Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Half of Yemeni Airstrike Casualties Were Kids, Australia's Sex Party Finds Reason, Canadian Passports Go Gender-Neutral: A.M. Links

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 8.25.2017 9:00 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
  • Mohammed Mohammed Xinhua News Agency/Newscom

    Half of the people killed in a Saudi airstrike on Yemen today were children.

  • Canadians can soon apply for passports with an "X" gender designation.
  • Australia's Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason Party.
  • Violence has erupted in Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, as Muslim militants staged a coordinated Friday attack on 30 police posts and an army base. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is claiming responsibility.
  • California is seeking approval for a new lethal injection method for death penalty cases.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Brickbat: Justice Denied

Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (165)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Canadians can soon apply for passports with an “X” gender designation.

    Wolverine was Canadian.

    1. Bee Tagger   8 years ago

      *is

      1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

        Spoiler alert.

    2. Rat on a train   8 years ago

      X = female, Y = male

    3. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      Hello.

      Trudeau is such an asshole.

    4. TrickyVic (old school)   8 years ago

      I don’t think an X for gender is a smart thing if you are going to one of those queer hating middle east countries.

      1. mad.casual   8 years ago

        Also, I wish them the best of luck with their body cavity searches with the most man-handed of security officials in any of the other anti-terrorist or anti-drug countries.

        1. CE   8 years ago

          How do they decide who gets to grope them at the TSA checkpoints?

    5. Zeb   8 years ago

      This is all getting so weird.

      I wonder if there is lots of factional infighting among transgender advocates about whether gender is fixed, but sometimes not aligned with sex and those who see more of a gender-fluid spectrum?

      1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

        There’s a lot of infighting over it in literature last I saw.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Australia’s Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason party.

    I heard a few Reason members like to go down under.

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      It is known, ladies.

    2. Eek Barba Durkle   8 years ago

      This is why there are no unsatisfied female libertarians.

    3. Anomalous   8 years ago

      I sense ENB had something to do with this.

    4. Aloysious   8 years ago

      I heard a few Reason members like to go down under.

      Only after a few cocktails.

    5. Rebel Scum   8 years ago

      I heard a few Reason members like to go down under.

      Open every courtship with a woman by stating you would like to give her an Australian kiss.

      1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

        Uh, Australians kiss by punching each other in the face. It is known.

        1. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

          Australian Kiss: Get pissed. Set up in 69 position. Chunder on each other’s genitalia. (Then punch each other in the face)

      2. CE   8 years ago

        Check your Northern Hemisphere privilege, pal. When you live in Australia the USA, Canada, Europe, Russia and China are on the bottom of the globe.

  3. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    California is seeking approval for a new lethal injection method for death penalty cases.

    It’s guacamole based.

    1. Rat on a train   8 years ago

      “Die on organic poison gas…”

    2. Likes him some booze   8 years ago

      Am I the only one that finds it strange that California still has the death penalty . I can’t wrap my mind around the politics of it .

      1. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

        I imagine on the wall outside the death chamber is a sign warning that the state of California has determined that the room contains chemicals that may or may not cause cancer in laboratory animals.

      2. Overt   8 years ago

        California is a blue state by about 10%, but that means there are still 40% of conservatives. But a significant amount of that 60% majority is not your classic Berkley Liberal. It was African Americans who helped elect Obama in 2008 while ALSO voting in the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment. And California loves them some Police Unions, who also love them some Death Penalty.

        It would be interesting to see the dynamics of Blue Collar vs Liberal Elite vs Entrenched Unions if I didn’t have to put up with the shit.

        1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

          Do you mean to imply that a two-party stranglehold on electoral politics fails to accurately account for the breadth of combinations of human beliefs? Unpossible!

          1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

            My guess is that having strict win/lose votes over a population of millions of people is inherently flawed.

      3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

        Most capital punishment victims are African-Am.
        Therefore, Californians are all White Supremacist, Neo-Nazi, KKK, alt-right murderers.

        However, staying true to principles, the new death gas will not be produced by Monsanto.

      4. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

        Leftists like keeping the option of lining people up against walls.

      5. Mike Laursen   8 years ago

        I honestly thought we Californians had done away with the death penalty in a recent election. Guess I’m mis-remembering.

  4. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

    The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is claiming responsibility.

    Were they all hopped up on spice?

  5. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

    The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is claiming responsibility.

    Multiple bell-related injuries reported.

  6. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Violence has erupted in Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, as Muslim militants staged a coordinated Friday attack on 30 police posts and an army base.

    Whose statues were they trying to get taken down?

    1. Adans smith   8 years ago

      I never trusted those dam bell ringers.

    2. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      Oddly, statues of Stonewall Jackson, but a completely different Stonewall Jackson that they made up.

  7. Domestic Dissident   8 years ago

    So no more Friday Funnies then? Sad.

    1. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

      Now that you’re here, I think we can expect something funny any minute now.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

        Picture, if you will, a group at the base of Mount Rushmore gawking breathlessly at the faces carved in the rock. But instead of admiring the national monument, they are protesters demanding the entire rock face be dynamited into a bust of the left’s most venerated symbol: Rosie O’Donnell (who has just revealed she was actually born in Guatemala to Muslim converts). An outraged President Trump leads a goosestepping Nazi army of his aides and cabinet members (Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, Steve Mnuchin) to rough up these peace-loving protesters. But Trump and his white supremacists are stopped dead in their tracks as the anti-fascist protesters have managed to get a local ordinance passed banning all wrong speech. Meanwhile the DNC has unveiled its plan to revitalize the economy and start winning elections again: Cash for Clunkers 2.0.

        1. Jerryskids   8 years ago

          You lost me at the end there with the Cash for Clunkers 2.0 – what does a Bernie Sanders PAC have to do with this?

        2. Adans smith   8 years ago

          + 1 submitted for our approval.

        3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

          “a goosestepping Nazi army of his aides and cabinet members (Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, Steve Mnuchin)”

          Sounds like a Tarantino movie. Which one is the Bear (or bare) Jew?

          1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

            I just assume Kushner is Jewish.

    2. CE   8 years ago

      No mention of the “historic” category 2 storm approaching Texas either. The Washington Post is ranting about it.

    3. Mike Laursen   8 years ago

      Not sad, my friend. Not a sad development at all.

  8. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    The US has spent $2 billion on the reckless hope teens won’t have sex

    Between 1982 and 2017, Congress spent over $2 billion on programs which teach teens that the best way to address their desire to have sex is to wait until they get married, according to a new study published in the September issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

    Absurd.

    But the report highlights a few shortcomings in the AOUM approach. Scientific evidence shows the approach doesn’t actually delay teens having sex, or engaging in risky sexual behaviors. The programs also sometimes provide misleading or inaccurate information about contraceptive effectiveness and sex itself.

    There are other important reasons to teach kids about sex and the issues around it, like educating them about consent, LBGT rights, and sexual violence. One in five women reported being sexually assaulted during college, a 2015 national report from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center found.

    Maybe schools shouldn’t talk to students about sex at all, how about that?

    1. Eek Barba Durkle   8 years ago

      One in five women reported being sexually assaulted during college, a completely discredited and embarrassingly dishonest 2015 national report from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center found.

    2. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

      There are other important reasons to teach kids about sex and the issues around it, like educating them about consent, LBGT rights, and sexual violence.

      Um, what?

      One in five women reported being sexually assaulted during college, a 2015 national report from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center found.

      Good to see this is still making the rounds.

    3. Anomalous   8 years ago

      Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.

      1. Adans smith   8 years ago

        And the penis grow harder.

    4. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      I can see such programs working in places where there’s less interest or commitment to freedom and where the people live with one-knee down before the benevolent government, but in an open and pluralist realm like America? Not so much.These programs are bound to fail and an utter waste of money.

      Funny. We’re sooooo demanding to not waste energy and food but money apparently is a-otay!

      1. Shirley Knott   8 years ago

        The money is only wasted if it’s not achieving its purpose.
        The purpose of the money was to fund the *effort*. Results are merely a matter of intention.
        The money was spent, on and for the connected, and that’s all such programs ever are for.
        Perfect success.
        Failure to achieve the stated goals simply means more must be spent. Again, on and for the connected. Failure to achieve here is a feature, not a bug.

    5. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      If they really want to stop sex, introduce the kids to porn at a young age, 8 or so. Then just start making it progressively weirder. Start giving them furry porn. Then show then vore. Make the do essays on the life of Doug Winger.

      Eventually, they’ll all be far too numbed to sexual imagery to actually have sex with another person. Problem solved.

  9. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

    Australia’s Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason party.

    Carlos Danger for Prime Minister.

  10. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Half of the people killed in a Saudi airstrike on Yemen today were children.

    Why would they risk tarnishing their human rights record like this?

    1. Conchfritters   8 years ago

      The pilots received Maseratis again when they landed for a job well done.

  11. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    At least 10 Colorado school employees arrested over past year

    The news that two Cherry Creek School District employees had been arrested in recent months on allegations they sexually assaulted and traded nude photos with students has us taking a look at the number of Colorado teachers and school employees arrested over the past year, which amount to at least 10.

    You’re forced to send your kids to a place where they will be diddled by teachers! YAY!

    1. Jerryskids   8 years ago

      I noticed yesterday in a comment somebody had posted about the investigation into the cheerleader coach forcing girls into doing the splits no matter how much they screamed in pain that there were a lot of links under that story to other news stories of criminal behavior going on in Colorado schools. What the hell’s going on in Colorado?

      1. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

        Priming the pump for Sessions to restart the federal pot war.

        1. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

          Fun fact: I invented the phrase, “priming the pump.”

          1. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

            Sure it wasn’t the Russkis, along with hot dogs?

          2. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

            “The Pump” was my nickname in…DEAR GODS!

      2. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

        “What the hell’s going on in Colorado?”

        It’s no accident that South Park is set in South Park.

      3. Zeb   8 years ago

        The reefers are making them all crazy.

      4. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting   8 years ago

        A lot of social and economic dislocation caused by the massive influx of people to the state, mostly in the Denver metro area, during the last 10 years, and the last 3-5 in particular.

        Yes, the pot law has something to do with this and anyone who denies it is kidding themselves, but it’s mostly due to a lot of growth in the tech sector combined with a large spike in Central American immigration starting in about 2000. Housing costs especially have skyrocketed–you want anything that doesn’t require a ton of renovation and in a decent school district (Ironically, Cherry Creek is arguably the best in the state as far as academic quality because so many uber-wealthy people live in the district boundaries. Before private schools Valor Christian and Regis became the schools of choice for our pro athletes to send their kids, they almost all went to Creek), you’re paying $325K for a house at the bare minimum; average is about $400-500K. Traffic has also gotten a LOT worse (but we have a bunch of shiny new light rail lines!), the current infrastructure is completely inadequate to handle it, and legislators are getting around TABOR by jacking up fees everywhere but not fixing the roads because they’re too chickenshit to ask the voters for a tax increase.

        1. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting   8 years ago

          I can already hear the retorts–“Well, it’s a lot more expensive and traffic is worse in other parts of the country!” No shit–the point is that these issues have accelerated recently in Colorado because the state and metro area governments didn’t plan ahead, and it’s causing the people who were already living here a lot of heartburn.

    2. CE   8 years ago

      Out of an abundance of caution, if it will protect even one student, we should shut down all the schools until we can guarantee they will be safe.

  12. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    Legal ruling in: Facebook ‘friends’ aren’t necessarily real friends

    Facebook “friends” aren’t always real friends ? at least legally.

    That was the finding Wednesday of an appeals court on a specific Facebook-related legal question: Whether a Miami judge needed to recuse herself because one of the attorneys involved in a case in her court is a Facebook “friend.”

    The answer, in a 10-page opinion that takes a remarkably nuanced look at social media, is: No.

    The ruling notes that Facebook data mining and algorithms lead to people accepting friend requests from people they barely know, or are acquainted with purely from professional circles.

    I feel so alone.

    1. Inigo Montoya   8 years ago

      Some 2/3 of my friends are people I’ve yet to meet in person. Yet some have been my friends longer than many people I know from my everyday life and I interact with them quite often. I’m not sure the distinction is valid.

      And I would friend you, Crusty.

    2. Rat on a train   8 years ago

      You have 0 friends.

    3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      I keep my FB friends at 69 because:

      1. 69
      2. There is no way there are more than 69 people in the world that I give even 1/2 a shit about.

  13. mashed potatoes   8 years ago

    Silver lining of Trump regarding Yemen: We can actually address the evils of the Obama admin in the media now that we have an unlikeable president to pin things on.

    1. Domestic Dissident   8 years ago

      I can still remember when the fake libertarian dumb schmucks here at Reason were telling us that the “Arab Spring” was going to be awesome because their Obamessiah was the Lightbringer who could do no wrong.

      1. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

        There’s your Friday Funny. I knew we could count on you.

      2. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

        2/5. You lose a point each for not using “PFL,” “cuckaschmuck,” and “Obama mommas.”

  14. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    Ludlow Hospital refuses ‘demeaning’ fancy dress donation

    Wouldn’t would wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t would

    A hospital has turned down a ?2,500 donation from a group of men dressed up as nurses after bosses said the outfits were “demeaning”.
    The group, which was supporting Ludlow Hospital in Shropshire, raised the money by pushing a bed around the town.

    A letter to Peter Corfield, chair of Ludlow Hospital League of Friends, from Ms Ditheridge and chair of the trust Mike Ridley, said: “The presentation of men dressed as female nurses in a highly-sexualised and demeaning way is wrong, very outdated and insulting to the profession.”

    Alison Hiles, whose husband took part in the event, said: “Nobody’s complained, everybody seems to enter into the spirit of it, locals know that it’s going on, those that aren’t local really enjoy the event and always have a chat with the lads and willingly give money, nobody forces them.

    “I really don’t know why all of a sudden that it’s a problem

    I know why.

    1. Rhywun   8 years ago

      It’s Trump, right?

    2. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      Alison hasn’t been paying attention. Everyone has lost their middling minds on the left.

      It’s not about the spirit of the cause!

      Oh, yes it’s 100% a left-wing, created and manufactured state of sick affairs courtesy of the bankrupted progressive movement.

      Period. Exclamation point.

      1. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

        Are you trying to tell me that, having failed miserably in every attempt to a perfectly balanced economy, the enemies of Mankind have doubled down on efforts to perfect the Soviet Xe? Because if so, bravo!

    3. Aloysious   8 years ago

      Highly sexualised? What?

      1. Rhywun   8 years ago

        -> sexualized

    4. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      “Nobody’s complained, everybody seems to enter into the spirit of it”

      Yeah, a demeaning spirit.

  15. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

    She established the Sex Party, which represented one of the electoral regions in the state of Victoria and had 7,500 members, in 2009 after becoming increasingly frustrated with issues such as gender equality, same-sex marriage and government censorship.

    Anathema to Conservo-Trumptards.

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      Yes, that’s a relevant response to an article about Australia.

      1. Rhywun   8 years ago

        Trump has given wingnut racists license to speak up all over the world.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

        ENB’s perspective on libertarianism is wider than most here. I like her for that.

        Liberty is not just a tax cut – conservatives don’t know that.

        1. Domestic Dissident   8 years ago

          Well of course you like her Weigel, she’s a lying leftist cunt just like you are.

          1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

            Ironic coming from a Trumptard ‘1000 lies’ idiot conservative. Why don’t you and your little mini-me Rufus go find a conservative site to play around in?

            Fact Checker Analysis
            President Trump’s list of false and misleading claims tops 1,000

            We have been tracking President Trump’s false or misleading claims for more than seven months. Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)

            https://goo.gl/g7Jfds

          2. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

            *hugs Mikey*

            They can’t hurt you anymore.

          3. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

            Troll fight!

    2. Anomalous   8 years ago

      You bet.

    3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      “Anathema to Conservo-Trumptards.”

      Hey look, It’s Mr. Team Blue again.

  16. Conchfritters   8 years ago

    “I went to one place and they were really busy and they had clients waiting,” Ms. Patten said of the brothel. “And they said, oh god, we’ve got this one guy who’s been waiting for ages. So I said, oh, I’ll do it.”

    Fucking awesome. I’d vote for her.

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      It is rare and therefore refreshing when a politicians acknowledges being a prostitute.

      1. Jerryskids   8 years ago

        We’re all prostitutes. We all sell our lives an hour at a time, and some of us sell our bodies, some of us sell our minds, some of us sell our souls.

  17. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    Wonder Woman is the most annoying movie ever

    1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

      All that wonder nagging.

    2. Adans smith   8 years ago

      Gal Gadot = hard would

    3. Unlabelable MJGreen   8 years ago

      Must be gearing up for the Bluray release.

    4. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      They should do a classic Wonder woman story and have her get tied up with rope. Then other Amazon’s will insult her, until the tables are turned and WW Tues them up and insults them.

  18. Jerryskids   8 years ago

    Australia’s Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason party.

    I know what a sex party looks like, I don’t believe I’m familiar with a reason party. Is that like a debate club where you only discuss serious issues or something? But I’d like to know the genius marketer that decided reason would sell better than sex.

    1. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      “I don’t believe I’m familiar with a reason party.”

      Cocktails and equivocations.

  19. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

    Australia’s Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason party.

    Because it’s a political party full of cocktail-swilling leftists masquerading as libertarians?

    *awaits high fives*

    1. lap83   8 years ago

      Sipping not swilling. Sometimes I wonder if you’re even from the coast

      1. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

        I am a trashy coastal elitist. Gosh.

        1. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

          Gosh

          All the real coastal elitist are saying ‘golly gee’ now.

          *walks off with nose in the air*

          1. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

            My word!

          2. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

            Gee golly gee!

        2. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

          On topic.

          1. lap83   8 years ago

            nice

            1. Crusty Juggler   8 years ago

              I second flyover country.

    2. Inigo Montoya   8 years ago

      I normally don’t like political parties, but this is one party I could get behind. (And on top of, and underneath.)
      Plus the fact that it’s “down under” makes for a big boner, er I mean bonus.

    3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      Crusty, I promise I wrote mine before reading yours.

      Having said that, I like mine better. Pithier (pardon the lisp).

  20. Jerryskids   8 years ago

    California is seeking approval for a new lethal injection method for death penalty cases.

    Wait, you mean to tell me California still has the death penalty *and* they’re considering using it? The prison guards union must not be as strong as I’ve been led to believe if they’re still allowing a single paying customer to escape their clutches.

  21. Rhywun   8 years ago

    Violence has erupted in Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, as Muslim militants staged a coordinated Friday attack on 30 police posts and an army base

    I feel like this story could have come from any time in the last five hundred years or so.

    1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      Nah, if you went back 100 years it would have been violence in Siam.

  22. Jerryskids   8 years ago

    Half of the people killed in a Saudi airstrike on Yemen today were children.

    Children-children? Or 19-year old male children?

    1. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

      18-19 year olds are men/women when they do something bad and children when something bad is done to them.

  23. Rebel Scum   8 years ago

    Australia’s Sex Party has been rebranded the Reason party.

    I agree. Sex is reasonable.

  24. Rebel Scum   8 years ago

    Violence has erupted in Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, as Muslim militants staged a coordinated Friday attack on 30 police posts and an army base. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is claiming responsibility.

    I’m sure this is just an isolated incident of workplace violence.

  25. Rebel Scum   8 years ago

    California is seeking approval for a new lethal injection method for death penalty cases.

    While I agree with the death penalty in principle, I am skeptical of it’s application by the government. That said, I think a better, quicker and more humane method is probably firing squad, given the number of botched injection induced executions.

    1. Jerryskids   8 years ago

      Executions are an admission that the criminal in question is beyond any hope of rehabilitation and will never not be a danger to society, but life without parole would serve the same end. And whether or not the sweet release of death is a punishment rather than a reward is a philosophical question nobody knows the answer to. It certainly doesn’t serve as restitution for the victims of their crimes, so the only purpose of executions seems to be in the deterrent effect. If the death penalty is supposed to act as a deterrent to others, public executions in a gory manner like the guillotine would seem to fit the bill. Making the execution as peaceful and unremarkable as possible, not to mention how rare they are, makes me wonder what exactly is the purpose of executing somebody.

      1. BYODB   8 years ago

        Revenge. Obviously.

      2. DRM   8 years ago

        So, have you any care for justice?

        If you really believe that it is uncertain whether death is a punishment or a reward, you are admitting that you do not know whether a murderer hurt the person killed. In which case, you cannot know whether the murderer justly can be punished. But that problem can be simply resolved by executing the murderer. If death is a punishment, the murderer has been punished in direct and exact measure to the harm he inflicted on another; if death is a reward, the murderer has been rewarded for sending another to the reward. If it is uncertain in any given case whether it is a reward or a punishment, well, the executed murderer has been given the very same uncertainty of punishment or reward that he put upon another. The death penalty, and only the death penalty, can serve as justice for murder given your philosophical problem.

        So, if you really are uncertain about that philosophical question, insofar as you care for justice, you must demand the death penalty as the sentence for murder.

    2. chemjeff   8 years ago

      As long as the justice system is a flawed human system that only approximately serving the ideal of justice, there should be no irreversible decisions, lest a flaw in the system reveals that the innocent was wrongly incarcerated. So, there should be no death penalty.

    3. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      Dudes on death row should be given the option of auto-erotic asphyxiation.
      Ami-rite, Crusty?

  26. Rebel Scum   8 years ago

    Canadians can soon apply for passports with an “X” gender designation.

    At least the Canucks are still ahead of us on gender retardation.

    1. mad.casual   8 years ago

      ahead?

      1. mad.casual   8 years ago

        I expect the next step to be largely unmarked federal totems and requiring people will pee on them. If identification, gender discerning, drug testing, etc. is required, the next person can collect an air sample off the totem and analyze from there.

  27. lafe.long   8 years ago

    Julian Assange tweets:

    Left infatuation with online censorship has now led to pervasive on online censorship of the left. I warned you.

    1. Rhywun   8 years ago

      It is?

      1. Jerryskids   8 years ago

        Of course the censors on the left will be going after leftists first – those are easy targets eager to confess their sins and engage in self-condemnation. Accuse a leftist of being racist because they once ate at Taco Bell and they’ll grovel and beg for forgiveness and publicly display their strpes as a badge of honor to demonstrate how finely sensitive they are to racism. They’re like some sick masochists who just can’t get enough of the humiliation. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Beat me some more, Mommy! Make it hurt! Shit in my face! Shove pineapples up my ass!”, they cry.

        Accuse somebody on the right of the same thing and they’ll laugh in your face and tell you to fuck off.

        1. Rhywun   8 years ago

          All I’m hearing about is Google and Facebook going after “the right”.

    2. lafe.long   8 years ago

      From the article he linked in his tweet:

      Moreover, the extent and precision of the exclusion of the WSWS from search results strongly suggests that the anti-socialist bias of the new algorithm is being supplemented by the actual physical intervention of Google personnel, enforcing authoritarian-style direct and deliberate blacklisting.
      As stated above, since April, other left-wing publications that present themselves as progressive, socialist or anti-war also have suffered significant reductions in their Google search results:
      * alternet.org fell by 63 percent
      * globalresearch.ca fell by 62 percent
      * consortiumnews.com fell by 47 percent
      * mediamatters.org fell by 42 percent
      * commondreams.org fell by 37 percent
      * internationalviewpoint.org fell by 36 percent
      * democracynow.org fell by 36 percent
      * wikileaks.org fell by 30 percent
      * truth-out.org fell by 25 percent
      * counterpunch.org fell by 21 percent
      * theintercept.com fell by 19 percent

      1. Rhywun   8 years ago

        Yeah, totally trustworthy source there.

        1. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

          Don’t trust socialist website either – because, well, liars HELLO! – BUT, if true and accurate, Google is wrong to censor ANYBODY.

          Fuck Goolag. May that monopoly one day collapse.

      2. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

        I picked a random site… https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/mediamatters.org

    3. Chinny Chin Chin   8 years ago

      Assange ought to h/t to Orwell

  28. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

    Turd Reich: San Francisco dog owners lay minefield of poo for right-wing rally

    ‘I just had this image of alt-right people stomping around in the poop,’ says the organizer of an unusual protest ahead of Saturday’s Patriot Prayer rally

    When a group of far-right activists come to San Francisco to hold a rally this Saturday, they will be met by peace activists offering them flowers to wear in their hair.

    Also, dog shit. Lots and lots of dog shit.

    https://goo.gl/7SSwTK

    1. $park? leftist poser   8 years ago

      So far right is anyone against Marxism. Makes sense.

      1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

        Forget it, $park?, it’s San Francisco.

        1. Rhywun   8 years ago

          (The group is also planning to reconvene on Sunday to “clean up the mess and hug each other”.

          Hahahahah good one.

          Patriot Prayer, whose “free speech” events in the Pacific north-west have frequently sparked violent street battles

          There’s those pesky scare quotes again.

          I am so glad I left that smug s–thole. NYC has its own derp-challenges but at least it’s pretty easy to steer around it there. SF is just insufferable everywhere.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

        I missed the Rally for Marxism part. Although, yes, Marxism is a left-wing disease (everyone gets equal stuff) where Fascism is right wing (Only us Aryans count!).

        Both suck in their own statist ways.

        1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

          Simple shreek still thinks internationalist collectivism and nationalist collectivism are the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sad!

          1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

            You have no idea what “left” and “right” mean.

            Right-wing politics hold that certain social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable,[1][2][3] typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics or tradition

            Think of all the political power groups who practice ethnic/race/religious superiority practiced all over the world -monarchies, India’s caste system, British superiority over the Irish, Tribal Africa, Nazis, Wahhabism – that is what “right wing” means.

            Collectivism has nothing to do with it.

            1. mad.casual   8 years ago

              Right-wing politics hold that certain social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics or tradition

              This definition encompasses pretty much all political philosophies. Even anarchy if you assume, present, or approach it as a natural and desirable social order.

              Socialism, a social order described as progressive and natural, justified by economics counts as right-wing.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

                Socialism is “to each according to his needs” and is a left wing disease.

                EQUALITY is NOT EQUAL to Aryan Supremacy (right wing example)

                =/=

                State mandated equality (Marxism) is just as sick as Fascism and is not “natural” by any definition.

                1. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

                  You continuously don’t understand that Nazism IS left-wing.

                  1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

                    You continuously don’t understand that Nazism IS left-wing.

                    I have supplied a definition for left/right. You have not.

                    You continuously fail and prove your ignorance.

                    50 years of political philosophy says Nazism is RIGHT WING.

                    Good luck with your Trumptard lies and effort to change accepted philosophy.

                    Democracy, on the other hand, is a left wing concept striving for equality (at least since 1918 in the USA)

                    1. loveconstitution1789   8 years ago

                      Butt is just being coy.

                      He knows that Nazis are lefty socialists but cannot admit it because then he would have no tribe to support. He is not a Libertarian but does not want to think of himself as the racist lefty that he is.

            2. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

              Think of all the political power groups who practice ethnic/race/religious superiority practiced all over the world…

              Collectivism has nothing to do with it.

              So political groups who believe in the superiority of their own collective over others have nothing to do with collectivism? Okay, Blue Mikey.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

                Is Democracy “collectivist”?

                What about Locke liberalism?

                1. loveconstitution1789   8 years ago

                  Democracy is not collectivist.

                  We free individuals agree to limited government duties to further our individual interests.

                  Collectivists demand that there is no individualism as you belong to the collective.

        2. mad.casual   8 years ago

          Fascism is right wing (Only us Aryans count!).

          Do Italians count as Aryans? I honestly don’t know.

          1. Palin's Buttplug   8 years ago

            Not Aryans. Neither are Islamo-fascists.

            But you know they think their group is superior to others and have a natural or Gawd given right to rule.

          2. Juice   8 years ago

            Read the wiki about it

            1. mad.casual   8 years ago

              While Italian Fascism based its conception of race on spiritual and cultural factors, Mussolini explicitly rejected notions that biologically “pure” races were still considered a relevant factor in racial classification. He claimed that Italianit? had assimilatory capacity.

              So, “yes”, but only if your notions of ‘Aryan’ have nothing to do with racial purity. Awesome.

      3. Jerryskids   8 years ago

        Turd Reich: San Francisco dog owners lay minefield of poo for right-wing rally

        ‘I just had this image of alt-right people stomping around in the poop,’ says the organizer of an unusual protest ahead of Saturday’s Patriot Prayer rally

        When a group of far-right activists come to San Francisco to hold a rally this Saturday, they will be met by peace activists offering them flowers to wear in their hair.

        So there are three rallies going on? Or are we just saying that if you didn’t vote for Bernie Sanders you must be a David Duke supporter?

        1. lafe.long   8 years ago

          One more paragraph and it would’ve been the Nazi Skinhead rally.

    2. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting   8 years ago

      Makes sense that a bunch of San Francisco leftists would get their jollies playing with dog shit.

    3. CE   8 years ago

      I though San Francisco had outlawed pet shops because of the animal cruelty.

  29. BYODB   8 years ago

    Were they children children, or were they children by our standards but armed with AK-47’s? Not that I think the Saudi care, mind you.

  30. Arizona_Guy   8 years ago

    PHX Tear Gas guy arrested

    On one hand, “Play stupid games, get stupid prizes”

    On the other hand, felony assault?

    1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      Wait.

      He was arrested for throwing back smoke bombs they threw at him first? I mean, I don’t know if we can count that as assault at that point.

    2. Arizona_Guy   8 years ago

      “Police say Cobin had posted photos and admitted to the incident on social media before he was located and arrested.”

      Kids these days, with their Bookfaces and Twatters.

      1. loveconstitution1789   8 years ago

        I’ll send you an Instagrahamcracker about it.

  31. Mike Laursen   8 years ago

    I can’t wait to use the line, “For a party named Reason…”

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

The Latest Escalation Between Russia and Ukraine Isn't Changing the Course of the War

Matthew Petti | 6.6.2025 4:28 PM

Marsha Blackburn Wants Secret Police

C.J. Ciaramella | 6.6.2025 3:55 PM

This Small Business Is in Limbo As Owner Sues To Stop Trump's Tariffs

Eric Boehm | 6.6.2025 3:30 PM

A Runner Was Prosecuted for Unapproved Trail Use After the Referring Agency Called It 'Overcriminalization'

Jacob Sullum | 6.6.2025 2:50 PM

Police Blew Up This Innocent Woman's House and Left Her With the Bill. A Judge Says She's Owed $60,000.

Billy Binion | 6.6.2025 1:51 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!