Trump to Renegotiate NAFTA, Confusion over Flynn Subpoena, Car Hits Times Square Crowd: P.M. Links

• 

  Chelsea Manning, posted on Instagram

  President Donald Trump's administration formally informed Congress it plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

• There's some confusion as to whether former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will honor a subpoena to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Originally, committee chair Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Flynn was refusing but then walked that back later and said they haven't heard from Flynn's lawyers.
• A motorist in Times Square hit a crowd of pedestrians, killing one. The driver has been arrested and may have been impaired. Authorities say there's no evidence of connection to terrorism.
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) will resign from his House seat at the end of June.
• A police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was acquitted by a jury of killing a black motorist after claiming she feared for her life (he was unarmed). Now the city is facing peaceful protests and the mayor held a press conference to express concerns about racial disparities in the city.
• In other news, a man was sentenced to 19 years in prison for shooting a police dog during a chase. This was in Cincinnati. The dog survived.
• Chelsea Manning tweeted out a pic today finally revealing her appearance post-prison release.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Donald Trump's administration formally informed Congress it plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

And make Canada and Mexico pay for the negotiating table.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I'd violate her code of conduct, if you know what I mean.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

[Faith in humanity restored]

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Don't get too excited, Crusty would chase STEVE SMITH if he ever took a woodland vacation.

[mad.casual]

You're going to secretly leak information to wikileaks that she is, in fact, male?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I'm going to secretly leak something, I can tell you that much.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Now that's a euphemism!

[B.P.]

I hear zinc supplements are good for that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You'd help Manning comply with grooming standards, if you catch my drift. Or are we talking about the Tulsa cop here?

[BYODB]

So the first picture we have of Chelsea Manning after all of those years, supposedly as a woman, and already he's basically showing his tits. Which, by the way, I'm guessing they haven't installed yet?

Figures.

[some guy]

I actually thought you might beat Fist for once just to post this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

THOUGHT WRONG.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Originally, committee chair Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Flynn was refusing but then walked that back later and said they haven't heard from Flynn's lawyers.

The senator just made an ass out of you and me.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

I get to be the right buttcheek.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is there a wrong one?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

The one in the center.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Former kindergarten teacher and mother-of-two accused of having sex with six high school students fights to have her $600,000 bail reduced

When the two juveniles arrived at the woman's apartment, they found her lying on the couch and smoking an e-Cigarette.

After a few minutes of conversation, Robertson invited her underage guests into the bedroom, where she proceeded to strip naked before having a threesome with the high schoolers, according to the arrest document.

Two other high school students later admitted to meeting Robertson for sex on multiple occasions, bringing the total number of victims to four.

One of the boys recounted for the police how he would sneak out of his home and Robertson would pick him up and take him to her apartment to have sex.

I need a cold shower.

[Rhywun]

Murderers don't get that kind of bail. We have really lost our minds with this stuff.

[Juice]

Well, have you seen her pictures? Should have been $1 million.

[Chip Your Pets]

Bail is set with regard to flight risk. It has nothing to do with the severity of the alleged crime. If it did, then the court would be violating the presumption of innocence.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

She looks like she partook of the blue stuff.

[Chip Your Pets]

Viagra?

[Meh.]

At first I was impressed by how much better the Snapchat filter made her look... then I realized she's a 38 year-old mom taking selfies on Snapchat and I wasn't impressed anymore.

[Juice]

Whoa. That's a rough 38.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

When the two juveniles arrived at the woman's apartment, they found her lying on the couch and smoking an e-Cigarette.

Nothing hotter than a sultry, reclining woman with an e-cigarette.

[some guy]

bringing the total number of victims to four.

One of the boys recounted for the police how he would sneak out of his home and Robertson would pick him up and take him to her apartment to have sex.

The word "victim" has lost all meaning.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The driver has been arrested and may have been impaired. Authorities say there's no evidence of connection to terrorism.

His blood/jihad level was under the limit.

[mad.casual]

They could probably smell the pork on him.

[Ska]

Not today. It's like 90 degrees in midtown, and Times Square is already pretty gross.

[mad.casual]

Here lemme help.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now the city is facing peaceful protests and the mayor held a press conference to express concerns about racial disparities in the city.

If only the mayor could do more about it than having a press conference.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) will resign from his House seat at the end of June.

Without Hillary to spar with, what's the point?

[Bob K]

But he had Sessions to help him end once and for all the scourge that is marijuana.

[$park? leftist poser]

Chelsea Manning tweeted out a pic today finally revealing her appearance post-prison release.

You could have waited until after dinner time.

[pan fried wylie]

That still wouldn't have provided enough time for Jared Leto to put together a press release confirming that, no, that's not him on the set of the upcoming Joker/Quinn production.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Provine High teacher indicted for sex with student

Amber Turnage, 39, was implicated after several students reported that sexually explicit videos which were allegedly of her with a 17-year-old student were posted to social media.

The lady in question who used slightly questionable judgement. (The only part you sickies want to see).

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Aaah, much better. I'll be on my lawn.

[Jerry on the sea]

U.S. warplanes launch airstrikes against regime forces in Syria.

Air strikes -- was there already an impeachment vote scheduled for Trump?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Chelsea Manning tweeted out a pic today finally revealing her appearance post-prison release.

Nice moobs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

In other news, a man was sentenced to 19 years in prison for shooting a police dog during a chase.

It's interesting how police ownership will elevate a dog to personhood status. Otherwise, they're not even property of worth.

[Sexfuckyes]

Behold the insanity:

"When a suspect is firing shots, it's the same as the police officers that were taking fire," Springfield Chief Robert Browder said at the time. "It's the same thing - the dog and the human police officers. There's no difference to me."

Elevate the dog while simultaneously dehumanizing the suspects. Fascinating and really fucking sick.

[MarkLastname]

"There's no difference to me."
Actually, even if it's elected president by the voters, pope by the cardinals, and given an honorary degree by Harvard, it's still a fucking dog.

There's another question to ask on the LSATs I guess: are dogs people? Anyone who answers no gets an automatic 0 and is permanently barred from operating heavy machinery.

[Chip Your Pets]

"It's the same thing - the dog and the human police officers. There's no difference to me."

That can be interpreted in multiple ways.

[ColoradoKook]

Haven't the police already established that feeling threatened is good enough to shoot a dog, or does that defense only work when it's government force in action?

[Jerryskids]

Interesting that a police dog can't possibly be trained in reasonable force and proper procedures and so forth - and yet presumably attempting to defend yourself against an attack that a human cop would not legally be allowed to make would result in charges just as if you were attacking the dog. Wouldn't that make it more likely a cop would sic a dog on you, knowing that the dog's immune from police brutality charges?

[Marty Feldman's Eyes]

It's interesting how police ownership will elevate a dog to personhood status.

Bunch of years ago in San Diego, a suspect led police on a chase that ended on top of a bridge. A dog was sicced on him, attached to his leg, and in pain and panic to get away he jumped off the bridge. He survived the fall and the dog died.

Naturally, there were calls for him to be charged with killing a police officer. Thankfully the stupidity didn't go any further than that, but just the fact that someone somewhere was thinking it gave me a pretty hard facepalm.

[Cyto]

I'm glad this story was included.

Reason has been missing this beat for quite a while. Call it red meat for the base, or an alternative to the Soros-backed hijacking of reform efforts, but we need a voice of reason in this arena.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Teacher at All-Girls Catholic School Accused of Sex With Student

"The victim's father in turn contacted the Alhambra Police Department and turned over the cell phone,'' he said. "The investigation revealed that Yniguez had sent the text messages and had been involved in unlawful sexual contact with the minor.''

The alleged relationship occurred between March and May, "with the activity taking place on campus and in the suspect's personal vehicle,'' Carr said.

I'd gladly be her personal love vehicle.*

*For sex.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

[Nopes it outta there]

[chemjeff]

I sense a trend with your links, Crusty. Is there something you'd like to confess?

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Yes, I admit to taking the time out of my busy day to try and entertain you ungrateful schmucks with juvenile links.

[chemjeff]

Confession accepted. Recite 10 Lena Dunham's and go in peace.

[Meh.]

My theory is it's to distract us from the lack of Lena links. Nice try.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

🙁

[Meh.]

I know, I'm the worst, and I apologize. I do appreciate your links, even on the Dunham-less days 🙂

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I do appreciate your links

Someone just became my new favorite commenter.

My least favorite, as always, is MJGreen.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Strong men also cry...

[paranoid android]

So the State Department has released a mealy-mouthed statement about Edrogan's jackboots assaulting Americans outside the Turkish embassy in DC the other day, but taken no further action:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/.....-incident/

I guess we'll have to continue to wait and see if Trump's rhetoric about keeping law & order and protecting Americans from foreign brutes has anything to back it up. I did see on Twitter (having trouble finding an article atm) that some Republican senators were demanding an apology from Turkey, which Edrogan will probably respond to after he and Trump finish their circle-jerk.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I hope this story is receiving a lot of coverage, because foreigners assaulting American citizens for exercising free speech is outrageous.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

They were punching up.

[Rhywun]

Yeah, if ever there was a time for Trump to not be "Presidential", this was it.

[DanO.]

Chelsea Manning tweeted out a pic today

Thank god. Our long national nightmare is over.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chelsea Manning tweeted out a pic today finally revealing her appearance post-prison release.

Called it. What I didn't call was Manning's resemblance to T-Swizzle.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

How dare you! You take that back right now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I can't tell what about that offends you, but I like either scenario.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

I can't tell what about that offends you

I don't expect much from you, but you should at least know that Swizzle is beyond compare. Also, my example was more random, and better.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

The correct answer of course, is a short-haired

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Chynna Phillips

I'm glad Chelsea held on for one more day.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

I am disturbed at how often we make such similar jokes at the same time.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

It's like we're deep inside each other.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

[Shudders, cries, hugs self, rocks back and forth]

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

I am just glad Chelsea was able to shake it off.

[lap83]

Manning has bigger.....eyes

[mad.casual]

What I didn't call was Manning's resemblance to T-Swizzle.

Can somebody with a current edition of the SJW handbook tell me if it's okay to say that all the trannies look alike? I mean as long as they all vaguely resemble Marilyn Manson it's not racist or sexist, right? Are (back) to the point where we can call self-described/identified queers as queer yet?

[paranoid android]

I think queer is acceptable as an adjective, but taboo as a noun. I'm not sure, it's hard to keep up.

[MarkLastname]

What about queermo, is that kosher? Or fagosexual?

[AlmightyJB]

News you can use

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Collier County teacher accused of having sex with student

A number of witnesses, all students at Golden Gate High, told Collier County deputies that Pierre and a female student had a sexual relationship for more than a year and that the girl called him "sugar daddy."

Witnesses say Pierre, 50, would buy the student food and anything she wanted to get her to hang out in his classroom after school.

They said the two had sex on the desks in the back of his classroom with the lights off.

The principal was told there are nude photos of the girl and a video of one of their sexual encounters on her phone.

Witnesses said the sex started when the student was a freshman but recently stopped when people began to find ou

MONSTER!!! LOCK HIM UP!!!

[paranoid android]

Radley Balko has a full accounting of all the reasons David Clarke is pretty much the worst person in the world:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....e-dossier/

All this, "Clarke says Trump is giving him a job but DHS denies it" stuff might be a ruse to fake-announce the posting so they can backpedal if there's too much backlash, which hopefully there is, because Clarke is pretty much a monster. That there are Repubs/conservatives who want him closer to their movement, and not fired out of a cannon into the sun, continues to amaze me.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

I did not enjoy reading that.

[paranoid android]

Would it be charitable or cynical to suppose that the only reason Republicans tolerate this guy is because they are really actually that desperate to find a single black guy who will go in front of cameras and criticize BLM?

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Charitable, I think. He plays very well to a segment of the base. That he's a black sheriff raises his profile, but it's not the sole reason he's become a name.

[paranoid android]

Actually, I realized that Balko didn't even have to mention Clarke's penchant for playing dress-up and sticking lots of metal pins on his police jacket to pretend he's some sort of distinguished and decorated officer. Though that criticism seems downright petty compared to his actual crimes.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Playing dress up? The man represents the American ideal.

[DanO.]

On the bright side, Roger Ailes still isn't moving.
Fair and Balanced Cold and dead.

[Cyto]

Something is wrong with you

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Justin Amash is not a Republican; he's a libertarian Paulbot fraud

Conservatives want limited government. Libertarians want no government at all. So conservatives make the mistake of thinking libertarians are their pals, since libertarians will usually vote against spending and programs we don't like. But they also vote against things government needs to do, like looking after national security or enforcing the law.

So why does Amash run as a Republican? Because if he ran as what he really is, he would never win.

I know a lot of conservatives consider themselves "libertarian-curious," and think it's admirable that libertarians are "consistent" in their opposition to government. But all that consistency really means is that they don't use their brains. If it's government, they're against it. They don't give any serious thought to whether something is beneficial or useful. They just oppose everything that has to do with the public sector, regardless of its merits.

Because that's what you do when you're part of a cult. Like Justin Amash.

[paranoid android]

They have conservatives up in Canada now?

Huh. Life surprises.

[Otis B. Driftwood]

Canadian conservatives: the government should only be able to take 60% of your earned income for distribution to shiftless layabouts.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

[Runs to the wall, grabs fire extinguisher, furiously tries to put out Hihn signal, jumps out through closed window]

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

(bolding used because words are violence)

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

I know a lot of conservatives consider themselves "libertarian-curious," and think it's admirable that libertarians are "consistent" in their opposition to government. But all that consistency really means is that they don't use their brains.

Nice.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

So it's a dichotomous choice between an all-controlling supergovernment and Somalia?

[mad.casual]

Right, just like those cults that send their followers out to *just* the other Churches that they're diametrically and existentially opposed to. We only have pesky libertarians in America because we haven't taken the sensible steps to excommunicate ban them like other religions states political parties sensible people.

[Juice]

Get a brain, morans!

[MarkLastname]

"Conservatives want limited government."
I got about that far before I laughed and stopped reading.

[GILMORE?]

i think there are many that do, or at least claim to hold that view. Call them 'ideaCons'

but i think they are outnumbered by SoCons (culture cons) + SecurityCons, and so they compromise on their own idea, by taking huge slices of 'govt' and saying, "that's not the part we want to shrink"

so the parts they want to cut get smaller and smaller, and tend to simply focus on a few select areas that are symbolic ... e.g. things like NEA funding for cowboy poetry, EPA meddling w/ industry, and Planned Parenthood making their daughters into promiscuous fuckbunnies.

Everything else - the entitlement state, the corporate regulatory state, and the police-state, etc - is basically given as pass as 'necessary'.

[GILMORE?]

What is stranger is that 'actual conservatives' are even rarer in Canada compared to libertarians, if Reason clicks are any measure

[Marty Feldman's Eyes]

Conservatives want limited government. Libertarians want no government at all.

THE STUPID, IT BURNS.

Libertarians are not anarchists. I'm sick of having to explain that to both liberals and conservatives. I wish people would read a fucking book.

[GILMORE?]

Libertarians are not anarchists. I'm sick of having to explain that to both liberals and conservatives. I wish people would read a fucking book.

You may also have to explain it to some self-styled libertarians

[OldMexican Blankety Blank]

Re: Marty Feldman's Eyes,

Libertarians are not anarchists

Hi!

[Stilgar]

So why does Amash run as a Republican?

Never mind that the name of the elephant party is Republican, not Conservative.

[Stormy Dragon]

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) will resign from his House seat at the end of June.

If congressional Republicans in charge of investigating Trump keep resigning at this rate, there may be a Democratic majority even before the midterm.

[BYODB]

I don't think you have to worry about a Democrat taking Chaffetz seat after they eventually decide on a special election.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

A motorist in Times Square hit a crowd of pedestrians, killing one. The driver has been arrested and may have been impaired. Authorities say there's no evidence of connection to terrorism.

He was supposedly high on K2. Way to embolden Jeff Sessions, jerk.

[paranoid android]

Well, he was on drugs, so he was basically funding terrorism, right?

< / statist >

[Sexfuckyes]

But the jerk was also a military veteran so Sessions' little brain might be confused on this one.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Bring back the McDLT!

[Troy muy grande boner]

So Reason has gone from the side-boob of Lobster girl to the side boob of a fucking freak named Chelsea Manning. Awesome. Just awesome.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

WHAT A FREAK!

[AlmightyJB]

The transformation is complete.

[Chip Your Pets]

Ok, say Manning's family took pictures of Manning at the beach in a normal male bathing suit in the early 2000s. Are those now considered porn because they now retroactively contain the image of a topless woman?

[Chip Your Pets]

Not quite as reliable a source as a disgraced newspaper citing anonymous sources reading from a copy of a copy of a memo that may or may not exist, but here's Comey testifying under oath on May 3.

Comey Says He Was Never Pressured By Anyone To Stop Investigations

[DanO.]

Your increasing desperation at defending the Cheeto is entertaining. I wonder how long you can go with one bombshell after another falling around the Chief. When the shit really hits the fan you can always change your name again and start over.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

When the shit really hits the fan you can always change your name again and start over.

Oh, the irony.

[notJoe]

That was one sick burn.

Nicely done sir.

[DanO.]

The sickest!

[DanO.]

I might have to change my handle now to Dan, Chipper of, of, of something...

[JeremyR]

He's only slightly less creepy looking than Chelsea Clinton.

[DanO.]

And he's still here. How do I block a photo in Firefox? There has to be a plugin...