Hate Crime Charges in Man's Kidnapping, Clapper Defends Intel on Hacking, Coats to Replace Clapper: P.M. Links

• 

  Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Newscom

  The four people, all black, arrested in Chicago in connection with the livestreamed beating and abuse of a mentally disabled white man, have been charged with hate crimes (and a host of other charges). Police initially said they weren't sure that the victim was actually targeted because he was white, despite the comments captured on the video.

• Defending their report that Russia was responsible for hacking and releasing information from the Democratic Party to attempt to influence the presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community. Their unclassified report explaining the hack will be publicly released next week.
• Former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Indiana) is going to succeed Clapper, according to sources talking to several different media outlets. Coats is a notable supporter of mass surveillance authorities, so that should be taken as an indicator of the incoming administration's attitude.
• Trump was deposed today—the legal kind of deposed, not the political one—to answer questions about a lawsuit connected to a chef who backed out of plans to open a restaurant in one of his hotels.
• Today's argument for school choice: A principal in Kentucky took students' phones and then sold any pornographic images he found on them (meaning the pics were of teens).
• Sears is joining Macy's in closing a bunch of stores. Sears Holding will be shutting 150 Kmart and Sears locations in 40 states.
• The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.
• Today's hiliariously embarassing media outlet mistake.

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Comments

[Citizen X]

Police initially said they weren't sure that the victim was actually targeted because he was white, despite the comments captured on the video.

What are they supposed to do, LOOK at the evidence? Pssh.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

I hope nothing happened to Fist in between now and his last comment. He could be dead somewhere.

[Citizen X]

Probably he was peeing and his dick got caught in the zipper. Poor guy, he's used to just wearing sweatpants.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Get this. I come home to find that Ernesto my Filipino manservant had bought I Can't Believe It's Not Butter instead of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light. Naturally this had to be addressed in the form of me screaming at him for twenty minutes. And that didn't include the fifteen minutes it took me to find my phrase book.

[jesse.in.mb]

You know he's peeing in your chicken adobo, don't you?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't really bother myself with the recipe. That's what my financial manager pays him for.

[buybuydandavis]

and as for the cream of mushroom soup, well...

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Please tell me that you beat him with the butter knife before sending him into the basement to polish your monocles with all those other good for nothing orphans.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, it was his refrigerator I found the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in. Had he bought it for my consumption, I might have.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Today's hiliarously embarassing media outlet mistake."

Unimpossible. It's been lectured to me media are awesome at verifying.

[DEG]

Gr?? Gott!

It all depends on how you define "verifying".

[Austrian Anarchy]

Did they mention that Robbie horse is their newspeak consultant?

[Aloysious]

That fucking Clapper.

[Citizen X]

Clap on! [clap clap] Clap off! [clap clap]

[Aloysious]

A John McCain and that fucking Clapper picture in one day. I'm triggered.

[Jerry on the sea]

Even worse is the NY Times cheerleading them on.

[PurityDiluting]

Clapper opens his mouth and people still actually listen to the words that come out with their bullshit meter redlining?
Pffft.

[Austrian Anarchy]

They always cheer on the big Democrats.

[C. Anacreon]

If ever I catch kleptomaniac Claude Cooper from Cleveland, who copped my clean copper Clappers that were kept in a closet, I'll clobber him.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I cackled.

[Crusty Juggler]

Ew.

[Col. Chestbridge]

These euphemisms are getting awfully alliterative.

[Rich]

"Stop saying *the word*!"

[jack sprat]

+1 Carol Wayne
(because those were my favorite skits even as one too young to really know why)

[ScareCroWoodChippeRepair]

What I like best about that video is watching Johnny Carson trying to not smile. And at the end, Jack Webb finally does smile. I can't imagine how they could even practice that routine.

[Charles Easterly]

Indeed, Webb impresses me the most.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.

Omg i was going to be first and I froze up...

[Not a True MJG]

You certainly would have impressed with that comment.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

*Light pops on 15 minutes later*

The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.

Fist is locked in my basement.

(Now that would have been a home run first comment)

[Col. Chestbridge]

But still not an official first. Rules are rules.

[Fist of Etiquette]

This isn't Nam.

[Col. Chestbridge]

Obviously. I only participate in wars against that bastard Johnny Hitler.

[Free Society]

Don't leave out Little Hitler.

[Free Society]

Don't leave out Little Hitler.

[kbolino]

And people say Lysander Spooner isn't relevant to the modern age.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Today's argument for school choice: A principal in Kentucky took students' phones and then sold any pornographic images he found on them (meaning the pics were of teens).

I'm wondering how he thought he wasn't going to get caught.

[Ted S.]

He didn't care. He thought he'd be let off with a paid vacation like the cops.

[Rich]

Easy. He streamed all his actions on Facebook.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

Sears is joining Macy's in closing a bunch of stores. Sears Holding will be shutting 150 Kmart and Sears locations in 40 states.

1) They had 150 stores?

2) A Red Ink Special

[flye]

I've been in a K-Mart that was closing down in two days.

It. Was. Terrifying.

[Sour Kraut]

I was in a Tops Appliance Mart in the 90s and was surprised at the totally dismissive service I got. It closed like a week later.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

That means the employees were told two weeks prior.

[Rhywun]

Every K-Mart I've ever been in looked like it was closing down in two days.

[DEG]

I know Sears still has stores, but I didn't think it was that many.

[Col. Chestbridge]

There's a Kmart a few miles from where I live. I'm pretty sure it's actually a ghost, or whatever it is the spirits of buildings become when they die but refuse to pass on from this world.

[Juvenile Bluster]

The last KMart in my area closed a few years ago. The building became a Charter School, which is good.

[Ted S.]

There's a Kmart in Poughkeepsie, apparently.

[Rhywun]

There are several in Manhattan, which surprised me at first.

[Conchfritters]

I had a Kmart close to where I grew up. The place was so bad that every store that opened in its place failed too. They need to tear the place down, and salt the earth where it once stood.

[Col. Chestbridge]

Ah yes, the old "built on a Kmart burial ground" trope.

[Conchfritters]

Well, at least that location in Iowa.

[Dick N. Bimbose (n?e Cooper)]

You son of a bitch, you left the shopping carts and you only moved the registers! You only moved the registers! Why! Why!

[Hayeksplosives]

I heart this comment.

[Brett L]

More importantly, selling the Craftsman brand, which was probably the last profitable piece they owned. It would be like GM selling their truck-line to Ford, licensing back the right to sell them royalty free for 15 years, and the plan for 2031 is...? Burn all the stores to the ground?

[Sour Kraut]

Following up on the earlier conversation about how much Black and Decker sucks. Wife and I have ordered a Bosch entry-level pro drill. Any opinions about whether this was a wise purchase?

[Lee Genes]

Depends, which model?

[Lee Genes]

For the record, Bosch is ok, they do have some bigbox versions of their tools though. Metabo is better.

But if you want the best cordless drill, go with the Panasonic, but it ain't cheap.

[Pope Jimbo]

As a kraut, aren't you obligated to buy Bosch?

[kbolino]

I've been very impressed with mine, and I've had it for 5 years. But I don't use it all that often, so take it with a grain of salt.

[But Enough About Me]

Bought four Bosch drivers/drills since 2008, and still have 'em. They're awesome. Only problem is finding batteries for the cordless ones now (although it's possible ? just got a new battery in October '16). Went through multiple renos (including an entire basement).

[Dick N. Bimbose (n?e Cooper)]

I had a plan that Sears should open Craftsman-only stores under the brand name ? less retail space in more flexible areas (malls, plazas).

[John C. Randolph]

No surprise there. Amazon is gutting them.

-jcr

[That's A Bingo!]

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper

Who lied under oath.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Lying is like 99% of what spies do.

[Rich]

"*You're* the one who's lying!"

[flye]

...LANA!

[Jerry on the sea]

Lying is like 99% of what spies do.

The other 1% of time they are claiming they are from Knossos.

[Pope Jimbo]

Lied to Congress.

The fiction is that Congress is supposed to outrank Clapper and the Executive branch fucks. If the spy agencies can lie to Congress, why can't the military begin ignoring the CIC?

[kbolino]

Congress's problem is not that people lie to them. It's that they do nothing about it. They have the power but refuse to exercise it. It doesn't help that lying to Congress in public isn't that big of a deal to them. The public hearings are generally charades; the real discussions happen behind closed doors.

[Pope Jimbo]

True that. They should have called a couple of pipe hittin' pages to go medieval on Clapper's ass with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.

[{|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>]

As a child, my desire to be a congressional whip evaporated when, upon visiting my State's representatives at the capital, I came to understand the whips were not actually charged with whipping congressmen.

[OneOut]

" It's that they do nothing about it."

They do nothing about it if it is someone from the executive branch. There have been a couple of times lately when executive branch bureaucrats have thumbed their nose at Congress and nothing happened. Lois Lerner plus the head of the IRS. I know pleading the 5th isn't the same as outright lying but you try it and see how it works for you in the long term. They will follow up your 5th with immense resources to fuck you up.

You go up there and lie to them ( without powerful interests in your corner ) and see what happens to you.

[kbolino]

Indeed.

[Bill Dalasio]

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that they have to refer the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution.

[ant1sthenes]

Or they could, I dunno, pass a law giving them their own set of prosecutors to go after executive branch malfeasance.

[thrakkorzog]

It seems like that would run into some separation of powers issues. OTOH, it's not like it has stopped anybody before.

[ant1sthenes]

I can't see why. The executive branch is obligated to faithfully enforce the law, but it would beyond ludicrous to expect them to enforce that provision on themselves. Yes, if Congress's prosecutors went against private citizens, that would be a SoP issue, but it seems like it would just be a part of their impeachment power to prosecute government officials.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community.

Trump's going to get the MLK treatment from the FBI?

[Conchfritters]

At least Trump didn't tell the CIA that he is going to shatter them into 1,000 pieces. It didn't turn out so well for the last President who tried to do that.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Treasonous Republicans still refuse to accept election results, threaten fabric of our democracy, nay, of our humanity!

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

Asked about any brewing challenges to the vote, a chuckling Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn said, "It's a way for some people to have fun." He declined to comment further.

Boys will be boys. Trump was just having a good time (trolling) when he said he'd only accept the results if he won, too.

[Brett L]

Obviously, there are still a few lunkers out there who will rise to the bait and send a fat check. That's my only hope.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Will Palin's Buttplug?

You know how he is about sending in checks?

[Zero Sum Game]

We cannot allow a foreign nation to ever influence our elections because it harms our liberty, freedom and independence.

Hmm, where were they when Obama was threatening the UK's future economic prosperity if they voted yes on brexit? A world leader (of a nation with an incredibly large economy) vaguely threatening economic sanctions in order to muscle an ally into voting the way he wanted... not a peep. Maybe the Russians were responsible for distributing private e-mails that might have cost Her the Presidency? Treachery!

[Free Society]

It would be totally different if some guy in Dogdick, Iowa, instead of Russia, managed to phish a 65 year old man's password and leak his emails. Like totally. One is whistleblowing with illegally obtained information, the other is an insidious act of war that thousands or potentially millions of people need to die over.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

If you're going to phish someone's passwords, don't do it to someone in the same country as you're in. Do it to someone in a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with your country.

[Zero Sum Game]

On location in Dogdick, Iowa.

Note: That's actually in Dogdick, Nebraska.

[Raven Nation]

Didn't Obama at least encourage some of his campaign staff to work on behalf of the Israeli opposition a few years back?

[Free Society]

Yeah they brazenly poured money into that Israeli election too, as I recall.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Come on, are you really expecting them to stick to a principle?

Do unto others, and cry like a baby when others do unto you.

[Zero Sum Game]

Obama: "I think it's fair to say that maybe some point down the line, there might be a UK-U.S. trade agreement, but it's not going to happen anytime soon, because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done, and the UK is going to be in the back of the queue."

Not an example of interfering in another nation's voting.

" our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc" #biggovmatters

Trump: "You would certainly not be at the back of the queue, that I can tell you."

EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO AMERICA AND THE WORLD!

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Of course!

[Free Society]

Democratic lawmakers considering challenge to Trump's Electoral College victory

I hope they do it and they're successful. Because I'd bet serious money that this country would break into pieces and meaningful rumblings of secession would begin.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Dana Milbank thinks we aren't appreciative enough of demigod Obama.

In the new Disney animated film "Moana," the once mighty but now fallen demigod Maui, in the voice of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, sings about his earlier triumphs in hopes of earning admiration:

[...]

Watching the final days of the Obama administration, one suspects the Hawaiian-born president could empathize with Maui.

Before the election, President Obama campaigned for Hillary Clinton by reciting the many achievements of his administration: economic recovery, rebuilt auto industry, 15 million new jobs, less foreign oil, cheap gas, more clean energy, fewer troops overseas, Osama bin Laden dead, agreements on climate change and Iran's nukes, higher incomes, less poverty, same-sex marriage legalized, millions more insured. "Thanks, Obama!" he said, appropriating the meme his critics used ironically.

But Americans thought the country was on the wrong track, and voters demanded change. They rejected Obama's handpicked successor in favor of the man who led the campaign challenging Obama's legitimacy as a natural-born American.

[Lee Genes]

Milbank is a one-man talking point parrot.

[Sour Kraut]

It is at least refreshing, that after every article this mendacious hack posts, he is showered with comments about what a hack he that reference the DNC leaks.

The idea that the MSM is just going to keep employing these people who were publicly exposed as blatan hacks, like nothing ever happened, surprises even a person with a sour attitude like me.

[Free Society]

Come to think of it, the election was "hacked", just by hacks instead of hackers.

[John Titor]

So I'm going to be the elitist snob here and ask: does Milbank think his audience is retarded, or is he just culturally ignorant? Starting your super-serious supposedly intelligent musings on the actions of the President with "as this children's movie illustrates" is almost satirical.

I mean, come on, this is easy. "I see a bit of Gaius Marius in Obama. Ignored in the later years of his political career, his earlier achievements and actions to save the Republic forgotten, he nonetheless provided a substantial influence on Roman society."

[flye]

He preferred to compare Obama -- without irony -- to a cartoon demigod who sings, "what can I say except you're welcome / for the tides, the sun, the sky."

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's almost as offensive as him comparing him unironically to The "Dwayne Johnson" Rock.

[flye]

Also, to flatter your audience you have to make references they get. So best to stick to popular movies, classic pop/rock, and books they were forced to read in school.

[Heroic Mulatto]

So I'm going to be the elitist snob here

Please. We need a few more elitist snobs around here, to be quite frank.

[John Titor]

So this is why all your twerking videos have women with Schopenhauer quotes on their butts.

[Heroic Mulatto]

As flye noted above, you have to flatter your audience.

I write for me.

[Not a True MJG]

Welch is going to debate Jonathan Chait about this very topic. I hesitate to watch it in person, as Chait's position is so ridiculous that I feel like Matt is going to underwhelm if he does not literally behead and feast upon Chait's flesh.

[jesse.in.mb]

literally behead and feast upon Chait's flesh

Based on the headlines I read isn't that all bloggers do now? Eviscerate people in youtube videos. Utterly destroy with tweets?

[John Titor]

So birds peck their eyes out? I could go for that.

[jesse.in.mb]

I think the problem isn't the hyperbole of the language, it's the lack of actual violence.

[JWatts]

Welch is going to debate Jonathan Chait

" "Based on his record
of accomplishments,
Barack Obama has been
a great president.""

Well Chait's got the tough side of that debate. I think he could have managed a pretty good case for mediocre (or at least better than Bush). But Great? You've got to be a True Believer to buy into that.

On the other hand, it's a NYC audience. So, he's got the home crowd going for him.

[flye]

Yep, this is the same audience who write "Top 10 TV Shows of 2016" articles and include Samantha Bee's show.

Chait could just throw in things like, "at the very least he wasn't as dumb as GEORGE BUSH, amirite everyone?!?" (*howls of laughter*)

[R C Dean]

Trump hardly led the birthed campaign. Another lie.

[Crusty Juggler]

A well-known racist saved a pretty gal's life.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

White privilege all the way down

[Pope Jimbo]

This pic from that story seems to confirm your statement

[Citizen X]

I'd throw my ham at her face.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

Are you saying that Paula Deen is a GILF? You would?

[DEG]

Are you saying that Paula Deen is a GILF? You would?

I'll pass. Nigella Lawson on the other hand...

[TheZeitgeist]

She is now a model and chef and has an Instagram account to help others overcome illness

Hot chicks have Instagram accounts because help others? And people look at Instagram for something other than hot chicks? No and no.

[John Titor]

I want that douchebag behind the beauty queen and the sad black man to become a meme.

[Heroic Mulatto]

This pretty much says it all.

[GILMORE?]

Is that fried chicken on that waffle?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Indeed. I mean, I hope Deen would have come up with an abomination like Tonkatsu and Waffles.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*wouldn't

[Crusty Juggler]

She is taunting him with the chicken and waffles.

[Rufus The Monocled]

She looks like she wants something else in that mouth.

[Pope Jimbo]

Shit, you beat me to that. How did that pic make it into this story?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The four people, all black, arrested in Chicago in connection with the livestreamed beating and abuse of a mentally disabled white man, have been charged with hate crimes (and a host of other charges). Police initially said they weren't sure that the victim was actually targeted because he was white, despite the comments captured on the video.

Hate crime laws are still terrible and fundamentally racist.

[Sour Kraut]

Serious question, what was the motivation for these laws in the first place? What was someone doing that merited extra punishment for targeting a politically favored group of people?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

More laws directly equate to more money.

[Brett L]

IIRC, the lever was the black man who got chained to the back of a pickup truck in East Texas and dragged to death by a couple of outright racists. Who either got life or death. Or maybe they were the first to be prosecuted under the enhanced penalties. But yes, because white privilege (a term not yet invented).

[thrakkorzog]

Hate crime laws were already thing before that case. GWB defended the lack of a hate crime law in Texas, because there really isn't much you can do to make increase the severity of the death penalty.

[Brett L]

I think that incident (TX not having a hate crimes law) may have led to the national hate crimes law. That and the gay man killed in WY.

[OneOut]

Brett has it right I think.

Bush is on video telling reporters that Texas sentenced them to death. What more who you have us do ? When asked by the national media about why no hate crime law for crimes like this.

Don Lenon? from CNN says he doesn't think this was evil. He says these were just kids with no parents around.

I wonder what he though when that crime happened in Texas ? Did he make excuses for them because the white parents weren't around ?

[kbolino]

GWB defended the lack of a hate crime law in Texas, because there really isn't much you can do to make increase the severity of the death penalty

But the death penalty applied to a duly convicted criminal isn't a collective punishment, and that's what hate crime laws are really about.

[{|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>]

Who knows, maybe this will be the motivation for the left to repeal hate crime laws. I'd like to think the right might go along with it. The cynic in me just presumes that they'll just point at the prosecutors and scream about structural racism or something and demand the hate crime charges as one more example thereof.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

Today's argument for school choice: A principal in Kentucky took students' phones and then sold any pornographic images he found on them (meaning the pics were of teens).

Well, it beats giving them to the cops who will do the same thing with them as his customers, but arrest the students, as well.

[Rich]

Police initially said they weren't sure that the victim was actually targeted because he was white

He was targeted because he's *mentally challenged*, DUH!

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

White people are retarded.

[Charles Easterly]

Are you white?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Translucent

[The Other Kevin]

Just found out that our company started cutting the hours of our support staff. Being a programmer, I've been spared for now. But the writing is on the wall. Sure hope Trump gets this economy moving fast.

[Brett L]

What do you program? Can you learn MS CRM or do you know HTML5/JS and are willing to learn the rest?

[The Other Kevin]

I usually do .NET with MS SQL in back, and HTM5/Javascript/JQUERY up front. Willing to learn anything.

[Brett L]

I think we're still looking for people in our CRM practice. I am similarly a transitioned developer who does mostly integrations and portals with CRM. Email me at the address in my handle and I'll give you more details if you want to.

[jesse.in.mb]

I am similarly a transitioned developer

Brittany L?

[Brett L]

No, just Brett. I think I know as many femBretts as manBretts.

[jesse.in.mb]

That doesn't seem right. I guess we can just make you Brett ? like you're a nidoran or something.

[yet another dave]

Can't you just add an n to your name... Blame it on your gender fluid mom.

[American Memer]

There is definitely space on the Internet for a skit about gender queer Nidoran.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I'd was trying to do something with a C/C++ joke, which is why I'm glad I read this first. Bravo!

[flye]

something something recently removed his pointer?

[Pope Jimbo]

Pointer arithmetic is hard!

[Jimbo]

How dare you other him like that! He now goes by #BLM.

[TheZeitgeist]

Anybody need some Python/Django or QA app/page automation action? Open to side gigs.

[Jimbo]

No, but I am looking for someone to clean my garage.

[Rhywun]

There's a Mexican for that!

[Juvenile Bluster]

Guilty white liberals are purchasing racial indulgences

I have to hand it to the people selling this. Excellent work parting fools and their money.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

I'm going to start selling carbon indulgences before the government gets in on the racket.

[Sour Kraut]

I always figured paying to "offset" one's carbon use by someone supposedly planting a tree somewhere, was exactly this. Assuming that scam is still going.

[Juvenile Bluster]

It's still going. I get offered it occasionally when buying things (especially travel)

[PurityDiluting]

Companies that say they'll give part of my purchase price to their charity of choice generally don't get my business. Why should I overpay so that they can take my tax deduction?

[Jimbo]

National Car Rental offered it to me when I was booking online a few years ago. I got a good laugh out of it.

[Not a True MJG]

I've seen this at green markets. I passed by a woman at Prospect Park who had a shoebox overflowing with cash labeled something like "Offset Your Carbon Footprint."

[OneOut]

I will gladly help offset the carbon footprint of anyone here by eating a cow.

Email payment to [e-mail].

cash only

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I applaud Marissa Johnson and Leslie Mac for their entrepreneurial manipulation of retarded proggies.

[jack sprat]

^agree

[Pope Jimbo]

My fondest wish for 2017 would be to find out that the Koch brothers provided the seed money to these shysters to get their scam going.

Or that it was a James O'Keefe prank.

[waffles]

Holy shit I thought that was parody.

[Pope Jimbo]

Fuck. I got my amnesty and pardon from Walter Williams for free.

Now, I'm wondering if it will count, or if I'll still be sent to the camps because Williams isn't a "real" black guy.

[Marshall Gill]

Even at his advanced age I don't think it would be wise to say to WW's face that he wasn't a "real" black guy.

[Rhywun]

mounting evidence that progress toward racial equality has been stalled out for years if not decades

Pay no attention to the last eight years behind the curtain.

[Bill Dalasio]

$25 and $100 a month to receive a box that helps you be a better ally?Every month, they send their subscribers the Safety Pin Box, which Vice reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro describes as being "designed to wake up white people to the realities of being black in America."

Let me guess. The first month's box contains a note saying "Black people don't blow $25-$100 per month on a box containing a bunch of slogans. Now send us another $100, fool"

[thrakkorzog]

For some reason I read that in Mr. T's voice and it became x100 funnier.

[AddictionMyth]

Trump will purge the 'incompetents' from the intelligence agencies. It will be a blood bath and you can't say I didn't warn you.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

So we can expect Trump Tower to be attacked by plane next.

[Crusty Juggler]

Would wouldn't would wouldn't.

Would.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

I've reported this post. It's the most offensive and sickening thing I've seen posted in quite a while.

[Lee Genes]

Why do I click? Why?

I got some thinkin' to do.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Crusty's going to take that one for the team in Christ like fashion.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

I don't think Christ came multiple times when they were crucifying him.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

No but I do think Crusty would be dead by the end of it.

[Pope Jimbo]

Of course he came multiple times! Why else do you think it took him 3 days before he could rise again?

[Pope Jimbo]

And don't forget I'm infallible on religious shit like this.

[John Titor]

See, that Glamour cover is going to be the thing my kids look at twenty years down the road the way I look at Fashion garbage from the 70s and go "What were you people thinking?"

[Crusty Juggler]

They were thinking that this was the first time a Hollywood actress bravely allowed her cellulite to be kept on the cover of a fashion magazine. Also, that Allison Williams is gorgeous.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Peter Pan costume on or off? 😛

[Not a True MJG]

Were Renaissance Fairs big back then?

[John Titor]

No I'm pretty sure they just thought Logan's Run was going to be a real thing within the next decade and planned accordingly.

[Not a True MJG]

Would you wood the first would should a Brian Williams newscast be playing in the background?

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Who are they?

[Jimbo]

Reported as Spam

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Since you can't, why have such low standards?

[Rich]

Their unclassified report explaining the hack will be publicly released next week.

FTFY

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Coats is a notable supporter of mass surveillance authorities, so that should be taken as an indicator of the incoming administration's attitude.

"That's right, zoom closer, right on my dick, there you go."

*Initiates the cross armed 'Suck It' of Degeneration X fame*

[Crusty Juggler]

James Clapper's spirit animal.

[Rich]

I would have thought more this.

[Crusty Juggler]

I lol'ed. Stop one-upping me!

[Rich]

Sorry. I mean no disrespect.

[John Titor]

That's not a very nice thing to call Winston.

[Rich]

Trump told Republicans on Wednesday to 'be careful' because 'the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster'

See? Once in a while he gets it right.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Today's argument for school choice: A principal in Kentucky took students' phones and then sold any pornographic images he found on them (meaning the pics were of teens).

I'm sure some copying was also done...

[The Fusionist]

"Director of National Intelligence James Clapper"

Screw you, Clapper, you lying cyberstalker.

[lafe.long]

Carrie Fisher Has Been Cremated and Will Be Buried Alongside Debbie Reynolds: Report

A memorial will be held for Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on Thursday, followed by the burial on Friday, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

An "ultra-private service" is set to take place at Fisher and Reynolds' Beverly Hills compound, where the mother-daughter pair were next-door neighbors.

Cremated AND buried.

Belt AND suspenders.

[PapayaSF]

Speculation: I read that she stopped breathing for several minutes on the airplane. Then, she was in intensive care for four(?) days before she died. I suspect they determined that she was in a vegetative state, with irreversible brain damage, and decided to "pull the plug." Then they announced that she "had died" to avoid any controversy about euthanasia.

[Lee Genes]

I'm claiming conspiracy. They were able to keep Ariel Sharon alive for what, a decade?

[R C Dean]

Cremated and buried isn't that unusual, you know. See, e.g., my first wife.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

?Today's hiliarously embarassing media outlet mistake.

I can proudly state that I have not visited WaPo since the day after the election. Fuck those hacks. It still turns up in my newsfeed from time to time, usually with totally non-fake news like "Trump's Election Killed My Desire to Find a Partner."

Of course, I might start reading their sports page again when baseball season starts up.

[AddictionMyth]

mentally disabled

Let me guess he was 'autistic': "It's a disease in your brain that puts you at risk of being ridiculed and abused by others."

[Lord Humungus]

So you're autistic?

[Pro Libertate]

I think this is worth mentioning: Trump is not the president, yet.

[Rich]

So much this.

[jack sprat]

^ Ha. Good reminder!

[PurityDiluting]

He may not be president, but he plays one on TV

[R C Dean]

Kinda like whatsisname, the guy who won the last election ?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

From Bloomberg, Three Parts of Obamacare Republicans Should Save, by their resident libertarian(-lite -ish) writer.

Those parts?

1) Cadillac Tax
2) Death Panels
3) Payment Reforms

Trigger Warning, John, you know who I'm talking about.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Her writing is still preferable to her husband's.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Unlike John, I find her writing perfectly fine, better than Suderman but also Soave, Gillespie, Dalmia, Richman, KMW (sorry!), Bailey and probably few other contributors to Reason, even when I disagree with her. ENB, Walker and Shackford easily beat her, though.
I also found this place through her, then stopped following her regularly when her comment section got stupider (it was really good way back when she was small blogger at The Atlantic, but Bloomberg transition eroded it).

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Yeah, I don't always agree with her, but her coverage of the ACA is superior to almost all of the other stuff out there.

I'd add Root and Welch (usually) to your list of preferable Reason staffers, personally.

[Brett L]

And if Too Chilly is really back regularly, him too.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Welch...damn, I mostly think of him in A/V context, of TV appearances I can't watch and podcasts I can't be arsed to listen to, so I blanked on his articles.

Root is OK, but he never wowed me with his writing.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

But a government agency that evaluates the current state of medical knowledge, and disseminates that knowledge to doctors, is a good idea.

Huh? Wouldn't doctors... the ones who-- you know-- have the medical knowledge be the best ones to evaluate medical knowledge?

[kbolino]

I'm intrigued by this version of libertarianism* that requires no actual respect for the ability of free people to make the best decisions for themselves.

* = Apologies if McArdle is not (no longer?) a libertarian

[GILMORE?]

Trigger Warning, John, you know who I'm talking about

I'm unsure if this trigger warning is for John, or for everyone else, saying, "Warning = John is going to react to this"

[kbolino]

Also, that didn't narrow it down for me. It still left me with "McArdle, Friedersdorf, or Williamson?"

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I thought "Bloomberg" was a good enough hint? Or did Friersdorf move there too?

[kbolino]

There are publications other than Reason?

*scratches head in wonderment*

[Charles Easterly]

There are no other publications than

[Charles Easterly]

There are no publications at all, kbolino.

You are experiencing episodes of mental divergence, wherein you believe yourself to be part of an intellectual elite at the construct which you (and the other voices in your episodes) have choosen to call Reason.

[kbolino]

Man, if we're the intellectual elite, the world is fucked.

[Charles Easterly]

Indeed.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

For John, that's how TWs work, no?

I have coffee, that should make me more woke.

[PapayaSF]

"Your honor, we must protest. The defendants did not target Emmett Till because he was black, but because he disrespected a woman. Despite some of the comments made before, during, and after these events, this had nothing to do with race."

[Bubba Jones]

I am unclear on why you would use USPS other than online. They will come pick up your packages.

[Jerryskids]

Never forget that some years back when the Post Office bigwigs were testifying before Congress and needed some documents that absolutely, positively had to be there overnight, they most certainly did not have the documents mailed to them via the Post Office.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pets, Car Repairs and Mom: How College Football Players Use Their Stipends

Clemson safety Van Smith drives a BMW, but the car is long past its days as a ride of luxury. It is a 1999 sedan with 300,000 miles on its odometer. Like many college students, Smith holds his breath every time he turns the key in the ignition ? hoping the car starts. One day in November, it didn't.

"The starter went out in the middle of campus," Smith said. "It cost $400. I had to get it towed up the street. Not cheap.

"So, yeah, the $388 stipend we get? I need that."

Smith was referring to the $388 monthly stipend that Clemson players receive during the academic year. The payments, approved by the so-called Power 5 conferences in 2015, were created to supplement players' athletic scholarships to meet what is known as the full cost of attendance. They vary, sometimes widely, from college to college, but they are paid to almost every player in major college football, including the ones from Clemson University and the University of Alabama who will play for the national championship on Monday.

[Crusty Juggler]

The decision to introduce the stipends after years of objections from the N.C.A.A. came in response to outside pressure ? from essays to lawsuits ? criticizing colleges for not sharing more of the money they earned off their athletes. But it also came because of the continually rising amount of cash produced by innovations like the College Football Playoff itself, which is currently in the third year of a 12-year, $7.3 billion deal with ESPN. (That contract allowed the playoff to return $425 million to the 20 Football Bowl Division conferences and the few remaining independents in 2015-16, money they added to the hundreds of millions of dollars they already divide up every year for the television rights to their regular-season games.)

The stipend seems like it's enough.

[The Last American Hero]

They should pay them the same hourly wage as other campus jobs. The scholarship covers the value added amount that a ball player brings vs. a kid schlepping burgers in the cafeteria.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

I like that idea.

[DRM]

The thing to remember is that the NCAA is specifically a cartel to hold the price of athlete labor as low as possible.

If boosters buy things for athletes, that's like paying them (after all, the boosters could give the money to the college instead), and therefore forbidden to the point your program will get the death penalty. If you let your athletes trade sports memorabilia for tattoos, that's vaguely like compensating them, and therefore is deadly forbidden, lest it spread; if you're a coach who just heard about it afterward and didn't report it, you're banned. If a booster takes in a homeless boy with potential and makes sure he's fed and educated and can get into the booster's college, that's vaguely like compensating them, and will at least get investigated closely, even if in the end it would be excessively negative PR to stamp out something that so obviously helped a disadvantaged kid.

On the other hand, if you create a completely fake class to keep the GPA of student-athletes high enough to qualify them for play, well, that's an "academic" matter. The only reason the NCAA has academic standards at all is for PR; the NCAA doesn't actually care if they're even literate, just as long as they aren't paid.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

"I need that". Black Privilege.

Use your stipend to take the bus like I did in college, you entitled mother fucker.

[AddictionMyth]

Trumpelstiltskins - tell me a secret:

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

No one likes you, Alice.

[AddictionMyth]

I love how each of you truly believes I am your own personal arch-nemesis.

[Juvenile Bluster]

You're nobody's arch nemesis. You're an annoying gnat that won't go to the fuck away.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Nah, you give yourself too much credit. You're a mildly annoying harsh to my PM Links mellow.

[lafe.long]

This Republican congresswoman's Twitter poll on Obamacare didn't go very well for her

When the poll closed Wednesday, a whopping 84 percent of the nearly 8,000 votes were for "No" on the question of repeal.

The Hill.com noted that Blackburn's cause probably wasn't helped by the fact that White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz retweeted the poll Tuesday to his more than 23,000 Twitter followers.

... so an accurate poll, then? lol

[Brett L]

Of people still using Twitter? Yes.

[The Last American Hero]

The only poll that counts was taken last November.

[The Fusionist]

Tomorrow is January 6, and you know what day that is?

Yes, it's Theophany/Epiphany, but you rationalists surely don't need to worry about that.

Tomorrow is also the day Congress counts the electoral votes, and it seems that some people are still in the Denial phase of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's (sp?) stages of grief:

"'We have a list of 50 illegal electors,' Clayton said. 'That puts Donald Trump below the threshold that he needs to be elected president.'"

[Ted S.]

Who cares about Epifanny?

[flye]

12 drummers, 11 pipers, 10 lords, 9 ladies....

[Jerryskids]

I was gonna guess anybody allergic to ass cares about Epifanny.

[John Titor]

Byzantine Catholic Culture

I am so goddamn triggered.

[The Fusionist]

No need to curse, and plenty of non-Christians are into Byzantium:

Sailing to Byzantium

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
?Those dying generations?at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect....

[John Titor]

No need to curse, and plenty of non-Christians are into Byzantium:

Sailing to Byzantium

Goddamn German propagandist, stop saying it!

ROMA INVICTA, Western barbarian usurpers!

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

^ What he said! ???????? ??? ???????, Germanic Scum!

And because I need to pay English word tax for the Greek letters, I'll plug The History Of Byzantium* podcast, which is amazing and you, Eddie, should donate to get the fundraising St John Chrysostom episodes. They should be right up your alley and are really, really good.

*Podcaster calls it Empire and Roman Empire, and inhabitants Romans. He just wanted to distinguish it from the (also amazing) History of Rome podcast, which is finished and which inspired him to continue from 476 onward.

[The Fusionist]

German sympathizer, your History of Rome link worked and your History of Byzantium link was SugarFreed.

[The Fusionist]

Bunch of Ferengi.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Son of a bitch! Working link for History of Byzantium.

[The Fusionist]

"Quaker" also started out as a derogatory term, now the Quakers use it all the time.

And Byzantium was a real diocese.

[John Titor]

It's not a derogatory term, it's a delegitimizing one. The Roman Empire is the Roman Empire, the Frankish/Germanic HRE a mockery that slandered its contemporary betters.

[The Fusionist]

The term "Quaker" was used by judges who wanted to imprison quakers for religious dissent, so I'd call it a delegitimizing claim.

[John Titor]

Regardless, everyone within the Roman Empire, and outside the Roman Empire, except the Frankish and Germanic kingdoms called them by their proper name (even their Muslim enemies correctly identify them as Rum in their writings). It's a propaganda concept that (as Pan illustrates) its descendants did not embrace and still consider an insult. Because it is one.

[The Fusionist]

Well, Byzantine Catholics are still going to call themselves Byzantine Catholics, and I don't think they're going to change any more than the Quakers will stop saying "Quaker" - and neither group will be guilted out of its preferred terminology (except certain branches of Quakers, who can feel guilty about anything short of an actual violation of the 10 Commandments).

[John Titor]

Well of course they'll continue use that name, they're part of the church that has been trying to delegitimize the Romans since Charlemagne. I'm just complaining because it's really transparent.

(This is may or may not partially be why I'm on Orthodoxy's side in regards to the Great Schism.)

[John Titor]

(I should replace "part of" with more like "founded by" because they're one of those autonomous branch things)

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Someone should tell Ryan Clayton that it's the new Congress that counts the Electoral Votes?

[The Fusionist]

This *is* the new Congress.

"The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin." - 20th Amendment

[The Fusionist]

Oops, I think I misunderstood you.

[kbolino]

What makes them illegal, exactly? And why are all of them pledged to Trump?

[AceDroman]

Is that when all those Greeks in Tarpon Springs jump into the water to fight over a cross?

[Hamster of Doom]

Today's hiliariously embarassing media outlet mistake.

The internet always wins.

[Jerryskids]

Sears is joining Macy's in closing a bunch of stores. Sears Holding will be shutting 150 Kmart and Sears locations in 40 states.

A reminder that when Walmart ditched their proggy SJW-focused CEO in favor of a hard-nosed businessman, he was asked to comment on Walmart's competitors like Target and the guy replied that Walmart's competitor was Amazon.

Amazon is not a retailer, they're a logistics company. Fortunately for Walmart, Amazon is stupid enough not to recognize that if you're a logistics company you really shouldn't be farming out your last-mile delivery to your competitors, especially as crappy as UPS has been getting lately and the Post Office has never not been crappy. Is FedEx still reliable in terms of not delivering a smashed-up package two days late?

[Brett L]

Fortunately for Walmart, Amazon is stupid enough not to recognize that if you're a logistics company you really shouldn't be farming out your last-mile delivery to your competitors

Fortunately, I do not have to encounter the many girths of Florida Woman placidly chewing her cud and trying to decide on the large or extra large tub of ice cream with Amazon. Shit just shows up at my house for almost as cheap..

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Is FedEx still reliable in terms of not delivering a smashed-up package two days late?

I've never had issues with UPS or FedEx... the only one that consistently smashes up my stuff is USPS because the fat fuck is too lazy to set stuff on my front porch if it can be smashed small enough to fit into the mailbox.

[The Last American Hero]

I've had a couple of boxes crunched by UPS - contents survived intact.

I've had a FedEx envelope get very wet. Documents wet but legible. Generally, they seem to do a decent job.

I've had things stolen from USPS boxes - twice. Both times, somebody opened the box, took out some of the contents (gifts on both occasions), and do a half-ass job re-taping the box.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

A distinction without a difference. Every large retailer is a logistics company. And every logistics company uses other logistics companies.

[kbolino]

Amazon is was stupid enough not to recognize that if you're a logistics company you really shouldn't be farming out your last-mile delivery to your competitors

They've definitely caught on to this and done something about it, at least in the Baltimore area.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Trumpists grab some pussy in Austria.

Police in Austria are hunting for at least six men accused of "unprecedented" sexual assaults on New Year's Eve in the city of Innsbruck.

The men, described as Asian or north African, surrounded 18 women watching a firework display, kissing and groping them, police said.

A special police investigation team is conducting the search.

Authorities said they were also searching refugee shelters for the suspects.

You know which other Austrian...?

[That's A Bingo!]

Arnold Schwarzenegger

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

A deliciously correct answer!

[Lee Genes]

Carl Reichert?

[That's A Bingo!]

Have people always gravitated towards pictures of kittens?

[Aloysious]

six men surrounded eighteen women?

[Rich]

Well, they *were* watching fireworks.

[Ted S.]

Portia de Rossi?

Oh, you said Austrians, not Australians.

[Brett L]

So we're in agreement that Better Off Ted went out before it was done?

[thrakkorzog]

Seconded.

[C. Anacreon]

Ludwig von Mises?

[John Titor]

Man, the Habsburgs are getting desperate.

[thrakkorzog]

When you look like Carlos II you're probably not getting a lot of responses to your tinder profile.

[DEG]

Why some people hate Obamacare

Warning: auto-play video

Asked recently for their opinion of Obamacare, dozens of CNMoney readers responded with a litany of complaints. The sweeping health care overhaul has offended people in multiple ways.

Some people hate Obamacare philosophically. They rail against the law because they don't think the government should force people to buy health insurance and penalize them if they don't.

Also, they view Medicaid expansion and subsidies for low- and moderate-income enrollees as yet another entitlement program that uses hard-working taxpayers' money to help lazy, undeserving people.

[Lee Genes]

How about... it's fucking expensive and it sucks.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Man, are you rrrrracist.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

All reasonable thinking people got together years ago and decided that the answer to this was simple and obvious. They're all just racists. So I can only assume that's the ultimate point of this article. Racists are so dumb and hateful they'd rather die than take wonderful healthcare from a black man.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Also, they hate poor people. They want to take us back to the dark days of 2008 when poor people were just spontaneously collapsing in the street, dying from lack of health care.

[Ted S.]

Only some?

[DEG]

NY Governor Cuomo announces JFK Airport expansion plan

Warning: auto-play video

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a $10 billion plan to overhaul John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the nation's busiest and most crowded.

Cuomo wants to update and expand the terminals and improve road and rail access at JFK, which served 60 million passengers last year and receives more international travelers than any other airport in the United States.

Predictions on the real cost?

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

$10 billion is already so extremely high and ridiculous that I would have thought that was the inflated number after the cronies and various interest groups found a way to get their cut and the tax payers had been fleeced.

[Brett L]

$9.2B on environmental impact statements, $.2B on concrete and steel, $.6B on union workers. Just to get far enough along that when they ask for another $10B, people are willing to say yes to get the project done.

[Ted S.]

Rename it Idlewild.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Usually 5-8x stated cost.

[jesse.in.mb]

The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.

Wut?

A union, American Postal Worker's Union, there are others. They do not like to be called Ahp-woo incidentally.

[lafe.long]

Historically black college says its band will perform in Trump's inaugural parade, despite criticism

The marching band of a historically black college in Alabama will perform in President-elect Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inaugural parade, despite a barrage of criticism, the school's president announced Thursday.
Talladega College President Billy Hawkins confirmed what the Presidential Inaugural Committee had announced Dec. 30. It was the first official word from the school.

The Inaugural Committee's announcement last month had ignited passionate debate on the campus and around the nation.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Good for them. Hold the line and don't be bullied.

[The Last American Hero]

Hold the line. That will be the name of the Oscar-bait movie about how courageous these kids were to attend.

[lafe.long]

+1 soundtrack by Toto

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

My money is this is just a good cover to get in and protest but I could be wrong. I'm imagining the band stops playing and the guy with the microphone pulls out the 'List of Demands'.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes. You can never trust those inscrutable historically blacks.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

We're all historically black, HM.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Woah.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

Dammit, HM. If I'm not tripping balls, I've no use for that song!

Just so I'm clear: I'm angry that I'm not tripping balls right now.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

My money is also on Trump taking a bullet if it makes you feel better : /

[Heroic Mulatto]

Jesus Christ, no!

Pence as President?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

For me, people having to say "President Pence" dozens of times per day means at least once a week someone's gonna misspeak, and I'm gonna giggle like I'm 12.

[Rich]

Awesome.

Then Trump yells "You're fired!" and everyone has a good laugh.

[Crusty Juggler]

LOL cucks.

[Pro Libertate]

Speaking of Trump, I'm holding in reserve, when he does something deceptive, trompe l'oeil. Frankly, I'm surprised leftists don't appear to be using the term yet about Trump.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What're you talking about, I see "TRUMP LOL" all over the internet!

[jack sprat]

Apparently today is another 420 celebration day for those who are also capable of simple math.

[jack sprat]

If this hasn't been covered already

[lafe.long]

A truly disappointing post from the Outright Libertarians FB page:

There has been talk in the Libertarian Party community about when is an "acceptable" time to "allow" trans youth to transition. We at Outright Libertarians say that time is when the youth wants to transition. Libertarianism supports GSM Rights and Youth Rights! Youth should never be blocked from seeking appropriate medical care for themselves based on outdated ideas of their gender minority status. Adults cannot determine a child's gender identity better than the child can, we just need to know how to listen.

I prefer Blair White's take on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gtx7OVYby0

[Hitler]

It's times like this when I look back to when I was a human youth and not a cyborg and realize that I truly just didn't go far enough.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"What are the odds that a transgender activist gives birth to a transgender kid?"

"...talking about how her kid 'transitioned' at 4"

Fuck them. Fuck her munchausen by proxy bullshit. fuck her conversion therapy bullshit.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Youth should never be blocked from seeking appropriate medical care for themselves based on outdated ideas of their gender minority status.

'

Lithium and having Tumblr blocked on all their devices?

[Not a True MJG]

We at Outright Libertarians say that time is when the youth wants to transition.

How unlibertarian!

[Rich]

"Very well. That time is when the youth wants to transition *and* can pay for it."

[SimonD]

The annoying part is that the very same people who are smugly applauding the 5 year old transgender kid would have hairy purple kittens at the thought of selling a beer to a 17 year old.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I would hope not on Outright Libertarian page.

Now, selling a beer to 5 year old...

[Not a True MJG]

That's implied by the libertarian context.

[kbolino]

I think, for many purposes, legal majority should be phased in from the ages of 12?18, with increasing freedom at each stage accompanied by greater responsibility, rather than (mostly) dumped on you all at once at 18. Just as there's nothing magical about the birth canal, there is nothing magical about turning 18.

That having been said, prior to full or partial legal majority, the parents/legal guardians should generally have say in what the child can or cannot do, even with his own body, since there will always be problems like "do you even understand what you're doing" and "whatever you choose, your parents are still responsible for you".

[kbolino]

Just to avoid inevitable accusations, what I'm talking about here is the ability to be sole holder of a bank account, to own some property and enter into some contracts, to work part-time or full-time without a permit, to leave school partially or completely, etc.

[Pope Jimbo]

My high school allowed you to write your own excuse notes once you turned 18.

[kbolino]

Fun fact: some states now require a high school diploma or G.E.D. to get a driver's license. Because those last 2 years of high school really make the difference in whether you can read a road sign or not.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Because those last 2 years of high school really make the difference in whether you can read a road sign or not.

Can't tell if sarc.

[kbolino]

Definitely sarc.

[Free Society]

The question is about how old a person should be in order to make life changing and irreversible medical decisions. I can see the point of arguing for "no limit" so as to avoid state mandated encumbrances. But to suppose that a little kid is competent enough to rationally decide about whether or not to do hormone therapy or even cut his dick off, that's just retarded. Anyone with a pre-pubescent child that is undergoing gender reassignment is a terrible fucking parent that should be beaten with some sort of rubber hose.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

It's what happens when kids aren't allowed to go to the park by themselves.

[OneOut]

Two fucking che.

A 10 year old can't walk 4 blocks to play on a swingset because the government says he can't take care of himself.

But the same 10 year old can get the government to force his parents to let him get his dick cut off and take female hormones ?

I can't even

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

But will they ever transition to actual productivity?

[AddictionMyth]

Soooo.... how are my clever little frankentrumpkensteins doing today?

[thrakkorzog]

So Greta van Susteren got a new gig over at MSNBC. We're going to need more barrels for the proggy tears.

[Brett L]

Is she making room for the lady who fucked up the Zimmerman prosecution at Fox and recently lost her States Attorney job?

[GILMORE?]

Experts = Repeal Obamacare, and Everyone Will Get AIDS

Obligatory

Along with the Cold War, AIDS is something I feel like Millenials really missed out on. In a big way.

[John Titor]

I thought you'd go more obscure.

[GILMORE?]

I would have if i knew what that was.

[John Titor]

It's the only part of Showgirls I've ever been able to remember. And I'm thankful for that.

[thrakkorzog]

Really? I remember several parts from that movie rather fondly.

[John Titor]

Porn is better written.

[Pro Libertate]

HBO.

[Ted S.]

This is the part of Showgirls I remember.

[Jake Stone]

If Clapper said it we know it is false. The man is incapable of telling the truth or feeling remorse about lying. under oath.

[AddictionMyth]

Don't be jealous of me, my precious little frankentrumpkensteins. I am no better than you. 🙂

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Today's hiliariously embarassing media outlet mistake.

A mistake or recognition of transgender rights?

I mean, does the symbol really mean the symbol?

[Jerryskids]

James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community.

You know who else has trouble distinguishing between skeptical and disparaging in their comments?

[Zero Sum Game]

? And never was heard a disparaging word, because [redacted] has black-bagged them away. ?

[Zero Sum Game]

intel community

They're only the best people. They've never made a mistake or interfered in any country's elections. They're honest, hardworking Americans, and they don't need to take this kind of abuse anymore from the POTUS-elect. #blackbagsmatter

[GILMORE?]

Worst. Lawyer. Ever.

Roof offered no defense or apology for his crimes when he gave a brief opening statement on Wednesday to the same jury that last month found him guilty of 33 federal charges. He instead insisted to jurors he is not mentally ill.

i can only assume he's trying to clear a path to the death-penalty

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

Is it wrong that I wish, for comedy purposes, he had just used every chance he was given to speak in court to just say nigger repeatedly until he was forcibly restrained/removed? I'm sure everything he does in that courtroom is already tragically comical regardless.

[GILMORE?]

Is it wrong that I wish, for comedy purposes, he had just used every chance he was given to speak in court to just say nigger repeatedly until he was forcibly restrained/removed?

Is it wrong that i laughed for 2 minutes straight while envisioning this?

[Crusty Juggler]

Yes.

[GILMORE?]

"Objection, you nigger!"

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

If the judge was black he could say "Nigga please!"

[mad.casual]

Is it wrong that I wish, for comedy purposes, he had just used every chance he was given to speak in court to just say nigger repeatedly until he was forcibly restrained/removed?

That depends, do you just want him to say it or do *you* want *him* to say it and *mean* it?

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

I think it's safe to say he would mean it.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

He has a fool for a client.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Tie a noose and make it tight;
A feast for crow come tonight!

[John Titor]

"I feel so confident of Roof's guilt that I can waste the court's time."

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I guess his one concern is that he don't be pitied or dismissed. Hatred he'll take.

[Free Society]

Defending their report that Russia was responsible for hacking and releasing information from the Democratic Party to attempt to influence the presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community. Their unclassified report explaining the hack will be publicly released next week.

Who on Earth doesn't take what the CIA says at face value? Trump is really quite wrong here for disparaging our intelligence community.... all because he has to go and be a dick by requiring actual evidence. What kind of monster doesn't reflexively agree with the opposition party's claim that he stole the election?

Russia grabbed us all by the pussy on November 9th.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

And loving it!

[Free Society]

The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.

File under: "But without the government, who would deliver our mail?"

[Heroic Mulatto]

Say what you want about the USPS, at least it's in the fucking Constitution!

[Not a True MJG]

Whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a shitty organization as the USPS, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case it is unfit to exist.

[Free Society]

Good.....good.....

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Personally, I'd rather not have to be in a position to claim that UPS never delivered my jury summons.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

As a furriner who sometimes orders stuff from the States, keep USPS, fuck Fed Ex, double fuck UPS with rusty chain.

[Free Society]

As a Merican who regularly ships stuff to family in Europe, fuck the USPS with a rusty spork.

[The Fusionist]

A spoonful of Spooner helps the medicine go down.

[The Fusionist]

I just thought of something Rand or Massie might do - propose renaming a post office in their district/state the Lysander Spooner Memorial Post Office.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Why sully Spooner's name?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

But is it in the Constitution that it misdelivers my mail daily?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Say what you want about the USPS, at least it's in the fucking Constitution!

Also, if you read a history of the USPS, you'll find that it was private mail delivery services back in the olden(tm) days that forced USPS to innovate with concepts like door-to-door delivery and pickup. Then the USPS sued all its competitors out of business.

[Free Society]

The union for the United States Postal Service has managed to force Staples to end its program where non-union private employees of the office supply store provided mail services.

File under: "But without the government, who would deliver our mail?"

[Austrian Anarchy]

Answer: Spooner Delivery.

[Real American]

"Had we not drawn the line in the sand and launched these protests," Dimondstein said, all Staples stores "would have had full-blown post offices, not staffed by postal employees but rather Staples employees, and the Post Office also would have used that model to spread to other major retailers."

I fail to see the downside.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

I'm like 85% sure this is how the post office at my local drugstore works. Go Canada!

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Something something buggy whip something something

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There is no downside. That's why the union is against it.

[The Last American Hero]

So we'd have 4 times as many post offices, and they would be open from 7 am - 9 pm M-S and 9-6 on Sundays?

The horror.

[Pope Jimbo]

An acquaintance of mine works for the post office. His take is pretty much that it is a jobs program for the unemployable.

The stories he tells about his coworkers down at the bulk mail center in Mpls are both amusing, horrifying and infuriating.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Potentially awesome news for Euro Truck Simulator players

German ministries row over green light for 'mega-trucks'

A decision to allow so-called "mega-trucks" on Germany's roads has sparked an unusually public spat between the transport and environment ministries.

The lorries, known as gigaliners in Germany, can be up to 25.5m (83ft 8in) long - that's 6.5m more than the current limit, the ZDF Heute news website reports. The new rules came into force on 1 January after Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt heralded the vehicles as "safe" and "practical", and said they would lower emissions by requiring fewer journeys.

But that view isn't shared by the environment ministry. "The effects of the long-truck, its environmental impact, as well as effects on rail transport have not yet been sufficiently examined," says state secretary Jochen Flasbarth, adding that the decision is incompatible with EU law.

Also in the article: Twitter crowd wants more trains. Because how else do you spin this to four paragraphs?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

But that view isn't shared by the environment ministry. "The effects of the long-truck, its environmental impact, as well as effects on rail transport have not yet been sufficiently examined," says state secretary Jochen Flasbarth, adding that the decision is incompatible with EU law.

Because it can be carried more efficiently? does the Environmental Ministry know what it's arguing against?

[Free Society]

does the Environmental Ministry know what it's arguing against?

Of course. It's arguing that people shouldn't be allowed to do something unless their bureaucrats allow them.

[Ted S.]

and said they would lower emissions by requiring fewer journeys.

Note how any nonsense will be given a respectful hearing if it's portrayed as being "green".

[See Double You]

as well as effects on rail transport

Which has fuck-all to do with the environment. I smell protectionism.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

OT Question for the group: Why is it a national security concern that someone's private email server was hacked by the Russians? If Chinese hackers install phishing software on my PC and steal all the pics in my porn cache, is that something James Clapper is going to speak on?

[Rich]

Ahem. As Scott pointed out in the Lynx: "Their unclassified report explaining the hack will be publicly released next week."

[The Last American Hero]

Because some animals are more equal than others. You should know this by now.

[Ken Shultz]

"Why is it a national security concern that someone's private email server was hacked by the Russians?"

You're loading the question by making it about national security. It isn't about that.

The real question is this: "Should we believe that the American public genuinely rejected Obama's policy legacy as well as the social justice warriors who run the Democratic party?"

At least, that's the rhetorical question Obama and the progressives are asking.

The rhetorical question McCain and the neocons are asking is, "Should Trump be allowed to forge a pragmatic foreign policy alliance with Vladimir Putin on ISIS or anything else?"

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

No, I'M not making it about National Security, James Clapper and the Clinton political machine is.

There were those of us that said it wasn't a good idea for the Secretary of State to be running the Business of State on a Dell Optiplex 780 running Windows XP in her basement. She said our concerns were overblown. As a result, we're now back to DefCon 2 because we're reading about spats between Hillary's staffers and Cheryl Mills.

[Ken Shultz]

"No, I'M not making it about National Security, James Clapper and the Clinton political machine is."

I agree with you, but this is theater. Clapper is playing a role.

Oh no, it wasn't a rejection of my bosses policies--it was the Russians!

The questions about national security aren't meant to be taken seriously as questions about national security.

They're meant to undermine the narrative that progressives were rejected in the last election because they're unpopular.

Meanwhile, from McCain and the neocons perspective, all indications (from Trump's nominees to his statements) suggest that Trump wants pragmatic, closer relations with Russia.

When people are asking the wrong questions, the President changes the subject. When people are asking, "Is Obama's legacy over? Has America rejected progressivism?", Obama changes the subject to, "Did the Russians throw the election for Trump?"

That's why we're talking about this.

Another example: "Is it in America's best interests to invade and occupy Iraq?" is a terrible question if that's what you want to do. Much better to change the question to, "Does Saddam Hussein have WMD?"

And in both cases, WMD and Russian hackers, only the President has the answers--and they're given to him in a secret envelope by Director of National Intelligence. I mean, who can argue with our intelligence services?

They're patriotic Americans, and they're overseen by politicians. How can they be politicized or wrong?

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Because what was hacked was one of the parties that co-owns the government with the other party.

[mad.casual]

Why is it a national security concern that someone's private email server was hacked by the Russians?

Moreover, even if true, how is it anything but a hot fucking potato that belongs squarely in Clapper's lap? As far as I can tell, Podesta taped a note his email server saying, "I don't know how computers work, so please don't hack this one." and the Russians discovered it before the CIA.

[mad.casual]

Being clearer, I'm not an intelligence specialist, nor do I know what porn photos you keep in your cache.

Even if I assume the porn photos are nothing but naked women inserting nuclear weapons components in various orifices and men mapping out launch trajectories with their members, how is it not self-incriminating and/or an indictment for Clapper to prove that the photos were taken? Essentially demonstrating his failure despite the massive surveillance state at his disposal, to prevent the Chinese from rather straightforwardly waltzing in, taking them you, wrapping them up in scandal, and then sold them back to our own media for broadcast?

[american socialist]

I'm about the biggest dove there is, but--really-- is this question even a serious one?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I asked a couple of questions, so are you confused about whether or not Clapper would get involved if Chinese hackers installed phishing software on my home PC?

I guess from my perspective, I would hope not.

So why is Clapper getting involved because they installed phishing software on Hillary's home server?

[kbolino]

I'm about the biggest dove there is

I'm no biologist, but I must have missed the missile launchers hidden under a dove's wings.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

You're lucky autocorrect substituted the p with a v.

[DRM]

OT Question for the group: Why is it a national security concern that someone's private email server was hacked by the Russians?

Because it was l?se-majest? against Crown Princess Hillary that deflected the succession to a small-handed vulgarian.

[Austrian Anarchy]

James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community.

However, they view all skeptical views as disparaging.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, skeptical vs. disparaging isn't really an either/or proposition.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Once in a while bureaucrats like Clapper make me hope that Trump has a two-week Stalin-type bender.

[GILMORE?]

there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community.

What does it say that the best-read book about the CIA's history is called "Legacy of Ashes"?

The history of the CIA is the history of 2 things -

- wildly overblown conclusions about minor things
- utter failure to grasp obvious, huge things

'Disparaging' should be the default. Merely 'skeptical' should be something they aspire to.

[Ken Shultz]

There's a Misfits record called "Legacy of Brutality".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li0HoocJC0s

"Legacy of Ashes" is even darker than that.

[AceDroman]

Such a good one but I prefer the regular Static Age album.

[The Last American Hero]

But Clapper insisted they have prevented numerous terror attacks, they just can't talk about it because it's like super secret.

[GILMORE?]

It is a long-used excuse of intelligence agencies that, "all our successes are secret, and all our failures are public"

in fact, if something they do is "public" *at all*, it is by definition a failure.

if we knew their "successes", and how they achieved them, we'd be even more aghast than we are of their failures.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

The CIA itself can't even decide if 9/11 was a failure or a success.

[kbolino]

It's just a product of incentives.

Success = We're doing a good job and deserve more money
Failure = We're underfunded and need more money

Why have one when you can have both?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

- wildly overblown conclusions about minor things
- utter failure to grasp obvious, huge things

Who knew the CIA was the forefather of SJW's?

[Ken Shultz]

"Police initially said they weren't sure that the victim was actually targeted because he was white, despite the comments captured on the video."

Well, that's the way hate crimes are usually handled. Even when it's caught on tape, the alleged perpetrators are given the benefit of the doubt by the police, the media, the prosecutors . . . everybody.

That's why I'm proud to be an American.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

CPD Cop #1: Look at that yo. He's selling H.
CPD Cop #2: Let's shoot that motherfucker!
CPD Cop #1: Hold on a sec. Look at that fuckstick next to him, he's been a murder suspect at large for two weeks!
CPD Cop #2: Whoa Whoa, take it easy. He only killed a nigger.

[thrakkorzog]

Yep I remember back when the Zimmerman 911 call was released, NBC went out of their way to edit out all reference to race.

[mad.casual]

I once sold a pig to Sen. Dan Coats. That is not a euphemism.

[Ken Shultz]

What did he do with the pig?

[Not a True MJG]

Holding it for David Cameron.

[Ken Shultz]

And his wife will never forgive him for it.

[mad.casual]

What did he do with the pig?

Really? None of my business. My assumption is that it went into a meat locker full of pigs and an equivalent amount of pig parts came out of the same locker for consumption at an office or campaign-related event.

Please don't hold your breath for the real answer, it was 4-H and I was 8. The story ends with me poorly writing him a nice thank you card for paying $1.10/lb. (IIRC).

[Pope Jimbo]

Poked it?

[american socialist]

"Defending their report that Russia was responsible for hacking and releasing information from the Democratic Party to attempt to influence the presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded to President-elect Donald Trump's general dismissal of the evidence by saying there's a difference between being "skeptical" and "disparaging" the intel community. Their unclassified report explaining the hack will be publicly released next week."

It's really great that the political Right has found its long lost friend in anarchy-bros like Julian Assange. I can't watch Mr. Asante for more than 15 minutes without feeling like a sucker, but that's probably because I find anarchism an infantile disorder.

[Zero Sum Game]

When AmSoc comes to a Reason thread.

[Free Society]

When AmSoc comes to a Reason thread.

I chortled several times at once.

[Free Society]

still chortling. watched it probably ten times. thank you

[ant1sthenes]

You just triggered my AoT PTSD.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

like Julian Assange. I can't watch Mr. Asante[sic] for more than 15 minutes without feeling like a sucker

Because you liked him when he said mean things about Booosh?

[DOOMco]

they missed you in the bomb report article.

[CDK8]

@JamesClapper - I am both skeptical AND disparaging.

[american socialist]

Why is it a national security threat when s foreign government hacks into Hillary Clinton's personal email server?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I asked that above. Hillary repeatedly assured us it was "no big deal" that she used a home server. Is Hillary's position now that it IS a major big deal?

So Hillary's choice to use an unsecure personal server is essentially driving us towards COLD WAR III?

It almost makes one think that Hillary's use of a personal server was criminally negligent. I mean... at the least.

[american socialist]

Sorry. I never absolved Clinton's behavior with regards to her email. I just stated that it was s partisan witch hunt over a relatively trivial issue. I'm with you... I think having a personal server in which government work is conducted is probably a bad idea, but neither is it grounds for labeling someone a traitor. Maybe they're just lazy. Do you think all the hyperventilating and vomiting black blood that was done around here over BENGHAZZII EMAILZ. Means that people around here are likely to see it the way you and I do? Maybe it depends on the person about whom the hacking is being done-- I guess.

[kbolino]

You're right, it's just dandy to send classified information willy-nilly over unprotected networks and store it on unapproved media. Who could possibly object?

[mad.casual]

I just stated that it was s partisan witch hunt over a relatively trivial issue.

Except we've relatively burned people at the stake, apartisanally, for doing the exact same thing.

I am and was okay with letting her off, so long as lots of other people's criminal status/transgressions be absolved as well. I felt the same way when Dick Cheney got hammered, accidentally shot the judge, and spent 24 hours in seclusion before talking with police/the media/etc.

[kbolino]

No matter how many times I read what you wrote, I always read artisanally instead of apartisanally.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I think having a personal server in which government work is conducted is probably a bad idea, but neither is it grounds for labeling someone a traitor.

No one that I know labeled her as a "traitor". We labeled her as 'corrupt' because she was explicitly skirting government accountability rules.

[kbolino]

Eh, she was labeled a traitor but for different reasons. Running a personal email server doesn't make her a traitor even if she used it for classified information. Using her government office as a pay-for-play for foreign organizations might.

[ant1sthenes]

Uh, she sold out the US to Russia for money (regarding the uranium deal). Russia is the most evilest country in the world and hacked our elections. You do the math.

[R C Dean]

Partisan witch hunt over trivial issue is't absolving? Huh.

[Sevo]

american socialist|1.5.17 @ 6:15PM|#
"Sorry. I never absolved Clinton's behavior with regards to her email."
And then you do just that, asswipe:
"I just stated that it was s partisan witch hunt over a relatively trivial issue."

[Zero Sum Game]

It wouldn't have been had she not directed all her communications through it, including classified documents.

She commits a crime, suddenly it's someone else's fault. Proglodyte.

[Mickey Rat]

It would not have been if she had limited its use to only personal stuff.

[UCrawford]

Did anyone at Reason notice that the House of Representatives voted in favor of the REINS Act today to rein in the regulatory authority of the executive branch?

No? Were you too busy continuing to whine about Trump to notice that the new Republican Congress looks like they're trying to put legislative authority back where it belongs...in Congress? Don't you think that's something that libertarians might care about?

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/c.....s-n2267104

[Rich]

"Argh! *I* said it!"

[Rufus The Monocled]

IT IS ON!

[Rhywun]

Too bad Russia is already out of the way. Now it's going to be all friendly and shit.

[SimonD]

Well if he doesn't do something good once in a while, he can't lure in the suckers.

[Free Society]

I douse my pancakes in Canadian blood.

[Crusty Juggler]

🙂

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This is deserving of a +2

[Charles Easterly]

*hands out brain sandpaper while smugly patting self on back*