Glibertarians.com 2017 Archive

Wednesday Evening Links

Written by

Jo Ferova

in

  • Millions waste the afternoon fondly daydreaming of getting the hell away from other humans
    Millions waste the afternoon fondly daydreaming of getting the hell away from other humans.

    If one was curious as to how one might bury a major breach notification, check here. According to RSA, the victims included five major defense contractors; four major telecommunications providers; 10+ western military organizations; more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies; 24 banks and financial institutions; and at least 45 higher educational institutions.

 

  • The San Diego district attorney’s office has allegedly missed a deadline to file foreclosure on the funds seized from Med-West, and from the personal accounts of company owner James Slavic, his wife and two step-daughters. The law affords them one year to do so, and in California Superior Court on November 15, 2016, deputy district attorney Jorge Del Portillo told judge Jay Bloom that the state had until February 2017 to file a petition of forfeiture against the money in bank accounts belonging to James Slatic and his family. The DA’s position has since changed. “We believe it is the seizure that starts the [statute of limitations] clock and not the freeze order,” says Tanya Sierra, DA spokesperson. “We do not consider [a search warrant to freeze a bank account] a ‘process’ within the meaning of asset forfeiture laws.”

 

  • According to White House officials, McCain is believed to have somehow gained access to the content of President Donald Trump’s private, classified telephone calls with world leaders. “He has been given transcripts or actually listened to the calls and is sharing what he has heard,” an administration insider said. “There is no doubt. He is one of the major leaks.”

 

 

  • After spending $24 billion on infrastructure and hosting for the 2016 Olympics, at the cost of de-valuing the Brazilian currency via unsupported inflation, Brazil’s new sporting venues stand empty and are rotting to ruins. Current figures may not include future upkeep and maintenance costs.

 

  • And in the really important news: MLB arranges to change intentional walk to a dugout signal. The thunderous shaking you felt across the internet were a million voices suddenly raised in Bronx cheers, and suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

 

Comments

273 responses to “Wednesday Evening Links”

  1. Hyperion

    FIRST! Take that, FOE!

    1. Tonio

      Not so fast, Hyper. Mere top-posting doesn’t qualify – there must be a quote from one of the posted links.

      1. Hyperion

        Oh for crikey sake, I came for freedom and all I get is all these rules, sigh…

        1. Pat

          Trump to rescind transgender bathroom rules from Obama era

          The Trump administration will rescind guidance enacted by his predecessor in favour of transgender students, the White House has said.

          The Obama-era rule directed public schools to allow transgender pupils to use toilets of their gender identity.

          But critics said that guidance was government overreach which threatened other students’ privacy and safety.

          White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump firmly believes “this is a states’ rights issue”.

          Trump = Adolph Jefferson Hitler Davis.

          1. Pat

            Clearly not meant to be a reply :\

          2. Hyperion

            Freedom, bathroom rules, what’s the difference?

    2. Slammer

      Test

      1. DenverJ

        D-

        1. Slammer

          Story of my life

    3. Slammer

      Here’s your prize: Lena Dunham’s Home Yoga Series

      1. Jimbo

        That is a banning offense!
        *throws up*

      2. Tim from Philly

        You sick, sick bastard! Why would you even know that exists? What is wrong with you?!?

  2. Gilmore

    “There is no doubt. He is one of the major leaks.”

    – Brought to you by Depends™ adult undergarments

    1. westernsloper

      Damn

    2. Zero Sum Game

      No leak. No leak. You’re the leak.

    3. DenverJ

      Fucker should be… What do they do to treasonous senators?

      1. Vhyrus

        Um, I think they make them run unsuccessfully for pres…oh, wait he did that… well fuck, I’m stumped. Walk in the woods?

    4. Jimbo

      You’re hair is strangely erotic

  3. Pomp

    The Live Free of Die State is a little late to the party: “Vermont Carry” is now law in New Hampshire. Incidentally, the bill simultaneously legalised Murder 1.

    1. Glitterstorm

      Finally

    2. Vhyrus

      I’ve heard there’s a run on packages of socks due to all the fresh blood in the streets.

  4. Pat

    Over 100 pounds of marijuana found hidden in hollowed-out firewood

    Customs officers in Arizona said they found more than 100 pounds of marijuana concealed inside hollowed-out pieces of firewood.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers at the Port of Sasabe stopped a Ford truck driven by a 41-year-old man and a narcotics detecting canine indicated something unusual about the shipment of mesquite firewood in the back of the vehicle.

    Officers took the firewood off the truck and split pieces in half, revealing hidden packages of marijuana.

    The officers found more than 100 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $53,000.

    1. square circle

      The officers found more than 100 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $53,000.

      Calculated, of course, using the standard method of “what is the sum total of all that end users are going to pay for each parceled out gram of this?”

      It’s like taking a truck-load of potatoes and calculating the cost of the equivalent weight of McDonald’s French fries and calling that the “worth” of the potatoes.

    2. thrakkorzog

      Seems like a waste of perfectly good mesquite.

    3. Hyperion

      Ok, that’s 1600 oz of weed, correct? Is my math getting really bad, or is that about $33 an ounce? I’m used to the authoritah valuing this stuff at like 5 million dollars a pound. What’s going on here? Maybe weed is really getting that cheap, I don’t know. But in the 70s, I remember good weed being like $40 an ounce and then it skyrocketed to $300 an ounce. Maybe some of you living in reefer madness states can chime in.

      1. MikeS

        I’m told that here (a non-reefer madness state) it is about $400/ounce

      2. totally_not_an_escaped_ai

        $360 an ounce retail on average from ‘medical’ dispensaries in Oakland. A, uh, friend told me that.

        1. Hyperion

          Cops math is bad. News at 11.

      3. westernsloper

        They value it at the price they sell it out of the evidence room.

    4. Gilmore

      Now that’s a campfire.

      1. Juice

        +1 Romancing the Stone

        1. sloopyinca

          I made Kara watch that a week or so ago and she enjoyed it.

          1. Groovus Maximus

            I’ll bet her two favourite scenes were the Mud Slide Crotch Plop and the one when the gator swallows the stone.

  5. Gilmore

    Shia Le-whatshisnames live stream thing actually captures some genuinely-interesting content

    worth a watch in its entirety. its basically some minority kids telling lefties why they suck

    1. Pomp

      SF’d the link. Errant leading whitespace.

      1. Gilmore

        I keep doing something wrong. “Whitespace” you say? Is that some new Social Justice thing?
        Try again

        1. Pomp

          You had also neglected the colon before the two forward slashes. I enjoyed the video.

          1. Gilmore

            “”You had also neglected the colon “”

            oh, you tease

        2. SQWRLZ

          Yes #WhiteSpaceIsRACIST

    2. Seguin

      Yeah, the only viral stuff I’ve seen from it are people giving progs the middle finger. Pretty awesome.

  6. Pan Zagloba

    A short Yes, Prime Minister video about Abolishing the Department of Education.

    Includes the lines:

    “We wish to abolish the DES.”
    “Abolish education and science?! Preposterous!”
    “No, the department! Education and science will continue and flourish.”

    1. commodious spittoon

      Bernard: So you want me to falsify the minutes?

      Appleby: I want nothing of the sort! What do you want, Bernard?

      Bernard: I want to have a clear conscience.

      Appleby: A clear conscience. When did you acquire this taste for luxuries?

    2. Ted S.

      +1 Bastiat.

  7. Gilmore

    Kurdish Dandies/Hipsters

    The ‘Dandy’ party (i’m sort) of down with; i think its better than men being a bunch of slobs. but i dislike the preening silliness of it.

    On the other hand….

    the hipster part (esp the beard-grooming) makes me think a Drone Strike might be justified

    1. Gilmore

      !#*(@#$ link

    2. Pomp

      I really liked that short documentary you linked to some time ago about the (Congolese?) dandies. What kind of aggravated me about those guys, though, is they had small fortunes wrapped up in those outfits, small fortunes that could be entrepreneurial investment. But damn did they look sharp.

      1. Seguin

        I’m not familiar with the Congolese business climate, but I’m willing to bet the Congolese dandies thought spending that money on suits had more value than dealing with the local bureaucracy.

        1. Pomp

          I remember one of the guys had taken out a US$3000 loan for a pair of shoes or something absurd like that. Even though it was pretty over the top, to be sure he was rocking the threads.

          1. Seguin

            I’m sure Gilmore approves.

      2. Gilmore

        This is the doco on the Congolese Dandies

        aka “Sapeurs” – The game is , ‘La Sape’ – the Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People

        Yes, in theory they could use that money on some productive enterprise.

        somehow I suspect there’s still some measurable longer term positive effect on at least creating a cultural trend which is more about “Flaunting your style” than it is ‘murdering your neighbors’

        That was the root of Hiphop, fwiw.

        1. MikeS

          That was the root of Hiphop

          And that turned out well

          1. Gilmore

            I’m not sure how you could suggest it hasn’t.

            I mean, at least in NYC, the rise of Hiphop was concurrent with the rapid decline in the crime rate; correlation is not causation, but it did provide an artistic outlet for a generation that had few ‘heroes’ who weren’t basketball players. The genre was literally born from street-gangs deciding that “Style Wars” were a better way to compete than through actual violent street-battles. And it turned people who had no future outside ‘crack dealing’ into billionaires.

            It also pretty much revolutionized the way all music is produced. I could go on.

            You don’t have to actually *like it* as a musical style to appreciate that its an industry that was basically whipped up ex-nihilo out of the ghettos of the 1970s.

          2. MikeS

            I know I am corpse-fucking this thread, but I wanted to reply in case anyone ever looked at it again.

            My first thought when reading your comment was “Tou-Pac (sp?) and Biggie would disagree.” But after reading your reply and thinking about it more, yes, I think you are right.

          3. Old Man With Candy

            Its success was engineered by a low life hustler who was very much NOT out of the ghetto. (((Plotnicki)))

      3. Ted S.

        +1 Zoot suit.

  8. Pat

    Irish politician wants to call in army to combat ‘aggressive’ rhododendrons

    An Irish politician asked parliament to enlist the army’s help in battling the spread of an “aggressive” variety of plant.

    County Kerry politician Michael Healy-Rae said the spread of rhododendron shrubs has become so rampant that the help of the Irish Army would be necessary to provide enough resources to combat it.

    “People are inclined to think that when it comes to a national park, that you close the gates and let it off. That you don’t maintain the deer population. You don’t aggressively attack the rhododendrons,” he said. “The rhododendron situation in Killarney National Park is gone so bad, Minister, nothing short of calling in the army is going to put it right.”

    Healy-Rae said the park was neglected, “losing the war” against the overgrown rhododendrons, which can grow taller than 25 feet.

    He added that the plants had begun “taking over completely, despite programs of work over the years to cut them.”

    Regional Economic Development Minister Michael Ring disputed Healy-Rae’s statement that the park had been neglected, noting more than 700,000 euros ($740,068) had been spent on clearing rhododendrons in the park in the past six years.

    1. Tonio

      Goats. Get some goats and stake them out near rhododendrons. Check on them every few hours and move them to different sites as needed. Bonus – goat is delicious.

      1. Glitterstorm

        The best answer

      2. commodious spittoon

        stake them out near rhododendrons

        The goat doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt.

    2. The Fusionist

      The Army vs. the Giant Rhododendrons – I think I’ve seen this movie, the dialogue and special effects weren’t great but it had Jimmy Stewart.

      ALTERNATE JOKE: Mr. Healy-Rae went on to say that the army should disperse the army of pink elephants in his yard.

  9. Gilmore

    Iran – Warns America in advance how this thing they’re going to do soon is going to be ballsy and awesome, and make you look like their bitch

    i’m pretty sure a ‘slap in the face’ only works when you don’t warn people about it first.

    1. Suthenboy

      That may turn out poorly for them without Obama running interference for them.

    2. Drake

      I worked pretty well for Larry Bird.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6sLMupoQLQ

      1. Gilmore

        Touche,

        but Iran is no Larry Bird

      2. Ted S.

        I didn’t know you worked for Larry Bird! :-p

    3. The Last American Hero

      I’m pretty sure if Iran slapped the US in the face it would would receive a Hulkstare, followed by the inevitable punches to the face, clothesline, leg drop, and easy 1-2-3.

    4. brien

      Im sure this is how its being drawn up……. cold blooded .

    5. Seguin

      That’s is Americaaaiiins! We warned you!

  10. Suthenboy

    I have no expertise on the subject. My instinct tells me that McCain likely broke the law. Maybe someone with some knowledge will weigh in.

    Supposing he did, what do you do with a sitting senator that does that? Is McCain thinking he will be given a pass like Clinton was, or is he senile or so eaten up with TDS that he can’t think strait?

    1. sloopyinca

      He can’t think straight.

      IMO, this is a violation of wiretapping laws at the minimum. If he’s not an investigator with a warrant, tapping a phone is illegal. He should be treated most harshly, including being removed from the Senate and thrown in prison.*

      *And this time, he won’t have to destroy multi-million $$$ aircraft to get there!

      1. westernsloper

        What if he was given the transcripts by the spooks though? Surely the old goat is not doing it himself. Does that matter?

        1. Viking1865

          It doesn’t traditionally matter for Senators and other powerful people. If you or I were in possession of classified material, we would have to tell who gave it to us, and even then we’d probably end up in jail.

      2. Hans Landa

        His defense: I’m an old man, I get confused.

        1. Tacit Rainbow

          I found this to be very uncomfortable. I felt judged. Thanks, Hans.

    2. Zero Sum Game

      Will Senator McCain soon become Citizen McCain?

      I don’t think anyone’s going to start letting me title articles.

    3. This Machine

      … or is he senile or so eaten up with TDS that he can’t think strait?

      Yeah, he never struck me as a country music fan.

      1. Slammer

        When he goes to court, I hope that judge ain’t blind

        1. Viking1865

          Arizona by morning, Arizona’s where I’ll be.

          1. Ted S.

            By the time I get to Phoenix, McCain better be gone.

          2. dbleagle

            “Send me down to Tucson and I’ll get the job done..”
            Mel Tillis

      2. MikeS

        Do you really think anyone here is going to get your George Strait reference? Oh, wait…

  11. Pat

    Cat ownership not linked to mental health problems, study says

    (CNN)Studies have suggested that cat ownership could be linked to certain mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, but researchers at University College London say they found no link between cat ownership and the development of psychotic symptoms.

    As a cat owner, I strongly disagree.

    Published in the medical journal Psychological Medicine, the new study is the first to prospectively look at childhood cat ownership and the infection of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii as a risk factor for psychosis.

    Okay, maybe that makes more sense.

    1. The Last American Hero

      Causation/correlation, what’s the difference?

    2. Slammer

      The study’s premise is flawed.
      It assumes humans own cats, when it’s obvious its the other way around.

    3. westernsloper

      Toxoplasmosis can be contracted through undercooked meat and contaminated water, but it can also be contracted through contact with feces containing the parasite.

      After controlling for potential confounding factors, the study concluded that cat ownership in pregnancy and childhood did not play a role in developing psychotic symptoms during adolescence.

      Ok, so they ruled out cat “ownership”. Did they single out and follow the kids who ate things they found in the sandbox?

      1. BuSab Agent

        Are they silly? AS an owner of cats and children, I can definitively state that despite ardent promises to do so as a condition of getting a kitten, the children NEVER cleaned out the cat box.

  12. Gilmore

    Trump Restarting Wars Which Obama Ended Decisively

    or, at least I think that’s how that’s going to be played @ WaPo

  13. Gilmore

    Lincoln Chafee Labors Under Delusion Anyone Cares What He Thinks

    1. Suthenboy

      Who?

      1. Gilmore

        I’m pretty sure “Rhode Island” is just a made-up state

        1. Pat

          It’s a state of mind

        2. Juvenile Bluster

          That’s the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

          Smallest state, biggest name.

          1. Juvenile Bluster

            Speaking of, I checked Wiki for some reason and saw this derp I didn’t know about

            In recent years, the presence of the word plantation in the state’s name became a sufficiently contested issue that, on June 25, 2009, the General Assembly voted to hold a general referendum determining whether “and Providence Plantations” would be dropped from the official name. Advocates for excising plantation asserted that the word specifically referred to the British colonial practice of establishing settlements which disenfranchised native people. They argued that the word symbolized, for many Rhode Islanders, a legacy of violent native disenfranchisement, but also of the proliferation of slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States. (Rhode Island abolished slavery in 1652, but the law was not enforced and, by the early 1700s, it was “the epicenter of the North American slave trade”, according to the Brown Daily Herald.)[26][27] Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic English synonym for colony and bore no relation to slavery. The referendum election was held on November 2, 2010, and the people voted overwhelmingly (78% to 22%) to retain the entire original name.[28]

        3. Swamp Think

          fun fact
          RI has 5 counties, tied with HI
          DE has fewest at 3

          1. dbleagle

            HI has only four counties with governments. The fifth county is run by the State Health Department since it is the former Leper colony on Molokai and the only access is a mule trail down 1300+ feet cliffs. It is also has a population of only 90. While sailing back from Maui one time we pulled into the small harbor and it was absolutely beautiful with great fishing along the way.

      2. Ted S.

        Lincoln Chafing. It’s an obscure Civil War topic for Eddie to post thousands of comments about.

    2. commodious spittoon

      Guy must be chafing.

    3. juris imprudent

      I am disappoint, I was sure that would be an Onion article.

  14. John Titor

    For all you Crusader Kings 2 players: Apparently we’re all secret members of the alt-right.

    I mean, I get it when old media is completely out of touch with internet culture, but Polygon is particularly stupid and/or hackish to try to take this approach.

    Regardless, fight on brothers, we will take Jerusalem! DEUS VULT.

    1. Pan Zagloba

      Polygon is a piece of garbage even Soave might refuse to write for? My monocle just popped.

      1. John Titor

        Well yeah, Polygon’s garbage, I just find this strategy of being the internet equivalent of your grandpa who doesn’t ‘understand the hippy hop’ hilariously stupid.

    2. Seguin

      Well, that would explain why I ethnically cleansed…well, everywhere that wasn’t Latgallian.

      1. DenverJ

        Great avatar, love that movie.
        The other night, every one was talking about the Europa something or other and i liberated it. Wow, lots to figure out. Is crusader kings more better? Or less better?

        1. Pan Zagloba

          I like it more, even though it’s older game and EU does diplomacy and development better. CK2 has a much more personal approach and emergent story quality.

        2. John Titor

          Do you like murdering natives, oppressing other cultures, using slaves as an economic resource, and generally being a bastard? Play Europa Universalis 4.

          Do you like cheating on your wife, incest, killing children and generally being a bastard? Play Crusader Kings 2.

          1. John Titor

            Oh, and do you like terrible user interfaces, legalized orphan labour, and being a bastard? Play Victoria 2.

          2. DenverJ

            So many choices, so little time…

          3. John Titor

            This is a good summary of what you’ll become.

        3. thrakkorzog

          CK2 is more focused on playing as the rulers of territories, which leads to more personalized stories, and funny emergent stories.

          You might want to check out some arumba’s LPs on youtube. He also has tutorial series for CK2 and EU4.

    3. Heroic Mulatto

      Wait, since the Sword of Islam DLC, I pretty much play Muslim countries exclusively (fuck Decadence in the neck), be they the Almoravids or the Golden Horde.

      Does that mean I’m secretly a Salafist?

      ALLAHU AKBAR!

      1. John Titor

        PAGAN NORSE MASTER RACE.

        I mean…shit. I’m not helping my case. I just like raiding, ok?!?

      2. Pan Zagloba

        Yes. Also, you are a good man for not playing as Egypt. Because fucking Mameluks are total bullshit and fuck them.

        1. Ted S.

          What do you have against Marmaduke?

          1. DenverJ

            And why would you want to fuck him?

      3. John Titor

        What’s the appeal of Muslims (IN GAME) anyway? I played them a bit when Sword of Islam came out, and a little bit later on, but I don’t understand why you’d play them exclusively. Haj was nice when pilgrimages and such didn’t exist, extra tax and Silk Road sure, but decadence is annoying, too many sons (though Reaper’s Due might ‘correct’ this problem), so-so CBs and I find typically larger empires of the Middle East and Spain boring starts unless you start as a count or duke and murder your way to the top. I prefer starting as single county counts or nations in really shitty conditions.

        1. Heroic Mulatto

          I played them a bit when Sword of Islam came out, and a little bit later on, but I don’t understand why you’d play them exclusively.

          Just the alt-history goals I want to accomplish. I really, really want to play a successful game where I can hold Spain, Morocco, Mali, and Mauritania as the Almoravids while also successfully conquering all of France.

      4. Seguin

        You have what we call “internalized Moorology.”

        1. DenverJ

          Better than ” internalized Michael Moore”, NTTATWWT

        2. Heroic Mulatto

          It’s quite possible!

    4. leonadasiv

      Maybe I’m out of the conservative scene, but the first time I heard deus vult was playing EU3. I’v never heard a conservative use it…

  15. Pat

    Statue of Jesus Christ beheaded twice in two weeks

    (CNN)To millions of people, the image of Jesus Christ stands for peace, love, and compassion.

    So it’s a little startling to see a statue of Jesus outside an Indiana church defaced twice in the past two weeks. Once on a Sunday, even.

    The Cottage Avenue Pentecostal Fellowship in Indianapolis installed the concrete statue five years ago after it was donated by the daughter of one of its members. But on the statue’s first day in its new home, the church saw a glimpse of the vandalism to come.

    “The first time we put it up, they knocked it over,” Pastor Brad Flaskamp told CNN. The statue was put back in place and the church thought no more of it for years, he said.

    Until two weeks ago, when churchgoers discovered their familiar Jesus in an unfamiliar state. Someone had beheaded the statue.

    Luckily, Jesus’ head was left behind and the church was able to reattach it on Saturday. But the next day, vandals struck again. And this time, they took the head with them.

    1. Tonio

      Trump supporters?

    2. trshmnstr

      Hmmm, who likes to behead infidels and objects of idolatry? Oh, I know…. the Buddhists!

      /in all seriousness, probably just some neighborhood kid that wasn’t spanked enough as a child

      1. Glitterstorm

        Spanking you say?

        1. trshmnstr

          I scrolled through hundreds of gifs of hot chicks getting swatted in order to curate this one just for you!

          1. Glitterstorm

            trshmnstr is a friend inded.

          2. R C Dean

            God’s work, toughest neighborhoods, etc.

    3. sloopyinca

      This sounds like a Bart Simpson-type prank, not the work of an invading horde’s advance scout team.

    4. Swamp Think

      Has Trump denounced this? Has he? HAS HE?!

    5. DenverJ

      Head ahould always be nailed or screwed 😉

  16. westernsloper

    “McCain……“There is no doubt. He… the major leaks.”

    And is why he has to wear adult diapers.

    Yes, I went there.

  17. Pat

    Life expectancy to break 90 barrier by 2030

    South Korean women will be the first in the world to have an average life expectancy above 90, a study suggests.

    Imperial College London and the World Health Organization analysed lifespans in 35 industrialised countries.

    It predicted all would see people living longer in 2030 and the gap between men and women would start to close in most countries.

    The researchers said the findings posed big challenges for pensions and care for elderly people.

    “South Korea has gotten a lot of things right,” Prof Majid Ezzati told the BBC News website.

    “They seem to have been a more equal place and things that have benefited people – education, nutrition – have benefited most people.

    “And so far, they are better at dealing with hypertension and have some of the lowest obesity rates in the world.”

    The data also forecasts that Japan, once the picture of longevity, will tumble down the global rankings.

    It currently has the highest life expectancy for women, but will be overtaken by both South Korea and France, the study suggests. Meanwhile, male life expectancy will go from the fourth highest to 11th out of the countries studied.

    The US also performs poorly and is on course to have the lowest life expectancy of rich countries by 2030.

    The study predicts an average age of 80 for men and 83 for women – roughly the same state Mexico and Croatia will have achieved.

    “They are almost opposite of South Korea,” added Prof Ezzati.

    1. Glitterstorm

      We’re fat as hell and overly medicated.

      1. commodious spittoon

        We’re fat as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore!

      2. DenverJ

        I happen to be fat as hell and undermedicated, TYVM

        1. DenverJ

          My [i] text[/i] thingy didn’t work

          1. Pat

            Use [em] instead of [i]. Also [strong] instead of [b]

          2. DenverJ

            Ah. Use more characters, not less. Well, that’s efficient

    2. Seguin

      Is SoKo one of those places that plays fast and loose with infant mortality stats? That would account for some difference.

    3. dbleagle

      South Koreans have done much correctly and each of last several generations is taller than the preceding. nK is the opposite with the generations progressively shorter. That is one way ROK citizens identify defectors eeven before they open their mouths.

  18. Slammer

    I can’t post links :(.

    Even typed them

    1. Pat

      Test link

      1. Pat

        That was just [a href=”yourlinkhere.com”]Text[/a]

        Replace brackets with greater than/less than.

        1. Slammer

          Thanks. It wasn’t working before. Who knows?

          1. Slammer

            No worky. No worky

          2. Slammer

            Nope. No worky now. keeps kicking me to the top of the page when i hit “post commet”

      2. Slammer

        Test

  19. Pat

    Life-Size Kanye Jesus Sculpture Appears on Hollywood Boulevard

    A life-size, gold sculpture that depicts Kanye West being crucified has appeared in Los Angeles. It’s called “False Idol,” and it was made by L.A. street artist Plastic Jesus. The sculpture does not place West on a cross, but his arms are outstretched, he is wearing a crown of thorns, and he has nails in his hands; there also appear to be Yeezy Boost 350 sneakers on his feet. Check out photos of “False Idol” below. Pitchfork has reached out to West’s representatives for comment.

    In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Plastic Jesus said, “[West is] a genius at writing and producing but he’s not a God, and that’s where we put him. Until there’s an issue in his life or a hiccup in his career, then we crucify him.” He elaborated about the sculpture’s message: “By all means, treat and respect these people are artists, but don’t make them into gods—because we crucify our gods.” Plastic Jesus also said that it was a collaboration with Ginger—the artist responsible for the nude Trump sculptures that popped up in major cities this past summer.

    1. John Titor

      “We nailed our god to a stick! …Don’t fuck with humanity!”

      -First Galactic Empire of Man motto.

    2. Gilmore

      He’s got a jesus-necklace. that’s so inherently contradictory i’m surprised the thing doesn’t implode

    3. Slammer

      I look forward to its decapitation

      1. westernsloper

        Nice

    4. Swamp Think

      Plastic Jesus didn’t have the cajones to put Kanye on a cross eh? Too bad. He should have nailed him face-first to a cross, wearing a hospital gown, that’s gaping open in the back.

      1. dbleagle

        If one is going to discuss Plastic Jesus I feel this is called for.

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

  20. Cliche Bandit

    You know, that star with those planets is called TRAPPIST!!!! I shit you not. And those seven planets must be Westvleteren, Westmalle, Chimay, Achel, Orval, Rochefort, and La Trappe the beer on those worlds must be fucking awesome.

    1. Pomp

      I heard a Belgian scientist soundbite on the radio today that made a little beer joke. It was cute.

  21. commodious spittoon

    Well, this is just disgusting. NBC tapes a bunch of children in political porno for lefty news junkies.

    1. Glitterstorm

      That’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen a president attacked with such vitriol before.

    2. Pan Zagloba

      “When you speak on things that make me feel uncomfortable or I disagree with, you make me feel small because I know I can’t change it,” one girl remarks.

      “Most of my family is black. I’m afraid that you’re going to hurt some of us blacks,” a young boy slowly recites to the camera.

      “Some of my friends are really scared about you building a wall, and the travel band [sic] because a lot of their families live in different places,” another young girl says

      “Just because I’m Mexican doesn’t mean you can build a wall in my country,” an older girl states,

      Huh, good thing the article specifies they are children. I figured this was the next week of Slate headlines.

      1. Viking1865

        “Most of my family is black. I’m afraid that you’re going to hurt some of us blacks,” a young boy slowly recites to the camera.

        Yeah, Trump might create a welfare system designed to destroy the black family, he might force black children to attend shitty public schools, he might destroy the inner city business environment with burdensome taxes and regulations. What kind of a horrible world would that be?

        1. Ted S.

          And who are the people who terrorized the kid into believing this?

          1. dbleagle

            Caring progressives, who else?

  22. Viking1865

    The Washington Posts puts the pants shitting on the masthead.

    http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/02/22/washington-posts-new-slogan-mocked-on-twitter/

    1. Tonio

      Totally had it coming. They were the lapdog media for eight years, cheering every application of the old pen and phone. Now they aren’t liking it when the pen and phone are wielded by an outsider. You’ve made your bed, WaPo; now you must lie in it.

      1. Slammer

        I see what you done did there

    2. Suthenboy

      It is starting to get my dander up a bit…all this talk about democracy.

      We arent a fucking democracy. We are a republic and for a very good reason.

  23. Pat

    Teen charged with lying about being raped by college football players

    Two college football players who were suspended from their team last year and saw their scholarships revoked after rape accusations have been cleared by police after authorities say their accuser recanted her story.

    Nikki Yovino, 18, of South Setauket, NY, has been charged with second-degree falsely reporting an incident and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in connection to an incident at a Sacred Heart University football party in October, the Connecticut Post reports.

    When pressed about inconsistencies in her original statement, Yovino admitted that she made up the rape allegations against the two football players in hopes of gaining sympathy from another man — a prospective boyfriend, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

    1. Viking1865

      They didn’t grab its fucking leg?

    2. commodious spittoon

      That Jackie girl gets around, doesn’t she?

    3. trshmnstr

      I just finished watching the 30 for 30 on Duke lacrosse… what a fucking disaster that was.

    4. Zero Sum Game

      ⚡ They can’t do that. If women are charged with lying about rape, then women who actually were raped won’t be willing to come forward out of fear of being disbelieved and charged. ⚡

      *Removes SJW channeling helmet*

      Damn, that thing really works. Why do I feel like it damaged my brain, though?

      1. Swamp Think

        Silly goose, it’s designed for use with a brain.

        1. Swamp Think

          it’s NOT designed for use with a brain…dammit!

          1. Zero Sum Game

            It’s OK. Use of the SJW helmet has a side effect of making me permanently offended about absolutely everything. I’d have hated you regardless of what you said to me.

          2. Swamp Think

            Just hit the reset button.

          3. Zero Sum Game

            [reset]

            *starting*

            ⬆️⬆️⬇️⬇️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️?️?️

            Ready to rock.

          4. Groovus Maximus

            Just hit the reset button.

            I would have suggested a Hard Boot. To be sure.-)

    5. Ted S.

      Did they get their scholarships back?

      1. juris imprudent

        Did the eggs get uncracked when the omelette project was scrapped?

    6. DenverJ

      Cause nothing makes men interested in you more than them thinking you’ve been rapped. Maybe dude would just have sympathy or something, but really? WTF people

      1. BuSab Agent

        This is a case of Romance novel over dose. That sad ole plot line is older than dirt.

  24. Tonio

    OK, this really weird thing just came over my derpbook feed from the March for Science: Apparently Trayvon Martin went to STEM camp. And that means…something.

    1. Pan Zagloba

      If I had a lab supervisor, he’d look like Trayvon?

    2. Glitterstorm

      Did he beat up the other kids or something?

    3. The Fusionist

      You know who else wanted to put minorities in camps?

      1. Hans Landa

        FDR?

      2. Swamp Think

        General Sherman?

    4. Slammer

      Stem pipe camp, maybe

    5. juris imprudent

      Was Walter White a camp advisor?

  25. Pat

    Starbucks’ brand perception has plummeted since it announced plan to hire refugees

    Starbucks’ brand has taken a beating since the company announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide in the next five years in response to Donald Trump’s executive order intended to prevent refugees from entering the US.

    The coffee giant’s consumer perception levels have fallen by two-thirds since late January, according to YouGov BrandIndex.

    The perception tracker measures if respondents have “heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative.” In Starbucks’ case, perception is still overall positive, but significantly lower than it was prior to CEO Howard Schultz published a public letter outlining the company’s plans to give refugees jobs.

    1. commodious spittoon

      Counter theory: we’ve all spontaneously awoken from the national delusion that Starbucks is any good?

      1. Pan Zagloba

        I second this.

      2. Ted S.

        I’m just too cheap to go to Starbucks.

      3. BuSab Agent

        Starbucks uses cheap beans and burns the shit out of them to hide the inferior quality.

  26. Glitterstorm

    Hippies are peaceful protesters

    1. commodious spittoon

      “You can’t arrest a movement. You can’t arrest a spiritual revolution.”

      You certain can’t argue with it.

    2. westernsloper

      “I feel as though now is the time to stand our ground,” said Alethea Phillips, 17, a demonstrator from Michigan who has spent three months at the camp.

      3 months? What does protesting pay? I may need to look into this.

      1. one true athena

        She’s 17. I bet her parents are paying for this college application essay-in-the-making.

        1. westernsloper

          Do you think the essay will be about the environmental damage that can be done by a large group of people with no sanitation facilities living in a field next to a river?

          1. one true athena

            So much righteous indignation, so little space for such minor details.

      2. Gustave Lytton

        She (he?) is 17, so apparently it pays by being able to skip school for 3 months without apparent consequences or a visit by the truancy officer.

      3. Suthenboy

        She spent three months fucking and smoking pot.

        Looking at the photos the protesters have done what they always do – turn the place into post Sauron Shire. Wreck and ruin, heaps of trash and feces, scattered fires belching black smoke…aint the left lovely?

    3. juris imprudent

      I loved the legal challenge that was filed a week or so back by a supporting tribe. They claimed to fear that DAPL was the fulfillment of the Black Snake Prophecy. In a legal document. Filed with a court.

      They must be relying on the ancient indian wisdom of leave the crazy ones alone.

  27. Pat

    Ohio parents charged in 7-year-old son’s heroin overdose

    BEREA, Ohio — Police say two Ohio parents are charged after their 7-year-old son overdosed on heroin at the family’s home on Jan. 11.

    Charles Dowdy and Danielle Simko, of Berea, both 31, were arraigned Friday morning on charges of endangering children and drug possession, CBS affiliate WOIO reports.

    Dowdy called police when he noticed his son wasn’t breathing, police said. Dowdy said he had been lying in bed with Simko when he noticed the child’s lip turning blue.

    Their son was taken to the hospital where staff found drugs tucked away in his sock. He survived and is recovering, authorities said.

    Free range parenting gone too far?

    1. MikeS

      So the kid was holding?

    2. Glitterstorm

      John McCain is the poster boy for Term Limits.

    3. Gilmore

      That kid is going to be so cool

      he’ll be like, “yeah, i first OD’d when i was 7. the band broke up when i was 9. When i was 13 i worked on my memoir. At 15, i’m thinking maybe a solo electronica project, then getting into acting”

  28. Pan Zagloba

    Fuck, I hate Vancouver.

    City of Vancouver to request judicial review of Kinder Morgan expansion

    Vancouver city councillors passed a motion Wednesday to request a judicial review of the B.C. Liberal’s environmental approval of the controversial Kinder Morgan expansion project.

    The motion, introduced by Green Party Councilor Adriane Carr, was passed by an eight-two vote inside Vancouver City Hall…
    Carr hopes the court will also recognize these shortcomings and revoke the project’s environmental approval.

    “At the very minimum, [the judicial review] will slow down the whole process in terms of moving forward with the Kinder Morgan project,” she told CBC News. “In the best case scenario it would lead to the province changing its position, and having to say ‘no’ to Kinder Morgan — and that would be a real win.”

    Fuck the left. Fucking hell, you lost. PM Zoolander approved it. Mommy Clark approved it. It’s the process. It’s done. YOU LOST!
    And this is not a new pipeline – Zoolander killed that one. This is an expansion of already existing one!

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      The city government of Vancouver actively hates the city and wants to see it destroyed.

      That’s the only reasoning I can see behind their governance of the city.

      1. Pan Zagloba

        You are wrong.
        They merely hate 90% of the population. They luuuuuuurve the city.

      2. GSL in E

        If the Canucks can just lose in the Final a few more times, that’s pretty much mission accomplished.

    2. John Titor

      I’d point and laugh at you and your stupid province, but I live in Ontario.

      (Come to think of it, it’s interesting how most of the Canadians here are from the shitty lefty provinces, no Albertans…except Cytotoxic. NEVERMIND, forget I said anything)

      1. Pan Zagloba

        Our Liberals are less shitty than your Liberals!

      2. Ted S.

        Are there any non-stupid provinces in Canada?

        Hell, even Alberta elected the New Dictators.

      3. grrizzly

        It’s not just the Canadians. On the US side, there are a lot of people here from California and New England. I happen to reside in both places.

      4. DenverJ

        Cytotoxic is not here. He may be at TSTSNBN, but he is not here.

        1. The Elite Elite

          He hasn’t even been there since the election. Wonder if he’ll come back now that so many have left?

      5. Volren

        I’m Albertan.

    3. westernsloper

      Where are they extending it to? The link mentions “marine spill response”. What is it going to a beach, or a terminal? Is it going through the city?

      1. Pan Zagloba

        It’s an expansion. Same pipeline, more throughput, extra tankers at the same destination as today.

        1. westernsloper

          Thanks. That is interesting. A whopping 100 km will be new right of way? The rest is next to existing pipeline or other transportation infrastructure. What are they bitching about? All the jobs? I hate it when companies create jobs.

          1. Pan Zagloba

            Oil bad, pipeline bad. That’s what they bitch about.

    4. Gilmore

      “”these shortcomings””

      Do they actually mention what they are, or do they just handwave and say, “our complaints are proof that there must be something wrong!”

      Sort of like how the media labels things “Controversial”

      1. Gilmore

        The motion, introduced by Green Party Councilor Adriane Carr, was passed by an eight-two vote inside Vancouver City Hall after several community speakers highlighted a lack of public consultation from the province. Speakers also maintained that no comprehensive studies have been done to model the damaging effects of a bitumen spill along the B.C. coast.

        Carr hopes the court will also recognize these shortcomings

        so the ‘shortcomings’ are
        1) THERE WERE LOTS OF MEETINGS ABOUT THIS, BUT NOT ONE WHICH WAS NARROWLY DOMINATED BY OPPONENTS
        and
        2) THERE WERE LOTS OF STUDIES DONE, BUT NOT ONE WHICH ALLOWED OUR PREFERRED ACADEMICS TO BUILD BULLSHIT MODELS, OUR FAVORITE TOOL

        1. Pan Zagloba

          “Oh, Pan Zagloba, you always exaggerate about the Canadian left, you sub-Limbaugh con, you.”

          That’s exactly it. They couldn’t get their way, so let’s redo it till they do.

  29. AlmightyJB

    “That is our job”

    Perfect

    1. Hans Landa

      We really shouldn’t be discouraging such honesty by the media.

      1. AlmightyJB

        It’s amazing that it’s taken so long for someone to call them on their bullshit.

  30. AlmightyJB

    Today in Everything is Racist

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39051079/backlash-after-primark-pulls-fantastically-offensive-walking-dead-t-shirt

    1. Swamp Think

      Happy warm fuzzy feelz all around…

      until…

      “Other versions of the T-shirt remain on sale by online retailers.”

  31. The Fusionist

    (in case you missed this in the school choice thread)

    We know how Geraldo Rivera resigned in protest when Yale renamed Calhoun Hall.

    But the Weekly Standard endorses Yale’s decision.

    It’s not that Calhoun advocated for slavery as a positive good and rejected the Founders’ egalitarianism.

    No, it’s worse than that, Calhoun wasn’t a good neocon nationalist:

    “But Calhoun is unusual among progressive targets in that he falls short by the standards of his own day, although Yale failed to explain this coherently. Their failure, however, does not change the facts of the case. When push came to shove, Calhoun chose the parochial interests of South Carolina over the welfare of the Union, and in so doing laid the intellectual groundwork for the violence of the Civil War….

    “Calhoun was a prolific writer blessed with a keen mind, but he was inclined to follow his arguments to their most extreme conclusions. Hence, in the South Carolina Exposition, written in 1828, he developed the idea of the “concurrent majority.” He argued that states retain full sovereignty over internal matters, that the national government was authorized to legislate only in cases where the good of all required it, and that the states possessed an implicit veto over federal laws that violated this limitation. The Exposition helped inspire the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, when South Carolina declared the Tariff of 1828 to be null and void within its borders….

    “Though Calhoun did not recognize it as such, the concurrent majority was a dangerous, violent doctrine. No doubt he was right that the Tariff of Abominations was a terrible piece of legislation, and he was also correct that it raised the specter of majoritarian tyranny. But the concurrent majority implicitly validates a tyranny of the minority. In his thinking, each state was the proper judge of when the federal government is violating its proper limits. So what happens when a state is selfish or immoral in defying the rightful acts of a legitimate majority? Calhoun has no practical answer. But history offers it: The Nullification Crisis nearly turned violent, and the Civil War most certainly did.

    “Calhoun’s concurrent majority is deeply antithetical to the principles embedded in the Constitution. Madison, Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and most of the Founders had agitated for a new governing instrument in part because the states had once claimed the authority Calhoun now argued had remained implicitly reserved to them all along. The Framers understood that this was unsustainable. If the states were left to judge matters for themselves, the result would be, as Hamilton argues in Federalist 8, “desultory and predatory” war.”

  32. Azathoth

    You know, I love this place.

    And it’s verboten by my work feed.

    Which means I get to feed on the corpse we left.

    1. Zero Sum Game

      Do they block SSH at work? At places I worked, I used to PuTTY into my home computer and use tunnels to get everywhere blocked.

      1. Azathoth

        you know, I never checked……………

        I was just gonna use my phone…………..but I’ll give it a whirl.

        Coming here at night means I have to actually work at work. And who wants to do that?

  33. DOOMco

    I have nothing here.
    all my good links have been shared.
    fall into this drink.

    1. westernsloper

      You read the comments before posting? Good thinking, I need to do that more.

    2. juris imprudent

      Your form is most fair
      unlike a nimble robot
      of spectral despair

      1. DOOMco

        nice.

  34. Viking1865

    Been playing some old games. The Medal of Honor reboot from 2010 has a really good campaign, based on the firefight on Takur Ghar. Reality grounded, no space armor or MADMAN WITH NUKES plot. Also been enjoying Crazy Taxi and Oddworld Strangers Wrath.

  35. trshmnstr

    You guys talked IP law without me? You did this to me on the day of my bar exam, nonetheless?!? *pouts in corner*

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      Patent Bar or Bar Bar?

      1. trshmnstr

        Bar bar… patent bar was a few months back.

    2. DOOMco

      ah, well I hope you did great! how long till you hear?

      1. trshmnstr

        Thanks! I feel somewhat confident. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Results come in mid-April.

        1. DOOMco

          Keep us posted.

  36. __Warren__

    Nigel speaking truth to idiots.

    1. Glitterstorm

      Did you see what Marnie Le Pen did? I didn’t think Europeans had it in them.

  37. DOOMco

    Jesse, I am about to try to make the scotch egg. Let’s see how this goes.

    1. Cliche Bandit

      Uhhh these euphemisms are WAY out of control!

      1. DOOMco

        It’s fried deliciousness.

        1. Cliche Bandit

          Your Denver right? (Boulder is Denvers bitch) Baker Dt Oub off 25 and Bellview has some damn good scotch eggs.

          1. Cliche Bandit

            Fukin wow…

            BAKER ST. PUB

            I don’t know how you mobile guys do it.

          2. DOOMco

            No, that looks like how it ends up when I use my phone.

          3. DOOMco

            I’ll have to try em next time I head that way.

    2. jesse.in.mb

      Bah just saw this! Yay fried things!

  38. Gilmore

    Seriously Watch This Video

    it made me feel better about young-people in general

    1. Hyperion

      Very nice.

    2. Pomp

      Hey, third time’s a charm.

      1. Gilmore

        I felt like it was sold-poorly the first time around.

        1. Pomp

          I mean the hyperlink itself. *grins*

    3. AlmightyJB

      Hey, there’s the adults

    4. quincy

      That was the most cyberpunk thing I’ve seen all day. Whoo!

    5. Glitterstorm

      Yeah man. My favorite part is when he mentions meme magic.

    6. The Elite Elite

      Awesome video. Shared on my Facebook, not that I expect any of my FB friends who really should watch that to actually watch it. They’ll probably just keep linking to the latest “Democrat Underground” post about how horribly racist and sexist Trump and his supporters are.

      1. Viking1865

        They’ll probably just keep linking to the latest “Democrat Underground” post about how horribly racist and sexist Trump and his supporters are.

        Haha you just reminded me of a blog I used to read all the time. Called “DUmmie Funnies”…..and it’s still active! hahahahhaha.

  39. Volren

    COMMENT

    According to White House officials, McCain is believed to have somehow gained access to the content of President Donald Trump’s private, classified telephone calls with world leaders. “He has been given transcripts or actually listened to the calls and is sharing what he has heard,” an administration insider said. “There is no doubt. He is one of the major leaks.”

    Is Trump reading the opposition playbook? “Leaks” from anonymous IC sources have been used against him ever since he was elected, and he’s pretty clearly shown he doesn’t mind mud wrestling at all.

  40. bacon-magic

    I have come to necro this thread. Muahh ahah aha ah ha…ha*burps*
    I’m sorry to say, I did not enjoy the Mika video.

    1. BuSab Agent

      Hey! Get your own dead thread!

  41. Lafe Long

    Primark pulls ‘racist’ The Walking Dead t-shirt from stores

    The piece of clothing in question bears the bloodied baseball bat of Jeffery Dean Morgan’s villain Negan and references the intense season six finale which saw the character select which character to kill by using the rhyme ‘Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe.’

    Some customers aren’t happy, however, with Sheffield couple Ian and Gwen Lucraft complaining to bosses that it was ‘offensive’ after spotting the range last week.

    Methodist minister Mr Lucraft stated that the “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe” counting rhyme – which has been around since the 18th century – originally included the line: “catch a n****r’ by his toe.”

  42. Lafe Long

    GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border

    A Republican congressman from Arizona defended the construction of a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border by arguing that a nuclear weapon could be smuggled across a porous border in a bale of marijuana.

    Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), whose district is just over 100 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border, referenced the illicit drug trade in a discussion Wednesday with CNN’s Brianna Keilar on President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.

  43. Lafe Long

    Rand Paul Has Become Trump’s Most Loyal Stooge

    The Republican Party has largely decided to cover for Donald Trump’s massive corruption, grotesque lies, and manifest unfitness for office. But few of them have gone quite so far, or quite so cravenly, as Rand Paul. The junior senator from Kentucky, and onetime hope of the extremely short-lived “libertarian moment” in American politics, has not only attached himself to Trump, but is actively snuffing out whatever faint stirrings of opposition his colleagues can muster.

    After repeatedly swatting away concerns about the president, Paul explained that McCain’s criticism of Trump’s authoritarian ravings were nothing but a cover for his ideological vendetta:

    I think people — you know, this is colored by John McCain’s disagreement with President Trump. It all is. Everything that he says about the president is colored by his own personal dispute he has got running with President Trump. And it should be taken with a grain of salt because John McCain is the guy that has advocated for war everywhere. He would bankrupt the nation. And actually we’re very lucky John McCain is not in charge because I think we would be in perpetual war.

    Obviously Paul has longstanding disagreements with McCain on foreign policy. But the subject of this rant was not foreign policy; it was Trump’s creepy, Stalinesque dismissal of the news media as a class enemy, which Paul is excusing by changing the subject to other issues. Every authoritarian requires spineless lackeys who will attack his dissidents. In Trump’s Republican Party, the authoritarian’s best friend is the libertarian.

    1. Lafe Long

      The original title seems to have been “Loyal Toady” before being changed to “Loyal Stooge”.

  44. Lafe Long

    ^^^^ I call this segment “Yesterday’s News”.

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