Trump Looks to France, Gender Changes Daily at Harvard: P.M. Links

• 

  SHAWN THEW/UPI/Newscom

  The Enlightenment: It was fun while it lasted.

• President Trump predicts the shooting of a police officer in Paris will help far-right candidate Marine le Pen win the presidential election.
• Berkeley emerging as a war zone between fascists and anti-fascists.
• The McDonald's uniforms of the future are pretty dystopian.
• Middlebury political science chair apologizes for violence committed against… students of color. Not Allison Stanger, but students of color.
• Bill de Blasio wants to raise the price of cigarettes, calling to mind the last word of Eric Garner.
• A person's gender can change "daily" at Harvard.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Trump predicts the shooting of a police officer in Paris will help far-right candidate Marine le Pen win the presidential election.

J'accuse! He's saying it was false flag?

[The Last American Hero]

Is he wrong?

[Fist of Etiquette]

You're not wrong, Walter. You're just an asshole.

[Citizen X - #6]

Okay then.

[Chipper Mourning Will Grigg]

Well that escalated quickly.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Yeah well Brooks shouldn't be talking given some of the nonsense he has written.

[Dick Puller, Attorney at Law]

All I want for Christmas is a youtube video of David Brooks getting kicked in the nuts.

[MarkLastname]

He almost wrote a good article about how idiotic Cuomo's 'free colllege' policy was, but he ruined it by hedging so much about how he should've just spent more money on this, and more money on that, and income inequality blah blah blah, while briefly mentioning a couple of actually prescient points. He's a garden variety pet Republican that Democrats keep close by (always on a leash) to show how 'open minded' they are.

[perlchpr]

Why not hourly? Gender should be impossible to define!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

You're just a man before your time. History will recognize your greatness.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Except they won't call it "history", that's my bad.

[gaoxiaen]

From the comments

Vincent Metzen ? McMinnville, Oregon
I was going to the bathroom...and this dick just popped out....the next day it was gone... Thanks harvard for letting me know!

[Citizen X - #6]

Berkeley emerging as a war zone between fascists and anti-fascists.

Spoiler alert: which side is which is not what you probably think.

[Jerryskids]

As if anybody really thinks there's two different sides involved. It's like the Maoists vs. the Stalinists over there.

[Agammamon]

Its fascists vs fascists as far as I'm concerned. That some of the vicious bastards are slightly more to the Left than the other group doesn't change that.

[Dick Puller, Attorney at Law]

You've got a point there...

Berkeley Mayor Publicly Belongs To Violent Leftist Group

[MarkLastname]

It's like German Nationalists against anti-German Nationalists (aka, French Nationalists).

[steve walsh]

Splitter!!!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Berkeley emerging as a war zone between fascists and anti-fascists.

"You're two of a kind!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

A person's gender can change "daily" at Harvard.

So the fascists at Harvard are locking me into a gender for 24-hour periods?

[Citizen X - #6]

A person's gender can change "daily" at Harvard.

Way to other the bi-weekly-sexuals, Harvard.

[Robby Soave]

Okay that made me laugh.

[$park? leftist poser]

Really? That made you laugh?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Robby set the bar pretty low.

[Citizen X - #6]

Don't hate just 'cause Robby thinks i'm funnier.

[Robby Soave]

Okay that made me laugh.

[Citizen X - #6]

Well then, i've done some good work this week. Peace out, y'all.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

^ A taste of your own Squirrelly medicine!

[Chipper Mourning Will Grigg]

[jiggles keys]

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

This made me laugh lol!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

None of this made me laugh.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It's all about timing and nothing else.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The McDonald's uniforms of the future are pretty dystopian.

The Svengali-like Ronald wants to stand out.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Middlebury political science chair apologizes for violence committed against... students of color. Not Allison Stanger, but students of color.

White's a color.

[The Last American Hero]

Even better, it's ALL the colors. In its own way, it's the most diverse color there is.

[Jerry on the sea]

And of course the blacks are left out.

[Zeb]

Depends on whether you are talking light or pigments.

[perlchpr]

Daily? Why not hourly? Gender should be meaningless!

[mad.casual]

Is it just me or does the increased acceptance on arbitrarily sooner or frequent time standards make them seem more nefarious?

Like 0-1 change per lifetime made sense, 1-2 times was kooky but you weren't really a threat, but every full moon or when exposed to water and fed after midnight is just evil.

I think the only way they could make it worse would be increase the time span by several multiples of a human life: "Once every thousand years, the students at Harvard switch genders..."

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Just wait til they start revising the gender identities of historical figures.

I know I've seen, "10 Things You Don't Know About Lincoln"

#2 He was Gay!

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Berkeley emerging as a war zone between fascists and anti-fascists.

What's crazy is that no fascists of the 'real' or 'anti' variety can actually be found in Berkeley.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that sentence needed more "scare quotes".

Now how long until Robby is accused of claiming that all Trump supporters are actual fascists and that the lefty protestors are pure and good?

[WakaWaka]

Is it really that far of a stretch when he calls them 'fascists'? I mean be serious now. I think you've been fair in how sometimes people overreact to his virtue signaling, but he's literally calling people fascists with no basis in reality.

[Free Society]

And it's fucking Robby. You have to work excessively hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wish people would just give it up already.

[Zeb]

If that's what he really means, it's pretty stupid. I don't think there are any fascists there, but the "anti-fa" are the ones behaving most like fascists.

[AlmightyJB]

Just reverse the labels and it's not far off.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bill de Blasio wants to raise the price of cigarettes...

That will snuff out the black market once and for all.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The McDonald's uniforms of the future are pretty dystopian.

I don't go to McDonald's for the sex appeal -- though a pretty cashier is always a boon.

[Bubba Jones]

Chik Fil A

[Citizen X - #6]

If you're into Christian high schoolers, sure, go to Chik-fil-a for the cashiers.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Who isn't?

[Chipper Mourning Will Grigg]

What kind of high schoolers are YOU into?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

The ones with neck tattoos.

[Jerryskids]

Neck tattoos let's you know they're perfectly capable of making bad decisions they're going to regret later.

[Chipper Mourning Will Grigg]

Cody Garbrandt?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Buyer wanted: Tiny Oregon town for sale

The asking price of $3.5 million brings with it six houses, the shuttered general store and gas station, the land under the post office, undeveloped parcels, water rights and infrastructure that includes sidewalks, fire hydrants and a working power station.

I'm in for $20.

[Zeb]

That doesn't really seem like a great deal for a mostly abandoned town in the middle of nowhere.

[Citizen X - #6]

+1 Schitt's Creek

[chemjeff]

From the Google Maps it looks like a gorgeous area. Little mountain town right on a river and surrounded by trees.

[BYODB]

So in other words, pretty much entirely under the thumb of the EPA....

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Nice "working" power plant you got. Don't even think about using it.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The Enlightenment: It was fun while it lasted.

At this point, one wonders if "The Enlightenment" ever even happened.

[BYODB]

From the article:

"Over the past few years especially, we have entered the age of strong men. We are leaving the age of Obama, Cameron and Merkel and entering the age of Putin, Erdogan, el-Sisi, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump."

I think the author, David Brooks, might have just woken up yesterday after going into a coma right at the end of the Bush era.

[MarkLastname]

He also has never heard of Lyndon Johnson apparently. Johnson makes Trump look tame. If small microphones existed back then we'd have archives filled with recordings of him describing in detail all the pussies he grabbed.

[Jerry on the sea]

Police arrest man for 'bombing Borussia Dortmund bus for money':

Police commandos on Friday arrested a German-Russian suspect behind a bomb attack on Borussia Dortmund's team bus, prosecutors said, indicating the motive was financial and not terror-related.
They said the man, identified only as 28-year-old Sergej W., was hoping to profit from a drop in the football team's share price as a result of the attack last week.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Carlson's first show in O'Reilly's slot to feature Caitlyn Jenner interview

"Topics will include her perspective on President Donald Trump's administration, the current political climate and divide in America, as well as her thoughts on how to bring Americans together," according to the network.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Cut his - er, her mic!"

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Ha.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Over the past few years especially, we have entered the age of strong men. We are leaving the age of Obama, Cameron and Merkel and entering the age of Putin, Erdogan, el-Sisi, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

You had me then you lost me.

[Chipper Mourning Will Grigg]

I don't know who else el-Sisi is, but I would not have guessed strongman.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

A person's gender can change "daily" at Harvard.

Day 1: Boy
Day 2: Rusty Saw
Day 3: Sewing Kit
Day 4: Rusty Saw again
Day 5: the day of rest
Day 6: Rusty Saw and Sewing Kit
Day 7: Decision made to just identify as 'gender fluid'

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

^ I think I've made this joke before to no avail -- In my defense I was scarred by an unforgettable video entitled "the Pain Olympics"

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Daily dose of diet soda tied to triple risk of deadly stroke

According to a new study, just one diet drink a day can triple the risk of a deadly stroke, with researchers also finding the beverages have a "worrying association" with dementia.

[Shirley Knott]

From the same people who insist that correlation is not causation.
Well, who needs principles when you're after a good scare headline?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

The march on science... I mean the march FOR science is tomorrow, so they're getting it all in now before Science comes back.

[Jerryskids]

Too bad they didn't try to explain why the artificial sweeteners in soda are so much deadlier than the same artificial sweeteners when they're added to other diet foods, I would have liked to have seen an explanation of the mechanism by which that works.

[Free Society]

President Trump predicts the shooting of a police officer in Paris will help far-right candidate Marine le Pen win the presidential election.

When Robby Soave, the man-child who is apparently angling to become a HuffPo journalist, makes a claim I think it warrants taking a closer look. Let's see....
Second Paragraph:

Mr. Trump did not mention any candidates by name. But his statement on Twitter ? "The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!"

Yeah well it appears that Robby is completely full of shit. Par for the course.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I am so much manlier than Robby. So much. Like, I'm the most manliest ever. Like, my muscles have muscles. My chest hair has chest hair. My balls have balls.

I'm such a man.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

My balls have balls.

He's more than a man!

[Free Society]

The way you suck Robby's dick doesn't give that impression.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Why are you so intimidated by Robby? Does he inspire a tingly feeling deep down inside of you?

[Free Society]

Why do you contort yourself into any shape necessary to defend his bullshit?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Why do you contort yourself into any shape

Because he can. Because. He. Can.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Is that what I'm doing?

[Free Society]

It doesn't seem to matter what Robby says, no matter how intellectually dishonest or even if it's a blatant lie, you'll defend him and characterize those who call him out as unhinged.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Or, I am merely shining a light on your pathetic need to insult Robby's appearance and/or masculinity, which is pathetic, and puts your insecurity on display.

You're the biggest, strongest boy in the whole, wide world! Yes you are.

[Free Society]

I didn't insult his masculinity you dolt. I called him a "man-child", which is an insult about his maturity.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Yeah but "man-child" is hate speech cause feelings could be hurt.

[Free Society]

If I insulted anyone's masculinity it was yours, because you're his little sycophant extraordinaire.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I just keep on defending him!

[Free Society]

Yeah that's why I said you're a sycophant. I'm glad you're starting to grasp it.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Contort yourself!

[gaoxiaen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9o95etgYo

[Not a True MJG]

So he's not manly because he's gay, or does he suck Robby's dick in a particularly effeminate way?

[Free Society]

Perhaps it's just a crude baseless stereotype, but dick sucking, figurative or otherwise, does not have the reputation of being the most masculine of pastimes. Sycophancy, at the very least, is probably not the manly thing to do, since manliness seems to be what he's going for.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

The Spartans and Samurai would like to have a word with you. I'd suggest running, but you wouldn't get far.

[Free Society]

I remain open to the possibility of it being a crude baseless stereotype. And of course I could outrun them. I have tennis shoes, they have armor and *at best* a pair of shitty sandals made out of sheep bladders or something.

[Not a True MJG]

I was gonna stick to the proud men of the US Navy.

[gaoxiaen]

Vito would like a, umm... word with you.

[paranoid android]

It's true; we can't discount the possibility that Trump believes the frontrunner is Pepe Le Pew.

[Zeb]

Or Pepe le Frog, for that matter.

[Zeb]

Completely? I don't know what else Trump would be suggesting with that comment other than that it will improve Le Pen's chances. Not exactly a huge leap. How would you interpret it? Seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion to draw. Don't you think that a terrorist murder would improve the chances of the anti-immigration candidate?

[Zeb]

I thought for sure the "fascists and anti-fascists" thing would be the beat-up-on-Robby quote of the evening links.

[Free Society]

And yet it remains that's not what he said. It might full well drive voters to Fillon, who is doing what Rutte did with Wilders, adopt the rhetoric of less palatable candidate to siphon off mainstream voters that were heretofore holding their nose at the prospect of voting for the "extremist".

[Zeb]

That's at most half full of shit.

[Calidissident]

I think Robby should have phrased it differently as he did not literally predict anything about Le Pen. But he did seem to imply it. I doubt he was thinking about Fillon given his comments on Le Pen today (he said she was the "strongest leader" although he wasn't "explicitly endorsing" her).

[Free Society]

Robby made a specific claim, that Trump predicted the shooting would help one particular candidate that he mentioned by name... when in fact he did not predict that. He said it would impact the election which is pretty god damn hard to argue that it wouldn't. But I'll play along and give Robby all the benefit of the doubt that he deserves, perhaps he's only 99% full of shit. So not quite "completely". There you go, you're welcome, white knight mission accomplished.

[Jerryskids]

While Mr Trump said he was not explicitly endorsing Ms Le Pen, he believes she will be helped by the attack that also saw two officers injured, because she's the candidate who is "strongest on borders, and she's the strongest on what's been going on in France."

The comments came hours after the US President wrote on Twitter: "Another terrorist attack in Paris... The people of France will not take much more of this.

"Will have a big effect on presidential election!"

Mr Trump did not mention any specific candidates in his tweet, before mentioning Ms Le Pen in an interview with Associated Press.

[Bubba Jones]

If your "gender" is changing daily, maybe we need to reconsider what we mean by "gender".

I often think the biggest problem is that people simply aren't fluent in English.

[Zeb]

Whatever happened to just not conforming to traditional gender roles?

I'm pretty receptive to the whole transgender thing. Whatever works for you is fine by me and I don't give a shit what bathroom anyone uses. But the whole "gender-fluid" thing seems a bit absurd. What's wrong with just being kind of weird? Does everything need a special label? Just let your freak flag fly.

The trans advocates and the gender fluid crowd need to duke it out and decide whether gender is a social construction or an innate characteristic and get back to us when that's all settled.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Bill de Blasio wants to raise the price of cigarettes, calling to mind the last word of Eric Garner.

Ugh. Just, ugh. Of all the black men slain by police I have most sympathy for Garner. Family man and father, murdered for slinging 'loosies' to his fellow poverty stricken neighbors.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Lena Dunham, Jessica Chastain Call Out Bill O'Reilly at Variety's Power of Women Luncheon

Before her introduction of Oscar nominee and Planned Parenthood advocate Jessica Chastain, Lena Dunham turned championed former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who was in attendance, for being the first woman to stand up to sexual harassment at the network.

"I'm in the very privileged position to be able to say whatever the f?k I want most of the time," Dunham told the N.Y. audience. "But when you work in a corporate infrastructure the challenge of coming out about sexual harassment is so massive. And to see a woman who surmounted that and bravely made space for other women to do the same is deeply inspired."

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Well, shes not wrong I suppose. Takes a pair to go after one's bosses.

[GILMORE?]

So brave

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Actor Ian McShane says 'Deadwood' creator submitted revival movie script to HBO

Co-star Ian McShane (who played Swearengen) told TVLine that creator David Milch has submitted a script to HBO, for a film continuation of the Emmy-winning series.

*wanks*

[Not a True MJG]

He's just telling us something pretty.

[Free Society]

Middlebury political science chair apologizes for violence committed against... students of color. Not Allison Stanger, but students of color.

Really? Let's take a closer look...

Earlier this year I, as chair of the political science department, offered a symbolic departmental co-sponsorship to the Charles Murray event in the same way that I had done with other events in the past: on my own, without wider consultation. This was a mistake.
Last week, I apologized to my departmental colleagues for this closed decisionmaking process, and I apologize now to the broader Middlebury community. The short amount of time between when the event became public and when it occurred gave all of us scant opportunity to listen to and understand alternative points of view. Most importantly, and to my deep regret, it contributed to a feeling of voicelessness that many already experience on this campus, and it contributed to the very real pain that many people ? particularly people of color ? have felt as a result of this event.
[...]

He apologized for inviting Murray and making "people of color" feel emotional pain, not violence. The word 'violence' nor it's derivatives or synonyms appear anywhere in the text. So does Robby just have an aversion to reading the articles he summarizes, or is he just completely and unrepentantly full of shit?

[Calidissident]

I think he said that to set up the fake out/punchline. He expected people to start reading that expecting an apology for the attacks on the professor (and Murray) but instead it's an apology to people offended by Murray. If you use the leftist definition of "violence" ironically in this case, it works.

[paranoid android]

Keep it up, FS, I think you're just 5 or 6 dozen angry screeds about Robby away from convincing someone to give a shit.

[Free Society]

Yeah you bring up a good point. Most of what remains of the commentariat pathetically bends over backwards to defend Robby even when he's being disingenuous. I don't expect many people here to give a shit but that doesn't exactly hurt my feelings.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Hey man, I only unequivocally defend ENB; for reasons that don't bear mentioning.

The rest can live or die on their own merits.

[Free Society]

I won't fault you there.

[DanO.]

You could always just, you know, fuck off and stop boring everyone.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

And you could just, you know, fuck off and go die in a fire and everyone would celebrate.

[Get To Da Chippah]

Yeah, but words are violence when it's HATE SPEECH!

/derp

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Mr. Trump did not mention any candidates by name. But his statement on Twitter ? "The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!" ? came at the tail end of a tight, fragmented race, with at least four contenders running neck and neck.

Shut the fuck up, Donny.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

5 Historical Plot Twists That Seem Too Crazy To Be Real

Kennedy's epic womanizing meant that, at one point, he may have been figuratively crossing pork swords with none other than Adolf freaking Hitler. You'll notice this was a bit of a problem for a politically oriented family in a country that had just declared war against Germany. In fact, Kennedy prominently featured on the FBI's surveillance tapes of Arvad, known as her mysterious suitor "Jack" -- well before someone figured out who he really was.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh

[Agammamon]

. . . he may have been figuratively crossing pork swords with none other than Adolf freaking Hitler.

Dude, its called being an eskimo brother. You only cross swords, figuratively or otherwise, during a devil's threesome.

[MarkLastname]

So jack was in a threesome with Adolf and Eva?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

President Trump predicts the shooting of a police officer in Paris will help far-right candidate Marine le Pen win the presidential election.

BTW, so did NPR this morning. In fact, there was a very weird segue on the morning report on this.

The first thing the commentator said was the shooting would probably have an effect on the election. She then went on to describe the multitude of ways it could hurt or help Le Pen and other right candidates. Then they segued into a criticism of Trump saying the shooting would have an effect on the election and how it's not cricket for American Presidents to weigh in on foreign elections.

[MarkLastname]

Indeed, it's very uncricket I'd say. It is however very rugby.

[jack sprat]

Re: Brooks piece on Western Civ :
For the love of god stay away from the comments!

*That is of course unless you want your head to explode.

[Brandybuck]

I was born "cis-male", but today I choose to not be "cis-female"

Why can't I choose? Who says I can't choose? Why are there categories that CANNOT be chosen?!?!?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Ughhhhh. I think I done fucked up! Having a small talk conversation with a female/lesbian/staunch liberal co-worker, she says:

"I think Trump has dementia, was it Nixon who had that at the end of his presidency or Reagan"

"Not sure," I said, "Reagan definitely died with it -- it's funny he's always remembered as the oldest President but both parties this year put up candidates that would be older than him -- it just seems like neither party has any studs left."

"Can I ask you to choose a different word." She says

Immediately sensing the drift into danger zone I go with, "... uhh prime prospects?" which seemed to appease her but not wash away the 'insult' -- small talk ends shortly after and she leaves.

Hold me team Reason, hold me. Daddy doesn't want to go on the welfare.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"Can I ask you to choose a different word." She says

"I'd have said "Neither team has any studs left. Better?"

[AlmightyJB]

You were going to offend her at some point. Best to get it over with. Like when you get a new car and you know some asshole is going to scratch it.

[MarkLastname]

"Can I ask you to choose a different word."
People like this exist in the real world? For Christ's sake it's a race horse reference (right?), anyone offended by that needs to be on anti-psychotics.

[DanO.]

The McDonald's uniforms of the future are pretty dystopian.

When everything is "dystopian," nothing is.