A.M. Links: Trump SCOTUS Nomination Coming Today, Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote on Jeff Sessions

• 

  Todd Kranin

  President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee today.

• Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been fired by President Trump for refusing to defend his executive order on immigration.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today on Jeff Sessions's nomination for attorney general.
• An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.
• "The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday, at the request of the United States, to discuss Iran's latest ballistic missile test."

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee today.

Time for a Hillary consolation prize.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"...An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump,..."

You see? He's a tyrant!

[Princess Trigger]

Those gay dance parties at Pence's place worked!

[Monty Crisco]

Liberty, Guns, Beer, Tits, Quaaludes....

[american socialist]

So in the middle of article it doesnt really make sense as the leader of a civil rights org for gays says it is a low bar and he is concerned it wont be overturn. Then some nonsense about women, gays, immigrants mulsims living scared

[Konima]

I'm relatively sure that Trump has no strong ideology. He just wants as many people to like him as possible. He's going to actually do the terrible shit that he ran on, and he's all going to do that would be the ideological antithesis of those things in order to appease people that didn't vote for him. The worst of both worlds possibly.

[Volren]

I'm sure his platform would look quite a bit different if he just wanted everyone to like him, but I agree there are a lot of spots where he doesn't seem to have any real preference.

[Konima]

I didn't say that he was good at getting everyone to like him, or was going about it in the most intelligent way. He's obviously a man with mental issues, so it would be difficult to create a model predicting or encompassing his mind. However, his concern regarding how people perceive him is clear.

I think he may have a few core beliefs about crime and terrorism, but not much at all beyond that. Even those beliefs aren't of depth, or based in any nuanced understanding, and he could change his mind on them if he thought he needed to.

[Brett L]

Eh. It depends. The fact that he's not ideologically wedded to climate change (or any) regulation could be good, could be bad.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

His one ideology is that life is a zero sum game, and for him to get ahead requires someone else to lose. Thus his cronyism, and why he doesn't understand trade as being mutually beneficial -- I imagine he thinks every one of his deals has been at the other guy's expense, that he is the winner and the other guy the loser. He simply cannot fathom that trade can make both parties happy.

This is how I understand him and his hatred / fear of imports, his lust for tariffs and exports, and his otherwise baffling incomprehension of international trade being good for everybody.

[Konima]

You could also say this his ideas on foreign trade to be the result of him trying to come up with a policy which would make the populace like him more. It's all very pro-America and pro-worker on the surface.

[TheZeitgeist]

This is how I understand him and his hatred / fear of imports, his lust for tariffs and exports, and his otherwise baffling incomprehension of international trade being good for everybody.

Trump at times lusts for imports; for instance, two out of three of his wives are imports. Expensive luxury imports at that.

[Gadfly]

...international trade being good for everybody.

This right here is false, and I believe propaganda like this is a contributor to people's distrust in free trade/the free market, as if they see they are being lied to on one front it casts doubt on all others. Free trade is undoubtedly a utilitarian good and redounds to the benefit of the collective, but it does not have a net benefit for all individuals (i.e. it is not "good for everybody"). In a free market there will be people who lose, and free trade can decimate certain industries even while it benefits a nation as a whole. Technological advancement can do the same, so just because something has negative effects doesn't mean it should be shunned, but at the same time it does no good to pretend that negative effects do not exist.

[Citizen X]

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been fired by President Trump for refusing to defend his executive order on immigration.

Spoiler alert, dammit. I'm not caught up on the current season.

[John Titor]

It's all gone downhill since they killed Romney at the Orange Wedding.

[Sumio Mondo, Jr.]

I hated when they killed off the Lindsay Graham character during the primaries.

[DJF]

Unfortunately his pact with the Devil means he was reborn back into his now slightly more rotten and swishy body.

[SugarFree]

I didn't.

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Trigger Warning]

House of 'Tards?

[bacon-magic]

^You win.
Claim your prize underneath the clutter at Hihn's lair. Yes, it will smell like cat feces and gold bond medicated powder.

[R C Dean]

Awesome.

[straffinrun]

Don't like the word "retard", but that got a big chuckle.

[Drave Robber]

Game of Throes.

[Bee Tagger]

"The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday, at the request of the United States, to discuss Iran's latest ballistic missile test."

There's a decent chance the meeting is just a ruse to detain them all, right?

[Anomalous]

Not detain - deport.

[spqr2008]

I would love it if he takes out the trash at the U.N. I'm sure the FBI has dossiers of who has gotten away with what because of diplomatic immunity.

[Lord Humungus]

Those early Warty defenses didn't work out so well...

A huge mouth and no anus ? this could be our earliest known ancestor

Discovered in sedimentary rock in Xixiang County in the Shaanxi province of central China, the species has been dubbed Saccorhytus coronarious for its sack-like, globular body and large mouth. Just one millimetre in length, the tiny animals are believed to have lived on the sea bed, where they would have nestled between grains of sand and moved by wriggling.

"When you look at them under the microscope they look like tiny grains of black rice, frankly ? they are pretty uninteresting ? but as soon as you put them under the electron microscope, the detail becomes absolutely phenomenal," said Conway Morris who, with colleagues from China, has published the discovery in the journal Nature.

Among the details revealed by such techniques are a series of folds or wrinkles around the creature's mouth which, the authors argue, could have allowed the animal's mouth to dilate allowing it to swallow relatively large prey. Like humans, the creature has bilateral symmetry ? that is, two symmetrical halves.

[Citizen X]

You know who else had bilateral symmetry?

[UnCivilServant]

Chang and Eng Bunker?

[Mongo]

The Barbi Twins?

[Swiss Servator]

Christy Canyon?

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Humpty Dumpty before.

[Mike Schmidt]

Yin and Yang?

[Warty]

Faizura Balk?

[Monty Crisco]

*Fairuza*...

[Lee Genes]

Among the details revealed by such techniques are a series of folds or wrinkles around the creature's mouth which, the authors argue, could have allowed the animal's mouth to dilate allowing it to swallow relatively large prey.

Julia Roberts?

[Lee Genes]

Proof

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Tony Robbins?

[Fist of Etiquette]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

That's not very Breitbart. Wait, or is it? Damn that Milo.

[straffinrun]

Gotta love the way they designed the "Milo". When you see it...

[Tonio]

Heh. Thanks.

[straffinrun]

Noticed that pretty quickly, Tonio. I think we can do something with your handle. Check back later this week.

[Tonio]

Dude, that would be sweet. I'm going to put up a blog soon to host my fiction. Would gladly accept artwork, logos, etc.

[straffinrun]

No whining. Would help to know position.

[Bee Tagger]

Either Breitbart is going to shape this nation to look how it wants or we will think it did.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

Leave that poor pug alone, you heathen.

[Juice]

When the hell will they drop it with the gay stuff? I never heard Trump say anything against gays or gay marriage or even hint that he would restrict the rights of gay people. He even held up a rainbow flag for Pete's sake.

[Bee Tagger]

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today on Jeff Sessions's nomination for attorney general.

Just in time for people to make plans for this coming weekend's protests.

[Billy Bones]

IMO, if the GOP (especially the Libertarian-leaning members) were truly sincere in condemning Trump immigration EO, they would vote down very anti-immigrant Sessions as a show of defiance. Won't happen, but a hater can wish, right?

[Lee Genes]

The United States is not a Nation of Immigrants; it is the Nation of White Supremacy.

Since the United States is NOT a nation of immigrants, then what is its stance on immigration? Well, I'd argue that the Unites States supports immigration, as long as the immigrants are White only.

For example, have you seen the political cartoons of Native Americans building a wall to keep the Pilgrims out because the pilgrims refused to learn regional indigenous languages, customs, and ways of being? These subversive cartoons are pointing out the fact that when White folk came to the United States, undocumented, everything was okay.

[WTF]

How did that uncontrolled immigration work out for the Native Americans? I don't think they are making the point they think they are making.

[Domestic Dissident]

Oh man, now you've done it. Soon "John Titor" will give you a bunch of bullshit about how he's an expert on early American history and the indigenous people wanted to be overrun by outsiders and it's not the same thing at all and you don't know what you're talking about.

[Citizen X]

Stupid man brays stupidly into the ether. Not a good look, Mikey.

[Domestic Dissident]

Go suck mofo's cock, gay boy.

[Lee Genes]

Does your seventh grade remedial English teacher know you're not in class today?

[Tyler.C]

To be honest he's 35 so she might think that he just gave up

[Citizen X]

I'd say your attempt at an insult shows roughly a middle-school level of intellect, but my kid is in middle school and she's a hell of a lot smarter than you are. So, i'm leaning towards learning-disabled fourth grader whose parents let him watch HBO. That's you, Mikey. An idiot child. Are you proud of yourself?

[John Titor]

Unfortunately I'm not an expert, although I do have a degree in the field. I'm just not a pig-ignorant moron who feels the need to vomit his revisionist delusional bullshit all over the internet.

[SugarFree]

Now that the know-nothing loud-mouths have one of their own in the White House, they believe The Stupidtarian Moment is upon us.

[bacon-magic]

You know nothing everything, John Titor. /wildling hottie

[Brett L]

Look, WTF, everyone knows that if the Asians or the Africans had come to America first, there would have been a harmonious, respectful and peaceful sharing of cultures. Or if the women had been allowed to lead the expedition.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Or if the women had been allowed to lead the expedition.

The Mayflower would have been constantly stopping to ask for directions, amirite?

[Citizen X]

Couldn't have hurt. They were trying to get to Virginia, but they gave up and landed quite a bit farther north (at the onset of winter) because they'd run out of beer.

[WTF]

Perfectly good decision, I think. Because BEER.

[Citizen X]

Unfortunately for them, there was no beer in Massachusetts at the time. There wasn't really anything to eat in New England in November, and the Pilgrims hadn't even brought livestock with them. The only reason any of them survived the winter is because the whole area had been depopulated after some sick French sailors shipwrecked on Cape Cod and infected all the Indians, and they were able to raid grain stores in the abandoned villages.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Depends.

When they were immigrants, usually just a priest trying to spread religion or a merchant willing to trade valuable goods for furs. Free market trade is profitable, so that worked out well.

When they were looking to steal and conquer land, it didn't work out so well.

[ant1sthenes]

I don't think the diseases really cared much about their intentions one way or the other.

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

Animists. Whattya gonna do?

[Lee Genes]

My favorite bit:

Believe it or not, the perceptions we have about "dangerous" neighborhoods come from a place of (un)intentional xenophobia.

So when I don't want to go to Anacostia at midnight, it's xenophobia? I thought it was just self-preservation.

[Swiss Servator]

Maybe she could walk around Englewood and show her xenophilia?

[Lee Genes]

Too much catcalling

[Swiss Servator]

If by "catcalling" you mean 9mm fire, you are correct!

[Brett L]

No, my perception about "dangerous" neighborhoods come from being nearly beaten and robbed in them, and from friends who have and have not been so lucky as to be "nearly" mugged.

[PBR Streetgang]

I'm happy to drop him off in Kensington or West Philadelphia so he has an opportunity to show his open mindedness.

[John Titor]

Um, kind of hard to be documented when the locals haven't developed a written language and didn't have record keeping.

[Raven Nation]

And, actually, many of the early migrants were documented. Churches in England kept track of them, as did holders of indenture documents, land sale records. And, the English government began keeping lists of all migrants fairly early on.

[Citizen X]

Ditto the Spanish in the areas they controlled. The Catholic Church in the New World was heavily into documenting people.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Know who else was into documenting people?

[jack sprat]

Ken Burns?

[Swiss Servator]

Dang....wins on the first shot.

[Lord Rollingpin]

I think JT is referring to the natives not the settlers.

[John Titor]

I was, but he's not wrong about the documentation point. Land use was negotiated from natives (whether these were good deals, a separate issue), and then administered by the colonial ventures that funded them, so they were 'documented' by the people with ownership of the land. Natives didn't exactly push for documentation of every settler, their backers did.

[Tonio]

And they didn't have any concept of real property rights, either. That's why I hate all those bullshit claims. The colonists did the best they could in negotiating treaties with the natives; other people (thinking if the Japanese had discovered America) would not have been that nice.

[John Titor]

Meh, property rights are all over the place in Amerindian societies (I mean, we are taking about hundreds of different cultures here). But you're right that land ownership was pretty vague in most societies (barring some of the more agrarian cultures). The entire idea of comparing a modern nation state's immigration policy to a tribal negotiation for land use is just anachronistic. The author wants to ignore all that to make a stupid claim, which isn't surprising.

[Citizen X]

Historical illiteracy is a hell of a condition.

[Monty Crisco]

Let's hold our actions from 400 years ago to the standards of civilization today!! That'll work!!! A brave stance from 1640 is STILL a brave stance in 2016!!

[Raven Nation]

something, something jihadists c.f. the Crusades

[Citizen X]

"What is 'context'? Like, a text that stole somethin'?"

[Zeb]

Let's hold our actions from 400 years ago to the standards of civilization today!!

I can't speak for you, but I didn't do anything 400 years ago.

My question is, so what? What do they want to do about it? You can't undo the injustices of the past without screwing over many more people than were screwed over in the past (and even then you can't undo anything because it's the past and it already happened).

[Rufus The Monocled]

Zeb, in case you haven't noticed, that's precisely what they'd like to do. Screw people over for it.

Up here (reasonable) people ask about language laws. 'Okay. The English once upon a time hurt your feelings. Why should I pay the price for it? What happened in 1880 or 1950 doesn't apply anymore.'

But here we are. Punitive measures to 'right' the past.

[Zeb]

Well, yes, I do notice that.

People need to stop thinking that they are their ancestors. People refusing to get over injustices and grievances from the distant past is the root of most of the violence and conflict in the world as far as I can see.

[AlexInCT]

Being a victim in today's world is what gives you power. At least that's the mentality that holds sway today thanks to the people that believe subdividing and conquering is the means to power.

[Zeb]

Historically, subdividing and conquering is a very effective strategy. I'm not sure that the victim shit will have the same effectiveness, though.
It does give a kind of power. But a rather pathetic kind of power with limited reach. As far as I can tell, most people don't actually give a shit.

[straffinrun]

Oh you guys. You want liberty once you're on the top of the heap. /Sarc.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Real estate provenance in Europe is far more tangled and incomprehensible than anything in the mere 400 years of US history. Wars, rebellions, plagues, shifts in royalty, there's no way European ownership can be traced back far enough to make US provenance look evil.

[John Titor]

There's a reason why a great deal of North American border between countries/states tend to be straight lines, while Europe has nonsense like this.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Some of these weird European borders have tax ramifications too. There are, I think, two Italian towns which are on the north side of a lake straddling the border with Switzerland (or Austria?). Because the only access is by road through a foreign country or by boat across the lake, they have been exempted from the VAT. There's a small German town just inside Switzerland, I think a few hundred yards separated -- but still German. Also exempted from VAT. Bunch of others like that.

[Cdr Lytton]

Makes Point Roberts downright sensible.

[Mickey Rat]

Straight lines can lead to some odd results. Like the town on a penusula in Puget Sound that is in the US but the only land access is through Canada. The local schools are located such that the buses have to go through Canada to pick up the kids there.

[AlexInCT]

Methinks they need a wall....

[Juice]

Interesting. I think this proves that having separate (maybe not necessarily "competing") governments in the same geographic area is possible.

They have markings telling everyone which government controls them and their actions, or uh governs them. They follow one set of laws on one street or on one block and another across the street.

Granted the laws of the Netherlands and Belgium can't be all that different, but it shows that simply having people on one block paying the taxes and following the edicts of one violent organization doesn't preclude people on the next block from paying the taxes and following the edicts of another.

[AlexInCT]

Damned low land lubbers...

[Zeb]

when White folk came to the United States, undocumented

Um. "The United States"? They do realize that the United States is something that the white people invented?

They don't seem to do very well defending the assertion that the US is not a nation of immigrants.

[Chipwooder]

They also ignore the fact that the Indians were not, in fact, a monolith. They were a group of many different nations which frequently waged war against each other and conquered territory. I've used this example before, but when the whites were fighting the Comanche in Texas in the mid-1800s, the Comanche had only lived in that territory for about a hundred years. They took it by force, little by little, from the Lipan Apache.

[Citizen X]

The Comanche were a branch of the Shoshone who came south for the sole purpose of buying and/or stealing horses from the Spanish in Mexico. 'Comanche' is a Ute (i believe) word that means "people who are always attacking us."

[Monty Crisco]

That's kind of a BOSS thing to be called....

[John DeWitt]

Damn, didn't know that. Official translation, according to Britannica:

anyone who wants to fight me all the time.

So SJW's are basically Comanche.

[Monty Crisco]

Don't append them a nickname that cool!!!

[Mickey Rat]

If you consider "whine at" to be a synonym for fight.

[Eternal Blue Sky]

Hell, Hernan Cortes was only able to conquer Mesoamerica by exploiting the pre-existing hatred that the subjugated tribes had to the three city-states in charge of the Nahua Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire).

[Monty Crisco]

Yes, yes, we're ALL abundantly familiar with the indiscretions and overreachings of the the Nahua Triple Alliance.... DUH!!!

[Citizen X]

The threat of having the beating heart ripped from your chest does have a way of focusing the mind.

[OneOut]

The Comanche also decimated the Choushatta Indians in LA. and East Texas.

[John Titor]

"The United Tribes of Several Thousand Amerindian Groups That Mostly Hate Each Other."

[Monty Crisco]

I'm stealing that.... just like we stole their land!!!

[Citizen X]

In an alt-history sense, i think it would be interesting to see what the Iroquois could have done with the continent. They were expansionist, possessed an oral code of law that prefigured the American Constitution in a lot of ways, and had an explicit policy of assimilating other Indian tribes - either adopting them into one of the constituent nations (as with the Susquehannock) or adding them to the roster as a new nation (as with the Tuscarora).

[Free Society]

And leave aside the fact that the Native Americans didn't just allow Europeans in because of their nobly savage immigration policies, Europeans conquered the continent because the Native Americans didn't have the wherewithal to stop them. I see modern European peoples displaying a similar lack of wherewithal today, though today it's death wish ideology stripping them of their willingness to defend their society.

[AlexInCT]

They do say "History repeats itself" and "Karma is a bitch", which are both very fitting in this example of yours...

[Free Society]

Karma implies some sort of mythical inputs to how events play out. This is all ideology and psychology playing out.

[WTF]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

Because Trump is a homophobic anti-LGBTQ bigot!!1111!!!

[straffinrun]

Look! Goddamn Big Taqo!

[Bee Tagger]

President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee today.

He's narrowed it down to around 140 different judicial characters.

[Swiss Servator]

*stands to applaud, loud and long*

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today on Jeff Sessions's nomination for attorney general.

You could say they're going to have a session to decide.

[Swiss Servator]

I'D RATHER NOT, THANKEE VERY MUCH!

[Lord Humungus]

something SugarFree something story

Our world is an illusion and we are all living in a 'vast and complex hologram' say astrophysicists

"The idea is similar to that of ordinary holograms where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface, such as in the hologram on a credit card. However, this time, the entire universe is encoded."

He said the theory could be compared to watching a 3D film in a cinema. Although this is not a hologram, he explained that we see the pictures as having height, width and, crucially, depth when in fact it all originates from a flat 2D screen.

The difference, in our 3D universe, is that we can touch objects and the "projection" is "real" from our perspective, he said.

[Lee Genes]

Permutation City by Greg Egan sort of covers this topic.

[Mongo]

It was confirmed when Trump's bodyguards were filmed with their plastic hands and arms walking in the Inaugural Parade.

[Tonio]

[rustles tinfoil]

[Mongo]

Hey Tonio - I was waiting until I got to work to post the YouTube link but when I went there the video was removed!

[Florida Hipster]

I find this idea as crazy as some white guy with a beard speaking the universe into existence.

[Monty Crisco]

There were also hand gestures involved....

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Billions and Billions

[Florida Hipster]

Well sign me up, brother!

[Zeb]

It's just a different mathematical model of things.

[Lord Rollingpin]

'as some white guy with a beard speaking the universe into existence'
Make that a crazy white guy with a beard and I think that would explain the world we live in.

[Brett L]

The important thing is that for everything we experience in daily life, it makes no difference whether the projection or the physical dimension is the underlying reality. But as I said last night, the actual evidence is that one of tests that would have definitively proven the Projection Theory false did not do so. This is not the same as proving the universe IS a hologram.

[AlexInCT]

I thought they said the early universe was a hologram, but then the 3rd dimension came into being...

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

What difference, at this point, does it make?

(It does work for everything!!!)

[Hamster of Doom]

President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee today.

EVERYONE FREAK OUT

[straffinrun]

*Puts hands on knees, pants*

Can I have a breather?

[Swiss Servator]

DAMMIT!

[Swiss Servator]

*freaks out, runs in circles whilst flapping arms*

...

How long do I need to keep this up.

[Hamster of Doom]

Four to eight years, or until everyone left of Megyn Kelly feels better.

[Monty Crisco]

"We now pause until our readers finish flapping their arms and caroming about the room like Emperor penguins trying to take flight..."

[Lord Humungus]

Marijuana-smoked turkey now served in Denver at Cook's Fresh Market

The owner of the deli says he always wondered how turkey would take smoked with marijuana, instead of apple wood chips or something of the sort.

One of his customers brought him some marijuana stalks this week, so he tried it out. He brined the turkey with sugar, salt and spices for three days, and smoked it for six hours low temperature.

"I was really surprised. It didn't smell like marijuana burning, it had a sweet aroma, like a cherry wood and it was absolutely delicious," owner Ed Janos told Next. "People are smiling, giggling. Some people are afraid to try it. Some people are like, wow, this is really good. So it's -- people are kind of surprised, and they're talking about it."

[Anomalous]

Does eating it make you hungry?

[Swiss Servator]

*narrows gaze*

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

AND SLEEPY.

[invisible furry hand]

No but you do break out in a tie-dye rash

[Hamster of Doom]

MJ keeps getting covered up with sugar and chocolate for edibles, but I maintain that the flavor profile is much better suited to savory dishes. There's too much fighting on the palate for the sweets to be tasty sweets without great skill and some thought; but any pothead can make Rice-a-roni with cannabutter.

[Zeb]

I made some shortbread recently that worked quite well, flavor, texture and otherwise.

[Hamster of Doom]

I would appreciate a recipe. Always looking for something new to try.

[Zeb]

It's quite simple.

1 C. flour
1/4 C. sugar
some salt
1/2 C. butter, chilled, cut into smallish cubes.

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or whatever you use for that sort of thing. When it's smooth and consolidated, press into a pan (I just used a 6x9 glass baking dish), poke holes in it with a fork so you don't get bubbles under it. Bake 45 minutes or so at 300. Cut while still hot and let it mostly cool in the pan or it will probably fall apart.

[Hamster of Doom]

Just a straight up shortbread, then? No seasoning? That's definitely worth a try, thanks for the tip.

[Zeb]

Yeah, just the basics. I think you are right about the difficulty of getting the flavor to work with most sweets. You usually end up trying to hide the flavor with lots of chocolate or something. I chose shortbread because of the high proportion of butter, but I ended up liking it a lot more than brownies or more complicated cookies.

[Krabappel]

I haven't tried any savory dishes. The worst idea I ever had was waffles with cannabutter and maple syrup - it was inedible.

[Hamster of Doom]

Experiment a little with the flavors of beef, wild rice, peppers and cream. It's fat-soluble, so there's a lot of options on the table. Herbed garlic cheddar mashed potatoes, for example.

[invisible furry hand]

Why It's Nearly Impossible to Castrate a Hippo

SFW unless you work with a hippo who might consider this a microaggression

[Rufus The Monocled]

Who would want to castrate a Horny, Horny Hippo?

[Florida Hipster]

Clever.
*gentle applause*

[Monty Crisco]

..." it means it's hard to tell males from females at a distance."

I have the same problem at Wal-mart....

[AlexInCT]

Mixed bathrooms?

[Mickey Rat]

I cannot imagine a reason I would want to attempt such a thing.

[Citizen X]

You are obviously not a Colombian.

[Hamster of Doom]

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been fired by President Trump for refusing to defend his executive order on immigration.

Should have been for lying about her principles after all that other highly skeevy shit she's been defending for years.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday, at the request of the United States, to discuss Iran's latest ballistic missile test."

How about a meeting to discuss all the people going ballistic here in the United States?

[Tonio]

[golf clap]

[Sumio Mondo, Jr.]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

"That goddamn bastard did it again! This is just another-"

(whispers into ranter's ear)

"Obama? But...oh, it says so right there...Uh...well...he didn't screw up this time."

[Tonio]

That is going to be completely lost in the outrage over the allegedly forthcoming anti-gay executive order. That order is supposed to allow federally-funded adoption agencies to refuse adoptions to gay couples, etc. I'm taking a wait and see approach on that.

[Florida Hipster]

federally-funded adoption agencie

Here is where the outrage should be directed.

[Hamster of Doom]

There is no commodity bought and sold without the government getting in on it. Certainly not children.

It's for your good, it's for the children's good, and it's damned sure in the best interests of government and their closest friends and family.

[american socialist]

Is this true? I hope not

[robc]

I would hope we arent federally funding adoptions either.

Well, except for the tax credit. I would be fine with getting rid of it as part of a comprehensive tax overhaul that eliminates all kinds of deductions, but as they go, that one is far from the worst.

[Lord Humungus]

Corn turning French hamsters into deranged cannibals: research

A diet of corn is turning wild hamsters in northeastern France into deranged cannibals that devour their offspring, alarmed researchers have reported.

"There's clearly an imbalance," Gerard Baumgart, President of the Research Centre for Environmental Protection in Alsace, and an expert on the European hamster, told AFP on Friday.

"Our hamster habitat is collapsing."

More common farther to the east, Cricetus cricetus in critically endangered in western Europe.

The findings, reported last week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, finger industrial-scale monoculture as the culprit.

Once nourished by a variety of grains, roots and insects, the burrowing rodents live today in a semi-sterile and unbroken ocean of industrially grown maize, or corn.

The monotonous diet is leaving the animals starving, scientists discovered almost by accident.

The problem is a lack of vitamins. In fact, one in particular: B3, or niacin.

[Florida Hipster]

Narwhal is an excellent source of vitamin C.

[WTF]

So, develop GMO corn that produces niacin. Problem solved.

[Swiss Servator]

Our Hamster of Doom is OK, right?!

[Lord Humungus]

ah no... he eats his young and likes to gnaw on commentators legs. But we still like him.

[Hamster of Doom]

I feed on the squirrels after everyone goes to bed.

[Swiss Servator]

That, we can applaud!

[bacon-magic]

I support you in your hunt. *throws nibble ring toy in hamster cage habitat

[Zeb]

I'm pretty sure our Hamster is a lady.

[Lord Humungus]

Have you ever met a hamster that can sip tea with one pink up? Or spend two hours finding the right dress to wear?

I rest my case.

[Tonio]

WaPo: Congress Considering Taking Control of DC City Government

"It speaks to almost cosmic oversight of a local jurisdiction," [DC Non-Voting Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes] Norton said.

If Ms. Norton represents the best and brightest DC has to offer, maybe congressional oversight not a bad thing.

[Monty Crisco]

Ahhhhhhh, Eleanor Holmes Norton.... continuing the majestic legacy of such luminaries as Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Cynthia McKinney, Caroline Moseley Braun, etc etc....

[WTF]

Well, you're quite the racist, aren't you?

[Monty Crisco]

Yeah... that's it. I'm racist. Do you want me to do the white guys in Congress? Okay, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Steny Hoyer, Harry Reid, John Dingell, .....

Is that better?

I wouldn't have expected you to employ the usual prog argument, but as you will...

[Mike Schmidt]

Okay, Barney Frank...

Well, you're quite the homophobe, aren't you?

[Monty Crisco]

Jesus, you people are never satisfied!!!

(Cmon, take the bait...)

[Mr Drew]

Nice.

True, I'm never "satisfied" I just find that these days I need a nap and a snack between attempts.

[Juice]

Ugh, I guess the weed party might be over then.

[Juice]

Goddam, Chaffetz needs to fuck off and die. What an anti-freedom busybody that turd is.

[kbolino]

Even apart from the massive presence of the Federal government (which is kind of justified since DC was intentionally established for the purpose of housing the Federal government) which drives a substantial amount of business and employment, I'm pretty sure DC receives a lot of funding from the Feds. I wonder how keen Eleanor Holmes Norton is on giving up access to that pot of money?

I'm happy to give DC independence, provided that not a single dime of direct Federal money goes to its government.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates has been fired by President Trump for refusing to defend his executive order on immigration.

"You're fired."

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M THE FIRST TO MAKE THAT JOKE.

[Sumio Mondo, Jr.]

Too easy, Fist. It's low-hanging fruit. Frankly, it's beneath someone of your stature, which is why I should have been the one to make it.

[UnCivilServant]

Everyone outside of reason's commentariat was already making it, so why bother?

[UnCivilServant]

dur, I tag real gud.

*headdesk*

[Hamster of Doom]

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote today on Jeff Sessions's nomination for attorney general.

For all the Trumpenfuhrer's going to end life as we know it, he never seems to have much trouble getting who he wants in his Cabinet.

[Warty]

H and R in the news

[John Titor]

"When you reverse that and have almost two males per every female ? that really intensifies the competition for reproduction. That seems to be a key factor here," says Wilson.

Oh come on, H&R has a way bigger male-to-female ratio. Why don't we have Gillespie's head on a pike yet anyway?

[Raven Nation]

We're afraid of the Jacket.

[Mongo]

A ripped anus! 😮

[Zeb]

I type as vigorously as I can and still can't get his head to come off.

[Idle Hands]

And people say journalism is dead.

[commodious rebrands]

You call that journalism? Not even one mention of Trump.

[Pro Libertate]

Do you think I could adjudicate remotely? If so, perhaps I'll apply for this "Supreme Court Justice" position. Don't much care for DC, though.

[Sumio Mondo, Jr.]

They don't allow justices to work from home, ProL. They need to be sure that the justice is wearing pants under the robe.

[straffinrun]

Dibs on RBG panty check duty.

[Lee Genes]

You're going to have fight Crusty for that one.

[straffinrun]

He can have Breyer and Roberts. Guessing Thomas goes commando.

[SugarFree]

"Speak never, but always carry a handful of pubic hair."

[Pro Libertate]

Look, I have rights.

[Brett L]

If you get appointed, I expect you to wear the Florida business casual uniform of shorts and flipflops under your robes.

[Pro Libertate]

Killer oral arguments, Mr. Solicitor General.

[Lord Humungus]

Trump Must Choose Between Farmers and 'Big Meat'

Among the final actions of the Obama administration were new rules making it easier for chicken farmers?who exist inside a commercial vise constructed by agribusiness?to sue the companies for anti-competitive behavior. The big meat lobbying firms oppose any new rules, and now that the Trump administration has frozen all regulations, it's unclear if those protections will ever take effect.

Trump won the White House last year in large part thanks to support from rural voters who contend they didn't fully benefit from the economic recovery. Farm incomes, having reached a record high in 2013, are expected to fall for a third successive year while debt levels have climbed.

Alton Terry hopes Trump will begin to make things right by farmers, first off by letting Obama's rules take effect. For a decade, Terry worked as a chicken farmer for Tyson Foods before filing for bankruptcy. He holds the company, and the government, responsible for his plight.

[Hamster of Doom]

new rules making it easier for chicken farmers?who exist inside a commercial vise constructed by agribusiness?to sue the companies for anti-competitive behavior.

Can't be. Murica's capitalist with fine capitalist markets. That never happened.

[Florida Hipster]

Why doesn't he deregulate the market and let it sort itself out?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

LOL

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

It's not the size of the meat...

[AlexInCT]

It's the choke on the chicken?

[Monty Crisco]

Well.... my nickname is "Big Meat"....

[Tyler.C]

This is what what they come up with when they said "quick find something to make regulations look good"

[Lord Humungus]

Why the Queen once hid behind a royal bush ? and who she was hiding from

According to the narrative, the Queen was uncomfortable with the Government's decision to invite the Romanian dictator Ceausescu for a full state visit . On all accounts, he was an unsavoury man.

And, as has been noted , while strolling with her dogs in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, the Queen spotted Ceausescu and his wife Elena walking in her direction.

Her Majesty told a lunch guest a few years later that she decided that the best option at the time was to hide behind a bush ? preferable, it seems, to engaging in polite conversation with a man who in 1989 was tried and convicted of genocide, among other things.

[invisible furry hand]

You know there's a UK petition to stop the Trump visit for fear of embarrassing the Queen? I had to laugh, given the multitudes of dropkicks, drongos and despots she's been forced to meet 'n' greet on behalf of the country for over 60 years.

[John Titor]

Liz tends to have zero fucks to give. Steyn had a great point about when his daughter met her and pointed out that, unlike politicians, she doesn't feel the need to 'work the room'. Because she doesn't have to.

[Tonio]

Yes, the European Left are losing it. I think their TDS has as much to do with fear of what is going to happen there in the next election cycle.

[OBJ FRANKELSON]

So much this, Merkel and Pepe le Socialist are likely on the way out.

[Rhywun]

My news said "the queen had concerns" or some such. I knew it was a fucking lie.

[Citizen X]

dropkicks, drongos and despots

Not to mention her former brother-in-law.

[Citizen X]

Fun fact: shortly before his marriage to Princess Margaret, Armstrong-Jones fathered a child with the wife of a friend, allegedly during a three-way that included said friend.

[Drake]

So did Sally Yates refuse to enforce President Obama's 2010 ban on immigrants from certain countries? Funny how I didn't hear about her principled stand back then.

[Tonio]

^This

[Juvenile Bluster]

Well, she didn't join the DOJ until 2015, so there's that reason.

[Tonio]

D'oh! [slaps own forehead]

[Drake]

I must have confused her with all her fellow-travelers who made such a big stink 6 years ago.

[AddictionMyth]

Don't you just love watching your best laid plans not go awry. 🙂

[Hamster of Doom]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

"How dare he profit off our sufferings! We don't want it anymore. Hmmph."

[The Late P Brooks]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

He's going to round them up and deport them.

[AddictionMyth]

Round them up and imprison them for Thiel to test his 'fountain of youth' drug on. But yeah.

[Tonio]

He's going to round them up and deport them.

Stop that. My derpbook feed has at least one TDS homo meltdown per day and they all mention cattle cars and camps. They actually think that is going to happen.

[Florida Hipster]

If they REALLY thought it was going to happen, they would be booking passage out of the country.

[AddictionMyth]

^This

[WTF]

Trump actually held up the LGBTQ rainbow flag at one of his rallies, to the cheers of his supporters, yet they still believe this idiocy?

[WTF]

I mean, for fuck's sake, Trump was in favor of gay marriage while Obama still claimed to oppose it.
It must be odd living in an alternate reality.

[Tonio]

Two points: Trump is mercurial, so a previously-stated position is not necessarily today's position. They are, of course, conflating.

[WTF]

But why not wait until Trump actually gives some indication of his hostility? He's been pretty consistent on this front.

[Free Society]

My wife works for an LGTB law firm and her coworkers are extremely progressive, to tell you how progressive, my wife's (white bull dyke) boss once said to me "I can't wait for all the white people to just die already so marijuana will be legal". Ever since Trump's election, my wifes coworkers have been taking time off work "to grieve" and they are preaching to their gay clients that it's the end of times and that Trump is going to round them up and kill them all, blah blah blah.

When my wife first started working there, she thought it would be easy to hide her true opinions and pretend like she just doesn't know anything about politics. She said that's getting to be impossible now with Trump in office, every single day her bosses and coworkers are demanding that she signal her pure progressive virtue.

[Hail Rataxes]

Sounds like she should go back home. She's clearly not welcome in this country anymore.

[Free Society]

You certainly talk a lot of shit about immigrants.

[Hail Rataxes]

You certainly talk a lot of shit about things that have never happened to your wife.

But I'm sure there are tons of "LGBT law firms" in the same part of rural Ohio where you are apparently now unable to get healthcare.

[Free Society]

Yeah you would know, because Ohio is just one big corn field and you know me personally, right? Are you capable of responding to any posts without cunty personal attacks?

[kbolino]

Are you capable of responding to any posts without cunty personal attacks?

Posting history says... no.

[Rhywun]

"I can't wait for all the white people to just die already so marijuana will be legal"

I have to admit I've never worked for a truly crazy person before. That has got to be a toxic environment.

[Free Society]

I just don't understand it. I was just trying to make small talk at the Christmas party, so I brought up weed legalization which is some common ground between libertarians and deranged leftists, and that was her answer. She said this to a white person, whose family is white, and she said it as a white person herself that professes to love her family....and she wishes them all dead. What sort of mental gymnastics must a person perform to reach that conclusion, I don't know.

[Tonio]

Yeah, a gay friend posted on derpbook this morning about how he was now "requiring and demanding" apologies from everyone who told him to take a wait and see approach about Trump. I think this was triggered by the rumor about the forthcoming anti-LGBTQ executive order.

I'm actually avoiding my gay friends because I'm tired of listening to their shrieking hysterics. Ugh.

My sympathies to your wife.

[Free Society]

None of the gays in my social circles have managed to remain hysteria-free. Not sure how they all found the same hyperbolic bandwagon.

[Rhywun]

Not sure how they all found the same hyperbolic bandwagon.

On Facebook? The thing has some sort of additive effect on derp that just concentrates it to an extreme degree.

[Free Society]

You're probably right. But then again all sorts of identity groups are using facebook too and I don't see the same levels of concentrated derp. Muslims are far less hysterical than gays and if anyone could be excused for being hysterical about Trump's every move it would be them.

[DJF]

I thought that most businesses don't want people doing LGBTQ on company time? They don't even want the Hetero doing it either.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm working on planning a road trip, and I have two day-long destination spots with one day drive allottments unfilled. The problem is they have to be within a day's drive of each other and form a chain with a day's drive from Knoxville Tennessee at the start and Naigara Falls Canada in the end. (I figured if I was going all over the darn place, I might as well see the Horseshoe falls on my way home). I'm currently open to suggestions for places in that general area of the country that can be visited around early june.

[Drake]

Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is about my favorite place. And you can ride over to Sugar Hill for some Polly's Pancakes for breakfast.

https://pollyspancakeparlor.com/

[UnCivilServant]

That is a bit far from the Knoxville-Niagara line, I'm afraid.

[Florida Hipster]

Florida Keys.

[UnCivilServant]

You're just suggesting that ironically.

[Drake]

It is a one day detour from your route to Niagara Falls. Or did I mis-read your criteria?

[UnCivilServant]

hrmm... I had been looking at puttind desintations between knoxville and niagara to keep the route efficient, I'm not sure about putting places after niagara since my next destination is "home to get ready to go back to the day job"

[Not an Economist]

National Museum of the United States Air Force is in Dayton Ohio and then there is the Football Hall of Fame in Canton and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. These are in your general route from Knoxville to Niagara. You could spend a day at the National Museum of the United States Air Force very easily. The Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop is also in Dayton.

But they are typical tourist destinations.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

And you can ride over to Sugar Hill for some Polly's Pancakes for breakfast.

There is no way UnCivilServant enjoys pancakes.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Did you pick a new car?

[UnCivilServant]

I picked the Ford C-Max because it was the most confirtable to fit in and drive. It also has convenient cargo management options. The highway milage is not very different from what I got with the Focus, so that's a wash for trip planning.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Skagway, AK.

(Interesting shit between Knoxville and Niagara? Jeezus. That's like the dumpster of 'Merika, right there. There's a casino in Charles Town, WV. Centralia, PA. This seems like the worst road trip ever)

[Juvenile Bluster]

I've always wondered: What's Skagway like when cruise ships aren't coming in every day? Seemed like that's all that went on there.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

No idea - never been. I would love to see the Golden Staircase, though.

[AlexInCT]

Was that some freaky Trump related water sports reference?

[UnCivilServant]

Seeing Huntsville so close to Knoxville (under four hours optimal) I've added that, but the timing still allows for two stops between Huntsville and Niagara. (We paid how much for the space program? I'm going to see it while I'm in the area)

[Rocinante]

You could try Ohiopyle in the Laurel Highlands, Chautauqua Lake in SW NY, Kinzua Dam in PA, Letchworth State Park in NY, swing over to Watkins Glen, or visit the Finger Lakes. I was assuming outdoor type destinations.

[Citizen X]

Ohiopyle is pretty. I've been rafting there.

[UnCivilServant]

I grew up in central-western New York. So I've seen the Finger Lakes several times. I have nothing against them, I'm just looking for new places. Kinzua Dam might go on the list because I can add it to the driving day to get to Niagara. (I've been trying to keep the driving days to under eight hours on the road, so there's plenty of slack space if there's something along the way)

[B.P.]

Cedar Point, OH for the rollercoasters. Or just get lost in Kentucky for a day for distilleries, caverns, etc.

[UnCivilServant]

...Or a gun range with rentals (Burn a few boxes of ammo trying things I don't normally have the chance to shoot)

[jarflax]

Cool bit of history I remember really enjoying on a driving trip with my dad as a kid. It is roughly on the line your trip will take.

[jarflax]

and I am not sure how I completely lost all traces of link...

http://www.piattcastles.org/Home.html

[Azathoth!!]

For something to make your skin crawl, try Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.

You won't be making any more stops after that.

[Lord Humungus]

Trump's first week: For many in Arizona, it doesn't get any better than this

"I love America, OK?" Jenkins said. "And this gives me hope. It's the right direction."

After eight years of a Democratic president, Trump is doing everything MacCree hoped a president would to obliterate Obama's legacy, he said.

If there are too many people crossing into the U.S., build a barrier to stop them, MacCree said. If there are potential terrorists claiming refugee status, don't let them in. If Obamacare threatens small businesses, shut it down any way you can.

This country's inner cities require "cleaning out," MacCree said, to free them from the grip of gangs. The border needs more men and more guns. People fleeing Arabic-speaking countries shouldn't run, but should stay where they are and fight Islamic extremism ? unless they're the extremists themselves. Either way, they should not be afforded entry to the U.S.

As Trump takes step after step to fix what MacCree sees as America's ills, MacCree can only shake his head at the alternative. After all, it was only three short months ago that Hillary Clinton was seen as a sure bet for the presidency.

[Hamster of Doom]

"If only we had a lot more of the right kind of government, this would all be better."

[Monty Crisco]

What a racist bigoted sexist homophobe that guy is....

[Mr Drew]

Last night here in Cincinnati, the (D) Mayor declared that we are a sanctuary city. Oddly, the (D) Sheriff disagrees.

I'm uncertain about all of this immigrant stuff and I have yet to find any simple reporting/explanation that isn't pushing a narrative.

[AddictionMyth]

Simple: law enforcement is running out of real crimes so they have to make new ones. Persecuting illegals is a huge growth market just waiting to be plundered.

[Tonio]

Sheriffs in large cities don't really do law enforcement; they run the jail and serve warrants. Now, he could be looking for an influx of federal prisoners in his jail - the feds pay locals to house prisoners awaiting trial.

[commodious rebrands]

If your (D) Mayor fires your (D) Sheriff, will it be likened to the Saturday Night Massacre?

[UnCivilServant]

Aren't sheriffs elected officials?

[commodious rebrands]

Damnit, man, I'm doing a thing here.

[Tonio]

Yes. Sheriffs are elected officials and do not report to the mayor. And once you get elected as sheriff you tend to keep getting elected until you decide to retire. Everyone wants to be mayor; the only people who want to be sheriffs are sheriff's deputies or cops looking for a cushy job. They are truly their own little fiefdoms.

[Mickey Rat]

And are county, not city, government.

[Lee Genes]

Even I have to admit "Twitler" is a good nickname for our orange leader.

[Hamster of Doom]

Mike hardest hit.

[commodious rebrands]

That's not half bad, not least because it makes a mockery of the stakes involved. A Nazi whose domain is social media isn't a very serious Nazi.

[kbolino]

A Nazi whose domain is social media isn't a very serious Nazi.

Unfortunately, this aspect of it is lost on the people who coined the term.

[Monty Crisco]

*grudgingly nods*.... Yeah, that's pretty good... dammit

[Lord Humungus]

Why Environmental Groups Are Targeting Natural Gas in the Age of President Trump

More than 200 sites of pending natural gas power plants and thousands of miles of pipelines represent the next frontier in environmental activism focused on halting fossil fuel development, according to a new report.

New natural gas plants at these sites?located across the country from California to Maine?would represent 16% of greenhouse gas emissions from the electric sector if completed using 2016 numbers. The new plants are heavily concentrated in a few states with Texas home to more than a quarter of the planned capacity, according to the report.

The document, produced by the Sierra Club and shared exclusively with TIME, follows a years-long initiative aimed at retiring coal-fired power plants. Market forces coupled with intense activism have caused a precipitous decline in coal investment and led environmentalists increasingly to turn their attention to halting other fossil fuels.

"Gas is part of the problem and not part of the solution," says Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director. "And it's just as vulnerable as coal."

[Lee Genes]

"And it's just as vulnerable as coal."

I think he's mistaken on that count.

[american socialist]

They dont want coal, they dont want nuclear, they dont want natural gas.

These people are zealots

[Free Society]

These people would be dead in less than a year if we let them have their way.

[Monty Crisco]

Who the FUCK are you and what have you done with the real amsoc?!?!

[american socialist]

Id like michael to tell me the solution and how he plans to pay for it

[spqr2008]

He plans on you paying for it, not him. He'll make sure he gets a tax exemption.

[Tonio]

So, they issued a statement calling for more nuclear generating plants?

[Mickey Rat]

Because the environmental movement ultimately hates humanity?

[westernsloper]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today

HE CAN'T DO THAT THERE IS A FABULOUS MARCH PLANNED!!!!

[Tonio]

WaPo: Washington's worst case of lead poisoning in decades happened in a home sanctioned [approved] by housing officials

Instead of specifically testing for lead or asthma-inducing mold, D.C. inspectors following the guidelines visually check for peeling paint and deteriorating conditions.

And, predictably, the government blames the landlord.

[Tyler.C]

Maybe the government just doesn't know what lead is. That's why it's poisoning so many people

[Tonio]

That would explain Eleanor Holmes Norton.

[John]

The fact that the gays are freaking out about Trump shows that there is no gay rights movement in this country. There is an arm of the left that pretends to care about gay rights so long as they can be used to further leftist politics. Trump has never said anything bad about gays and is the least socially conservative nominee the GOP has ever had. And if there is any group that should be unreasonably militant about stopping Muslim immigration, it is the gays.

Whatever you think of Trump, the gay rights movement should have no dog in the fight. Yet, they are throwing the same fit over Trump they would if we had elected someone who wanted to amend them Constitution overturning the prohibition of sodomy laws.

[AddictionMyth]

"If the gays don't appreciate that we are protecting them from the Muslims then we will kill them too!" - Trumpkin Mantra #11

[John]

Yeah, Trump wants to kill the gays. You called it dude.

[Monty Crisco]

John, stop feeding it. Or dajjal or any of the other socks...

[Tyler.C]

To be fair dajjasshole is an AmSoc Sock.

[Monty Crisco]

I can't keep them straight... They're TOO CAGEY for me to keep up!!!

[Konima]

Would you consider yourself gay?

[AlexInCT]

I am a lesbian trapped in a man's body....

[Lord Humungus]

At Least 20 Alleged Terrorists Since 2014 Came From Countries Affected By Trump's Immigration Ban

Immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen won't be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. for the next three months. Several journalists from outlets such as The Washington Post and Vox have complained that Trump picked the wrong countries as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan aren't covered in the temporary immigration bans. Some pundits or politicians have gone as far as to say no terror is caused by immigrants from these nations.

The Obama administration's Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security refused to make public the immigration status of individuals implicated in terrorism, so the exact number of immigrant terrorists is unknown.

However, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest used publicly available information and identified at least 17 individuals from these seven nations that from March 2014 to June 2016 were implicated in terrorism. Eight of these are terrorists convicted for crimes mainly related to giving material support or attempting to give material support to ISIS.

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

wrong countries as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan

Crazy thought: Is it because we have at least some semblance of a working relationship with those governments in those countries and not most of the others?

[John DeWitt]

Except Iraq...

[widget]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights...

I have absolutely no clue what that word salad means.

[straffinrun]

How about "tossed salad"?

[Monty Crisco]

I mean, if you're offering.....

[Lord Humungus]

After Travel Ban, Twitter Overflowing with Calls to Assassinate Pres. Trump
'If you assassinate Trump, just know your name will go down in history'

No sooner had Donald Trump been inaugurated the 45th president of the United States were angry voters taking to Twitter to call for his assassination. And in the days since Trump signed an executive order pausing immigration from seven countries identified with having high levels of terrorism, calls for a coup are intensifying.

Anti-Trump rhetoric is becoming so heated, even a Times of London reporter, India Knight, openly called for his assassination. (She's since deleted this tweet.)

Examples in da link.

[Lee Genes]

(She's since deleted this tweet.)

Before or after the phone call from the Secret Service?

[John Titor]

Yeah, let's assassinate the populist. That tends to work out so well.

[widget]

Lefties want to assassinate the first Democrat the Republican party has run in 155 years.

[Florida Hipster]

Eh. Hard to get bent out of shape when this quote gets thrown around. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

[spqr2008]

The problem for lefties is that they don't understand that the blood of tryants= the left and big government types.

[AlexInCT]

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

Explaining to them that tyrant and tyranny don't just equate to "that's not the guy I voted for", seems to be lost in the mix...

[John Titor]

Hey, I'm not saying don't assassinate shitbags, I'm saying assassinating shitbags has consequences. Maybe think about what Augustus did after Caesar and all that.

[Florida Hipster]

Elections AND assassinations have consequences.
-John Titor

[straffinrun]

Elections and Assassinations would be a good name for November.

[Lord Humungus]

Or a board game like Chutes and Ladders

[Citizen X]

Or a really political post-punk band.

[Monty Crisco]

I WILL NOT HEAR ILL SPOKEN OF CAESAR AUGUSTUS!!!! TAKE IT BACK!!

[John Titor]

What are you gonna do, proscribe me like Daddy Aug?

[Monty Crisco]

I'll go FULL Lucius Sulla on yo' ass!!!
(He's really the guy you have to go back to to find the root of dictatorial tendencies in the Roman Republic...)

[UnCivilServant]

I'll go FULL Lucius Sulla on yo' ass!!!

You're going to die from an infestation of worms in a burst ulcer?

[John Titor]

I go with Marius. Marius held power as consul for longer than anyone else, reformed the military in a way that a strongman was pretty much inevitable, and went on his own little murder spree in his later years. Sulla just continued the problem.

[Monty Crisco]

Gotta disagree. Sulla was a better soldier and statesman than Marius. Marius died fleeing Sulla. And Marius never became Dictator - and then GAVE IT UP!!!
Also, Sulla's epitaph is the definition of BOSS:

"No friend ever served me and no enemy ever wronged me that I haven't paid in full."

FUCKING BOSS!!!

[John Titor]

Better statesman, sure, but the root of the republic's fall is in Marius' reign. Marius could never claim Dictator status because of his class and upbringing, Sulla had the same advantage as Caesar in his aristocratic status. The Marian reforms made the army subservient to its commanders (usually Marius, surprise), not to the Senate, which meant that any asshole with a promise of land could start a revolution.

[Monty Crisco]

Good point. It is definitely debatable. BUT WAS HIS EPITAPH AS BOSS AS SULLA'S?!?!?

[ant1sthenes]

Yep, just like Gavrilo Princip.

The left normalizes racism, sexism, bigotry, we get all of those. They normalize unchecked executive power steamrolling the rest of the system, they normalize "elections have consequences", we get that. They just learned they aren't as popular as they think they are -- in fact Trump's rise is more about people hating them than liking him. So normalize eliminating people whose politics you hate, and... well, complete the pattern, genius.

[ant1sthenes]

To say nothing of what will happen if you try to assassinate him and fail. You think the fucker is vindictive now?

[OneOut]

I doubt anyone or group who openly desire assinstion of a President are cspable of pulling it off.

[OneOut]

I doubt anyone or group who openly desire assinstion of a President are cspable of pulling it off.

[OneOut]

I doubt anyone or group who openly desire assinstion of a President are cspable of pulling it off.

[westernsloper]

repost of my comment on the previous souve H&R twitter coverage article:

From the Executive Order

(g) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to subsection (c) of this section or pursuant to a Presidential proclamation described in subsection (e) of this section, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may, on a case-by-case basis, and when in the national interest, issue visas or other immigration benefits to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are otherwise blocked.

It looks to me like this is not a "complete" ban and their are provisions in the order for special circumstances.

From this article

The DHS said on Sunday night that green card holders would be allowed to board U.S.-bound flights, but would be subjected to additional scrutiny upon arrival.

And that that DHS is using them. (although the article implies it is because of the protests)The Trump administration could have saved us all from watching the freakouts if they had rolled this out better. The media is being completely dishonest in reporting what is in the order.

[Free Society]

The Trump administration could have saved us all from watching the freakouts if they had rolled this out better.

I highly doubt that.

[R C Dean]

Yeah, I don't know when people are going to figure out that the left has a population of fanatics who cannot be appeased and will not accept a compromise.

It doesn't matter what Trump or any non-lefty does or says, they are racist, bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic, you name it. Look at the LGBTQWERTY temper tantrum over Trump, who has exactly zero history of being anti-gay.

Stop pretending they can be dealt with. They. Can't.

[AlexInCT]

There will be some major pants shitting regardless of how things are done. If the guy finds a cure for cancer tomorrow and offers it for free, the progs will lead with a headline claiming he is undermining the healthcare industry and how evil that is.

[John DeWitt]

Somehow, I find it more problematic that these Twitterevolutionaries are expecting someone else to do their dirty work. Typical lazy social media warriors.

[Citizen X]

"Will no one rid me of this troublesome Oompa-Loompa?"

[Juvenile Bluster]

Can somebody tell me the substantive (not using "well, one's right and the other one's wrong") difference between Sally Yates and Kim Davis?

[Hamster of Doom]

No comparison, c'mon. Yates is a much snappier dresser.

[PBR Streetgang]

Team

[VG Zaytsev]

Kim Davis was a gross redneck hick, bigoted ignorant and vile.
Sally Yates is a highly educated top (wo)myn, tolerant, brave and wise.

[Monty Crisco]

Zaytsev NAILS it!!!

[SugarFree]

There's a difference between virtue signaling twits that should be fired?

[AlexInCT]

What leg you use to kick them out the door with?

[Eternal Blue Sky]

One told their underlings "Don't do what the court says we're required to do" the other told their underlings "Don't defend the president's order in court"??

To note, I have no problem with getting rid of Yates, but those two things are fairly different (unless fake news and spin has distorted the story as I read it). There's a difference between not following your bosses orders and not defending your bosses orders in court.

[Mickey Rat]

Davis was not operating under a functional law, so she told her staff to do nothing. Yates went a defied a clearly stated administration policy.

[RT]

Davis was an elected official, so there was no way to "fire" her (IIRC, anyway).

[AddictionMyth]

"If the gays don't appreciate that we are putting our lives on the line for them then we will kill them!" - Trumpkin Mantra ?11.2

[Mazakon]

Saudi prince bought 80 airline seats for his hawks

"My captain friend sent me this photo," the caption reads. "Saudi prince bought ticket for his 80 hawks."

While it's not uncommon to see some odd animals on planes, like an emotional support duck, multiple rows filled with falcons will surely make even a seasoned traveler's head spin.

Though it may be strange to some, seeing falcons on a plane in the Middle East isn't actually all that uncommon. One Redditor points out that this flight probably isn't Qatar economy class because its policy states that only six falcons are permitted in economy class at a time.

[Juvenile Bluster]

This must be one of the poorer Saudi princes. He doesn't own his own jet.

[straffinrun]

Was expecting to see McCain and his staff with the prince.

[Free Society]

He only meets with Saudis about arming terrorists on the second Mondays of the month.

[The Late P Brooks]

"Gas is part of the problem and not part of the solution," says Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director. "And it's just as vulnerable as coal."

LEAVE IT IN THE GROUND!

This is just proof of the all-encompassing dishonesty of the "green movement". Just ask them about liquid salt nuclear reactors. It's not pollution they want to outlaw, it's electricity.

[Lord Humungus]

waht? You don't want to live in darkness, hoping the sun comes out so your solar cells will provide enough power to light a single light bulb?

Heck the company I work for used to make small residential windmills - having one could knock 10% off of your electric bill. But once you did the math, it would take 20-30 years (excluding the cost of maintenance) to recoup your costs.

[sarcasmic]

They won't be happy until we're all living in self sufficient communes with a 35yr lifespan. Because it's "natural."

[Tonio]

+1 The Other Villages

[Florida Hipster]

I was watching "human planet" and there was a bit about the uncontacted tribes in Brazil and how they are protected from human contact. It got me to thinking if that is the ethical decision. On the one hand the tribe might want to join the modern world. On the other, contact might destroy their culture. The guy in charge of protecting them said "They're the last truly free people on the earth."

[Tonio]

They are free to gambol...

[Zero Sum Game]

It is how the watermelons envision us living. The end result of socialism. We should go back to not having as much stuff. We don't need to waste energy making what we don't really need. We can grow everything "organically" and so what if it can't feed enough people. There are too many as it is.

Starvation and death isn't an accidental byproduct of pinko control. It's the desired conclusion.

[AlexInCT]

When you say "We" there in your apt description, I hope you understand these people want the rest of us to live like that. Not themselves....

[Monty Crisco]

Free to suffer the unmitigated tender mercies of mother nature.... who ain't very maternal....

[AlexInCT]

Or tender....

Natural selection is a bitch..

[Eternal Blue Sky]

"On the other, contact might destroy their culture."

Culture should exist as a free market. One where individuals are free to pick and choose as best fits their own interests. If this culture chose to abandon all of their cultural relics in exchange for totally new ones, that would be presumably their own choice based on their own value assessments.

[AlexInCT]

What? And allow cultural appropriation?

/prog derp

[Brian.bs]

I lived in that area 40 years ago. Believe me they all wanted mosquito nets for sleeping and machetes. In the recent pictures about this I noticed one of these tribe members with a steel machete - so not as uncontacted as they like to let on.

[commodious rebrands]

Their metallurgical advances have been incredible.

[Citizen X]

There's a theory that many of the Amazonian nomads are descended from more complex societies that were wiped out by European diseases. Some show evidence of having passed through a genetic bottleneck within the last 400 years; some, like the Yanomami, have a hereditary aristocracy that, everywhere else on earth, has only arisen in settled, agrarian societies.

[AddictionMyth]

That the Trumpkins must now pretend to love Israel and 'the gays' does not bode well for them.

[AddictionMyth]

Now that's love.

[The Late P Brooks]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights...

I have absolutely no clue what that word salad means.

You're no longer allowed to deck a co-worker for throwing glitter at you.

[Lee Genes]

That's outrageous.

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

Also known as The Rip Taylor Act of 2014.

[Zero Sum Game]

An executive order on LGBTQ workplace rights signed by President Barack Obama will still be enforced by President Trump, the White House said today.

WTF? I was told that gay people were to be rounded up and put on cattle cars. What is this shit?

Man, Trump is turning out not to be the Nazi we all secretly were hoping he was.

/s

[AddictionMyth]

You can't win. 🙂

[Zero Sum Game]

I had my jackboots polished and have been practicing my goose-stepping since last November. I'm really good at it.

Libertarians are all secretly "pot Republicans" and, by extension, Nazi sympathizers who will march to the Koch war drums against brown people and gays. The MSM told me so, so it must be true.

[AddictionMyth]

The Kochs have come out swinging against Trump's Muslim ban. Sorry ZSG, you can't win this one. And by your own logic. 🙂

[Tyler.C]

There was a competition? Why wasn't I invited?!?!

[Hamster of Doom]

I remember wistfully wishing that America had someone as excellent at speeches as Nigel Farage. That is an eloquent man.

Well, I've found the American Nigel Farage, and he lives in Texas.

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

Dose teef doh.

[AddictionMyth]

"If the gays don't appreciate that we are not going to come for them first then they are idiots!" - Trumpkin Mantra ?11.6

[The Late P Brooks]

But once you did the math, it would take 20-30 years (excluding the cost of maintenance) to recoup your costs.

ONLY 20-30 years? Those must be the high-efficiency models.

There are people putting large solar collectors up, around here. I have no idea what the actual numbers are, but spending thousands of dollars in order to save a few pennies on your electric bill doesn't pass the WTF test, from where I sit.

[Tonio]

It's virtue-signalling, Brooksie. I'd love to start a company which makes fake solar panels - they'd look exactly like the real thing, only would have bluish-black shiny paint instead of actual photovoltaic cells. You'd market them as sunshields or something. Not your problem if someone installs them on a building and claims they've installed a massive solar array.

[AlexInCT]

Tax breaks!

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

Technological advancements could potentially make solar power much more affordable and palatable to the greater public. Flexible panels one can buy at the store, unroll at home and affix to any flat surface could really work.

The problem is that sometimes the market is too slow for control freaks who need Big Bro to lift them up on their high moral ground.

[UnCivilServant]

There was one promicing development that would allow panels to eollect energy from being hit by raindrops to partially offset the lack of light. I thought it was cool, but it's still a ways away from being viable.

[Tonio]

The problem is - what do you do with the electricity? To integrate that into your home's electrical wiring you need to transform 12VDC up to 120VAC, etc.

The other factor, one they never mention, is the greenies' insistence on forcing electrical utilities to buy their excess power at retail rates. And remember that these people still buy more electricity from the grid every year than they feed back into the grid.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

In less than a week, I will be ensconced in a condo in CO, high on mountain air and other Colorado things.

So fuck all this shit.

[Hamster of Doom]

The bars suck. I am very sorry. Sam's No 3 off the 16th St Mall is always worth it (chime in if they've gone downhill and I'll stop giving out that recc, it's been a minute since I've been there.) And the I-25 was built on a ley line and is a black abyss of despair and mayhem. Avoid it as if the devils of hell lived there. They don't put that on the brochures.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I ain't gonna be in Denver but a minute. The bars at Copper Mountain are serviceable. Great bloody marys (if your ski resort can't make a bloody mary, they're not a real ski resort).

[commodious rebrands]

I used to go up to Taos a few times a year. Haven't been in years. But I've been thinking about it lately.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

I love, love, love NM. I would go to Taos if they had better beginner terrain.

[straffinrun]

El Chapultepec was awesome before they put up Coors Field. Awesome jazz.

[AnonCowHerd]

Sam's is still good. Had lunch there today.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Science: Scientists: Tom Brady's diet is total BS

n late 2014, he explained his diet to Sports Illustrated as 80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acidic, which, he says, "maintain[s] balance and harmony through [his] metabolic system."

Brady's personal chef, Allen Campbell, broke it down further to Boston.com in January 2016: The quarterback eats 80 percent vegetables and whole grains, and 20 percent fish and lean meats, such as certain cuts of steak and duck. He doesn't touch sugar, white flour or nightshade fruits and vegetables, which include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, potatoes and certain berries. Fat comes from extra virgin olive oil on raw foods, and coconut oil on cooked foods.

Also on the list of banned ingredients: MSG, iodized salt, coffee, fungi and dairy. He only drinks alcohol occasionally.

He doesn't eat the right way!

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

And while his supermodel wife, Gisele B?ndchen, follows the same diet ? the couple's two kids do a less strict version ? they diverge on the subject of fruit. Though his family enjoys eating it, Brady limits himself to the occasional banana, blended in a smoothie. Unbelievably, he's never eaten a strawberry, he told New York magazine in 2016. Rather, for a treat, he'll have cacao avocado ice cream.

Never eaten a strawberry, people. He is the Satan's minion.

The most baffling tenet of Brady's regimen is his adherence to an alkaline diet, based on science that New York-based registered dietitian Lauren Harris-Pincus calls "sketchy." Followers believe that consuming so-called "acidic" foods, such as meat and dairy, will cause the blood to become acidic and promote disease growth.

Bitch don't know science.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

such as meat and dairy, will cause the blood to become acidic and promote disease growth.

His bodily humors are out of balance! Get him to a phrenologist, stat!

[Brett L]

Listen, if being able to screw a supermodel regularly meant eating cottonballs and air when she's around, and ordering an extra cheeseburger to the center's room so she doesn't know I'm eating it, I would do it. Fuck yes I would.

[Hangin' with Agent Cooper]

You know who else didn't eat strawberries?

[lafe.long]

-2 ball bearings

[Episteme]

To be fair, one needs to take into account that an NFL quarterback and a supermodel likely have different sort of genetics than most of us plebes when it comes to metabolizing stuff...

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Sounds like a fuckin nightmare.

[Rhywun]

Sounds like fake news to me.

[Lord Humungus]

"whole grains" - yech.

[Juice]

He doesn't touch...nightshade fruits and vegetables, which include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, potatoes and certain berries.

That's the first I've heard of this. Why?

[AddictionMyth]

"Dear Trumpkins - please die from injuries sustained while training for your white nationalist terror attacks so that we may live." - The Gays

[Juvenile Bluster]

People, we have to have a talk. Whoever runs the ShreekBot really needs to take it offline for a bit. It's becoming increasingly unhinged. I fear it may gain sentience soon, and that won't be good for any of us.

[John Titor]

Stop feeding it and it will starve.

[Florida Hipster]

The one thing I like about the AM troll is it literally ask to be fed like Audrey II.

[Citizen X]

And if you ignore it, it freaks the fuck out.

[John DeWitt]

Progs + Repubs like to shut annoying people down. The rest of us just like to watch them make a fool of themselves. Just grab popcorn and enjoy the melt down.

[AddictionMyth]

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together. 😉

[straffinrun]

I fully understand US immigration law and was able to immediately condemn Trump's E.O. within seconds of it's release to the public.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

It's mean, and he's mean, so it's wrong. Mean people suck.

[straffinrun]

Plagiarising Yates. Tsk, Tsk.

[Juice]

Well, I immediately said "that can't be legal" and it looks like it's not.

[Drake]

Season 2 of The Expanse tonight! I love the books and the show. The latest book has a Martian warship John Galt involved in some action.

[UnCivilServant]

you mean it didn't just run off and hide saying "scew you all"?

[Tyler.C]

Zing!

[Drake]

Well... I won't spoil Book 5...

[sarcasmic]

My DVR is set. Would have missed it except I saw the advertisement while watching The Magicians.

[R C Dean]

Thanks for the heads-up. Must check the DVR when I get home.

[Not a True MJG]

Does the first season end really strongly? I think I'm 5 or 6 episodes in, and while I like aspects of it, it's not terribly gripping yet.

[SugarFree]

Very strong and fairly dark. It's was intended as a long series of books, and the first season doesn't even get to the end of the first novel. The first season is trying to introduce what will become a lot of moving pieces.

[Not a True MJG]

Dark makes sense - they're not shy about killing off characters - but I'm getting tired of Tom Jane's hair and Canadian Jon Snow in charge of the surviving team. The breadth of the world is what's kept me watching.

[Juice]

I watched the first 4-5 episodes. Just couldn't stick with it. It was ok though.

[Drake]

Episode 4 "CQB" didn't excite you? While of course not as cool as the book, it may have the most realistic and best space battle ever on TV.

[AddictionMyth]

Dear White Nationalists and Neo-Zionists: When your best laid plans involve destroying your own APOTHEOSIS - you might want to take a step back. Just sayin'.

[Cyto]

Steve Bannon is the puppeteer, secretly setting policy!

The NYT breathlessly warns of a dangerous consolidation of power by Bannon, while acknowledging that advisers often try to do this - although never so quickly or brazenly.

Except that this is the exact story that gets floated every single time there is a Republican president. Somehow Democrats are always brilliant policy wonks who know every detail and run everything with great mastery because of their superior intellect. But Republicans are always tools of some behind-the-scenes puppeteer who is the real brains of the operation. Truly an amazing happenstance.

[straffinrun]

Well, it couldn't be the baffoon who went bankrupt 16 times with his father's money that is kicking our ass. It must be someone else.

*FYI ?? - Is actually from the Japanese word for horse shit.

[Monty Crisco]

That would ORIGINALLY be Chinese.... Japanese didn't invent those characters!!!!

[straffinrun]

*Buffoon ??

I'm sure it's read differently in Chinese.

[straffinrun]

That'll teach me to trust my co worker. It's from French.

[Monty Crisco]

Mafen (can do tones ) in Chinese and ??? (bafun) or ??? (maguso) in Japanese... and a pretty simple and immediate understanding of what it means for either speaker of those languages... those characters right next to each other need no explanation...

[Monty Crisco]

*can't* do tones... so , yeah, I see what you're saying. Phonetically in Japanese it sounds like "buffoon".... doesn't mean that tho

[Juvenile Bluster]

It does seem strangely similar to all the "Karl Rove is running the White House!" talk we got during Dubya's Presidency.

[Tyler.C]

To be honest there was a lot of that with Janet what's her face and Obama. It happens because of politics.

[Monty Crisco]

Valerie Jarret

[commodious rebrands]

Somehow Democrats are always brilliant policy wonks who know every detail and run everything with great mastery because of their superior intellect.

The ACA put that canard to rest.

[american socialist]

And stimulus package

[american socialist]

Also Dodd Frank

[commodious rebrands]

C4C

[Monty Crisco]

Alright this shit with amsoc making rational comments is starting to freak me out....

[commodious rebrands]

AFAICT it's someone spoofing amsoc's handle. Dunno how, but I suspect he's exploiting some ASCII quirk.

[Monty Crisco]

Thanks! thought I was in a parallel universe... like in "The Man in the High Castle" or something....

[commodious rebrands]

Well, I could be wrong. Outside tagging in posts I don't do nuffin with html (or coding generally). But reasonably libertarian amsoc showed up among a bunch of other socks spoofing amsoc, so I'm not sure what else to make of it but that somebody is trying to run off commie amsoc.

[UnCivilServant]

I believe what was stated was Amsoc vacated the handle to do some shenanigans and they glommed it while he was away under another pseudonym.

[commodious rebrands]

So amsoc confirmed for Tulpa sock?

[Sevo]

OT:
Tupy's article: "World's Getting Better, but U.S. Democracy Isn't" has non-functioning comments.
It's her thesis that US democracy is getting worse since fewer people trust the government.
In that case, please make it all the way "worse"; when no one trusts the government, we'll all be better off.

[Idle Hands]

anyone listen to this weeks econ talk? Pretty interesting one on Immigration with George Borjas who had pretty interesting takes that I hadn't thought about and didn't end with the conclusion that all people who oppose open borders are xenophobic racists.

[Brett L]

So, my really good friend's wife has gone full on anti-Trump. She posted an NPR article that stated that Steve Bannon had no relevant experience and shouldn't be appointed to the NSC. i pointed out that
1) Steve Bannon spent seven years in the Navy, some of that in the Chief of Naval Operations office, which makes him someone who the President trusts who was in the military which can help Trump if he gets bogged down in jargon/procedure
2) Its the President's council. He is going to put people on there who HE trusts. There are only 3 member required by statute, including the President.
3) Samantha Powers had less relevant experience and just as much political agenda, and it worked out fine.

I also told her if she should at least read the guy's wikipedia article, because if she and her cohort try to treat him like a lightweight he's going to kick their asses. I got about 4 replies back from her, none disputing the facts in evidence. I really don't want to defend these guys, but for fuck's sake, nobody is going to be paying attention when he does actually horrible stuff if you're comparing putting Steve Bannon on the NSC to Eichmann being given the go ahead for his Final Solution.

[Tonio]

I got about 4 replies back from her, none disputing the facts in evidence.

IOW, she has a really serious case of teh feelz. She may accept the facts, but that isn't going to change her feelings.

[Brett L]

Yes. The good to come out of this is that I have been able to demonstrate to my nonpolitical, but raised in a college town around white, educated liberals wife how completely biased both sides are, and she has started to understand that while I am definitely a curmudgeonly misanthrope, there may be something to my idea that standing for principles rather than supporting principals.

[Tonio]

Silver linings, Brett.

[R C Dean]

Samantha Powers had less relevant experience and just as much political agenda, and it worked out fine.

Well, except for the utter clusterfuck of Libya and the Arab Spring.

[Brett L]

Yes. I didn't point that because its already about the feelz and how anti-woman the Trump administration is. Pointing out that Powers was an actual disaster won't win any points.

[Free Society]

She makes for a great case study in how leftist ideology informs foreign policy. She sees people in North Africa and the Middle East setting off bombs and firing RPGs at the government forces of secular dictators and she thinks "Wow, look at all those democratic socialists fighting for democracy and women's rights, so noble." They were/are utterly delusional.

[Brett L]

Its weird to me, because she made her bones covering the Yugoslav war in the 90s. You would think that someone who covered that goatfuck as a reporter on the ground might gain some insight about overthrowing a strongman and the strong possibilities of sectarian violence and ethnic/religious cleansing. And, as NSC, have some fucking plan for that happening when your boss goes about destabilizing a dictatorship. Nope. Who could possibly have forseen a violent Muslim sectarian movement taking place in Syria when Assad was destabilized?

[The Late P Brooks]

On the one hand the tribe might want to join the modern world. On the other, contact might destroy their culture. The guy in charge of protecting them said "They're the last truly free people on the earth."

"It's a really NICE zoo."

[Florida Hipster]

Also I don't know if those tribes are "free". Each might have a really cruel dictator running the show. Imagine it. 70 little Brazilian Hitlers.

[Monty Crisco]

Sooo, there were more than 5 boys from Brazil?

[Florida Hipster]

That was a bizarre role for Peck.

[Monty Crisco]

Not as lovable as playing Atticus Finch...

[commodious rebrands]

A Brazilian Hitler is where you wax everything except for a short patch around one lip.

[invisible furry hand]

But a Brazilian already is a Hitler 'tache

[Lord Humungus]

*narrows gaze*

[commodious rebrands]

*curls lip*

[Juvenile Bluster]

Noted idiot George Takei on the LGBT EO news:

George Takei ?@GeorgeTakei 1h1 hour ago

Many glad that Trump decided not to rescind LGBT federal contractor workplace protections. But why was this even on the table? Scary times.
196 replies 583 retweets 2,608 likes

Was it ever "on the table", except in the minds of the left and that false NYT report that came out yesterday?

[UnCivilServant]

Theoretically, every Executive Order is constantly up for repeal, even during the administration of the president who issued it. So it is always on the table and cannot be removed from it except by actually canning the order and killing it.

[John Titor]

Takei is also the man who wanted to stop the Olympics in Russia (because anti-gay), and have them in Vancouver again instead. When some people pointed out that most of the people in Vancouver didn't think they had a good return last time and didn't want to pay for them again, he then lectured them on how horrible they are for not footing the bill.

He's part of that whole 'idiot celebrity elite who doesn't understand how the real world functions'.

[Monty Crisco]

Kind of a stretch to still call him a "celebrity" .... Is Kip Winger still a celebrity?

[Zeb]

Most people know who he is (or most people over a certain age, anyway). I think he counts.

[Monty Crisco]

Okay, I'll concede that its subjective.... IS Corey Feldman still a celebrity?

[AlexInCT]

Is he still alive?

[John Titor]

He's got a lot of Twitter and Facebook followers, and still gets work. I'd call him a celebrity.

[Tonio]

^This. And he has had some useful things to say about the internment of Japanese-Americans.

[spqr2008]

I don't know how useful the things he says are, since he supports almost every other policy of the person who ordered said internment lock, stock, and barrel.

[american socialist]

NYT trying to stir up the stink

And they wonder why their credibility is so low.

[The Late P Brooks]

Also on the list of banned ingredients: MSG, iodized salt, coffee, fungi and dairy. He only drinks alcohol occasionally.

Satan's puppet, indeed.

As I like to tell the "localvore" types: until you can grow bananas and coffee in Montana, just STFU.

[UnCivilServant]

You can, it's just that hothouses are more exepsnive than shipping.

[american socialist]

I support free trade and not really for protectionism but i can see why people want it as far as out sourcing goes. It isn't really their fault but rather the government. Instead of tariffs, i think people should focus on root cause:

- government regulations
- min wage laws
- mandated benefits

Some companies may choose a higher cost option depending on variables but when you keep piling these things on, it makes out sourcing far more attractive since the gap between the US and the other country grows. Trump should focus at least hammering the first one as the last two would be hard politically (since based on emotion and feels)

[Free Society]

Government regulations are protected by feels too. Why do you want me to drink contaminated water and take poison medicine? Why do you want poor people to stay poor? I can't even.

[Tonio]

It's a troll, FS. Don't feed it.

[Zeb]

He doesn't seem like much of a troll today. Or he's taken trolling to a whole new meta-level and is playing the role of a reasonable, if somewhat predictable, libertarian commenter.

[Free Society]

No it's someone else who spoofed AmSoc's handle. Probably an 'i' instead of an 'L'. The "real" AmSoc has a capital 'A' or he goes by California socialist or something now.

[Zeb]

I gathered that much. But the comments from whoever this is seem pretty non-trollish today.

[american socialist]

I took over his account. And now squatting on it. He isnt california anymore cause i took that one

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

The real AmSoc abandoned his handle and someone else grabbed it.

[Tonio]

Basically the whole AmSoc name has been poisoned. If there is a sincere, non-troll behind that handle then that person's best bet is to abandon the AmSoc handle and start fresh with a new one that can't be visually spoofed.

[Citizen X]

Basically the whole AmSoc name has been poisoned.

Yeah, and then some dude stole it.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

High-larious. Feinstein is Trump's biggest supporter.

[Tonio]

Nice. Her seat is up for election in 2018. I wonder if she's going to get primaried, or quit (she's 83). Of course whoever replaces her could well be worse, but at least that replacement will start as a freshman senator with no seniority.

[Kurmudgeonly Kristen]

Being that it's CA, I don't hold out much hope for any improvement. The Dems probably have someone in mind they want to move up the ladder. Who are the prominent Dems in CA? Like, in the House or state-level politicians.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Antonio Villaraigosa and Gavin Newsom would be my first guesses.