Swiss Servator’s Parthian Shot Afternoon Links

I am going to be even more of a Geek this week….I will be gone, down at BoardGameGeek CON in the DFW area. So, here are my parting links for the rest of the week…and one more *narrows gaze* for the lot of ye, while I am out.

  • A great success for Socialism! Take THAT h8ers!!!!! Wait…wut? Oh, I mean, a shame about state capitalism sucking like that.  /Prog
  • And in stories drawing the attention of OMWC…Howzabout those French, eh?
  • TEH SCIENCE IS SETTLED! I await the ratings of our various man-watching Glibs (TW: Brits).
  • Tax bill shitstorm a forming? *readies tranquilizer darts*
  • From the FLORIDAMAN files….Hey, caught a square grouper!
So long, suckers!

Comments

540 responses to “Swiss Servator’s Parthian Shot Afternoon Links”

  1. Rufus the Monocled

    !

    1. ChipsnSalsa

      Don’t you even work?!

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        !!

    2. bacon-magic

      Holla.

    3. Mad Scientist

      Hello, Rufus!

    4. Tonio

      So, an uppercase first?

  2. I finally got out of that meeting. The one-hour meeting scheduled to start a half hour before the end of the work day in the room with the malfunctioning piece of hardware making the high pitched wine just at the upper end of human hearing that drives a sonic ice pick in your brain, seated next to the co-worker who still loudly bites his nails, but only ever when the topic is what you’re expected to get done during the next workday when the boss is conveniently unavailable for a stealth reiteration of priorities. That meeting.

    Ugh.

    1. bacon-magic

      1st world problems.

    2. Bobarian LMD

      high pitched wine

      Is that a white or a red? Either way, I’m sure it has a screw-off cap.

      1. Enough About Palin

        It has hints of juniper berries.

        1. Bobarian LMD

          What’s the reason? It’s belly pleasin’!

    3. mr simple

      making the high pitched wine

      I prefer a dry wine.

    4. UCS prefers his pitched whines to be at exactly 440Hz.

      1. Greg F

        A?

    5. gbob

      It was meetings that finally convinced me that I couldn’t exist in a corporate world. Well, that and Human Resource Directors. Has there ever been one who wasn’t the worst?

      1. The Last American Hero

        HR isn’t so bad. If you form an alliance with them you effectively have an immunity idol and can vote most everyone else off the island.

    6. Lachowsky

      I came in to work on my day off last week for what was supposed to be a couple hours of training. We quit after 10 hours. I learned that splicing and terminating high voltage insulated cables is a little more involved than I would have expected.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Were you shocked by that?

      2. mexican sharpshooter

        Yeah, that’s a bit of a process. Apparently, you can make a nice living doing nothing but splices.

        1. Lachowsky

          I had never done one before. You are correct. There is a lot to it. These were 35kv cables. I do a ton of work 480v and below.

          Being able to cut through the cable jacket and sheild without damaging the semi conductor is something of an art.

          1. mexican sharpshooter

            I’ve never done it with a splicing knife, I had to get the semi-con off with the tool. Granted the cable the military uses is much simpler and than what is found elsewhere.

          2. Lachowsky

            We had a tool for stripping the cable jacket, but the specs called for a very short length of shield. It made it so that the tool couldn’t be used without damaging the shield.

            The tool we used to spiral cut the semiconductor away from the insulator was pretty cool though.

          3. mexican sharpshooter

            The jacket they taught us to nip a bit off the end and pull up on the copper shielding to cut it off about 3″ from the end. The rest is trimmed to size and “prepped” for the splice. Yes, they failed constantly but these were meant for expedience.

          4. Lachowsky

            Yikes. The guy teaching the class would have failed me if I had done that. I can see why in a military situation speed may be more important than quality. The guy teaching our class stressed taking our time and doing it right, which makes sense in an industrial setting.

            Speaking of failures. The last place I worked in had most of its electric run underground. Every now and then, we would get a hard rain and an underground 23kv would go to ground. It was always easy to find where the failure occured. All I had to do was walk around outside and figure out which manhole had the lid blown off of it and there the problem would be.

    7. I waited +2 hours on my birthday to get my driver’s license renewed. ?

      First world problems.

      1. grrizzly

        Couldn’t you renew it online?

        1. I wanted to ensure that I get a license that opts out of Real ID

          1. DEG

            I went through that not too long ago. NH lets you renew on-line every other renewal. This renewal, I had to go in person. I didn’t want REAL ID, so it should have been easy right? Nope. I went went on the wrong day of the month. Two and a half hour wait.

          2. grrizzly

            Happy birthday! I didn’t realize it at first.

  3. ChipsnSalsa

    Lot of manspreading going on in the tubes.

    1. Vhyrus

      These euphemisms.

  4. Vhyrus

    Age of consent: Protecting the children, or fuck off slaver?

    Discuss.

    1. Fuck off, child slavers?

      1. Vhyrus

        Judges?

        Okay, we’ll allow it.

    2. Caput Lupinum

      Artifact of convenience. In theory, consent would be limited to those that can process the implications of giving it. Since that varies from case to case, depending on what is being consented to, who is consenting, and who is asking for the consent, it is more expedient to ascribe arbitrary numbers as cutoffs. In some situations this will lead to people that can give consent not being allowed to, and people that can’t bring able to. It isn’t perfect, but but no arbitrary system would be. The alternative is incredibly messy, though, and an anathema to law.

      1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

        No. The alternative is case by case rulings which is the essence of common law. Statutory prohibitions can fuck right off when the penalty is criminal.

        1. Caput Lupinum

          You’re correct, I specifically meant statutory law, since no-one can “make” common law as it is built case by case from precedent. In a more perfect world, almost everything would be decided by common law and the legislature would be reserved to interactions between sovereigns, and if you ever find a portal to that world let me know.

          1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            We’d have to travel back to England circa 14 something. That or I hear Xeer law in Somalia is pretty solid. I’ve got an idea how to get back to that world but it requires first that the State stop paying judges.

        2. R C Dean

          There’s also the notion that criminal law should be clear and predictable, which weighs in favor of arbitrary rules as opposed to “I knows it when I sees it.”

      2. Rasilio

        Not really.

        You could pass a law which states that under the age of 16 the presumption is the minor in question is not capable of providing consent. However if it can be shown that the minor in question is capable of consenting then the defendant must be acquited

        1. Enough About Palin

          If the Johnson fit, you must acquit!

        2. thrakkorzog

          That still seems like an issue that the ability to consent would most likely vary on the defendant’s ability to hire competent counsel. While the current age of consent laws are somewhat arbitrary, they are still less arbitrary than the alternatives.

    3. DOOMco

      There should be an age where some gov given rights are activated.
      I don’t know if they should all be the same age. 18 seems ok by me for drinking, voting, buying drugs, and joining the military. sex? not sure. I don’t wan’t to jail two teens for fucking.

    4. Juvenile Bluster

      14 and under, 15 and older, and for a third answer I’m guarding my daughter with a shotgun for the next decade+.

      1. Vhyrus

        so a 14 year old cant bone a 15 year old? Harsh man.

        1. Bobarian LMD

          Half the boy’s age plus seven years. Works all the way into your 90’s.

          1. ArchieBunker

            Half the boys age plus 6 years and 364 days is why that’s flawed

    5. DOOMco

      I’m probably wrong, but as far as I can remember in VT there’s a sliding scale. I think it was 3 years? so a 20 year old could be with a 17 year old, but not 16.

      1. AlmightyJB

        I would go with a 5 year age spread until the youngest hits 17. Then all bets off. Could make 3 year spread a misdemeanor if youngest is under 13.

        1. Mad Scientist

          Half your age plus 7.

          1. Tundra

            Good rule of thumb.

            I still think 32 is too young for me, though.

          2. kinnath

            37 would be two years younger than my daughter. The rule has its quirks.

          3. Mad Scientist

            Send ’em my way, then.

          4. kinnath

            Puts the lower limit at 14.

          5. Vhyrus

            ….awww, that cuts me off at 20…

          6. Rasilio

            1/3rd your age + 10

            So if you are 18 then you can hook up with a 16 yer old
            If you are 30 you can date a 20 year old
            if you are 45 you can date a 25 year old

            And honestly once they are over 25 they are old enough to make their own damn choices without anyone questioning them anyway so fuck off and mind your own business

          7. AlmightyJB

            But if you’re 15…

          8. ArchieBunker

            Fractions are hard. Can’t expect people to know what 1/3 is when they can’t even figure out how much change to give me back at a gas station without the computer telling them

          9. AlmightyJB

            That rule seems a little too strict.

        2. DOOMco

          I was happy it existed, I was dating a girl in my younger brothers class after I left high school. I was 19, she was 17. 4 years is where I’d pick, but I think it’s the correct approach. just because someone turns 18 before the other shouldn’t end a relationship.

    6. Count Potato

      Many parts of the U.S. over do it, treat different acts differently, make exceptions for marriage, differences in age, etc. There is no consistency, logically or numerically. In my opinion, in most cases the age of consent for sex is too high, and in some places the age of consent for marriage is to low. If I’m not mistaken, the first age of consent law were passed in England, and that age was 12. Saying age is just a number is way over-simplifying it. Regardless, there are mature 16-year-olds and people who cannot accept responsibility for the sexual choices in their 20’s (just look at college campuses). In regards to this French proposal, “Twice in recent weeks, French courts have refused to prosecute men for rape after they had sex with 11-year-old girls because authorities couldn’t prove coercion”, 13 sounds too low, but it’s better than allowing sex with 11-year-olds. On the other hand, there are States in the U.S. where 16-year-olds can drive cars or get married, but can’t consent to oral or anal sex until they are 21.

      1. Vhyrus

        Just to throw my 2 cents around, 14 or 15 is probably a reasonable AOC, and I would accept 13 if there was some cap on it, like 5 years.

      2. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

        If there is no ‘coercion’ than it isn’t rape. Criminal enforcement of statutory prohibitions on intercourse are underpinned fundamentally by the notion that the government has a property interest in the ‘violated’ party.

        1. Count Potato

          You are arguing by definition. It depends what one calls “coercion”. What is called “sexual coercion” on college campuses isn’t rape.

          Regardless, 11-year-olds having sex is harmful. I have no idea what you mean by “government has a property interest in the ‘violated’ party” since rape, kidnapping, assault, murder, etc. aren’t property crimes either. Although, since France has socialized medicine, avoid paying years of psychiatric treatment is in the financial interest of the government.

          1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            I really should write on this topic… but I try and keep it short and explain what I mean. As an initial matter, the below analysis is applicable only to English common law systems where there is a distinction between law and equity and the genesis of action is based on a violation of right. Further, we are only looking at statutory rape. The genesis of the action at law i.e. money damages – is based in a violation of a property right – ‘harm’ is immaterial. Kidnapping and assaults at law are a ‘trespass against the person.’ Without getting into the greater details, what we think of as ‘statutory rape’ was dealt with purely on a restitutionary basis. the old courts punished non-consensual (on the part of the father) consensual (on the part of the daughter) intercourse with an unwed daughter as a deprivation of a property right (value of dowry etc.). This action, brought by the father was only available at law – there was no action in equity. Felony rape (i.e. no consent) is a different kettle of fish. In modern statutory rape (i.e. consenting parties), the statues accord the State a right of action (at equity, which is a secondary but equally bad issue) however the State’s right of action it is still predicated on the same basis as the father’s right of action at common law. This is the issue.

          2. Rasilio

            Regardless, 11-year-olds having sex is harmful.

            Is it?

            I mean it certainly isn’t good but historically it was not unheard of for 11 year olds to be married and having sex and even in our culture there isn’t too much evidence that it is axiomatically harmful. Growing up in a welfare city (Lowell Ma) I knew more than a few people my age who started voluntarily having sex when they were 11 – 12 years old and yeah there weren’t any cases where I can say it was a good thing but there were a couple where it clearly did not cause them any greater harm than the current reality of their lives had caused them

          3. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            “Many nights have passed, trapped in a strange land. I’m hungry and all I can do to pass the time is hump. I will hump this rock. I will hump this tree. I will hump this beast of the land and put my seed in it.”

        2. R C Dean

          If there’s no consent, it isn’t rape. Fucking an unconscious person is rape even though no coercion is applied.

    7. Rasilio

      Thing I hate about this issue is how you cannot even rationally discuss it with most people.

      For example nearly everyone has an assumption that underage sex is inherently damaging to the minor in question, Just look at the linked article here, where they claim the minors in the 2 cases face a life sentence. As if they fact that they had sex with an older man is axiomatically going to ruin their lives. Depending on the age of the minor in question it is usually the case that sex with someone older is going to cause some level of psychological damage it is far from universal as according to the very little research that has been performed on the issue as many as half of those who reported having sexual encounters while underage reported them as either having been a positive or neutral experience for them. The problem is the minute you bring up these facts you are labeled a pedophile or at the very least an accessory to pedophilia and so no rational discussion of the actual issues is ever possible.

      1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

        If it is axiomatic that the law operate to shield us from harm, then all harm may be done in the name of law.

    8. “Early marriages are a sign of a rural society” — paraphrased from St. Heinlein.

      His point was that kids raised on a farm didn’t need sex education and “if she’s old enough to bleed she’s old enough to breed” pretty much covered age of consent for much of human history. If I’m not mistaken, when I was a yute the marriage age for girls (and therefore the age of consent) was 14. I knew a guy in the Air Force in 1973 who had a 21 year-old-wife and a 7 year-old kid. He was probably 26-27 at the time.

      It seems to me that the half your age plus seven rule helps you from making an ass of yourself at both ends of your life.

      … Hobbit

  5. Tundra

    Board games….

    SMDH.

    What happened to libertarianism??

    1. Why? Did it claw its way out of the shallow grave again? should we dig a deeper one?

      1. Tundra

        Is it too much to ask for hookers and cocaine?

        IS IT?

        1. bacon-magic

          ^^^

        2. DOOMco

          no, just expensive.

          1. Trials and Trippelations

            Erm have you seen the prices of some games?

          2. It’s called “Plastic Crack” for a reason.

          3. thrakkorzog

            Pretty sure crack is cheaper by weight than most 40k minis.

        3. Bobarian LMD

          It sounds like a lot more fun than Monopoly.

          1. PBRstreetgang

            What about Monopoly AND hookers w/coke? Huh-huh??

          2. Rasilio

            A lot cheaper to make it rain on them when you are using monopoly money

        4. Pan Zagloba

          That’s for tightwads. Board games are for true addict who cares not about money.

    2. Tundra

      Have a great trip though, Swissy!

      1. *shakes sarcasm meter*

        Oh well…. thanks.

        1. Tundra

          No, that one was sincere.

          1. *squints suspiciously*

            I will take your word for it…..this time.

          2. MikeS

            Remember; you told me the other day that the “Minnesoda Nice” was just a front. Don’t fall for it!

    3. Sean

      We can’t always be talking about guns & titties. (Just like 90% of the time.)

      1. Bobarian LMD

        That also sounds like a good board game.

        1. “Tit for Rat-a-tat-tat?”

          1. MikeS

            Would buy

          2. Pope Jimbo

            Maybe a reboot of Mouse Trap?

            It would be called Rat-a-tit-tit. The goal would be to drop a pair of breasts on a rat.

            I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it has tits.

    4. Mad Scientist

      I want to know which board games he’s playing before I vote to kick him out of the club.

      Also, my vote can be bought off with beer.

    5. ArchieBunker

      It passed Go and collected $200

  6. ChipsnSalsa

    Which one of you people is posting these videos?

    Was posted a few years ago so I’m assuming you took the GayJay poster down.

    From the thrid lesson “The Police are there to kidnap you off the street and take you and lock you in a cage!”

  7. Rufus the Monocled

    Men don’t know how to dress anymore.

    1. bacon-magic

      You’ve had the same shirt on ever since I’ve know you.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        IT’S A CLASSIC.

  8. Tundra

    Tax bill shitstorm a forming? *readies tranquilizer darts*

    It’s gonna be fun. Ace had this set of tweets that cracked me up.

    Something something petard hoisting…

    1. Bobarian LMD

      This comment:

      Never fear. John McStain will make sure to fuck the American people.

      They don’t make cancer like they used to, I guess.

      1. Vhyrus

        No, they do, it’s just being held as a POW inside McCain’s brain, to be used as propaganda when appropriate.

        1. Tundra

          *applause*

        2. bacon-magic

          Vhyrus wins today.

    2. Raston Bot

      Dems object that Rs are inserting health care into the tax bill with individual mandate repeal.

      “My understanding is the individual mandate is a tax,” Thune responds, referencing SCOTUS decision

      1. Enough About Palin

        My understanding is the individual mandate is a tax,” Thune responds, referencing SCOTUS decision

        SWEET!

  9. Juvenile Bluster

    A great success for Socialism! Take THAT h8ers!!!!! Wait…wut? Oh, I mean, a shame about state capitalism sucking like that. /Prog

    No. It’s all about those greedy KKKorporashunz for expecting money they lent to be repaid. If they’d just forgive Venezuela’s debts, it would be a paradise.

  10. Pope Jimbo

    This is how you build support for your union.

    Local transit workers think that striking during SuperBowl week will give them the leverage to wring some extra goodies out of the taxpayers wallets.

    I’m skeptical about how many people who have shelled out $$$ for tickets to that game will actually be taking the train or the bus. And even if you think the light rail train will be important, you only need about 20 scabs to run them anyhow for that single day.

    1. Enough About Palin

      Plus this city has a ton of cab and Uber drivers.

      1. Tundra

        At least until your new commie mayor is sworn in.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          I think that there isn’t enough time between the inauguration and the SB for them to kill off Uber and Lyft.

          Especially since we elected two black transgender council members. That alone is going to take a lot of back slapping of congrats before any real business can be run out of town.

  11. Chipwooder

    Senator Rand Paul
    ‎@RandPaul

    Today I am announcing my intention to amend the Senate tax bill to repeal the individual mandate and provide bigger tax cuts for middle income taxpayers.

    The mandate repeal is a promise we all made and we should keep. It also allows an additional $300 billion+ in tax cuts.

    11:24 AM – Nov 14, 2017

    Ken hardest hit

    1. Sean

      Ken hardest hit

      Give him a stuffed sea otter toy and get him to a safe space.

    2. Dammit, I knew somebody was going to make that joke before I could!

      1. RBS

        Don’t worry, there is always Winston’s mom.

        1. bacon-magic

          Who hasn’t been there? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

    3. bacon-magic

      You Randian sycophants are being fooled again. Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah. Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah. Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah. Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah.Blah bla blah blah blah bla, bla bla blah. That’s why Rand sucks wienie and the whole reason I tackled his ass. /Ken

      1. Just Say’n

        I still can’t believe they gave Ken bail. He broke six of his ribs!

        1. bacon-magic

          Because of the (R).

        2. mexican sharpshooter

          *golf clap*

      2. [thunderous applause]

      3. MikeS

        tl;dr

  12. Just Say’n

    DeBlasio Aid Says Chicago Pizza > New York Pizza

    http://nypost.com/2017/11/13/de-blasio-staffer-says-pizza-from-chicago-is-better-than-new-york/

    The guy is right, but he’s wrong about the best pizza place. Peqouds Pizza is yuppie pizza. Lou Malnati’s or Pete’s Pizza is the best Chicago pizza.

    Cardboard pizza lovers hardest hit

    1. DeBlasio?

      You take the word of that Socialist moron?

      1. Oh, one of his yes-people

      2. Just Say’n

        It was his aid and even a broken clock is right twice a day

        1. Except when it points to Chicago.

          1. Just Say’n

            Psst…upstate New York is not even New York. Chew on that

          2. Chipwooder

            Well, he does have a point there.

        2. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

          A proper analog clock, if broken, is right only once per day.

          1. And a digital clock is never right once broken.

          2. Just Say’n

            And I thought Swiss attending a board game convention was dorky, but you win.

          3. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            This isn’t even my final form – my pedantry is unbounded!

          4. Just Say’n

            Have fun at the convention, Swiss.

        3. Winded

          This pedant says everyone else always gets this wrong…it’s a stopped clock that is right just twice (or once) a day. A broken clock can be right anywhere from 0 to an infinite number of times per day. What if its hands are turning at the speed of light?

          1. DOOMco

            wouldn’t that be a malfunctioning clock?
            /further pedantry

          2. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            That’s retarded. If you were close enough to observe the hands accelerating toward some fraction of c you’d be annihilated by the expanding fireball of super-heated plasma or the x-rays.

    2. Jefe Hayek

      Chicago pizza is another testament to the ingenuity of Midwesterners. They can fuck up just about anything if they set their mind to it!

      1. *readies cat butt*

        1. Don’t you have some form of interstate transit to catch?

          1. bacon-magic

            *sonic ice pick activated*

        2. Jefe Hayek

          I was just talking about your food, not your bedroom proclivities

          I tease, because I love.

          Except your food

          and a lot of your people

          and your weather

          and your accents

          other than that, though

          1. bacon-magic

            We gots pimps here yo. Don’t need yo ass anyway sucka.

          2. MikeS

            and your accents

            Now that is funny, y’all.

      2. bacon-magic

        You take that back. It is delicious. And St. Louis style thin too!

        1. Just Say’n

          “And St. Louis style thin too!”

          woah, woah, let’s not get crazy here

          1. bacon-magic

            Pfffft
            *tranq dart hits Just Say’n in neck*

          2. Just Say’n

            *collapses and awakens in Cairo, IL*

          3. Just Say’n

            Cairo Egypt is probably still safer than Cairo, IL

          4. St. Louis pizza is fine…as an appetizer.

          5. bacon-magic

            With toasted ravs.

          6. Jefe Hayek

            Toasted ravioli wasn’t bad, exactly. I was just disappointed. I was expecting something really crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle. Instead, got something closer to a pizza roll.

            Now, don’t get me wrong, pizza rolls are awesome. Just not what I was expecting

        2. Jefe Hayek

          Exhibit A-Z of terrible Midwest food.

          Take a bland cracker crust, load it up with sugary sweet tomato sauce, “melt” a pound of horrifying cheese product on top

          That’s not pizza, it’s an abomination

          1. *adjusts for windage*

            *FIRE*

          2. Just Say’n

            You jealous, bro?

          3. Chipwooder

            Provel is a petroleum by-product, I believe?

          4. Jefe Hayek

            Smegma collected from sundry boat captains along the Mississippi is what I assumed

          5. Just Say’n

            Two things that the Midwest excels at: being fat and drunk. We have perfected the fine art of deliciously fattening food and beer. Sorry that we’re better than the rest of the country

          6. Jefe Hayek

            Umm, maybe the drunk part, but the South outfats you by a lot. So much of Midwest fatness comes from inferior stock and being incapable of exercise 6 months a year.

            The South’s fatness is 100% due to our delicious food. We even have to overcome poverty and meth to be fat. Sorry, no contest

          7. Mad Scientist

            The midwest has no shortage of meth, Jefe. It’s practically a condiment.

          8. Just Say’n

            Pssht…meth from the South is sub par. Drive through rural Indiana- now that is meth.

          9. You can get outdoor exercise in the snow: cross-country skiing or snowshoeing.

          10. Lachowsky

            Souther meth, Midwestern meth all the same. It’s all made in mexico. There are some local makers of artisinal meth here and there, but the majority of it comes from south of the border.

          11. I LIVE IN THE MIDWEST AND I AGREE!!!!

    3. Chipwooder

      He’s wrong, and if New York were still New York, he’d be chased out of town before sundown. DeBolshevik eats pizza with a fork for crissakes – clearly he’s hiring people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

      1. Just Say’n

        Who’s going to chase him out of New York? The Williamsburg progressives who yell at the sky? Or the street toughs in Manhattan?

        Nothing. That’s what you guys are going to do.

        1. Viking1865

          Chip’s not chasing anyone anywhere, he’s a carpetbagger.

        2. Chipwooder

          That’s my point – NY is nothing but bobo transplants from tony suburbs across the country now. The real New Yorkers like my relatives have almost all moved away. They’re like two-thirds of Dade County, for example.

      2. RBS

        DeBolshevik eats pizza with a fork for crissakes

        How do you eat it, with your hands?

        1. Chopsticks? A spoon?

        2. bacon-magic

          Mouth.

        3. wdalasio

          It’s the only way to properly eat a slice.

          And you eat a slice unless you’re eating that Midwestern Cheesy Tomato Casserole.

    4. mr simple

      He should be run out of town in a rail, but if people in New York expected competency from their elected leaders, none of the people in charge would be.

      1. Just Say’n

        New York style pizza is the Nick Gillespie of pizzas

        1. Rasilio

          Wrapped in a leather jacket?

        2. mr simple

          I never knew Nick Gillespie was delicious.

        3. mr simple

          Wait, did you just try “New York Style” pizza at some chain and not like it or have you actually tried pizza at a reputable NYC establishment? There are some bad pizza places here, as there is approximately 1 pizza place per 10 residents, but, having lived in both cities, a good New York slice is the best pizza available.

        4. Galt1138

          Ouch!

          1. Galt1138

            Dammit, threaded comments! My above reply was to Just Say’n.

            (And yes, I have tried New York pizza in New York. It’s good. just not the best.)

    5. Pan Zagloba

      I see they waited after the election to come out.

    6. Galt1138

      Lou Malnati’s is indeed great.

      If you’re looking for great, non-deep dish, square cut pizza, check out Ach-N-Lou’s in Aurora, IL.

    1. Jefe Hayek

      Wait, I think I get it. Calling yourself trash is how men deal with the fact that they actually like patriarchy and misogyny because it benefits them. So they show shame and that covers up for the fact that they still want dominance. If you say “I’m trash” and do a little performative feminism, you can avoid changing the status quo and get credit at the same time. That’s what this is, right? Just like wypipo who come on here and performatively flog themselves as a last ditch effort to maintain dominance and still look like the good guy at the same time.

      “I’m a man and I’m trash” keeps you in a superior position. You’re the bad guy who acts. You’re the agent. You have the power, you are the center of the discussion. Look at you, flogging yourself. You can decide to not be trash but it is all about you and your agency and you create reality. Right now reality is the spectacle of you calling yourself trash. No status quo change needed in this narcissistic shame show. Status quo change would require that you first STFU.

      First comment ftw. It will never stop until literally everyone is fighting each other because their unique identity requires priority

      1. Chipwooder

        Now that’s a true gold medal Victim Olympics performance.

      2. IntraveneousWoodChipper

        That was the first comment? ?

        1. IntraveneousWoodChipper

          The progs may literally start killing each other soon.

      3. mr simple

        She didn’t stop there. Those comments were the only bright spot in an otherwise cancerous post, specifically for the humor of the infighting. That and the “ZOMG my faith in humanity it’s restored because some men called themselves trash” posts. What a bunch of sadness.

      4. wdalasio

        While I don’t agree with this commenters evaluation of the analysis, I can’t say the analysis itself is wrong. What are these guys doing other than virtue signalling to get approval? As far as I can tell, the original author does seem to be saying “Other Men are Trash”, not himself, of course.

    2. Chipwooder

      These people can’t actually be such tedious assholes in real life, can they? It’s has to be at least partially an act, doesn’t it?

      1. SimonD

        It seems to be the proggy version of ‘No True Libertarian’. Progs use ‘RacistSexistHomophobeIslamophobeHaterBIGOT’ as a way to silence any dissent, it’s not surprising that a random leftist will use the same thing on the inevitable disagreements that occur within the party. I’d suggest just sitting back to watch the show (and bring some marshmallows for when they burn down the whole Progressive edifice).

    3. Vhyrus

      How did I know it was the root? Oh yeah, because the root is pure cancer.

      1. Chipwooder

        So they’re not Very Smart Brothas after all?

        As always – if you have to tell people how smart you are…..

      2. wdalasio

        The root is such pure cancer that it gives cancer cancer.

    4. Jefe Hayek

      He did not argue that women are the moral superiors of men, but I will, just as I will argue that Black and Native folk are the moral superiors of white folk in the various european colonies. At the very least, their arguments carry the moral superiority of historicity. Women have been historically and horrifically oppressed in EVERY human culture and most definitely in American culture. For the structure of THIS conversation around rape culture and misogyny, women have the morally superior position. Period.

      Being “oppressed” gives you automatic moral superiority. That is what all of this SJW culture stuff boils down to, at its essence.

      1. Raston Bot

        between moral superiority and military superiority.. hmmm.. that’s a hard decision. which one would i rather be… hmmmmmmmmmm…

        1. Suthenboy

          A couple of years back I had one of the gibbering anti-colonial idiots give me some gibberish to the effect that ‘Black and Native folk are the moral superiors of white folk’. I countered by pointing out that those moral superiors were killing and eating the weak, burning women alive in ritual along with other forms of human sacrifice, raping children, enslaving anyone they were able…etc etc. They were/are savages.

          “That doesnt give you a right to use a rifle to tell them what to do.”

          My reply: “I dont give a fuck. That shit has to stop and I am the one with the rifle.”

          1. kbolino

            +1 Lord Charles Napier
            −1 Wounded Knee

            They were lots of barbaric practices all around. People seem to find this need for one side to be barbaric and the other civilized, when there were in fact lots of shades of gray.

          2. Suthenboy

            I was addressing Raston’s rhetorical quandry. Moral or Military superiority, which to choose….

          3. kbolino

            Understood, but I was questioning the whole possession of moral superiority to begin with.

            Attacking someone who’s done you no wrong is immoral. That doesn’t make your target moral.

          4. Suthenboy

            Other than a recognition of self ownership for all individuals I am not sure what moral superiority would look like. I am just glad that western civilization has slowly moved towards less barbarism. A lot of bad shit happened along the way. Let’s just try to keep steering the ship in that direction.

            “Attacking someone who’s done you no wrong is immoral.”

            Unless you are defending someone. It would be immoral to not defend an innocent from attack.

          5. Enough About Palin

            shades of gray

            That reminds me, I recently saw a bit of Fifty Shades of Gray. Honestly, I had no idea it was a comedy. Seriously, I laughed quite a bit. The girl is cute though.

      2. Private Chipperbot

        Is historicity related to the interocitor?

        1. Chipwooder

          Use only genuine interocitor parts!

        2. Tonio

          Historicity is bullshit. Wonderful, profitable bullshit. /Robert Childan

          1. Chipwooder

            Man, when is season 3 coming out? Should be in the next couple of months, no?

      3. Bobarian LMD

        the moral superiority of historicity

        The fertilizing superiority of bovine scatology?

    5. Count Potato

      “We are all active contributors to rape culture. All of us. No one is exempt.”

      Of course, the author doesn’t back this up with anything.

      1. Mad Scientist

        If you try to invalidate xer feels, you are part of the patriarchy!

        1. Chipwooder

          Clearly, Count Potato is trash.

      2. KSuellington

        It is Original Sin for proggies.

    6. Suthenboy

      So all of the studies show that women like bigger dicks and manly men but some misandrists are squawking that men should denigrate themselves and shun everything that being a man means. Uh huh.

      I am a man. I have a hairy chest, big balls, dont complain when I bleed, love doing manly things, kill spiders without blinking and will step in front of a bullet for a child or a woman without hesitation. Anyone who doesnt like that can kiss my ass.

      I am not doing this feminist thing right, am I?

      1. Enough About Palin

        Anyone who doesnt like that can kiss my ass

        Even gay dudes?

        1. Enough About Palin

          BTW, doesn’t html work here anymore?

          1. jesse.in.mb

            what were you trying to do? WP forces us to use the current versions not the simple /i and /b

            [strong]BOLD[/strong]
            [em]ITALICS[/em]

      2. R C Dean

        Preach it, Suthen.

    7. Stinky Wizzleteats

      Yep, let’s extrapolate Weinstein, C.K., and Spacey to all men, that’ll work.

  13. Gustave Lytton

    Found a welcome to Japan video on the plane explaining traffic laws, crimes not to commit (stealing an old bicycle!), and some other items. Hilarious segment where the newly arrived Westerner tells his Westerner resident friend that he’d like to stop at a hardware store when they go out so he can pick up a knife for protection. The horror!

  14. Chipwooder

    You gauche American rubes with your age of consent laws……don’t you know how sophisticated the French are?

  15. Pope Jimbo

    Fun with statistics!

    FBI says Minnesoda has increased hate crimes AGAIN!. Oh, it went from 109 from 2015 to 119 in 2016.

    1. Tundra

      Damn, we’re not very good h8trs.

      1. Bobarian LMD

        It’s not the quantity, it’s the quality.

        If you adjust for police shooting people of different races, it probably would have been a decrease.

      2. mr simple

        Don’t sell yourselves short; you’re 19th in hate crimes per population among the states. That’s second quintile! DC, of course, leads all states in this statistic.

    2. Chipwooder

      BEHOLD WHAT TRUMP HATH WROUGHT!!!!

    3. Just Say’n

      119 in a state with a population of like 2,000 is pretty significant

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        But they were all over who has the best hockey mullet.

        1. Mad Scientist

          I’ve got an ape drape, yes I do!

          1. Chipwooder

            They’re giving them to anyone, that means you!

      2. Tundra

        I wish.

        5,420,380.

        69 are libertarians.

        1. Just Say’n

          “69 are libertarians.”

          They purposely keep it at 69 for the laughs

          1. Tundra

            Of course. We send any excess to North Dakota to hang out with MikeS.

          2. MikeS

            Send MOAR!

          3. MikeS

            757,952

            6.9 are libertarians

          4. Pope Jimbo

            A 69 with a period in the middle of it is no laughing matter Mike

          5. MikeS

            Uff-da!

          6. Lachowsky

            No you dont. You guys kill the oldest Libertarian when a new Libertarian is born. I’ve seen your movie.

          7. Pope Jimbo

            We don’t kill them. We just send them out on the rink as a goalie without pads. Nature takes care of the rest.

    4. MikeS

      Minnesota’s 2016 figures come from just 10 percent of participating agencies statewide.

      Wisconsin’s 2016 figures were reported by 18 — or roughly 4 percent — of a total of 414 agencies participating in the program statewide.

      So…in other words, the entire study is basically worthless?

      1. Left Hand of Radar

        TUNDRA: The libertarian kid who ran for Mayor of Minneapolis got around 400 votes. Woo Hoo! We’re on the RISE!

        1. Tundra

          Wooohooo!

          We’re coming!

  16. Suthenboy

    Turns out the fairer sex is just as superficial as men. They like men with muscles and money.

    No shit?

    Wasn’t there a study a while back that found women like bigger dicks? I am going to apply for a grant to study whether or not water is wet.

    1. It’s a shocker to people who’ve agressively educated themselves into believing untruths about the nature of things and denying the value of any form of traditional wisdom.

      1. bacon-magic

        Salt is good.

        1. I wanted to reply to someone who was ranting about water chlorination by reminding them that salt is half chlorine, but it was a video, and they wouldn’t have heard me, so I just turned it off.

          1. Mad Scientist

            And the other half is metal.

          2. mexican sharpshooter

            …a metal that explodes in water!

    2. Mad Scientist

      If your test subjects will get the water splashed on them, and they are female, and braless, and hot, I will support your effort to get this study funded.

    3. Chipwooder

      Money, muscles, big dick…..man, how did I manage to get married?

      1. Suthenboy

        I once had a guy complain that he had a mushroom on his dick. I suggested that he see a doctor, that it was probably some form of STD. He refused to believe that. He said it was impossible that it was an STD because he never cheated on his wife.

        Ok then.

        1. Bobarian LMD

          It was obviously a fungal infection.

        2. Pope Jimbo

          Tractor seat?

        3. Vhyrus

          Please tell me you’re joking.

          1. Suthenboy

            I am not joking one bit. I was standing in the middle of the fucking amazon jungle waiting for my ride and this dude just appeared out of nowhere, a complete stranger. I didn’t think there were any people around for 100 miles and all of a sudden there he was. He just materialized out of the bush. I guess he thought that since I was a gringo I am some kind of medical expert so he just starts talking about his dick. He wanted to show me the goddamned thing but I stopped him.

            “I have never cheated on my wife!”

            I wanted to snarkily ask him what his wife did for a living but my better judgement told me to keep my mouth shut. There would have been blood.

          2. bacon-magic

            You were just visited by one of the ancient gods of that area…penisshroomandshowit

          3. Count Potato

            What were you doing in the amazon jungle?

          4. MikeS

            Searching for rare mushrooms.

          5. Pope Jimbo

            Well he got an email from Amazon telling him that they were having troubles finding his house and would he mind coming down to the depot and picking it up himself.

            Next thing you know…

          6. Vhyrus

            This story is reaching Kramer levels of absurdity. You could publish this as a book.

          7. Suthenboy

            If you only knew….

          8. Suthenboy

            Life imitates art….poorly.

          9. Pope Jimbo

            Was it a magic mushroom?

            If you rub it, you will be granted three wishes?

          10. Bobarian LMD

            No but it will dispense hand lotion.

    4. Rasilio

      You do that, while I lock up all the grant money stuying which gets the women wetter, the big dick or fat wallet

      1. Suthenboy

        Hell, I can tell you that right now.

        1. Rasilio

          Shhh keep it quiet and I’ll split the grant money with you

  17. bacon-magic

    Rufus,
    I expect a hello in Tos shortly

    1. F. Stupidity Jr.

      YOU’LL GET NOTHING AND LIKE IT, PORK-BELLY MAN

    2. bacon-magic

      Ruuuuuuuuuuuffffffffuuuuuuuuus !!!

    3. bacon-magic

      Just so y’all know: I 1sted fist. The secret is mine!
      *gollums*

  18. jesse.in.mb

    Huh, Tubecrush has been waaaaay down in photo volume over the last two years. Also I’m not sure how the study would be able to parse anonymous users taking pictures of of random men in public as women…especially when they used gay bobsleigher cum rugby player Simon Dunn as an example of photos taken. Bah, now I’ve GIS’d Simon Dunn and will be too busy to comment for the rest of the day.

    Duh dun DUNN!

    1. Just Say’n

      ^ What does this mean?

      1. I donno, some mudstained ape in a field, I guess.

      2. bacon-magic

        Translation: Jesse will be in his bunk with the hunk.

      3. jesse.in.mb

        What part of it. Sorry for the much larger than expected image, btw.

        1. bacon-magic

          No you’re not. You blew it up for a reason.

    2. Mad Scientist

      Dirty boy! Dirty, dirty boy!

    3. Chipwooder

      Eh, the proclivities of the man in question in no way precludes women from ogling/fantasizing.

      1. jesse.in.mb

        Sure, but I’ve had Tubecrush on my RSS feed for…several years. Here’s the blurb from Simon Dunn’s post

        Submitted by: MarkyMark

        We just can’t get enough of this sexy guys tattoos on his thighs. So yummy that if they were in a KFC bucket we would eat them up – bone and all!!

        Some other user names that have submitted: @MrGaggies, @TimmyLDN, Gaymboy, Benjamin P…

        There are a few lady names in there and some that are ambiguous or just initials, but surveying the site isn’t going to give you a clear picture of “what women want”

        1. Chipwooder

          Aha…..I missed the point. Get it now.

    4. Tonio

      I see what you did there.

      Also, I miss Manly Mondays

      1. jesse.in.mb

        I do too, Tonio, I do too.

      2. bacon-magic

        You both sound like it’s gonna be a box of tissues and the Notebook movie night tonight.

        1. Mad Scientist

          I’ll see that, and suggest they’re going to need a couple boxes of tissues.

      3. Just Say’n

        What happened to “Manly Mondays”?

        And where was the MACtion articles I was promised?

        1. jesse.in.mb

          The day-of-the-week articles were mostly attempts to keep a regular drumbeat of content going while we got up and running. I was covering Monday and Friday until Vhyrus started his wildly popular Firearms Fridays. My content had a niche following and I’ve ceded the space to content producers with broader appeal.

          1. Mad Scientist

            broader appeal

            I see what you did there.

          2. bacon-magic

            niche

            It’s ok to fill the niche.

          3. Bobarian LMD

            That sounds like consent.

          4. Just Say’n

            Manly Monday should come back and be complimented by Womanly Wednesday. Furry Fridays, maybe?

          5. Vhyrus

            *narrows gaze*

          6. jesse.in.mb

            Fur Friday was a bit of a blind item. One week furries, one week people losing their shit over Ivanka wearing real endangered island foxes or some such bullshit. Sometimes it’d just be hunky guys standing around with hatchets, beards and fur loin cloths.

            Y’all drove off Thicc Thursdays.

          7. bacon-magic

            Boooooooooooo

          8. Lachowsky

            So, how do you guys determine what is popular and what isnt? Is it comments? pageviews? I’m curious. I’m curious how much lurker traffic this site has. Are there many people who actually enjoy reading this comment board yet don’t participate.

          9. jesse.in.mb

            That’s a question for SP. Show up on her stoop with a bottle of fine Kentucky bourbon and ask nicely… You might get a shotgun blast to the chest, or an excellent vegetarian meal, a terrible hangover and the answers you seek.

            Kind of a coin-toss there.

          10. bacon-magic

            Dog will bark.

          11. Lachowsky

            I would, but I really have no desire to go to Chicago. I guess I shall forever wonder.

          12. SP

            Actually, we don’t really care whether we or any content is popular. In case you hadn’t noticed.

            Seriously, though, some things just seem to run their course, others don’t catch on, and some staffers just get tired of coming up with stuff. You didn’t really think we have a plan, right? Right?

            I spent a couple days in Little Rock a few weeks ago. You could have bought drinks then for an in-person reply to all your site queries. But did you? No, you did not.

            Oh, and in answer to the last bit, we aren’t really doing analytics. Our intent was not popularity or traffic, so I don’t take time away from my real life to do it.

          13. DOOMco

            as long as you still love us.
            you still love us, right?

          14. Lachowsky

            Copy.

            Thanks for building this place SP. I appreciate it.

          15. Suthenboy

            Oh, c’mon Jesse. I have zero interest in looking at dudes but I enjoyed reading the threads and even commented but probably off topic. I read every article and have deep appreciation for every contribution. Besides, around here that niche is a pretty significant percentage of the readers.

          16. Galt1138

            Indeed.

          17. Tulip

            Please bring back Manly Monday.

          18. jesse.in.mb

            I make no promises, but it sounds like it’s a legitimately missed feature, so I’ll see if it’s something I can fit back in.

          19. R C Dean

            I’m as straight as it gets,and I liked Manly Mondays. Good fun, and for me a look from a different perspective type of deal. I say bring back the oily Turks and sweaty/grimy rugby players!

          20. Rhywun

            broader appeal

            More like appealing broads.

    5. Juan-Baptiste Emmanuel Seguin

      I’m afraid to ask…what is cum rugby?

  19. Drake

    Gateway Pundit headlines are pretty great this afternoon:

    IT’S A FAKE! Analyst Says Judge Roy Moore Signature Inside Gloria Allred Accuser’s Yearbook Was FORGED

    Video: Joe Biden Fondles Little Girls’ Breasts; Uses Bible to Entice Girl at Senate Ceremony

    Former Secret Service Agent Who Worked with Hillary Savages Clinton Over ‘Missing’ Emails

    Former Joe Biden Service Agent: We Had to Protect Women From Him, ‘Weinstein Level Stuff’

    Body Language Expert: Judge Moore Denial of Gloria Allred Accuser’s Claims is 100% ‘Genuine’ (VIDEO)

    Sexual Harassment Rampant on Capitol Hill – Female Lawmakers Have ‘Creep List’ of Men to Avoid ‘Especially in Elevators’

    Democrat Arrested for Texting Photos of His Genitals and Creepy Stalking of Woman in New Mexico (Video) (Democrat David Alcon is running for the open Second District Congressional Seat in New Mexico.)

    1. That guy was sane….a decade ago.

    2. Just Say’n

      “Body Language Expert: Judge Moore Denial of Gloria Allred Accuser’s Claims is 100% ‘Genuine’ (VIDEO)”

      This doesn’t sound retarded

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        That body language analysis stuff is somewhere between Voodoo and phrenology on the validity scale.

        1. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

          On that topic, has there been any peer review of the microexpression stuff?

          1. Stinky Wizzleteats

            I’d be surprised if there isn’t but I don’t know of anything off the top of my head. Google Scholar could point you in the right direction but most of that stuff is pay to see.

          2. Private Chipperbot

            A little.

          3. Drake

            I believe Adrian Veidt conducted such a study.

          4. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

            Is it too much to ask for a GungaDiner in this town?

        2. Chipwooder

          So you’re saying we need someone feeling the bumps on this chick’s head, pronto

    3. Pope Jimbo

      Hey!

      That headline about female pols having a creep list wasn’t from Minnesoda. I think they are plagiarizing us. “We’ve learned how to survive” is the headline we had last week about how horrible our state lawmakers are.

    4. Microaggressor

      Sexual Harassment Rampant on Capitol Hill – Female Lawmakers Have ‘Creep List’ of Men to Avoid ‘Especially in Elevators’

      Sounds like the invisible hand at work.

  20. Trials and Trippelations

    Have fun at the Con, Swiss!

    I’m sad I missed a 200+ comment board gaming thread today.

    1. Vhyrus

      It’s okay. Half those comments were people telling me I’m wrong.

      1. If you weren’t wrong so much…

        /sarc

      2. {|}===[|}:;:;:;:;:;:;:>

        With the remainder of comments agreeing with the first half?

      3. DOOMco

        no they weren’t.

      4. mexican sharpshooter

        Half those comments were people telling me I’m wrong.

        I’m going to level with you. I got about 1/4 of the way in and decided if I was going to be reading legal hairsplitting, I may as well get paid for it, and went back to work.

      5. kbolino

        I feel like I always get to the NN threads late and most people ignore my comments. At least yours get read!

        1. Vhyrus

          If you want to make a stink, ya gotta post some shit!

          1. R C Dean

            New glibertarians.com motto.

            So let it be written, so let it be done.

        2. kbolino

          s/ignore/miss/

          Anyway, I should probably do a full-length post on it rather than just comments.

        3. Lachowsky

          I read your stuff KB. it’s usually pretty damn good, if often late.

        4. bacon-magic

          I’m always late in the morning so I corpse fuck the thread.

          1. MikeS

            +1 smell of rancid bacon

          2. Bobarian LMD

            Hihntagious.

  21. Raston Bot

    Roy Moore and the End of Republican Credibility

    over at the old site.

    1. bacon-magic

      By: the Hack Jacket

    2. DOOMco

      That seems like some collectivizing. I wonder if there’s another group that has some bad apples…

      1. Mr Lizard

        The market street fruit gang?…

    3. Just Say’n

      Nick Gillespie is the n-word of libertariansim

      1. Raston Bot

        I thought he was the white people of libertarianism.

        1. Just Say’n

          White people are the n-word of humanity

      2. Just Say’n

        Eh, let me correct that comment. I mean that to call a libertarian Nick Gillespie is like using the n-word

      3. Tundra

        Numbskull?

        1. bacon-magic

          Nincompoop?

          1. Stinky Wizzleteats

            Nonlibertarian?

          2. Just Say’n

            I was going for “Nick Gillespie”.

            Should read: “Nick Gillespie is the Nick Gillespie of Libertarianism”

          3. Bobarian LMD

            Fonzie has put on his life preserver and is coming around for another run at the shark.

          4. Just Say’n

            His closing remarks at that debate with Jacobin Magazine.

            “Look guys, socialism isn’t cool and if I know anything, it’s about being cool. I mean I wear a leather jacket for Christ’s sake” *does Fonzi thumbs up*

      4. Drake

        I forgot that due process wasn’t for Libertarians.

    4. Stinky Wizzleteats

      What’s the gist, that Reps are supporting him when they condemned Clinton and Kennedy and other letches or is it that they haven’t thrown him under the bus sufficiently?

    5. wdalasio

      Roy Moore and the End of Republican Credibility

      I posted a couple of comments on that. Honestly, it strikes me more as the end of libertarian credibility. If there’s any issues that seem like the sine qua non of libertarianism, it’s support for things like due process, the presumption of innocence and the rights of the accused. It seems hard to me that claim that you’re an advocate of liberty when you don’t support those things. As things stand, what exactly is the evidence against Moore? I’m not saying he’s a good guy. But, as things stand, we have a forty year old accusation from someone working on his opponent’s campaign that never came up in the decade he was loudly banging his bible about God and Christianity. And we know that she could have met him when she was young. That’s it.

      What Nick seems to be endorsing is sort of the imposition of college kangaroo courts on the entirety of our national civic life, a world where an accusation constitutes proof and insistence on due process and the rule of law amount to implicit endorsement of the worst of crimes.

      1. F. Stupidity Jr.

        Bravo, sir.

      2. Didn’t he pretty much admit that he dated teenagers as a thirty year old, and with his weak non denial denials, strain his credibility? And maybe I’m conflating different accusations but didn’t he sign the girls yearbook? I don’t have any problem with people (not the state) deciding to accept accusations (credibility is always going to be a variable) and acting on that choice,

        1. grrizzly

          Didn’t he pretty much admit that he dated teenagers as a thirty year old

          And? Not everyone considers it outrageous that a single man dated young women above the age of consent. I don’t think there’s any proof that he attempted to have sex with a 14-yo girl.

          1. And, the people who do find it outrageous or maybe even just a little cringe-y get to act on those findings, no proof of some objectively wrong action is required. If enough people are in the “Ewww” camp, then having a noticeable number of R’s or L’s defending the ‘icky but not illegal actions’ will harm the cause/s that those hand-wavers claim to represent.

          2. grrizzly

            I suspect wdalasio had in mind something like this.

            The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

          3. I have always thought that the ‘defending the indefensible’ was about state actions not individual ones, I am not a big fan of dog fighting, I would not associate with someone involved in that activity, I would not frequent their establishments, nor would not want them in public office or any position in which I have a say about, but I do not want them thrown in jail and will begrudgingly defend their right to treat their property in ways that I find repulsive. One is defending scoundrels from the violence inherent in the system, not from the fact that most decent folk are going to think the scoundrels are assholes and treat treat them accordingly.

          4. thrakkorzog

            I’ve spent some time around evangelicals, and while a 30 year old saying an 18 year old is somewhat icky personally, there isn’t anything immoral about it. I mean an up and coming ADA isn’t exactly the world’s worst boyfriend, especially for a woman planning to major in an MRS degree.

    6. Easy to write article.

      Doesn’t require much journalism at all.

  22. Count Potato

    “There’s a difference between refusing to call a non-binary, dragon-kin gender studies student “xer,” & refusing to call Blaire White, who passes perfectly as a woman & has a medically legitimate diagnosis, “she.” Let’s not let our opposition to SJWs turn us into a-holes, k?”

    https://twitter.com/RoamingMil/status/930211094508994562

    1. Count Potato

      Apparently, it was the Daily Caller, not the author.

      https://twitter.com/shoe0nhead/status/930182429616336896

    2. Just Say’n

      “We’ll use your preferred pronoun if you share our politics. Unless we’re called out on it. Then you forfeit your pronoun.”

      1. Count Potato

        The thing is that Blaire’s politics are pretty much on the same side as the Daily Caller.

    3. KSuellington

      Exactly. My good buddy is friends with a female who became a male. Funy enough he goes by “Chris”. I have zero problem using the preferred pronouns and such, it is common courtesy. I ain’t playing along with that dragon-kin xer shit, no way.

      1. Rasilio

        You ever notice it is always dragon-kin or some similar cool ass creature, you never have someone go “I identify as a goblin-kin”

        1. Mad Scientist

          Look, I’ve already told you all I’m part Irish.

          1. commodious spittoon

            Alright, we’ll take the ladyboys and the dragon-kin… BUT NO IRISH.

  23. Enough About Palin

    And in stories drawing the attention of OMWC…Howzabout those French, eh?

    Okay, 13 is way too young. But when I was 24, I coached a woman gymnast who was 15. She was beautiful, from a well-off family, highly educated an witty as hell. No reason why — were she consenting — we couldn’t have hooked up except for that whole power dynamic thing and the Pennsylvania Age of Consent being 16-years-old. Really, had you spent time with her you’d think she was a sophomore in college, which a 24-year-old would be allowed to date even today.

    1. Vhyrus

      13 is way too young…. says random person?

      I agree its probably not something I would pursue myself but I have seen some 13 year olds that made me wonder what they had been eating.

      1. Enough About Palin

        For me personally. Yes. But for you, have at it.

      2. Rasilio

        I have a hard time believing that as little as 367 days one can go from “way too young” to “I’d tap that”

        sure, 11 is way too young, 13 however is not and there absolutely have been and continue to be 13 year olds who were more than capable of consenting, at 15 years old maybe as many as half of them are able to realistically give consent.

        Yeah I would not set the age of consent as low as 13 but I also would not have the penalty for having sex with someone that age be as great as the penalty for someone having sex with an 11 year old either

    2. Drake

      14 to 17 used to be when young women were married off – usually to a young man a few years older.

      1. mexican sharpshooter

        To my understanding it was almost always to somebody older as her parent’s consent was required. I would think a potential suitor would need to be older to pass the, “not a fuck-up” test.

        1. Tundra

          Or the “bank account” test.

          1. mexican sharpshooter

            I thought those were the same thing.

          2. Drake

            Or have learned a trade and have a future.

  24. Enough About Palin

    Tax bill shitstorm a forming? *readies tranquilizer darts*

    The fuck is with Rand?

    1. Just Say’n

      He’ll vote for it in the end. Unless he wants Ken to kick his ass again

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        Conspiracy theory: Ken IS Rand. Ken’s voice is actually the voice of Rand’s inner demons that try to draw him towards the dark ways of the GOPe.

        1. Vhyrus

          Dr. Paul and Mr. Schultz?

        2. commodious spittoon

          He’s catfishing us? Well, it IS Kentucky.

  25. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Further proof Joe Biden’s a high functioning retard (thx AOSHQ).
    Biden pushing gun control on the Today Show:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/930362687409631232/video/1

    1. Vhyrus

      We gun nuts were horrified when Obama appointed a special council on gun control.

      Then he appointed Biden as the head and we all breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled a bit about the bullet we dodged.

      Tangentially, can you imagine a debate between Trump and Biden? OMFG it would be a massacre.

      1. mexican sharpshooter

        Then he goes on about shooting the front door with a shotgun and it became freaking hilarious.

    2. DOOMco

      I love the mag limit argument.it makes no real difference.

    3. Bobarian LMD

      I’m not sure where you get the ‘high-functioning’ part?

      1. AlmightyJB

        Yeah, that’s not very kind to retards.

    4. AlmightyJB

      The smartest strategy for dems is to keep playing the culture war game to be sure.

      1. AlmightyJB

        That was awesome

      2. Mad Scientist

        That was just delightful.

  26. Ken Shultz

    The Senate tax plan reportedly repeals the individual mandate, which, obviously, means Rand Paul will vote against it, right?

    If he voted for a replacement bill that repealed the individual mandate–and also did a lot of other great things, in addition to that–then why would he vote for a bill that repeals the individual mandate and does less?

    On the other hand, the Senate tax bill doesn’t slash Medicaid spending by more than $700 billion, so maybe Rand Paul will support it. After all, that’s been the pattern. His mouth says, “Blah, blah, blah–woof, woof!”, but, in reality, what he actually does is vote against any bill that BOTH slashes Medicaid AND has a chance of passing with his support.

    1. Just Say’n

      Rand suggested repealing the individual mandate in the tax plan

    2. bacon-magic

      You made this same comment above sir.

      1. MikeS

        Ha!

    3. Suthenboy

      Hey Ken, I posted about hydrostatic shock in the previous article specifically for you. Look towards the end of the thread in ‘Shall we play a game”

    4. Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    5. kbolino

      what he actually does is vote against any bill that BOTH slashes Medicaid AND has a chance of passing with his support

      He also votes for them, because there are 0 such bills and so your statement is vacuously true.

      1. kbolino

        Case in point: the bill you keep talking about, and linking to the CBO analysis of, failed 43-57.

        Unless Rand Paul has 7 votes in his back pocket, he didn’t stop that bill from passing.

  27. To pan fried wylie: porntipsgizzardo

    To Charlie Suet: I saw it. I did, I saw it.

  28. Count Potato

    “US comedian, Kathy Griffin, who posed in a photo with a prop meant to resemble the severed head of President Donald Trump has told BBC Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur she is “not sorry” and “takes back 1,000%” the apology she made in the immediate aftermath.”

    http://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-41918064/kathy-griffin-not-sorry-for-trump-photo

    TW: autoplay, Kathy Griffin

    1. Vhyrus

      She was sorry, when she thought saying it would let her keep her job.

      I should start an online mask store. The dems have been ripping theirs off and burning them so fast, demand has to have skyrocketed.

    2. Bobarian LMD

      It wasn’t like she could become less popular.

    3. Vhyrus

      *clicks link*

      OH MY GOD IT’S A MAN, BABY!

    4. bacon-magic

      I was wondering when Julie Andrews was going to try meth.

      1. mexican sharpshooter

        Day-um!

    5. mexican sharpshooter

      Sounds like she needs the publicity.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Like a crack whore needs…. Uh….. crack.

        Yeah, that’s the ticket.

    6. AlmightyJB

      Pass

  29. Count Potato

    “Rose McGowan was arrested and booked on Tuesday for drug possession, before being released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

    The felony charge stems from a police investigation sparked when the actress left her wallet on a United flight arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport on January 20.

    Cleaners found the wallet and handed it in, but a police investigation was sparked by two small baggies of cocaine found inside”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5083043/Rose-McGowan-arrested-drug-possession.html

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      All my heroes are letting me down….

    2. Vhyrus

      Surprised she didn’t claim the russians planted coke on her.

    3. AlmightyJB

      Wallet was out of her possession.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Good point.

        1. Stinky Wizzleteats

          Yeah, if someone else turned it in, for God’s sake, don’t admit it’s yours. A half decent lawyer would make hay with that.

      2. Lachowsky

        How does that work? I’m pretty sure if there was coke in my checked baggage I would be in a world of trouble. would they have to wait for me to retrieve my luggage before arresting me or could I be arrested without having the drugs in my possession.

      3. Viking1865

        One of Harvey’s former Mossad agents on the payroll just made a deposit at that fancy preschool his wife’s been nagging him about.

  30. Vhyrus

    Yeah, these people totally hacked our elections.

    Russia posts video game screenshot as ‘proof’ of US helping IS

    Russia’s Ministry of Defence has posted what it called “irrefutable proof” of the US aiding so-called Islamic State – but one of the images was actually taken from a video game.

    1. mexican sharpshooter

      Your link doesn’t do the linky linkly thing.

      1. Vhyrus

        FFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

        http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41991012

        1. mexican sharpshooter

          a spokesman for the US-led coalition Col Ryan Dillon said the Russian allegations were “about as accurate as their air campaign”.

          BURN

    2. Vhyrus

      EDIT FAIRY!!! EDIT FAIRY!!!!

      The Edit Fairy isn’t here to save your ass today, man.

        1. Juvenile Bluster

          I’m now scared to ask for edit faeries after it was revealed they all come from OMWC’s loli hentai stash.

      1. Chipwooder

        This made me laugh much, much more than it should have

      2. Tulip

        There’s a dog that sometimes comes to the dog park named Elvis. He doesn’t actually try to hump the other dogs, just stands behind them, all four paws on the ground, and thrusts his hips. Hence the name.

        1. Heroic Mulatto

          That’s actually hilarious.

  31. Juvenile Bluster

    They set up a sting. A sting! For people selling homecooked meals around the neighborhood!. Government, ladies and gents. And the DA seems to think it’s all good.

    A few years ago, Reulas joined the Facebook group 209 Food Spot, a forum she said where people from the Stockton area shared recipes, organized potlucks and occasionally sold what they cooked.

    “Somebody would be like, ‘Oh I don’t have anything to trade you but I would love to buy a plate,’ like they’d be off of work,” Reulas said.

    On Dec. 3, someone contacted Reulas, asking for a plate of her ceviche –- one of her signature dishes.

    That person was an undercover investigator from San Joaquin County, according to court documents, on a sting because the majority of 209 Food Spot members didn’t have permits to sell their food.

    Reulas and a dozen others were cited for two misdemeanors for operating a food facility and engaging in business without a permit.

    Reulas refused to plea down to three years of probation. Now the single mother of six is headed to trial and could end up in jail.

    “I don’t write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime,” said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel.

    She said selling any food not subject to health department inspection puts whoever eats it in real danger, not to mention it undercuts business owners who do get permits to make their food.

    She said the 209 Food Spot Facebook group was sent a warning before charges were handed down.

    “Food prepared in a facility that does not inspect it creates a risk to the public,” McDaniel said.

    1. Lachowsky

      “I don’t write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime,” said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel.

      DA McDaniel would have no problem gassing jews.

    2. Vhyrus

      “She said selling any food not subject to health department inspection puts whoever eats it in real danger, not to mention it undercuts business owners who do get permits to make their food.

      There’s your real reason. It’s a protection racket, plain and simple.

      1. Chipwooder

        Apparently I’m putting my family in grave danger every single fucking night. Who knew?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          We all knew you were a monster.

          I feed my kids Chipotle breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They’re safer that way.

    3. commodious spittoon

      “Food prepared in a facility that does not inspect it creates a risk to the public,”

      Tell that to the Wendy’s that laid me up for half my vacation with a bug that had me vacating both ends of me for four days, you fucking retard.

    4. kbolino

      “I don’t write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime,” said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel.

      … before explaining why she thinks the law is great.

    5. Emmerson Biggins

      Are there diesel powered wood chippers? Just asking for a friend.

    6. Suthenboy

      They didn’t pay tribute. The state will look the other way on a lot of things but not paying them tribute is not one of them.

    1. commodious spittoon

      Is this more of less NSFW than a dog play fucking a cat?

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        I don’t do spoilers.

        1. commodious spittoon

          I’m sitting in a bar and I’m askert 🙁

          1. jesse.in.mb

            I dunno. You probably won’t be run out on a rail for watching it in a bar.

          2. straffinrun

            NSFW ok? May I?

          3. commodious spittoon

            Oh my God the TBC meme. I remember this! Hahahah

    2. straffinrun

      Wa dafuq.

    3. DEG

      I’m reminded of the Lemon Stealing Whores.

    1. Heroic Mulatto

      Imagining his sexual assaults to yacht rock make it so much worse.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Thank you so so much. I can’t believe I’ve never seen that video. It makes the song so much more. … creepier.

  32. DEG

    From the FLORIDAMAN files….Hey, caught a square grouper!

    I know this song takes place in Texas, but it is apropos. I’m saddened no one here linked it.

    1. thrakkorzog

      In my defense, I have linked to that song a few times in the past when similar stories have popped up.

  33. SimonD

    Oh My! The ROOSHUNS are at it again.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/george-takei-thinks-russian-bots-spread-sexual-assault-accusation-article-1.3628635

    This is just too funny. I’m buying stock in a popcorn company tomorrow morning

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      Nah, just the Klingons up to no good again.

  34. quincy

    I did not smash my Keurig machine today. I even descaled it last week.

  35. ArchieBunker

    there’s an article at TOS about the fda making a move to ban Kratom, again. It’s helped a ton of people kick their opiate habit and will give you about the same buzz as a Benadryl. These control freaks are fucking evil, if there is a hell I hope there’s a special place there waiting for them. Damn that pisses me off

    1. Lachowsky

      Kraton is a gateway drug. Why do you want kids to die from fentanyl overdoses Archie?

      1. ArchieBunker

        Wanna know what happens when you OD on Kratom? You get constipated.

        1. Stinky Wizzleteats

          I ordered some and all it did was make me mildly drowsy and it helped my back pain I was having at the time. The abuse potential has to be near zero. People take it to help kick opiates, for chronic pain, and for insomnia and anxiety. It wasn’t for me but fuck anyone who thinks it’s really a problem.

          1. ArchieBunker

            Me either but I know a couple people who credit it with helping them kick nasty habits.

        2. Tulip

          How do you know that?

    2. commodious spittoon

      Does Kratom shrink my brain like Benadryl allegedly does?

    3. one true athena

      yeah, my mom was in several days of pain because her Lyrica prescription needed to be refilled but they had to get the form from the doctor reapporved or some shit because it’s Schedule 5. I looked up why it was scheduled at all, since all the ads claim “not habit forming, etc”. Well, apparently some/a few users it’s used to make other recreational drugs a bit stronger. That’s it. fuck them all.

  36. Stinky Wizzleteats

    A good interview with Sargon of Akkad interviewing Dr. Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist and claimed libertarian, on The Thinkery (Sarg’s alternate channel). It’s a bit long at 75 min but it’s definitely worth a watch:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi7u6PnYpnU

    1. commodious spittoon

      Wait, so a black family can have Princess… Frozen on, but a white family with… M…o…ana…? are awful cultural appropriators?

      Shouldn’t they be shaming black people for celebrating white princesses, and thereby diluting their precious heritage, and encouraging white folks to attenuate their special white privilege with brown skin pride?

      It all seems like ad hoc bullshit to me.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        It’s all good. Elsa is an octoroon.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Good people don’t spew bullshit.

      1. Galt1138

        Amen.

  37. KibbledKristen

    I had a crazy afternoon, spending time with a woman I worked for back in high school. She is an old school feminist hippie. She is as obsessed with feminism as I am with skiing.

    Anyhoo, we ended up at some expensive restaurant with a couple leaders of some women’s activist organization that’s trying to get the ERA going again. When I told them I was currently unemployed, one woman said “well, what do you want to do? What’s your passion?”

    I seriously had no idea how to respond to that, and given my at-face-value social skills (which can be deadly in DC), I said “I’d like to pay my bills”.

    1. Gilmore

      She is as obsessed with feminism as I am with skiing.

      I am a bad person, because i imagined her running down a hill, shouting, “MARRIAGE IS RAPE!!” and then hitting a tree.

    2. commodious spittoon

      That seems unwise.

    3. KibbledKristen

      One of the women in the restaurant is some kind of artist whose main focus is being naked a lot. Like, all she could talk about was nudity.

      Would you all like to see some ERA feminist tits?

      1. Gilmore

        no thank you.

        wtf is “ERA”? Equal Rights Act?

        didn’t we do that, like 100 years ago or something? I’ve been watching Boardwalk Empire and they just mentioned women getting the vote. You’re welcome, ladies.

        Did no one tell them yet?

        1. KibbledKristen

          Yes – they’re trying to revive it.

          Everything women need to be equal before the law is already in the Constitution.

      2. commodious spittoon

        Unless the ERA in question is circa no later than 2005… thanks, but no.

        1. commodious spittoon

          No… earlier… fml 😛

      3. KibbledKristen

        Not even if I sweeten the pot with implied lesbian sex?

        1. thrakkorzog

          The lesbian sex fantasy mostly only works with an implied threesome where the ladies are super horny for dick, but none is available. Hence why so many lesbians are in prison.

          Once the cable guy is trying to explaIn how he had to rewire the attic, the fantasy is dead.

        2. peachy rex

          I’m acquainted with my share of lesbians. So no.

      4. thrakkorzog

        Not particularly.

        Did you try asking her what her opinion would be of a man that was equally obsessed with others seeing him naked?

    1. Gilmore

      i said that before i learned the thing was gear-limited to under 60mph
      still

      1. Juan-Baptiste Emmanuel Seguin

        My favorite car of all time. I particularly like the Arrow replicas…they can be fitted with an alfa v6.

    2. DOOMco

      lancia made some really cool cars. The stratos is awesome.

  38. Derpetologist

    Current Affairs serves up some top shelf whining:

    ***
    I hate how helpless I feel in a world where the free market determines the course of development. If there’s money to be made by turning every unit around me into short-term rentals, well, sucks to be me. If our historic block of wooden houses could be better monetized by sticking in one of the cookie-cutter structures seen popping up next to every highway in America, then it’s going to happen no matter what. The residents may want to keep a neighborhood’s historic character (and my impression is that, if Bywater residents could vote, they would overwhelmingly support requiring new structures to fit in seamlessly with the old ones). But they don’t decide; money decides. The money-made world is a depressing one: your fate is in the hands of people much wealthier than you, and they are choosing to build lonely, isolating places that will make all of us feel more depressed. Advocates for gentrification and development often remind us that “cities change,” that all things must pass. But, first, it matters which changes we choose to make, and whether those changes make life better or make it miserable, with neighborhoods becoming bland and lifeless. And second, it matters how changes are decided upon, whether people will decide for themselves what they want, or whether they will live in a dictatorship of the market, where the power of money is supreme.
    ***

    https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/11/the-wealth-made-city

    1. Heroic Mulatto

      Christ, what an asshole!

    2. Suthenboy

      Because the beauty of Soviet Russian housing was so uplifting.

      What a stupid asshole.

      1. l0b0t

        Stupid asshole indeed. I’ve spent many years fighting with the same type of asshole (but with real power) on the Vieux Carre Commission. (no visible changes allowed to facade, no HVAC untis allowed to be seen from street OR air, they fly over Da 1/4 and take pictures to enforce compliance). Fuck… I’m getting the agita just thinking about it.

  39. Running extra late as always – Swiss – see if you can check out the new “Thing” board game – I’m sure they’ll have something since it’s pretty local.

  40. Since I’m so late and the other thread is dead – maybe Evan from Evansville can back me up on this – “board game cafes” in Seoul. That was pretty fun. Obviously some of those boxes are big, take up space, folks over there have tiny apartments, etc. So you get a couple buddies – head to a nice big, open cafe and “rent” a board game for a couple hours. Basically you’re just paying for the coffee and snacks. Taught a couple of my ROK military buddies how to play Carcasonne (or Settlers – I can’t remember) – using what was actually a Korean-language edition IIRC.

    Also have a few good memories of playing Axis and Allies with some guys from my last contract job in Arlington on Saturday afternoons. Need to dig things up and try with some local folks – still haven’t even opened my new “Escape from Colditz” that I bought this summer 🙁

  41. Derpetologist

    Read a bit about Waterloo the other day. There was a British officer who got shot. As he rode to the rear, he got thrown off his horse. He was then carried to a shed, which somehow caught fire. One witness wrote “the combined shock was too much and he expired not long after.”

    I presume the shed then fell over and sank into a swamp.

    1. creech

      Check out Lt. Alonzo Cushing who was in charge of several cannon in front of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg in 1863.. A shell fragment castrated him but nonetheless he kept firing at the oncoming enemy until a bullet went through his mouth and killed him. He was finally awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor a year or two ago.

  42. KibbledKristen

    Also – Justice Willett’s confirmation is scheduled for tomorrow!!

    1. KibbledKristen

      Nice!!

    2. Can I post it to twitter?

      1. knock yourself out.

    3. Heroic Mulatto

      Added to media library.

    4. MikeS

      That’s bad-ass!

    5. DEG

      Excellent work!

  43. commodious spittoon

    Okay, season one Detectorists was a bittersweet but endearing setup for the second season, I’m convinced. It’s off to a great start. The characters are more colourful and the humour is flourishing.

    1. wchipperdove

      I watched that series several months ago and loved it. Whycome the British are so damned good at producing quality, low-level shows like this? It could never be done here in the Colonies.

  44. Derpetologist

    today I learned

    https://www.mrctv.org/blog/largest-native-american-tribes-ban-same-sex-marriages

    ***
    The Navajo and Cherokee are the largest Native American tribes (with 600,000 members collectively) and have both reaffirmed their decades old tribal laws banning gay marriage. Since 2011 six smaller tribes have revisited and let stand their laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman. This brings the total of Native Americans not following the national same sex marriage law to one million according to the Associated Press.

    As North Carolina began issuing same-sex marriage licenses the state’s Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians took it upon themselves to update their law to ban same-sex marriages from being performed on their tribal land. At least ten other tribes explicitly allow same-sex marriage with others remaining neutral.

    Cherokee officials in Oklahoma and North Carolina say there is nothing that prevents same-sex couples from simply getting marriage licenses in other counties.
    ***

    I’m not holding my breath for SJWs to hector Navajos and Cherokees the way they hassle College Republicans.

  45. KibbledKristen

    Wow – Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has a Republican on Finding Your Roots tonight!

  46. Derpetologist

    For first time in 40 years, Congress debates U.S. president’s nuclear power

    ***
    When asked before the hearing if he was concerned about Trump’s authority, Corker said, “This is not specific to anyone.”

    Committee member Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., had a different motive for the hearing.

    “We are concerned that the president is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic, that he might order a nuclear-weapons strike that is wildly out of step with U.S. national-security interests,” Murphy said.

    Another committee member, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has proposed legislation to require a president to obtain a declaration of war from Congress before they are able to order a nuclear strike.
    ***

    1. thrakkorzog

      So I assume they’ll be repealing the War Powers Act any moment now? After all, we can’t just have the president going around bombing countries Willy-Nilly without congressional authorization first. We can’t just have the president start bombing countries without congressional authorization. Just imagine if the president was allowed to go around bombing countries we aren’t officially at war with, like Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and Syria. Why it could destabilize the entire Middle East, North Africa, and the Sub-continent.

      I’m so glad congress has managed to finally start to make headway in making sure that the president doesn’t exceed congress’s authority when it comes to waging war. Who knows what kind of mess we might have had if it weren’t for congress using their separation of powers to reign in an overly powerful executive branch.

    2. Suthenboy

      “…the president is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic,…”

      How many wars has Trump started? After 8 years of a war mongering pinko they think Trump is a danger? This is why these motherfuckers need to go.

  47. DEG

    Swiss, enjoy the trip!

  48. Derpetologist

    Dinosaur of Ta Prohm
    Hoax, mistake, or evidence of dinosaurs in human times?

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dinosaur-angkor-wat

    ***
    At Ta Prohm, near Angkor Wat and built by the epic builder king Jayavarman VII in the late 1100s, a small carving on a crumbling temple wall seems to show a dinosaur – a stegosaurus, to be exact. The hand-sized carving can be found in a quiet corner of the complex, a stone temple engulfed in jungle vegetation where the roots of centuries-old banyan trees snake through broken walls.

    Several different theories have been advanced to explain its presence. Some maintain it’s a recently-carved hoax, while others say that the ancient Khmers could have unearthed a fossil and figured out what kind of creature it belonged to. One theory has it that the image actually shows a cow or rhino with a palm tree in the background – the palm’s fronds being easily mistaken for the fin-like blades running down a stegasaurus’ back.

    Or maybe the carving is evidence that dinosaurs really did live on until much later than previously thought. (Creationists would certainly like to believe so.) Perhaps here in the humid, ancient jungles of Southeast Asia, where the climate has remained largely unchanged since the dinosaurs’ days, giant reptiles lived on well into the human era – long enough to persist in the Khmer folk-memory. If only these walls could talk, we might have a clue.
    ***

  49. Gerry Rigg

    Fun times in Zimbabwe tonight.

    Time will tell if it goes any “better” than Burundi’s.

    1. Derpetologist

      Great. Hopefully something similar will happen in North Korea.

    2. Raven Nation

      Military claiming they are targeting “criminals” who surround Mugabe. Classic “we love the king, but the king’s men…”

  50. Akira

    OT:

    Got some foundation problems. I went down to the basement and noticed that the old stone wall is wet. There are also a few mysterious piles of dirt in the ground, and I’ve read that those could be gophers or mice.

    How difficult and expensive is this to get fixed? There was no visible trickle of water, but about two square feet of the wall was damp, and roughly for square feet of the floor (that’s where the dirt piles were).

    I’m not exactly Bob Vila, but I’ve had fairly good results “winging it” on home improvement projects. Is this something I can patch up myself? I just want to avoid having to pay more than a few hundred bucks because I’m really not in great financial shape at the moment.

    1. Couple of questions. – Have you had an unusual amount of rain? how old is the building? has there been any changes to the landscape/grading around your house? If none of these, is the dampness near where your water line comes in or sewer goes out, or near where a corresponding exterior water source is, i.e. spigot or downspout?

      1. Akira

        Rain has been heavy the past few days.

        The house was built in 1920.

        No changes to the grade or landscaping.

        As far as I know, the leaky wall is no where near a water line. It’s actually sort of of in the middle of the house. Only part of the area of the house has a basement; the rest is a crawl space that is physically inaccessible to me. In the other side of this leaky wall is just dirt, but about two or three feet up, there’s a crawl space roughly two feet high.

        1. That is odd, unless a spring recently decided to pop up under your home, there has to be a external reason for water to be on your basement wall, you said the crawl space is inaccessible can you get a good look in there at least. Perhaps the crawl space area has a leaking spot and it only now, with the heavy rain, has been enough to travel through to the spot you can see. I’m not sure what good patching the damp area will do if the water is still getting behind the wall it will simply travel to another spot. One last thought do you know if your house has a footer drain and if so can you check that it is not clogged, although I would think if that were the problem the leak/dampness would be close to the basement floor not up a few feet.

  51. Derpetologist

    https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/38934/

    ***
    “The issue here is the ease in which ‘Not My President’ allows scared liberals to disavow any cultural responsibility for the conditions that made Trump’s platform so appealing,” Basiliere said at the American Studies Association’s annual conference, recently held in Chicago and themed around “pedagogies of dissent.”

    The scholar said the “Not My President” campaign has garnered acclaim because it is “an escape into a fantasy world where Donald Trump is really not our president.”

    “I don’t like it,” Basiliere said. “I can work to resist it everyday, but Donald Trump is absolutely my president.”

    “As a white, liberal, excessively educated voter, to say anything but is to disavow my role in creating a world in which a platform based on exclusion had such a broad appeal,” added the professor, speaking in a venue coincidentally located near Chicago’s Trump Tower.

    Basiliere’s comments about the anti-Trump campaign came during a presentation that provided a broad look at how commentators have analysed rural voters during and after last year’s presidential election and framed a rural-urban divide.

    Basiliere argued media coverage has often summed up Trump’s electoral success as “a contrast between his conservative, uneducated rural base and his liberal, urban, educated critics,” drawing attention to headlines like “Why Rural America Voted for Trump” and a media graphic that broke down how counties with either a Cracker Barrel or Whole Foods voted in the 2016 presidential election.

    But Basiliere asserted the rural vote alone cannot determine the outcome of a presidential election. She said media coverage that depicts this contrast risks stereotyping rural Americans as backward and uneducated and “serves to absolve urban liberal voters of any responsibility for Trump’s presidency.”

    “Rural America is not the problem here. The problem is an environment that makes racism, xenophobia and sexism palatable to more than 50 percent of white voters. This is really why I find ‘Not My President’ so objectionable,” the professor said.

    Basiliere continued: “To disavow responsibility for Donald Trump’s presidency is to disavow the reality that racism and sexism remain so deeply embedded in our cultural imagination that they swing presidential elections.”
    ***

    1. peachy rex

      Christ, what an asshole.

    2. Juan-Baptiste Emmanuel Seguin

      As a white, liberal, excessively educated voter

      assistant professor of women, gender and Sexuality Studies

      …..

      excessively educated

      *facepalm*

    3. straffinrun

      Yeah, it was racisexihomophobism and not the kind of shit you just wrote that handed Trump the nuclear football.

    4. thrakkorzog

      “Rural America is not the problem here. The problem is an environment that makes racism, xenophobia and sexism palatable to more than 50 percent of white voters. This is really why I find ‘Not My President’ so objectionable,” the professor said.

      That would be a Trump 2020 bumpersticker quote if it wasn’t so long.

      1. Subwoofer

        He’s right though, sexism and racism are the only reasons people vote Democrat. He misspelled hoplophobia though

      2. Rhywun

        This is the job applicant’s “I push myself too hard” of political analysis.

    5. Suthenboy

      And this is why Trump will be re-elected easily.

  52. straffinrun

    More governments manipulate media with ‘bots,’ trolls: study

    “While the online environment in the United States remained vibrant and diverse, the prevalence of disinformation and hyperpartisan content had a significant impact,” the report said.

    “Journalists who challenge Donald Trump’s positions have faced egregious online harassment.”

    Have you ever been digitally raped?

    1. thrakkorzog

      Have you ever been stuck reading a Turkish Facebook feed?

      1. straffinrun

        We do need manly Mondays back.

      2. If I were forced to read it, I’d bring up the Armenian genocide so that I’d get kicked out.

    2. Lachowsky

      Have you ever been digitally raped?

      Like, with fingers?

      There was that one time at my doctor’s.

    1. DOOMco

      that sweet sweet crony cash?

      1. Michael

        Well, duh. Those subsidies aren’t gonna spend themselves.

        I was asking about the overall public appeal of things like this. Strip away the terrible postmodernist concept renderings and the made up technical jargon and you’re left with…a train. Sure it goes fast (theoretically), but it’s still just a train. Despite this obvious, there is still a sizable contingent of tech nerds that absolutely cream their jeans at the mere thought of it. I just don’t get it at all.

        Also, here is the hip, dreamy guy behind this project. You may notice that he curiously seems to hit all of the right progressive notes:

        https://twitter.com/bambrogan?lang=en

        Never trust a man with two first names.

    2. straffinrun

      “We’re getting a reputation as a state that’s willing to partner with private companies to do innovative work,” Bhatt said.

      Woohoo, people think we’re fascists.

      1. Lachowsky

        Straffinrun gets it. That’s the textbook, mussolini approved, honest-to-god, definition of facism.

        CHRIST! I wish people understood that.

    3. Tundra

      These motherfuckers have been around forever. Awesome sales pitch, huge money, deliverables way out in the distance.

      Complete bullshit.

  53. Rhywun

    TEH SCIENCE IS SETTLED! I await the ratings of our various man-watching Glibs (TW: Brits)

    Too many disgusting tatts.

    That is all.