Trump Wants Keystone, Cops in Schools, the Pros and Cons of Punching Nazis: P.M. Links

• 

  Screenshot

  President Trump has said yes to building the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.

• This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.
• This Nation writer condemns the idea of violence being committed against people he dislikes.
• Title IX compliance experts are worried that Trump's Education Department will render them obsolete.
• Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.
• The University of Kentucky won a lawsuit against its student paper: it does not have to release information about a sexual harassment investigation.
• Read my feature story in Reason magazine (co-authored with the Reason Foundation's Tyler Koteskey) about rise of cops in schools, and what to do about it.
• What makes Kelly Ann Conway tick, via The Onion.

Comments

[bacon-magic]

President Trump has said yes
I knew he would

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

I noticed a new breed of people. The ones who complain their insurance premiums shot up but don't connect it to Obamacare or refuse to blame it choosing instead to blame greedy insurance companies.

[See Double You]

What does it mean when Rufus says "Hello" to not-Fist?

[bacon-magic]

That I am First. *feels the power flowing through me

[Tonio]

I'll prepare the ceremonial chariot for the Triumph.

[bacon-magic]

Do I get the laurel, too? Purple really isn't my color though...

[Mad Scientist]

A laurel and a hearty handshake.

[DenverJ]

Laurel and Hearty? The comedians?

[Charles Easterly]

I was torn between this and the same reference which you made, Mad.

That Mel Brooks is unique.

[Jimbo]

+1 quick-time harch!

[Tonio]

+1 Welcome for Our New Sheriff

[TheZeitgeist]

Tony, enslaved, holds the crown and whispers sweet nothings about gods something-something.

[Tonio]

Yes, you get the laurel. Purple is only for Senators. You're not there, yet.

[bacon-magic]

Only good Senator is a Rand Paul Senator.

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

Trump Era!

[Entelechy]

Looks to be a Cauliflower Era with all the sucker punches being thrown.

While Spencer's clout upside the head landed him on SNL, his Deploraball sidekick Gavin may end up in jail , having been caught on video throwing the first punch at a skinny sign- carrier, who never swung back, and bragging afterward that he "assaulted " him and " bit the glasses off" another lefty who dissed him from the sidelines

Watch and weep, or laugh as taste dictates-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJAt9LTre20

[SugarFree]

It means something has awakened within him. A desire. One that he will not be able to control.

[bacon-magic]

Everyone loves bacon. Canada even has it's own version.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You shut your mouth. The only thing so-called Canadian bacon is good for is wiping off any remains of deep dish from a pizza pan so you can make some real pizza.

[jesse.in.mb]

Wait do you not like eggs Benedict?

I thought I knew you.

[bacon-magic]

You know, I still haven't tried that. Need to sometime.

[Groovus Maximus]

You know, I still haven't tried that.

I expect to hear about your borshh, soon. And it better be made with some turnips, too.

[bacon-magic]

The deer is thawing this week. My local store only has some weird colored beets at the moment. I'm part Irish, of course there will be turnips.

[jesse.in.mb]

If you're making it at home, hollandaise sauce is intimidating, but surprisingly easy if you follow Julia Child's blender version of it. Also a lot of restaurants make garbage hollandaise, so if you ever have it and it's bland try someplace else (or better make it yourself).

[bacon-magic]

Thank you. I'm going to use whole wheat English muffins, hope that doesn't ruin it.

[Eman]

Emulsified sauces you just have to fuck up a few times. On that note, it is extremely strange how amazing properly prepared hollandaise is in comparison to exactly this same ingredients in broken emulsion soup

[Eman]

Emulsified sauces you just have to fuck up a few times. On that note, it is extremely strange how amazing properly prepared hollandaise is in comparison to exactly this same ingredients in broken emulsion soup

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I put a sausage pattie on my eggs Benedict like a normal person.

[jesse.in.mb]

CMW: Weird that isn't one of the named variations on wikipedia, but there are a ton of them. Had "eggs Michael" someplace and it was a crabcake instead of ham. Quite tasty, never saw on a menu again.

b-m: Nah. Most whole wheat muffins I've had are nearly indistinguishable from their white counterparts. I'd imagine they'd need a little less toasting time just because whole wheat breads dry out more quickly, but you'll be mopping up lemony buttery sauce with it anyway.

[bacon-magic]

Thank you, sir. May you always be blessed with 55 gallon drums of lube.

[bacon-magic]

Howdy, Rufus.

[Ted S.]

I thought your premiums didn't go up in Canada. Just the waiting times to see your doctor.

[See Double You]

Rufus just plays a Canadian on TV.

[Fatty Bolger]

Hey, a strong majority manage to stay alive long enough to see a doctor, so the system must be working.

[Christophe]

Decades of natural selection will do that to people.

[But Enough About Me]

I thought your premiums didn't go up in Canada. Just the waiting times to see your doctor.

How DARE you! We get full service in Canada!

Both our premiums and our wait times go up! Nyaaaah!

[Zeb]

Recently? Those people have been making fools of themselves since Obamacare has been a thing.

Damn those greedy insurance companies who think they need to make money to stay in business!

[See Double You]

There was a Facebook meme going around last month saying almost exactly that: "Don't blame Obamacare for rising insurance premiums; blame the insurance companies."

They learned it from Maduro.

[Zeb]

They can take a loss on every policy and just make it up in volume. Worked for GM.

[Groovus Maximus]

Uh, no. That's exactly why I dropped CMS patients years ago.

[Zeb]

Hey, I'm supposed to be the guy who responds to jokes with oddly serious comments. Stop horning in on my racket.

[Zeb]

Never mind. You're GM, now I get it.

[Rich]

Yes to the dress?

[PBR Streetgang]

Whoa 2 minutes early?! This has been a weird day for links.

[OneOut]

It must have even faked Fist out.

[bacon-magic]

This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.

Of course she does.

[Florida Hipster]

Robby, you magnificent troll, I read your Lynx!

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Christ, what an asshole."

[bacon-magic]

You leave him alone, Fist. That's F-I-S-T, not F-I-R-S-T.

[jack sprat]

He didn't clear it with you first?

[Playa Manhattan.]

The timing is trolling too...

[Florida Hipster]

Robby, like Trump, is a blank slate I project all my hopes and fears onto. He is both, at the same time, an incompetent fool and an evil genius.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

This is a perfect description of Robbyspierre.

[ant1sthenes]

Robby is the Dorian Gray, and Trump is the painting.

[See Double You]

But who is Oscar Wilde?

[bacon-magic]

Agile Cyborg

[Charles Easterly]

In Oscar Wilde's dreams?

[Rich]

It's trolls all the way down!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.

Classic Trumpkin, these people are the worst. /sarc

[bacon-magic]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

Use it to inspire your muse.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Shia Le Beef has spiraled into something else. Manic insanity, I guess you'd call it.

[bacon-magic]

I heard about his meltdown on his 24 hour live feed. The madness will be memorialized.

[jesse.in.mb]

You shut your face.

*looks into camera*

HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US!

[Florida Hipster]

You're not a Shia fan, are you?

[jesse.in.mb]

Fan? No. He's had a few bangable moments and a lot of not bangable ones.

[Florida Hipster]

That I can accept.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

This is what butt cheeks say to Jesse.

[OneOut]

I saw the video of his screaming that out.

He was right up in the face of a much smaller ( maybe a head shorter) younger looking guy.

He leaned over the guy and put his mouth right up to the guys ear and when the much shorter guy would twist his head around for relief Shia would follow him with his head.

I so much wanted for the littler guy to throat punch that bullying bastard. I would have done it for him if I was there. It was detestable.

Of course there were several proggie friends in the background. They were smiling like they thought it was funny but even some of them looked uneasy.

[OneOut]

I advise everyone here to make a point of watching it and see if you don't have the urge to rip that POS throat out.

[Free Society]

I had that urge before all this.

[Drake]

I have enough hearing loss already. They would have had to dig me out of that shitstain.

[Tonio]

In progland he's being celebrated as a hero.

[bacon-magic]

They know not to cross him now, he's certified nutty cakes.

[Zeb]

I thought we'd known that for a while now.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

After googling, found

"Shia LaBeouf starts a 4-year livestream to protest Trump"

All of the wut.

[Lee Genes]

I find this awesome.

Franco will only be able to make one movie a week now.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

May be he can go get another PhD instead.

[BakedPenguin]

He's going to make anti-Trump videos until the resistance wins.

[thrakkorzog]

After watching the Shia Le douchebag video, I kind of want just say I can totally kick his ass. There's no greeen screen and no all sparks.

Bring it if you think you're hard enough

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

It's Keystone Kops, Robby.

[Tonio]

But still a clever visual pun.

[A Thinking Mind]

Yes, a definite golf clap for the headline.

[Tonio]

President Trump has banned employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from giving social media updates and speaking with reporters, bars awarding new contracts or grants.

Looks like they are going to be on a very short leash for a very long time. Do NOT read the comments to The Hill article, it makes our unhinged trolls look sane and reasonable.

[See Double You]

I saw that one of the National Parks Twitter accounts has defied the ban and is tweeting about climate change.

[Tonio]

Oh, interesting.

[See Double You]

The one I saw was along the lines of, "Pre-industrial-age carbon concentration at PPM 280, today at over 400 PPM," as though that fact validates the government's control of the economy.

[Mad Scientist]

Pre-industrial atmospheric CO2: 0.000280%
Current atmospheric CO2: 0.000400%

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Eh, drop the percent or drop two zeroes. P-arts-not-ercent-Per-M-illion

[RAHeinlein]

What are these carbon-based creatures you speak of?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Think how much carbon could be saved by not using Twitter.

[Lee Genes]

YOU'RE FIRED.

Best part of a Trump Presidency

[jesse.in.mb]

I thought they walked that back.

[Tonio]

I just rechecked my link to The Hill article and there is no correction. You got a linky?

[jesse.in.mb]

Sure

[Tonio]

Oops, I thought you meant that the EPA thing had been walked back.

[jesse.in.mb]

Nope. I have poor reading comprehension. Please disregard this entire subthread.

[Jimbo]

Look at his face, Jesse, not his...

[Zeb]

Don't government agencies have to respect free speech of their civilian employees?

[kbolino]

Sure. In their private lives. Speaking in an official capacity, however, makes you a representative of the executive branch of the government.

[Zeb]

Yes, I like to forget that they have "official" social media presence.

Maybe they should just ban agencies from having official social media outlets, because it's stupid.

[RAHeinlein]

Social "notworking"

[See Double You]

It's complicated.

[Bill Dalasio]

Not really. They can Tweet or DerpBook official policy or they can Tweet or DerpBook on their own time.

Pretty simple, really.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

The thing is this should be s.o.p. for every new POTUS.

[OneOut]

Was twitter a thing before Obama ?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Title IX compliance experts are worried that Trump's Education Department will render them obsolete.

The fuck -- who will lead the witch hunts?

[Ted S.]

Jean Simmons?

[Zeb]

No, Gene Simmons.

[Pan Zagloba]

Inquisitor Eisenhorn?

(until spoilers)

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Dorothy?

[The Fusionist]

-2 witches

[The Fusionist]

Wow, Truman Capote could have written the Oz books.

[Citizen X]

This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.

You know who else celebrated etc. etc. etc.?

[See Double You]

Statists of all stripes?

[Hamster of Doom]

Exactly.

*glitterbombs you*

[See Double You]

Great. How do I get this stuff off me?

[jesse.in.mb]

You don't. Such is the way of glitter.

[SugarFree]

"The herpes of the craft world."

[PapayaSF]

LOL

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I thought you were gonna say it will take 55 gallons of something.

[Jimbo]

You'll be wiping it off your ass every time you shit...for at least the next 2 months.

[Florida Hipster]

I've always wanted to send one of those to a guy I know that has a glitter phobia, but know I would be the first suspect.

[Hamster of Doom]

It spoils the fun when they figure out what we're like. The element of surprise is half the fun.

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

Your mom?

[PBR Streetgang]

Kool and the Gang?

[Rich]

Note to self: Refresh before posting.

[Rich]

Kool & The Gang?

[Zeb]

Everyone seems to be ignoring that other Nation writer for some reason.

[Rich]

*cough*dontwanngetkilled*cough*

[See Double You]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

Trump's not all that bad.

[AceDroman]

I rather liked Spring Breakers. Mostly because a large part of it was filmed in my home town and Gucci Mane was the bad guy.

[Voros McCracken]

This

[Tonio]

Robby Soave|Jan. 24, 2017 4:28 pm

Robbo, you little tease.

[See Double You]

*ruffles Robby's hair*

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Ohhh Shiiieeet!!

Now you went and done it!

[John Titor]

Some say you get three wishes.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You wanna get banned?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

Me too, James, me too. Of course mine is less about Trump and more about my countrymen's call for civil war and death.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

One prog friend of mine who once astoundingly in a conversation about guns declared it would be better for his (hypothetical) wife and kids to be murdered by home invaders than for him to defend his family with a gun... let that sink in.... posted some message today about how all Trump voters who polls show are disapproving of Trump's first days in office -- should be axed to death.

This sentiment makes me want to drown the liver in poison. Can't talk to any of my friends, they are all enraged bernie bros who 'Stood with Her'.

[Pan Zagloba]

Something, something, Simpsons did it...

[John Titor]

Christ Pan, quit pimping your radio show.

[Pan Zagloba]

Is man not entitled to the sweat of his (yellow, overly sized and moist) brow?

The Parasites say "NO!"

[Zeb]

At least most of my prog friends think it's good that I have guns and aren't completely nuts about that stuff. I do have a few friends who I am very hesitant to talk to as I don't think they are ready to hear what I think of their emotional collapse after the election.

[Tonio]

OK, we should redouble our efforts to have H&R meetups. We may not become friends but at least we will have others to whom to turn.

[BigT]

Compare quality of vintage prog tears. No?

[Mr Drew]

"OK, we should redouble our efforts to have H&R meetups."

I approve. One of the complications of that idea is that while some of us are in the open, some dwell in the shadows for fear of reprisals of some kind.

If there is a location listing idea here, make sure to keep that in mind.

Also, I want everyone's real name so I can sell you suckers out when the 3am knock on the door happens.

/ just kidding
// not really

[ant1sthenes]

At least we will have others whom to turn in

FTFY

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Well at least he wants to use an ax and not, Heaven Forbid, one of those Evil Guns I've heard so much about!!

[Free Society]

Can't talk to any of my friends, they are all enraged bernie bros who 'Stood with Her'.

How did you manage to assemble such a thoroughly terrible circle of friends?

[Ceci n'est pas un woodchipper]

My wife said that crazy shit to me a few times, but her variant being she'd rather just be killed than shoot/kill someone in self-defense. I told her that I'd shoot at someone stealing our junk mail, never mind actually entering my home uninvited with any kind of threatening posture, and if she gets the drop on someone with a weapon before I do she damned well better kill the mf'er, because if she doesn't, I will, and then I'm shooting her for desertion. I was mostly joking. Mostly.

That shit has changed since we've had a kid, although she's still very much anti-gun, anti-self-defense.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

she'd rather just be killed than shoot/kill someone in self-defense

I know this is out there among many people, but I don't understand it at all. Is her stance a "moral high ground" thing: "I'd much rather be martyred, because then I could say that, at least I didn't use violence, which is the most awful thing in existence, ever!"?

Has she given you any kind of indication why she thinks that way? My wife is awesome with firearms, and is pretty good about protecting herself/us. But...I think there are some lines she won't cross in regards to self-defense that actually give me pause.

[ant1sthenes]

If I can't have you, America, no one can. You made me do this.

[Hamster of Doom]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

That does it. This has now gone too far. Something must be done.

/lol

[Rich]

Something must be done

Apply for help before Trump destroys the healthcare system?

[Shirley Knott]

Medicate Franco?
Oh, wait, he self medicates. That couldn't possibly have anything to do with his 'issues'. Nor any of the other true, or rumored, facts about his life. So it has to be Trump. Seriously, there are no other possible causes at all.
smh

[bacon-magic]

Nice alt-text! Classy.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

No you haven't, you privileged fuckhead. There's a difference between being sad about something and being depressed. Now go make another shitty movie.

[Playa Manhattan.]

He knows. He wants to be a victim.

[Juice]

Actually, please don't.

[Tonio]

Angela Peoples did not come to the Women's March on Washington to play. The 30-year-old co-director of the LGBTQ equality organization GetEqual came to Saturday's massive protest against Donald Trump to tell the truth. Marching in a sea of white women, Peoples wore a hat that read, "Stop Killing Black People," and carried a sign that read in part, "White Women Voted for Trump."

As a group of white women in pink pussy-hats took selfies behind Peoples and her sign, her boyfriend, photographer and digital strategist Kevin Banatte, asked her to pause so he could take her picture. The photo of the oblivious women and Peoples, sucking on a lollipop, holding her sign with an unapologetic look on her face, quickly went viral.

Progs eating their own because of identity politics. Also, I'm guessing that the women at the march were NOT the ones voting for Trump.

[SugarFree]

Racism is a helluva drug, Charlie Murphy.

[bacon-magic]

I love Charlie Murphy and his stories. It made the show.

[Mad Scientist]

Collectivism always ends up at racism eventually.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

It's pretty much started there, in this case.

[Zero Sum Game]

You haven't even seen an SJW's final form.

[TheZeitgeist]

Divide and conquered.

[PBR Streetgang]

Its almost like they don't enjoy winning elections.

[The Other Kevin]

Insulting people based on overly broad generalizations got them this far, didn't it? Why stop now?

[Playa Manhattan.]

I'm holding Angela Peoples personally responsible for all inner city crime.

[jack sprat]

I had no idea this March thingy was going to turn out so funny.

[jesse.in.mb]

I used to be able to do a surprisingly graphic balloon hat vagina. That would've been a perfect skill at this event.

[Crusty Juggler]

I used to be able to do a surprisingly graphic balloon hat vagina

Comment of the year.

[jesse.in.mb]

*curtsies gracefully*

[Tonio]

Seconded. And the cruel irony is that one could get so much of the actual sort of vagina doing that, and of course it would have to be Jesse with the skill.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Something about the balloon knot should go in this comment as well

[See Double You]

The beauty of the Oppression Olympics is that there are no winners.

[Tonio]

Everyone loses, including those who don't play.

[BigT]

The beauty tragedy of the Oppression Olympics is that there are no winners they are all whiners.

[Not a True MJG]

a sign that read in part, "White Women Voted for Trump."

How big was the sign?

[Ted S.]

Angela Peoples

Angie baby,
She's a special kind of lady,
She's living in a world of make-believe....

[DenverJ]

That picture shows a lot of upper middle-class soccer moms, well dressed, smiling, with expensive phones and wardrobes.
The very picture of an oppressed class marching to end injustice.

[DenverJ]

Also, WTF is with the hats? If that's what those women's pussies look like, no wonder their mad.

[DenverJ]

*they're

[bacon-magic]

+1 angry beaver

[Hayeksplosives]

I totally agree. How is that representative of any part of a woman's anatomy? It's pink, but that's as far as I can figure it. I thought maybe it was the horns of the uterus, but that's unconvincing and they call it a "pussy hat." Not seeing it.

To make matters worse, it makes my favorite winter cable knit hat, which has cute brown "ears" like a bear, look like I am a sympathizer so I have not worn it outside the house since the "March."

Libs ruin everything.

[ant1sthenes]

Maybe it's a pun? Like, cat ears or something?

[Hayeksplosives]

Maybe...that extremely obvious pun went way over my head, but perhaps that is it.

[Azathoth!!]

that IS it. they're supposed to be cat ears.

[BigT]

That picture shows a lot of upper middle-class soccer moms, well dressed, smiling, with expensive phones and wardrobes.
The very picture of an oppressed class the world's most entitled class marching to end injustice.

[Crusty Juggler]

Why 2017 May Be the Best Year Ever

Every day, an average of about a quarter-million people worldwide graduate from extreme poverty, according to World Bank figures.
Or if you need more of a blast of good news, consider this: Just since 1990, more than 100 million children's lives have been saved through vaccinations, breast-feeding promotion, diarrhea treatment and more. If just about the worst thing that can happen is for a parent to lose a child, that's only half as likely today as in 1990.

When I began writing about global poverty in the early 1980s, more than 40 percent of all humans were living in extreme poverty. Now fewer than 10 percent are. By 2030 it looks as if just 3 or 4 percent will be. (Extreme poverty is defined as less than $1.90 per person per day, adjusted for inflation.)

[Playa Manhattan.]

That, and precious metal and mining ETFs are up 13% THIS MONTH. Thanks, Trump!

[TheZeitgeist]

They took a mini-bath in month after he was elected though.

[Not a True MJG]

From that bit, it sounds like 2030 will be a better year.

[Charles Easterly]

breast-feeding promotion

Is this necessary in places where the parents of babies are living "in poverty"?

[Tonio]

Apparently, yes, according to the Infant Formula Action Coalition.

[Hamster of Doom]

This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.
This Nation writer condemns the idea of violence being committed against people he dislikes.

Robby, how'm I supposed to know how to feel about either of these people if you don't tell me.

[GILMORE?]

President Trump has said yes to building the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.

The angle here (which you'd think would have been worth a short entry @H&R) should be =

The president's opinion shouldn't fucking matter on these issues

we shouldn't be glad Trump is "enabling" something any more than people should have been glad that asshat Obama stuck himself into stopping them for political reasons

What irks me is the increasing perception that politicians "Do" everything. Like the Chait-esque assumpiton that "Obama spent lots of taxpayer money! =Ergo he saved the economy". Because recessions never end w/o politicians waving their hands.

[The Last American Hero]

Has a recession ever ended without a politician waving their hands?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

I think Last American Hero is getting at -- you do the rain dance until it rains.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

And a whole lot of finger pointing along the way.

[kbolino]

The president's opinion shouldn't fucking matter on these issues

Well, sure, but one of the pipelines involves a connection to a foreign country and the other (allegedly) involves tribal lands, which makes both of them Federal issues.

[GILMORE?]

which makes both of them Federal issues.

I'm aware of that. And the State department has obligations to issue reviews and provide approval in a timely manner and without prejudice.

basically, even if State has to make a call, the president should be obligated to keep his fucking trap shut about it. Saying *anything* is effectively confessing that its a political decision and inherently biased.

[kbolino]

I'm sure Congress will start enforcing those obligations any day now.

[GILMORE?]

congress, unless i'm mistaken, has nothing to do with it.

the State dept reviews any applications for something like a cross-border pipeline, and unless they can find some serious problem in certain categories (i think they're things like "do they present national security problems", "do they burden the govt with any costs", "are there major environmental hazards", etc)... they're obligated to approve. To deny they need to show their case that there's a substantive reason for denial. Merely denying because "im a democrat - republicans like this, therefore i dont like this" is technically against the law, because it turns otherwise non-partisan businesses into political playthings, and creates a horrible incentive by which business can only be conducted when you have politicians on your side (thereby making lobbying more and more important)

my point was that the way these issues are presented as 'Presidential Decrees' (obama said no, trump says yes) effective normalizes what is on the face of it entirely improper role of government.

[BigT]

Saying *anything* is effectively confessing that its a political decision and inherently biased

Obama said and did quite a bit. Trump appears to be 'correcting' that error - fighting fire with fire.

I agree it would be best if neither narcissist were involved.

[See Double You]

Without a strongmanperson, who will get things done?

[Juvenile Bluster]

This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.

Most of the liberal twitterverse is doing the same. Of course, they only apply that thinking to speech they think is bad (obvious disclaimer: Fuck Nazis), and that it would and should never be applied to speech other people think is bad.

[MythicalLibertarianWoman]

It's so cute that they think it's not going to work out exactly that way. These people are completely nuts.

[SimonD]

I sort of like the idea of Progs using violence (or, more likely, trying and failing miserably) on people they dislike. That way when the people they dislike beat the shit out of said Progs, we can just laugh at them.

[TheZeitgeist]

I sort of like the idea of Progs using violence (or, more likely, trying and failing miserably) on people they dislike.

^This. For example, the limo the Womynz March progs torched was owned by Muslim immigrant's rental company.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....ihood-lost

Progs can't do anything right.

[Mad Scientist]

But the car will be paid for by a greedy capitalist insurance company!

[PBR Streetgang]

We were promised that if Trump won we'd see violence against Muslims. Well...

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Muhammad ~Ashraf~, so he was a descendant of the Prophet too.

[thrakkorzog]

I was told that if Trump was elected fascits would roam the land burning down immigrant own businesses, and they were right.

[Bill Dalasio]

Why do progressives hate Muslim immigrants so much?

[Christophe]

He's a successful business-owning immigrant, which makes him a kulak, no matter the colour of his skin or the name of his god.

[ant1sthenes]

Wasn't that the "antifas"? Inauguration day protests? I didn't hear about violence at the chick march, just some public stupidity.

[See Double You]

Someone told me to get a civics lesson because the First Amendment does not protect hate speech. No irony intended.

[Volren]

It's always fun to read about people screaming about the dark night of fascism while they smash windows and burn other people's things.

[ant1sthenes]

I can understand and excuse being arrogant, but not being utterly incapable of processing evidence and learning. After losing the election and basically being exposed to a massive dose of reality in regard to how (not) widespread their views are and how much of a bubble they live in, they want to double down and declare free season on people whose views you hate and regard as dangerous?

I mean, did they not just notice that Trump's popularity seems to be driven entirely by the fact that an ever growing share of the country hates them and sees them as dangerous, and is increasingly willing to stoop to their level to fight back against them? And where this would very obviously lead? Shit, did they not notice that the Nazis didn't come to power purely on long-simmering prejudice against minorities, or on anger about a sense of national decline, but as a reaction to terroristic behavior by domestic leftists?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The University of Kentucky won a lawsuit against its student paper: it does not have to release information about a sexual harassment investigation.

I'm going to assume an athlete is being protected or else the University would be sending out emails to the entire student body informing them on the campus assault.

[The Last American Hero]

My money is that a male claimed harassment.

[BigT]

it does not have to release information about a sexual harassment investigation.

Seems fair. What if the guy is innocent? Should his name have been dragged through the mud, Duke lacrosse style?

[Rich]

[Franco's] film makes you think about the fluidity of sexuality. A lot of people are going to see the film and think that Michael is betraying himself, but there is a contrarian argument one could make that, if sexuality is truly fluid, couldn't a man then decide he doesn't want to date men anymore and start seeing women?

"The film makes you think about the fluidity of political belief. A lot of people are going to see the film and think that James is betraying himself, but there is a contrarian argument one could make that, if political belief is truly fluid, couldn't a man then decide he doesn't want to venerate Hillary anymore and start digging Trump?"

[GILMORE?]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

Oh no, what will we do.

[Ska]

I don't know... play chess? Screw?

[waffles]

Epic series storm ends in tragedy as patroller dies at Squaw.

Really sad. Squaw Valley has been having difficult operations all year and this is just awful. Trying to ski in north lake tahoe has taught me about all these interesting ski town squabbles that in some ways mirror larger issues. There is the big corporation, the moneyed tourists, the grimy but lovable locals. All the tropes about ski towns are in some ways true. The skiing is a big draw but I'm sick of stressing myself out myself fighting every asshole from the bay area to just get some turns.

So instead I went to Sierra-at-Tahoe. It was deep.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I remember the cavern collapse over the volcano vent at Mammoth. I missed it by a few days, but I know some people who were there.

It's an awful way to die.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Oh, shit. The press release doesn't say so, but it sounds like he got blown up.

[waffles]

Yes, that's what I've heard. Jobs with explosives are cool, but dangerous. Full time ski patrol out west probably set as much or more explosives than any civilian occupation.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Plus, the howitzer. But that's a bit more expensive. Over $100 per shot.

[esteve7]

Posted this in an earlier thread: I am really giddy about the NODAPL crap being ended by Trump. I had to listen to all the proggy crap about it for months, see it nonstop in my facebook feed, and one of my coworkers went there to protest and had to lecture us all about it.

How do you like that now, fuckers? Elections have consequences, like Obama used to say.

[The Last American Hero]

Now if he'll just end the BIA and grant the lands to the tribes as nfp organizations, they can sort their own shit out and get cut off the teat.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

Thank you for saying this! I would love to see federal lands/parks go to tribal ownership. Hopefully something good would come of it (for once).

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Read my feature story in Reason magazine (co-authored with the Reason Foundation's Tyler Koteskey) about rise of cops in schools, and what to do about it.

I'm for cops riddling school shooters with bullets.

I'm against teenage girls getting body slammed.

[Citizen X]

YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Fine! I'll take dead killers over sparing the children bruises. But I'm not fucking happy about it.

In real life, we have both mass murders and police abused children sans justice... so, yeah...

[GILMORE?]

What makes Kelly Ann Conway tick, via The Onion.

And who owns the Onion, again?

[Rich]

That's fake news, right?

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

Alt-Fact?

[Not a True MJG]

Eh, they still do great work.

[Free Society]

At press time, a heartbroken Obama had thrown a rock in the drone's direction, causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to flee into the sky, where it paused to look back one last time at its old master before flying off toward a Yemeni tribal wedding.

ahhhhhh yes. Tears welled up in my eyes. It was actually a sad story. Hilariously sad.

[Crusty Juggler]

Sean Spicer Chews and Swallows 35 Pieces of Gum Every Day Before Noon

"Two and a half packs by noon," said Spicer. "I talked to my doctor about it, he said it's no problem."

The snarky media fights back the only way they know how. Also, Spicer is a weirdo. Also, this tact never works in the media's favor. Also, what are his poops like?

[SugarFree]

Also, what are his poops like?

Stuck to the underside of a desk.

[GILMORE?]

well played.

[Episteme]

The man farts bubbles!

[bacon-magic]

That's why he's so feisty, he's all out of chewing gum.

[The Fusionist]

I can't believe I didn't think of that right away.

[BigT]

Time to kick ass and chew bubblegum!

[ant1sthenes]

You bastard, he was planning on saving that line for later.

[MythicalLibertarianWoman]

This "punching Nazis" meme has gone beyond eyeroll-worthy to actually disturbing to me. The entire YA publishing community has been tweeting and retweeting these things for days: "You are always allowed to punch a Nazi and it's always justified because they're a Nazi," and calling anyone who argues that violence isn't justified a Nazi sympathizer. I'm getting kind of scared to be around these people, they're completely unhinged. Starting to wonder if a career change is in order.

I don't even have any derp links today, there's been nothing but "PUNCH NAZIS" nonstop for 3 days. Getting old.

[tarran]

Some sizeable faction in the proggie collective is nerving themselves up to take up mob violence to intimidate their enemies into silence.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Yeah. It won't end well for them. Even Anthony Bordain understands that.

[Tonio]

This will not end well.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Are you talking about the username?

[Tonio]

Well, that too. But I was agreeing with her about how the progs are just itching for violence.

[The Last American Hero]

I don't know what offends me more, their refusal to adhere to the NAP or the fact that they define Nazi as anybody that didn't vote for Hillary.

[MythicalLibertarianWoman]

The most frustrating thing is that a lot of them are claiming that they are adhering to the NAP because "it's self defense." Even if the "Nazi" has done nothing except talk. Their existence is "an act of violence" that requires violence in defense. They're repeating it over and over, the way they repeated over and over that Trump voters are automatically racist/homophobic/fascist/etc, and convincing each other that it's true.

[Volren]

Yep, the tards have been busy extending "aggression" and "violence" to decidedly nonviolent things. That way they can always frame everything as self-defence and themselves as victims.

[Free Society]

Didn't the guy who shot someone outside of a Milo event do so because he claimed the guy looked like a Nazi?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Kinda like how Jews' mere existence was an act of violence to actual Nazis.

Our new overlords won't be using an ancient symbol of good luck as their logo - instead it will probably be something like a rainbow.

[Tonio]

^This (first paragraph). Please find a reason to repeat this frequently.

[See Double You]

The left's strategy of undermining the meaning of words is one of its most treasured.

[Hamster of Doom]

I think the social contract decided the white nationalism of Nazis was the real problem, but the socialism we can forget as a red herring.

[Free Society]

It's worth noting to the uninitiated that nationalism and supremacism are different things. White nationalism is no more inherently evil than black nationalism, Japanese nationalism or Australian aborigne nationalism, as misguided as any of those nationalistic ideologies may be.

[Hamster of Doom]

That's what I keep trying to tell the staffers, but for some reason they believe the Twitter over me.

At least keep it in mind, people. "Nationalism" is synonymous with jingoistic racism in some modern parlance, but there's still ever so many people who think of it as "liking your country particularly". Lee Greenwood had a decent singing career built around that kind of nationalism.

[Pan Zagloba]

Just retweet that Indiana Jones Punches Nazi So Fuck Spencer meme and move on before they notice you not participating!

THE MANAGER of a fruit-and-vegetable shop places in his window, among the onions and carrots, the slogan: "Workers of the world, unite!" Why does he do it? What is he trying to communicate to the world? Is he genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of unity among the workers of the world? Is his enthusiasm so great that he feels an irrepressible impulse to acquaint the public with his ideals? Has he really given more than a moment's thought to how such a unification might occur and what it would mean?
...
WE HAVE seen that the real meaning of the greengrocer's slogan has nothing to do with what the text of the slogan actually says. Even so, this real meaning is quite clear and generally comprehensible because the code is so familiar: the greengrocer declares his loyalty (and he can do no other if his declaration is to be accepted) in the only way the regime is capable of hearing; that is, by accepting the prescribed ritual, by accepting appearances as reality, by accepting the given rules of the game.

In the future, memoirs and books of dissidents living in Eastern Europe '48-89 are going to be How-To manuals...

[Juice]

and of course anyone they don't like is a Nazi

[John Titor]

It's times like these I wish my grandfather, who spent the early 40s sleeping in ditches, eating rotten produce, and taking potshots at actual Nazi patrols, was still alive to shit all over these people.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You grandfather violated the NAP?

[Pan Zagloba]

Sounds more like he violated the NSDAP.

[John Titor]

They started it. Really. Not like this idiocy, like "invaded his country" started it.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

It was a joke.

[John Titor]

As was mine, but still, true story.

[American Memer]

Your grandfather sounded like a neat dude. Shame he's not around anymore.

[DJF]

Is it OK to punch Communists?

[John Titor]

Only if you're Polish.

[Pan Zagloba]

At least let Ukrainians take a crack, too!

[John Titor]

Meh, Poles are better at it. Ukrainians are just going to get themselves hurt.

[Bill Dalasio]

And what do the precious little snowflakes do when the "Nazis" (you know it's only a matter of time until everyone who disagrees with them is a "Nazi") decide to hit back? Or shoot back? Frankly, if I were on a jury, I'd have a hard time convicting a man for defending himself.

[waffles]

I know it's wrong to punch a Nazi, but it feels right.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

You know what else feels right?

[Charles Easterly]

Clearly, in this case it is waffles.

(If I understand things correctly)

[jesse.in.mb]

Probably.

[Charles Easterly]

jesse,

How did you/how may one arrange a link directly to a comment such as you just did?

[jesse.in.mb]

This will vary slightly depending on if you're using a plugin like reasonable, greasonable or fascr, but when you look at a comment you should see something like

Charles Easterly|1.24.17 @ 5:56PM|#

The hashtag is the link to that individual comment something like [LINK TO ARTICLE]/#comment_6704563

Just a href that in and you've got a direct link to an individual comment.

[Charles Easterly]

If you are inclined to inform me please do so in another/future thread.

Thank you in advance, jesse.

[Fist of Etiquette]

This Nation writer condemns the idea of violence being committed against people he dislikes.

But not the violence itself.

[GILMORE?]

Signs of the Coming Trumpocolypse

Trump admin orders EPA contract freeze and media blackout

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Trump administration has instituted what it described as a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch.

Emails sent to EPA staff since President Donald Trump's inauguration Friday and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency's social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the Agriculture and Interior departments.

Honestly, i am mildly gleeful at the terror that must be coursing through the veins of career bureaucrats.

[Tonio]

Posted above at 4:30. Nyah, nyah.

[GILMORE?]

(crushed with the shame of defeat)

[esteve7]

Reason - please tell me how Hillary was better than Trump. He's done more libertarian things in 3 days than Hillary would have in 4 years

[The Last American Hero]

You must have missed the headlines about the nuclear war we had with Russia on Monday.

[DenverJ]

Hey, nuclear war is as libertarian as you can get!

[DJF]

So he created land with no government!!!!! Or people.

[Episteme]

Yesterday's Nor'easter blew all the fallout out to sea, so it's all good!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Some of the people over at The Nation are evil. Nothing worse than a faux self-righteous left-winger twisting logic to justify violence.

Just plain evil.

[tarran]

I made the mistake of reading my facebook feed today.

The proggies are really, really energized. They are out for blood. They are convinced that they are (a) the correct people to lead the country, (b) anyone who disagrees with them is a traitor to the country, and that (c) they are the victims of these traitors.

I'm dead serious, these guys are one charismatic leader away from embracing the full brownshirt version of fascism.

And lest you think it's hyperbole, one just told me that the country needed were a set of policies to prevent the Ayn Rand ideology of Trump from turning this country into a nazi hell-hole. And he essentially laid out policies straight out of Mussolini, with the government controlling industries and regulating how much businesses could profit and who could own what. He wanted the government to control the press to make sure they didn't publish lies that harmed society. The whole nine yards. To save us from fascism.

Another guy was also posting similar stuff. I think somewhere in the central organs of the proggie hive-mind, they've decided to equate freedom with fascism. And they want to go full fascist to prevent the sort of uprising they see happening now.

We're so fucked.

[John]

They are one charismatic leader and a disarmed populace away from fascism. Right now it is not Brownshirts versus Jews. It is the cast of Portlandia versus the cast of Duck Dynasty. I wish them luck with that.

[tarran]

That reminds me. This summer, we New England reasonoids should do some pleasure shooting at a range, and take our wives/husbands/tripple-breasted concubines from Eroticon VI along.

Part of my long range plot to convert my wife from low info proggie to low info libertarian.

[Florida Hipster]

I think Carrie Browstein (sp) is cute.

[Crusty Juggler]

Portlandia has a cast of two, which I don't think John is aware of. Don't ruin it for him, though.

[Florida Hipster]

*stifled chuckle*

[John]

I am aware of that. But why does that make my joke any less true? It has a cast doesn't it? Duck Dynasty has a cast of 10 or whatever. But if it were only two, it wouldn't change the overall point.

It wasn't a slam on Portlandia. It seems to be a funny show. The joke was the contrast between the people on the show versus the people on Duck Dynasty.

You know Crusty, jokes are never funny if they are explained. You are really killing the vibe here.

[Crusty Juggler]

Jokes have to be funny. It is a terrible example on both counts.

[John]

That joke is very funny. You just didn't understand it. I am not really sure why. But you didn't. And don't tell me you did understand it because you response shows you didn't. If you had gotten the joke, you wouldn't have thought pointing out that Portlandia has only two cast members would have been clever. It wasn't clever because the size of the cast has nothing to do with the joke.

[See Double You]

I agree - Portlandia and Duck Dynasty portray stereotypical liberals and conservatives, respectively, in the most extreme ways.

[John]

Yes. See Double You. You got the joke. Crusty for some reason didn't.

[bacon-magic]

Crusty is just crapping on ya...it's what he's into. NTTAWWT

[esteve7]

The 2nd amendment is the only thing that gives me hope. These proggy fucks are the same kind that would send us all to the ovens if they could. Them calling others fascist is the ultimate projection.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I've come to the opposite conclusion.

This is the end of progressivism. What you're seeing now are the Hail Marys to desperately try and keep it alive.

[Mr. Flanders]

^This^

We can see it with the recent DNC meeting talking about how white people need to "shut up and listen." Totally a winning strategy. Progressivism will continue, but I think the identity politics stuff might start to take a backseat soon.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I think that's where the "charismatic leader" comes into play. Someone who can frame it better than "shut up and listen" will attract enough proggies back into active participation.

[OneOut]

One of the other candidates at that meeting was a white woman who went on a similar rant.Her line was that if she were elected she wanted minority people to call her and educate her so she could then educate other white people as to how horrible they are.

Thanks for your real legacy, Post Racial Obama !

[tarran]

Except their spreading their poison in the young.

My 5 year old nephew got very angry at my mom (his grandmother) during Christmas. My mom said about a dish my brother cooked, "It's a real winner!" and my nephew shouted at her that "winner" was a bad word and she shouldn't say it.

It was a very awkward silence. It was obvious that my sister in law didn't disagree with her son's sentiment (she's a preschool teacher with a master's degree in preschool education) just thought he was misapplying it. I could see my brother dying a bit inside, since he is hypercompetitive and loves winning.

[Hamster of Doom]

my nephew shouted at her that "winner" was a bad word and she shouldn't say it.

This doesn't end well.

[Ted S.]

I hope Grandma told the kid to go fuck himself.

[Christophe]

"It's only a bad word if you use it, grandson, because you're a YUUGE LOSER and lying is bad!"

[Lee Genes]

master's degree in preschool education

I'm so sorry to hear she's retarded.

[Ayn Random Variation]

When my coworker told me she had a masters in human resources I almost busted out laughing.
This one is even funnier.

[PapayaSF]

Oh lordy.

[lafe.long]

(she's a preschool teacher with a master's degree in preschool education)

Sesame Street and Electric Company = preschool education.

Anything else is excrescence.

[GILMORE?]

I've come to the opposite conclusion.

This is the end of progressivism.

I lean more in Playa's direction here.

I've made the argument a few times that progressivism tends to destroy itself by always reaching too far. i think the manic-idiocy of the post-trump win is just going to be followed by a dissolution of their ideological core. Too many normal people are sick of their shit.

[PapayaSF]

It seems to me that ideologies, in their death throes, will actually get more extreme and absurd. That seems to happening with progressivism in recent years.

[Hayeksplosives]

If we're lucky they will keep showing their true colors, which were rejected at the local and national level.

If we are unlucky and my cynicism turns out to be well founded, the long-game oriented among them will get far more subtle so they can continue their slow creep into schools, churches, scout troops, the military, and even sitcom writing for further indoctrination at the earliest ages.

Raise them up in the way that they should go...

[PapayaSF]

I think that Trump is partly an immune response to that infestation, so I am hopeful.

[See Double You]

Metaphorical death twitches?

[bacon-magic]

I hope you're right, Playa.

[Bill Dalasio]

Perhaps. But, entities in their death throws can be at their most dangerous. Before, when "the future was theirs", they didn't really have a need to engage in violence. Or even mobs, really. Even they claimed that all they needed to do was wait out the old folks. Now, the handwriting is on the wall for them. The Trump election wasn't about "white identity politics", but about the left's identity politics coming back marked "Account Overdrawn".

[ant1sthenes]

Yep, cornered, starving beast and all that.

[Mr Drew]

Personally, I think this will largely blow over. I don't think the proggies have the staying power.

Still, I will keep the powder dry.

[Password: pode$ta]

Someone posted a link where a paper interviewed a bunch of the Women's March protesters.

One of them literally said that they needed to "Stomp on their oppressors' faces." The context made it clear that she was dead-fucking-serious.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

One wonders why they were wasting their time in the US when the oppressors are over in the middle east.

Conversation with the s.o. on Saturday:

her: [name withheld] went to the Women's march today.
me ; How come you didn't go?
her: I wasn't invited.
me : Sounds like [name withheld] is a Democrat.
her: Yep.
me : I thought being in her 50's and owning her own business she would have outgrown that sort of thing
her: Why do you say that?
me : Because anyone paying attention would know that other than abortion rights every Democrat position has only made matters worse for the people they claim to be working for. Making poor women dependent on Uncle Sam is no different than being dependent on a man.

[ant1sthenes]

One wonders why they were wasting their time in the US when the oppressors are over in the middle east.

Would be more accurate to call it the American Women's March.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I want to pretend it's not there but it is.

They will cause unrest. And worse.

People I considered or thought were reasonable have simply flipped their fucken lids. I have no use for their arrogance and rhetoric that incites violence. They feel you're beneath them and don't deserve civil discourse.

Fuck. Them.

[Chipwooder]

And this is why every sensible person ought to get a carry permit. Once some of these phony "anarchists" get plugged in the chest with a couple of 9mm rounds, let's see how aggressive they are then.

[Pan Zagloba]

The very thing happened in Seattle, and the shooter wasn't charged.

[Free Society]

Let's just call them communists and be done with it. Pinko, Little Red Marxian and commie scum should also be acceptable.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I think Rufus is right. The quebecois proggies haven't stopped despite ruining their economy, no reason to think US cosmotarians will get tired of the attention-seeeking, especially when they will soon find they have no bullshit jobs to go to.

[Raven Nation]

I made the mistake of reading my facebook feed today

This is a terrible, terrible mistake. I go there every few days to post a cool 'photo or similar. Take a brief look at the first few words of one or two posts and leave again. I'm thinking March, at least, before it's safe.

[DOOMco]

The ones who are still posting are going nuts. I think some are starting to realize where that crowd is heading.

[Raven Nation]

I'm fascinated, in a morbid kind of way, that the same people who are screaming Trump really does = Hitler, 8 years ago denounced anyone who questioned Obama's Nobel Prize as suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome.

[John Titor]

Meh, they're playing their hand at the worst time. Nothing like behaviour like that to make the moderates and everyone else think "My god, these people need to be kept away from power."

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

What happens if BLM convinces enough proggies to lighten up on gun control (for obvious reasons)?

[Volren]

I suppose it hasn't sunk in yet that government = Trump.

Also it's tortured even by proggie standards to cast Ayn Rand as a proponent of authoritarianism. Usually they have enough of a connection with reality to characterize her as a crazed kkkorporate shill.

[John Titor]

Meh, I've seen and heard plenty of "Ayn Rand was a fascist" statements in my time. Which is obviously only reflective of their own ignorance of fascism and Rand.

[Volren]

Huh. I guess either Rand was a useful enough boogeyman to be repurposed or the "all the poor should die" caricature was judged to be insufficiently evil.

[John Titor]

I don't know why it's so difficult to just say "Rand was an elitist and a sociopath". That's at least an argument you can actually try to defend, while "Rand was a fascist/corporatist" is just so fundamentally stupid if you know anything about her work, which demonizes the hell out of fascists and corporatists.

[Mad Scientist]

But then they'd have to actually know something about her. Much easier to parrot someone else's opinion.

[Pan Zagloba]

I don't know why it's so difficult to just say "Rand was an elitist and a sociopath".

They don't want her to sound like one of them.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Apparently, "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." means laissez-faire capitalism.

[Charles Easterly]

tarran,

Much of what you've written reminds me of the arguments I had (I cannot call them debates due to the animosity from the participants not named Charles) during the administration of the second President Bush.

Individuals who identified as Republican and Conservative advised me to move to another country (to put their suggestions mildly), or labelled any who questioned the authority in the White House as being haters of America/terrorist sympathizers/enemies of the state.

What troubles me is that there are a great many of our fellow country persons who, regardless of their stated political orientation, seem to wish for heavy handed policies to deal with those with whom they disagree.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

What you're noticing is the inevitable rot of socialism. I would say at least 80% of the country demands some sort of socialism. The particulars are just fighting for position at the trough.

At best the left wants government to grow 10% annually and the right wants it to grow at only 8% annually.

[Not a True MJG]

Those aren't exactly new proposals from Deep Thought Facebook Progs.

I'm not sure if this is a ramping up or the 'end' of this particular strain of progressivism. I said before the election that I fear electing Trump would make SJW Progressivism the de facto opposition group, giving them a boost until the next Democrat gets into the WH. But I also forgot how silly and self-defeating they can be, so *shrug*

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

they've decided to equate freedom with fascism

The British Union of Fascists did that?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Sounds like a facebook putsch.

[chemjeff]

"They are convinced that they are (a) the correct people to lead the country, (b) anyone who disagrees with them is a traitor to the country, and that (c) they are the victims of these traitors."

Could describe either the Tribal Left or the Tribal Right, nowadays

[John]

In today's edition of "Progs eating their own",

Transgender activists are upset that the women's march over the weekend was not inclusive to biological men who identify as women, as the protest presented an "oppressive message" that having a "vagina is essential to womanhood."

http://freebeacon.com/culture/.....men-march/

Just pencil in Trump's reelection in 2020. Trump is the luckiest man in history with his enemies.

[Ken Shultz]

"Just pencil in Trump's reelection in 2020. Trump is the luckiest man in history with his enemies."

Who do the Democrats have on their farm team anyway?

Liz "Dances with Lies" Warren and . . . ?

They better find somebody quick.

Kamala Harris?

[Juvenile Bluster]

Cory Booker.

[Chipwooder]

Cory Booker and his probable running mate, his old friend T-Bone.

[Hamster of Doom]

Hickenlooper's team is trying to convince the media that it's Hickenlooper.

I look forward to making fun of him, his name, his bar and everything his pot-dealing nephew told me at Occupy and Rainbow.

[PapayaSF]

From a branding perspective, "Hickenlooper" is a terrible name for a politician. That alone will cost him several points nationally.

[ant1sthenes]

That sounds suspiciously like a white cismale name. That uppity fuck should get a clue from the burning rainbow on his front lawn and get to the back of the bus before the guys in black robes and hoods come for him.

[PapayaSF]

Burning Rainbow sounds like a good band name.

[DenverJ]

I like his beer. And the revitalization of LoDo was impressive.
He seems a moderate Democrat to me. Probably not presidential material, but that ship seems to have sailed long ago.

[PBR Streetgang]

My friends on the left seem very enamored with Kamala Harris. Frankly I don't really get it.

[kbolino]

She's half-Indian, half-black and spouts the right platitudes.

[Lee Genes]

The left likes corrupt evil women.

[SimonD]

She's black and photogenic and hard, hard left.

Unfortunately, she has all of the fascism of Hillary without Mrs. Clinton's low cunning (the stuff that allows her to get away with the corruption).

[Raston Bot]

that explains why when i lambasted her for trampling the 1A and sex workers' rights in one fell blow to Backpage i got nothing but crickets.

not much for self-reflection, those leftists.

[See Double You]

They don't care that she was an ethically-challenged prosecutor who demolished the rights of defendants. She's up there with Coakley and Reno on the evil chart.

[grrizzly]

If the Democrats were smart and actually wanted to win in 2020 they would run one of the Silicon Valley millionaires/billionaires. Many of them are on board with identity poltics. So, there's that going for them. It may be sufficient to overcome a relatively limited support for populist socialism among this group of candidates. Also, no political baggage. Yes, run a Democratic Trump -- but obviously less abrasive.

[Pan Zagloba]

Problem with tech billionaires is that their management and boards are less diverse (by Prog definition) than the Trump cabinet. So if any of them wants to run in four years, he better get donating and nepotizing the right organizations today (and even then it might be too late).

[grrizzly]

It's late to start from scratch today. Unless of course the Democrats beg someone like Bill Gates to run on their ticket. But that would be a pretty sane Democratic Party, which exists only in a parallel reality.

[Pan Zagloba]

Too soon for Michelle Obama?

[bacon-magic]

We've already had a black male President. *cracks neck and shrugs shoulders like Michelle did at the inauguration

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

The emptier the suit, the more one can project one's own "virtues" onto him/her.

[Bill Dalasio]

If they have a clue, James Webb. But, Webb is about as persona non grata in the modern Democratic party as you can get and still be a Democrat.

[Juvenile Bluster]

I have several liberal friends who, in the days after the election, were actually self-reflective about how badly the Democrats screwed up 2016 and the need to change things in order to win going forward.

This might change, but right now they're deep in identity politics, blaming all those terrible racists for electing Trump and seem to think insulting half the country's going to win them 2020.

[tarran]

There's a funny aspect to them finding ever tinier slices of minorities to protect.

In the end, as Ayn Rand observed, the smallest minority group is... the individual. 😉

[Password: pode$ta]

"vagina is essential to womanhood."

What is 'things that nobody would've even considered saying like 3 years ago because it's so obvious'?

Like 'hey careful with that sack of diamonds; they're valuable!'

[John]

Some reporter posted on twitter the quote from 1984 about the Party one day saying 2+2=5 and you believing it thinking he had made some great point about Trump and FAKE NEWS. I bet anything he totally believes in the transgendered BS. Is there a better example of what Orwell is talking about than the party telling you that a vagina is not necessary to be a woman?

[Password: pode$ta]

"Anatomy is only Psychology"
"Sex is only Psychology"
"Anatomy is Not Related to Sex"

[The Last American Hero]

Not according to the trans-crowd, it isn't.

[Pan Zagloba]

What is 'things that nobody would've even considered saying like 3 years ago because it's so obvious'?

Oh you sweet, sweet innocents.

From June 2013, from Wired Magazine:

And then, artist Mike Krahulik?"Gabe" of the comic strip, who had responded to the panel controversy by saying "we try and let pretty much anyone have a space to talk," posted a series of increasingly transphobic tweets in response to a Kotaku article. Between the two, something that had been building up for years reached a breaking point. On Twitter, game developers and journalists began to publicly question their and others' plans to attend PAX. And even Penny Arcade Report's Ben Kuchera responded, tweeting "this isn't what we should be about and it makes me sad."

Want to see transphobic garbage? Like

@pikoeri that game was for vagina havers. I don't think it is exclusionary or unreasonable to lable vagina havers as women.

But sure, GamerGate was nothing but misogynists whining about women not having sex with them.

[Juvenile Bluster]

At the beginning it wasn't. It's kind of turned into that though.

[Pan Zagloba]

Probably, but shit like this (and there was tons of it) was why I wasn't surprised something blew up. By that point I gave up on gaming news because I literally couldn't find a site that wasn't doing shit like that, and I was already tired of RPG sites getting mown down by the proggies.
I'm not on Twitter, so luckily I missed the most stupid parts.

[Ken Shultz]

"What makes Kelly Ann Conway tick, via The Onion".

Unfunny piece of shit.

[waffles]

It's weird that the media portrayals of her all frame her as some kind of victim of Trump. Why is it impossible to believe she is doing her job because she wants to?

[Microaggressor]

I'm just going to quote some of the weapons-grade stupid I found laying around in that piece that tried too hard to be funny.

nor undermine the nation's entire intelligence apparatus to salve your boss's ego

successfully advocated the unconscionable position that Betsy DeVos is a qualified candidate for Secretary of Education

claiming that their fact-checking efforts are a sign of the media's unforgivable bias against this administration.

standing up for Trump's attack on a celebrated black U.S. congressman and Civil Rights icon

[See Double You]

the unconscionable position that Betsy DeVos is a qualified candidate for Secretary of Education

She's not a public school insider, therefore she's not qualified.

[Ken Shultz]

Why would Robby link it?

What's the point?

What's the issue?

[Crusty Juggler]

He is a heartless monster who has no respect for working women.

[Crusty Juggler]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

Pineapple Express is a great movie.

He wrote, directed, and starred in an adaption of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.

For some reason he thinks it is a good idea to ruin the Tommy Wiseau classic, The Room.

[GILMORE?]

He wrote, directed, and starred in an adaption of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.

*have not seen it.

Assume it is bloody terrible. half because the book is written from the perspectives of multiple people (not only does it not lend itself to being filmed, the most important character is a corpse). half because "when actors get highbrow" is a recipe for a shitshow.

[GILMORE?]

And they did that Dr. Evil thing where they put their pinky in their mouths when they announced it

[Aloysious]

Caption for photo: Flock of Retards.
or maybe 'Munny Grows on Trees'.
how about 'Pull My Finger', says Chuck U. Schumer.

[Juice]

They're just providing their alternative to the $1T infrastructure Trumpulus.

[GILMORE?]

When it comes to throwing money in the money hole, they will suddenly re-discover bipartisanship

[DenverJ]

"money hole"? I'm not sure if that sounds like a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps Crusty can explain it?

[GILMORE?]

I can't believe you've never seen this

[SugarFree]

Lithium Elf Stabs Hot Girl, Implicates Herself With Diary

"So, okay I'll start with the exciting bit. I stabbed an innocent woman to death earlier today (well yesterday since it's 1 a.m.)?It was absolutely fantastic. Murder gives me a high unlike any other, it feels like this crisp unreality, flashing and sparkling, adrenaline and shock. Fight or flight mode. How do I even go about describing it. The whole thing was unreal. I'm so proud of myself. I stabbed her like 20 times. Maybe more?She screamed and grabbed at me, saying 'What the [expletive]?! Help! Leave!' For now I should explain why. Other than the fact that I'm a homicidal psychopath. I have a deep hatred towards people right now..Yesterday I lost my other gold ring I've worn all my life on a chain around my neck as it was ripped off by a girl I was murdering. Fate is weird."

[Crusty Juggler]

Would stab.

[Florida Hipster]

Finally a third for my Casey Antony, Jodi Araris foursome.

[PBR Streetgang]

In Russia (er... Hyde Park) CRAZY STICK IT IN YOU!!

[Citizen X]

Bjork has really let herself go.

[waffles]

Monsters are real.

[Florida Hipster]

I'm not real, but my love is. By that I mean my physical love.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Reading that makes me feel a loathing so black that all vision is obscured by despair, woe, blood, orphans, and death... *Can't compose himself, says the words anyways*

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

[ant1sthenes]

If it makes you feel any better, the victim survived despite the 21 stab wounds.

[GILMORE?]

DEAR DIARY =

"Yesterday I lost my other gold ring I've worn all my life on a chain around my neck as it was ripped off by a girl I was murdering. Fate is weird."

A gold ring was found at the crime scene.

I think this would be categorized as a "Double Black Diamond" for a defense attorney. Insanity is completely out. 'act of passion' also impossible. Zero remorse. Jesus, bad parenting?

[Citizen X]

Some people are just born with something broken in their heads.

[Groovus Maximus]

^this is the correct answer

[Darth Squirrel]

Yes.

[Mad Scientist]

The defense attorney will still be paid, however.

[jesse.in.mb]

Fluctuations in blood sugar.

[GILMORE?]

Bullying was another possible option.

teen hormones.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Snowflakeism.

[Darth Squirrel]

Attack happened in March of 2016. Stabby wench pled out and was sentenced to 15 years four days ago.

[ant1sthenes]

Transguilt. She may have biologically committed the murder, but she identifies as an innocent person.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

:thunderous applause:

[See Double You]

What's a "Lithium Elf"?

[SugarFree]

An elf with bipolar disorder.

[See Double You]

High elves, wood elves, all elves?

[The Fusionist]

Very high elves, apparently.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Never let crazy stick it in you.

[Christophe]

Fucking hell. At least the victim survived.

[John]

http://www.lifenews.com/2017/0.....xE.twitter

Planned Parenthood provides women's health services not just abortions right? Ah not so much.

[California socialist]

Eh... they could make more money harvesting the organs of late stage abortions and selling them to pharma companies. I'm a libertarian so I say go for it.

[See Double You]

How's secession coming along?

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

I say we implement the same program on Californians... they show no sign of coordinated neural activity, so it's not like you're killing an actual person.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

late stage abortions

This presumably includes you, right?

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Planned Parenthood provides women's health services not just abortions right?

Depends? is fundraising a women's health service?

[Mazakon]

ACLU disappoints on school choice

Don't believe #alternativefacts on vouchers.

Learn the real story at http://novouchers.org

#SchoolChoice

[Juvenile Bluster]

The decline of the ACLU in the past decade or so is depressing as fuck. They once really cared about the first amendment.

The current ACLU would never defend the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie.

[ant1sthenes]

But they've always hated religion. Public schools were supposed to be a way to kill it off and leave the kiddies open to accepting the technocratic socialist state as their lord and savior, but if vouchers can get your kid into a Catholic school or whatever, that sort of goes out the window.

And really, did they ever actually support the right of Nazis to march from a principled civil libertarian standpoint, or just recognize, as smart Commies, that they weren't thought of as much better? But now that is no longer an issue, why not dispense with the pretense?

[Lee Genes]

Political capture

[See Double You]

The ACLU gave up on actual liberties a while ago.

[kbolino]

Why even take a position on this issue? It's just asinine.

[See Double You]

I think its current leadership takes a "holistic" (i.e., totalitarian) approach to issues now. It is now all things to all people leftists.

[PapayaSF]

Public schools = civil liberty...?

[The Fusionist]

I thought their objection to vouchers was that they could be redeemed at religious schools.

So I presume the ACLU has its own alternative plan for vouchers redeemable only at secular schools?

[Rich]

Massive networks of fake accounts found on Twitter

Is there *nothing* to which Trump will not stoop?

[Password: pode$ta]

I bet AddictionMyth has at least 100 twitter sock puppets, half of which interact exclusively with its other twitter sock puppets.

[Ted S.]

almost exclusively including quotes from Star Wars novels

I find this amusing for some reason.

[PapayaSF]

I laughed, too.

[Pan Zagloba]

Given the novels I read, it's a cunning ploy to get the Old Ones to rise and swallow us all without putting in the effort needed for the whole eldritch cults thing.

[Lee Genes]

He was accused of paying for twitter/facebook followers years ago. Apparently he was contracting out to Chinese firms that specialized in boosting social media ratings.

[__Warren__]

My fake account is real, but my real account is fake.

[Rich]

#WhatToBelieve

[Cynical Asshole]

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woDjWnR9Nns

[Rich]

Trump Wants Keystone, Cops in Schools

"It's a comma, not a period space."

[Slammer]

Finally. Someone read it like I did. Keystone Kops

[Lee Genes]

Spencer, who states that America belongs to white men, was in the midst of telling an Australian TV crew in DC that he was not a neo-Nazi, while pointing to his neo-Nazi Pepe the Frog lapel pin.

The symbol of a New World Order

[John]

http://thehill.com/homenews/me.....me-ratings

Tucker Carlson nearly doubling Megyn Kelly's ratings in her old time slot. I guess Fox made the right call not paying her.

[__Warren__]

People like a nice bowtie.

[John]

The bowtie revolution is coming.

[Rich]

The bowtie revolution

Nice band name.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Bowties are cool.

[Rich]

But not bolo ties, mirite?

[Lee Genes]

Colombian neckties are making a comeback I hear.

[Rich]

And South African necklaces? 8-(

[Groovus Maximus]

Puka shells.

[American Memer]

How do you feel about fezzes?

[DenverJ]

So, Megan just needed a pearl neckless?

[Groovus Maximus]

Has she started her new NBC gig, yet? Not that I am going to watch, but it seems a little early to definitively claim that. He's only been in the new slot, what? A coupla months, if that?

I am curious what his long term yield will be, after the audience gets tired of his beating up Straw Guests. Good on him for short term gain in ratings over his predecessor, however.

[John]

They are paying him half the money they would have had to pay her. What his success shows is that their ratings are due to people watching Fox not people watching Kelly. So even if his ratings cool off, they still made the right choice because they are going to get the same ad revenue for half the price.

[Crusty Juggler]

One-eyed mother-of-three who was found passed out in a gutter is sentenced up to five years in prison for child endangerment and sex with a teen who she called 'daddy' in text messages

A Utah mother-of-three has been sentenced to five years in prison for having sex with a teenage boy after she was found passed out in the gutter following a party.

Amber Renee Bradley, 29, who only has one eye, was found unconscious in the street after inviting a group of teenage boys to her home in Layton where she had sex with one of them and played beer pong with the others.

In the separate case, Bradley admitted to authorities that she had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old boy two different times from April to June 2016 at the teen's home where he lives with his parents.

The teen told police that she was the one both times to initiate the sexual contact, as he also said he"was hesitant to engage" in sex with her.

Court documents say that Bradley persuaded him to do it the first, as the boy was also hesitant during the second incident.

Bradley then promised the boy that if they engaged in sex, she would buy him a dirt bike and take him anywhere that he wanted to go, court documents say.

[Lee Genes]

One-eyed mother of three....

Stop right there.

[Juice]

I like how she only puts the makeup on the good eye.

[Rich]

Good Lord.

[Sir Digby Chicken Caesar]

I'm usually neutral on the "pirate look", but she could probably rock an eye patch.

Well, it'd be worth a shot, at least.

[Citizen X]

Utah Woman gives Florida Woman a run for her money.

[AlmightyJB]

In her 2nd year of child development. There's two years of school down the drain.

[Playa Manhattan.]

That's true regardless of this incident.

[John Titor]

Repost, but Razorfist rejects his invitation to all the cocktail parties by arguing that The Wall, and deportations are not only important for America, but necessary for Mexico. Included are some shots at open borders libertarians (I've also seen him source Reason before, so hmmmmm...).

[Pan Zagloba]

Damn, it's like...an anti-Gillespie! Long, fine hair. Eloquent, clear speech. Looks cool as fuck. Wears The Jacket, rather than have The Jacket wear him.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

I'm completely serious when I say that I think Gillespie's Fonzie-Lego Man hair has always looked cool.

[But Enough About Me]

Umkay.

I've always thought it looked like a helmet. Kinda like Robert Wagner's hair when he was younger.

[GILMORE?]

Razorfist rejects his invitation to all the cocktail parties by arguing that The Wall, and deportations are not only important for America, but necessary for Mexico

Razorfist is a native of Arizona, fwiw.

he's talked before about illegal immigration *(which is sort of unusual, considering he mostly reviews video games); like many reason-readers, he has a more nuanced opinion about its relative merits than do most reason-writers.

haven't listened to that latest rant, so don't know what his skew is now.

[But Enough About Me]

The rant is . . . epic. Sounds like my "inside voice," actually.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

I saw this yesterday (H/T Gilmore for the subscription) and it was a very interesting position that I had never heard before. The part about compelling the Mexican underclass to revolt against the corrupt government was a particularly interesting POV that I want to consider for some more time; it seems he's been thinking about this and developing this position for a long time. Aside from that, I always felt that "Terk ar jerbs" was more a criticism of the concept that any American worker is uniquely more capable of doing the same thing that a furrner would be willing to do for cheaper.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

I've also been listening to the audiobook version of Comanche Empire (h/t Sevo) on and off for the last month. One of the nuggets that I will be going back to revisit later, was a bit about the early United States of Mexico having a more decentralised federal system, and through a series of strongmen leaders, made consolidated and centralised more power with the federal government. Razorfist's point about Mexico's vast natural resources was really interesting too.

[__Warren__]

So Trump is allowing the pipelines but has mandated the pipes be made here. I guess price discovery is only allowed via US based factories. I'm certain this won't cause the pipes to cost more than they normally would, though. Because Trump says so, or will.

With one hand he gives, With the other he takes away.

[TheZeitgeist]

I think on functional level it doesn't really matter; lots of the infrastructure for these projects is already contracted out or built and tucked away waiting for the lawyers to get done.

[OneOut]

A buddy of mine is a CNC operator.

He worked on parts for the pipeline for two years and they finished their contract two years ago.

[Juvenile Bluster]

Today in progressive friends of JB's: One talking about how under Obama he knew that the federal government was 100% working in the best interests of the people but now he can't believe that any longer.

[Citizen X]

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a sumbitch.

[Juvenile Bluster]

These are smart people! Successful! But so goddamn dumb! I don't get it.

[Florida Hipster]

The problem with politics is everyone feels obligated to have an opinion. So that's why intelligent people can seem so dumb when it comes to politics. They "must" have an opinion, but aren't interested enough to do the work of having an informed opinion. I blame rock the vote.

[Hamster of Doom]

I can't remember which of these magnificent bastards said, "If you don't know enough about the topic, you don't have an opinion. You have someone else's opinion." But it was awesome.

[Florida Hipster]

Excellent.

[Not a True MJG]

You need to understand civics as a religion. For some of the stronger worshippers out there, Trump's election is like discovering alien life or losing a child, or whatever cliche you prefer, provoking a crisis of faith.

[ant1sthenes]

The federal government is usually personified as an elderly, long-bearded white man in archaic dress with symbolic coloring, even though its worshipers technically ascribe to it aspects (be that in terms of vast knowledge, power, or benevolence) would seem to render it alien and incomprehensible.

It is trusted, less on evidence than on fear of what it mean for that trust to be misplaced, to provide security, prosperity, good health, moral guidance, and other blessings. Many of those who serve it are generally regarded by its supporters as being more trustworthy than the typical person, and the scandals of those servants who are exposed as corrupt or fallible are not considered a reflection on that which they serve.

It is religion, theism for people who fucking love science too much to believe in God, but still believe in intelligent design (of society, of economy, etc., by the technocratic clergy). Public schools are already religious schools.

[AlmightyJB]

Sad to be that stupid

[__Warren__]

100%? That allows for no incompetence or corruption whatsoever.

Still though, enable him in his new-found cynicism.

[Volren]

I would call that progress. Now lead him to the next step.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

The crisis of faith will be resolved with the assertion that the Federal Government works 100% in the best interests of the people when Democrats are in power and 100% in the best interests of "the corporations" when the Republicans are in power. No matter if the same people are working in the agency and the missions haven't changed.

[Crusty Juggler]

Being a Nazi is a violent act.

[Password: pode$ta]

Berlusconi is literally worse than Mussolini

[California socialist]

"President Trump has said yes to building the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines."

Yay. Crony capitalism at its best. Does anyone know the number of eminent domain requests this project is going to incur or how many native Americans were going to have shoot to make this sop to the oil and gas industry a reality?

[Citizen X]

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a sumbitch.

[Juvenile Bluster]

This isn't a good second troll account, AmSoc.

DAPL isn't using eminent domain.

[California socialist]

It isn't!?

[GILMORE?]

No indians have been shot either. Shocker.

[DenverJ]

Well, not recently...

[kbolino]

Show me the case where the Obama administration issued an amicus curiae brief in opposition to the use of eminent domain. I'll wait.

[Pan Zagloba]

It's on the record - Facts vs AmSoc's Rectum.

[kbolino]

I wonder how much eminent domain goes into building public transit?

[See Double You]

Are you saying they're gonna ED AmSoc's rectum?

[american socialist]

Hey what up cali....you want your name back shit brick??? Pay up!!!!

[California SociaIist]

And, he's too stupid to realize that someone could do the same thing with his new sock puppet...
Oh, wait, I mean that I'm too stupid to realize that someone could do the same thing with my new sock puppet

[California socialist]

Eh, have at it.

[deepspeed]

I sincerely wish you the best of luck on your secession efforts. Godspeed comrade.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

Title IX compliance experts are worried that Trump's Education Department will render them obsolete.
Bahahahahahahahah!

Actor James Franco has spiraled into depression following Trump's election to the presidency.
Bahahahahahahahah!

[DEG]

The Daily Fail has a busty model walk around London in a painted-on top to demonstrate the obvious. Probably NSFW.

[Brett L]

Rosanna Arquette in Amazon Women on the Moon.

[DEG]

Sales of "1984" up

After President Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway used the phrase "alternative facts" to defend a false administration talking point Sunday, several social media users unfavorably compared her comments to the "doublespeak" in George Orwell's dystopic novel "1984."

The impact of the comparison appears to have extended beyond just criticism: sales of the book, first published in 1949, surged on Amazon's best-sellers list after Conway's comment this week.

CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter first reported the surge Tuesday morning in his "Reliable Sources" newsletter, noting that the book had even risen briefly to #5. As of Tuesday morning, the book was ranked #6 on Amazon's hourly list, behind books like "Hillbilly Elegy," a memoir about growing up in America's Rust Belt, and the poetry collection "Milk and Honey."

[Pan Zagloba]

Oh man, someone should tell them it wasn't a Science Fiction book, nor did it do any "predicting." It was just a satire/exaggeration of Soviet Union of Orwell's day. NewSpeak included.

[Chipwooder]

Oh, NOW they're into Orwell? Hahahaha.....welcome to the party, assholes.

[Pompey:? Class Mothersmucker]

This is incredibly pathetic.

[GILMORE?]

The new mode of journalism =

Further to my point about the idiotic assumptions that "polticians do everything"... Journalists have taken to writing stories When Politicians Say Nothing

Trump White House silent on new Israeli settlement units

The implication being that unless the White House condemns, it approves. One could probably assume that's true in this case, but the fact is that its still not a basis for a story - its just inverting the entire idea that anyone needs to make statements for intention to be imputed.

I was joking about this in the "pro-trump africans" thread. "TRUMP SILENT ON ________", where the blank is anything proggies think *matters bigly* is going to be a daily event.

[Juvenile Bluster]

It's the corollary to "whatever isn't expressly approved is banned." "Whatever isn't expressly condemned is supported."

[Volren]

Well you see, he won't let them cover him so they can just make it up. Right?

[PapayaSF]

TRUMP SILENT ON NAZI ANTARCTICA UFO BASE

[DRM]

Why would anyone* have any comment on more Israeli housing in what everybody has known for decades would be on the Israeli side of any final peace agreement?

It's as stupid as bitching about Russians building housing in Kaliningrad in the 1980s would have been. Just because there was not yet a final peace agreement formally ending WWII where Germany officially ceded northern East Prussia to the Soviets doesn't change the fact that it had been Soviet territory for decades and was never going back to Germany. Nor was such construction an obstacle to the eventual peace treaty

*I mean, of course, anyone objective, as opposed to Jew-hating shitheads.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

TRUMP SILENT ON PROG STUPIDITY

[DEG]

Analysis of Florida colleges shows that English majors are subsidizing Engineering students.

A new study shows that not only have the costs of producing those degrees per student actually decreased since 1999, but also that colleges use less expensive degrees, such as English and business, to subsidize higher-cost degrees, such as engineering.

"The Costs and Net Returns to College Major," by Joseph D. Altonji and Seth D. Zimmerman and published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, looked at 12 Florida public colleges and found an English degree cost an average of $34,656 per graduate, while an engineering degree cost about $62,297 per graduate. The median degree cost was $36,369 per graduate among roughly 164,000 students.

Engineering students where I went had a couple hundred dollar lab fee, but otherwise paid the same fees and tuition as Liberal Arts majors. Maybe the fees covered the cost of all the lab equipment the engineering students used.

[DEG]

Also:

On average, Florida colleges studied spent about 16 percent less per credit hour in 2013 than they did in 1999. The average cost of out-of-state tuition in Florida in 2016 was $16,627 per year, or about $66,500 for a four-year bachelor's degree.

"An analysis of staffing data for the University of Florida suggests that changes in faculty and staff inputs per credit can explain about half of the overall decline," the authors wrote.

[american socialist]

Wait i am confused if the engineering degree is more how is it being subsidized by english?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I won't read the article because it is full of prog math. Meaning they are either retarded or purposely being obtuse.

Half the students going for engineering can't cut it and leave or have to take longer to do the tough coursework whereas every student who can fog a mirror can pass the Mickey Mouse English major.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It's almost like people knowledgeable about engineering have better things to do than teach.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

The average cost of out-of-state tuition in Florida in 2016 was $16,627 per year, or about $66,500 for a four-year bachelor's degree.

engineering degree cost about $62,297 per graduate

It looks like nobody is subsidizing anybody

[DEG]

Oops... my reading comprehension skills took a dump on me.

[kbolino]

Wouldn't most students be paying in-state tuition?

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

Possibly, which would mean that the state is subsidizing those students rather than some sort of cross-pollination between majors (which may occur, but these number's don't necessarily suggest).

[kbolino]

I agree. Like I said below, the whole purpose of state schools is to prop up economic fictions. One of those fictions is that every major is equal.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You know what else you're subsidizing? Dormitories, athletic centers, campus events, and basically everything else that isn't instructor salaries.

This is why within less than a generation, online postsecondary education will be the norm.

[See Double You]

That would, I think, deflate the bubble.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The bubble is more like a balloon. One that has, currently, a pinhole leak. I don't think you're going to see mass-shutterings of institutions, as that's not how the industry works. However, during these next 10 to 15 years, you're going to see a process of consolidation were bigger fish are going to eat up little fish. For example, my place was interested in opening an engineering school. As you see, engineering is expensive. Our solution? Buy a bankrupt school outright and the ABET certification comes with it. The purchase of the school was cheaper than developing a program from scratch and going through the certification process.

[See Double You]

Mergers/acquisitions and consolidations. Gotcha.

[Pan Zagloba]

I was gonna ask, how do you get your spontaneous orgies, but Title IX will destroy that anyway?

Obviously, you can arrange non-spontaneous orgies online, so that's fine.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I was gonna ask, how do you get your spontaneous orgies

Well, you don't have to be in university to play football either.

[kbolino]

Engineering is more expensive to teach than English. I don't think this is a particularly noteworthy. The question is, why should it matter at a state school? The whole purpose of state schools is to provide the illusion of fairness and equality. How does that equality taste?

[Christophe]

"One approach would be to shift to major-specific tuition while keeping spending fixed."

Wait WTF? Tuition is the same regardless of major? Even up here in Ontario we have more sense than that.

[DEG]

Manchester woman jailed after performing sword tricks

A woman cut herself performing tricks with a sword Monday night, then struck a police officer while demonstrating the tricks without it, police said Tuesday.

Lisa Bunker, 51, was charged with simple assault, reckless conduct and resisting arrest/detention, police said.

Police were called to 58 Massabesic St. about 10 p.m. Monday for a possible domestic disturbance involving a sword. Bunker told officers she had been performing sword tricks and accidently hit herself in the head, causing a small cut over her left eye.

Police said Bunker's ex-husband tried to take the sword away and cut both his hands.

Bunker was demonstrating the tricks without the sword when she hit an officer in the face with her hands, police said. She began swearing at officers and resisted when they tried to arrest her, police said.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That's my ManchVegas!

[DEG]

Concern trolling about listing the restrictions on interstate insurance sales

Warning: auto-play video

Between 2008 and 2012, five states ? Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Rhode Island and Wyoming ? passed laws specifically allowing out-of-state insurers not licensed in their states to sell health insurance policies within their borders.

Nevertheless, no insurers have taken advantage of the laws. That's because entering an unfamiliar territory and creating a network of medical providers is exceedingly difficult and expensive, health policy analysts say.

But many health insurance analysts say that even if insurers were able to build provider networks in new states, it's not a good idea. The cross-state sale of health insurance would undermine the states' ability to regulate insurance, they warn, destabilizing their insurance markets and driving up premiums.

"It sounds great in a campaign to say we're going to get rid of the lines," said Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. "But what they're really saying is we're going to get rid of state regulations and consumer protections."

I know Kominski and thinks this is a devastating argument for his side, but I think it is a great reason to allow interstate insurance sales.

[See Double You]

But many health insurance analysts

Weasel words are weasely.

The cross-state sale of health insurance would undermine the states' ability to regulate insurance, they warn, destabilizing their insurance markets and driving up premiums.

But what they're really saying is we're going to get rid of state regulations and consumer protections.

The second sentence appears to contradict the first one.

But we know that all those regulations are just awesome and swell and totally protect the consumer and do nothing to increase costs or create insurance monopolies/oligopolies within states.

[kbolino]

I actually heard some dolt on CNN say that we can't reduce Federal regulations of health insurance because otherwise there would be a "race to the bottom" as people take cheaper plans from out of state. In the context of lowering healthcare costs.

I really can't tell if they're actually that stupid or if they've just completely internalized being lying hacks to the point where they can't even think rationally any more.

[See Double You]

Every "race to the bottom" argument reeks of nannyism. Consumers can't be trusted to pick policies that work best for them; they'll be duped by insurers!

[kbolino]

Oh, I get that. I'm pointing out how their arguments don't even have internal consistency. You know what a "race to the bottom" does? Makes shit cheaper.

"We have to lower healthcare costs! But we can't do anything that would lower healthcare costs!"

Uh...

[See Double You]

Absolutely, and I make the same point in my second comment.

[See Double You]

You see, kbolino, when it comes to healthcare (and by extension, health insurance), there's no such thing as tradeoffs. Economics doesn't apply, because leftists don't want it to apply.

[kbolino]

The honest ones will admit that it has nothing to do with ensuring "access" to care and is entirely about making as many people as possible wait in the same lines and face the same conditions. True freedom is asking permission and taking orders.

[ant1sthenes]

So that insurers can all migrate to whichever state allows them to screw customers over the most?

[Juice]

The cross-state sale of health insurance would undermine the states' ability to regulate insurance...

Right.

...destabilizing their insurance markets and driving up premiums.

Wrong.

[Juice]

WTF is Left Market Anarchism? You either have an anarchic free market or you don't. There's no left or right about it.

[DOOMco]

libertarian feminist page on facebook linked this interesting shitfest. Did you know Reason is on the right? And we have all been duped!

[John Titor]

Charter schools are not about freedom. Period. They're just another development in the history of collusion between the state and big business that gave rise to the public schools in the first place. If you claim to believe in freedom, or claim to oppose "crony capitalism," and you support charter schools, you should just shut up.

*Stomps feet loudly and has temper tantrum because you won't shut up*

if you like the kinds of quasi-military "boot camps"

EW DISCIPLINE SO ICKY.

[Trshmnstr, Grump Apprentice]

he history of collusion between the state and big business that gave rise to the public schools in the first place

?? Do these people even history?

[John Titor]

They don't need to, shut up, corporatist. This is what we should be doing right? Taking the dumbest parts of social justice argumentation?

[kbolino]

Horace Mann and John Dewey, titans of industry.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

How many progs think John Dewey lost to Truman?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I can assure you not one living prog has read Dewey's "How To Think"

[DOOMco]

I can see the slippery slope of cronyism, but wouldn't people having direct say in where that money goes kind of the opposite?
Of course even vouchers isn't the perfect libertarian answer.

[See Double You]

I wonder if she realizes how cronytastic our public school model really is.

[kbolino]

I wonder if she realizes how cronytastic our public school model really is.

Pshaw, the school boards are only in charge of a massive spending operation that politicians can't fall over themselves fast enough to hand more money over to. How could there possibly be opportunities for cronyism and corruption?

[DOOMco]

This was so well written. You can tell I went to public school!

[Trigger Hippie]

I think the article could be best summed up with the words 'citation needed'.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Despite the Millennial rhetorical tic of pants-shitting hysteria, the larger point the author makes about charter schools still being public schools is correct.

[John Titor]

Which is, admittedly, why I took the piss out of the pants-shitting hysteria. As DOOMco points out, vouchers aren't the perfect libertarian answer, just a step in the right direction.

[See Double You]

And they are about the only politically-viable step right now.

[DOOMco]

I assume their perspective is from an ancap one? Except they don't seem to be that happy with capitalism.

[Heroic Mulatto]

C4SS is Sheldon Richman's stomping ground. I believe they are Agorists or at least Agorist-friendly.

[DOOMco]

Ah. Thanks.

[Not a True MJG]

Kevin Carson's, like, 50. But he's a die-hard leftist, so he's hysterical about everything.

[Juice]

Charter schools are not about freedom. Period. They're just another development in the history of collusion between the state and big business...

Right, so...abolish them in favor of a free market?

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

free market = corporatism!!!

The state was doing everything fine until big business came along and made the state an offer it couldn't refuse.

[ant1sthenes]

The Magna Carta was not about rights, period. It was just another development in the history of powerful elite families that gave rise to feudalism in the first place.

[straffinrun]

Odd, then, that the charterization movement was drawn up largely in the bowels of corporate lobbyists like the Gates Foundation and Walton Family Foundation.

I've never seen projection manifest in the form of a bowel movement.

[Zero Sum Game]

Teachers' unions never lobbied anyone. Good people, clearly. The best. If a school is succeeding, it deserves more money. If a school is failing, it needs more money.

????????????? go the costs ?????????????
------------------ go the grades -------------------

Teaching is a calling for which one must martyr oneself for low pay. Except those bastards who teach for money, screw them. Greedy capitalists. Probably teaching children that Keynes was wrong and everyone who isn't a proggy isn't really a pack of xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic racists.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

Progs denounce Christianity at every turn, but they sure loves themselves those Holy Orders.

[Juice]

I saw a Bingo card of "Conservative News Sites" and Reason was one of the blocks mixed in with Townhall and Redstate and the like.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

This is why KMW insists on dog-whistling progs with "to be sure"s in practically every post.

[Juice]

If you're genuinely sympathetic to human freedom and interested in applying that principle in the educational realm, you're probably most familiar with ideas like unschooling or deschooling...

Yes, but they can't work for everyone. Most kids need a some form of group learning. Deschooling is basically homeschooling, so there's already a word for it. While this is fine for those who can hack it, most families can't. Unschooling, on the other hand, is simply a terrible idea. Unless your kid is some kind of self-motivated genius, it almost always means your kid will turn out practically illiterate.

[GILMORE?]

What i think is funny is that C4SS is almost always favorably linked to by Reason writers...

....as a sort of "Look over here! THERE IS TOO SUCH A THING AS LEFT LIBERTARIANS." or at least as a sort of sop to the idea that libertarianism is a 'big tent' and there are a variety of legit rationales for the same general ideas....

...until you actually - like in this case - get to the whole "where the rubber meets the road" of actual policy, and discover that these fucksticks won't even so much as agree with you about Charter Schools

If charter schools don't meet the definition of "crony capitalism" ? politically connected, for-profit corporations getting their revenue stream from the taxpayers ? then nothing does. Charter schools are about as "free market" as private prison corporations. Or as Blackwater, the notorious mercenary corporation whose founder Erik Prince became a billionaire commiting war crimes

well, "subtle and nuanced" isn't his thing i guess.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

I actually understand the point they're making, but to think politically-connected charter schools is worse than teacher's unions is completely idiotic.

Connected charter schools is a bad idea, unless you look at it as a part of a divide-and-conquer strategy. Divide the teachers, conquer the teacher's union. After the connected charter schools take over and start merging, the teachers will form an actual labor union and then the resulting shit quango schools will get slaughtered by a free market.

[GILMORE?]

to think politically-connected charter schools is worse than teacher's unions is completely idiotic.

i read his thing pretty quicky, but i don't think he made that comparison.

from what i grokked, he takes a 'holier than thou' posture that libertarianism requires that The Perfect be the enemy of The Good - ergo, no true libertarian can accept Charter Schools because they are an unholy nexus between corporatism and government.

Never mind that its a superior unholy-nexus than the union/govt collusion, and one that opens the door for increasing competition and experimentation by allowing 'choice', the most important thing of all.

He basically ignores problems with Govt schools in favor of sneering at Reason's lack of radical purity (which requires never soiling one's hands with real-world policy) and accusing them of being corporate shills, e.g. =

Reason writers enthused over crony capitalist water utility policies by the "emergency managers" in Michigan ? until after the Flint scandal erupted, when they backpedaled faster than Michael Jackson ("that's crony capitalism, not privatization"). They defend oil and gas pipelines, which couldn't exist without stealing land via eminent domain and imposing regulatory caps on liability from spills. They defend corporate-owned "charter cities," straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia, build on stolen peasant land...

[Raven Nation]

This has nothing to do with anything, but it's just so damn good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSzL5-SPHM

[DOOMco]

Beautiful.

[John Titor]

My favourite parts are either Doctor John's or Van Morrison's bit.

He sure brought the crowd back after bloody Joni Mitchell.

[Raven Nation]

Pretty much the whole concert was brilliant: Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton.

Imagine turning up for the farewell conference with a few "friends."

[John Titor]

And who could forget NEO-CONFEDERATE PROPAGANDA!?!?!

[Raven Nation]

This is worse.

Bonus: mega-cultural appropriation.

[DEG]

Scottsdale collector car auction notes

I like the Benzes and the Spider.

[DEG]

Err... there were two Spiders. The 69 Spider.

[DEG]

And one last one before I go back to work:

Remains of wolf-like ancient otter discovered in China

The modern day otter might not be the most fearsome creature to stalk the Earth, but the discovery of a species that lived 6.6 million years ago in southwestern China suggests its ancestor cut a much more intimidating figure.
With "wolf-like" proportions, and weighing roughly 100 Ibs, the creature -- whose skull was excavated in Yunnan province -- would have been twice the size of today's otters.

The newly discovered species, Siamogale melilutra, had large, powerful jaws and enlarged teeth, according to the scientists responsible for excavating and studying a cranium pulled from a geological site in 2010.

[GILMORE?]

Siamogale melilutra, had large, powerful jaws and enlarged teeth

the better to Otter Rape you, my dear.

h/t Playa

[Playa Manhattan.]

Careful. Don't arouse Ken Shultz if you're not willing to go all the way.

[Violent Sociopath]

STEVE SMITH FIND OTTER VIDEO ON NAT GEO VERY EDUCATIONAL

[Violent Sociopath]

STEVE SMITH FIND OTTER VIDEO ON NAT GEO VERY EDUCATIONAL

[__Warren__]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/other-people

[GILMORE?]

Speaking of "death throes"

Syrian Rebels Now Fighting Each Other

i'm not sure the history will ever be fully/honestly recounted, but i think what the US did vis a vis the rebels there? from 2011-2014, particularly.... is probably one of the most horrible and shameful clusterfucks we've ever been involved with since Vietnam. Iraq doesn't count because there was at least a superficial claim that the core-objective (remove saddam) was accomplished; syria was a case where we never even really were forced to clarify our intent. at certain points it was "Assad Must Go".... but then morphed into a bunch of bullshit waffling about ISIS and humanitarian issues (*which didn't seem a core concern when we were smuggling weapons to anyone with a pulse)

And what was Obama's last significant act re: Syria? To send them more shoulder fired missiles. Not because it would help anyone 'win', but just to say "Fuck you" to the Russians.

[straffinrun]

I've gotten in arguments about Syria with Obama/Hillary fans. They try to make it sound like it was inevitable that Syria was going to devolve into chaos and that the US did the best they could and besides "What do you want? To invade Syria?". The idea that Assad in full control of the country actually would be less harmful to the people of Syria, despite it being self evidently true, is dismissed outright.

[GILMORE?]

it was inevitable that Syria was going to devolve into chaos and that the US did the best they could

... to push it over the edge and into full blown war that killed a few hundred thousand? indeed.

besides "What do you want? To invade Syria?".

Ahh, the endless "false choice". an Amsoc favorite, where the only choices are "Iraq-style invasion" and "Whatever shitshow Team Blue cooks up"

What I would want is for the US to actually state its intentions clearly and openly and actually commit to them. The worst possible thing to do is to say shit like "Assad must go", and signal to the rebels that they will have US support, then waffle and retract it once they've gotten themselves into a full-blown war.

Unless you're intending to back up your words, don't say shit like that. Would the war have gone as long/hard as it has w/o US support/backing? and w/o US support encouraging the Saudis et al to do the same? counterfactuals are impossible. I'd prefer we never fucked with Libya either, given how "Success" looks there.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

U.S. Intentions seemed to be... Assad must go, but ISIS can't take his place.

[GILMORE?]

Saying that, and effecting that, are two very different things.

Stirring the pot from 30,000 feet (with B2 bombers) tends to not be the surgical tool politicians pretend it is.

[GILMORE?]

or any bombers, really.

[Pan Zagloba]

The worst possible thing to do is to say shit like "Assad must go", and signal to the rebels that they will have US support, then waffle and retract it once they've gotten themselves into a full-blown war.

Unless the ultimate goal is to make Iran spend men and treasure, Russia spend treasure and Hezbollah and Syria spend men, while on the other side thousands of jihadis join up to get killed.

I doubt US foreign policy was that cold-blooded, but Bismarck or Talleyrand would be all over it. Only they'd publicly stay neutral (while working through proxies) so they can be big statesmen and swoop in to 'resolve' the issue diplomatically when everyone has been spent.

[GILMORE?]

Unless the ultimate goal is to make Iran spend men and treasure, Russia spend treasure and Hezbollah and Syria spend men, while on the other side thousands of jihadis join up to get killed.

I doubt US foreign policy was that cold-blooded

meh. I think Israeli policy is.

I don't think they're that smart, frankly.

There is a theory floating around the Derposphere suggesting that the whole Syria war is based around the objective of building a natural gas pipeline from Qatar to Europe, cutting off reliance on Russian gas, which is their #1 source of leverage over the West.

In 2009 - the same year former French foreign minister Dumas alleges the British began planning operations in Syria - Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter's North field, contiguous with Iran's South Pars field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets - albeit crucially bypassing Russia. An Agence France-Presse report claimed Assad's rationale was "to protect the interests of [his] Russian ally, which is Europe's top supplier of natural gas".

Assad instead wanted to build one from Iran, through Iraq, to him, which would do the same thing.

[GILMORE?]

* i don't think the pipeline theories have any credence either. Not the best source for debunking, but here's a debunking

I think the war in Syria is actually very simple, and is/was what it appeared to be at the beginning = a popular revolt against a very-shitty, horrible dictator who (coincidentally) is a Alawite shiite ruling over a disenfranchised Sunni majority. basically, its half "Arab Spring", half-continuation of the Iraq Sunni-shia power-struggle.

[GILMORE?]

**i also don't endorse everything the 'debunking' says., just the facts they bring out about how the pipeline stuff was mostly bullshit.

[Fuck You - Cut Spending]

The NATO-fueled Ukraine shit was probably more about the gas pipeline than Assad was. I've said before that I think cutting off Russian gas means the Sauds can pick up some of the slack with oil - which they want to do since China isn't buying as much (and is using a greater percentage of Russian oil). Yeah, it basically then boils down to Sunni v. Shiite stuff all over again, but the US DoD has been the Saudi's bitch for 40 years. The more of a clusterfuck it gets, the bigger the DoD budget gets.

[GILMORE?]

The more of a clusterfuck it gets, the bigger the DoD budget gets.

that's the case the Truthout.org writer makes. I don't really like the "military industrial complex" argument either, frankly.

Our posture re: the middle east is half policy doctrine ...

(where we basically do anything that we think might help longer term stability, preventing future wars between Israel & its neighbors, and the saudis/Iran - both in aid of preventing any serious disruption to the global economy)

... and half just knee-jerk meddling - what i call the "Why does a dog lick its balls"-rule ("Because it can")

because the US ever since the end of the Cold War has never really figured out WTF our purpose is, what with a military bigger than the rest of the planet combined, and a vague mandate.

its what some commie types call "neoliberalism". that the US exists to defend the post-cold-war status quo, a global economic hegemony where we retain primacy. But i don't think its ever been clear whether US dipping its military/diplomatic fingers into the hot-spots like the ME, or South China Sea, or between India/Pakistan, or Israel/Palestine... has ever actually served the 'stabilizing' purpose they think it does. in fact i think most would argue we end up causing more instability than we repress.

Andrew Bacevitch's War College episode is great on this topic.

[Not a True MJG]

The idea that Assad in full control of the country actually would be less harmful to the people of Syria... is dismissed outright.

But it was true for Saddam?

[straffinrun]

Iraq is much worse off now. Next question.

[Not a True MJG]

The question is for your opponents, who presumably were outraged at W back in the day (but not at Hillary for authorizing it).

[straffinrun]

Yep. They deserve to have that thrown in their faces. Problem with that strategy is that they aren't looking for a consistent principle in themselves, but only for inconsistent principles in their opponents. Have you ever tried to pin a lefty down on a principle? They don't care if their position is at odds with what they have stated before.

[straffinrun]

An example of inconsistencies exposed. Not about the wars, but it's interesting how these women just blow off the idea that discriminating against a man for being short is similar to a man blowing off a woman because she's fat. "Yeah, I'm a hypocrite, but who cares."

[John Titor]

For the record, this "BUT I WANNA HURT THE PEOPLE I DON'T LIKE" attitude is exactly why we need to get rid of anti-dueling laws. Put these people in a fair and gentlemanly fight and suddenly violence isn't for them anymore, they just want an opportunity to strike with no response.

[See Double You]

Here, here!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Trump Wants Keystone, Cops in Schools,

I'm going to give you credit for crafting this on purpose Robby, but make no mistake, I've still got my eye on you.

[DOOMco]

I had my first (only?) keystone on school grounds, and so should the youth of today!

[PapayaSF]

In the six degrees of separation department, James Franco once portrayed someone in a movie who I used to know.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

That dude that had to chew his own arm off?

[grrizzly]

Andrew Garfield once portrayed someone in a movie whom I used to teach.

[Not a True MJG]

SPIDERMAN!??

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

That Church-ey dude that wouldn't fire a shot in anger?

[grrizzly]

The title of the movie had the work network.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Oh, that's disappointing. I was thinking it was someone really interesting. Not some vanity editor of a magazine.

[grrizzly]

The Social Network.

It's not about a magazine editor.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yes it is.

Oh, you mean that thing he was in the room for... what's it called, Facebook? Yeah, that's just backstory.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

BTW, this is my favorite quip about Hughes:

Eldridge lost his 2014 bid for a congressional seat by 30 points. Following that and the mass resignation from The New Republic, The Daily Beast dubbed the two "America's Worst Gay Power Couple."[21]

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Oh shit, Grizzly, my apologies. This what happens when I see movies in four minute increments. I thought Garfield played Chris Hughes in that movie. Never mind. Garfield played someone I've never heard of.

[__Warren__]

This isn't about your affair with Nancy Pelosi, is it?

[PapayaSF]

Shhhhhh....

[flye]

A guy in love with a japanese body pillow named Kimiko?

[PapayaSF]

Franco played Scott Smith in the movie Milk.

[AceDroman]

RiFF RaFF?

[Pan Zagloba]

The Spectator, as usual, has couple good takes on Supreme Court ruling that Parliament must vote on Brexit (because I missed goddamn 6AM article on it, that's 3 in the morning over here, Krayewski!).

The Supreme Court ruling, like the Brexit vote, has defended the sovereignty of parliament

Why doesn't the 'tyranny of the majority' bother MPs during elections?

[Slammer]

And what are the violent progs going to do about the millions of Americans who own a personal armory?

[straffinrun]

I'm thinking the same thing they did when facing armed Korean shop owners during the L.A. riots.

[See Double You]

Get shot?

[straffinrun]

Or move on to an unarmed truck driver.

[esteve7]

this point needs to be brought up more. Police couldn't protect you during the riots, but the rioters stopped at Koreatown

[__Warren__]

Not think it's important because they consider non-progs to be absolute idiots.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

SWAT them.

Report them as suicidal and owning guns.

[The Fusionist]

Reposted:

First, this

"A university professor called Robert Kuttner has begun his own effort to get the [Trump] impeachment bandwagon rolling. He is trying to convene an 'independent body of very reputable jurists and other blue-chip people' to assemble a 'running dossier of impeachable abuses'. The dossier (a word that now resonates in Washington) would be given to the House Judiciary Committee if, as Kuttner hopes, it eventually convenes impeachment hearings. 'You have to let him take office,' he told me, echoing the Congressional aide's analysis. 'You have to see which of his actions that look like they are impeachable carry over into his actual presidency. The evidence has to accumulate? to the point that Republican members of Congress feel the need to put some distance between themselves and Trump? this is what happened with Nixon.'

"Professor Kuttner is pinning his hopes on the emoluments clause of the US Constitution [etc.]"

[Zero Sum Game]

Yeah, that will really convince Congress... charging a person for staying in a hotel overseas. The emoluments clause is supposed to stop someone from being bribed by foreign powers, not conduct legitimate, legal business with them that pre-existed office.

Where do these idiots come from?

[See Double You]

I don't know where they come from, but they're probably the same people who, if Clinton had won, would think the Clinton Foundation's pay-to-play scheme is just swell.

[Volren]

Credit where it is due: Trump's pre-election comments about not accepting the results and election rigging (and the subsequent pile-ons by the Democrats and the mainstream media) have produced remarkably entertaining amounts of derp now that they are solidly behind #Notmypresident and "Russia did it!"

[CE]

They had 8 years worth of offenses for Obama but never used them.

[The Fusionist]

Now, a trip down memory lane:

Robert Kuttner co-edits The American Prospect, which ran this article (by Harold Meyerson) last October 20 -

"Trump's Refusal to Accept Election's Legitimacy Is No Surprise...

"Donald Trump's Jeezus-Christ-Did-He-Really-Say-That Moment last night?saying he wouldn't guarantee that he'd accept the result of the impending presidential election?didn't come out of the blue....

"...That there were larger considerations this time around?acknowledging the legitimacy of the next president, of our electoral system, of some of the more fundamental tenets of a democratic republic?well, maybe those mattered a little, but not very much....

"...by insisting the election is rigged, Trump won't have to acknowledge that he lost, something that could shatter his self-image. In the mind of Donald Trump, there's nothing worse than being a loser. By avoiding conceding, by claiming that the election was stolen and fixed, then he won't really be a loser after all.

"What a relief!...

[The Fusionist]

"...The imperatives of Trump's fragile psyche are his and his alone, but they complement the fears that haunt the entire Republican Party. What the GOP fears is not losing elections as such?at least, no more than any political party fears losing them?but losing control of the nation to a party they fear will take America irrevocably away from them...

"Trump's refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of next month's election, then, only took the Republicans' existential phobia one step beyond what has become their widespread belief and common practice. Trump's own fearful dread of losing probably compelled him to go despicably where no presidential candidate had gone before. But he couldn't have gone there if Republicans weren't just as terrified of losing their (real or imagined) country."

[The Fusionist]

Kuttner himself, on October 18 last year:

"Assuming that Hillary Clinton does win, Trump's burn-down-the-house tactics are unlikely to stop on Election Day. She is not officially president-elect until the electors officially meet and cast ballots in mid-December and the results are certified by the president of the Senate after Christmas.

"And it remains to be seen whether Trump, in defeat, will supercharge the Republican tactic through the Obama presidency of obstructing everything?or whether the schism in the Republican Party will bring closeted Republican moderates into a more prominent role."

[PapayaSF]

Yeah, Kuttner is embarrassingly partisan.

[The Fusionist]

"This Nation writer celebrates the idea of violence being committed against people she dislikes.

"This Nation writer condemns the idea of violence being committed against people he dislikes."

Teach the conflict!

As opposed to "false balance," which is giving the same credibility to an insane or immoral position as to the sane or moral position. False balance is something the right wing does.

[Zeb]

Ha!

[Hayeksplosives]

Obama's final hand grenade as he waltzed out of office.

What. a. Dick.

[Juice]

"the use of nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle on Service lands, waters and facilities and for certain types of hunting and fishing regulated by the Service"

Is there such a thing as "nontoxic" ammunition? Copper is "toxic" too.

[Pan Zagloba]

Clay bullets fired from ceramic pistols with totally zero metal content? I remember something like that totally being real and totally able to pass through screening at the airport.

[DenverJ]

Being propelled at fast speeds makes those pretty "toxic" as well.

[Hayeksplosives]

And just forget about your lead sinker. That's practically polonium.

[OneOut]

Some years ago lead weights were made illegal in Texas on cast nets.

All the new ones have ceramic weights and don't sink nearly as fast as lead ones do and therefore aren't nearly as effective.

[Ted S.]

Water can be toxic. Too much will kill you.

[Drake]

Just say Claire Mckaskill on the news criticising Republicans for considering an Obamacare repeal without a single Dem vote.

Her irony detector must be in the shop.

[esteve7]

Progs are the least self-aware people ever. How many GOP votes did you get for Obamacare?

[CE]

Trump Wants Keystone Cops in Schools

Good one.

[A Thinking Mind]

Glad I wasn't the only one who saw that.

[Hayeksplosives]

I am not a Trump fan but have enjoyed the proggy tears and I definitely think this is better for America than Hilldog.

And then I heard today that back when he was battling the Palm Beach town council so he could open it to all comers (including Teh Jews and Teh Blacks) and they resisted because they didn't like the "new money" changing the demographic, when he won, he mailed the Palm Beach councilmembers each a copy of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

That is pro-level trolling right there. I actually like him better now.

[Hayeksplosives]

By open "it" I of course mean Mar a Lago.

[Suthenboy]

James Franco?

*googles james franco filmography*

*sucks breath through teeth*

Ewwwwww. I would be depressed too.

[Hyperion]

"Title IX compliance experts are worried that Trump's Education Department will render them obsolete"

I swear I'll vote for the fucker in 2020 if he does this.

[one true athena]

oh god me too. With a son in 8th grade I want that bullshit rolled back before he gets to college.

[buybuydandavis]

Trump Wants Keystone, Cops in Schools, the Pros and Cons of Punching Nazis: P.M. Links

Propaganda Man

Because you can never associate Trump with Nazis enough.

Reason. Sad.

[DEG]

Seconded.

[DOOMco]

I have not!

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

"We found out later that the club was Jack Ruby's."

[John Titor]

I watched it high as fuck in the first year of university. I'm pretty sure it's the closest thing I've ever had to a religious experience.

[DOOMco]

*takes notes, makes call on burner phone*

[Crusty Juggler]

Fun facts!

When the movie was projected for the first time, Neil Young's manager was horrified when he saw his client's face. "There was a rock of cocaine falling out of his nostril," the film's executive producer, Jonathan Taplin, remembered. When Young's manager suddenly blustered that he was refusing to allow "Helpless" to appear in The Last Waltz, Taplin went to a special effects company to fix things, telling them: "This guy has got a booger in his nose, can you fix it?" After a few days they responded, saying, "We've invented a travelling booger matte."

[Hayeksplosives]

As much as Charlie Sheen loves winning?

[DEG]

Not bad, not bad.

[DOOMco]

Yeah...