Authorities Investigate Mysterious Explosion in Austin, SRO Tried to Have Nikolas Cruz Involuntarily Committed: A.M. Links

"RT if socialism is your retirement plan."

• 

  SERGIO FLORES/REUTERS/Newscom

  In Austin, Texas, two men were injured after a package on the side of the road exploded, possibly because of a trip wire. This is the fourth strange explosion in two weeks, and authorities believe they are all connected.

• Scot Peterson, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school resource officer accused of failing to confront alleged mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, previously attempted to have him involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. It's not clear why this recommendation, which would have prevented Cruz from being able to purchase firearms, was never acted upon.
• Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon.
• Oregon judge suspended for refusing to marry gay couples.
• A Washington, D.C. city council member thinks the Jews are responsible for recent bad weather.
• Students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by worrying about cultural appropriation.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

This is the fourth strange explosion in two weeks...

Someone appears to be messing with Texas.

[BestUsedCarSales]

But they explicitly asked for not that!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then"

Not surprising.

This past weekend I observed a debate between a couple of millennials and adults at a dinner table. What a shit show. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We read about it, Jordan Peterson warns against it, we see it on youtube but nothing prepares you when it's live.

They literally reacted with hostile rage the second their position was challenged. To them, a counter argument is an 'ad hominen (while calling others names like 'you hate the Natives!" The topic was Native affairs in Canada - I know. Buzzkill). They accused people of 'erecting strawman logic' while putting up so many, it made the head spin.

When someone tried to point out (now keep in mind, this was all civil and calm. My wife is an educator and was quietly observing everything that little Spockette), the gaps of logic and that they needed to counter back with facts, they literally BOTH OF THEM, started to cry. In their 20s. Apparently, people think they're stupid.

We're still speechless by the spectacle we saw. And the parents of those kids are not impressed.

[Rufus The Monocled]

And that was before I started to masturbate at the table.

[loveconstitution1789]

You Canadians and your table manners.

[Griffin3]

That escalated quickly.

[loveconstitution1789]

You're assuming Rufus has not picked up a few tricks from Crusty and that became his new norm.

[In Time Of War]

Is that some weird Canadian euphemism?

[Libertarian]

If that's the euphemism, I'd hate to hear it straight.

[sharmota4zeb]

That reminds me of a minister I haven't seen in a while.

[loveconstitution1789]

The question now will be will those millennials learn from that or just blame older people as being meanies and want to destroy the older people.

[BestUsedCarSales]

It's weird how big First Native politics are with people my age from Canada. It's their big hobby horse it seems.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They're obsessed with it. The CBC all they talk about is 'Aboriginal rights'.

And that's when they pivoted the conversation into, 'well, there are other factors and not just whitey's fault'.

This was an outrage. It was 'settled' and people had to listen to what they were taught. There was no room for any other opinions. It was MADNESS. They were genuinely shocked there could be different perspectives.

The crying part in particular.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I thought to myself 'you're crying over this shit? What's gonna happen when confronted with a real, serious problem or issue?'

[loveconstitution1789]

They'll cry.

[In Time Of War]

England better hope they never get blockaded by the Krauts again. Ya'll got the convoys through 80 years ago, but it sounds like nowadays, maybe not.

[sharmota4zeb]

England is setting up it's own blockade to protect UK citizens from blasphemous pamphlets.

I'm considering going back there to work as a migrant crop picker this summer so that I can visit London on the weekends to distribute more Mohammed Cartoons on the sidewalk. I already know a language very similar to what they speak and write in the UK.

[Agammamon]

Arabic?

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

For all the whinging that the white left does about indigenous rights, you'll notice that absolutely none of them are fucking off back to Europe and deeding their land to the Indians. By their logic, they're colonizers too, but god forbid they give up the privileges their ancestors acquired for them several generations ago out of principle.

[Rebel Scum]

They were genuinely shocked there could be different perspectives.

Indoctrination runs deep. I suppose this is why college and high-school student dare to make lists of "demands" rather than requests or points of discussion. Entitle little shits, they are. They are so entitled that they think they can't be legitimately challenged on their positions. Your disagreement is "hate-speech".

[Rebel Scum]

They accused people of 'erecting strawman logic' while putting up so many, it made the head spin.

I've run into this a lot with my own peers (on derpbook mostly). I find it incredibly frustrating. They pack so much in to one sentence that it would take me an essay to unpack all of their implications and assumptions. I also run in to way too much smug condescension from people who have no idea what they are talking about.

[sharmota4zeb]

Yeah, but I'm not sure Austin counts. Like the Dark Web, Austin stopped being the untamed frontier when my mom started hanging out there.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

That's what they say about my pubes.

[sharmota4zeb]

That explains the sore on her lips.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's not clear why this recommendation, which would have prevented Cruz from being able to purchase firearms, was never acted upon.

It required going inside a building to do?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then...

These kulaks aren't going to have anything to confiscate.

[SIV]

Where can I find vegan rats?
Asking for a Millennial.

[loveconstitution1789]

Millennials will be surprised when they cannot get avacado toast at the state CAFETERIA, next to the state STORE, next to the state BANK.

[BestUsedCarSales]

A Washington, D.C. city council member thinks the Jews are responsible for recent bad weather.

How about instead of mocking him, you prove him wrong? That's right Soave, you can't.

[sharmota4zeb]

Sorry guys. I wanted warm weather in Romania while I was there, and that required balancing out the global weather system somewhere else.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate wants to give guns to homeless people

Brian Ellison, who has filed to run as a Libertarian against sitting Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, announced a plan to "Arm the Homeless" last week. The project, if funded, would provide shotguns to members of the homeless community who qualify for gun ownership and provide them with training at a gun range.

https://goo.gl/ZkN6bQ

Who said libertarians didn't care about the poor?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Hmm, I can see the reasoning, but I can see this just leading to a greater supply of black market guns.

[Citizen X - #6]

Which is a problem for libertarians how?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Because I strive for Libertarian efficiency. And so we should just directly sell guns on the black market.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't knock the black markets. They fill a need.

[Jerryskids]

Racist!

[loveconstitution1789]

The 2nd Amendment protects all American's right to keep and bear arms.

Since lefties hate homeless people, I can see that they are scared by this plan.

[Griffin3]

Wasn't there a Rutger Hauer movie about this?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yeah, Blade Runner. And it was pretty good too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

No, it wasn't. I saw it. My ticket money was lost in time, like tears in rain.

[Agammamon]

Hobo with a shotgun was a warning, not an instruction manual.

[I can't even]

So I'll be able to get a shotgun for a bottle of Mad Dog. Good deal.

[BYODB]

Hobo with a Shotgun wasn't meant to be a documentary...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oregon judge suspended for refusing to marry gay couples.

Good for him, pushing people to just declare themselves wed and not concern themselves with government permission slips.

[Fancylad]

Too bad he was the only judge in the world, and there wasn't another that could step in and officiate their game of pretend.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Washington, D.C. city council member thinks the Jews are responsible for recent bad weather.

You know who else tried to control the climate?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Still the Jews.

[Spaced out]

Quaid?

[gaoxiaen]

Patton and his chaplain?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PehCORojjtw

[Curt]

or was it Hauser?

[Conchfritters]

Sandy Koufax?

[loveconstitution1789]

Does it count that Hitler was trying to hide his Jewish ancestry?

[Jerryskids]

Willis Carrier?

[Leo Kovalensky II]

My wife (once)?

[General_Tso]

Every single democrat politician, NASA, NOAA, Greenpeace, etc.

[Brian]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon.

Ah, the "vote democrat and cross your fingers" retirement plan.

Let me know how that works out.

[gaoxiaen]

Enjoy your leisure time when you're young and then die in harness. I never met anyone that was old and enjoyed life regardless of their financial situation.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Ah, the "vote democrat and cross your fingers" retirement plan.

I suspect that a lot of these idiots voted for Hillary because they expected her to declare some kind of student loan debt jubilee as well.

[Curt]

Self-fulfilling prophecy. Since we as a country refuse to allow people to face the consequences of their actions, it's virtually guaranteed that a generational refusal to save for the future will turn into massive increase in redistribution of wealth.

Nevermind the fact that the little turds are economically illiterate to the point that they have no understanding of what socialism and capitalism actually mean.

[Citizen X - #6]

In Austin, Texas, two men were injured after a package on the side of the road exploded, possibly because of a trip wire. This is the fourth strange explosion in two weeks, and authorities believe they are all connected.

Hang on, let me get out my Jump To Conclusions mat.

[Jerryskids]

I wouldn't jump to a conclusion too quickly - Lorena Bobbit left an unconnected package on the side of the road.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by worrying about cultural appropriation.

They saved themselves the standard March 18th green vomit-soaked hangover.

[gaoxiaen]

I prefer green tequila.

[Conchfritters]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then.

A fool and someone else's money are soon parted.

[loveconstitution1789]

Unfortunately for millennials and their plan of socialism, those other people WITH money probably have guns too.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Where is the daily Stormy news?

[loveconstitution1789]

Who's Stormy?

Oh yeah, she's that prostitute who is suddenly being believed by lefties who go after prostitutes as sex traffickers.

I wonder how this will work out for Stormy.

[sharmota4zeb]

I was lucky this Shabbat. I wore my "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" shirt to temple, because I felt like being casual that day, and the rabbi's sermon was about the how our political leaders (AKA Trump) need to be more ethical.

[loveconstitution1789]

You mean like jewish political leaders NOT working with Nazis to send fellow jews to their death?

[sharmota4zeb]

Most Jewish leaders did not collaborate. The fighters in the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis fought longer than the nation of France did.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Have you checked your favorite websites like BuzzFeed, RawStory, and listosaur.com? Many of us (myself included) count on you to gather the most vital information relevant to #TheResistance.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Good idea!

[Citizen X - #6]

Students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by worrying about cultural appropriation.

I jokingly predicted years ago that, once St. Patrick's Day was off limits, all the "cultural appropriation" nonsense would have basically run its course. We'll see.

[mad.casual]

Maybe. Nothing really stops it from being lumped into the next (or same old) nonsense movement. I'm pretty sure the 'driving the snakes from Ireland' narrative works equally well for nativists/nationalists and immigrationists alike.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Jon Good, 34, a chocolatier and small business owner, said. "If [capitalism] is replaced [by then], my ideal economic model is one where all basic necessities are abundant and free, everyone works a few hours a week at the necessary chores of society like garbage collection and machine maintenance, then has the rest of their lives free to pursue whatever projects?be they art, leisure, or industry?that they desire."

Kind of contradicts the guy who was certain we will have resource wars by then.

[Citizen X - #6]

Nah. Once most people on earth have died in the resource wars, THEN the survivors will have abundant resources.

[gaoxiaen]

Only if you have weapons to hunt the Neo-Aurochs and other game.

[sarcasmic]

"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics."

-Thomas Sowell

This guy has most definitely learned the first lesson of politics.

[gaoxiaen]

I disagree. The first law of economics is "Work is inconvenient".

[Palin's Buttplug]

one where all basic necessities are abundant and free,

AKA Trumpism.

I WILL HAVE THE GREATEST HEALTH CARE SYSTEM EVER AND NEVER TOUCH MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

[loveconstitution1789]

It will be the greatest health care system when he helps revert it back to psuedo free market from ObamaCare.

Social Security and Medicare will be cut too.

[BestUsedCarSales]

The psuedo free market one we had before wasn't the greatest either.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yeah. It has barely changed at all.

All the hyperventilating about the ACA was misplaced. The whole thing needs to move away from Medicare centric senior care where young people pay for old dying folks over-treatments.

[loveconstitution1789]

The system was okay just the medical technology was not as good at it is today.

People paid cash for most medical stuff and some had catastrophic health insurance for major stuff.

Its still works today. I pay less than $150 per year for medical check up and $100 per month for catastrophic health insurance. ObamaCare drove up the price of catastrophic care.

[BestUsedCarSales]

My point wasn't to say that it hasn't gotten worse. My point was there was a lot that could have been done to free up the market to improve it further. But instead we got ACA.

[loveconstitution1789]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon.

To be fair, this is a survey by Salon which does love socialism and Millennials as a generation can be really stupid.

[sarcasmic]

Every generation looks upon the younger generations as stupid. All throughout history. No exceptions.

[loveconstitution1789]

This time, people are right.

I'm a Gen X and I never heard Gen Xers dwell on other generations being "stupid". I remember calling Boomers greedy little fucks for never saving for retirement and refusing to cut social security and medicare.

[sarcasmic]

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

-Socrates

[loveconstitution1789]

Those were not the masses.

Back then, Socrates was describing a very elite group of kids that belonged to the privileged classes. Most kids never got to eat dainties.

[Citizen X - #6]

NOBODY is "the masses." "The masses" is an idea that was invented by would-be tyrants to justify atrocities.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I have a cousin who used to be the masses, but he started doing Atkin's and is closer to the few now.

[loveconstitution1789]

Masses also was a term for slave bosses.

[sarcasmic]

"Masses" is a word used by progressive group politics.

[loveconstitution1789]

It also can describe the rest of the kids that were not the kids of elites in ancient Greece.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Gen X had its 'cynics' and 'fatalists' but we were able to give AND take a punch. The latter is key.

[loveconstitution1789]

Gen Xers had to deal with Boomer and Greatest Gen bullshit and now Millennial BS. Some Gen Xers are at fault for raising shitty Millennials though.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

That's because most kids in every generation ARE stupid. But the good news is that most of them eventually gain enough education, life experience and wisdom to grow up and become responsible adults.

[loveconstitution1789]

Most kids are stupid but expecting Boomers to be responsible adults is asking a lot. Boomers have not so far. Maybe when they are all dead, they'll be responsible.

[BestUsedCarSales]

At least we'll know where they are.

[loveconstitution1789]

That would have been funnier with Gen Xers- the latch key generation.

I like your enthusiasm though.

[TLBD]

I'm an Xennial, so I grew up with both generations. Millennials are are stupid, emotional and lack fortitude. There is something seriously wrong with them.

I know that the old "when I was a kid" shtick is, well, old, but this time it isn't a question of having it tougher and the character that gives. The Millennials have some serious flaws. Gen Z is going to be even worse.

[loveconstitution1789]

I have hope for Gen Z but the cross generation that are just now entering college seem to be as bad as millennials. Hopefully the majority of the generation is better.

Gen X could have been worse than Boomers but did alright. Some Gen Xers raised millennials though.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Gen X could have been worse than Boomers but did alright. Some Gen Xers raised millennials though

The one thing that will mark Gen X is that, apart from a very brief period in the late 80s-late 90s when the pop culture landscape and political class catered to their tastes, they're going to end up being one of the most inconsequential generations in American history simply because they don't have the numbers to influence society anymore. The Boomers dominated the US for several decades and the Millennials will be doing the same. Gen-X's most notable trait will be that of bending to whatever the national consensus happens to be at the moment, as a "go-along-to-get-along," exceedingly risk-averse generation.

A bunch of kids I went to school with in the late 80s and early 90s, who were mostly conservative at the time, are now the biggest shitlibs you can imagine. I suspect this has been and will continue to be the general trend for most Gen-Xers down the line, because it's safer for them from a financial and social standpoint to just parrot whatever is popular at the moment rather than risk losing what they've worked for their whole lives.

[loveconstitution1789]

"A bunch of kids I went to school with in the late 80s and early 90s, who were mostly conservative at the time, are now the biggest shitlibs you can imagine."

Well, if Libertarians can gain a foothold maybe those people will shift with the winds towards Liberty.

[Brandybuck]

Remember the boomers. "I'll just go move to the Haight and be stoned all the time!" Remember the Gen-Xers. "I'll live in a loft and design web pages for free".

Some actually did that.

Most did not.

This is the age of the internet bubble. A self-selected sampling on Salon means absolutely nothing. Give me a demographic and I will find idiots in it. Some millennials will indeed retire and then whine that their social security does not cover theri avocado toast habit. But the overwheliming majority will eventually figure life out. Like the boomers did. Like the genxers did.

[Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)]

100% agree. The millennials I work with do not match the stupidity or sheet lack or strength that the salon article editorializes.

[Spaced out]

It's probably dumber to paint millions of people with the same broad brush because of their birthday.

[sarcasmic]

He does paint millions of people living outside the country as criminals who deserve to die in the desert if they attempt to enter the country without permission, so this isn't a stretch.

[loveconstitution1789]

And you describe American as the worst kind of people for letting people choose to walk in the desert and die because they're stupid.

I call it darwinism.

[John]

If they choose to go out there, why is it anyone's fault but their own if something bad happens to them?

[Tony]

We already figured out that you're a psychopath John, no need to parade it around for attention.

[loveconstitution1789]

To Tony, psychopathology is not socialism and expecting other to be responsible for YOU.

[sarcasmic]

Says the guy who wants to murder anyone who doesn't worship the prophet Owlgor.

[Citizen X - #6]

Simpleminded collectivists gonna collectivize simplemindedly.

[loveconstitution1789]

and die in the desert?

[loveconstitution1789]

It might be but it is amazing how so many people in large groups based on their birthdays has fairly common stereotypical behavior.

You just don't see masses of Gen Xers that are hippies like the Boomers were.

[sarcasmic]

"You just don't see masses of Gen Xers that are hippies like the Boomers were."

*snort*

I guess you've never been to a Phish show.

[loveconstitution1789]

A Phish show is not the masses.

[sarcasmic]

And contrary to what the movies will tell you, the entire Boomer generation was not a bunch of hippies.

[Zeb]

Yeah, there really weren't that many actual hippies. It was just a fashion thing for most people who sort of looked like hippies.

[sarcasmic]

My mom, a boomer, said that in the early 70s you couldn't buy a pair of jeans that weren't bell bottoms. That didn't mean she was a hippie.

[loveconstitution1789]

Hence, the stereotype of a generation. Nobody ever said it applied to every member of that generation.

Not every Greatest Generation member fought in WWII.

We get it Sarcasmic, you don't like stereotypes that are fun and a conversation piece.

[sarcasmic]

You say the entire boomer generation is a bunch of hippies and I point out they're not. You say there are no genx hippies and I point out that there are plenty.

So now that I've pointed out that you were wrong on both counts, you say you didn't really mean it.

I believe that's called back peddling.

[loveconstitution1789]

No, I said "...hippies like the Boomers were".

You are trying to say that I consider every boomer a hippie and I don't. Dressing like hippie does not a hippie make.

Gen Xers did flower power in D.C. during Vietnam? Gen Xers have an epidemic of hepatitis because of all that "free love"? It would be surprising since we Gen Xers would have been less than 12 years old.

[loveconstitution1789]

Sarcastaball, you are just getting ridiculous now.

Go back to the die in the desert article comments, so I can run laps around you there too.

[sarcasmic]

You go from saying they were all hippies to it being a stereotype to saying they only dressed like hippies but weren't really hippies.

If by "laps" you mean changing what you're saying faster than I can keep up, then you most definitely run laps around me.

[loveconstitution1789]

Oh sarcasticball, are you qualified to operate that goal post mover?

[gaoxiaen]

OR... the banks and Social Security will implode and all your life you worked for nothing. Buy guns, ammo, gold, and long-term storage victuals. Save your copper pennies and brass.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

A Washington, D.C. city council member thinks the Jews are responsible for recent bad weather.

Those right-wing republicans, with their racism and antisemitism and conspiratorial mindset.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Here Mikey. Let me give you something to get worked up about:

Black Man Beaten in Charlottesville Acquitted of Assaulting White Nationalist

https://goo.gl/53i6An

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

I'm never clicking on any of your tiny URL links, Dipshit Dave Weigel.

If you want me to click on a link, I have to be able to see the link in it's entirety.

[Palin's Buttplug]

A black man who was assaulted by white nationalists during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville last August was acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against one of the marchers.

Twenty-year-old DeAndre Harris faced up to a year in prison for hitting Harold Crews, the state chairman of the neo-Confederate group the League of the South, over the head with a flashlight. The incident occurred outside a parking garage, shortly before a brawl between protesters and counterprotesters in the garage, during which Harris was beaten badly by several white supremacists. Harris suffered a spinal injury and a head laceration that required stitches.

Just some peaceful right-wingers busting the head of some black dude.

[loveconstitution1789]

Butt, We need a full link there dipshit.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

A dude that was photographed with a baseball bat in each hand, and started the fight which got his ass beat.

That's the part of the story you rarely hear, but is why he was charged.

[Rebel Scum]

Just some peaceful right-wingers busting the head of some black dude.

The black guy instigated.

[Cy]

They're a product of their environment. The only people the boomers and Gen X have to blame are the ones in the mirror.

[gaoxiaen]

But when I look in the mirror I can't see my reflection, so be careful at night. Or not.

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Wood, 32, a political consultant, told me via Twitter that she felt similarly. "I don't think the world can sustain capitalism for another decade," she explained. "It's socialism or bust. We will literally start having resource wars that will kill us all if we don't accept that the free market will absolutely destroy us within our lifetime [if] we don't start fighting its hegemony," she added."

No wonder idiots like Grandpa Gulag Sanders are popular.

Jesus Christ.

[Jerryskids]

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that's good enough to get elected.

[LynchPin1477]

There are so many poorly informed opinions underlying that statement....truly, if one stares into the abyss long enough, the abyss starts staring back.

[gaoxiaen]

Then the abyss sticks its finger in your asshole and you're fucked.

[Ken Shultz]

Imagine if someone could scan every image on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then instantly determine where each was taken. The ability to combine this location data with information about who appears in those photos?and any social media contacts tied to them?would make it possible for government agencies to quickly track terrorist groups posting propaganda photos. (And, really, just about anyone else.)

That's precisely the goal of Finder, a research program of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's dedicated research organization.

. . .

Finder is but one of several image processing projects underway at IARPA. Another, called Aladdin Video, seeks to extract intelligence information from social media video clips by tagging them with metadata about their content. Another, called Deep Intermodal Video Analytics (DIVA), is focused on detecting "activities" within videos, such as people acting in a manner that could be defined as "dangerous" or "suspicious"?making it possible to monitor huge volumes of surveillance video simultaneously.

----Ars Technica

https://tinyurl.com/ybjnv9n3

Techno-optimists, like Luddites, present their own dangers. We used to say that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance--the techno-optimists would have us whistle past the graveyard.

[loveconstitution1789]

I used to explain on Ars Technica how technology is not necessarily better. Technology can be better but sometimes is not better.

The regular dumb dumbs on there would report posts they don't like as spam. If you don't pay Ars subscription, you are banned just like that. Luckily, I started 50 fake accounts on Ars and downvote stupid staff members like John Timmer 50 times. Fun stuff.

[Ken Shultz]

They can be real shitheads over there.

I got slammed for suggesting that the question of whether Ross Ulbricht was guilty was separate from the question of whether he got a fair trial.

You'd have thought I were arguing for intelligent design or something. Worse even.

I was arguing that justice should matter even if its value can't be easily quantified. In a tech environment, suggesting that the unquantifiable* has value is all but socially unacceptable.

*Not that there aren't consistent consequences for things like injustice in the real world.

[loveconstitution1789]

They love to say that they are scientifically enlightened over there at Ars but they prove time and time again that they are not. Its a real shit show over there.

I even find that my comments that agree with the consensus are still attacked because I used Libertarians rationale to get to that conclusion rather than FEELZ.

[Zeb]

I'm more of a techno-fatalist. If it's possible to do something, someone probably will do it.

[Citizen X - #6]

I bet you're real fun at orgies.

[Ken Shultz]

Certainly, the government rarely restrains itself from using new technology for a safety payoff on principle.

Left to their own devices, the government doesn't say, "Yeah, let's let the people have their own guns". It's that they can't make confiscation fly with a critical mass of the American people that stops them.

I'm trying to imagine a government bureaucrat saying, "With this technology, we could prevent armed robberies, rapes, and child abuse--but we've decided to restrain ourselves because of our qualitative preference for freedom".

Ultimately, it's about people standing up and saying, "Do NOT want". It's eternal vigilance.

[John]

http://www.commentarymagazine......cy-theory/

Jonah Goldberg rages against tribalism and nationalism. That is all well and good except that Goldberg is Jewish and a committed Zionist. The cognitive dissonance of claiming "down with tribalism and nationalism" along with "long live the Jewish people and the state of Israel" never seems to dawn on him.

Goldberg is a great supporter of open borders. If open borders are so great, why doesn't Isreal open its borders to Arabs? Why doesn't Israel give all of the dreamers on the West Bank citizenship and voting rights? If a West bank settler wants to build a wall to keep the Arabas out, Goldberg is right there to defend them as doing what is right and good. Some guy in Texas complains about MS13 taking over his kid's school and his town turning into little Somalia and Goldberg is there to call them a tribalist and a fascist.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Holy shit! John, LoveCons, Rufus, and Mikey are all here. It's a Bratfart daisy chain!

[John]

Holy shit you are an idiot. If Goldberg wants to rail against the evils of nationalism, he might want to explain why Jewish nationalism is different. I don't have a problem with Jewish nationalism. But I don't claim to have a problem with nationalism.

[loveconstitution1789]

Pure troll. Nothing to say except to point out when some of the few Libertarians left on Reason post some comments.

[Citizen X - #6]

John's not, and never has been, a libertarian. He'll be the first to tell you that.

[John]

And your opinion of open borders is not my point here. My point here is the cognitive dissonance of Goldberg. If he embraces open borders and rejects nationalism, good for him. If he is going to do that, however, he needs to do it and not claim it is different when his tribe does it.

I don't understand why that is hard to grasp or anyone reading my post would think it was a comment on open borders advocates in general instead of on Goldberg's obvious hypocrisy.

[Citizen X - #6]

I wasn't saying anything about open borders, just pointing out to lc that his definition of "libertarian" could use some work. For the record, i agree that Goldberg's position is boiled nonsense. Please don't get me confused with shreek ever again.

[John]

Goldberg is not a "libertarian" he is more of a dimwitted conservative who adopts libertarian principles.Open borders is one of those times he adopts libertarian principles. That is all I meant. I did not mean to characterize him as a full on Libertarian and should have made that clear.

[loveconstitution1789]

lib?er?tar?i?an?ism
?lib?r?ter??niz?m/
noun: libertarianism
an extreme laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens.

Note: It does not say zero government intervention as anarchists would like.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

You are not, and never have been, a libertarian, no matter how much you may lie and pretend otherwise.

[John]

Where have I ever claimed to be anything? No, I am not a libertarian though I agree with Libertarians about a lot of things.

[BestUsedCarSales]

He's saying X isn't

[Citizen X - #6]

Simple Mikey is trying to defend John against charges of not being a libertarian, completely ignorant of John's frequent historical statements (as above) that he is not a libertarian.

Simple Mikey's definition of "libertarian" doesn't go much past refraining from noticing that Simple Mikey is aggressively stupid. It's a vanishingly small cohort, and it shrinks every time he types something.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Mikey is a David Duke/Donald Trump libertarian.

[John]

He is just not the fascist libertarian you are Shreek.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Eh.

[loveconstitution1789]

I was clearly talking about Butt being a troll not John.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Yeah, John is one of the most honest people here, and the Crustard is a world class master of putting words in other people's mouths that they never said (a dishonest fuckstick through and through).

If everyone who claimed to be a libertarian really was one, the libertarian candidates would be pulling at least 10% of the vote everywhere. But the overwhelming majority of people who claim to be libertarians really aren't. Especially on the Reason full time staff!

[Citizen X - #6]

Crusty's not here, man.

[Citizen X - #6]

I know that, lc. You were calling shreek a troll for attacking John, who you identified as a libertarian. By his own admission, he is not one.

[loveconstitution1789]

I thought John was a Libertarian based on the way he talks. I see that he said that he was not a libertarian. That's why your comment threw me and its not like you to lay down a mistake comment reply.

Learn something new every day.

[John]

I think most people on here sans shreek and the lefty trolls are some measure of Libertarian. I am not a strict doctrinaire libertarian.

[loveconstitution1789]

I consider myself Libertarian but in the Classical Liberal and the US Constitution sense since the LP platform denounces secure borders.

The LP really needs to adjust its focus on stuff besides butt sex and open borders.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

The point you're attempting to make here is one I've often seen from the alt-right. "Open Borders for Israel" is an offensive, anti-Semitic idea. In fact, there is no contradiction between supporting immigration and racial diversity in the US, while wanting to keep Israel Jewish. For one thing, the US has always been a nation of immigrants, whereas Israel was specifically founded to be a Jewish state. Plus, we have the poem on the Statue of Liberty that proves welcoming immigrants is an essential component of the American experiment.

[John]

Just because the US always has been, doesn't mean it must be. If Goldberg wants to reject tribalism and nationalism, good for him. Then he needs to reject it and not make a special exemption for his tribe. People who criticize Israel are often rightly called out for anti-Semetism because they hold Israel to standards they would never hold other countries. Here, Goldberg is engaging in the opposite, holding other nations to standards he would never hold Israel to. If Israel has a right to say it is a certain way and has no obligation to allow those who would change it to immigrate, then any other country has the same right. Isreal is no better or no different.

What Goldberg is doing here is slandering his opponents as members of the Alt-right for the crime of saying America does have a culture and a character worth preserving. He thinks he is being clever and rendering those arguments illegitimate. In fact, he is doing the opposite. By lumping the real fascists and tribalists in the alt-right in with reasonable positions, he is just giving the alt right legitimacy by allowing to associate itself with reasonable positions.

[sharmota4zeb]

The OECD lists the percent of the population that is foreign born in each member state as of 2013.

22.6% of Israelis were foreign born
13.1% of Americans were foreign born
0.8% of Mexicans were foreign born

The USA would have to let in many more immigrants to reach Israel's level of foreign born population. Those seeking consistency on immigration policy across countries should start calling Mexicans racist. However, this is unlikely to happen, because Mexicans outnumber Jews in the USA, and the average Mexican is more likely than the average Jew to throw a punch or damage your car when he hears something he does not like.

[John]

That is absurd. Isreal only lets in Jews. And it didn't exist until 1948.

[sharmota4zeb]

You mean back in 1810, Israel had the same status as Greece?

Proportionate to its population, Israel grants citizenship to more non-Jewish African migrants than any European country does, and Israel has also become a destination for non-Jewish high-tech immigrants.

But more to the point, why don't Jewish immigrants count?

[John]

I am not saying they don't. But that doesn't mean Isreal has an open border? Why not grant citizenship to the Palestinians? Goldberg demands the US have an open border, why not Isreal?

[I can't even]

Always, except when the immigration was severely limited with nationality quotas 1921 through 1965.

[loveconstitution1789]

Except when in mid 19th Century American nativists wanted a reduction in Catholic immigrants.

Then in the late 19th Century, Chinese immigrants were excluded from immigrating to the USA.

[LynchPin1477]

Students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by worrying about cultural appropriation.

Great, that was one of the examples I used for explaining why cultural appropriation is good.

[Rhywun]

Rabbi Daniel Zemel of Temple Micah in Northwest Washington denounced White's remarks, saying they contribute to a growing mood of intolerance in the United States.

The good councilman is probably a Farrakhan acolyte or something similar. That madness has been around a lonnnnng time. Any "growing mood of intolerance" can be laid squarely at the feet of the last president and his minions in the media and education who have put their crusade to tear the country apart into overdrive during his terms.

[John]

I bet he is. And I bet the Rabbi is a lifelong and committed Democrat. If he is so concerned about intolerance, maybe he should ask his fellow party members why they seem to tolerate so much of it from members who choose to associate themselves with Farrakhan.

[Palin's Buttplug]

yeah, the idiots at Fox News have been trying to smear Obama with a pic with Farrakan from like 2004.

Yes, Farrakan is racist scum no question.

But a SINGLE PICTURE from 2004 with NO CONTEXT?

What the fuck is wrong with you conservatives?

[Ken Shultz]

Jesus Christ, you've been obsessing over what Fox News does for fourteen years?

Get a life!

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, they are doing it now, doofus.

They just found the picture a few weeks ago.

[loveconstitution1789]

Butt, we depend on YOU bringing us a report of what is happening on FOX since I rarely see anyone on here reference FOX News, except you.

[Ken Shultz]

He's been obsessing over what's happening at FOX, here, for 14 years.

He's still pissed off about Reagan, too. It's fucking ridiculous.

[John]

Picture of who? Dozens of Democrats have palled around with him for years. Maybe you missed it, but Obama isn't President anymore. No one gives a shit about him. We are talking about Democrats who matter.

[Tony]

Who's worse: Farrakan or Putin?

[John]

Obama did a lot of palling around with Putin as well. Again, Obama isn't President anymore.

[Ken Shultz]

Last I checked, the price of Etherium has dropped about 40% over the past two weeks. All cryptocurrencies are experiencing similar drops--though it's worse for some than others. Using some websites that show miners what to mine under present assumptions using the market price of currencies, the cost of electricity, pool fees, etc., the market price of all the currencies I was looking at last night had dropped below the cost of mining them--except Etherium and Bitcoin--excluding the cost of hardware, which would make things worse.

This happens sometimes in commercial real estate, too, where the market price of buildings drops below their "replacement cost" or construction costs. That should slow down new construction significantly--and if the price of cryptocurrencies like Etherium stays low, we should expect mining activity to drop--OTBE--and a glut of cheap, excellent quality video cards to flood the market.

[Ken Shultz]

The question is where the floor is on price, and the answer is about what people use these cryptocurrencies to do--what's the demand side? Why do people buy and hold them?

I'm convinced that people in places like China and South Korea are hoarding them, in part, as a hedge against those countries' onerous capital controls. Trying to get money out of either country is difficult and cryptocurrencies let people do that. Apart from that, you can buy shit on the dark web with Monero or convert your Etherium, etc into bitcoin to buy stuff with it at certain retailers--but how many people really want it to use it for that? The floor of the U.S. dollar is a function of the government's willingness to accept it as payment for taxes--no one needs Etherium for that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Donald Trump Jrs wife files for divorce.

https://goo.gl/imjhHK

She's citing "irreconcilable douchiness".

Also said she "wants to see other creeps".

h/t Bill Maher

[BestUsedCarSales]

I've somehow never been more embarrassed for you then now, knowing you watch Bill Maher.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Maher is great and at one time (dubiously) lined up with libertarians. Of course he is the anti-war, pro-drug, anti-religion type that conservatives hate (including many cons here).

Many stand-ups are non-doctrinaire libertarians (Carlin and Standhope come to mind).

[BestUsedCarSales]

He's truly unfunny regardless of politics. That's his issue.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh bullshit. Maher is funny.

Now he is not Hall of Fame like Carlin, Pryor, Murphy, etc. He is topic dependent.

[BestUsedCarSales]

He is truly not funny. I don't like Jon Stewart either. Though the broader Daily Show News Team had many funny people.

[loveconstitution1789]

Key word "had". They all left.

[TLBD]

Maher is a sell-out, much like Krugman.

He found a bunch of dipshits who will give him money for telling them what they want to hear.

His actual beliefs seep through once in a while, but I can't stand him because, while mildly funny, he is just another hack.

[loveconstitution1789]

Maher was never lined up with Libertarians.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Just like you said about Penn Jiilette.

You are truly an idiot.

[loveconstitution1789]

Penn Jillette is not a Libertarian.

Butt, only an useful idiot like you would not realize that.

[Citizen X - #6]

Come on, is it all that surprising that shreek confuses pomposity with humor? He is not well.

[Eric L]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then.

Makes some sense when what they will get is Venezuela where there is very little to spend money on anyway ? so no need to save.

[John]

What does "some" mean? Some of them eat tide pods. So what?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Did you read the article? Basically she asked on Twitter and posted some responses.

[John]

I am not sure if that is your idea, but your not making this any better for the author.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Not my intention to make it better for the author. My intent was to say your joke undervalued how stupid the article was.

[John]

It did.

[Cynical Asshole]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon every bit as retarded as the common stereotype says.

FTFY

[Brandybuck]

Some millenials have save nothing by the time they are 32. To be fair, I saved nothing by the time I was 32. That's because I was poor. Unemployed most of the time. Not because I expected the utopia to arrive by the time I needed it. I know some 32 year old millenials now who aren't saving. But they want to be saving but they're poor too.

[loveconstitution1789]

You can always save something. Its a state of mind.

Do you have to have _____ ? No then, can I afford it? No, then I won't buy it.

Non-savers always justify their purchase and typical its a "want" not a "need". Contrary to millennial opinion, you don't need a cell phone. You need food, shelter, clothing, and water.

[Freddy the Jerk]

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-ni.....2020?snl=1

My wife and I've based our kids' financial literacy exclusively around this helpful video.

[Rebel Scum]

A Washington, D.C. city council member thinks the Jews are responsible for recent bad weather.

Yea, but this is a Democrat. So, no antisemitism to see here. Move along.

[Rebel Scum]

Students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by worrying about cultural appropriation.

Drinking green Bud Light while listening to Dropkick Murphys is not appropriating anything.

[Bearded Spock]

Seriously, Reason: Not a single post on the firing of Andrew McCabe? Not even a measly link?

Regardless of one's views on the subject, this is a pretty big deal. Are cocktail parties that important?

Given the amount of Trump-bashing stories on H&R this morning one would expect to see at least something here, like a link to the latest WaPo "nothing to see here" article.

Maybe it's because the McCabe story lends support Trump's Deep State paranoia, and that might make Trump look sympathetic.

[John]

Look Spock most of the major media and half of the political spectrum demanding that the FBI no longer be accountable to elected officials just has no implications Libertarians would find important.

[Rebel Scum]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon.

They are also actively protesting against individual rights. Millennials are the worst.

[loveconstitution1789]

At least some of them are poisoning themselves with Tide Pods.

[AlmightyJB]

Eating Tide Pods is the key to fixing climate change and the gender pay gap.

[loveconstitution1789]

McCabe got fired a few days before retirement!!

Hahaha

[Tony]

Tinpot authoritarians rely on people like you, especially the ridiculous ones.

[Citizen X - #6]

It's always funny when Tony acts as though he has a shred of credibility to diss authoritarians or generally judge ridiculousness.

[loveconstitution1789]

When an authoritarian like Tony calls me an authoritarian, I know its the opposite.

How could anyone be more authoritarian than a guy like Tony. Even Stalin would be envious of Tony's skill.

[AlmightyJB]

Retirement at 49. Must be nice to be in the ruling class.

[AlmightyJB]

By the power invested in me by having Irish blood, I hereby give everyone permission to get guilt free drunk on SPD. Also, cultural appropriation isn't real. Your professors are lying liars who lie.

[AlmightyJB]

Millennials don't save for retirement because it doesn't offer them immediate gratification.

[Agammamon]

Some millennials aren't bothering to save for retirement because they hope socialism will replaced capitalism by then, according to Salon.

Social Security *is* socialism, blockhead.

Some men you just can't reach.