Texas Shooter's In-Laws Attended Targeted Church, Woman Fired for Flipping Off Trump, Weiner Readied for Hard Time: P.M. Links

• 

  Nick Wagner/TNS/Newscom

  The church targeted by the Texas shooter was also the church that his mother-in-law attended, and he had been sending her threatening texts, according to authorities. She was not at the church at the time of the attack. His grandmother-in-law, though, is reportedly one of the victims.

• The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. last year says that he strongly suggested that a law targeting Russia for sanctions would be reviewed if his dad was elected and also asked if Russia had any evidence of illegal contributions to Hillary Clinton's campaign.
• A woman who was photographed flipping the bird at President Donald Trump's motorcade has apparently been fired over it.
• The neighbor accused of assaulting Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) outside his home over the weekend has been released on bail. We still do not know why the attack happened. A statement provided to Fox News by the defendant's lawyer says the fight had nothing to do with politics or differences in political opinions: "It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."
• Anthony Weiner reports to prison today for 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.
• Sources tell CNBC that 21st Century Fox has been in discussions with Disney about selling most of their company to Disney. This matters to Marvel comics junkies, because this could potentially allow the X-Men and the Avengers "universes" to be merged together the way God and Stan Lee (assuming these are two different entities) intended.
• The Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is coming to the defense of a blogger sent a threatening letter by a lawyer representing Taylor Swift. The blogger wrote a post about how apparently some white supremacists embrace her music, and she apparently is not able to shake it off.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The church targeted by the Texas shooter was also the church that his mother-in-law attended...

Could it all really be that banal?

[John]

Have you seen the pictures of this guy? Yeah, it could be that banal. In fact, when you look at how stupid and crazy he looks, it is almost certain to be that banal.

[Rich]

The list of awful stuff he'd done goes on and on. What a piece of work! 8-(

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Word on the street is that you're both into banal. I might be adding a letter to that last word.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

They love Eric Bana? I mean, who doesn't?

[swoons]

[BestUsedCarSales]

No, they're all into Baal. Which would definitely explain why he targeted a Judeo-Christian church.

[Paloma]

They have Judeo-Christian churches?

[Paloma]

I thought it was Baptist.

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's a Judeo-Christian God being worshipped. Baal and him go waaaaay back.

[Citizen X - #6]

I, for one, will continue to interpret this tragedy as a direct support of my preexisting worldview!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Atheist jihadists were bound to be a thing.

[Rich]

Nice band name.

[SIV]

TRAVEL BAN

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

No, that is not a good band name, SIV. Try again.

[Ska]

DENTAL PLAN

Lisa needs braces.

[Mickey Rat]

Their big coming out party was 100 years ago this week.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Salut.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

I leave for 35 minutes and all you guys are good for is 49 comments?

Sheesh.

How far this place has fallen.

/crushes FOE's sunglasses.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They're prescription.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Not no more they ain't.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm here now. I'll shit up the links for a bit, see if we can't get over 100.

[loveconstitution1789]

Happy Birthday to the ground!

[Robert]

10 million comedians can't be wrong.

[Citizen X - #6]

"It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."

Somebody's dog pooped on somebody else's lawn again, didn't it.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Or his neighbor put up a garden gnome that Rand thought looked like his dad, and Rand took offence and proceeded to disregard the NAP and stomp the gnome into pieces.

[AlmightyJB]

I'm just going to stop reading the news stories on it and assume that's what happened.

[Eek Barba Durkle]

"A struggle ensued, leading to the dog's poop being discharged."

[BestUsedCarSales]

If fisting someone because their dog pooped your lawn is trivial than that would mean that I am a trivial person. And we all know that's silly.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Jesus. Well, I guess that is one way to keep the neighbors off your lawn.

[Ska]

Unless they're 18 year old Russians.

Um, into it.... I meant to say into it.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

...or get them to keep coming back... amirite?

[Chinny Chin Chin]

boingboing has a post up on this, and the comments are marvelous. Like this individual who clearly knows and understands libertarians:

He's a Libertarian so I assume he was blowing his grass and leave clippings into his neighbors yard. :-/

And then there's this paragon of tolerance:

an injunction against unnecessary violence seems fairly solid from my own ethical once-around.

[Get To Da Chippah]

Yeah, but it was a socialist attacking a GOP deploranazi. That qualifies as necessary violence by any leftist standard.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. last year says that he strongly suggested that a law targeting Russia for sanctions would be reviewed if his dad was elected...

In Russia, privilege client attorney.

[BYODB]

What's that? The President of the United States might review sanctions laws?

STOP THE PRESSES!

[damikesc]

No, he didn't say he would. He MIGHT.

THE PRESIDENT MIGHT DO SOMETHING!!! AAAIIIEEEEE!!!!

I feel bad insulting nothingburgers by comparing them to this nonsense.

[Bra Ket]

He didn't even say he might, he only "strongly suggested" he might.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Anthony Weiner reports to prison today for 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.

Yet pussy-grabbing is completely legal.

[John]

Only when Trump does it. The rules don't apply to him just like you didn't want them to apply to Hillary. Suck it retard.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Trump should just pardon Weiner and Weinstein as fellow sexual predators.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Has anyone stepped forward about being assaulted by Trump?

[Palin's Buttplug]

at least a dozen with links to primary source:

https://goo.gl/gfQAGD

[loveconstitution1789]

So criminal charges have been filed and the offenses were not past the statute of limitations?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Has anyone stepped forward about being assaulted by Trump?

Read the fucking question, you airhead.

[Fuck =><= sevo]

You first.

[damikesc]

Funny, the only known sexual predator in that election was Hillary's husband.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Hey, conclusions were drawn about that.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

+1 presidential kneepads.

[Bubba Jones]

It is only harassment if she says it is.

[Citizen X - #6]

^dirtbag

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's sickening to see how much PB supports Trump rapacious worldview.

[Domestic Dissident]

"Left-liberal democrat rapists and child sex offenders are awesome!"

-Dipshit Dave Weigel

[Longtobefree]

Well, technically it is locker room bragging about pussy grabbing that is legal, as in free speech.

News flash; like the internet, a lot of locker room bragging is total BS.

[Philadelphia Collins]

Trump's words are worse than Weinstein's actions.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Shrike, you should change your handle to "What About Palin's Buttplug?"

[Rebel Scum]

Yet pussy-grabbing is completely legal.

With implied consent, yes, yes it is.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A woman who was photographed flipping the bird at President Donald Trump's motorcade has apparently been fired over it.

Her job was to give him the double finger. Half-asser.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

You can't lead with the double finger. You gotta start with the single.

[Red Tony]

Oh yes you can. Oh YES you CAN.

[Ska]

Martin Freeman agrees.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."

Most neighbors can shrug off drone warfare differences.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...also asked if Russia had any evidence of illegal contributions to Hillary Clinton's campaign.

They never would have if they had any idea the access they bought was going to be useless.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...this could potentially allow the X-Men and the Avengers "universes" to be merged together the way God and Stan Lee (assuming these are two different entities) intended.

They already did the registration storyline without the mutants. Also, Logan would have been a good way to put a cap on the X-Men films.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Yep. Logan was a good movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I could watch him and Charles bicker all day.

[Charles Easterly]

I could watch him and Charles bicker all day.

For the record, I have never bickered with Logan.

Regardless of my reason or reasons, if I started doing so, Fist, your watching the bickering "all day" might cause you to miss a significant number of opportunities to be the individual who posts the first comment on H&R. You would not want to take that chance, would you?

[Fist of Etiquette]

My mutant ability is multitasking across realities.

[CE]

Any way is a good way to wrap up the X-Men films.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The blogger wrote a post about how apparently some white supremacists embrace her music, and she apparently is not able to shake it off.

I can see the ACLU jumping on this one.

[CE]

Look what you made her do.

[Rich]

"It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."

"The guy's hair just drives me up the wall!"

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

"The man wears turtlenecks in the summer!"

[BestUsedCarSales]

If I was on the jury, and I learned that Paul was assaulted for his hair being too damn curly I would immediately vote not-guilty. I would shout it in court and cause a mistrial.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Trump's Tax Cut Would Be Smaller Than Obama's, Analysis Says

https://goo.gl/fNc77h

[mad.casual]

If we'd elected Hillary it would still be a racist dick-measuring contest, right? Even if we assume she doesn't have a penis, as long as one person is of a different race and the winner's dick is measured, it's a racist dick-measuring contest.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Sorry to disappoint you but the article really is about taxes.

[mad.casual]

You say it's really about taxes like the money exists and they are collecting it from earned incomes or goods produced and transferred or similar rather than just borrowing it on reputation, collecting it, and then cutting their collections a little bit.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|11.6.17 @ 4:56PM|#
"Sorry to disappoint you but the article really is about taxes."

You lost, turd. Get over it.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Sadly, no one is talking about spending on either side.

[Palin's Buttplug]

They leave that to the other party.

[Pro Libertate]

Neither party ever will. How many members of Congress support real spending cuts? Ten? And I suspect that's an overestimate. Bigger changes than we currently can expect will have to happen for that prediction to fail. If we're bailed out, it'll be some gargantuan technological advance or space aliens, not our pathetic "government."

[CE]

You mean Obama's penal-tax cut? Or his 3.9 percent Medicare surcharge tax cut?

[MarkLastname]

So if I steal $30 from you and give 20 back, you'd say I'm more generous than the guy who 'only' gave you $10?

Math is hard for you, isn't it?

[Rich]

A woman who was photographed flipping the bird at President Donald Trump's motorcade has apparently been fired over it.

Obviously the solution is for her to sue the photographer.

[Longtobefree]

And she was shocked, shocked, to learn that there is a difference between being an employee and a contractor.
Legally, her contract was terminated for violating a clause in the contract.
Welcome to the swamp.

[loveconstitution1789]

Trump will NOT be getting credit for draining that small part of the swamp.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Anthony Weiner reports to prison today for 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.

It's either lucky or unfortunate for him that this came out before the #MeTooPocalypse.

[Red Tony]

What I wanna know is whether or not Carlos Danger is still on the loose.

[Palin's Buttplug]

We already had a Red Tony (John).

[Citizen X - #6]

Leave the new guy alone, Blue Mikey.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Is Red Tony John or not, damnit?

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's probably Tulpa/Weigel/Hihn is my guess.

[Red Tony]

Who is tulpa anyway? I hear that name being tossed around (and apparently EVERYONE is tulpa), but I don't know who it is. What's the backstory?

[Nwallins]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa

The abyss that stares back at you

[Griffin3]

We're all Tulpa down here.

[Procyon Rotor]

There's an easy way to tell whether it's Hihn. Tell him antifa started the violence in Charlottesville and see how he responds.

[Red Tony]

Aggression!

Rotor, you are being very aggressive by bringing up Charlottesville. It is the most aggressive thing you could possibly do! I'm so angry I'm bolding random words because you are being aggressive!

Random rant about Ron Paul, slavery, who cares I never really read his stuff, followed by coming back way after anybody still cares in order to post more so that people reading over the thread in the future think I had the last word and defeated you in verbal combat.

[BestUsedCarSales]

(snicker)

[Mock-star]

Needs more BULLY!

[Morbo]

Who is tulpa anyway? I hear that name being tossed around (and apparently EVERYONE is tulpa), but I don't know who it is. What's the backstory?

Tulpa was a troll who liked to use sockpuppets. He got caught once when he accidentally forgot to change his handle during an argument. That's why everybody is Tulpa, because you can never be sure.

[Red Tony]

Thanks Morbo!

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

But who's Morbo?

[CE]

Shouldn't he get 3 years, just to be safe?

[Rich]

apparently some white supremacists embrace her music, and she apparently is not able to shake it off.

Apparently she's not shaking her booty!

[CE]

So making disparaging comments about her fans is off limits too?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Texans talked about adding Colin Kaepernick after Deshaun Watson injury

https://goo.gl/fP6W6x

Wingnut heads explode.

[John]

Another bad quarterback gets a job in the NFL. I am sure lots of people are going to care about that.

[Red Tony]

Actually, now that I think about it, Houston might fit for Kaep given that Watson's legs were doing a fair amount (not to undersell his arm or how great he was doing). And Kaep might be an upgrade over Savage?although it's hard to say.

[John]

Watson was basically throwing the ball up for grabs and letting Houston's very talented receiving corps do the rest. He is going to be easier to replace than people think.

[Red Tony]

I dunno; if it was that simple, Houston probably would've put up more than 14 on the poor Indianapolis defense with Savage and wouldn't have been able to put up 39 on Seattle with Watson. Even though Watson's certainly gotten help from Hopkins and an improved Fuller I suspect that he was doing more than just throwing it up.

(Although, if it's a throw-it-up-for-grabs thing, Kaepernick totally doesn't fit given how inaccurate he is.)

[Palin's Buttplug]

Houston's defense scored seven on a fumble runback. Their offense stunk with Savage.

[damikesc]

Did you see the 49'ers offense the last time Kaep played?

People keep saying "Well, he's better than this guy".

Well, he's worse than RG 3 and Tebow and I don't see people demanding him start games.

[Red Tony]

As a Broncos fan: Tebow was worse. He was. Trust me on this.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I still demand a return for Tebow, but I only demand it through prayer.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

He could end the kneeling controversy by teaching everyone to do it properly.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Did you see the 49'ers offense the last time Kaep played?

Yeah, they were no good. The NFL adjusted to the read-option. Kaep is kaput.

[Bubba Jones]

Savage was unable to throw the ball as far and fast as the receivers could run. He was literally bouncing the balls to them on crossing routes.

If Kap can simply heave the ball down the field...

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Watson was basically throwing the ball up for grabs and letting Houston's very talented receiving corps"

Basically, he's Eli Manning.

[CE]

Watson is the real deal. The Browns let their fans down one more time by not drafting him.

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

His numbers for a rookie were tops on the all-time charts list.

[MarkLastname]

"The Browns let their fans down"
That's all you need to say. Since the beginning of time till the end of tkme, nothing has or will be truer.

[damikesc]

As somebody who LOATHES Watson (his Clemson teams made my South Carolina teams their bitch for most if not all of his tenure), he was a solid rookie from what I've gathered.

[John]

And Kapernick got hurt. His legs are not what they were. It is why his performance cratered so badly.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is the year of the disappearing QB. Mostly due to injury (Luck, Watson, Rodgers, Winston, more) but also bad play. Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers are playing like they are done for. Cam Newton's numbers stink.

[CE]

Carolina is 6-3 and can't run the ball. Newton is doing okay.

[CE]

Carolina is 6-3 and can't run the ball. Newton is doing okay.

[John]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politic.....d_ms_tw_ma

The Rand Paul attack is another case of leftist political violence.

[Rufus The Monocled]

See my shocked face?

It's a big one!

[Longtobefree]

Trump's is bigger.

[loveconstitution1789]

But is it YUGE?

[Citizen X - #6]

The Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is coming to the defense of a blogger sent a threatening letter by a lawyer representing Taylor Swift. The blogger wrote a post about how apparently some white supremacists embrace her music, and she apparently is not able to shake it off.

Goddammit, Shaquille.

[Rich]

Anthony Weiner reports to prison today for 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.

"Weiner In Slammer, Shrinks Into Obscurity"

[Half-Virtue, Half-Vice]

+1 unpaid internship

[lafe.long]

Four Viral Claims Spread by Journalists on Twitter in the Last Week Alone That Are False

THERE IS AMPLE talk, particularly of late, about the threats posed by social media to democracy and political discourse. Yet one of the primary ways that democracy is degraded by platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is, for obvious reasons, typically ignored in such discussions: the way they are used by American journalists to endorse factually false claims that quickly spread and become viral, entrenched into narratives, and thus can never be adequately corrected.

[BYODB]

"It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."

First thought? Property line dispute.

[BestUsedCarSales]

"Most people would regard as trivial..."

It was probably about whether we should be actively killing people in foreign lands without any Congressional sanction.

[BYODB]

I doubt it was political, there are so many reasons to kill one's neighbor after all and their political leanings is pretty damn low on that list.

There was another guy up above somewhere stating that it was a dog poop issue as a joke, but honestly that's more likely in my book than a political disagreement. If for no other reason than because you'd need to be retarded to actually beat the ever living shit out of a Senator. And lets be honest, it sounds like Rand got the ever-living shit kicked out of him.

It's bad enough that I actually wonder if the neighbor ran him over with a golf-cart or something. It doesn't sound like his injuries were from 'just a beating' to me.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I doubt it was political, there are so many reasons to kill one's neighbor after all and their political leanings is pretty damn low on that list.

I'm pretty sure drone warfare isn't political these days. It's just common-sense worldwide policing policy.

[BYODB]

?Sources tell CNBC that 21st Century Fox has been in discussions with Disney about selling most of their company to Disney. This matters to Marvel comics junkies, because this could potentially allow the X-Men and the Avengers "universes" to be merged together the way God and Stan Lee (assuming these are two different entities) intended.

Jesus fucking Christ, is it time for an anti-trust suit against Disney?

[Eidde]

Civil War!

[BYODB]

Ugh, yeah. Case in point on why I don't go and see superhero movies anymore. The last one they tricked me on was Dr. Strange. Never again.

Between that and Star Wars, Disney owns most of Hollywood at this point.

[AlmightyJB]

I didn't care much for Civil War. I had heard Dr. Strange was good (I was never into his comics as a kid). Guess you didn't like it.

[Overt]

Dr Strange was ok (Purely a $20 movie- worth buying on streaming).

Just saw Thor, and I had a lot of fun.

[BYODB]

If you're the type of person who can say Dr. Strange was an 'ok movie' than I must question your sanity. It was not a movie, it was a loose collection of terrible elements that were welded onto one another with a kaleidoscope.

They are all fire-and-forget films. I doubt most people could even remember the meaningful plot elements from the big-name Marvel franchise unless they're already a mega fan of those underlying series.

[AlmightyJB]

Cool. Yeah, I plan on seeing Thor next weekend. I liked the first two, probably my favorite marvel movies. I always liked the Thor comics as well. I liked the Iron Man movies too. Too bad Stark has turned into a total asshole in the last couple Avengers movies. I think that's just a sign of the times in the comic book world today though.

[BYODB]

Could be. For the record I'm more of a Sci-Fi geek than a superhero guy anyway but I always thought superhero's were kind of neat.

Somehow, Marvel managed to ruin all my interest with their cookie cutter films that basically function as a legal minting machine so they can just create their own dollars. It's brilliant, but I wonder how long the Marvel movie model can really last since they really are almost blow-by-blow the same movies. I'm willing to wager that people are impressed enough by beautiful explosions and low-cut costumes that they can keep it going for quite some time, even with only the one plot.

Star Wars is already showing cracks in the model (not financially, mind you) and they're only two or so movies into it. Needless to say, I'm not their target audience so my opinion is really not valid but it's a wonder that people don't notice.

What I'm really wondering about is what happens when they run out of small-time but talented Directors to make their off-brand films actually good. They suck the creativity out of their bones and leave nothing but a husk behind, from what I've seen, but becoming richer than God is probably alluring.

[AlmightyJB]

I've only seen the first of the new Star Wars movies and thought it sucked. The previews for the 2nd one or whatever they called that were not not enticing at all. In would say that none of the Star Wars sequels hold a candle to the original. The original has to get props because there was nothing else like that at the time. The second prequel trilogy was nothing but eye candy.

[Morbo]

but I always thought superhero's were kind of neat.

PLURALIZATION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

[Robert]

I thought superheroes were sci-fi.

[BYODB]

I know virtually nothing about comic books, I just know the movies. As movies, they are about as 'safe' as you can make them. They take zero risks, use the same shots and framing for everything, and are basically as consumerist as you can possibly make a modern film. They are devoid of joy.

Put them up next to something interesting in their own franchise, like the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, and you realize they're so stale that the only thing keeping them alive is the explode-o-meter.

That said, the whole planet Hulk thing or whatever they're doing looks like it could be interesting enough to watch on Netflix at some point. I'm just over paying top dollar for what is conceptually the same god damn movie remade 100 times over again.

[AlmightyJB]

Most of the time I wait until the dollar theater. I at least do the matinee. I usually know what I'm getting and set expectations accordingly. They're not going to deal with existential questions regarding the life of a super powerful being. At least not in anything but a superficial way.

[BYODB]

They did try to do the existential thing, once, with Superman and we all saw how well that was received. If not for it's terrible and frankly ultra-retarded ending, Superman was actually one of my favorite attempts to do a Superman movie. The backlash against the things I actually thought were amazing was palpable, and they won't be making another movie I like again because the market punishes them for it.

Ugh. It sucks getting old.

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, Man if Steel was pretty good. I liked comic books at a very young age, probably until I was 9 or 10. So it's fun for me to see those characters come to life on the big screen. We watched Avengers: Age of Ultron the other day and I was actually kind of bored with it.

[BYODB]

The allegory of the The Republic vs. Statist Douchebags in Man of Steel was just subtle enough that most people appeared to completely miss it at the time, which was sad because it was a great underpinning for Superman (not that it was that subtle, maybe people are just that dumb...). That, along with his 'weakness' being the fact that his battles to fight evil sort of just makes everything worse.

Like, if you need to call in Superman you're desperate enough to throw water on a grease fire sort of 'worse', although that's the obvious reason behind the hyper-retarded ending. The director pussed out because, y'know, they want to make money. I can't fault them there but it would have been nice for a superhero picture to admit that mostly superhero's just get a fuck ton of completely innocent people killed in their quest to 'save them'.

It's a very different mentality from the superhero stories I do remember where they would accept basically no loss of life. Weird how times have changed.

[EscherEnigma]

anti-trust?

How anti-capitalist of you.

[Eidde]

"21-month sentence"

You mean a year and nine months?

Why does the media cooperate in this whole calculating-sentences-by-month thing? At least report the years in parentheses, e.g/ "a prison sentence of forty-three months (about three years and seven months)."

The reader is bound to ask "how much is that in years" - why not answer the reader's questions?

[mad.casual]

Years is patriarchal. It should be a 7-trimester sentence for sexting a girl who'd only had 1-2 dozen ovulation cycles.

[Overt]

Um...most of us can divide by 12?

[Eidde]

Of course most readers have better math skills than journalists. That's not the point. I mean, many readers could probably write better articles than the journalists, it's just that these readers are doing other things.

The journalist is the one reporting the story, and should take the trouble to figure out the years.

[BYODB]

It seems as if they count by the month because if people thought about what it was in years they would be pissed off by how low the sentences were.

Yeah, you could just divide by twelve but we both know most people aren't going to bother. They see 21 months and think 'that sounds like a long time!'.

[Eidde]

Yeah, if you just report the months, it makes sound as if Weiner is doing to do...

...wait, let me get my sunglasses...

hard time.

[BYODB]

Nice!

I'm guessing that if you asked your average person on the street what the punishment length should be for a guy like Weiner they wouldn't say '21 months' or '1.75 years' though. It's not like this is his first time around the Mulberry Bush.

[AlmightyJB]

21 months is a long time. Not that I'm losing a seconds sleep because of Weiner being in there for that long. I wouldn't be surprised if he does this shit again. He's got something wrong with him.

[Eidde]

You're saying he's a hardened criminal?

[CE]

You're going to the big house. For 120 to 240. Months.

[Palin's Buttplug]

ObamaCare signups surge in early days to set new record

http://thehill.com/policy/heal.....new-record

DEATH SPIRAL! BLOOP! DERP! BENGHAZI!!!!

[BYODB]

On the first day of enrollment alone, Nov. 1, one source close to the process told The Hill that more than 200,000 people selected a plan for 2018, compared to around 100,000 last year. More than 1 million people visited healthcare.gov that day, compared to around 750,000 last year, the source said.

It is still early in the process and it is unclear how the final sign-up numbers will come out. Sign-ups early in the enrollment season are often people renewing their coverage, not new enrollees.

Standard & Poor's forecasted last week that enrollment could drop by as much as 1.6 million people below last year's level of 12.2 million signups, in part due to uncertainty from the administration's actions.

Yeah, I wouldn't hold your breath.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Also there has been a big social media push to sign up and stuff due to the shortened window. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a frontloading.

Though, I'm not sure the metric for solvency of a program should be "A lot of people signed up for it" anyway.

[mad.casual]

So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a frontloading.

Turns out if you narrow the window, people sign up for mandatory shit faster. Nearly as astounding as discovering that they get on board faster and can be packed in more tightly if you do it literally at gunpoint.

[Bubba Jones]

From your link

"Sign-ups early in the enrollment season are often people renewing their coverage, not new enrollees. "

[Palin's Buttplug]

Still not a "death spiral" which I heard here for three years.

The ACA is in fact a marketplace (not a free market) and markets work.

[BYODB]

You don't know what makes a death spiral, do you?

Hint: can you point to a system with guaranteed issue and community rating that hasn't gone into a death spiral?

[BYODB]

And another question would be 'what are rates doing' which that article, of course, makes no mention of.

[loveconstitution1789]

Does it count as a death spiral when health insurance companies leave because they are bleeding money?

Of course it does, Butt.

[Sevo]

"The ACA is in fact a marketplace (not a free market) and markets work."

So was the place that sold shoes in the USSR you fucking idiot.

[MarkLastname]

Are premiums not going up in your universe!

[loveconstitution1789]

Wasn't every year a new record of signups and then hundreds of thousands of people never pay their first payment, so the insurance is cancelled?

I personally have signed up 100 imaginary people to make the numbers look better... then they don't. Its also fun to overload the website on the first and last day of signups.

[MarkLastname]

Remind us again what a libertarian you are between bouts of cheerleading for government controlled healthcare.

[ChipToBeSquare]

"Anthony Weiner reports to prison today for 21-month sentence for sexting with a 15-year-old girl."

A reminder to everyone on the left who used the Weinstein thing to point out that Trump was also an alleged predator and was elected president:

Hillary's cozy relationship with a now-convicted pedophile is perhaps the biggest reason that she lost the election. If Anthony Weiner isn't in her inner circle, she pulls out the victory because the FBI never has to announce that they found anything on his computer. Out of some ridiculous coincidence, both her and her best friend married men who are predators at worst, and amoral womanizers at best (I'm always undecided on where Bill falls)

Are you sure you have the moral high ground here?

[BYODB]

Sleaze gravitates to sleaze. It's not a coincidence, I'd say.

[ChipToBeSquare]

You sound conspiratorial if you suggest that a shockingly high number of people in Hollywood, the media, religious institutions, and politics seem to like to use their authority to sexually abuse vulnerable people, and that they might hide their abuse behind an incredibly moralistic ideology like progressivism or religious extremism (but I repeat myself)

And I'm sure that if it did seem to happen at an abnormally high rate, everyone would cast those predators out rather than protecting them to ensure their own financial or political safety. After all, these people lecture us common folk all the time about how to live a moral life. I'm sure they practice what they preach when their colleagues are shitty people

[Procyon Rotor]

Is now the right time to engage in insufferable pedantry with regards to sloppy use of the word pedophile? I submit that it is.

First, Weiner isn't a convicted pedophile because pedophilia isn't a crime. It's a mental disorder. He was convicted of transfer of obscene material to a minor. Second, Weiner isn't a pedophile because pedophilia is a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. The girl in this case was not prepubescent, and in any case minors are not his primary or exclusive objects of attraction. He just has a bizarre compulsion to send pictures of his junk to women, regardless of their age apparently.

[Eidde]

I don't see anything obscene about these junk pictures

(Safe For Work)

[Bra Ket]

"Is now the right time to engage in insufferable pedantry with regards to sloppy use of the word pedophile? I submit that it is."

Sure if you want everyone to look at you suspiciously.

[damikesc]

What, a government contractor got fired for flipping off the President?

YES!!

Fire several thousand more and we're getting somewhere.

I love that whole leaving out what her job was in your description.

[Bubba Jones]

Marketing.

I wonder what that means in contractor speak.

[Longtobefree]

The answer is hidden in the linked article -- -- --

[BestUsedCarSales]

the X-Men and the Avengers "universes" to be merged together the way God and Stan Lee (assuming these are two different entities) intended.

Oh boy. I have so much I want to say to this that I'm having a hard time even parsing it all out.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

What we need is a merging of the Stephen King and Stan Lee universes. I wanna see Jamaican Maid battle Randall Flagg.

[Eidde]

OK, Randall Flagg is the demon guy from The Stand, right? Who's Jamaican Maid?

[Eidde]

Wait, Google led me to a Key and Peele sketch, which I presume is totally tasteful.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

She steals things.

[Stormy Dragon]

21st Century Fox has been in discussions with Disney about selling most of their company to Disney

Picture a world where Disney owns the Alien and Predator franchises.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Or where Disney owns Fox News.

[Stormy Dragon]

No, fox would be keeping the news and sports divisions. It's just the entertainment branch that is being sold.

[BYODB]

I suspect the News division is one of the bits they aren't selling, although at the same time they might be wise to do so given that cable is destined to go the way of books eventually.

[AlmightyJB]

No kidding, get while the gettings good.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Picture a world where Disney owns the Alien and Predator franchises.

Or Star Wars!

[Eidde]

EXCLUSIVE: 'Creepy, crazy and weird': Former classmates say Texas gunman was an 'outcast' who 'preached his atheism' online before killing 26 in the state's worst ever mass shooting

"An Air Force official said the gunman was court-martialed in 2012 and discharged two years later.

"Spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Kelley was court-martialed on one count of assault on his spouse and another count of assault on their child. He received a bad conduct discharge, 12 months' confinement and a reduction in rank.'"

What did Weiner do to get a sentence that was nine months longer? Or was the bad-conduct discharge the equivalent of an extra 9 months?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Former classmates say Texas gunman was an 'outcast' who 'preached his atheism' online before killing 26 in the state's worst ever mass shooting

To be fair, those qualities describe 50% of all people who post frequently online.

[AlmightyJB]

Also, the child's skull was cracked from the assault.

[Eidde]

How does that translate to a year's sentence? It seems kind of a mild punishment for that particular behavior.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

A good lawyer.

[Eidde]

I was about to say, "he should hire that lawyer again," but then I realized he (the shooter) is dead.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

She flipped off President Trump ? and got fired from her government contracting job

I was about to be outraged... then...

[Eidde]

and then you got high?

[Eidde]

Simply on a political note, it seems Congress is very serious about punishing assaults on federal officials, including themselves:

"18 U.S. Code ? 351(e) Whoever assaults [a member of Congress, etc.]...shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the assault involved the use of a dangerous weapon, or personal injury results, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

"(f) If Federal investigative or prosecutive jurisdiction is asserted for a violation of this section, such assertion shall suspend the exercise of jurisdiction by a State or local authority, under any applicable State or local law, until Federal action is terminated.

"(g) Violations of this section shall be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistance may be requested from any Federal, State, or local agency, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, any statute, rule, or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding.

"(h) In a prosecution for an offense under this section the Government need not prove that the defendant knew that the victim of the offense was an individual protected by this section."

[Eidde]

nb - If the same alleged act violates both state and federal law, can the feds actually stop the state proceedings? I mean, I wouldn't think so, but what do our betters in the Supreme Court say?

[DRM]

IIRC, the Feds can demand to go first. The state can still prosecute afterward on the state law charges. And then Senator Paul can pile on with a civil suit.

[Eidde]

By "stop" I meant like a stop sign or a red light. I didn't mean "stop forever." I'm asking whether they can constitutionally stop a state proceeding at all under these circumstances, and what the (federal) courts say about it.

[Robert]

"It was a regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."

Which, the doctor-on-doctor tackling action, or the church shooting?

[Eidde]

The alleged assault by Boucher the pain doctor.

Notice that the lawyer didn't say "Senator Paul totally assaulted my client, it was self-defense!"

No, it's a "regrettable dispute."

This distancing language usually indicates that the client did something bad. (Or that that the lawyer hasn't fully researched the case and is simply tossing the media a bone?)

[Sevo]

Yeah, 5 broken ribs is a bet beyond "regrettable". Pretty sure it's "actionable".

[Eidde]

Hmmm...I wonder if Dr. Boucher has some money to make him worth suing? I mean, it's not like he belongs to a stereotypically wealthy profession...

[Eidde]

I think this may call for a wallet-ectomy.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I read that as "Wallet-Economy" which seems like something Paul might be for as well.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Too bad he didn't shave his curly fucking devil hairs.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Hey guys, someone hijacked BUCS's account.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I have consistently come out against Rand Paul's hair. What hurts is the fact that you don't understand me.

[BestUsedCarSales]

After my anger dissipated I realized that "curly fucking devil hairs" sounds like I'm referring to pubes. So, now I understand the confusion.

Though, as was previously established I also think pubic hair should be straightened.

[Chipper Morning Truthjammer]

Do you straighten yours?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yes, I've burned my dick on a hair straightening iron literally dozens of times. It is a charred barely functional nub now. But that is the cost of beauty.

[widget]

One was about a mother-in-law and the other about grass clippings. Trump has everyone on edge.

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

"this could potentially allow the X-Men and the Avengers "universes" to be merged together the way God and Stan Lee (assuming these are two different entities) intended."

Pray to Stan Lee for our country, peeples!

Talk about escapism...

[Bra Ket]

"A woman who was photographed flipping the bird at President Donald Trump's motorcade has apparently been fired over it."

Wow this story from the Washington Post is flagrantly biased.

I thought they at least tried to be subtle about it.

[Intelligent Mr Toad]

RE: "Texas Shooter's In-Laws Attended Targeted Church"

When in-laws are outlawed, only outlaws will have in-laws.