Bowe Bergdahl Avoids Prison Time, Spain Issues Arrest Warrant for Catalan Leader, and Conservatives Want Individual Mandate Repeal Included in Tax Reform: P.M. Links

• 

  Kyodo/Newscom

  Bowe Bergdahl is dishonorably discharged, but escapes prison time.

• The merry prankster who deleted Donald Trump's twitter account is advised to lawyer up.

• Spain issues arrest warrant for Catalan leader.

• Conservatives want Obamacare's individual mandate repealed as part of tax reform.

• National Review's Kevin Williamson on why bureaucracies are bad at stopping terrorism.

• A compelling analysis on why those two recently rescued sailors are probably full of it.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Bowe Bergdahl is dishonorably discharged, but escapes prison time.

Trump can't even do command influence.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

BonJour

[Fist of Etiquette]

In America we talk American.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Shhhhh I'm hunting a Canucki.
*lies in wait*

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

I think Rufus got some poutine on his flannel, so he is riding his moose to the river to clean it.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I forgot to say hello!

TRUMP'S AMERICA!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The merry prankster who deleted Donald Trump's twitter account is advised to lawyer up.

As all heroes are eventually forced to do.

[Mitsima]

Silencing voices we don't like is now heroic. Got it chief, I'll put that out on the wire right away.

[Red Tony]

No need, academia has been all over this one for a while.

[Citizen X - #6]

The merry prankster who deleted Donald Trump's twitter account is advised to lawyer up.

Predicted plea: Not Guilty by reason of excessive wokeness.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I saw some liberal people who were quite happy about his twitter access being cut off. Which is weird to me, you would think think that you'd love it if your enemy was constantly telling your what he's doing.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

They don't "think", they only feel hate.

[Rat on a train]

Weren't they complaining that he blocked someone?

[Tony]

The people who most want his Twitter access cut off are his supporters.

[Agammamon]

Well, you're right about that.

His CoS and/or campaign manager should have snatched the phone out of his little hand and slapped the shit out of him Tyrion style.

[Careless]

Hey, Tony said something we can all agree on!

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Those are people who actually get personally embarrassed when a guy they don't know and didn't vote for does something they don't like.

[Conchfritters]

Merry Prankster? Was he tripping on acid and did he get picked up at the office by Ken Kesey driving a tie dyed bus?

[Citizen X - #6]

Bowe Bergdahl is dishonorably discharged, but escapes prison time.

I bet some particular folks around here are gonna have Opinions about THAT.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

It stinks!

[Rat on a train]

Will they discharge him in Afghanistan?

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Who's rights did he violate again?

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Who's rights did he violate again?

The soldiers that were injured in his search.

Duh.

[Eek Barba Durkle]

His fellow soldiers, after he signed a contract stating he wouldn't abandon them and go over to the enemy in the middle of a combat zone. 8 of my friends died in a massive firefight where they couldn't get air resources on site at least partially due to the Bergdahl searches. Not direct culpability, obviously, but an insight into the reality that one man's actions in a combat zone are much bigger than just that one man.

I have the utmost sympathy for conscientious objectors. If you don't want to be part of war, the time to decide that is before you are on foreign soil, surrounded by people who want everyone relying on you dead.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Ok, fair enough.

[Memory Hole]

But wasn't he mentally ill and shouldn't have been there in the first place to fuck things up?

[Sevo]

Memory Hole|11.3.17 @ 6:03PM|#
"But wasn't he mentally ill and shouldn't have been there in the first place to fuck things up?"

Been reading Vox again, Hole?

[BestUsedCarSales]

I believe that was the official defense from his lawyers too.

[loveconstitution1789]

Nobody's rights. He violated military law, the UCMJ.
Uniform Code of Military Justice

He pled guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

In time of war, the maximum sentence is death. Clearly we are not at war as far as the military is concerned, so he got a Dishonorable Discharge.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Spain issues arrest warrant for Catalan leader.

Maybe if Catalonia had bothered to help us during our revolution we would be returning the favor right now.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Next thing you know, Spain is gonna wanna Florida back.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

*Spain sees Florida Man, changes its mind

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

Next thing you know, Spain is gonna wanna Florida back.

CAN'T HAVE IT!

[CE]

They lost interest in Florida State after the third loss.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Conservatives want Obamacare's individual mandate repealed as part of tax reform.

The only thing keeping it afloat? Are they mad???

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

You know who else was kept afloat by one particular thing, and what that thing was?

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Phileas Fogg, hot air balloon?

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Molly Brown, her unsinkability?

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Edmond Dant?s, thirst for vengeance?

[CE]

Ulysses Everett McGill, by a roll top desk?

[Eidde]

The evil clown, and everything?

[Red Tony]

Blue whales, their relative buoyancy?

[Cy]

Cheech and Chong? Good Vibes.... maaaan.

[CE]

Not mad enough.

[Fist of Etiquette]

National Review's Kevin Williamson on why bureaucracies are bad at stopping terrorism.

But good at everything else!

[Fist of Etiquette]

A compelling analysis on why those two recently rescued sailors are probably full of it.

Just like that Ghostbusters remake, women can't tell even a compelling story without effing it up somehow.

[Square = Circle]

I actually mostly didn't mind the Ghostbusters remake except for one major point that got under my libertarian skin:

The original explicitly made how they financed the operation a central part of the story, including their initial money problems followed by market-based success, and one of the movie's key villains is an over-entitled officious asshole of an EPA regulator. The mayor of New York is presented as cynical and untrustworthy, and in the end is only motivated by an appeal to his political fortunes - and he double crosses them in the second movie anyway.

In the remake, we're never told where the money comes from. Andy Garcia play an affably buffoonish mayor of New York, who clearly is himself only an employee of a grand system that takes care of everything regardless of the buffoonishness of the frontline players.

And the climax of the story result in the Ghostbusters celebrating that they finally got a government grant.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Also, it wasn't funny.

[Square = Circle]

It had its moments, but with Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig it certainly wasn't as funny as it should have been.

Undoubtedly did not hold a candle to the original.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I find them funny in other things, so it's not me hating women comedians (ALTHOUGH I SECRETLY DO), it was simply an uneven movie.

[Square = Circle]

it was simply an uneven movie.

It was - I think for me it was an expectations thing. I expected to hate it, and didn't. But there were things that really bugged me.

Maybe most annoying was the lazy shoe-horning in of the completely two-dimensional black character with a winking "well they did it in the first movie!"

Joking that it's problematic while you're doing the exact same thing is Simpsons-level annoying.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yeah, kind of disappointing. I was excited for Wiig, McCarthy and Paul Feig directing. I like Leslie Jones a bit too, but haven't seen her in much.

I really wonder how much the movie was fucked with over time by producers and higher ups. It became such a crazy thing as time went on.

[Square = Circle]

I really wonder how much the movie was fucked with over time by producers and higher ups.

I've wondered that about a lot of movies ever since I saw the studio-cut of Brazil. One of the worst movies I've ever seen - I completely understand Gilliam suing the studio to get his name off of it.

It made me wonder whether Yellowbeard started out as a good movie originally.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

I have never been able to stay awake through a showing of Brazil.

[Stormy Dragon]

one of the movie's key villains is an over-entitled officious asshole of an EPA regulator

Considering the ghost buster's office was apparently going to explode the moment it suffered a momentary power interruption, Peck kinda had a point about them being dangerous, even if he was an asshole.

[Square = Circle]

Peck kinda had a point about them being dangerous, even if he was an asshole.

And wasn't his way of dealing with that particular observation just what we've come to expect from the EPA.

[Mitsima]

But isn't it just like gov to turn off said critical power rather than saying you've got a week to implement a backup power grid? I'm looking at you Animas River EPA personnel.

[ChipToBeSquare]

They shut down a vital service being provided to the city (keeping ghosts away from humans) just to make a point about regulations not being followed. Had the Ghostbusters released the ghosts back into the world because of their own incompetence, they would have faced a backlash from their consumers who were being haunted again

[Square = Circle]

^ This.

What's wrong with saying "have you guys thought of having an emergency backup generator with an Uninterruptible Power Source and an Automatic Transfer Switch, just in case?"

[Red Tony]

It implies that the Ghostbusters are citizens, not serfs.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Peck didn't know that when he arrived to shut them down, however. All he had was wild stories in the media and suspicion of possibly hazardous waste chemicals in the basement.

So he had a point purely by chance.

[Square = Circle]

That's a good point - Peck only shut it down because he didn't understand what they were doing and Venkman disrespected his authority on his first visit. And they told him in no uncertain terms that shutting off the power would be disastrous, but he did it anyway.

[Crusty Juggler]

Fun fact: all employees of the EPA are eunuchs.

[ChipToBeSquare]

So many 80s movies are centered on a distrust of the government. Look at Die Hard. The street cops have a feel for what's happening. Every time they move up the chain of command, they lose more and more control of the situation. It's such a culture shift that we never really see that anymore. The 90s had a lot of corporations as the villains and I think that represented the end. These days it's occasionally a mix between the two, but the government distrust comes from the wrong person being in charge

[Square = Circle]

Yeah - I'm shocked sometimes going back and watching movies from the 70s where it's just taken for granted as part of the culture that government agencies are stupid and useless at best, sinister and evil at worst.

[loveconstitution1789]

The Charles Bronson Death Wish was all about vigilante justice because the police were so incompetent and crime was so bad.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Haha, oh Christian. I thought you wouldn't do this to us again. I understand though, this is the last time this'll happen. I know you never wanted to hurt us anyway.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

What did he do? Links are in time and they are decent.

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

What did he do?

Oh, stop tilting at windmills.
He is even pissing off Tony.

[Careless]

Yeah, for him these links are fine

[Tony]

So is the guy in the photo Bowe Bergdahl, the Twitter guy, the Catalan leader, a conservative who wants to shit on healthcare, National Review's Kevin Williamson, or a rescued sailor?

Captions: because people want to know what they're looking at.

[Citizen X - #6]

You are so dumb.

[Tony]

I just want this to be the respectable news outlet it strives to be.

[Elias Fakaname]

And I just want you to drink your goddamned drano. So go drink your goddamned drano.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

It's being dragged down by the warmed-over right-wing boilerplate bullshit in the commentariat and by the icky places it gets its money. So I cut the writers a break, Tony.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

If by 'right-wing boilerplate bullshit', you mean defending the 1st amendment, I'm 100% with you.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

The petition you provided isn't remotely related to the 1st Amendment.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Neither is free speech. Think about it.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

You said 1st Amendment. That doesn't have anything to do with people concerned with the undue influence of corporate money on journalism nor does signing a petition designed to combat the influence of said corporate money on what people at NPR report on-- except in a flimsy tangential way. I'm sure you'll obsess over the latter and conflate, as right-wingers are apt to do, a growing disquiet over journalistic standards with Stalinism.

[Square = Circle]

You also want them to stop taking money from Lief, Cabrezer, Hymen & Bernstein, right? And The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Foundation?

Can't have any of that corporate money influencing their opinions!

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Can't have any of that corporate money influencing their opinions!

Yes, that's my preference as well. I'm a socialist for crying out loud. I'd like a news network funded by the government that isn't a mouthpiece for it.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yes, that's my preference as well. I'm a socialist for crying out loud. I'd like a news network funded by the government that isn't a mouthpiece for it.

A news network started by the Trump administration. I like the cut of your jib.

[ChipToBeSquare]

Currently we have networks funded by corporations that are mouthpieces for different parts of the government. And no, Fox is not alone in this. Everyone else gets leaks from the intelligence community and uncritically reports all of them (Russia stuff today, Iraq stuff yesteryear) and sits on potentially damaging stories all the time (see most whistleblowers having to shop around)

I hate to see what happens when the government directly funds them

[Sevo]

"I hate to see what happens when the government directly funds them"

Go to China, get "China Daily" with your breakfast.

[loveconstitution1789]

Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot|11.3.17 @ 7:05PM|#
Yes, that's my preference as well. I'm a socialist for crying out loud. I'd like a news network funded by the government that isn't a mouthpiece for it.

A news outlet funded by the government that does not spout propaganda?

That has never happened in the history of never happenings.

[Square = Circle]

the icky places it gets its money.

Definitely NPR should be shut down immediately.

Will you sign the petition?

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Yes, I signed it. I feel like I'm missing something. Is the suggestion that journalistic standards might be lowered by corporate interests evidence of a crypto-totalitarian streak?

[Square = Circle]

Is the suggestion that journalistic standards might be lowered by corporate interests evidence of a crypto-totalitarian streak?

Or . . . you know . . . you have two . . . different . . . outlets . . . both of which . . . (wait for it) . . . take funding from . . . (wait for it) . . . Koch Industries . . . and yet . . . (wait for it) . . . somehow manage to express wildly different opinions on almost every topic.

But stick with "follow the money" - it makes you seem super smart and not at all intellectually lazy.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

We know the history of government interests when they're in control of the journalistic standards, and it's a spotless history of ethics and integrity beyond reproach.

[CE]

I thought it was Dustin Hoffman. Or an older Harry Potter.

[Citizen X - #6]

A compelling analysis on why those two recently rescued sailors are probably full of it.

I especially like the leaping, coordinated pack of 30-foot-long tiger sharks.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

A compelling analysis on why those two recently rescued sailors are probably full of it.

It's like you guys don't like blockbuster movies. Also I imagine people adrift at sea probably see way more UFOs without them city lights. *hint hint*

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Some of that stuff is debatable. You can definitely store a year's worth of dry food on a boat that size, and not every bluewater boat has SSB. But not turning on your EPIRB? That is very dumb and hard to believe, as are the sharks. Also, for fuck's sake, bring a sextant and know how to use it. These ladies should not be sailing out of the sight of land.

[Elias Fakaname]

Bitches best be gettin' back to the kitchen and bake the menfolk a pie.

[loveconstitution1789]

They are lesbos, so they hate men.

They also hate stuff men like...like being a skilled sailor.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Not turning on the EPIRB, having not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but something like six or seven communication systems failures, and the one designed for this very thing is the one they chose to not turn on?

Also, for fuck's sake, bring a sextant and know how to use it.

Yes, barring that, a couple of hand-held gps's that so many hopelessly lost experienced hikers never think to bring.

[Sevo]

There is also the claim that all of their comm stuff 'went dead' (except the EPIRB).
Sniff...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

What cracks me up about their account, is they're not even trying. It's like a three year old is trying to explain why there's chocolate all over his face.

[Careless]

Sharks training their children to attack boats. One of the stupidest lies I've heard in a long time

[BestUsedCarSales]

Huh, it's one of the most radical one's I've heard...

[Entropy Drehmaschine Void]

When the fuck is somebody gonna teach Britches the Mystical Art of Alt-Text?

WTF?

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

If no alt-text is good enough for the Bible, it is good enough for the PM links.

[CE]

The Bible is chock-block full of alt-text. You just need to read it in the original language, backwards and sideways.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

A compelling analysis on why those two recently rescued sailors are probably full of it.

I thought those bitches looked awfully healthy for eating nothing but carbs for 5 months.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Licking each other's twat seems to be nutritional enough....

[loveconstitution1789]

fish tacos was definitely on the menu.

[Mitsima]

"... Ninth Circuit, covering the state of California, has itself issued rulings at odds with itself ..."

Well you can't get more kangaroo without traveling Down Under.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Bowe Bergdahl is dishonorably discharged, but escapes prison time.

It's a good thing Trump saved his life and freedom at the very last moment, by suggesting in a tweet he should be executed. Of only he tweeted that the last thibg we beed are tax cuts, the money would be flowing back to our pockets almoat immediately...

The merry prankster who deleted Donald Trump's twitter account is advised to lawyer up.

He couldn't take all this winning, either.

[Dead inside]

Pennsylvania man is quickly replacing Florida man in the world of WTF behavior.

http://triblive.com/state/penn.....to-opossum

[BestUsedCarSales]

Sounds like three dudes who are a little too into Terrible,Terrible,Terrible.

[Stormy Dragon]

"Giving beer to" is not the same thing as "Holding down and pouring beer over head of", Mr. Headline Writer.

[Isaac Bartram]

I've said before that since barely a third of Florida's residents are native-born most Florida men originally came from Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

National Review's Kevin Williamson on why bureaucracies are bad at stopping terrorism.

Well, he doesn't say why per se, but he does suggest one thing: that bureaucracies, especially the better-funded ones, exist to collect loot from us victims and not to follow future criminals like they do in the movies.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

There are pretty obvious ways to decreasing the tax burden on poor and middle class workers. If that's what Republicans want to do they could pretty easily decrease the rate at which a worker who makes, say, 50k/yr by decreasing the rate which they pay into SOCIAL Security and supplant that lost tax revenue by charging a person who makes 500k/yr the same rate. I think it would take a pretty good accountant 15 hard minutes on Excel to figure out what that rate should be. Take note flat tax aficionados!

So why is it that as a upper-quadrant middle class taxpayer I have to hire an accountant to figure out whether I will benefit under this Glorious Plan literally kissed by Dear Leader's lips? I guess I don't understand the benevolence of Dear Leader and his Republican angels. What am I missing, oh flingers of right-wing bullshit?

[CE]

It took me five minutes to figure out I would pay more. I live in California.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

I thought the whole idea for Republicans was to tax us less. Why am I paying the same or slightly more. ITS MY MONEY, REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES!

[Square = Circle]

Yeah. And no one here ever points out that the Republicans are lying sacks of shit when it comes to promising to lower taxes and reduce spending.

No. One.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

I never said that. Most of the time someone here is bitching about Republicans. It's just when push comes to shove you all end up bending backwards to justify a vote for Republicans-- gay bashing and war mongering aside. I'd never stoop to that. Talk about icky.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I mean, if you're going to descend to calling others icky than I'm just going to point out that you actively disbelieve rape is a bad thing.

[ChipToBeSquare]

Speaking of justifying a vote for a gay bashing warmonger, did you vote for Hillary? How about Obama in his second campaign, after he became a warmonger? Or in his first campaign, when he explicitly stated that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman? I would assume no, you sometimes indicate a distaste for mainstream Dems, but did you also bash everyone who did with this much vigor?

Also, isn't it odd that Trump posed with a rainbow flag at one of his rallies and is the first president in history to go into office supporting gay marriage? Pence was literally an olive branch to the evangelical right because Trump wasn't seen as a sincere social conservative

And no I did not vote for Trump. I've literally never voted GOP

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Yeah, you pay taxes. Sure you do.

[Sevo]

"ITS MY MONEY, REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES!"

Because, you stupid shit, you voted for CA high taxes!
Besides which, you and your idiot compatriots have made CA a one-party state. Please explain to me why Rs should give one fuck about stupid lefties having to pay higher taxes.

[Bubba Jones]

If your tax bill is going up, it is probably because you are losing some deductions for state taxes and mortgage interest.

In which case it isn't a tax increase. It is a reduced subsidy for your California lifestyle.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

You sure about that? That 260-417k band is firmly in AMT territory which means no deduction for state and local taxes anyway. Personal exemption is replaced by AMT exemption with a phaseout.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Hey, where is John? He was on a roll this morning with his IMMIGRANTS OUT!! arguments and getting lots of slaps on the ass from libertarians while employing it. Is he here?

[Stormy Dragon]

He had to leave early to go dress for a rally.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Suggesting that one's animosity towards immigrants is driven by racism and not the pure motivations of Trump supporters concerned about terrorism is absolutely fucking verboten, Stormy. You should be ashamed of yourself. How much is Soros paying you?

[Square = Circle]

You just kind of live in your own little world, don't you?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Joe? Been a while. How's Lowell?

[Sevo]

Joe wasn't THIS dumb

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's Palin's Buttplug. He got sick of everyone calling him out on the rape thing so he switched back.

[Mock-star]

I thought it was AmSoc

[ChipToBeSquare]

Don't be silly. If everyone on the left was being paid by Soros, your mortgage would have been taken care of for you

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

OMG I just had an epiphany -- I need to stop spreading content and articles of a rational and non-progressive kind, the sort that advocate union rather than division and racial hatred.

No I will send my friends only the most genocidal progressive content and spare them my two cents. Perhaps if they see silliness come from their own team without an antagonist present they will be forced to recognize the destructive nature of their platform.

I mean there is enough content out there calling for the death, dishonor, or degradation of one's neighbors to keep me posting for weeks.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

You mean like this?

@realDonaldTrump
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Little Rocket Man was my nickname in barber college.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

Nah ya missed the mark, but you're obsessive so I don't expect anything but "Trump something" from you. I'm less on a Trump bend with my remarks and more on a Robby horse. At least with regards to the conversation I was just having.

A buddy stated he "shivers at the thought" of "privileged white people" discussing racial issues. I chided him for starting the conversation about... Tarantino's liberal usage of the N-word in movies... Even though he brought it up I think he had a mental freak out when he realized white people were discussing the contexts of when racial stuff is OK or not.

Such a disposition is simply not conducive to real life. The amount of thought policing it takes to limit dialogue to color pallet is not only asinine but also an impediment to true human progress imo.

[Eidde]

Here's the most uses of the n-word in a single song.

(starts at the 40 second mark)

[Bubba Jones]

So he started a conversation about race and then proceeded to say he shouldn't be allowed to discuss race?

Nice.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

More like this. Time to punish our enemies.

[Tom Bombadil]

New tax law draft eliminates gov subsidies for electric cars.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/

2017/11/02/tesla_share_price_drop_tax_break/

[BestUsedCarSales]

Good.

[Crusty Juggler]

New sports league features MMA-style combat in medieval armor

Meet Alexa Bennett.

"You put that helmet on, and you feel really cool," she said.

Bennett is a computer science student who said she had no confidence when walked into her first practice 10 months ago.

"I went through a massive transformation after I started the Armored Combat League," she said. "I was super overweight. I just joined in December (2016). I was 230 pounds."

She went from a size 16 pant to a size 10. But she said the real transformation has been in her self-esteem.

"When you go out there, you're in armor," she said. "You're not invincible, very clearly not invincible. The armor does its job, but we still get bumps and bruises. But it gives you a whole emotional confidence level."

''

Nerds must be stopped!

[Crusty Juggler]

The Forgotten Italian Tradition of Building Monumental Food Palaces

In 1768, Austrian princess Maria Carolina married Ferdinand IV, the king of Naples. To celebrate, they had a magnificent, fake fortress built in front of the Neapolitan royal palace and decorated with delicious food. At a signal from the king, a mob of Neapolitan commoners waded through a moat stocked with live fish, slipped through the mud, and grabbed all the food, to the delight of the noble spectators.

The event was a tradition of Naples and other Italian cities, because nothing caps off a royal wedding or holiday like watching hungry people fight for food. Temporary temples, pyramids, and castles were plastered in roasts, bread, and cheese, which the poor risked their lives to gather.

This is the world libertarians want.

[ChipToBeSquare]

Minus the bit about the government holding the events. I'd prefer it was a monocle-wearing oil baron conducting this on his private road that was built through child labor. Otherwise it seems like a voluntary transaction that results in starving people being fed. So what if there's an entertainment factor involved?

[Red Tony]

Well, there's the fact that the food was probably paid for through taxation (or claimed through taxation), for one thing. Along with this, there's the fact that it's a more wasteful use of a scarce resource, given that some food is going to be wasted (falls into the moat, isn't noticed, ends up being stolen by birds/squirrels/insects/other wildlife that might wander onto the grounds). Furthermore, there's the fact that (assuming the basic economic supply/demand model) the food that was purchased lowers the supply, therefore increasing the price of food for everyone else.

So there are actually downsides in that it would probably be better overall for the food to be on the market rather than purchased for use in a food palace. (Note that I'm not even gonna get into the kinda morally icky prospect of watching poor people fight over food; I suspect that's not really relevant to your question although that appears to be what the author of the piece found most disturbing.)

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm glad we really came together to finally shut Crusty (Tulpa) down.

[loveconstitution1789]

The global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has now passed 400 parts per million (ppm), a level that last occurred about 3 million years ago, when both global average temperature and sea level were significantly higher than today. Continued growth in CO2 emissions over this century and beyond would lead to an atmospheric concentration not experienced in tens to hundreds of millions of years. There is broad consensus that the further and the faster the Earth system is pushed towards warming, the greater the risk of unanticipated changes and impacts, some of which are potentially large and irreversible.
Climate Change executive summary
Damn, humans raising Earth's temperature 3 Million years ago and then again since 1900.

They are right, raising Earth's temp and CO2 concentration will never be reversible....until the Earth's climate adjusts the way it did in the past.

Looks like a last hurrah for all these bureaucrat "scientists" before they get pink slips with this 2018 budget.