Trump Picks Rick Perry for Energy, Kanye West Meets With Trump, U.S. Pauses Some Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia: P.M. Links

• 

  John Taggart/SIPA/Newscom

  Donald Trump intends to nominate Rick Perry as secretary of energy. The Energy Department, meanwhile, refuses to provide Trump's transition team with a list of employees working on climate issues. Barack Obama says it's important to listen to your intelligence briefings no matter how smart you are, responding to Trump comments that he didn't need to sit through the daily intelligence briefings. Kanye West met with Trump in New York today. The Kremlin insists the idea of Russian interference in U.S. elections is "absolute nonsense."

• The U.S. will halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen.
• Rebels in Aleppo say they've reached a ceasefire with Russia.
• Security forces in Gambia have seized the electoral commission's headquarters as the incumbent president insists he will remain in office despite losing the election.
• The family of 73-year-old Francisco Serna say he may have been holding a crucifix when he was shot and killed by a Bakersfield cop.
• Snapchat gets group chat.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kanye West met with Trump in New York today.

The Awards Beyonce Deserves Czar.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Can someone fill me in on why West has the ears of politicians?

[Citizen X]

Because we live in the most ridiculous of all possible worlds.

[???? ??????, Jr.]

In Universe AD-6227328417, Earth ruled by Supreme Overlord Santorum begs to differ.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Sentient santorum?
[shudders]

[Tonio]

Sentient santorum?

Sug, you want this?

[Swiss Servator]

NONONONO!!!!!

[Trigger Hippie]

+1 secretion of bodily fluids.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Why do you diss Vice Overlord Kanye Kardashian so?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Self-appointed spokesman for Hobbit-Americans?

[C. Anacreon]

When did Kanye get that bushy ponytail?
He looks like Nancy Drew.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Proper alt-text:

"You like fish-sticks?"

[Zeb]

The only thing that Kanye West ever did that didn't make me think he was an idiot was his response to the Gay Fish South Park episode.

[waffles]

Hi Rufus. It's simple really. West's recent psychological break was caused by Donald Trumps cybernetic implants going haywire. He was simply returning to headquarters for repair and servicing for future mind control experiments to further stupefy the electorate.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

With no ill intention, I think it's fair to say that Black celebrities have a lot of political sway with their identity group. More-so than white celebrities.

My stance concerning this has always been, in a democracy why do people gripe about famous people voicing their opinions? Name recognition is everything in democracy and it has been since Socrates.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, I wonder what defamation law was like in Athens back then? Could Socrates have gone after Aristophanes?

[C. Anacreon]

That idea is for the birds.

[A Thinking Mind]

Athens went after Socrates, of course. There's always some pushback.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, given that much has been lost, I bet Socrates was executed as a result of a counter-suit.

[Zeb]

I think anyone could have gone after anyone for anything. In a pure democracy like that, you just need to convince the assembly to go along and you're good.

Maybe that whole "corruption of youth" think was just Platonic revisionism and Socrates just pissed them off so much in his suit against Aristophanes that they decided to get rid of him.

[jack sprat]

Because he is part of the Kardashians?

[Zunalter]

Maybe Kanye was getting some tips from Trump on how to be a media whore.

[BigT]

They were discussing the finer points of grabbing them by the..... whatevers.

[DEG]

?Hola!

No, sorry, I cannot comment on why anyone listens to Kanye West.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Outreach to the gay fish community?

[John Titor]

We killed the aristocrats, but then decided that their antics were amusing, so we invented celebrities to fill the gap.

[lafe.long]

Related?

Jim Brown and Ray Lewis Meet With Donald Trump at Trump Tower

NFL legend Jim Brown made his way through the Trump Tower lobby before taking an elevator up to see Trump:

Twitter: Jim Brown says he's here to meet with Trump about "helping people". Back of his cane says Cleveland Browns

Fellow NFL great Ray Lewis visited Trump Tower, too:

Twitter: Ray Lewis entering Trump Tower even though Sec of Defense has ostensibly been filled.

[John C. Randolph]

In Trump's case, it's probably because he's run out of ideas for outrageous stunts to get media attention.

-jcr

[The Fusionist]

"Ah, Mr. West, what do you think of heading up the National Endowment for the Arts? I mean, you're an artist, and, [etc]"

[Volren]

I'm assuming they ran out of people to perform at his inauguration.

[Brett L]

Mental Health Czar. Or are we not using Czar/Tsar due to Russian influence?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I think we're gonna go with 'Oligarch'.

[Zero Sum Game]

Russophobia is racist, sir. Your comment is racist. Russia is a nation of peace.

[???? ??????, Jr.]

Trump was in a meeting with Taylor Swift when Kanye just stepped right in and started talking.

[PapayaSF]

+1

[bacon-magic]

Kanye will be the Czar on Womyn & Finance. He's not saying they are gold diggers, but you ain't talking to no broke azz niggers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Kremlin insists the idea of Russian interference in U.S. elections is "absolute nonsense.

While twirling their mustache.

[Marty Feldman's Eyes]

In Russia, mustaches twirl YOU

[Fist of Etiquette]

GET OFF THE STAGE

[PBR Streetgang]

Russian reversals always make me laugh

[R C Dean]

So euphemism.

[The Last American Hero]

Except when administered by Nicolai Volkoff, because then your likely a few minutes a way from him tagging in the Iron Sheik and finding yourself on the wrong end of a camel clutch.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Is there a right end to a camel clutch?

[Citizen X]

Ask Crusty.

[Enough About Palin]

The part with the toe.

[Rhywun]

*crosses legs*

[Mad Scientist]

How are we going to steal election from moose and squirrel?

[C. Anacreon]

We need to make Peerless Leader happy, darlink.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The U.S. will halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen.

Just over the table selling I'm sure.

[TheZeitgeist]

That should last forty days or so.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I think the plan is to just start handing them out for free

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Just handing out some samples.

[pan fried wylie]

The first taste is always free.

[Ted S.]

They give out the weapons, but not the ammo. In-game purchases extra.

[BigT]

The U.S. will halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen OPEC agreement.

[???? ??????, Jr.]

The family of 73-year-old Francisco Serna may have been holding a crucifix when he was shot and killed by a Bakersfield cop.

Vampire Cop!

[Juvenile Bluster]

Ah, he was an ebul Christian. Nothing to see here, people.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

A baseball bat would have stopped the bullet.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Mythbusters I've never wanted you more! Come back!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Yeah, because THAT is the most unrealistic thing that is bothering me about Walking Dead.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

I don't need zombies mythbusted. Just homemade bullet stopping bats.

[John Titor]

Be glad you don't watch anime.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Eugene obviously fucked up making that bullet...

Negan really took him because he's aroused by the haircut.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Eugene should have stuck to firsties.

[pan fried wylie]

I think the bat was made in a factory....oh, wait, nm.

[???? ??????, Jr.]

Sounds like you've got a rant in you about TWD. Care to share it?

[Crusty Juggler]

Caption that photo!

[BakedPenguin]

"I'ma let you finish, Kanye..."

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Finish who?

[bacon-magic]

So I said to her "bitch, why can't your hobbit ass act more like Melania...".

[Libertarian]

"Jesue, Kanye, wear a tie once in a while. Maybe you'll get a little more respect."

[GOML!]

I got 99 cabinet positions but you ain't one.

[lap83]

I think that was a Jay-Z song but still funny

Is there a photo out there of Obama with Kanye? "Black Jesus walks with me"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rebels in Aleppo say they've reached a ceasefire with Russia.

Rebels still control flyover country.

[R C Dean]

Which is weird, because they're fighting Assad.

[The malevolent Skeksi]

Terrorists still control flyover country.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Toe- MAY - Toe

Toe- MAY - Toe

[The malevolent Skeksi]

Our flyover country:

So-cial Con-ser-va-tive

Yeah, this isn't working.

[Episteme]

Of course, it takes until Paragraph 24 to mention that this "ceasefire" is just another set of talks being brokered by representatives in Geneva disconnected to action in the field. For an updated story filed four hour later than that one (and since updated):

Women in Aleppo Choose Suicide Over Rape, Rebels Report

Honestly, regardless of one's thoughts on foreign intervention, I can't help but think that stopping these genocidal actions by a supposedly-traditional head of state like Assad would quite literally be the raison d'etre of the United Nations as imagined in the 1940s.

At the least, post-Red Line, we can all agree that we've reached Peak Thanks Obama...

[Austrian Anarchy]

Cease fire is just resupply time for haji.

[AlmightyJB]

Kasich signs 20 week abortion bill, vetoes heartbeat bill.

http://abc6onyourside.com/news.....tbeat-bill

[Tonio]

Eddie, you might want to sit down and cover your lap.

[The Fusionist]

Charming.

I don't know why he vetoed it, but he has some interesting company.

[Episteme]

It makes sense, given that he had the two bills to choose from. The 20-week bill has popular support and good legal protections and precedent. Meanwhile, the 6-week bill has a number of large cutouts to benefit trial lawyers and is likely unconstitutional under current interpretations of Casey. In this case, Kasich doesn't lose anything by fixing a firm floor (still low nationally), knowing the legislature is ready to give him a new lower-week bill if a subsequent Supreme Court decision (affected by a Trump appointee) changes current precedent.

[The Fusionist]

Kasich explains his rationale on the second page of this veto message.

The federal courts are, he says, bound to strike this law down and Ohio taxpayers will have to pay fees to the pro-abortion lawyers.

Ohio Right To Life didn't want Kasich to sign the bill - they wanted him to only sign the late-abortion ban

I suppose I'll have to give respectful attention to what a prolife group "in the trenches" has to say, but it's a pity.

[waffles]

it's important to listen to your intelligent briefings no matter how smart you are

Eat your vegetables, Donald.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just don't call anything JV team.

[TheZeitgeist]

Red lines bad.

[Episteme]

I'm pretty sure that Trump basically calls everyone who isn't him ? including the folks preparing his intelligence briefings ? members of ? JV teams.

[Tonio]

The family of 73-year-old Francisco Serna may have been holding a crucifix when he was shot and killed by a Bakersfield cop.

That's going to be super-embarrasing if it turns out to be true. Or should be.

[Episteme]

When guns are outlawed, only vampires will have guns!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Tucker Carlson takes on stuttering maths guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXd0qZxFEE0

It really is glorious.

[Rufus The Monocled]

http://www.ratemyprofessors.co.....?tid=23199

[Citizen X]

all he did for the full semester was cut the eyes out of pictures of tucker carlson and mumble something about white guilt, or oppression, I dont know, it was hard to understand him as he was clearly still drunk from the night before and everything was peppered with curse words. also he came to class in black face one day and didnt even explain it.

11 people found this useful 0 people did not find this useful

Oh hee hee man.

[Ted S.]

I'm assuming people are just making shit up.

[bacon-magic]

Tucker has been on a roll on panty twisting the progs. I'm starting to like him.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

It's gonna take a heck of a lot more for me to start liking Tucker. First, he would have to get a haircut from someone other than a dog groomer.

[bacon-magic]

That helps his smarmy look. It's adorable, like a red ass on a baboon.

[Chipwooder]

And ditch the fucking bow ties. The bow tie is the surest possible indicator of a smug, annoying asshole that man has ever encountered.

[Swiss Servator]

So....no tuxedo for you

[Buddy Bizarre]

I don't think he's done bow ties for a few years now...

[Austrian Anarchy]

He is much better at his new gig than when he was on whateverNBC. I've only been seeing clips of his show on YouTube and they are quite glorious.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The family of 73-year-old Francisco Serna may have been holding a crucifix when he was shot and killed by a Bakersfield cop.

Imagine if he'd been holding a Nativity Scene. They would have had to use an MRAP.

[Ted S.]

Grab the Virgin Mary by the pussy!

[???? ??????, Jr.]

There, as always, Yahweh was a step ahead of his creation.

[Swiss Servator]

*thumps Bible*

[Kool]

WAR ON CHRISTMAS

[???? ??????, Jr.]

Rebels in Aleppo say they've reached a ceasefire with Russia.

"They wouldn't have gone to war in the first place if not for their dissenting vote in Kelo."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

This is just viral marketing for than new Disney movie coming out.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Security forces in Gambia have seized the electoral commission's headquarters as the incumbent president insists he will remain in office despite losing the election.

They are checking for Russian fingerprints.

[The Last American Hero]

The only Russian fingerprints they'll find are on the Atlas Stones the powerlifters were using the last time WSM held a competition there.

[Zero Sum Game]

Russophobia is racist. You have to stop this.

[Injun, as in from India]

The U.S. will halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen.

Question of the Day: Is that racist?

[jack sprat]

If any cisgender white something something something ( I can't remember how this works) was involved it certainly is!

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

You don't have to remember, you just have to feel it!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

If Saudi Arabia only stopped with its barbarous punishments, they wouldn't have to import so many arms.

[Tonio]

If you have to ask...

[The malevolent Skeksi]

The question is, or so I'm told.

[Lee Genes]

I'll have to perform an intersectional analysis with weighted privilege curves to figure it out.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Today is a great day. Today we can finally look the world in the eye proudly, and declare, "I am glad Zoolander is my PM!"

For today, Taiwanese Animators News has done a piece on PM Zoolander's cash-for-access scheme.

See! our Prime Minister at his most dignified yet.
Marvel! at his skills in juggling, bending and bowing to a cartoon panda.
Swell! with pride, as the rest of the someone, somewhere in the world once again pays attention to us.

Want context? Fine, go here.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

THe fucking shit? I know I got HTML correctly

fuck it, video at https://youtu.be/tE4qbMVReTM

[Jimbo]

I love the tea bag scene. Man, whoever (whomever?) makes those has a great sense of humor.

[Riven]

Oh, honey... You jacked all those links up.

Gold star for the attempt.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I know, I know - I tried HTML four times, refreshed the page, then hit "Submit" in hopes preview was being squirrely.
Nope.

[Riven]

I'll allow it... this once.

... Once!

[Tonio]

Hey, you tried, which is more than I can say for some people here.

[Trigger Hippie]

*shuffles off shame-faced*

[Chipper Morning Wood]

How was the honeymoon, Riven?

[Riven]

Wellllllll... We ultimately decided to do a honeymoon on our first anniversary--so it's in the planning stages for September, 2017.

We'd both already taken off way too much time this year to do a proper honeymoon. I traveled with Mr. Riven to watch his USPSA national competition about a month before we got married. So it was...sort of...like a pre-honeymoon?

[Tonio]

Public-Service Announcement?

[The Last American Hero]

Prostate exam.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

So do we wish Mr. Riven had a high PSA score or a low PSA score? I am confused.

[Riven]

Close!

"United States Practical Shooting Association"

... So close!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Practical shooting? Is that like using your pistol to open cabinets, put down toilet seats, adjust the thermostat, and the like?

[Riven]

Lol! That would really be something.

I'm not sure where they came up with the name, but he's really into it. He's a helluva shot, too.

[Mad Scientist]

She's selling a highlight video for just three easy payments of $19.95.

[Riven]

If you order RIGHT NOW, you get a bonus "gift" with your order!

[Darth Squirrel]

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

[Brett L]

Over, apparently.

[BakedPenguin]

Everyone gets a trophy.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Context at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politic.....-1.3893026

[DEG]

PM Zoolander's cash-for-access scheme.

I read that as "cash-for-actresses", and thought, if the actresses are hot Slavic actresses, this could be a good thing.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

He ain't cool enough for that.

His dad, on the other hand and if tales are to be believed, did not need the cash.

[John Titor]

Getting fucked by Margaret Trudeau was basically a national past-time in the 1970s.

[John Titor]

Mirror Universe Trudeau would cut the bollocks off PRC Panda and mount them on his wall as a trophy.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Does he have a beard that isn't named Sophie?

[John Titor]

He rolls with the "Middle Eastern Autocrat" look.

[Volren]

Since you brought up the topic...

http://news.nationalpost.com/n.....ysis-shows

[rts]

A Michigan Marxist Restaurant Closes After Failed Group Decisions and Long Sandwich Waits

The Garden Diner and Caf??replete with wall murals of Che Guevara in a chef's apron and raised fists clutching asparagus sprigs?had eschewed tips in favor of paying its workers a living wage and scorned traditional management methods.

And while its vegan, vegetarian and raw food fare was mostly a hit, Vice's Munchies reports, its unpredictable opening hours, slow service and 40-minute waits for a sandwich, strained customer patience.

The restaurant's (now-defunct) Facebook page was flooded with complaints from patrons angry at its slow service. Patrons hungry for a sandwich would find the caf? shuttered at odd times, thanks to opening hours set by employee group decision.

[Brett L]

"Authentic, Eastern Bloc experience!"

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

At least they used their own time and money.

[Brett L]

"They're out of sandwiches again? Even worse, they are out of bullets."

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

+1 In Stalin's time.

[Zunalter]

This.

[DEG]

Life imitating The Onion.

[Mazakon]

40-minute waits for a sandwich

How in the world did they manage that?

[Sevo]

They hurried.

[Jimbo]

They were always closed for lunch.

[Zunalter]

If only they had the right Top Men, this would have worked out swimmingly.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Just be glad no one was line up against the wall and shot!

[Lee Genes]

That's awesome.

[Crusty Juggler]

The NYT has a comprehensive (long, but interesting) piece on the DNC hacks.

A second team of Russian-affiliated hackers began to target the D.N.C. and other players in the political world, particularly Democrats. Billy Rinehart, a former D.N.C. regional field director who was then working for Mrs. Clinton's campaign, got an odd email warning from Google.

"Someone just used your password to try to sign into your Google account," the March 22 email said, adding that the sign-in attempt had occurred in Ukraine. "Google stopped this sign-in attempt. You should change your password immediately."

Mr. Rinehart was in Hawaii at the time. He remembers checking his email at 4 a.m. for messages from East Coast associates. Without thinking much about the notification, he clicked on the "change password" button and half asleep, as best he can remember, he typed in a new password.

What he did not know until months later is that he had just given the Russian hackers access to his email account.

[Injun, as in from India]

I was just about to post it. Here are some of my comments. More to follow:

moved beyond mere espionage to deliberately try to subvert American democracy and pick the winner of the presidential election.

Not really. The voters picked the winner in the end. All of Trump's dirty laundry was aired out too.

A low-cost, high-impact weapon that Russia had test-fired in elections from Ukraine to Europe was trained on the United States, with devastating effectiveness.

It's effective because the candidate that NYT endorsed lost?

Mr. Trump has rejected the findings of the intelligence agencies he will soon oversee as "ridiculous," insisting that the hacker may be American, or Chinese, but that "they have no idea."

He's right. The identity of the hacker cannot be proved if the hackers covered their tracks.

"GOP Security Aide Among 5 Arrested in Bugging Affair," reads the headline from the front page of The Washington Post on June 19, 1972, with the bylines of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

The comparison to Watergate is dead wrong.

[Crusty Juggler]

It's an interesting read, however the photo of the Watergate file cabinet next to a computer server is hilarious.

[Injun, as in from India]

This is just whining about Hillary's loss.

If what's being reported about Russian hacking is true, Hillary's homebrew server was likely hacked too.

And if anyone is damaging democracy, it's the Left which was angry when Trump said the system was rigged (but it looked like HRC was going to win). Now that HRC lost, their behavior is like Trump's in October 2016.

[Ted S.]

Oh shit, we're going to get Watergate comparisons for years to come.

[Tonio]

"Only Nixon can go to China."

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Well, let's dig him up, then.

[Ted S.]

I don't receive phishing attempts like that, but if I did get anything suggesting I needed to change my password, I'd go to the actual site and change it there if I thought it was legitimate.

[Citizen X]

Yes, but you are probably not dumb enough to qualify for a job as a Democratic operative.

[TheZeitgeist]

What's double-awesome is Podesta fell for same phishy trick, after internal IT guy told him it was 'legit.' And while all that's going on, Podesta is scheming on said hacked gmail account with Eric Schmidt, a Google board member and former CEO.

[Injun, as in from India]

In November, Special Agent Hawkins called with more ominous news. A D.N.C. computer was "calling home, where home meant Russia," Mr. Tamene's memo says, referring to software sending information to Moscow.

Good hackers compromise computers in other countries to stage attacks from there. They can even chain-compromise several computers and jump from one to another.

"Someone just used your password to try to sign into your Google account," the March 22 email said, adding that the sign-in attempt had occurred in Ukraine.

So it's the Ukrainians now?

Mr. Obama was briefed regularly on all this, but he made a decision that many in the White House now regret: He did not name Russians publicly, or issue sanctions.

So Romney was right? Russia is our #1 geopolitical enemy?

"The perpetrators have an interest to delegitimize the democratic process as such," Mr. Kahl said. Now, he added, "Europe is in the focus of these attempts of disturbance, and Germany to a particularly great extent."

Hear more whining when Merkel loses thanks to her own stupidity.

[Crusty Juggler]

"What was really surprising to me?" Ms. Tanden said. "I could not believe that reporters were covering it."

Blame: the media.

There were aspirations to ensure that the D.N.C. was well protected against cyberintruders ? and then there was the reality, Mr. Brown and his bosses at the organization acknowledged: The D.N.C. was a nonprofit group, dependent on donations, with a fraction of the security budget that a corporation its size would have.

"There was never enough money to do everything we needed to do," Mr. Brown said.

And the FBI for not telling high ranking officials sooner.

[Injun, as in from India]

The media also covered Pussygate. That opposition research was nicely timed to inflict maximum damage.

Still Hillary lost.

[Crusty Juggler]

My favorite line of the piece, after the there is discussion about how serious this is, and how our government should respond:

Instead, when Mr. Obama's national security team reconvened after summer vacation

Super important guys! See you in a few months!

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

"There was never enough money to do everything we needed to do," Mr. Brown said

Maybe they should have asked Hillary for a loan since they were colluding with her anyway.

[gaoxiaen]

1.2 billion dollars doesn't go as far as it used to.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

Good hackers compromise computers in other countries to stage attacks from there. They can even chain-compromise several computers and jump from one to another.

That's what I was thinking. If Russia (or China, or whomever) really wanted to hack into the DNC, they wouldn't use something as lame as a series of phishing emails. That's typically the province of independent actors looking for lulz or easy access to your bank accounts.

[DOOMco]

it screams US based anon

[Injun, as in from India]

HRC Loss Blame List:

- Russian hackers!
- Fake News
- Faux News
- Media focus on Hillary's server
- Media focus on Clinton Foundation
- Sexism
- Whitelash aka Racism

Not on Blame List:

- Hillary Clinton herself
- Basket of Deplorables comment

[kbolino]

Also not on the blame list:
- Promising to end coal
- Ignoring PA, MI, OH, FL

[Tonio]

Also, Also Definitely Not on Blame List:

Hillary supporters

[gaoxiaen]

Johnson and Stein supporters. Also people who said "Fuck it, I'm not wasting my time."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Snapchat gets group chat.

Okay.

[jack sprat]

sponsored by Snap on Tools ( which George Carlin did a great riff on).

[Juvenile Bluster]

Security forces in Gambia have seized the electoral commission's headquarters as the incumbent president insists he will remain in office despite losing the election.

That's THE Gambia, thank you very much. It's as dumb as THE Ohio State University.

why yes I did have an anal retentive middle school geography teacher who marked me down for not correctly answering The Gambia no i have not been holding that grudge for 25 years why do you ask?

[Rhywun]

"The Ukraine" was also memory-holed.

[BigT]

The Congo and The Netherlands have a sad.

[Citizen X]

The Kremlin insists the idea of Russian interference in U.S. elections is "absolute nonsense."

Obviously, to deal with Ivan's pernicious influence, the U.S. needs a Russian Czar.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Or trarina. What's Condi up to these days?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tsarina. Yeah, let's go with that.

[Pro Libertate]

Tranya?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I bet there is a porn star with that name out there.

[rts]

Vancouver approves 0.5% property tax hike to fight overdose crisis

And when the crisis passes, that will be rolled back... right? Right? Guys?

[Tonio]

Give him a big hand, folks. He's here all week. Tip your server.

[???? ??????, Jr.]

Here's one, rts.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Yeah, overdose crisis passing in Vancouver? Not while a single politician lives and breathes!

[SugarFree]

WTF? I assume property owners are ODing the comfort of their own homes, why should they be taxed?

[Tonio]

the incumbent president insists he will remain in office despite losing the election

Progressives applaud.

[Sevo]

"Barack Obama says it's important to listen to your intelligent briefings no matter how smart you are,"

Given that Obo has no reference to 'smart', we're safe in ignoring that.

[TheZeitgeist]

Obama knows importance of learning bad news "this morning on CNN like everyone else."

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Given also, that Obama has never listened to any of his 'intelligent(sic) briefings', this is pretty fucking rich.

[Zunalter]

THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!

[Libertarian]

"The Energy Department, meanwhile, refuses to provide Trump's transition team with a list of employees working on climate issues."

YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME! (YET)

[Tonio]

Linky.

Also, dammit.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I love this. I'd let everyone know. No raises, no bonuses, no travel, no conferences until I have the list.

[Tonio]

They cannot refuse that request from a sitting president, so this is just delaying the inevitable.

[Threedoor]

Just fire all of them. Problem solved.

[Stormy Dragon]

I'm sure will never end up regretting the establishment of a precedent that an incoming president is allowed to conduct political purges of low level government employees and contractors.

[Tonio]

political purges of low level government employees and contractors

Why, yes, those people were involved in policy-making decisions, so not exactly low-level.

Also, firing is not purging. Eliminating a position is not purging. Terminating a contract is not purging. Remember that shrinking the size and scope of government is a core libertarian principle. There are many people here who would like to see the whole EPA pink-slipped on Jan 21 - how is this any worse or different?

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Trump gave an interview once where he mentioned liking The Fountainhead, so you know what the means: Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists

[Tonio]

Dammit!

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

You could've posted Jonathan Chait getting in on the fun from the other direction: How Ayn Rand's Theories Destroyed 'Never Trump' Conservatism

He actually appeals to Milton Friedman's conception of freedom in his attempt to explain why Never Trumpers have surrendered (in that they're still making fun of progressive freakouts, which indicates they are now OK with Trump). Then he adds a couple paragraphs to the end to try to connect Rand.

He also laughably implies that a conservative like Charles Cooke cares less about the structure of government than liberals do.

[Episteme]

I look forward for the day I read about Charles CW Cooke snapping and finally murdering Jonathan Chait.

It will likely be with some sort of delightfully posh British death ray or something...
...then he'll rage-duck his eye-sockets, of course.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Amazing. That is just pure stream of consciousness poetry.

But if they want Millenials to pay attention, maybe a few more Bioshock series references instead?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Poor Ayn Rand.

You know who else's grave gets constantly pissed on...

[Brett L]

I'm really hoping Bud Adams'

[Chipwooder]

James Dolan - fuck waiting until he's dead, people should start pissing on him everywhere he goes.

[Unreconstructed (Sans Flag)]

^THIS * 1000

[bacon-magic]

Woodrow Wilson?

[Episteme]

Time Loop Mussolini?

[AceDroman]

GG Allin?

[John Titor]

To be fair, he only really liked the part where Roark grabbed Dominique by the pussy.

[Tyler.C]

Dagney?

[Overdecadent Kulak]

I love the proggie freak out over Trump maybe, possibly, hypothetically going after the F-35, I have my lefty friends talking about our "hollowed out" American military, and how many jobs the military creates, it's ridiculous.

We're all McCain-sians now!

[Juvenile Bluster]

Democrats are trying to re-start the cold war and complain about an underfunded military. Nothing makes sense any longer.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Just remember, it's a team sport. The sides of the issue don't matter, just 'member what team you're on.

[Red Rocks Dickin Bimbos]

There was actually a face-fanning article arguing that Trump's rhetoric was threatening jobs in the 35 states or whatever where the various pieces of the F-35 are built. We truly have reached the age of wonders where lefties are complaining about Trump threatening MIC-related jobs.

[Brett L]

I feel badly for those Syrians killed in reprisals, but somehow when I mention that all those Americans who want us to "do something!" really mean "kill somebody!" then I'm the asshole.

[Tonio]

WaPo: Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists

[kbolino]

An actual acolyte: someone who can't stop talking about how their pet cause is super important
Not an acolyte: someone who never mentions or even alludes to the cause or person they're allegedly following

[Tonio]

Progs have been aching for an excuse to blame libertarians for this, and this is their pretext.

[Col. Chestbridge]

Little do they realize, Rand loathed libertarians.

[PurityDiluting]

Ron Paul for Fed chair!

[DEG]

Impressive new cars for 2016

2016 will always be remembered as the year of Brexit, Donald Trump and the passing of many celebrity legends. But as fierce political debate raged on and we mourned the loss of our favorite stars, car manufacturers kept their heads down to make some truly magnificent motors.
So here we are, with a list of 10 cars that have the power to excite, inspire and terrify -- or just make the daily commute that little bit more bearable.

I like the Jaguar and the Bugatti.

[Sevo]

A Ferrari Lusso is not a station wagon:
http://www.supercars.net/blog/.....-gt-lusso/

[Jerry on the sea]

Donald Trump intends to nominate Rick Perry as secretary of energy.

Nice, it will take Perry at least 2 years to figure out where he has to show up for work.

[Zunalter]

I'm okay with that.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Yea, he took too long to his abolish DOE answer. Still, looks like he is more in the libertarian direction than Mr. LP status quo would have picked.

[gaoxiaen]

I hope other bureaucrats follow his lead.

[Crusty Juggler]

An Open Letter to Fellow Minority Journalists

Blahblah whiney blah we're serious and important whine it ends with this:

We, the like-minded who believe that there is value in the clich? of speaking truth to power and value a progressive coalition over careerism, have to start building our own shit.

[Mr. Flanders]

We.... have to start building our own shit

Christ. Finally one starts to see the light. Stop trying to take other people's shit, build your own.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Sounds like they're gonna make an igloo.

[Swiss Servator]

Shigloo?

[Darth Squirrel]

Nigloo?

Yeah, I went there.

[Tyler.C]

Speaking truth to power is cool again

[Mazakon]

British MP takes a note out of Dems' playbook, accuses Russia of swaying Brexit vote

Leading Remain campaigner Ben Bradshaw questioned the validity of the result in June, claiming people were underestimating the extent of cyber warfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His extraordinary claim came in an emergency Commons debate on the latest developments in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's Russian-backed forces have been storming the city of Aleppo.

But his allegation was given short shrift by Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman, who responded: "I have not come across any evidence that Russian cyber warfare was used to influence the referendum."

[rts]

I didn't get a very good sleep last night.

I blame Putin.

[Mazakon]

Somehow, I believe there's a person out there (in the West) that believes that.

[Zero Sum Game]

Russophobia is racist. Why are you posting to that alt-left garbage? It's racist.

[AceDroman]

I'm on the record in a previous links page as being the first the suggest Russian involvement in Brexit

[Col. Chestbridge]

Good news, everyone! I'm now allowed to drink alcohol again. Though I've been advised to limit myself to just a single drink every now and again, until my pancreas stops being so pathetic and low-energy (assuming it ever does).

This entire experience has been rather eye-opening (and a little saddening) with regards to the limits of modern medical knowledge / technology.

[Brett L]

Disorder to the enemy! Up the Pancreas!

[bacon-magic]

Cheers!

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Admit it - how many men need to die for you to get perfect cocktail recipes?

[Col. Chestbridge]

They give Pierre the cocktail recipes. Think before opening your mouth next time, Claire!

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

*sits down defeated*

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

I'd say take 'er easy man but *ponders his own liver* I'd be a fucking hypocrite.

[Col. Chestbridge]

I wasn't that big of a drinker before anyway, which is how I've managed to baffle so many doctors.

No alcohol certainly made this election season harder to get through, though.

[Free Society]

They might not believe you. But congrats! My mom is dealing with an extremely similar pancreas thing right now too.

[Riven]

I'd buy you a scotch if you were in my area to celebrate.

[Libertarian]

"The U.S. will halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen."

Sounds like the administration doesn't want Trump to get all of the credit for stopping yet another war.

[Jerryskids]

don't say anything about the hair, don't say anything about the hair, don't say anything about the hair

[AlmightyJB]

Business in front, party in the back

[Riven]

*nods knowingly, winks*

[BigT]

"Business in front, party in the back"

Another anal fan?

[AlmightyJB]

Kim likes to have something to hold onto.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

?Rebels in Aleppo say they've reached a ceasefire with Russia.

Where?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The capitol of Syria you ignorant fuck.

[GILMORE?]

If i recall, didn't NYT or CNN actually make that same mistake when they were crowing about Gay Jay's 'error'?

[GILMORE?]

Right = here

New York Times Gets Key Aleppo Fact Wrong in Story About Gary Johnson's Gaffe

they claimed it was the "Capitol for ISIS" ....which is actually Raqaa

THEN in their "correction", they tried to claim it was the *Syrian* Capitol (which is Damascus)

Update: In its initial correction, the Times referred to Aleppo as the Syrian capital. That was also incorrect; the capital is Damascus:

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

*cups his hands and whispers into Gilmore's ear* That was the joke, my friend.

[True Scottsman]

Can't you just give Gilmore a high-5 or a hug or something nice? Does everything on hit and run have to be smug or smarmy?

[Zunalter]

That fucking idiot Gary Johnson

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump intends to nominate Rick Perry as secretary of energy.

PEOTUS loved him in Journey. Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' changed Trump's life.

[AlmightyJB]

We knew this was coming

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/.....index.html

[BakedPenguin]

Solved:

Walter Williams as Fed Chair
Thomas Sowell as Sec of Labor
Janice Rogers Brown for SC Justice.

[AlmightyJB]

Those are all white people

[Sevo]

With good tans.

[OneOut]

One thing that can be said about Trumps appointments.

Most of them seem to have at least some real world experience in what they are nominated for.

I remember Obama talking about one of his committees he put together for something or other and because it was comprised of all academics he called them the smartest people in the world in the subject matter.

[gaoxiaen]

Oreos, eggplants, whatever.

[Crusty Juggler]

For those of you who have not seen my favorite video in the history of ever, it's resistance leader Keith Olbermann warning America about the Russian scum that have taken control of our once great nation.

Donald John Trump is being controlled by Russian scum. SCUM!

[Citizen X]

Keith Olbermann is still a thing? Why?

[Ted S.]

Because he says things journalists like to hear.

[Zunalter]

Salient.

[bacon-magic]

I watched 30 seconds and had to stop. Some of the comments are cute...

[Free Society]

some=very few, but here are some posts ranging from tolerable to amusing.

keyboard user17 hours ago
Nov 7. "There is literally no way the Elections could be rigged"
Nov 9. "Russia rigged the elections"

Come on guys.?

nagasako713 hours ago
Oldermann makes North Korean news look subtle?

Him Downstairs16 hours ago
this is fake news?

Jacob E.15 hours ago
Poor guy, he seems upset over something.?

By youtube standards that's some top class commentary.

[jack sprat]

I trust your recommendation but I just can't watch anything with Keith Olbermann without becoming very physically ill and I have some further work to do today.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

iowahawk: "he's basically become Alex Jones with a $150 production budget"

[John Titor]

I didn't know the John Birch Society had a youtube channel.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Is there any actual evidence of voter fraud, hacking, or anything that would actually lead a reasonable person to question the integrity of the election?

All I've seen so far is that anonymous people in the CIA thinks the motive for the DNC hack and the Podesta hack was to get Trump elected. [This doesn't actually make sense to me, tbh. It seems more likely that the Russians, like everyone else, believed Hillary would win and simply wanted to bring her legitimacy into question.]

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Also, I was assured repeatedly over the past 18 months that (1) even suggesting that the election system could be vulnerable to fraud or hacking was racist and/or sexist paranoia conspiracy thoerying and (2) relying on anonymous intelligence sources is bad and (3) not accepting the results of the election is beyond the pale.

Was this more of that "projection" thing I keep hearing about?

[OneOut]

Actually what you have seen is that someone SAID some anonymous people in the CIA thinks that.

[John Titor]

Oh god why did I read the comments?

Let's see here: arrest Trump for treason, military needs to support the Constitution (I assume they mean by deposing Trump), treason, America is controlled by oligarchs (actually their candidate lost), lock up Trump and the entire GOP, Russians are overthrowing the U.S. government, treason, "If you're not part of the Resistance You're Part of the Reich", and one Russian telling everyone how they're idiots and his government is too incompetent to do this.

[GILMORE?]

I kept expecting him to break out in tears in the midst of that.

[GSL in E]

"Mandrake, do you know why I only drink distilled water, or rain water, or pure grain alcohol?"

[Tyler.C]

Have you ever seen a commie drink water?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

So I've been traveling for work for the past couple weeks, and it looks like I've fallen behind on the news during my absence.

Can someone catch me up here? I get back and it seems like Democrats and their surrogates in the MSM are trying to outrage us into wars with China and Russia, mostly because they are still out of their minds over Trump.

What the fuck is wrong with these idiots?

[waffles]

It's not their fault Trump is a secret Russian puppet objectivist monster.

[Sevo]

Ya know, Ayn Rand was an ex-pat Russki. Do I have to connect the dots for you?

[Col. Chestbridge]

She also had an architecture fetish. Trump builds towers. The dots practically connect themselves!

[John Titor]

She wrote books about women being grabbed by the pussy! WAKE UP SHEEPLE.

[PapayaSF]

You guys are great. You've put it all together. #Putingate

[Episteme]

Secret puppets and grabbing people by pussies? You just given a literal-minded Trump an excuse for shoved his hand at people's crotches!

[Sevo]

Mostly because they are still out of their minds over Trump.

[Crusty Juggler]

Can someone catch me up here?

Warty Hugeman is in trouble!

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Not just any sort of trouble. Nazi hate-muff trouble!!

[Rhywun]

Pew pew!

[bacon-magic]

Where's our Doomcock decoder ring, dammit?

[lafe.long]

Where's our Doomcockring decoder, dammit?

Fixed.

[bacon-magic]

Accepted. Now where is it?

[The malevolent Skeksi]

Were you traveling by horseback?

[Jerryskids]

Cal down by 7 at halftime.

[True Scottsman]

Thanks, my internet is down.

[Pro Libertate]

I don't know, and I don't care. At all. Their credibility has finally reached 0.00.

[Tonio]

I have no idea which issue you are referring to, but this is a universally true statement about MSM, progs, etc.

[Pro Libertate]

Indeed.

[SugarFree]

Warty Hugeman and The Girl With the Nazi-Ray Eyes: A Warty Hugeman Time Travel Adventure

Chapter Two: There's A Taste In My Mouth As Desperation Takes Hold

[lafe.long]

The Energy Department, meanwhile, refuses to provide Trump's transition team with a list of employees working on climate issues.

This is gold.

We KNEW this shit was gonna be entertaining.

[RAHeinlein]

He also requested names of individuals who had attended certain conferences. An unnamed source indicated some conferences may have been infiltrated by Russians and DOE attendees conditioned as sleeper agents.

[Tonio]

Next Up: Agonized musings from those employees about where will they go, what will they do, etc. Bonus points for the first one who thinks he is going to be arrested or interned.

[Lee Genes]

NPR will run interviews with forlorn federal bureaucrats wondering whether they should forgo Christmas presents for their kids because of job insecurity. I guarantee it.

[BakedPenguin]

Maybe the Venezuelan government will donate some toys

[Threedoor]

Holiday presents. They are progs after all.

[PurityDiluting]

My guess that in the battle of dept head vs career bureaucrats, the bureaucrats win by adopting a siege mentality to ride out the storm. Is it even possible to fire a govt worker?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Just abolish the department entirely and fire everyone. They can all be Spartacus if they want.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Trump Picks Rick Perry for Energy

Will this put a damper on the rumoured Journey reunion?

[Tonio]

So the first link is like a superlink conglomeration of all the Trump news. Brilliant.

[lafe.long]

Eddie Kray is famous for consolidating lynx.

[SugarFree]

Like where you take all the small pieces of soap and squeeze them together to make a new bar.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Except the new bar is still better than all of Robby's soap and includes hilarious alt-text.

[lafe.long]

Small Indiana town removes cross instead of fighting ACLU

The lawsuit claimed plaintiff and Knightstown resident Joseph Tompkins was "forced to come into unwelcome contact" with the display, causing him "irreparable harm."

Tompkins said in the suit that he didn't want his tax dollars used to light and maintain the cross.

[Illocust]

So everyone in town puts a lit cross in their yard in response right? Especially his neighbors, if seeing a cross causes irreparable harm he's probably going to need to move.

Seriously, I'm okay with the cross getting taken down, that doesn't make the guy's reasoning for it any less stupid and obviously false.

[Mr. Paulbotto]

A lit cross?!

Uh-oh...

[creech]

Yeah, a few years ago the local religionists fought tooth and nail to keep a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. I pointed out (in a letter never printed by the local paper) that there were five Christian churches within five blocks of the courthouse and none of them saw fit to put a nativity scene on their own lawn!

[SugarFree]

Atheist or vampire?

[PapayaSF]

"Asshole" is another option.

[SugarFree]

Crosses have never harmed Citizen X.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"Joseph Tompkins was 'forced to come into unwelcome contact' with the display, causing him 'irreparable harm.'"

So, hyperbolic fucking asshole, sure, but not spending tax dollars to maintain a lighted cross seems reasonable.

[OneOut]

There are quite a few things that my taxpayer dollars get spent on that I'm not fond of.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Today in Awesome Headline Leads to Disappointment, World's largest reindeer herd plummets

No, they didn't charge off the cliff, shouting "Fuck you and your toys, old man, we quit!"

The Taimyr herd is one of the most monitored groups of reindeer in the world. The animals have been tracked for nearly 50 years by aerial surveys and more recently by satellite imagery.

The population reached a peak of one million in 2000, but this latest research suggests that there are now only 600,000 reindeer.

"Climate change is at least one of the variables," explained Prof Petrov.

[Pro Libertate]

Why is that, Professor?

[PapayaSF]

Because Trump.

[BigT]

Global warming caused too much growth of yummy plants, the reindeer overate, and died of gout. Duh!!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"Climate change is at least one of the variables," explained Prof Petrov.

That variable could be .00000000000000000000001% of the equation or 110% of the equation, but regardless, it's the only variable that's going to make it into the print article.

[PurityDiluting]

"Climate change is at least one of the variables,"
When wouldn't it be a variable? Throw it in there, even if it has a relative weight of 0 in the formula.
Sounds like Petrov wants more grant money. Hey wait a minute, Petrov is a Russkie name. They're everywhere!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

We're too late!!!!

[Lee Genes]

at least one of the variables

Nice hedge there prof.

[Libertarian]

One of the VARIABLES? So, technically, climate change *could* be increasing the herd!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

"Climate change is at least one of the variables

Alternative explanation.

[Jerry on the sea]

I blame Thor: Lightning strike kills more than 300 reindeer in Norway.

[Mad Scientist]

Climate change was one of the variables in that lightning strike.

[Acosmist]

So the peak was right after the warming and it's been declining during the pause?

Just going by their own terms, it seems like "climate change" was GOOD for the herd.

[lafe.long]

BBC addresses Planet Earth's baby turtles death scenes with good news

Emotional scenes saw hundreds of hatchlings being crushed by cars or falling down drains as they made their way towards the city instead of the sea, disorientated by urban lights.
It was harrowing but necessary viewing as it reminded viewers that we are allowing animals to suffer by thoughtlessly encroaching on their habitats.

Devastated viewers took to Twitter to query the fate of the turtles who were filmed in the show.

[Illocust]

So natural selection is enforced? Couple generation down the road and lights won't bother these guys anymore. There is a reason they have so damn many babies.

[PurityDiluting]

" the fate of the turtles " ... road kill soup

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Force waterfront property owners to turn off their lights.

They're all a bunch of red state trump voting flyover scumbags, so who cares about them?

[Libertarian]

I'm going to say this just once. ONCE!

If the Democrats think that the CIA has evidence that Russia hacked them and threw the election to Trump, yet the CIA is informally leaking this information to the press rather than briefing Congress, then the Democrats should be calling for the abolishment of the CIA instead of whining about losing.

[Pro Libertate]

I'll say this much: No more liberaltarians. Period.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

But Dave Weigel is just the shot of talent Reason needs to boldly face the Trump Years.

[Pro Libertate]

No means fucking no.

[Chipwooder]

Somewhere, Will Wilkinson is shedding a single, lonely tear.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Nah, he's safely ensconced at the Niskanen Center, getting paid them non-profit bucks to argue that libertarians must accept that American liberals are right and welfare is justified.

[GILMORE?]

Something like that. Its like "Libertarianish ideas are only possible if we first accept big-government as a fact of life"

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

But what is libertarianism, you may be asking, if it rejects the non-aggression principle and holds that negative liberty is the handmaiden of positive liberty? What is libertarianism if it embraces "social justice"?

It's a good question. It's not obvious that this sort of libertarianism is not something else, even if it's indisputably libertarian-ish. Does it all simply melt into standard liberalism? I don't think so. However, it does in effect admit that standard libertarian arguments against standard liberal foundations are weak. But by rebuilding libertarianism more or less on the standard liberal foundations, the new libertarianism challenges standard liberalism in a way the old libertarianism never really could.

Neoclassical liberalism is, in sum, the direct descendant of standard libertarianism, but it didn't develop as a rebuke to standard libertarianism. Far from it. It developed, in the face of standard liberal challenges to libertarianism, as a challenge to standard liberalism.

... All those renovations to the inherited libertarian foundations?ditching the non-aggression principle, embracing positive liberty, social justice, and all that?were necessary to shore-up libertarianism so that it can rise to the challenge of reclaiming the liberal mantle.

[GILMORE?]

Its the kind of stupid you need an MFA for

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I didn't realize how much I hate philosophers until BHL was launched. I love philosophy, but I was naive as to how much insular navel-gazing is done by academic political philosophers. It didn't help that before then I was mostly following blogs by economists or the cosmocucks here. Even Randians and Rothbardians are more tolerable; at least you can find and challenge their premises and reasoning. But with academic philosophers, I want to sit them down, slap them, and say, "Let's start at the beginning: Why should I believe or care about ____?"

BHL is also why Deirdre McCloskey will always have a place in my heart: "I'm from economics and history, and I'm here to help you."

[CatoTheChipper]

What is libertarianism if it embraces "social justice"?

Nonsense. That is what anything that embraces "social justice" becomes.

The term "social justice," Hayek tells us, "does not belong to the category of error but to that of nonsense, like the term 'a moral stone.'"

"Libertarian social justice" just compounds the nonsense.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

What is libertarianism if it embraces "social justice"?

Socialism. Duh.

[Mad Scientist]

But they don't think the Russians hacked the election and threw it to Trump. They just want everyone else to think that.

[GILMORE?]

The Energy Department, meanwhile, refuses to provide Trump's transition team with a list of employees working on climate issues

Ok then - just fire everyone.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yeah, I don't get it, Big Dan. Either the executive is in control of its agencies, or its not. If it's not, we should be very afraid.

[Illocust]

Nah, just fire the guy actually saying no, then ask his replacement the same question. Repeat until you get the list. Playing to a bureaucrats self-preservation instinct will get you a lot farther in turning the department around than hiring all new.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Michael Malice reports: Internet Trolls Launch Campaign to Shut Down Progressive Spaces

The self-proclaimed "board of peace" has a dynamic content structure. As threads stop getting replies, they move from the first page to the second and so on. After they fall away from the tenth page, the thread and its contents are gone. This original thread got little traction and vanished roughly six hours after it began, with little to show for itself. The story could have ended there.

Yet a few years ago 4plebs.org started automatically archiving threads from certain 4chan boards?including the notorious /pol/. Two days after the original thread dropped off of 4chan, it was discovered on the 4plebs archive by several people who advocate for and use such DIY spaces. Apparently thinking that they were replying to the 4chan posters, they began to criticize and vilify the project in terms every bit as strenuous and hostile as the original thread. Worse, they began to share the dead-before-it-started 4chan plan on social media.

All this activity caused /pol/ users to rediscover an idea that they had heard and disregarded within six hours.

The idea being to report DIY spaces for fire code violations.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I can't figure out what's going on from your excerpt. Side question, isn't 4chan one of those sites largely peopled by 14 yr old trolls, but yet I keep hearing it referred to as the Nexus of a Political and Cultural Movement.

[Lee Genes]

Nexus of a Political and Cultural Bowel Movement

[Illocust]

Some older folks, but all trolls.

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Blame character limits! A troll on 4chan suggested they start looking for DIY spaces and report them for fire code violations, so as to punish progressives and hippies and the like. It got no attention, until...

On December 8, DoDIY.org, "a catalog of DIY spaces and promoters" was proactively shut down by its owner Neil Campau. "As I write this message," he said, "DIY spaces are being shutdown around the country and even though it's been a huge labor of love (of which I've dedicated 9 or so years running), I have no intention in letting it simply become a tool for authorities." He explicitly linked to the cause of the problem: "If you're a cop combing this site looking for some folks to evict or some vile human looking to call the cops on folks listed here, fuck off immediately."

Being told to "fuck off immediately" caused the trolls to have precisely the opposite reaction. As a result, /pol/ has taken on the campaign with renewed vigor. Daily threads on the board receive hundreds of replies And since it's /pol/, the name for the activism is being given the most offensive name possible: Right Wing Safety Squads (i.e., "SS" for short). They're forcing people to make sure their spaces are literal "safe spaces," or else having them shut down by the authorities.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

So... they're SWATting progressives' physical spaces by sending municipal inspectors?

This is both awful and delicious at the same time.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

It's better.

Some asshole suggested it. No one cared.

Then a proggie noticed it and started screaming about how 4channers are going to do this, and how do we fight it?!!!!!

Then 4channers were like "We what? Say, that...that actually does sound like a good idea!"

Lesson is - if something dies on 4chan DO NOT RESUSCITATE!

[Free Society]

I've tried to like 4chan. Couldn't do it. As Charles Barkley would say, it's turribel.

[John Titor]

4chan's awful, but when people you don't like step on it like a beehive it's hilarious.

[PapayaSF]

It is funny, though I dislike the idea of oddball art spaces getting shut down.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

SIR CHARLES!

[Mr. Paulbotto]

You know who else had an SS?

[Swiss Servator]

Cunard Lines?

[Libertarian]

Kiss?

[SimonD]

Me. It was a Monte Carlo.

[gaoxiaen]

Sally Struthers?

[Illocust]

DIY Do It Yourself? What's wrong with having equipment to build cool things?

[GILMORE?]

The family of 73-year-old Francisco Serna say he may have been holding a crucifix when he was shot and killed by a Bakersfield cop.

IT KILLED CHRIST! ITS TECHNICALLY A DEADLY WEAPON

[Pro Libertate]

He was holding a full-sized crucifix?

[Episteme]

"Now, young Nazorean, you'll face the power of this armed and operational set of posts!"

[gaoxiaen]

His neighbors called him Constantine.

[The malevolent Skeksi]

If the person you murder comes back to life can we really say a murder took place?

[lafe.long]

Bill Gates, investors launch $1 billion clean tech fund

The fund seeks to increase financing of emerging energy research and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to help meet goals set in Paris, according to a statement by the investor group known as the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

[Rhywun]

This is great. Let them throw their own money out the window instead of mine.

[GILMORE?]

Snapchat gets group chat.

I've never figured out what Snapchat is, other than the general impression that its like Twitter... only for people for whom "Text" is too cerebral and demanding.

[SugarFree]

It's more like texting, but your phone and their phone doesn't save it. Ad hoc privacy app for secure communication.

[Crusty Juggler]

You can't do this when you text.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

I can too!

Ladies.

[gaoxiaen]

Would. Doggy style. That nose is a turn-off.

[Lee Genes]

So it's a sexting app child porn generator

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

You can post a funny lolpic that literally disappears after a few seconds. The young people like it because their parents can't read their history. that's why journalists don't refer to "Snapchat" as an original news source.

[GILMORE?]

that's why journalists don't refer to "Snapchat" as an original news source.

I actually crossed myself and thanked the almighty for this.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

As Michael Moynihan said, "Pretty much everyone on twitter is a journalist"

[GILMORE?]

67-year-old Larry Russell Dawson of Antioch, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to a charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers while using a deadly or dangerous weapon

He had a BB gun. I think he should have maybe considered the slightly-more-expensive lawyer.

[The malevolent Skeksi]

But your honor, you could shoot your eye out.

[GILMORE?]

Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright... You Need a Permit in Ohio

[Jerry on the sea]

L?t er v?l smaka: Baker makes Swedish Lucia buns using her own breast milk.

[bacon-magic]

Would, not the buns though...cuz tha sugah.

[GILMORE?]

A full body (*not kidding) picture of the same chica

[DesigNate]

Still would.

[GILMORE?]

Top-Toppest Intelligence Agency Says "We Haven't Actually Swallowed What the Media is Calling "Consensus""

WASHINGTON

The overseers of the U.S. intelligence community have not embraced a CIA assessment that Russian cyber attacks were aimed at helping Republican President-elect Donald Trump win the 2016 election, three American officials said on Monday.

While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) does not dispute the CIA's analysis of Russian hacking operations, it has not endorsed their assessment because of a lack of conclusive evidence that Moscow intended to boost Trump over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, said the officials, who declined to be named.

Surely the Times and the Post will be all over this crucial updat........ Oh.

[Lee Genes]

The United States had two decades of warning that Russia's intelligence agencies were trying to break into America's most sensitive computer networks. But the Russians have always managed to stay a step ahead.

The DNC - one of America's most sensitive computer networks

[GILMORE?]

NYT Rational Discourse Continues =

TN in NC North Carolina 1 hour ago

If there ever were a reason for the Electoral College to take the election results into its own hands and deliver the country from an illegitimate result with devastating consequences to our national security and esteem among the world's nations, this is it.

Amazingly, the president-elect is brazenly assembling a team of Russian sympathizers to form his cabinet. The Russians won't need to hack the servers of a Trump administration, they'll have direct access to classified information through the friends they helped to high places.

Electors, do your job and protect this country! Refuse to elect Mr. Trump on Dec. 19th! If you refuse to consider your votes in light of the mounting evidence that this election was, indeed, rigged, the weight of its consequences is on your shoulders and your conscience.

Any of the other candidates would be a more responsible choice

There are actually a dozen "sane" responses in the NYT picks on that story. I suspect the reason this story was floated on a Friday was that they expected it to be debunked by Monday.... so why not milk the bullshit for the weekend?

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

Then the House elects Paul Ryan or Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney or John Kasich (let's pretend that's how it works). And these people would be content, right?

[GILMORE?]

my laugh was more of a quiet, "huh huh huh" one.

they'd be shitting themselves purple if Mitt Romney were the president-elect, and the EPA head was only a mild-critic of Climate Change rather than a firebreathing denier.

outrage is their only setting.

[Derpmaster General]

I'm apparently a member of the alt-right for going to see "The Book of Mormon" this weekend.

[John Titor]

The fuck do Mormons have to do with the alt-right? Explain now.

[Lee Genes]

Well they are pretty white.

[Derpmaster General]

It's part of the vast right wing conspiracy or something. Musical Theater is now dominated by Teathuglikkkans. That may explain why Elder Price couldn't sing.

[Episteme]

We actually have a term for Mormons...

...establishment conservatives.

[GILMORE?]

Syrian Civil War: Mild Speedbump In Otherwise Impeccable Obama Foreign Policy Legacy

The fall of the last rebel-held areas in the Syrian city of Aleppo could seal the fate of the "Obama Doctrine," deepening the world's worst humanitarian crisis in decades and staining U.S. President Barack Obama's legacy.

With the U.S.-aligned rebels facing defeat by government forces backed by Russia and Iran, Obama's light-footprint approach to the Syrian conflict will suffer a serious blow...

The rebel loss would underscore the failure of U.S. efforts to stem the carnage from Syria's nearly six-year-old civil war....

"There is no doubt he will be hammered in historical terms," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East adviser to Republican and Democratic administrations. "The question will be why he didn't do more."

Claiming that the problem was "Obama's "Failure to Do More"".... seems to me to whitewash his legacy rather than 'stain it'... because it manages to bury the role the US played in both starting and prolonging the conflict.

[Libertarian]

"In eight years in the White House there had been an uninterrupted stretch of calm and decency. In eight years there has been no scandal, not even a whiff of scandal, coming from the White House."

-- Dave Eggers in the Guardian

Hhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahh

[PapayaSF]

Eggers needs to pull his politics out of his nose. It will improve his sense of smell.

[John]

http://www.politico.com/magazi.....ion-214524

It is official, every election that doesn't go the way the left wants it to is the result of Russian hacking. What is funny about this story is that it is well known that Soros hired internet trolls to shill for Hillary. If Putin hired trolls to shill for Trump, the internet over the last year has been mostly Soros and Putin hired trolls shouting at each other. And when you think about it, that explains a lot.

[GILMORE?]

Well, I just learned the expression, "Presstitutes"

[Zeb]

Oh, man, I hope that is it. Everything makes so much more sense if that's what's been happening.

[John Titor]

If the Russians were this amazingly competent and Machiavellian, how the hell did they manage to lose the Cold War?

[John]

They are clever in the way an Arab Shek is clever. They are great at lying and outsmarting adversaries but not much else. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out the "Russians stole the election" stuff was the Russian misinformation campaign.

[The malevolent Skeksi]

No fucking doubt they would go that rout, but it hasn't happened yet and won't unless Trump changes his pro- Putin posture. It would change of course if as you've suggested Team Trump is secretly plotting to crash the oil price and is really Putin's worst nightmare.

[John]

I think Team Trump is openly plotting to crash the oil prices. Look at his picks at energy and EPA. It is pretty clear to me that he is going to turn the American oil and gas industry loose. And that is Putin's worst nightmare. If Putin wanted Trump to win, he is a complete moron.

I don't think Putin wanted Trump to win. I think Putin thought like every "expert" his intelligence agencies heard that Trump couldn't win. If the Russians did in fact hack the DNC and such, they didn't do it in hopes Trump would win because they didn't think that could happen. They did it to weaken what they saw as an inevitable Hillary Presidency. I will bet you dollars to doughnuts the Russians were just as shocked as the American media when Trump won.

[OneOut]

" it's impossible to prove Russia 'caused' a Trump victory, and they are correct. "

Then shut up and go away.

[OneOut]

3. Start early and be persistent:"

OK. Did the Democrats not laugh about screwing up the Republican primary in all the open voting states by cross voting in states that allowed it ?

So the Democrats and Putin were in cahoots for Trump ?

[gaoxiaen]

I guess that you haven't looked at doughnut prices recently.

[The malevolent Skeksi]

Speaking of elections. I could seriously believe some of Team Ron Paul from the 2008 election were Russians. I'm not even attacking Paul. I was one of those shills for Paul. It would explain the seemingly disproportional dominance of the Paul presence online. And Paul's message was certainly something the Russians would like. Just a hunch.

[OneOut]

You don't think it might be connected to the fact that Paul tends to attract a younger, and more tech savy, than most pols ?

[BigT]

Ignore the troll.

[GILMORE?]

Other than "The Current Administration Tried to Ban Abortion" (*from a current status of 'mostly illegal' already)...

...I can't really make heads or tails of Polish Politics

[The malevolent Skeksi]

RE: The recent Islamic State's conquest of Palmyra

I suspect the Russians and Assad allowed the recapture to take place for politically strategic reasons. They like having ISIS around because it allows them to shape the narrative of this war as a fight against terrorism.

[John Titor]

Yep. ISIS is the last thing on their checklist. Target them if they're attacking important positions, but focus on cleaning house.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

While I did argue that Assad will get to the ISIS last (and really is hoping Iraq, Kurds and Americans will do the heavy lifting), capture of Palmyra was just an embarrassment for him. More importantly, for Russians, after they held their classical music concert in the old amphitheater.

But first, looting and mass executions in Aleppo - what's the point of conquering an enemy city if you won't let your troops sack it? Then, another mass effort to boot ISIS out, then they'll probably be back in six months, because competence is not how you got promoted in Syrian army.

[John]

http://libertyhangout.org/2016.....d-harambe/

CIA confirms that it was Russia that killed Harambe. I knew it.

[Libertarian]

Caucasians. Figures.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

For comparison, this is what it looks like when Russia does shit.

Few of the killings in Turkey have been satisfactorily solved, but leaked Turkish police documents obtained by the BBC show that one triple assassination in September 2011 left many clues.
But while the killing itself may have been carried out professionally, the five hitmen left a wealth of information in a hired car, including their names and photos, and a USB stick illustrating their lifestyle, from the predictable - fast cars, male friendship and whisky - to the bizarre? a motorbike decorated with Nazi insignia.
....
Since the 1990s there has been "an interpenetration of organised crime and the security services," according to Prof Mark Galeotti.

"We have cases of hitmen being trained by spetsnaz special forces," he says. "We have cases of gangs being set up - criminal gangs being set up by former state security, KGB and then FSB, officers."

[Trigger Warning]

Oops.

[PapayaSF]

I once saw an XKSS in person, in a repair shop in Berkeley.

[Unreconstructed (Sans Flag)]

Why do you think he's on the registry?

[PapayaSF]

Almost. I asked politely and looked very, very closely, without touching.

[Libertarian]

You do realize that this is EXACTLY what Hitler would do.

[Tonio]

^This

[Darth Squirrel]

Hold its motherfucking stick!

[OneOut]

"The Baron grimaced, his face turning purple. He turned sharply on his heel and stalked away."

Only one heel ?

Is this foreshadowing ?

[gaoxiaen]

No. Blondi. Because nepotism.