

Undead. Undead. Undead.

[Stoic]

I think saying that women should have to register is the ticket to getting the whole thing abolished. If I remember correctly, the last time this was being discussed, some Republican(s) proposed doing away with the Selective Service registration. There's no legal basis for exempting women at this point, and I suspect the political cost of abolishing it would be fairly low at this point.

[straffinrun]

I self-identify as a guy that doesn't get drafted.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

With this proposal, I'm starting to finally feel Old People Privilege.

Suck it up post-Millennials! I ain't gon' have to register for nuttin!

[Eternal Blue Sky]

I think expanding the draft to women is the same as "no draft for anyone".

Because that'll be the only thing to get people to actually care about ending the draft.

[invisible furry hand]

Behold the awesomeness of a baby wombat

[Lee Genes]

Wombats have cubic poops. This makes them the most practical pet.

[Michael]

"A passer-by stopped and pouch-checked his mum..."

Trump's hatred of women knows no bounds.

[Citizen X]

I love how "pouch-check" is apparently a verb in common use in Australia.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft.

But not actually drafting them, of course. They just like having registration databases.

[Injun, as in from India]

"I pray you find compassion for his life, as troubled as it clearly was." That's the sentiment, expressed by an Ohio State University professor about the student who carried out a knife attack on campus earlier this week, that has Ohio State students calling for her job.

The attacker would have wanted her head, not her job.

Stupid woman.

[Jerryskids]

Somebody should just send her a photoshop of the guy wearing a MAGA cap and that'd be the end of that compassion nonsense..

[thom]

No. Regardless of your politics, forgiveness and compassion are good things. Once you've provided for your own safety and general well being, forgiveness and compassion are totally the way to go. This lady may be an insufferable prog in real life, but on this specific issue she's right.

[Citizen Nothing]

Amen.

[BigW]

Yes, but as stated above, its very very likely she has deep wells of compassion for Islamic Terrorists, but would love more than anything to see all Trump voters die in a fire.

[Juice]

She sounds like one of those Christians I've heard about.

Anyway, he's dead and has no use for compassion.

[Rich]

Supporters say the bill would target sites that masquerade as neutral sources of information on abortion

What about sites that masquerade as neutral sources of information on working from home?

[UnCivilServant]

They'd end up having to shut down the French Welfare office website.

[Rich]

Nasal LOL

[Citizen X]

+1 immediate return to a natural state of ennui

[Crusty Juggler]

Palmieri proceeded to bash the Trump campaign and its chief executive (and Breitbart News honcho) Stephen K. Bannon as a vehicle and emboldening power for America's "white supremacists and white nationalists."

"Are you gonna look me in the face and say I ran a campaign that was a platform for white supremacists?" Conway angrily responded.

Palmieri told her, plainly, yes.

"Are you kidding me?" Conway asked incredulously.

"You guys are punching down, this is unbelievable," David Bossie, Trump's deputy campaign manager, exclaimed.

Hillary for America spokeswoman Karen Finney backed up her former colleague, stating that "part of what Donald Trump did in this campaign was to mainstream the alt-right."

Conway subsequently told the rival team, "You guys are bitter. We are being very gracious. You're bitter."

"You're not being nice," Conway told Clinton campaign chief strategist Joel Benenson, after his own censure of the alt-right.

Much of the audience was unimpressed with what was seen as childish behavior fueled by still fresh memories and wounds from a vicious campaign.

Others were more amused.

"This is gonna be good stuff for the history books!" one audience member said.

"It's like a goddamn foodfight," another observed with a smirk.

"Hashtag-he's-your-president, how about that?" Conway told the frustrated and defeated Clinton crew. "We won."

[I can't even]

Palmieri sounds like exactly the kind of bitch would expect Clinton's communications director to be,
Should have asked her for specific examples and quotes and called her a lying cunt when she failed.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Their faux-self righteous arrogance is astonishing and troubling.

GO HOME already.

[Holger da Dane]

I think "propaganda czar" has more gravitas than "communications director".

[straffinrun]

What kind of soulless person wouldn't be amused?

[Citizen X]

I care not for Trump, and his advisory picks indicate that he is well on his way to living down to my lowest expectations... but goddamn if "frustrated and defeated Clinton crew" isn't one of the more beautiful phrases in the English language.

[Swiss Servator]

I am learning to segregate my joy at the Clinton defeat and my trepidation due to the Trump win.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It gets better.

"You did, Kellyanne. You did," interjected Palmieri, who choked up at various points of the session.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

They worked SO HARD.

IT WAS IN THE BAG!

[BigW]

Yeah too bad too many of those racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic voters didn't listen to their screeching demands that they vote for HER....

Pro-tip for Democrats for next time. Don't call people deplorable, irredeemable filth and expect to get their votes.....

IMHO Hillary lost the election the day the deplorables comment came out.....

[Libertarian]

Palmieri proceeded to bash the Trump campaign and its chief executive (and Breitbart News honcho) Stephen K. Bannon as a vehicle and emboldening power for America's "white supremacists and white nationalists."

Both of them?

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I raised an eyebrow at the Trump guy saying "punching down," but all was right again when Conway put out the "not nice!" complaint.

[Mickey Rat]

This is rich coming from Democrats, as Obama and Clintin made very specific appeals to their desirability based on race for the fotmer and sex for the latter.

[invisible furry hand]

J.G. Ballard's old home is up for sale. Have a sticky beak at the room where he wrote life-affirming lines such as "Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months."

[SugarFree]

After his last attempt to kill my wife Catherine, I knew that Vaughan had retired finally into his own skull. In this overlit realm ruled by violence and technology he was now driving for ever at a hundred miles an hour along an empty motorway, past deserted filling stations on the edges of wide fields, waiting for a single oncoming car. In his mind Vaughan saw the whole world dying in a simultaneous automobile disaster, millions of vehicles hurled together in a terminal congress of spurting loins and engine coolant.I remember my first minor collision in a deserted hotel car-park. Disturbed by a police patrol, we had forced ourselves through a hurried sex-act. Reversing out of the park, I struck an unmarked tree. Catherine vomited over my seat. This pool of vomit with its clots of blood like liquid rubies, as viscous and discreet as everything produced by Catherine, still contains for me the essence of the erotic delirium of the car-crash, more exciting than her own rectal and vaginal mucus, as refined as the excrement of a fairy queen, or the minuscule globes of liquid that formed beside the bubbles of her contact lenses. In this magic pool, lifting from her throat like a rare discharge of fluid from the mouth of a remote and mysterious shrine, I saw my own reflection, a mirror of blood, semen and vomit, distilled from a mouth whose contours only a few minutes before had drawn steadily against my penis.

-Crash, J. G. Ballard

[Roger the Shrubber]

You are but a lowly apprentice, SF.

[Juice]

Damn. That kitchen sucks ass.

[Lee Genes]

Word of the Day: Goyfriend

If you're a queer person who doesn't feel the need to go into details at the moment or a straight person acting in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, using gender-neutral terms of affection can work in your favor.

If you happen to be bisexual, pansexual, or fluid, but currently in a relationship that appears to be heterosexual, a gender-neutral term can prevent people from asking fun questions like, "Wait, weren't you gay before?"

If you or your partner identify as genderqueer, trans, genderfluid, or otherwise non-binary, taking gender out of the equation can make understanding easier for people less in-the-know.

If I'm not mistaken, "goyfriend" is a mash-up of the words "girlfriend" and "boyfriend."

[Rich]

If I'm not mistaken, "goyfriend" is a mash-up of the words "girlfriend" and "boyfriend."

If I'm not mistaken, "goyfriend" is an anti-Semitic slur.

[Brett L]

Its the male version of shishka.

[Rich]

Shameless!

[thrakkorzog]

Who doesn't appreciate some shishkapeal?

[Chipwooder]

Elaine, shiksappeal is a myth

[Holger da Dane]

What's not a myth, is shiksabob. A trans non-jewish male, named "Bob".

[Zeb]

I would have thought it was anti-Goyim.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"who doesn't feel the need to go into details at the moment"

A) Made up words create more questions than they answer

B) But "if you or your partner identify as genderqueer, trans, genderfluid, or otherwise non-binary" I'm guessing avoiding attention is not your goal anyway, no matter how much you may protest otherwise.

[straffinrun]

My mechanic identifies as tranny-fluid.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Rasilio]

and when he's under too much pressure he feels the need to shift?

[Free Society]

I consider myself non-non-binary because I don't do labels, brah.

[Injun, as in from India]

"I pray you find compassion for his life, as troubled as it clearly was." That's the sentiment, expressed by an Ohio State University professor about the student who carried out a knife attack on campus earlier this week, that has Ohio State students calling for her job.

He got his compassion in the form of a bullet to the head.

Seriously, WTF is wrong with leftists?

[Injun, as in from India]

"Think of the pain he must have been in to feel that his actions were the only solution."

Shut up, Dhimmi b****.

[Raven Nation]

Well, they're compassionate to certain groups. Imagine if she'd said this about Dylan Roof.

[Free Society]

Exactly.

[I can't even]

So hate the Islam, not the Muslim? Although the only way to separate the two is with a bullet?

[Free Society]

A Muslim is good insofar as he is un-Islamic.

[Mickey Rat]

May God have mercy upon his soul, because, thank goodness, the police did not have mercy upon his body.

[Tonio]

Lads (and Ladies), I need some advice: Tho NIMBYs in my neighborhood are all up in arms about someone wanting to put in a self-store unit on a property already zoned commercial. Should I make the effort to go to the zoning board meeting to speak in favor of this, or just trust that the project will prevail? I'm concerned about blowback from the NIMBYs - they are a vicious, vicious bunch.

The property is on an otherwise-residential stretch of a secondary thoroughfare and also borders a railroad track. The property formerly housed a rescue squad station - the VRS having consolidated their operations to another site further away.

[UnCivilServant]

Attend, but quietly observe the most vocal NIMBYs, then even more quietly off them in the followign weeks.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Make sure to wear a cape.

[robc]

Tell them to suck it up and buy the property if they dont want a self-storage business on it.

[Lee Genes]

This

[Mr Drew]

I'm told by a lobbyist that while nothing is equal to going to the meeting and speaking up, a noon-fill in the blank, dead-tree letter is a close second.

I completely understand your reluctance to face the lib-lash

[BigW]

Yeah, destroying peoples lives for not getting with the progressive program is their thing.

[Injun, as in from India]

I would say speak up, Tonio.

I once attended a local council meeting for something and witnessed a lawyer representing restaurants lobbying the council to move a food truck started by a couple of 18-20 year olds. The kids were sitting there quietly taking it.

To this day, I regret not speaking up on behalf of the kids.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

If the project can be developed under existing law without any exemptions, I doubt the NIMBYs can do much to derail it. It would be a nice gesture for the business if you attended, but I don't think it would make any difference.

Also, what is their objection? I wouldn't think self-storage unit would generate much traffic, nor overburden local schools, nor by too tall, or any of the things people are normally against.

[UnCivilServant]

yeah, the thing about self-storage is that people store things there they don't need to visit very often.

[Certified Public Asshat]

I am amazed at how many have popped up around where I live. When I accumulate too much shit, I get rid of it, not spend more money trying to store all of it.

[UnCivilServant]

I know two people with storage units. The first, their mother moved to a much smaller home and the excess stuff was put in storage while being sorted and dealt with. The other, had to move in with a relative because they lost their previous housing.

I debate getting one so I don't have to keep moving boxes around while I set up proper shelving and whatnot to get my own stuff sorted through.

[Password: pode$ta]

Yeah. I think a lot of people are still reeling from the housing crash and have downsized/moved into apartments.

Seeing my rent go through the roof in the last few years, I think that trend may reverse itself. I think anyone getting into the public storage game now is a little late.

[Certified Public Asshat]

I am not amazed people need them, just at how many have been built. We've reached peak storage units, right?

[Citizen X]

"Fine, then i'll buy the property and turn it into a nightclub."

[Zombie Jimbo]

Gun store/ firing range

[Citizen Nothing]

Pro tip: Always propose a rendering plant first. Then compromise at what you really wanted to build in the first place.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Call them homophobes when they try to shout down your reasonable explanations of support.

[bacon-magic]

Buy a 55 gallon drum of lube and a giant dildo collection and tell the NIMBYs that you need to store this or set it up in your front yard.

[invisible furry hand]

Former government staffer faked job offer email to trick his boss into resigning so he could steal her role

more

[Cdr Lytton]

They should hire him back, then fire him for being a dumbass.

[Chip Woodier]

There's a moral here about using anonymous non-logging VPNs to send emails like this.

[Pope Jimbo]

A friend of mine and I have talked for years about starting a business based on this concept.

Step 1: Rent office space, create web site, make it look like some company
Step 2: Go around to the HR depts of local companies. Tell them for $5K you will make an offer to their problem employees.
Step 3: Send out email to bad employee. Recruit them and make offer.
Step 4: Employee resigns to accept offer which will start 4 weeks from now.
Step 5: Close shop the day before everyone shows up to start their "new job"
Step 6 (optional): Take video of dumbass employees showing up at closed shop and wondering what happened. This video can be bought by the HR dept for an extra $5K

[Fist of Etiquette]

...requires all movie theaters to "provide closed movie captioning and audio description when showing a digital movie" in order "to provide effective communication to patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision."

Digital movies? Like, movies about fingers?

[UnCivilServant]

Or movies about numbers.

[pogi chips for liberty]

It's 0's and 1's all the way down.

[EDG reppin LBC]

So basically The Matrix.

[Robert]

"Pi", "The Number 23"; maybe "10", although that's stretching it.

I remember my perplexity trying to input "Pi" into Moviefone. No Greek on my phone keypad; no 3 letters in the movie name. It'd closed by then anyway.

[Robert]

I don't remember if I tried pressing "314".

[Just a thought not a sermon]

-1 Tom Green

[Citizen X]

DADDY WOULD YOU LIKE SOME SAUSAGE

[Mookman]

God is that a bad movie. Yet, for whatever reason, every so often I'll randomly think of a scene from that movie and just crack up at the sheer stupidity of it. I've seen countless better movies but not all of them have lingered in my ind, for whatever that's worth.

[Citizen X]

The part with the sausage is the only thing i remember about it. Half the time i don't even remember that Tom Green exists.

[Raven Nation]

I assume there's no technological marvel that would allow only deaf people to see closed captioning?

[Libertarian]

I find myself reading the words even though there's no reason to. It's extremely annoying to me that I do that.

[Mr Drew]

The playhouse here has a cool system where the deaf put on glasses that can see behind them if they look to the side and they project the text on the back wall (backwards, of course) of the venue.

They get captions and the normies aren't bothered.

[Mr Drew]

ugh, refresh, see better explanation below.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

It exists. There's a difference between open and closed captions. Open captions are projected on the screen for everyone to see, and I believe theaters will have special screenings that do this. Closed captions are often shown using the Rear Window Captioning system.

Audio description is transmitted to wireless headsets.

So, y'know, not cheap.

[Nihil]

Considering my mother is rapidly losing her vision to macular degeneration, I would like her to be able to enjoy going to a movie. She was crying the first time I was able to play something on Netflix with an audio description. Hopefully theaters can work something out where enhanced showings are on certain days times rather than every time the film plays. It would be nice if they could accommodate everyone, but I know with the Feds it will be an all or nothing clusterfuck where everyone loses.

[R C Dean]

where enhanced showings are on certain days times rather than every time the film plays.

Would never fly. You might as well say the movies will allow blacks to attend on certain days and times.

[Griffin3]

Just what the already fading movie theater industry needs. Next they will mandate English PLUS Spanish PLUS (insert local ethnicity here) subtitles ... at the same time.

Home theater projectors, and massive subwoofers, for the win!

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Yep, this looks like another way for the ADA to demolish small businesses. It's good for my business, because we've started adding closed captions to movies, but struggling movie theaters are not going to be able to afford the equipment and systems to play back captions and audio description.

[R C Dean]

I doubt its going to be good for your business when people who don't like the distraction of closed captions stop buying tickets to see movies in theaters.

[Robert]

Not a distraction because they're closed captions, although the rule allows open captioning as an alternative way to comply. The captioning will presumably be on small devices that the patrons who desire them will have directly in front of them?which will necessitate bifocals for many.

[Gadfly]

Are the closed captions visible to everyone, or do you distribute devices to make it visible only to those that need it? I find closed captioning distracting, so I wouldn't patronize any cinema that made it mandatory (even if forced to be the gov't). I imagine I'm not the only one.

[Robert]

The latter. Presumably they'd be installed at 2% (or more) of the seats, as required by rule. Same w headphones for the audio descriptions, almost like the outdoor movie experience.

[Robert]

Just what the already fading movie theater industry needs.

That was my thought, too: a burden on a declining industry, part of whose decline is attributable to the fact that home viewing is better suited to people with vision or hearing impairments, which the rule is supposed to address.

The proceedings note the socializing fx of moviegoing. Well, yeah, but the point is that nowadays that's nearly its only fx.

[R C Dean]

Fuck that. I don't want to be distracted by captions garbaging up the screen when I watch a movie., and I damn sure don't want to have to listen around some dumbass telling me what I can see perfectly well. You'd be hard pressed to come up with a better way to ruin movies.

[Crusty Juggler]

We should be more like Europe: Guggenheim Helsinki Museum Plans Are Rejected

Plans to build a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki were defeated on Wednesday night, when lawmakers in the Finnish city voted down a proposal to pay for the $138 million museum with a mixture of private and public money.

!!!!!!!

[Juice]

Looks like they're Taxed Enough Already.

[EDG reppin LBC]

I like that at the end of the red wine article, everybody agrees that the study doesn't really tell us anything about wine, cancer, or... anything really. But the reporter did talk to a guy with multiple melanomas. Good journalism right there.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Same recipe they use for Castro except they interview one Castro supporter (a brainwashed citizen who knew nothing else to cast doubt on the fact he was a murderous thug no doubt) and then claim his legacy was controversial.

I noticed this pattern and technique in most, if not all, North American presses I've observed.

Not one ever said, for example, 'he personally executed farmers'.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Congress is on track to spend $1.5 million investigating Planned Parenthood.

When they could have just handed that money to the organization, no questions asked, like most things they do with tax dollars.

[Lord Humungus]

Wall Balls: 3D Scanned Scrotum In Shiny Fiberglass

Over the past 2 years I held 3 genital beauty contests that rocked the Internet - the Vagina Contest, the Balls Contest, and Anus Contest. This campaign will help bring to life a piece of home decor created from the 3d-scanned scrotum of the Balls Contest's third place winner. The third most attractive scrotum in the world, with your help, will become commercially available to turn any boring wall into an awesome wall. The medium we have chosen for this project is electroplated fiberglass.

[Rich]

Not clicking; but The third most attractive scrotum in the world is a nice band name.

[EDG reppin LBC]

No.
The Third Most

or

Attractive Scrotum

[Rich]

I agree.

[Injun, as in from India]

What if Trump puts that artwork in the Oval Office, just to rub it into the faces of Hillary supporters?

[straffinrun]

Or at the base of the Washington monument.

[Citizen X]

Then he could rename it the William Jefferson Clinton Monument.

[straffinrun]

Let's hope Bill gets on Mt. Rushmore someday. Teddy could hold his cigar.

[Cyto]

available to turn any boring wall into an awesome wall

Oh, so that's what they mean by "balls to the wall"....

[commodious got a stew going]

Those are balls.

[Juice]

The anus is not a genital.

[Lord Humungus]

It is in Wartyville.

[Holger da Dane]

Please stop straightsplaining, Juice.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Ok, so one time I got really drunk at a outdoor concert (It's called Picnic Pops, and I was invited because the newspaper I worked for at the time did a lot of advertising for the symphony.) Went with my then-boyfriend now-husband and this couple we were very pals-y with at the time. Lots of free drinks, and food at this deal. But I mostly ignored the food and focused on the drink (mostly beer and wine). And later in the evening, my friend and I decide we have to take a leak in the worst way, so we decide to use the woods. On the way to take that leak, I spied a co-workers car. And on that coworkers car there was a lot of dust. I proceeded, as a practical to put a "boob print" from my bare breasts into the dust on his windshield. There were other events in the evening that I don't have a clear memory of, but I do remember that. And when I saw him at work on Monday, he didn't say a thing about it. Hmmm.

Fun night though, and this article made me thing of it.

[Citizen X]

Maybe he was in the car at the time.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Never thought about that.

[AlmightyJB]

White wine makes you black?

[Crusty Juggler]

Poor, white genocide's biggest supporter strikes again: The Economic Stupidity of the Carrier Bailout

But in the matter of industry-specific or firm-specific tax benefits of the sort extended to Carrier in Indiana, they do not have a leg to stand on. These are straight-up corporate welfare, ethically and fiscally indistinguishable from shipping containers full of $100 bills.

[Crusty Juggler]

The ethical question is more complicated than the pop-cons let on, too. Our government runs deficits, which means that a federal tax credit of $1 million given to Smith is $1 million in taxes that eventually will have to be paid ? by Jones, and Wilson, and Humperdink ? with interest. Carrier is a division of United Technologies (the Otis elevator and Pratt & Whitney engines people), which is first and foremost a government contractor, a firm that derives at least a quarter of its revenue from government contracts, and 10 percent of it from Pentagon contracts alone. It is a company that has competitors ? competitors who employ Americans and pay taxes, just as Carrier does. These firms and their employees are put at an economic disadvantage by the subsidies paid to Carrier thanks to Trump and Pence. That means that some of these companies probably will be less profitable, and that they will not hire people they otherwise would have hired. But you'll see no Trump press conference celebrating that. This is a case of Fr?d?ric Bastiat's problem of the seen vs. the unseen. The benefits are easy to see, all those sympathetic workers in Indiana. The costs are born by sympathetic workers, too, around the country, and by their families and by their neighbors. But those are widely dispersed, so they are harder to see and do not hit with the same dramatic impact

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

How would moving these jobs to mexico where there are lower costs now be a detriment to competitors who hire Americans due to staying put? If anything what they were going to do originally if you just look at it in terms of the american worker would be a detriment

While i am against corporate welfare...isnt this only 7 million? Raises will eat that up in no time not to mention their higher costs for staying.

If one wants to make a case that giving special deals that undercuts competitors to companies is wrong then fine i agree with that.

But this whining regarding Carrier who actually appears to be the loser here (and those who pay higher prices) is baffling.

Going to mexico would have been better for their bottom line than staying put with some tax incentives.

[LynchPin1477]

if you just look at it in terms of the american worker would be a detriment

But that would be the wrong way to look at it.

Re-reading what you said I'm not sure you'd argue otherwise. Still, worth pointing out.

More broadly, Carrier wouldn't have agreed to this unless they felt they were getting something out of it. That something could have been getting Trump and the public off their backs.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

I agree that is the wrong way to look at it. But the article was arguing this deal hurts the american worker at competitors....no it doesn't hurt the american worker, but rather workers outside US and consumers. Moving out of the country does not really help american workers if that is what you just focus on.

Or their billions of dollars of contracts with United Tech. the math doesn't add up for Carrier to come out ahead at least

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

I guess what i am getting at and i didnt phrase it well.

The article seems to me to be saying.... that by staying they are hurting other american workers at competitors..... which implies if they went to mexico without tax goodies who has lower costs that this would be more beneficial to american workers at competitors than staying. to me that doesn't make sense at all.

[Overt]

Not for companies that contract to the Pentagon. By and large they are using american citizens. Those companies may not have a manufacturing arm with which to extort subsidies.

The most troubling part of this is the 3-yr-old rule. Reward only the behavior you want your kid to repeat. Essentially this just encourages more companies to threaten moving off-shore so that they can get a subsidy.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

See i agree with this. I just thought the article reasoning wasn't very good trying to make it about hurting american workers by staying

it hurts foreign workers and consumers

i dont care if the government now has less revenue

[UnCivilServant]

The government would have less revenue either way (tax break or company up and leaves). So even if someone cared, it's a non-issue.

[Crusty Juggler]

Essentially this just encourages more companies to threaten moving off-shore so that they can get a subsidy.

If only there was an Iron Law...

[UnCivilServant]

...It still wouldn't revive the steel industry.

[Tyler.C]

Its nice to see people worry about deficits again.

[Cyto]

Scott Adams has an interesting take on the Carrier and Ford deals.

Last summer when he was saying that Trump was going to win, I thought he was mildly deranged. But he's been calling it right so far.

On the two announcements about the plants staying, his analysis is that this is the "new CEO" move, where you find something that you can do really quick and easy to show that you are making changes for the better. So all of the criticism about "this isn't really going to change the economy" is completely missing the point.

I think he's right. This is going to resonate throughout the rust belt. People are going to see that he really is fighting to keep Americans working - P.R. move or not.

Maybe I was wrong about Trump being a giant doofus. Maybe that's all just part of an act, kind of like when Obama puts on his Indiana drawl to relate to the common man, or puts on his "urban slang" voice to speak to a black audience. Maybe Trump's blustering, narcissistic buffoon is just a smoke screen to get people to underestimate him. If it is it really works well. Because I sure don't have a very high opinion of him...

[Rufus The Monocled]

He's going to MAGA Reagan style - by making American believe in themselves again.

[Lord Humungus]

I saw this 2005 Youtube video of Trump giving congressional testimony on the UN Building redo -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx651fvHMPo

I was actually impressed - at least when he's discussing his field, he comes off a non-bufoon. It's just outside that realm when he gets into New-Yawk mode.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Personally i think it is an act. He is an organ grinder and the monkeys are dancing.

Unlike Obama, trump comes in with very very low expectations or expectations of being a dictator. If he does even mediocre he will be viewed as a success.

[Volren]

I've never been on the boat that thinks he's just an idiot - even if you denigrate real estate as one of the most crony-ish industries around, he's been successful enough at that and some of the other stuff he's done privately to not just be written off like that no matter how idiotic he occasionally sounds.

I don't fall in the camp that everything he does is some sort of extremely well-considered 4D chess move either like some of his heavier supporters, but on balance he's probably done quite a bit more right than wrong over his lifetime.

Trying to figure out what part of his usual bluster is just knee-jerk crap and what is him trying to be canny is tough though. I understand why some people just dismiss all of it as noise.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Our government runs deficits, which means that a federal tax credit of $1 million given to Smith is $1 million in taxes that eventually will have to be paid ? by Jones, and Wilson, and Humperdink ? with interest

Fuckin' LOL--Trump's got these neocons so discombobulated that they're making left-wing arguments about tax credits. And who the fuck really thinks that United Technologies' defense offices (as if that shit isn't crony capitalist itself) are going to be hurt by Carrier keeping 1,000 jobs in the US? The only way they get hurt is if Congress decides to suddenly stop funding procurement boondoggles.

That article is a word-salad of butthurt make-believe.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

yea. why do tax cuts have to be paid for? just cut spending

[Lee Genes]

Pop-cons? That's new.

[Crusty Juggler]

On the one hand it's dismissive, on the other hand it's more inclusive than saying "Sean Hannity viewer."

[Lord Humungus]

Warning: British women wearing electric tape over their nipples. Semi-NSFW

Women in London protested for Free the Nipple on Sunday

Last weekend, women from across the city met up at The Barbican to protest for Free The Nipple in London.

The women met up, ditched their bras and put black tape over their nipples to be photographed in the streets.

The campaign was set up by Ele Frankpitt and Macdara Duncan. Ele told Babe: "We wanted it to promote gender equality throughout the city. Phira London, our unisex brand, intends to raise awareness of inequality through social media and campaigns. We believe we are all equals, we would like to encourage equality for both men and women.

[Injun, as in from India]

We wanted it to promote gender equality...

Uh-huh.

(ogles pictures of women)

[Lord Humungus]

I'm not sure how they rounded up the only ten decent looking women in the UK.

Which begs the question: why are there so many hot Aussie women but so few British? Or were the criminals sent to Australia just lucky.

[Password: pode$ta]

Criminals are alpha and have more game.
/Roosh

[Zeb]

I see nothing wrong there.

They do seem to sort of miss the point of their own protest, though.

[thrakkorzog]

Was this posted on page three?

[Injun, as in from India]

Page 3 is dead. Playboy is dead.

Internet porn killed them.

[LynchPin1477]

I was expecting aging hippies but was pleasantly surprised.

[Enough About Palin]

So after the prorest do they pull the tape off slowly or just rip it off?

[Lord Humungus]

Beaver walks into Md. store, finds only artificial Christmas trees, and proceeds to trash it

In St. Mary's County, Md., at least one badly behaved beaver is ready for holiday shopping.

The beaver was apprehended at a dollar store in Charlotte Hall, Md., the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office said in a statement, apparently after browsing the selection of artificial Christmas trees and trashing the place.

[invisible furry hand]

Girl power!

[straffinrun]

I've never seen beaver in a dollar store.

[Cyto]

Well, if you really want to see it, you could just google it. But I don't think you should do so at work.

[Cdr Lytton]

The deputy tickled its chin and gave it a pinch and the bastard tried to bite him.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I hope they were able to extract some raspberry flavor from her.

[Citizen X]

+1 B?verhojt

[Lord Humungus]

Germany Submits to Sharia Law
"A parallel justice system has established itself in Germany"

A German court has ruled that seven Islamists who formed a vigilante patrol to enforce Sharia law on the streets of Wuppertal did not break German law and were simply exercising their right to free speech. The "politically correct" decision, which may be appealed, effectively authorizes the Sharia Police to continue enforcing Islamic law in Wuppertal.

The self-appointed "Sharia Police" distributed leaflets which established a "Sharia-controlled zone" in Wuppertal. The men urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to attend mosques and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, music, pornography and prostitution.

Critics say the cases ? especially those in which German law has taken a back seat to Sharia law ? reflect a dangerous encroachment of Islamic law into the German legal system.

[LynchPin1477]

Were they actually trying to enforce Sharia or just handing out pamphlets?

[robc]

Does sound like free speech. As long as all they do is distribute leaflets and urge passerbys what is the problem?

[Lee Genes]

That was my thought as well. At the point where they cross into any use of force, it becomes something else.

[Chipwooder]

I can't say I'd have a lot of faith in the kind of Muslims who declare "Sharia-controlled Zones" eschewing violence for very long.

[Rasilio]

Me neither but you can't arrest them for precrime so until their actions cross over into at the very least credible threats of violence you need to tolerate it.

[R C Dean]

Did their pitch include the phrase "or else"?

Would a reasonable person being braced by seven men on the street telling them "This is what Allah requires" be out of line to feel there was an "or else" in their anyway?

[AlmightyJB]

"A parallel justice system has established itself in Germany"

Libertarian moment!

[AlmightyJB]

"alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, music, pornography and prostitution"

My life. +masterbation, gluttony, lust, atheism, etc

[straffinrun]

I want to sing your version of "If you're happy and you know it..."

[Citizen X]

"If you're happy and you know it, grab your D!"

[Zeb]

Huh. There's a right to free speech in Germany?

As others note, if they aren't using force or making threats to enforce Sharia, it is properly considered free speech.

I won't be too surprised if they try to take it further and test if they can get away with imposing punishments or judgements on people and back it up with force. Until then, there's not much to be done if you respect free speech.

[Lord Humungus]

Free speech - minus the whole Nazi thing

[Zeb]

And publishing certain things on the internet and "hate speech".

[Libertarian]

And making fun of foreign leaders.

[I can't even]

I'm sure they would be just as lenient if the Soldiers of Odin stated patrolling the same streets.

[paranoid android]

People who are concerned about the potential threat to democratic institutions posed by radical Islam and the refugee crisis would be well served to not shoot their own credibility in the foot by becoming apoplectic over non-stories like this. Such people claim to want to protect Western liberal values...and then become upset when the government doesn't slam its boot on the neck of some people exercising their freedom of speech? Do they not see how this might lead some to write them off as frivolous scaremongers?

[I can't even]

So, you're okay with the Islamic religious police patrolling your street?

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

America seems to survive Hasidic Jews doing the same thing.

[Free Society]

A German court has ruled that seven Islamists who formed a vigilante patrol to enforce Sharia law on the streets of Wuppertal did not break German law and were simply exercising their right to free speech.

I've been told that these sharia patrols are a myth, just like the no-go zones that my own lying eyes have personally seen.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

You know. I'm gonna say it. German Migrant Sharia Police is preferable to much of the US's Actual Police. Getting a pamphlet for breaking an imaginary law or getting imprisoned for breaking an imaginary law. No contest there. Huzzah for Shariacops!!

[LynchPin1477]

provide closed movie captioning and audio description when showing a digital movie

On the main screen? That would be distracting.

[AlmightyJB]

I think my next job will be to provide that service for porn movies. Be fun for a while but would probably get repetitive. Of course still get to watch porn all day.

[Rich]

The FBI says a New York City-bound Hawaiian Airlines flight returned to Honolulu after a drunken passenger threatened to kill his girlfriend, her children, passengers and crew members.

And in a bizarre coincidence, the passenger's name is William Munny.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But then it was rumored he moved to San Francisco, where he prospered in dry goods.

[Libertarian]

I have found yet another reason to be glad that Trump beat Hillary: it is going to be fun, fun, fun to watch Krugman hyperventilate for the next four years. He's already saying that the "desperately needed" infrastructure spending that he's been advocating for years won't count if it's done by a Trump administration. Here's a bit of hyperbole from his blog at http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

"Every news organization that decided, for the sake of ratings, to ignore policy and barely cover Trump scandals while obsessing over Clinton emails, every reporter who, for whatever reason ? often sheer pettiness ? played up Wikileaks nonsense and talked about how various Clinton stuff "raised questions" and "cast shadows" is complicit in this disaster. And then there's the FBI: it's quite reasonable to argue that James Comey, whether it was careerism, cowardice, or something worse, tipped the scales and may have doomed the world.

No, I'm not giving up hope. Maybe, just maybe, the sheer awfulness of what's happening will sink in. Maybe the backlash will be big enough to constrain Trump from destroying democracy in the next few months, and/or sweep his gang from power in the next few years. But if that's going to happen, enough people will have to be true patriots, which means taking a stand.

And anyone who doesn't ? who plays along and plays it safe ? is betraying America, and mankind.

[Injun, as in from India]

Trump winning the election has a probably cut the life expectancy of a lot of people by a few years.

Clinton's loss is like the death of a loved one for cultists.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Krugman has gone full tilt. he reminds me of my 10 year old self who idolized a few sports stars.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"Every news organization that decided, for the sake of ratings, to ignore policy and barely cover Trump scandals while obsessing over Clinton emails"

I wish he would cite examples so I know where to find such outlets.

[Lord Humungus]

So much this... all those Podesta emails and the server stuff was barely covered compared to Pussy-gate.

[Cyto]

Wait, you are saying that the people who were colluding with Podesta and his staff didn't cover the fact that they were colluding with Podesta and his staff?

Shocking! I'm stunned!

[Chipwooder]

They covered the emails so they didn't have to cover the foundation influence-peddling racket

[Password: pode$ta]

Whatever, man.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Lol yea...probably Breitbart only

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

"True patriots"

[Lord Humungus]

Stop Calling People 'Low Information Voters'

Other descriptions of Trump voters have been less polite. In Haaertz Chemi Salev writes:

But there is one overarching factor that everyone knows contributed most of all to the Trump sensation. There is one sine qua non without which none of this would have been possible. There is one standalone reason that, like a big dodo in the room, no one dares mention, ironically, because of political correctness. You know what I'm talking about: Stupidity. Dumbness. Idiocy. Whatever you want to call it: Dufusness Supreme.

These words ? for anyone who voted for Clinton or Remain ? are like a caramel sundae for the brain. They reassure people that their prejudices are not only correct, they are smart. And that those who don't share their interests, their voting preferences, or their values, are not just different in the way that apples and oranges are different, they are inferior.

In the world according to the misanthrope, the masses need to be saved from themselves. This role is fulfilled by the 'superior voters' or those who are high in information

[Password: pode$ta]

Isn't "Low Information Voter" usually a Limbaugh thing?

[Cyto]

Yes. It is an "everyone else" thing. It is a Jon Stewart thing, a Rachel Maddow thing.... they all like to believe they are intellectually superior and ordained by God or Nature or Science or Gaia to be the holy priests of all that is good and holy and correct.

This is why they are all statists.

And this is why Libertarians just don't fit in. Because none of us think we know enough to be in charge of other people's lives.

Oh sure, we are all confident that we are smarter than the other guy. We just happen to be smart enough to know that we don't need to be making decisions for other people about their lives.... even if they do happen to be idiots who are going to screw it up.

[Lord Humungus]

Explaining that concept to people is like speaking in an alien tongue. Last summer I was at a party and libertarianism came up as a topic of discussion.

-
Woman: So what is a libertarian? It's like a Republican, right?

Me (after a few drinks): I'm a libertarian. I don't like being told how to live my life, nor do I think I have the right to tell other people how to live their lives. I just want to be left alone.
-

I think I just came off as a curmudgeon. I certainly didn't win any converts.

[Free Society]

The best you can hope for, like when engaging with Tony, is that you might just convince some bystander who doesn't know any better. The vast vast vast majority of proggies are a lost cause.

[Cyto]

Yeah, I've felt the same vibe. It doesn't really compute with me that "live and let live" is a philosophy that could possibly be off-putting... or even really argued with. But it does seem that when you articulate it, people in the rest of the world's mindset hear the "I just want to be left alone" part and kind of ignore the rest. So you come of as curmudgeonly or even a wannabe hermit.

I recently tried to explain it to a group of neuvo-hippies. The crystal wearing, drum-circle, "we accept all kinds" type that wear their transgender or vegan identities on their sleeves.

I was really surprised that "the government shouldn't have any say at all in how you live your life" didn't resonate with them. In fact, they found it kind of off-putting. In their mindset it was homophobic to say the government shouldn't be involved in people's sexuality in any way.

The group was mostly young enough that I was fighting for gay rights long before their parents even met. Yet the impression they got was that "you live your life how you see fit, and I'll do the same" was somehow an affront to their personal sexual identity. I really got the impression that what they really needed was for everyone - including the government - to explicitly endorse their particular lifestyle. I think this might explain everyone, left and right. It isn't enough to be left alone. They all need to be validated. Anything less is an insult.

[Rich]

"Can you name *one* of your U.S. senators? No? Very well, how about *one* of the branches of the federal government? No? OK, what is 'caramel'?"

[UnCivilServant]

Caramel is sugar halfway from granulated to burned. It acquires a different flavor which is prized. Don't cook it too long or you'll just have a ruined pan.

[Citizen X]

It goes without saying that you don't like it.

[UnCivilServant]

you are wrong.

I don't like when I realize I've ruined a pan trying to make it, and have to vent the area because the smoke alarm is blaring...

But caramel itself is fine.

[Injun, as in from India]

On a related note:

Only 36 percent of Americans can name the three branches of government

[Password: pode$ta]

What interests me about these things is that these surveys seem to have people striated into three categories:

-People that know enough (37% know the three branches, 28% know the 2/3 rule for a veto override, 38% know who controls house/senate)
-People that know little bits and pieces
-People that know absolutely nothing (35% can't name ONE branch, 21% somehow believe that 5-4 supreme court decisions get sent to congress for reconsideration)

The assumption is that these are the same people answering correctly/incorrectly repeatedly.

There is a fourth group: people that know plenty. Different surveys (based on the naturalization test) have questions about who was President during WWII, various marginally difficult geography questions, etc. and IIRC there's ~15% of the population that seems to get those right.

[Cyto]

There's also the "dude walks up to you in the mall with a clipboard and asks you to name the three branches of government while you are busy discussing the sale at JC Penney's" effect. I bet plenty of the people who didn't know all three branches of government did in fact know them if properly primed, they just couldn't pull up the names cold.

Howard Stern had a great bit where he would ask Playboy Playmates super basic science questions. The comedy ensued.

He asked one girl "What is at the center of the solar system?" After she hemmed and hawed for a while he kept asking "At the center of the Solar System. It is the Solar System." She finally guessed "the moon?"

It was hilarious. But it was a fact that she was perfectly aware of. But for whatever reason she just had a brain freeze at that moment. I'm not claiming she's a rocket scientist, but she's not completely ignorant of the fact that the earth goes around the sun either.

My suspicion is that these surveys are the same. They are designed to demonstrate that people are ignorant about government, and they succeed.

You could do the same thing with Clinton supporters very easily. Just survey a bunch of people who say they cried when Clinton lost and ask questions like "who is the secretary of education?" I guarantee that even among a group so wrapped up in politics that they wept over the election, you won't find 15% who can answer that stuff correctly.

[Password: pode$ta]

Very true. The Howard Stern anecdote reminds me of the survey that claims 1/3 of Russians think the Sun orbits the Earth.

Cue Yakov Smirnoff
In Soviet Russia...

[UnCivilServant]

Technically, the Sun and the Earth system orbits a barycenter that is neither object. The problem is the disparity in mass means that barycenter is within the boundaries of the sun's volume.

/needlessly pedantic

[Password: pode$ta]

You should've explained how the barycenter is related to the instantaneous center of mass of all objects in the solar system.

-11 points
B+

/Professor irritated that you corrected him in class 3 months ago

[Cyto]

But the question wasn't "what does the earth orbit". It was "what object is at the center of the solar system."

Which is clearly not a geometric point that doesn't exist as a physical object.

[UnCivilServant]

Cyto, I was responding to Password, but in response you your center of the solar system question, I have this to say: To fin the center of a volume you must define the boundaries of that volume. There are multiple definitions currently competing with regards to where to define the edge of the solar system, and severla could result in irregular shapes and thus potentially have that point be outside of any physical object.

The convention of using the sun as the center is simply because it's a big bright object which exerts a strong influence on everything else in that system.

[Cyto]

Awesome! It is pedants all the way down!

[Lord Humungus]

*kicks UCS in the barycenter*

[UnCivilServant]

Oww! My orbital Dynamics!

[thrakkorzog]

Oh wait that's easy, there's the executive, the courts, and the lottery.

[straffinrun]

The executive, the judicial and the executive. What do I win?

[straffinrun]

I guess for 2nd place. thrak beat me to it.

[Krabappel]

I don't want to save the masses from themselves, I just don't want these drooling half-wits to be voting.

[Citizen X]

There is nothing to be done about the immense, implacable stupidity of the majority of humans, except to limit as much as possible their ability to get stupid all over innocent bystanders.

This is my favorite argument for smaller government to use with my cynical proggie brother. It gets him to change the subject damn fast.

[ant1sthenes]

You know who else was worried about low-information voters, and thus tried to at least ensure that voters were literate with thorough testing?

[Lord Humungus]

Where else would you look?

Naked man says he was looking for a wife at Mormon temple

Authorities say a man in northern Utah was arrested after he was caught wandering naked on the grounds of a Mormon temple and told police he was looking for a wife.

The Herald-Journal newspaper in Logan reports that 53-year-old Kelly Thayne Archibald dropped a blanket around his waist and climbed the gate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Logan on Nov. 13.

Police say he told investigators that he was naked because that's how he entered the world.

He's charged with lewdness by a sex offender, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. Archibald served prison time in Idaho after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a child under 16.

[AlmightyJB]

Should have said he was from Kolob and asked them if they were ready.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Cat owners are more sexually adventurous

Experts believe a common brain parasite from cats called Toxoplasma gondii causes Toxoplasma, which is linked to sexual arousal by fear, violence and danger in humans.

People with Toxoplasma have a "higher attraction to bondage and violence," says lead scientist Jaroslav Flegr explained.

A study of 36,564 people in Slovakia and the Czech Republic found that "infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear, danger and sexual submission."

[thrakkorzog]

Kind of an old story. Toxoplasma is also linked to schizophrenia.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, like a third of Americans is infected.

The parasite makes mice attracted to cats, and when the cats eat the mice, it completes the parasite's life cycle. Meanwhile, when you consider how some cat people act towards cats, . . . A parasite that makes people go crazy for cats? That makes a lot of sense.

One of the most painful experience possible is apparently being stung by a specific species of jellyfish that shows up sometimes around Australia. It can take a long time for the pain of the toxin to set in, and one of the tell-tale signs of being stung by that jellyfish is that you're suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of doom.

The pain is so excruciating once the toxin sets in that people will often beg the ER doctor to kill them, but even before then, Surfers who are stung can suddenly become suicidal. Apparently, a toxin attacks that part of the brain and makes the jellyfish's prey give up struggling and accept his fate fate. Sort of like what happened to one of my poker buddies after he got married.

#ThousandYardStare

[invisible furry hand]

Sounds like the Irukandji. They're tiny, so the hit of venom isn't big enough to kill you, but big enough to make you wish it would.

[Chip Woodier]

Ok...I'm not eating any more pussies.

[Brett L]

So you're saying Michelle Pfiefer's Catwoman is a balanced assessment of cat women?

[Certified Public Asshat]

I'm saying this explains Warty.

[Rich]

infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear

Now, *that* is a "personal problem".

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Not sure how this works with cat ladies?

[Certified Public Asshat]

If you can get past the urine smell, they will rock your world.

[AlmightyJB]

I've found that sometimes it's just not worth it.

[Lord Humungus]

something something third rail...

GOP's Medicare plans run into wall in the Senate
Top Republicans express reluctance to push forward on partially privatizing health care for seniors.

The GOP's dream of privatizing parts of Medicare is running up against resistance among Senate Republicans.

Interviews with more than a dozen GOP lawmakers reveal they're not planning to pursue big changes to the popular health care program for seniors ? at least not in the first year of the Trump administration.

That hesitation starts with the chairman who would lead any overhaul in the Senate.

"We'll have to see," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), head of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare. "We're going to have a whole new look at a lot of things. ? It depends on what it is. It depends on how it is written. It depends on what it would do."

[Rufus The Monocled]

Someone forgot the golden rule of passing laws: YOU HAVE TO PASS IT TO KNOW WHAT'S IN IT!

[Lord Humungus]

Writers concerned about second-hand smoke and politics

Cal Thomas last week referring to the presidential election advised us to, "Deal with it." The old fellow probably meant well, but didn't realize the magnitude of change we'll be dealing with. Stephen Hawking said, "Intelligence is the ability to cope with change." But first one has to understand what has changed.

The change, geologic in scope, can be shown first by comparing Obama to Donald Trump, which is like comparing "Hyperion to a satyr" to quote Shakespeare. In plainer English, comparing Hyperion, the sun god, Obama, to a satyr, half-goat, half-man, Trump, suggests that evolution is heading in the wrong direction.

At first glance there appears to have been a cosmic devolution unless Trump, with abrupt speech patterns of Sasquatch, is proven to be a relic of the past, the fabled missing link between humans and apes, an anomaly that has surfaced from pre-history, in itself not dangerous since it will disappear like the creatures in the Burgess shale. Or is Trump the forerunner of the end of human evolutionary progress? There are signs that he may be the latter.

[Sevo]

"Family pushes for cyberbullying laws after teen's suicide"
[...]
"Her father, Raul Vela, said she had been receiving abusive text messages for months from bullies using an untraceable smartphone application. Her father said someone made a fake Facebook page of her, creating another cyberbullying medium."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/tex.....663451.php

I push for parent-licensing laws.

[Rich]

I have no idea if someone is dissing me on Facebook.

Does that make me a low-information voter?

[Rufus The Monocled]

'Rich smells like a penguin' is a diss, Rich.

[invisible furry hand]

It's the problem that your best friends won't tell you, but total strangers OTOH...

[Citizen X]

Unless you're into that.

[Rich]

Citation needed, Rufus.

[Brett L]

I've been to the Penguin Encounter at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX. Penguins smell like a refrigerated chicken farming operation.

[Citizen X]

I took my kid to a temporary penguin exhibit at the Virginia Aquarium once. Even through thick glass, the penguins smelled like a mixture of neglected birdcage and week-old shrimp. Also, the inside of the glass was smeared with vomit.

Penguins are disgusting, but at least they also have terrifying mouths.

[Sevo]

Imagine getting dissed in meat-space!

[Crusty Juggler]

Kellyanne Conway looked really good during that demonstration of why everyone in politics is a juvenile monster.

[Password: pode$ta]

Has anyone ever seen her and Ann Coulter in a room together?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Ew,

[Lord Humungus]

doesn't Couler have a longer, more adam-appley neck?

[Lord Humungus]

*Coulter

[Certified Public Asshat]

And a bigger penis.

[AlmightyJB]

"Has anyone ever seen her and Ann Coulter in a room together?"

Yes, they were both dressed liked nazis and were berating me. Oh wait, that was last night's dream.

[Lord Humungus]

spankings for everyone!

[Zeb]

She's got some weird eyes.

[Ken Shultz]

#ThousandYardStare

[Chipwooder]

Thing about a political consultant, it's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When it comes at you, it doesn't seem to be living, until it polls you, and then those black eyes roll over to white.....oh, and then you hear that terrible high-pitched screaming.

[straffinrun]

Only because of where Trump grabbed her.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Weird eyes are the best eyes.

[Citizen X]

Jesus. She looks like she's about to unhinge her jaw and swallow that dude next to her whole.

[Crusty Juggler]

I actually thought she looked great, especially when compared to everyone else. You're all mean.

[Brett L]

Many on this board do not... fear women, Crusty. They just deny women their essence, and insinuate that any that aren't immediately sexually available are dangerous.

[Citizen X]

Did you just longtorso me, you asshole?!? Did you?!

[GOML!]

Paging Austin Powers. Can we get a ruling?

[Ken Shultz]

"Are you gonna look me in the face and say I ran a campaign that was a platform for white supremacists?" Trump campaign manager KellyAnne Conway asked. Yes, said Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary for America communications director".

Maybe Hillary's campaign staff, and the people in the media who supported her, would have an easier time accepting Hillary Clinton's loss, if instead of speculating about what might have been if Hillary had won, a jury of her peers simply threw Hillary in jail.

"In all, governments and corporations involved in the arms deals approved by Clinton's State Department have delivered between $54 million and $141 million to the Clinton Foundation as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to the Clinton family, according to foundation and State Department records."

Mother Jones

"Hillary Clinton Oversaw US Arms Deals to Clinton Foundation Donors"

http://www.motherjones.com/pol.....arms-deals

#LockHerUp

[Rufus The Monocled]

Motherjones is lucid and one of the more sane prog places.

[Raven Nation]

News from a sport few Americans care about: Nico Rosberg, who won the Formula One World Championship for the first time on Sunday, retired today:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38185846

[Juvenile Bluster]

It was part of the deal for his team to screw over Hamilton for half the season.

[I can't even]

I kind of like watching although it seems like they are computerized go-karts and the drivers are just in there to enjoy the g-forces.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

The drivers are just there for marketing purposes. Those things could just as easily be driven by RC and GPS.

Racing where the cars can't even lightly touch each other without falling apart is useless. Rubbin' is racin'.

[Lord Humungus]

C'mon - Senna, for example, didn't win races by sheer technological force.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GOEorrE4mY

[Roger the Shrubber]

Racing where the cars can't even lightly touch each other without falling apart takes a level of nerves that NACSAR rednecks could only imagine.

[I can't even]

True. On the other hand, racing where the leaders never pass each other is a level of boredom the rednecks could only imagine.

[Roger the Shrubber]

'That's no race. That's a parade.' - Jim Rome commenting on a zero lead change F1 race.

[Lee Genes]

Identity Politics Continues to Rend the Democratic Party into Little Pieces

The Anti-Defamation League shook up the race for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship on Thursday evening as it blasted Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the leading candidate, for a 2010 speech in which he allegedly said that Israel manipulates American foreign policy.

[Free Society]

The reality that a noted birther who wants to deport millions of immigrants and ban Muslims is the next president, with his sights set squarely on trashing the progressive legacy of the first black president.

How dare anyone violate the sanctity of the legacy of the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT! If you oppose him, you OPPOSE THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT! RACIST RACIST RACIST RACIST RACIST LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

That kind of stupid, disingenuous bullshit from the left is exactly why Trump won. Eat a dick leftists.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Haha where did this come from?

[Free Society]

Oh a link upthread somewhere. I somehow managed to fuck up my threading.

[Chip Woodier]

The was the "goddam foodfight" piece on the Daily Beast link.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

Pretty sure none of those things are trump's actual positions but rather strawmen. And the left claims to be bias free critical thinkers with superior reasoning abilities

[Libertarian]

". . . his sights set squarely on trashing the progressive legacy of the first black president."

Christ, he'll be out of office and it will STILL be all about Obama.

[Free Society]

The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft.

Not my daughter. Over my dead bullet ridden body.

[Free Society]

The Department of Justice has declared that the Americans With Disabilities Act requires all movie theaters to "provide closed movie captioning and audio description when showing a digital movie" in order "to provide effective communication to patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision."

So a blind Muslim one legged tranny walks in to a movie theater...

[Password: pode$ta]

How do you "walk" into a theater in a box truck?

[Free Society]

oh you're good

[I can't even]

'Panic in Progressive Park' -- What If Trump Is Actually Good?

I had the same thought last night as a watched a couple minutes of Trump's speech - how damn funny would it be if he turned out to be a really successful and popular President? The conniptions from the Left for years would be gold.

http://www.pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/20.....ally-good/

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

I think the left is setting him up for this by portraying such low expectations. It is goes to show you that their rhetoric about wanting country to succeed is a sham

[I can't even]

8 years of Obama is a hell of a low-bar.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Reagan was a generally successful and popular Preznit, as Preznits go, and the lefties still hate him. Kennedy was a disastrous war-mongering Castro-hater, and they love him. Don't try to understand the cognitive dissonance. It'll drive you cray-cray.

[Tornado35235gsg35423ttg3gt3g3g]

The lefties don't know what to do with Reagan:

At one point they argue he was a spender, raising taxes and a moderate. And then turn around saying he was a far right laissez faire free marketer

[straffinrun]

Evidently the talking point for both right and left pundits is the age of Democrat leadership. Pelosi is 76(?), Sanders 74(?) etc... They need to make way for the young ones to take over. OK. That sounds fine and all, but what Democrat under 60 is even less goofy than those old farts?

[The Fusionist]

Trigglypuff?

[Password: pode$ta]

Read something awhile back that Kasim Reed (mayor of Atlanta) is an up-and-comer. Thing is, the only mayor that ever gets any national press is the mayor of NYC. And occasionally Chicago, because train wreck and all that.

[straffinrun]

Reed disagreed with their action, saying there was nothing wrong with having the Republican Party try to win the votes of black students.

That's a start. Makes him better than 90% of them.

[Libertarian]

Imagine if the mayor of Chicago, with 700 murders so far this year, were a Republican. Think the stories in the press would be any different?

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Corey Booker's been getting pimped by these people for years, but I suspect it's mainly because they see him as a Poor Man's Obama. He didn't exactly distinguish himself as mayor of Newark or as a Senator, and he doesn't have Obama's ability to connect with audiences. I suspect this is why Michelle Obama's name is getting thrown around as The Next Big Thing, because their cupboard is bare as hell and what little is there embodies identity politics rather than anything that would actually unify Americans.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I love how the IT guy comes by every day to flirt with one of my colleagues, even though she's moving to NC to shack up with her boyfriend.

[robc]

It aint over til its over.

[straffinrun]

What's his move?

[Lord Humungus]

An IT guy making his move: doesn't make eye contact, responds with one word responses.

Alternative: won't shut up about his Star Wars miniatures.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

The IT guys here are full-on hipsters. The flirty one has a man bun and beard, the other dude has Warby Parkers and a flat cap.

[Brett L]

So, he knows she's moving to NC, not closer to DC, right?

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I dunno what his initial setup was, as they've been working here for a couple years. He's now trying to set up a date with her (including the other IT guy, so I guess it's not really a date date, but you can tell he would like it to be).

[straffinrun]

"Man bun hipster tries to mow another man's lawn. Fails."

Could be an Onion headline.

[Brett L]

Looking at her shoes, not hers when he mumbles about what the problem with her computer is?

[Brett L]

*not his.

[Juice]

Some people just like to flirt.

[The Fusionist]

"The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft."

The opponents of the ERA were mercilessly mocked for saying that rigid legal equality between men and women would lead to to women getting drafted.

Someone showed me a video from the 1970s where a pro-ERA spokesperson said that women wouldn't be drafted because by the time the amendment took effect the Vietnam war would be over.

I guess they were right - it's only draft *registration* and anyway the ERA wasn't ratified by the states, just ratified by the Supreme Court.

[The Fusionist]

"The Department of Justice has declared that the Americans With Disabilities Act requires all movie theaters to "provide closed movie captioning and audio description when showing a digital movie" in order "to provide effective communication to patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or have low vision.""

The other day this deaf guy tried to watch The Fast and the Furious, but without being able to hear the dialogue, he thought it was just a bunch of car chases.

[Cyto]

Nice composition. I was wondering where the setup was going.... and then "boom", nice punchline.

Full marks for classic setup-punchline formulation. A rare artform these days.

[I'm Wither]

"I pray you find compassion for his life, as troubled as it clearly was." That's the sentiment, expressed by an Ohio State University professor about the student who carried out a knife attack on campus earlier this week, that has Ohio State students calling for her job.

When will people learn to shut the fuck up? Seriously.

[The Fusionist]

What's wrong with that, is he saying let the guy walk?

If not, then visiting prisoners is a corporal work of mercy, and it doesn't say "innocent people only."

[Roger the Shrubber]

What good is compassion for his life? The dude is dead, as he should be. And I don't see anything about the life he led to led me towards compassion.

[Free Society]

I doubt she'd be bravely shouting for empathy on Facebook if it was her or her own children that were run down by the guy's car and stabbed repeatedly.

[Rhywun]

I think it's fine for religious figures to express that sentiment - they're all about "turn the other cheek" and generally understanding that human nature works otherwise. This person is "assistant director of residence life".

[ant1sthenes]

I get the sentiment, and I do feel a bit sad that a human being had their mind so poisoned that they became a danger to others and had to be put down.

But a) whatever compassion I can muster for them comes at the cost of even greater depth of condemnation for that which poisoned their mind (e.g. sjwism and salafism), and b) I seriously doubt this person exhibits the same compassion for anyone not on the special victimizer list, in which case her reaming is still well deserved.

[Enough About Palin]

I think IW was speaking to the possibility that this could cost this person a job. Better to stay quiet and look like a fool...

[Brett L]

Seeing more talk about Romney for SecState. Apparently, someone who isn't good enough to run our country is the ideal candidate to tell others how we want them to run theirs.

[Citizen X]

With a heavily-implied "or else."

[Volren]

Meh, then he'll just be like the last two.

[Brett L]

I'm hoping for a return to near competence we enjoyed before the failed candidate trend.

[MaleMatters]

Re: "The White House said Thursday that it fully supports requiring women to register for the draft."

I as a Republican support it, too. I believe it means more than most people realize it does. See:

"Should 'men are stronger' bar women from combat roles?" http://malemattersusa.wordpres.....bat-roles/

[Certified Public Asshat]

Mine has one too, I've stopped at it with him before. There is some good stuff in there, but mostly junk.

[EDG reppin LBC]

Or *anything* by Helix.

[Crusty Juggler]

Really? Can someone explain the brilliant business methods he has used?

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Not paying taxes for 20 years was pretty damn smart.

[Cyto]

Read the article. It really is an interesting take.

Not an endorsement of any policy or outcome... it is an analysis of tactics.

I have been there for the "New CEO" move. It really is a thing, and it does work to engender some confidence among the troops that the new guy is going to make changes for the better.

At a lower level it could be as simple as the new manager replacing the coffee pots in the break room with Keurig machines and supplies of varied K-cups. It means making a symbolic gesture that reaches people on an emotional level to say "I'm on your side and we are going to make things better". It works. It buys some leeway to make other changes. It is all about psychology, not policies.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I remember a French chick saying in my car, 'c'est qui ca? Sa fait pas mon affaire' while listening to one of Neil Young's more screechy songs on the radio.

It was hilarious.

[Crusty Juggler]

I understand what you and Cyto are saying, but I still don't see how this is a brilliant anything.

[Cyto]

It isn't brilliant in the absolute sense. It is simply following the formula.

But look at it relative to other politicians. He made keeping jobs in America a campaign slogan. And now he has visibly delivered on that promise before he even takes office. And he did it at the Carrier factory, a place that he made a campaign issue of and Obama ridiculed him about, saying there is no way that he could do anything about Carrier moving to Mexico.

As optics go, this is as close to a home run as you are going to get.

Adams goes on to make the "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" argument. The Democrats have been frantically trying to make sure the first impression is one of dissent in the streets, racism, incompetence and disarray in the transition team. He just went out and delivered "Keep American jobs in America" as a "first impression".

It is an interesting analysis. One that I wouldn't have come up with. I would have said, "this is silly opportunism, making everything about him and more crony capitalism as a sop to the union worker. "

So I think Adams has an interesting take. And I'm sure that he has been more right than I have about Trump and his methods. Because I'm still fairly certain that when they actually go to vote, nobody will pull the lever for a buffoon like Trump. Recent history notwithstanding.

[Swiss Servator]

Getting the story he wants out there - despite a hostile press, maybe?