Attempted Coup in Venezuela, Sarah Palin Suing the Times, Facebook Hiring Thousands of Hate-Speech Monitors: A.M. Links

• 

  KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom

  An attempted coup in Venezuela? That's what President Nicolas Maduro is calling an air attack on government buildings by a rogue police pilot.

• Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation.
• Facebook says it's ramping up its hate-speech detection staff.
• European antitrust regulators are going after Google.
• The State Department has released its latest annual "Trafficking in Persons" report.
• "Inside the fight to take down online prostitution review boards."
• Is car insurance a social justice issue?

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

An attempted coup in Venezuela? That's what President Nicolas Maduro is calling an air attack on government buildings by a rogue police pilot.

Kulaks and takers from above!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Fuck Zuckerberg (who is now on my 'people to throw darts at' poster) and The NYT; especially their idiotic commenters.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Who else is on your famous hate-dart poster?

[Citizen X - #6]

So far, Guy Ritchie, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and the neighbor's cat.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Don't forget Maurice Duplessis.

[mad.casual]

the neighbor's cat.

Human targets who are out of reach make sense in effigy on a dartboard. Non-human targets within reach make no sense. Ruining a perfectly good game of darts aside, you're failing to successfully deal with your target, which is a cat.

[Citizen X - #6]

As a Canadian, Rufus is far too polite to actually do anything to his neighbor's cat, no matter how many times it craps in his flower bed.

[Dillinger]

Zuck Fuckerberg too.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

What would Olbermann say?

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Is car insurance a social justice issue?

Only if it becomes more expensive for white men.

[some guy]

Young men have always had to pay for car insurance. I remember feeling it was unfair when I was 16. Since then I've learned what insurance actually is and how it's supposed to work.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Since then I've learned what insurance actually is and how it's supposed to work.

A lesson that's largely lost on progressives, especially when it comes to health insurance.

[some guy]

Don't get me started. Cause then Tony will show up and the thread will take a turn for the worse.

[Citizen X - #6]

Tony usually doesn't even wake up until his mom gets home for her lunch break, so it'll be at least another couple hours.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

It's funny how progressives want to punish smokers for supposedly contributing to increased insurance costs to treat lung cancer, emphysema, etc. But when you point out that obesity and Type II diabetes are far more widespread and that, logically, those punitive measures should be applied to fatasses who won't stop shoveling cookies, potato chips, and soda down their gobs, they have no idea how to respond because they've been brainwashed into think "fatshaming" is bad unless the target is a working-class white person who votes Republican.

[Zeb]

Or if there is a soda tax involved.

[Griffin3]

Of course the lesson is lost on progressives, it even contains the words "to work".

[Brandybuck]

We haven't had actual health insurance for decades now. We have payment plans.

[Citizen X - #6]

Elizabeth Nolan Brown|June 28, 2017 9:11 am

Ahem.

[Fist of Etiquette]

INSIDE JOB.

[Citizen X - #6]

Robert Whitewine looms large.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Eleven extra minutes and still no Alt-Text.

Shame on you, ENB.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

ENB back on AM links? I guess someone got too big for their britches.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation.

Which is the one trying to remain relevant here?

[DJF]

Does the NYT have any money, I heard that they were renting out whole floors of their building to cover the their losses?

[Shirley Knott]

What worse could you say about Sarah Palin than that she is, and always will be, Sarah Palin?
If she can bear up under that mortification, the rest should be a piece of cake.

[Careless]

Uh, I rather think their accusation of her being responsible for a mass murder is actually worse. Snark fail.

[some guy]

It's a team effort.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Pay your bet, Palin.

[Anomalous]

They defamated all over her.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Facebook says it's ramping up its hate-speech detection staff.

How many in its hate-speech defining staff?

[Citizen X - #6]

Nineteen!

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

19 staves? That's a lot of wizard power.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Hamburg sends home Berlin G20 police over public sex & booze parties

A group of some 220 Berlin police officers were sent home from Hamburg, accused of - amongst other things - public sex acts, property damage and mishandling service weapons. "They were bored," said a spokesman.

That's my kind of spokesman.

[Careless]

you left off the end

""They were bored. There was no television.""

[Fist of Etiquette]

European antitrust regulators are going after Google.

Google, you're just not left enough for Europe.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Trump's Nafta Victory Rides on Big Changes to How Cars Are Built

Interesting article overall, but this is my favorite part:

Still, there's nothing stopping car companies from shifting production to another country if North America becomes too expensive. Ford Motor Co. last week announced it will build its Focus small cars in China, canceling plans to move production to Mexico, in a decision that Lighthizer called "troubling."

That moron is going to have to go all in on his stupid border tax if his negotiations with Mexico don't turn out well.

[some guy]

Maximize protectionism until each man is an island. Libertopia achieved!

[Citizen X - #6]

Facebook says it's ramping up its hate-speech detection staff.

What's the IP thiefcreator of the world's preeminent virtue-signaling platform supposed to do, NOT signal the shit out of his virtue?

[Free Society]

Car insurance costs notably more in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, studies conclude. In Detroit, the mayor and citizens seek a fix for sky-high premiums.

Stop committing disproportionately high amounts of crime. Don't blame insurance for charging more to people that cost more.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Stop committing disproportionately high amounts of crime. In Detroit

Places where the populace tends to treat private property as a joke typically cost more to insure that same populace? Who could have seen that coming?

[BYODB]

Fucking risk pools, how do they work!?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The State Department has released its latest annual "Trafficking in Persons" report.

Included in the human trafficking report: That time you used a lobster dinner to pay for a handy after dessert.

[dantheserene]

FoE-
Lobster for handy? That's a terrible rate of exchange.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Yeah. A handy is worth at least two lobsters.

[Citizen X - #6]

Every time you let slip some aspect of your love life, it's depressing.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

I am nothing if not generous.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I got your inflation right here - IN MY PANTS.

[mad.casual]

Lobster for handy? That's a terrible rate of exchange.

For whatever reason, my life experience compelled me to assume that he meant he/I had a lobster dinner and the stripper prostitute other party got to go with a salad and cheddar biscuits.

Jesus Christ you guys probably feed your orphans every day too.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio noticeably missing in action at scene of Harlem A train derailment

The governor's schedule said he would be in the city; his office said he'd changed plans and gone to Albany.

The mayor hit the gym in Park Slope this morning, then held meetings at Gracie Mansion.

Lead from behind, that's the New York way.

[Rhywun]

The mayor hit the gym in Park Slope this morning

He was grilled a few weeks ago about the optics of riding in a motorcade 10 or 15 miles to a gym in Brooklyn instead of taking the subway like the rest of us or even using the gym that's like a five-minute walk from his mansion. So he took the subway. One time.

Meanwhile the thing is falling apart under his nose with the numerous recent derailments and fucked up (non) maintenance. What a cunt.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Eh, I realize in NEW YORK CITY it's considered SOP for bigshots to show up for photo ops to make it look like they give a shit, but frankly the less those two dickwads stick their nose on the scene, the better. Let the people who are actually supposed to do the investigations and clean up alone to do their jobs, and things might actually go a bit smoother.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

it's considered SOP for bigshots to show up for photo ops to make it look like they give a shit

Neither one of them wants to put a photo of them next to the disaster that has become the New York subway; it is pathetic, and the opposite of what a supposedly strong leader should be doing.

This will harm DeBlasio much more than Cuomo, but if the subway disaster continues, Cuomo is going to be in trouble, too.

Then Preet will rule us all, which will not end well for infamous Reason commenter Rhywun.

[Rhywun]

They're both running scared from this shit, pretending they're not responsible. The truth is somewhat complicated due to the nature of the "Authority" having been deliberably set up to remove accountability from the politicians that appoint the board members and feed it money. But it IS a state agency and Cuomo has more power over it than Deblasio.

[Rhywun]

Pretty sure that's SOP everywhere.

[mad.casual]

Meanwhile the thing is falling apart under his nose with the numerous recent derailments and fucked up (non) maintenance.

Suddenly, your boredom with cars makes much more sense. It's just too easy to maintain your car, prevent unwanted sex, drunkenness and fistfights from taking place in it, and correct the situation when it unexpectedly switches lanes. It is much more entertaining to let a committee of incompetent morons manage your commute and have the perpetual excitement of never knowing what might happen next.

[Rhywun]

I have no idea how to untangle that much snark. But your attention to my chosen modes of transport is a little creepy.

[Citizen X - #6]

He's watching you. Always.

[Rebel Scum]

Facebook says it's ramping up its hate-speech detection staff.

Idk how I'm gonna communicate on FB if I'm not allowed to be hateful.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Guy Fieri Admits That Donkey Sauce Is Just Aioli

If we called it aioli, does that make it sexier? It's aioli. This goes back to that exact comment that I said in the beginning: it's about moderation. I called it Donkey Sauce because you have to make fun of it. It's a quintessential ingredient in so many aspects of food, yet probably not the most beneficial except for flavor, probably the least beneficial, but it does have its place. All food has its place.

Monster.

[Citizen X - #6]

The place for Guy Fieri's food is the inside of a dumpster, or perhaps a shark that no one likes.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Reporter Challenges Sarah Huckabee Sanders After She Rants About 'Constant Barrage Of Fake News

Brian Karem, editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel, based outside Washington D.C., interrupted Sanders, noting that the White House should be held to the same standards.

"Come on. You're inflaming everybody right here and right now with those words," he said.

Wonder if he shouted "Allahu akbar" first.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders??? The Huck and Bernie mated and produced offspring? I scared.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

I'm Glad the Dyke March Banned Jewish Stars

Has there ever been a crisper expression of the consequences of "intersectionality" than a ban on Jewish lesbians from a Dyke March?

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

I liked that piece.

[colorblindkid]

The NYT blatantly lied, and in a piece by the entire editorial board. Not only did they say there was a clear definitive link between Palin's map and the Giffords shooting (where a Republican judge was killed by the way), in the same sentence they said there was no evidence of any kind that the Alexandria shooting was politically motivated. How is that not pure propaganda?

What this shows is that Sarah Palin causing a conservative to shoot Giffords is still the mainstream belief in the press. They're utterly delusional. He was a lunatic anarchist who hated everybody and whose obsession with Giffords began before Palin was even governor of Alaska. It's like when they wanted the Seattle stabber guy to be a Trump supporter, but he was a Bernie Bro who hated Trump. That didn't fucking matter. It was still blamed on Trump.

I know us libertarians are generally against libel and defamation lawsuits, but for fuck's sake is there any other way to keep the press accountable for spewing out blatant lies?

[Rhywun]

I know us libertarians are generally against libel and defamation lawsuits

We are? IANAL but it sounds like she has a good case to me.

[Mickey Rat]

The staff has been clutching pearls about Trump's rhetoric on loosening the requirements for proving libel as being anti-free speech.

[BYODB]

Palin's case actually meets the standard for libel, even for a public figure, if my media law knowledge is still up-to-date. The NYT had to know this information was false, and furthermore their general editorial slant should indicate actual malice on their part but that's really for the justice system to decide. I wouldn't have much faith that her suit will succeed, but I would guess it really depends on the judge.

I honestly don't really like the woman, although I don't particularly dislike her either, but she would seem to have a case on this one. The NYT really needs to dial back their sensationalism if they want to stay relevant, but it could very well be to late for them.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

I figger all crimes should be prosecuted by victims only (or their guardian / next of kin etc), and that verdicts should be for restitution only. IOW, if you can show financial loss (including loss of companionship, future income, etc), you can prosecute. Has to be real harm like lies about the products you make, not perceived harm like getting butt hurt.

So can Sarah Palin show financial harm? I'd say no. If anything, it increases her stature with her base. People who would believe the NYT and not buy her book because of that report probably wouldn't have bought her book anyway.

And as usual, if she alleges harm of, say, $1M, and can't prove that much harm to a jury in a trial, then she owes the defendant the difference. There has to be some accountability. And loser pays all associated costs too.

[JWatts]

"And as usual, if she alleges harm of, say, $1M, and can't prove that much harm to a jury in a trial, then she owes the defendant the difference. There has to be some accountability. And loser pays all associated costs too."

From the link: "Palin claims the editorial "exceeded the bounds of legality, decency and civility by publishing the false and defamatory column." She is seeking a minimum of $75,000 in damages."

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

They were just numbers. I still say the NYT has a strong case for her owing them money for improving her brand.

[CatoTheChipper]

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, we [the US Supreme Court] held that the Constitution limits state power, in a civil action brought by a public official for criticism of his official conduct, to an award of damages for a false statement "made with "actual malice" -- that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."

-- Garrison v Louisiana

Before the assassination attempt of Republican legislators by a deranged Bernista in Virginia, the NYT could credibly argued that their palpably false allegations regarding Palin being the inspiration of the Giffords shooting by a garden-variety lunatic were without "actual malice". "Reckless disregard" is pretty hard to prove all by itself. However, after the NYT failed to report on the motivations of the would-be assassin in Virginia, it's pretty clear that the NYT's palpably false allegations regarding Palin were actually malicious. Combine the "actual malice" with the "reckless disregard" and Palin has a case.

[Fist of Etiquette]

This unprecedented prostitution sting eventually blew the lid off a secretive network of online review boards ? websites where users rate and recommend local prostitutes. King County District Attorney Valiant Richey described these sites as "Yelp for prostitution."

"Blew the lid off" was the title of my Yelp review of a half and half I got.

[MarkLastname]

There's not really a kid to blow off anyway. The review sites are publicly available and pretty straightforward about what they are, beyond the standard 'of course we're not talking about prostitution, wink wink' disclaimer.

[BearOdinson]

The main focus for us is on dismantling these networks of buyers who are creating this vociferous demand for exploited women

Um, no. The demand for women in general is hardwired into the male brain. The networks just make it easier to match customers with suppliers.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

The New Yorker published a little story about despised commenter MJGreen at a party

Steve wears jeans at the party. Darker than his work pair, thinner than his everydays. These are his party jeans. Steve knows that wearing these jeans leaves the door wide open to intercourse.

[BearOdinson]

So what was the brand name?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

"MOM'S" Brand.

[Aloysious]

Is MJGreen on another one of those wacky and zany Michael Hihn lists?

Those things are funny.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

It's a list of one.

[Citizen X - #6]

Bully!

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Last time Hihn appeared to corpse-fuck a thread, I was the only one with any decency to engage with him. That is why I am, and shall remain, #1.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Last time Hihn appeared to corpse-fuck a thread, I was the only one with any decency to engage with him

The hero we need, but not the one we deserve.

[loveconstitution1789]

The New Yorker is such a rag.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Yet another Crusty link that does not work. I'm just sayin'.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

Wrong.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Ok, it works now. My apologies. Looks like it was an issue with the Newy Yorker website. I guess it could not handle all the extra traffic from Reason.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

I'm flattered you even took the time to click on one of my links.

You are one of the few, the proud, the...Crustines?*

*working title.

[Meh.]

Eww. Keep working on it.

[Citizen X - #6]

"Crustine" sounds like a brand of microwave pot pie that i don't want to ever eat.

[Zeb]

Today I learned that a "chair and a half" is a thing.

[Citizen X - #6]

Chair And A Half was my nickname in college. Un-Intercoursable was Chipper's.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

My party jeans are my work jeans.

[Citizen X - #6]

MJGreen likes his jeans like he likes his women: clingy and with elastic waists.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is car insurance a social justice issue?

I accidentally sideswiped someone backing my car into my safe space.

[BearOdinson]

Most people in prostitution are exploited...

I think there are quite a few high priced escorts, and gay men, who would strongly disagree with this statement.

Oh, and if prostitution were legalized, they wouldn't be afraid to report abuse or fraud to the police!

"I am woman, here me roar!"
"I am woman, I need protection from the world because I am a delicate flower with no ability to make my own decisions."

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

The State Department has released its latest annual "Trafficking in Persons" report.

Pimps and prosties and johns with eyeglasses
Law enforcement acting like big, giant asses
These are a few of my favorite things!

[Rebel Scum]

Is car insurance a social justice issue?

No. But I'm gonna guess it has something to do with a poor minority sob story about having to buy car insurance and how it is somehow racist.

[Citizen X - #6]

Car insurance costs more if you live in a neighborhood where your car is more likely to get broken into. These neighborhoods tend to be full of minorities who prey on each other, because concentrating poor dusky folk in the ghettos and paying them not to try to leave turns out to've been one of LBJ's more awful ideas.

[Brandybuck]

Minimum liability-only auto insurance plans don't cover theft.

[Domestic Dissident]

Looks like interim FBI Director Andrew McCabe had a personal axe to grind with General Flynn and may have violated the Hatch Act.

The RussiaGate bullshit hoax is starting to backfire on more people than any fake news story in history.

[Citizen X - #6]

You're not gonna call him Bland-poo McGay or something? You're slipping, Simple Mikey.

[Ken Shultz]

"Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation."

Without commenting on the merits of Palin's suit, specifically, the First Amendment doesn't protect violating someone's rights with a printing press any more than the Second Amendment protects violating someone's rights with a gun.

[colorblindkid]

The NYT is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Why are they even allowed to talk about politics and endorse politicians? What makes their corporation different from an oil corporation? The NYT vehemently opposes corporations having free speech rights. What makes them special?

[Ken Shultz]

They aren't special because they're the press. "Because they're the press" doesn't mean they're allowed to violate somebody's rights.

The Second Amendment gives me the right to choose to own a gun. It doesn't protect my right to indiscriminately shoot people with it. I can still be held responsible for using my gun to violate someone's rights.

The First Amendment protects their right to choose what to print. They can still be held responsible for printing something that violates someone's rights.

[Zeb]

What right of hers was violated?

Are civil damages always a result of a rights violation?

I think that the logic behind libel laws is that a person's reputation is a valuable thing, and if one's reputation is damaged by false statements, that person has lost something of value.

[Ken Shultz]

"Without commenting on the merits of Palin's suit . . . "

I don't know that her rights were violated.

In order to prove libel, she'll have to show both malice and prove damages.

Libel is sort of like fraud. Because of the false things they knowingly and willingly wrote, I suffered this damage and that damage . . .

If someone made a violent threat against her citing that NYT article, a jury might find that compelling by a preponderance of the evidence.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

It also seems to me that for someone like Sarah Palin, being attacked and defamed by the NYT is a point of honor and increases her reputation where it counts. If anything, maybe she owes the NYT something.

[JWatts]

"It also seems to me that for someone like Sarah Palin, being attacked and defamed by the NYT is a point of honor and increases her reputation where it counts. If anything, maybe she owes the NYT something."

By that logic, defaming Palin, directly increases newspaper sales. So, wouldn't the NYT's owe her even more?

[Zeb]

But that would also increase her public profile more, so it all evens out.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Yes, it's all very complicated, this defamation libel slander stuff.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm sure the NYT's defense will make that argument.

They'll also accuse her of being a publicity hound and filing the suit for that reason alone--rather than any alleged damages she's suffered.

I'm not saying she's right. I'm just saying that freedom of the press doesn't include the freedom to violate someone's rights with what you write.

We should all be free to do as we please so long as we don't violate anyone's rights. If the NYT purposefully and maliciously violated her rights with their print and it caused her harm to the satisfaction of a jury after the NYT's due process rights were respected, well, that isn't protected by the First Amendment.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Useful as ever, Ken.

[Domestic Dissident]

Ken is more useful in one day than you've been over the sum of your sorry-ass worthless life.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Thanks, babe.

[Citizen X - #6]

Oh shit, Ken got the Simple Mikey endorsement. That's not one you put on your book jacket.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

The Military Declares War on Sprawl

Busy each day with thousands or tens of thousands of people, a military base is a mini-city. It has its own police, fire, and recreation departments, and even a "mayor" (the base commander). It has traffic, crime, and pollution, just like a regular city. And its residents are dealing with a major public health concern?obesity. Now the U.S. Department of Defense is looking to the environment of the base itself to get its forces into shape.

Every large employer these days seems to be pushing a health and wellness initiative. But the health of the million-plus workforce of the Pentagon is critical to national security: Troops who don't meet a minimum fitness standard can't fight. Treating illnesses associated with obesity and tobacco use costs the Pentagon $3 billion a year. More troops were evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan because of serious sprains and fractures?which overweight and less fit people are prone to?than because of combat injuries.

[some guy]

Yeah, talk to your base commander like you'd talk to a small-town mayor when you're unhappy with something. See how that turns out...

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Now the U.S. Department of Defense is looking to the environment of the base itself to get its forces into shape.

Yeah, well good luck with that. Obesity rates in the US military are reflective of larger national trends that no amount of social engineering is going to rectify. During World War II, bases really were largely self-contained installations that provided their troops with all the basic necessities and a multitude of off-duty entertainment options so that they wouldn't be motivated to always go off-base for recreation. Very few troops owned cars and either walked/marched everywhere or took buses downtown, and the increased numbers of obese troops today reflects our increasingly obese society. DoD is deluding themselves if they think they're going to be able to reverse this trend on their own.

[John DeWitt]

DoD is deluding themselves if they think they're going to be able to reverse this trend on their own.

It's adorable you think that they care about success. They just need a good OER bullet or two so they can move on to not fixing another problem at their next duty station.

[Rebel Scum]

European antitrust regulators are going after Google.

Financial shakedown.

[Ken Shultz]

"Is car insurance a social justice issue?

I didn't look at the link, but using the coercive power of government to force poor people to insure rich people's cars is disgraceful.

Insure your own property--don't use the government to force other people to insure your property for you.

If you live in a big house, don't force other people to insure your property against fire or flooding.

Driving a Mercedes around in the big city is an inherently risky activity. If you want to insure that Mercedes against uninsured drivers with no assets, you can do that. No reason why working class poor people with no assets should be forced to insure their non-assets for $100,000 or more--because you drive around in a $100,000 car.

[loveconstitution1789]

Is car insurance a social justice issue?
Has been for years. End mandatory car insurance in the USA.

People are responsible for their own actions.

[Free Society]

So you're talking about an issue of justice, not 'social justice'. There's a big ole difference.

[Zeb]

Is NH the only state that doesn't require car insurance?

[Dillinger]

hit & runs would quadruple

[Rhywun]

Is there anything that isn't a social justice issue these days?

[Rich]

Facebook will hire an additional 3,000 people to its community operations team to aid in efforts to review posts that could violate the network's standards, Allan added. The company already has 4,500 employees dedicated to reviewing reported content. ... The company said it has more than 150 employees dedicated to counter-terrorism.

Emphases added. *** facebookpalm ***

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Don't fuck with hippos.

[Meh.]

Aww, this was really sad. I agree with the person who said if they're going to de-horn the rhinos, at least provide them some sharp prosthetic or way to defend themselves.

[Rhywun]

I feel the same way about declawing cats. If you do that, don't let them outside if you want them to come back in one piece.

[Dillinger]

>>>Aww, this was really sad

I believed the link and did not click...hippos are dicks

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Don't drag dead raccoons down a busy road.

[Rich]

Or, if you must, label them prominently as RACCOONS.

[Chipper Morning, Now #1]

Don't eat agave.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, you're supposed to drink it!

[Zeb]

And not the sap from the leaves.

[Dillinger]

Can Sarah Palin *be* defamed?

[Stormy Dragon]

Trump's insecurity reaches parody levels:

A Time magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It's fake.

[Crusty Juggler - Sapiosexual]

That is hilarious. It must be said, however, that Trump is a licensed federal bikini inspector.

[Meh.]

I really don't understand why he keeps saying and doing stuff that can be so easily fact-checked...

[mad.casual]

I really don't understand why he keeps saying and doing stuff that can be so easily fact-checked...

Easily fact-checked. I like the notion that, automatically, Trump had the magazine cover made, framed, and put it on the wall himself. Nobody's face has ever been put on a fake magazine fallaciously and nobody's ever used it as a ploy to butter up someone who's rich and/or egotistical.

As RRBnI says, this should be a rather embarassing nothing-burger.

[Zeb]

The fact that he has copies in lots of his properties suggests that he at least had it framed and put on the wall himself (well, had someone do it). I'd guess that someone else made it for him.

Since he has actually appeared on the cover of Time, it's a bit odd that he didn't just put up copies of the real one.

But it really doesn't matter and it's a silly thing to spend time "debunking".

[Citizen X - #6]

Well, he WAS Person of the Year in 2006.

[Stormy Dragon]

He was the for real person of the year in 2016, which makes the fake extra bizarre

[Citizen X - #6]

I'd forgotten about that, but in my defense, i haven't paid any attention whatsoever to Time in about a decade.

[MarkLastname]

He thought the picture they used didn't get his good side

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

I think it's far more hilarious that the trickle-down media whore press is turning these kinds of insubstantial molehills into Mt. Everest-level stories.

[paranoid android]

Why is your reflex to defend Trump? Genuinely curious. There's a definite interest to the public in knowing that their president is a thin-skinned narcissist who tells ridiculous lies.

[Stormy Dragon]

Because he considers Trump part of his tribe, and the people making fun of Trump outsiders, and defending the tribe from outsiders is more important than whether the particular tribe member in question actually deserves to be made fun of or not.

[dantheserene]

I'd look at it more as a reflex to call the MSM on their constant bullshit.

[mad.casual]

There's a definite interest to the public in knowing that their president is a thin-skinned narcissist who tells ridiculous lies.

Do you seriously wake up every morning with the impression that not just Trump but even men like him are thick-skinned, selfless, virtuous truthers? I mean seriously, are Bernie Sanders, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, etc., etc., etc. paragons of virtue in your mind until the media reports on them? If they are/were would the presence of fake 'Man Of The Year' magazines practically anywhere persuade or dissuade you one way or the other?

[paranoid android]

Lol do you even have a point? What, all politicians are liars and everyone knows it so there's no point in exposing or refuting their lies? Believe it or not there actually are many people who think that Trump is just the best and is making America great again and everything bad said about him is just a pack of lies. I don't think these people can be dissuaded from their support of him through reason, because if they were guided by reason they wouldn't be Trump supporters. But I could see how a steady stream of reminders that he's a total bullshit artist and simpleton could wear down their misplaced trust in the man.

[mad.casual]

The existence of a false cover isn't proof that he lied. Maybe I'm wrong, but I sincerely doubt Trump framed them on the wall and hung them personally. So, it's just as likely a decorator buttered him up, an employee concocted a flattering joke, or an update to a faded cover from 1989 took some artistic license. As long as he didn't explicitly use their veracity as a selling point for the clubs and/or at Time's expense, I don't care.

The horse is dead. Several members of both tribes collectively kicked it to death years ago. The carcass has rotted away and Wapo's clinking away at the dried and exposed bone. It's less defending the horse and the tribe it belonged to and more telling you to knock off that infernal clinking.

You know what, fuck it, you win. Fuck Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party. Fuck endless discussions about healthcare and the Freedom Caucus, let's focus on some insanely inconsequential and mundane aspect that may or may not be tangentially related to the walking cult of personality that is Donald Trump. More Trump, all the time, no matter how inane. It's worked great so far, why not MOAR?

[paranoid android]

If it's any consolation you won't have to put up with this story for long, because he'll do something else stupid/impulsive/dangerous by the end of the day and everyone will fixate on that for the moment instead.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Believe it or not there actually are many people who think that Trump is just the best and is making America great again and everything bad said about him is just a pack of lies.

I'm not one of those people. But I don't really see why I need to get worked up about him exposing the national media as having the intellectual maturity of a bunch of middle-school teenagers, even if it was a complete accident on his part. It provides me amusement to watch the same gaggle of morons who were swooning over Obama's "I have a pen and a phone" bluster do a 180 when Trump governs in the exact same fucking manner, or pimp a pearl-clutching neo-McCarthyite narrative that, so far, has been unsubstantiated but pushed out of sheer and obvious partisanship because he stole the mantle of power from Her Inevitability.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Why is your reflex to defend Trump? Genuinely curious.

Because the media and dopes like Stormy are more fixated on stupid bullshit like this than any of the more egregious acts Trump has actually committed.

Because he considers Trump part of his tribe

Your mind-reading cap needs an upgrade/reboot.

[CatoTheChipper]

This is classic Trump. During the glasnost, peristroika, and trust-but-verify hopefulness of 1987, Gorbachev made a visit to New York City. Trump angled to get a meeting with Gorby, but failed to do so. So Trump had a photo made of himself with a Gorby cutout picture.

I wouldn't be so quick to attribute this to mere insecurity or vanity. Trump is a world-class genius at self-promotion.

[paranoid android]

It's a shame what's happening in Venezuela, but on the plus side, "Rogue special agent and man of mystery wages one-man covert war for freedom against the tyrants he once served" is a more entertaining plot than anything Hollywood has cooked up in years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....Court.html

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

I'm allowing myself this indulgence. Dude is super cool and more power to him.

[Domestic Dissident]

Meanwhile, inside our little Banana Republic of Illinois, the special session ended after just 11 minutes for a second consecutive day, with the fiscal year ending in just two days from now.

[mad.casual]

Banana Republic of Illinois

Paw Paw Republic?

[Citizen X - #6]

Are you complaining about politicians not doing enough stuff?

[Domestic Dissident]

Creating a budget is kind of one of the primary responsibilities of a government, you fucking shit for brains drooling retard.

[Citizen X - #6]

You can't spell "unexamined assumptions" without "ass" and "Mikey."

[Domestic Dissident]

Furthermore, shit for brains, if Illinois' credit ends up getting downgraded to junk status and the state ends up having to file for bankruptcy, the rest of the country is going to be expected to bail them out.

Grow up and quit being such a fucking dunce.

[Citizen X - #6]

You really don't get this whole "libertarianism" thing, do you. Maybe you should try a different website?

[Brandybuck]

So if auto insurance is too expensive from your local agent, why not go across town to buy it? I mean, seriously! It's not like a mortgage where the government told the bank to redline your neighborhood. The parent insurance company doesn't care where you live. Theft may be a problem, but neighborhoods simply don't enter into the liability-only actuarial tables.

I can only conclude that Chicago or Illinois has some sort of law forbidding shopping around for insurance.