1 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:42:22pm

I've spent more time on Twitter today than in the entire time since I joined Twitter.

BLOCKED by @brooksbayne. BWAHAHAA!

2 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:44:52pm

Whoa, and here's the video of Kony 2012 founder Jason Russell nekkid and freaking out in San Diego.

[Link: gawker.com...]

3 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:48:20pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Not a "good nekkid."

4 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:57:17pm
“The reason for concentrating on them,” the al-Qaeda leader explained to his top lieutenant, “is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make [Vice President] Biden take over the presidency

Thank God he never lived to see the election of Newt Gingrich!

/

5 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:57:21pm

Bracket buster! Mizzou out!

6 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:59:15pm

re: #5 Gas 2.50 and free cake! Love, Newtie

Bracket buster! Mizzou out!

BREAKING FOOTAGE of erik_t's bracket

7 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 3:59:44pm

That last link above, "The Right Not to Know," may make your head explode. Really brings home how utterly inhuman these new GOP anti-abortion bills are.

8 Iwouldprefernotto  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:01:18pm

http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-right-not-to-know

Read the article and was even more pissed off about these stupid laws. The only justice will be if the GOP pays a heavy price in November, but I'm no longer sure.

9 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:02:55pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

Whoa, and here's the video of Kony 2012 founder Jason Russell nekkid and freaking out in San Diego.

[Link: gawker.com...]

Ewwww.

10 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:05:21pm

re: #7 Charles Johnson

That last link above, "The Right Not to Know," may make your head explode. Really brings home how utterly inhuman these new GOP anti-abortion bills are.

Hey. Who the heck is Cody Penn-Dent?

11 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:07:37pm

re: #2 Charles Johnson

TMZ.com (where gawker got that video) has more information.

All kidding aside, I think it would be nice if people could have nervous breakdowns and not have them broadcast to all corners of the earth within seconds! Let's hope this guy resolves his issues.

12 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:12:18pm

re: #11 ReamWorks, SKG (fka Reuven)

TMZ.com (where gawker got that video) has more information.

All kidding aside, I think it would be nice if people could have nervous breakdowns and not have them broadcast to all corners of the earth within seconds! Let's hope this guy resolves his issues.

1 mlle from my house. Hopefully he had a burger @ Rocky's b4

13 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:12:23pm

re: #10 Gus

Hey. Who the heck is Cody Penn-Dent?

Nevermind. Blocked.

14 ReamWorks SKG  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:15:33pm

BTW: A good article about Russell and his organization (including criticism) is in the NY Times

[Link: www.nytimes.com...]

15 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:19:22pm

Heh...Romney's pulling a Palin - interviewing exclusively on Fox News.

What a fucking coward.

16 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:22:47pm

re: #15 darthstar

Heh...Romney's pulling a Palin - interviewing exclusively on Fox News.

What a fucking coward.

It's primaries and he's working the right wing base. No surprise. GOP Primary voters aren't watch MSNBC.

17 Iwouldprefernotto  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:24:55pm

re: #16 Killgore Trout

It's primaries and he's working the right wing base. No surprise. GOP Primary voters aren't watch MSNBC.

He's still a coward.

"That's not the language, I would use."

Name one position that he disagrees with the right wing on. One.

Don't give me, but Obama. Obama has stood up to his base dozens of times.

18 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:30:04pm

re: #17 Iwouldprefernotto

He's still a coward.

"That's not the language, I would use."

Name one position that he disagrees with the right wing on. One.

Don't give me, but Obama. Obama has stood up to his base dozens of times.

We'll see what he does after the nomination. These campaigns are all about pandering so it's not surprising. His record is actually quite good on things like healthcare reform, abortion. There might even be some support for gay rights in his record. I'm not going to dump on him too much because I think he's the sort of moderate candidate they should run. He has to pander to the crazy base first, it's part of the game.

19 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:35:01pm

re: #18 Killgore Trout

We'll see what he does after the nomination. These campaigns are all about pandering so it's not surprising. His record is actually quite good on things like healthcare reform, abortion. There might even be some support for gay rights in his record. I'm not going to dump on him too much because I think he's the sort of moderate candidate they should run. He has to pander to the crazy base first, it's part of the game.

Is that what he's going to say when he reverses himself on all the positions he reversed himself on during the primaries? "Look, you can't believe anything I say; its just a game!"

20 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:35:22pm

re: #18 Killgore Trout

Will you dump on him if he is in the same mode during the general race?

21 Iwouldprefernotto  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:37:53pm

So he'll pander to the right during the nomination and he'll pander to the middle during the election. OK. I can deal with that.

My fear is that he would govern as a right winger and pander to all their needs (judges that hate abortion, ending regulations that protect our water and air, ending PP, etc). They said Bush was going to be moderate, but his positions and appointments were the opposite. I see no reason to believe that Romney would be any different.

22 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:38:14pm

re: #18 Killgore Trout

We'll see what he does after the nomination. These campaigns are all about pandering so it's not surprising. His record is actually quite good on things like healthcare reform, abortion. There might even be some support for gay rights in his record. I'm not going to dump on him too much because I think he's the sort of moderate candidate they should run. He has to pander to the crazy base first, it's part of the game.

It's true...in the past Mitt Romney said he cared about a woman's right to choose, but in the last few months he's said he prefers the rights of the zygote - he can't take that back in time for November.

He argued for a national mandate on health care after his plan passed in Massachusettes...but he has come out against that in the last few months stronger than anyone...so he can't really claim he's for health care reform any more either.

He was for gay rights ten years ago...this year, he's an unapologetic bigot.

But he does agree with you on the Occupy movement, so I can see why you'd like him.

23 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:38:59pm

re: #19 aagcobb

Is that what he's going to say when he reverses himself on all the positions he reversed himself on during the primaries? "Look, you can't believe anything I say; its just a game!"

Kinda like closing gitmo, or getting prayers back in schools. Politicians say all kinds of crazy stuff to get elected.

24 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:39:18pm

Appealing to your base in the primaries and then shifting to the center during the general election has been going on for decades by all parties.

25 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:40:05pm

re: #23 Killgore Trout

Kinda like closing gitmo, or getting prayers back in schools. Politicians say all kinds of crazy stuff to get elected.

Of Obama didn't try, you would have a point. As such...

26 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:40:30pm

re: #20 Tourquoise Supremacist

Will you dump on him if he is in the same mode during the general race?

Maybe, I'll look at his platform but those are generally pretty vague. I'm more interested in his record, it's probably the most reliable indicator of what he's about.

27 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:40:39pm

re: #17 Iwouldprefernotto

He's still a coward.

"That's not the language, I would use."

Name one position that he disagrees with the right wing on. One.

Don't give me, but Obama. Obama has stood up to his base dozens of times.

Mittens found a man whose language against women he finds absolutely outrageous. That man? Bill Maher, almost a full year after the remarks were made.

28 Shiplord Kirel  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:40:45pm

Army S/Sgt Robert Bales has been named as the suspect in the Afghanistan massacre.

29 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:41:07pm

re: #24 EdDantes

Appealing to your base in the primaries and then shifting to the center during the general election has been going on for decades by all parties.

Oh, maybe. Just let's not make it sound that there is nothing wrong with appealing to the current social conservative base.

30 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:42:34pm

Yes. Romney the moderate. The same man that supported a state marriage amendment in Massachusetts:

When the people of Massachusetts mobilized the most massive signature-gathering operation in the state's history in support of a marriage amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman, Romney supported the effort.

He also supports a federal marriage amendment:

And on the federal marriage amendment? In June of 2004, Romney testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of the federal marriage amendment, something Newt Gingrich never did. Ron Paul actively opposed a federal marriage amendment, even though it's the only way to prevent the Supreme Court from imposing gay marriage on all 50 states. Only Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann have a record of concrete deeds on marriage that exceeds Romney's.

He also want to start a war with Iran. Remove Title V for women's health and has recently stated that he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yes, fear not the moderate Mitt Romney.

Sorry. Been down this road before with George W. Bush. Mitt Romney is not right for America and taking the attitude that he's some kind of moderate that's only now trying to get votes from the base is a dangerous route to undertake if people expect to get Obama re-elected.

31 Iwouldprefernotto  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:42:39pm

Again, I don't see Republicans standing up to their base and doing what is best for the country. To threaten a govt. shutdown over PP or shutting down the FAA to appease the base is just wrong.

I wish I was the one who said: If you can't stand up to Rush, how are you going to stand up to ....?

32 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:42:46pm
33 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:45:23pm

re: #26 Killgore Trout

Maybe, I'll look at his platform but those are generally pretty vague. I'm more interested in his record, it's probably the most reliable indicator of what he's about.

I think this works reliably in one direction - if someone tries to make themselves look better than they are. If, on the other hand, they're trying to tarnish a previously "not bad" record, who am I to argue with them?

34 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:46:54pm

re: #6 erik_t

BREAKING FOOTAGE of erik_t's bracket

LOL LOL LOL, we will all catch up.

35 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:47:21pm

re: #17 Iwouldprefernotto

He's still a coward.

"That's not the language, I would use."

Name one position that he disagrees with the right wing on. One.

Mitt Romney never met a position he wasn't willing to unredisagree with.

36 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:47:31pm

US: N. Korea Rocket Launch Would Make Food Aid 'Hard to Imagine'
So it looks like they didn't get their food delivery. What's the point? Are they playing a game that gets them something or are they just nuts?

37 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:49:53pm

re: #29 Tourquoise Supremacist

Oh, maybe. Just let's not make it sound that there is nothing wrong with appealing to the current social conservative base.

There is something wrong if Romney is pandering to what you call the "socon base." That is because Santorum is doing that and will not get the nomination, and if he does he will go down in flames in the general election

38 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:51:10pm

re: #30 Gus

If peeps really thought about it, we are voting for or against war w/Iran.

Among other vaginal thingys.

39 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:51:36pm

re: #37 EdDantes

There is something wrong if Romney is pandering to what you call the "socon base." That is because Santorum is doing that and will not get the nomination, and if he does he will go down in flames in the general election

In order to appeal to that base you have to publicly take positions that aren't really compatibly with civilized Western ideals.

I don't think anything like that happened during Obama's pandering.

40 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:52:01pm

re: #23 Killgore Trout

Kinda like closing gitmo, or getting prayers back in schools. Politicians say all kinds of crazy stuff to get elected.

As President Obama actually did try to close Gitmo though, and was blocked by the legislature and Bush supported voluntary student led prayer in school. Neither of these represents a position held in the primary only to be abandoned in a general election, which was the gist of your argument predicting another Romney reversal on issues.

The problem with the idea that Romney can evolve like other candidates may have in the past is that in the past nobody whipsawed on the issues as completely as Romney. He's already established for himself the unwelcome position of a flip flopping creature of momentary expediency and he's fought against it mightily. In doing so he's painted himself in to a very narrow corner and has no room left to maneuver. In politics it's difficult to reclaim a position once one has abandoned and refuted it completely. One can only evolve a position onto ground they haven't previously held and then denounced, otherwise their integrity rightfully comes into question.

41 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:53:14pm

It's not about the pandering itself, which indeed any politician will do. It's about the substance of said pandering.

42 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:53:48pm

God bless the CSM. Just about the only news outlet worth a shit. They seem to be the only ones with decent coverage of the North Korea thing.
US to North Korea: Launch that missile, and you lose the food aid

That new wording within a provocative statement has analysts guessing at just what Pyongyang has up its sleeve.

“The announcement … is as confusing as it is disturbing,” says George Lopez, a professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and a former UN expert on North Korea. The confusion arises from the announcement’s goal and motivation, on which he says he and others who study North Korea can only speculate.

Does it mean that the North is continuing its pattern of offering concessions with one hand and violating those same concessions with the other? Professor Lopez wonders. Or does this indicate deep divisions among the North’s elite over just what constraints, if any, the new leader should accept on its nuclear and military programs?

“My sense is that this whole thing has led to a lot of head-scratching in Washington,” Lopez says.

Others say the untested Kim Jung-un may be trying to have his cake and eat it, too, in a sense: He no doubt intends to use the announced satellite launch to make good on a promise to mark his grandfather’s centennial celebration with a show of technological prowess, but the emphasis on a satellite launch and promises of transparency may suggest an equal desire not to alienate the United States.

Some South Korean and Japanese experts say the North’s intended launch makes the recent food-aid deal dead in the water. But others point to Washington's careful omission of any reference to the deal as a hint that the US wants to probe Pyongyang’s intentions and see what some diplomatic feelers might yield before it pulls the plug on hard-won progress with the North

43 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:58:46pm

re: #26 Killgore Trout

Maybe, I'll look at his platform but those are generally pretty vague. I'm more interested in his record, it's probably the most reliable indicator of what he's about.

Actually, no it's not. The most reliable indicator of what a politician will try to do is what he says he wants to do.

44 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:58:58pm

re: #41 Tourquoise Supremacist

And Romney doesn't actually have a moderate record. Support for a ban on gay marriage isn't moderate. Nor is massive cuts to higher education.

It's important to remember Romney's record is only four years long, too. Judging him by his record is a little hard when that's all that there is-- when it's that thin, you really do have to judge him a lot on what he's promising.

And when a guy who supported a ban on gay marriage talks socon, I don't see any reason to disbelieve him.

45 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 4:59:57pm

re: #44 Obdicut

And Romney doesn't actually have a moderate record. Support for a ban on gay marriage isn't moderate. Nor is massive cuts to higher education.

It's important to remember Romney's record is only four years long, too. Judging him by his record is a little hard when that's all that there is-- when it's that thin, you really do have to judge him a lot on what he's promising.

And when a guy who supported a ban on gay marriage talks socon, I don't see any reason to disbelieve him.

Mitt Romney has been an active presidential candidate for longer than he's ever held any given public office.

46 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:00:07pm

Gah

47 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:00:56pm

re: #44 Obdicut

Esp. as he is not coming from a liberal religious background.

It's more plausible to see some of the moderate parts of his record as pandering - he had to do what a guy had to do in order to stay someone in Massachussets.

48 Sionainn  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:01:55pm

I just finished reading The Right Not to Know. I am so angry right now that this...THIS is what the fucking Republicans want to focus on. I've just posted the article to my FB to spread the anger.

49 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:06:54pm

Romney is going to go into the convention with something between one third and 45% of the delegates virulently opposed to him. He'll have it locked up, but the anger in the air will be palpable, he's not going to have the latitude other nominees have had in the past to either soften his positions or choose his VP without factoring that anger in. In order to prevent an embarrassing level of open dissent that turns into a public relations debacle, or even a third party conservative candidate run, Mitt is going to have to pick a running mate and official set of campaign issues that aligns himself firmly with the social conservatives. He's going to have to count on voter anger at Obama and a bad economy to carry him over the finish line, because he will be horribly hamstrung in terms of the kinds of appeals he'll be able to make to independents and political moderates.

50 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:08:40pm

re: #5 March Madness, way better than politics!

Bracket buster! Mizzou out!

My husband is very upset. That new coach has to answer to him.

51 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:09:09pm

Rick Perry: We'll take voter ID case to Supreme Court

Too many cases of "voting while not white" I guess.

52 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:11:14pm

re: #50 prairiefire

My husband is very upset. That new coach has to answer to him.

I bet. We (Gators) play Norfolk now. I picked Florida of course, so I have a hopefully easier path than against MO. Damn though, tell your hubby to hang in there.

53 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:11:59pm

re: #49 goddamnedfrank

Exactly. Romney will be picking a Certified Wingnut™ as his running mate.

54 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:13:43pm

Who is STL Activist?

55 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:14:23pm

re: #53 Gus

Exactly. Romney will be picking a Certified Wingnut™ as his running mate.

Which will, in the Palin tradition, likely be picked for him by the party with little to no real vetting. My money's still on either Rubio or McDonnell, the latter more likely in light of the recent wanding law signed here in VA. Not that it will help Mittens win here, as the state's female population wants McDonnell's head on a platter.

56 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:14:56pm

re: #52 March Madness, way better than politics!

I bet. We (Gators) play Norfolk now. I picked Florida of course, so I have a hopefully easier path than against MO. Damn though, tell your hubby to hang in there.

I told him his boys lost to North Branch 5 Acres.

57 wrenchwench  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:18:50pm

re: #54 Tourquoise Supremacist

Who is STL Activist?

Check his Pages and his website.

58 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:21:01pm

re: #55 Targetpractice

Which will, in the Palin tradition, likely be picked for him by the party with little to no real vetting. My money's still on either Rubio or McDonnell, the latter more likely in light of the recent wanding law signed here in VA. Not that it will help Mittens win here, as the state's female population wants McDonnell's head on a platter.

It would be a goddamned challenge to find a less pre-vetted candidate than Sarah Palin. The mayor of Kansas City would be competitive.

Whoever that might be. I have no goddamned idea.

59 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:21:52pm

re: #57 wrenchwench

Check his Pages and his website.

Ah, I see his local chapter of Code Pink is listed as a contributor to his site. Bummer.

60 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:22:23pm

re: #58 erik_t

It would be a goddamned challenge to find a less pre-vetted candidate than Sarah Palin. The mayor of Kansas City would be competitive.

Whoever that might be. I have no goddamned idea.

You can be sure that there's somebody out there that we don't know much about, who's on the short list due to a "solid" conservative record. They need to bring some sort of excitement to the ticket, just as Palin did for the McCain ticket in '08. Perhaps more so, considering how much of a cardboard cut-out Mittens is.

61 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:23:28pm

re: #60 Targetpractice

You can be sure that there's somebody out there that we don't know much about, who's on the short list due to a "solid" conservative record. They need to bring some sort of excitement to the ticket, just as Palin did for the McCain ticket in '08. Perhaps more so, considering how much of a cardboard cut-out Mittens is.

Five pounds of PCP couldn't make the average voter excited about a Romney ticket.

62 wrenchwench  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:25:11pm

re: #59 Killgore Trout

Ah, I see his local chapter of Code Pink is listed as a contributor to his site. Bummer.

Free Speech!

You want him to dump them?

63 Ming  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:25:57pm

From the first article: "So, why, one might ask, is Dana Loesh still on CNN?"

I was watching CNN yesterday evening, either Anderson Cooper or Erin Burnett. It was an interesting news show, but then came time for their "unpleasant conversation with the pundits" segment. I was astonished to see that Dana Loesch was one of the 3 pundits. In addition to her recent anti-Semitic adventures, I remember her from her "drop trou" comment. Of course, I immediately changed the channel.

The only reason I imagine CNN has these uncomfortable spin sessions with their hack commentators (both on the left and on the right) is that it saves them money. All they have to do is put a few people on the screen, and pay them to lie. They don't have to investigate news or anything like that.

At least with MSNBC and Fox, you know what the partisan viewpoint is. In a way, CNN is the most offensive of all, because they actually seem to believe they're "fair and balanced". It's a shame, because if you take away their exercises in spin, CNN often provides good news value.

64 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:26:15pm

Porn industry to Rick Santorum: Butt out

Though Santorum rattles off a list of social harms that he says is caused by porn, he doesn’t specifically call for a ban on all porn in his website statement. Instead, he says, he’s most concerned about exposure to “hardcore” porn.

“While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration,” he writes.

Hirsch says a crackdown by the attorney general won’t work.

“We’ve seen that before. John Ashcroft was that guy. Edwin Meese was that guy. They can prosecute but ultimately it’s juries that decide what is and isn’t obscene,” Hirsch says. “Over last 20 years there have been very, very few obscenity convictions.”

Hirsch suggests making a deal with Santorum: “We will stay out of his church, and he will stay out of our bedrooms."

65 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:26:52pm

re: #62 wrenchwench

Free Speech!

You want him to dump them?

"I'm not in a position to make a decision for him. In fact, I'd like it to remain since it clearly shows his extremism."

/

66 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:27:12pm

re: #62 wrenchwench

Free Speech!

You want him to dump them?

Nope. He's more than welcome to publish their stuff if he wants to.

67 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:28:51pm

re: #64 Kragar

Porn industry to Rick Santorum: Butt out

Bosch Fawstin was rattled by this, and he is one creepy dude:

[Link: fawstin.blogspot.com...]
[Link: fawstin.blogspot.com...]

68 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:29:18pm

re: #62 wrenchwench

Free Speech!

You want him to dump them?

Is that slactivist from twitter and ABL fame?

If it is, it's an awesome contribution. Don't fuck it up regulars.

69 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:30:13pm

re: #48 Sionainn

I just finished reading The Right Not to Know. I am so angry right now that this...THIS is what the fucking Republicans want to focus on. I've just posted the article to my FB to spread the anger.

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

70 wrenchwench  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:31:22pm

re: #68 March Madness, way better than politics!

Is that slactivist from twitter and ABL fame?

If it is, it's an awesome contribution. Don't fuck it up regulars.

He doesn't chat here much, but I believe he had a Page, I think his first one, promoted to the front page.

Does the fact that he doesn't comment much mean us regulars fucked it up already?

/

71 wrenchwench  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:32:31pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

It's none of your fucking business why a woman wants an abortion.

/my 2 cents

72 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:32:54pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

So you don't think the fetus is a person, you just think sluts should get what's coming to them?

73 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:33:26pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

How about a simple choice?

74 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:33:40pm

re: #72 Atlas Fails

So you don't think the fetus is a person, you just think sluts should get what's coming to them?

Classy.

75 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:34:36pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

Expect to be judged in considerable part by those you help vote into office. If you don't like that, I recommend helping to put into office people that are less loathsome.

76 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:36:04pm

re: #64 Kragar

Porn industry to Rick Santorum: Butt out

First they came for the Playboys...

//

77 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:36:13pm

re: #70 wrenchwench

He doesn't chat here much, but I believe he had a Page, I think his first one, promoted to the front page.

Does the fact that he doesn't comment much mean us regulars fucked it up already?

/

Hopefully not. / But damn it when a new person posts here, there is no grace period. It's a freaking pounce. Seen it so many times before. I guess those who can handle it and want to, do. Yea, you're left with us.

78 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:36:15pm

re: #74 Killgore Trout

Classy.

I dunno, some angry words v. actually thinking women should not be able to make a reproductive choice...

79 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:37:11pm

re: #74 Killgore Trout

Classy.

Sorry, but that position has always confounded me. You either think the fetus is a person who deserves full legal protection, or you don't. Anyone who thinks abortion should be illegal except when the woman didn't "ask for it" either thinks "loose women" shouldn't get to make decisions about their own bodies, or that it's okay to kill someone as long as their father's a rapist.

80 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:37:18pm

re: #74 Killgore Trout

Classy.

Indeed.

81 jaunte  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:38:44pm

More fun for Goldman Sachs:

Federal prosecutors have recordings of a Goldman Sachs executive leaking confidential information about technology stocks to Raj Rajaratnam, the former hedge fund billionaire convicted of insider trading:
[Link: dealbook.nytimes.com...]

82 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:39:08pm

Yow. I was just checking out Tweetbot for the iPhone - it's a really nice Twitter client, but it doesn't have anything like Tweetdeck's Global Filter. So all of a sudden I could see all the wingnuts and stalkers who've been ranting and spewing insults at me for the past couple of days. They're really stirred up, aren't they?

I wonder how many accounts the stalkers are going to register, for the sole purpose of harassing me and anyone I tweet to? I think they're getting even nuttier.

83 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:39:39pm

re: #79 Atlas Fails

Some nitpicking: it depends on the developmental stage of fetus. A baby 5 seconds before birth is not different in a moral sense than a baby 5 seconds after birth. But again, that's nitpicking and the absolute majority of abortions happen at an early stage.

84 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:40:05pm

re: #78 Tourquoise Supremacist

I dunno, some angry words v. actually thinking women should not be able to make a reproductive choice...

I'm sick of Killgore's proselytizing.

85 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:41:38pm

re: #83 Tourquoise Supremacist

Some nitpicking: it depends on the developmental age of fetus. A baby 5 seconds before birth is not different in a moral sense than a baby 5 seconds after birth. But again, that's nitpicking and the absolute majority of abortions happen at an early stage.

I agree. I'm all for restricting abortion to life/health of the mother past viability, but I have little patience for the people who think zygotes and embryos are worth more than the women carrying them.

86 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:42:31pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby.

What about when other forms of birth control fail, are you against abortion in those cases as well? I mean, if the woman is on the Pill, and the man uses a condom but both prophylactics fail we can assume that there was an affirmative desire not to produce a pregnancy. In such a case at least can we not move on to the next argumentative phase and discuss when personhood begins?

Basically I'm saying your position kind of sucks in as much as you don't state why abortion as another birth control option is something you should be against. I understand that there are many reason why it's less ideal than actual prophylactics, such as that it costs more, is a medical procedure, etc, however it isn't mutually exclusive of other forms of birth control and is often employed in situations where they fail.

Are you one of those people who think that life (and more importantly personhood) begins at conception, and as such do you oppose Plan B or anything that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg?

87 wrenchwench  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:44:47pm

Later, lizards.

I think I can designate goddamnedfrank to speak for me for the rest of the night...

/don't abuse it...

88 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:44:58pm

The funny part of it is that they go to all this effort, thinking up juvenile insults and crazy smears, and I never even see any of it. But that doesn't seem to have stopped them from tweeting constantly at me, as if they're actually talking to me.

I almost feel sorry for them. They're so clearly needy and all twisted up inside, emotionally screwed up in a major way. That's gotta suck.

89 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:45:15pm

re: #85 Atlas Fails

Viability is a moving target, though. We might be able, one day, to keep a fetus alive from conception until maturation.

90 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:47:19pm

re: #88 Charles Johnson

The funny part of it is that they go to all this effort, thinking up juvenile insults and crazy smears, and I never even see any of it. But that doesn't seem to have stopped them from tweeting constantly at me, as if they're actually talking to me.

I almost feel sorry for them. They're so clearly needy and all twisted up inside, emotionally screwed up in a major way. That's gotta suck.

It's rather creepy, acting out in such a juvenile fashion, like children screaming for attention.

91 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:47:47pm

Ultimately, I find the abortion debate an all round pain in the ass. I'm not a fan of abortion and would like to see it reduced; I'm sure the pro-lifers would agree with me there. I just don't think criminalizing the procedure is the best way to do that, and I've got history and the WHO to back me up. I just get tired of being called a baby-killer because my reaction to (what I view as) a social ill isn't "throw everybody in jail!"

92 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:48:44pm

re: #91 Atlas Fails

Nobody here is pro-abortion (well, except Killgore).

93 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:50:17pm

re: #88 Charles Johnson

The funny part of it is that they go to all this effort, thinking up juvenile insults and crazy smears, and I never even see any of it. But that doesn't seem to have stopped them from tweeting constantly at me, as if they're actually talking to me.

I almost feel sorry for them. They're so clearly needy and all twisted up inside, emotionally screwed up in a major way. That's gotta suck.

Some knucklehead wanted to know why I called a particular idiot a "stalker" (one of a few dopes that copied my name and stole my profile images) and then babbled something about "free speech". I was going to give him a serious answer which I did but deleted it after I noticed that he follows two of the most obsessed patients. I mentioned him above. Don't want to deal with any of those psychos in any way shape or form.

94 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:50:37pm

I've said this before and I'll say it again - I don't think the government has ANY business at all telling women whether or not they can have abortions. It's nobody's business but the woman's.

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

95 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:51:01pm

re: #91 Atlas Fails

Ultimately, I find the abortion debate an all round pain in the ass. I'm not a fan of abortion and would like to see it reduced; I'm sure the pro-lifers would agree with me there. I just don't think criminalizing the procedure is the best way to do that, and I've got history and the WHO to back me up. I just get tired of being called a baby-killer because my reaction to (what I view as) a social ill isn't "throw everybody in jail!"

Abortion is one of those subjects where it's exceedingly difficult to argue it terms of "shades of gray." It's become so polarized that trying to seek out a compromise leads to howls of outrage from both ends.

96 Romantic Heretic  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:51:09pm

The best way to reduce abortions is education. Once someone knows all the options available to them they can make a wise choice.

But the dickwads against abortion are against education as well, and not just sex education.

97 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:51:34pm

re: #73 Tourquoise Supremacist

How about a simple choice?

It's never a 'simple choice'. It's a choice, yes, but a painful one.

Nor is it ever used as a form of 'birth control.' That argument is absurd and it pisses me off when people use it because it ignores so much it defies reason.

98 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:52:24pm

re: #89 Obdicut

Viability is a moving target, though. We might be able, one day, to keep a fetus alive from conception until maturation.

Yes, probably.

One of the reasons I keep a hard watch on the whole cloning issue is that this is one of the sub-projects. This being an artificial uterus or other 'outside the original' development process. It's probably not going to happen in 10 years (though there are a couple of peculiar comments in the South Korean literature that make me suspect I might be wrong). I think it is likely inside 20 years.

It will probably be as culturally explosive as the pill was.

99 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:52:30pm

re: #94 Charles Johnson

What about a 8th month abortion for non-health reasons?

100 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:52:55pm

re: #99 Tourquoise Supremacist

What about a 8th month abortion for non-health reasons?

Not my business.

101 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:53:02pm

re: #94 Charles Johnson

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

You listen to Republicans like Santorum, and the make it sound like a spectator sport.

102 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:54:16pm

re: #94 Charles Johnson

I've said this before and I'll say it again - I don't think the government has ANY business at all telling women whether or not they can have abortions. It's nobody's business but the woman's.

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

When I was younger and more foolish, I thought that was the logical conclusion of ideologies like libertarianism. Then I grew up and found out that most of those claiming to be "libertarians" are all for banning abortion, they just disagree with it being a federal decision.

103 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:54:59pm

re: #97 darthstar

It's never a 'simple choice'. It's a choice, yes, but a painful one.

Nor is it ever used as a form of 'birth control.' That argument is absurd and it pisses me off when people use it because it ignores so much it defies reason.

Yes it has been used as a form of birth control. Almost always in the first month, mind, but it has.

That said I agree with Charles. It's not my business, and unless you're the doctor, the patient, and if those two agree the sperm donor and/or father, it is none of your business either.

104 dell*nix  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:56:12pm

Did another contact the governor with the office of Rick Perry. He won't see it as some staff member will trash it no doubt. Guess I will have to print and snail mail a letter to his office for an increased chance of actual contact.

105 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:56:57pm

re: #100 Charles Johnson

re: #103 kirkspencer

Where does one draw the line on principle though? "At birth" is very arbitrary. There's no difference between a -5 min / +5 min baby.

106 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:58:39pm

re: #99 Tourquoise Supremacist

What about a 8th month abortion for non-health reasons?

I find it creepy as hell, but I also find the idea of a person who would do that creepy as hell.

Luckily, the incidence of such cases are almost next to nothing, and, when they occur, are usually the result of mental imbalance.

When researching the topic earlier I had to go a long way to find an actual case of one.

107 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:59:04pm

re: #86 goddamnedfrank

"Basically I'm saying your position kind of sucks in as much as you don't state why abortion as another birth control option is something you should be against."

I'm sorry you think my position sucks but I believe life begins as soon as the egg is fertilized and the cells begin to divide. At that point, it is well on its way to being born. There should be a very good reason for interrupting this process.

108 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 5:59:48pm

re: #106 Obdicut

Sure, but we're talking in principle: whether or not a state/society can take interest in a baby pre-birth.

109 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:00:47pm

re: #107 EdDantes

"Basically I'm saying your position kind of sucks in as much as you don't state why abortion as another birth control option is something you should be against."

I'm sorry you think my position sucks but I believe life begins as soon as the egg is fertilized and the cells begin to divide. At that point, it is well on its way to being born. There should be a very good reason for interrupting this process.

"I want to abort" is a very good reason, no?

110 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:00:57pm

re: #107 EdDantes

But why is that your position-- especially given the high rate of natural miscarriages. Many women miscarry after having a fertilized zygote and never even know it.

Is your position based on religious belief?

111 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:02:04pm

re: #109 Tourquoise Supremacist

No.

112 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:02:26pm

re: #111 EdDantes

No.

Why?

113 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:03:15pm

[Link: blogs.wsj.com...]

Mr. Russell was handcuffed and taken to a Kaiser Permanente medical facility for a mental-health evaluation, Mr. Broxtermann said, adding that he wasn’t intoxicated and wasn’t criminally charged.

Hmmm.

114 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:03:44pm

re: #105 Tourquoise Supremacist

re: #103 kirkspencer

Where does one draw the line on principle though? "At birth" is very arbitrary. There's no difference between a -5 min / +5 min baby.

Actually there is to me.

a -5 minute baby has not yet been born. A +5 minute baby has been born. To say "birth" is arbitrary is ignoring a rather practical measure.

Oh, I get your point. In measure of the baby itself there's no difference. And yet it is this same arbitrariness which has allowed the gradual whittling of what was and was not permitted, because once a line is drawn those who wish it further restricted make this same argument: there is no difference between this side and that side of the line.

But birth, whether by vaginal or cesarean, is a bright line test.

115 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:04:05pm

re: #89 Obdicut

re: #100 Charles Johnson

Obdicut raised a fascinating point. The point of abortion is the removal of the fetus, (or embryo?) not the death of it. If it's viable, why not remove it and later adopt it out? The woman has had done what she needed done, and the youngster gets a shot at life with a parent that had no opportunity save adoption. One day medical technology may render the question moot.

I think the last trimester is about where we are now with the medical technology, but of course the costs of preemie care are just huge. But time has a way of making expensive procedures less so.

116 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:05:17pm

re: #106 Obdicut

I find it creepy as hell, but I also find the idea of a person who would do that creepy as hell.

Luckily, the incidence of such cases are almost next to nothing, and, when they occur, are usually the result of mental imbalance.

When researching the topic earlier I had to go a long way to find an actual case of one.

Absolutely. The situation almost never happens. It's so unlikely in fact that it makes no sense to base any kind of policy on it; and any policies like that are invariably put forth by the kind of people who use it as a wedge to help them put further restrictions on women's rights.

117 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:07:11pm

re: #110 Obdicut

But why is that your position-- especially given the high rate of natural miscarriages. Many women miscarry after having a fertilized zygote and never even know it.

Is your position based on religious belief?

Again, no. I am for the sanctity and respect of life. I have no particular religious beliefs and I am against the taking of human life wantonly even in war, although it may be necessary.

118 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:07:25pm

re: #108 Tourquoise Supremacist

Sure, but we're talking in principle: whether or not a state/society can take interest in a baby pre-birth.

I think there's a lot of places where principle, in corner cases, is going to look really weird. I was more pointing out that if someone wants to do that, and you're going to prevent them, or criminalize it, you have to then ask what they're going to do once the child is born. Are you going to take the child away for its own benefit, given that you're judging the mother to be a, well, attempted murderer?

Children fuck up almost every philosophical/ethical/legal position. The rights of the individual get abrogated by the rights of the parent simply because we're biologically set up to have parents. I do think that the cases of women seeking abortion that close to coming to term are rare enough, and that almost all of them fall under a mental health issues, that we don't actually need to seek out a bright dividing line of legality.

It's hard to get statistics on illegal abortions, but when I looked into it long ago, the only times I found evidence of someone seeking an abortion after seven months was combined with heavy substance abuse and mental health issues, that would make such a person non-competent anyway.

119 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:07:35pm

re: #115 Daniel Ballard

re: #100 Charles Johnson

Obdicut raised a fascinating point. The point of abortion is the removal of the fetus, (or embryo?) not the death of it. If it's viable, why not remove it and later adopt it out? The woman has had done what she needed done, and the youngster gets a shot at life with a parent that had no opportunity save adoption. One day medical technology may render the question moot.

I think the last trimester is about where we are now with the medical technology, but of course the costs of preemie care are just huge. But time has a way of making expensive procedures less so.

Cost, exactly.

Who pays when ms X decides to evacuate (not abort, but abandon to the state)? Especially, who pays when baby Z is suffering from a host of physical and mental issues that will eventually kill it after a few years of misery?

I sit looking at the constant chant that we must cut spending and know without a shadow of a doubt that the vast majority of those who insist the baby be moved to a preemie station would be aghast - no, outraged at the thought of contributing to the cost of keeping it alive.

"No," they'll say, "make that slut take up her burden."

120 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:07:44pm

re: #114 kirkspencer

But there isn't, from a moral point of view. Then infanticide should also be OK. It's just a logical extension of this argument.

There is no actual analogy with the sorites paradox that anti-choice advocates employ, since before the fetus develops the cerebral cortex it cannot be thought to be a person in principle. While there is a continuum in the development of the cortex, one can clearly state that, for example, it's not there at week 18.

While it's clearly there both right before and right after the birth.

121 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:07:57pm

re: #117 EdDantes

Again, no. I am for the sanctity and respect of life. I have no particular religious beliefs and I am against the taking of human life wantonly even in war, although it may be necessary.

'Human life' is a rather meaningless phrase. Sperm is alive. Eggs are alive. They're both human.

122 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:08:27pm

re: #105 Tourquoise Supremacist

re: #103 kirkspencer

Where does one draw the line on principle though? "At birth" is very arbitrary. There's no difference between a -5 min / +5 min baby.

I go with Roe v Wade, between 2nd and 3rd trimester which I think was a very well considered opinion. At that point we're looking at a being that can feel and process pain, and is arguably on the cusp of becoming self aware. At that point I think a discussion of comparative rights begins, and something more than mere whim is called for to justify an abortion. I still think that the woman's rights trump in all situations where her health is at all at stake or where the prognosis for the infant having a normal, pain free life is highly doubtful. However pregnancies, even modern ones are often accompanied by wild hormonal swings, and in conjunction with modern medications the adverse reactions can and sometimes do impact rational decision making, so to simply sit back and say it's ethically okay in all cases isn't something I'm prepared to do.

Still, it's a fucking minefield and I understand the desire, especially as a man, to stay the hell out of it. Adding to the confusion are the very rare cases of obese women who never knew they were pregnant. If they only find out at the very end then the period in which they might have exercised informed consent is gone before they're ever informed.

For me this all points to the need for universal healthcare and regular medical check ups. The worst case scenarios seem to develop as a consequences of people getting the care and informed medical advise they need in a timely manner, when it can be of the most benefit.

123 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:08:31pm

re: #112 Tourquoise Supremacist

Why?

It involves the taking of human life for convenience.

124 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:09:01pm

re: #115 Daniel Ballard

re: #100 Charles Johnson

Obdicut raised a fascinating point. The point of abortion is the removal of the fetus, (or embryo?) not the death of it. If it's viable, why not remove it and later adopt it out? The woman has had done what she needed done, and the youngster gets a shot at life with a parent that had no opportunity save adoption. One day medical technology may render the question moot.

It won't, though. The possibility of viability through technology doesn't amount to the actual use of this technology (resource rationing etc.).

125 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:09:42pm

re: #116 Charles Johnson

Absolutely. The situation almost never happens. It's so unlikely in fact that it makes no sense to base any kind of policy on it; and any policies like that are invariably put forth by the kind of people who use it as a wedge to help them put further restrictions on women's rights.

That may be so, but I don't base my views on the possible motives of other people who hold them.

126 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:10:38pm

re: #115 Daniel Ballard

Obdicut raised a fascinating point. The point of abortion is the removal of the fetus, (or embryo?) not the death of it. If it's viable, why not remove it and later adopt it out?

The likelihood of us ever having a society where that was a viable choice is very low, but I don't think there's much objection to it. But it's not anything we could actually approach as a real choice anytime soon.

127 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:10:46pm

re: #121 erik_t

'Human life' is a rather meaningless phrase. Sperm is alive. Eggs are alive. They're both human.

They are only human when they intersect, otherwise a booger is human.

128 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:10:54pm

re: #117 EdDantes

Again, no. I am for the sanctity and respect of life. I have no particular religious beliefs and I am against the taking of human life wantonly even in war, although it may be necessary.

So you're against cutting trees, right? That's also life.

129 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:11:13pm

re: #120 Tourquoise Supremacist

But there isn't, from a moral point of view. Then infanticide should also be OK. It's just a logical extension of this argument.

There is no actual analogy with the sorites paradox that anti-choice advocates employ, since before the fetus develops the cerebral cortex it cannot be thought to be a person in principle. While there is a continuum in the development of the cortex, one can clearly state that, for example, it's not there at week 18.

While it's clearly there both right before and right after the birth.

Nonetheless the actual act of birth creates a bright line demarcation. Once born it is infanticide, a criminal act we find particularly heinous. Before birth it is abortion, an act we don't like but which ultimately between the pregnant woman and her physician.

130 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:12:12pm

re: #127 EdDantes

They are only human when they intersect, otherwise a booger is human.

Sometimes I pick my nose as a matter of convenience.

131 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:12:18pm

re: #123 EdDantes

It involves the taking of human life for convenience.

But it doesn't.

132 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:12:43pm

re: #107 EdDantes

"Basically I'm saying your position kind of sucks in as much as you don't state why abortion as another birth control option is something you should be against."

I'm sorry you think my position sucks but I believe life begins as soon as the egg is fertilized and the cells begin to divide. At that point, it is well on its way to being born. There should be a very good reason for interrupting this process.

You should understand that normal birth control pills do two things to prevent pregnancy. They tend to prevent the release of eggs from the ovaries, but if an egg is somehow released and fertilized the Pill interrupts the implantation process by thinning the lining of the uterus.

Knowing this are you opposed to birth control pills?

133 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:13:09pm

re: #128 Tourquoise Supremacist

So you're against cutting trees, right? That's also life.

I should have written, "human life." Cockroaches are also life but I kills them.

134 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:13:19pm

re: #127 EdDantes

They are only human when they intersect, otherwise a booger is human.

If an embryo is a human life, then a booger is a human life too, sorry. It's not mere "life" we're concerned with, but personhood (even if potential). An embryo is not even a potential person.

135 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:13:30pm

re: #127 EdDantes

They are only human when they intersect, otherwise a booger is human.

Do you acknowledge that we-- even the most religious person who claims to view zygotes from conception as full human beings-- do not act this way? We do not even notice many miscarried zygotes, and while miscarriages are seen as tragedies, they are not seen as equivalent to the death of a human being.

And apparently you believe something can be human without having a functioning brain-- can you explain that position at all? What makes a human a human, to you, if not having a mind?

136 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:13:46pm

Sarah Palin’s foolishness ruined U.S. politics

All this is now history, I want to say. But then I must instantly correct myself. Apres Palin has come a deluge of dysfunctional presidential candidates. They do not lie with quite the conviction of Palin, but they are sometimes her match in ignorance. As with Palin, it seemed hardly to matter. Herman Cain for a while was a front-runner. He had a nonsensical tax plan, zero knowledge of foreign affairs and had never held elective office. Yet, for a brief but terrifying moment, many Republicans were saying he should be the next president of the United States.

Michele Bachmann told a touching fib about vaccinations and Rick Perry did not know squat about who governs Turkey, a NATO ally and a vitally important Middle East power. He got wrong the number of justices on the Supreme Court — he said eight — and could not remember a Cabinet department he had vowed to eliminate.

Rick Santorum knows his stuff, but his stuff includes a wild denunciation of John F. Kennedy’s famous speech about the proper role of religion in public life and a characterization of President Obama as a snob for extolling the value of college. Newt Gingrich has the wattage to be president, but so does Hannibal Lecter, if you get my drift. As for Ron Paul, he appears to be running for president of some theme park.

I have excluded Mitt Romney from my list of fools and knaves. (He has other problems.) But there once was a time when Romney would not have stood out as the only candidate who knew something about the issues that confront a president. Since Palin, though, ignorance has become more than bliss. It’s now an attribute, an entire platform: Vote for me, I know nothing and hate the same things you do.

137 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:14:05pm

re: #132 goddamnedfrank

Also Ed, in case you weren't aware, the cells begin to divide prior to implantation.

138 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:14:18pm

re: #129 kirkspencer

Nonetheless the actual act of birth creates a bright line demarcation.

So is setting a specific time after which there should be no abortion for non-health reason.

Once born it is infanticide, a criminal act we find particularly heinous. Before birth it is abortion, an act we don't like but which ultimately between the pregnant woman and her physician.

It makes no sense.

139 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:17:22pm

re: #126 Obdicut

The likelihood of us ever having a society where that was a viable choice is very low, but I don't think there's much objection to it. But it's not anything we could actually approach as a real choice anytime soon.

I can easily imagine people about a century ago discussing medical technology of our day. How much would they have gotten wrong? The mere theoretical possibility leads us to a tenuous but worthwhile conclusion. That would be evacuation then adoption rather than abortion when desired by mom and practical or nearly so. The future possibility helps us explore our logic now. Just as a thought experiment for discussion of course, not policy.

140 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:18:07pm

re: #132 goddamnedfrank

No.

141 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:18:41pm

re: #125 Atlas Fails

That may be so, but I don't base my views on the possible motives of other people who hold them.

I think you need to be aware of who's behind initiatives like the anti-abortion movement, because otherwise they may be able to manipulate your emotions and get you to believe what they want you to believe.

And I'm saying this as someone who has learned the hard way not to let the right wing manipulate my emotions.

142 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:18:47pm

re: #136 Kragar

Sarah Palin’s foolishness ruined U.S. politics

I read that piece, and was particularly amused by this little tidbit the author tacked onto the end in some misguided attempt at "balance:"

So far, the Palin effect has been limited to the GOP. Surely, though, there lurks in the Democratic Party potential candidates who have seen Palin and taken note. Experience, knowledge, accomplishment — these no longer may matter. They will come roaring out of the left proclaiming a hatred of all things Washington, including compromise. The movie had it right. Sarah Palin changed the game.

Uh, yeah. I'm not holding my breath waiting for the Democratic Sarah Palin.

143 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:19:25pm

re: #139 Daniel Ballard

Okay, well, I don't know how this helps us think about stuff now, I guess. There wouldn't really be any reason to do it unless there was some huge desire for children to adopt, due to some planetwide womb-failure or something.

In other words, just because we could do that is not an argument that we should do that.

144 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:20:54pm

re: #135 Obdicut

And apparently you believe something can be human without having a functioning brain-- can you explain that position at all? What makes a human a human, to you, if not having a mind?

This, right here, is why I'm so adamant (fine, pedantic) about using the terms person and personhood. Because as a pure technicality anything with human chromosomes is human, and if that's what really matters on some moral or ethical level then HeLa constitutes the largest group of rights bearing organisms on the planet.

145 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:20:58pm

re: #140 EdDantes

No.

So you understand that birth control increases the chance that a fertilized egg (an already dividing egg, which you previously stated was a human life) will not implant, but you're okay with it?

So implantation is actually the moment you believe it becomes human? I'm really wondering what your definition of human is here.

146 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:21:31pm

re: #144 goddamnedfrank

Heh. Good point. Replace 'a human' with 'a human being', that phrase being longhand for 'person'.

147 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:21:44pm

re: #141 Charles Johnson

I think you need to be aware of who's behind initiatives like the anti-abortion movement, because otherwise they may be able to manipulate your emotions and get you to believe what they want you to believe.

And I'm saying this as someone who has learned the hard way not to let the right wing manipulate my emotions.

I sincerely appreciate your concern, but please don't worry. I was raised in a devoutly Catholic home and a severely conservative community, so anti-abortion tirades have basically become white noise to me. I identify myself as politically pro-choice, but that doesn't mean I refuse to share any common ground with pro-lifers.

148 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:21:57pm

This American Life just posted their full 1-hour autopsy on what went wrong with their show about Apple factory worker conditions in China. It's a great example of how to apologize and how to correct a huge public fuck-up. Just think if Mary Mapes & CBS had done the same for Memogate.

[Link: www.thisamericanlife.org...]

149 darthstar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:22:09pm

re: #142 Atlas Fails

Uh, yeah. I'm not holding my breath waiting for the Democratic Sarah Palin.

There won't be a Democratic Sarah Palin, but that won't stop the GOP from inventing one.

150 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:22:59pm

re: #140 EdDantes

No.

So where's the respect for human life? So many "children" are killed by the pill...

Or better yet, an embryo in a petri dish. Suppose you're at some medical/research center and fire begins. And you're in a situation where you can save a container of several hundreds petri dishes (human lives) or a disabled adult person. Which do you choose?

151 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:24:38pm

re: #142 Atlas Fails

I read that piece, and was particularly amused by this little tidbit the author tacked onto the end in some misguided attempt at "balance:"

Uh, yeah. I'm not holding my breath waiting for the Democratic Sarah Palin.

Ann Coulter was crying yesterday about how the Democrats kept kicking out their nutjobs, while the GOP kept nominating them.

152 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:25:12pm

re: #142 Atlas Fails

I read that piece, and was particularly amused by this little tidbit the author tacked onto the end in some misguided attempt at "balance:"

Uh, yeah. I'm not holding my breath waiting for the Democratic Sarah Palin.

If there's a Democratic Sarah Palin, I've not seen her. Wouldn't rule out one existing, but I doubt the Left would worship her so blindly as the Right has Caribou Barbie.

153 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:25:43pm

re: #150 Tourquoise Supremacist

Ooh, I've never asked you, have you ever read Should The Numbers Count?

154 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:26:28pm

re: #151 Kragar

Ann Coulter was crying yesterday about how the Democrats kept kicking out their nutjobs, while the GOP kept nominating them.

Sounded more like bitterness to me, like an aging star pissed that new talent has come in and started taking all the major roles.

155 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:27:03pm

re: #153 Obdicut

Ooh, I've never asked you, have you ever read Should The Numbers Count?

Nope. In a couple of words, what is it about?

156 Sionainn  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:27:48pm

re: #69 EdDantes

I hope you don't consider me a "fucking republican." I'm a republican and I am against abortion as merely another birth control option. I am for abortion in the case of health of the mother, rape, incest and to that I can add viability and quality of life of the baby. This woman should not have to go through what she endured.
I'm not particularly religious, but I'll accept the consequences of what I believe.

If you are not an asshole Republican who is hip-hip-hooraying all of these punitive legislative attempts to punish women, then no, you are not included in my ire.

157 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:27:59pm

re: #149 darthstar

There won't be a Democratic Sarah Palin, but that won't stop the GOP from inventing one.

Hell, they already justify their love of Palin by pointing out that Obama only had two years in the Senate before being elected. Granted, it doesn't make much sense to say your candidate is qualified because she has as much experience as the guy you constantly deride for his lack of experience, but logic has never been a strength for Palin fans.

What's more, one of the McCain advisors summed it up best in 'Game Change' when the topic of Palin's and Obama's relative inexperience came up by saying (and I'm paraphrasing), "Yeah, but he's a former Constitutional law professor, and she doesn't know the difference between North and South Korea."

158 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:28:41pm

re: #153 Obdicut

Here it is in open access:

[Link: www.russelldale.com...]

159 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:28:46pm

re: #154 Targetpractice

Sounded more like bitterness to me, like an aging star pissed that new talent has come in and started taking all the major roles.

Watching Dana Loesch steal away her "hateful psycho-chick" schtick right out from under her.

160 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:28:57pm

So that story about the Kony 2012 guy. Too weird huh.

161 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:29:05pm

re: #143 Obdicut

Well just exploring a point you brought up. An interesting hypothetical, that moving target of viability.

What would make abortion preferable to evacuation and adoption? Expense? That's pretty thin moral ground. Population? Seems that ship sailed, and we chose not to reduce population growth already. Again thin moral ice.

162 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:30:13pm

re: #155 Tourquoise Supremacist

Nope. In a couple of words, what is it about?

It is an examination about whether sheer numbers of sentient beings should be taken into consideration when making ethical decisions about allocating resources, saving lives, etc.

It's very interesting, and he makes quite a good argument that the numbers do not count, that human beings are not reducible in that manner.

I recommend it. I don't endorse the conclusions absolutely, but I do feel it's a point of view with some merit.

163 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:31:26pm

re: #145 Obdicut

Perhaps you are right. If it does not implant it cannot be on it's way to being human.

164 Sionainn  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:32:55pm

re: #95 Targetpractice

Abortion is one of those subjects where it's exceedingly difficult to argue it terms of "shades of gray." It's become so polarized that trying to seek out a compromise leads to howls of outrage from both ends.

I don't have a problem with people who hold views such as EdDantes' as long as they don't try to legislate those views.

165 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:33:01pm

re: #162 Obdicut

It is an examination about whether sheer numbers of sentient beings should be taken into consideration when making ethical decisions about allocating resources, saving lives, etc.

It's very interesting, and he makes quite a good argument that the numbers do not count, that human beings are not reducible in that manner.

I recommend it. I don't endorse the conclusions absolutely, but I do feel it's a point of view with some merit.

If history has taught us anything, its when resources become scarce, human life's value drops dramatically.

166 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:33:12pm

re: #163 EdDantes

Perhaps you are right. If it does not implant it cannot be on it's way to being human.

Sure, just as if it is aborted.

167 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:33:50pm

re: #161 Daniel Ballard

Well just exploring a point you brought up. An interesting hypothetical, that moving target of viability.

What would make abortion preferable to evacuation and adoption? Expense? That's pretty thin moral ground. Population? Seems that ship sailed, and we chose not to reduce population growth already. Again thin moral ice.

I'm not saying it is preferable, though. I'm saying if there's an actual desire for those children for non-creepy reasons by parents who would give them a good household, then of course it'd be a good thing. But if there aren't, then it wouldn't be. So it's entirely situationally dependent, so I don't feel how it casts any light on our situation.

168 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:33:53pm

re: #159 Kragar

Watching Dana Loesch steal away her "hateful psycho-chick" schtick right out from under her.

I honestly can't remember the last time I remember folks mentioning Coulter in anything more than a "Did you hear what she wrote this time?" Before '08, her book releases were one of the big events for the Right. Now, she's slowly becoming just another background voice, some sort of "honored elder."

169 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:34:04pm

re: #140 EdDantes

No.

Just so you're aware, you seem to be saying that the Pill, which prevents implantation as a secondary effect is okay for some unstated reason, while Plan B, which is chemically/hormonally identical to the Pill and only differs in terms of dose, is not okay because "There should be a very good reason for interrupting this process."

Do you see the logical disconnect here? The only difference between the Pill and Plan B is that the pill is taken in an ongoing fashion, and that it only prevents implantation as a secondary effect if its ability to suppress ovulation has somehow been compromised.

So why is one okay and the other not?

170 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:34:46pm

re: #156 Sionainn

I do not believe in laws that punish women, such as the one under discussion.

171 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:37:32pm

re: #163 EdDantes

Perhaps you are right. If it does not implant it cannot be on it's way to being human.

I'm sorry, but I am having difficulty following you. Your original statement was that when the cells begin to divide, you think that's the beginning of 'life', and that it's well on its way to being born. Now you're saying that implantation is when it's well on it's way.

Why is 'well on its way' important, rather than whether or not it is anything close to what we recognize as a person?

And what is it about implantation that holds a special place? Embryos can and do still fail after that point.

Let me try a thought experiment that a friend of mine often uses in her counseling role. What would your reaction be if a female friend confided in you that she'd miscarried after having been two months pregnant, but was actually relieved because she wasn't ready to be a mother, didn't know how she'd care for the child, and was estranged from the father? Would you view her badly for being relieved?

172 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:38:16pm

re: #165 Kragar

If history has taught us anything, its when resources become scarce, human life's value drops dramatically.

Indeed, harsh times tend to bring about the weighing and measuring of human lives, the scales generally arbitrary and rarely fair.

173 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:38:46pm

re: #164 Sionainn

I don't have a problem with people who hold views such as EdDantes' as long as they don't try to legislate those views.

I never wrote about legislation. Roe V. Wade is the law of the land. As long as it stands (which will be for a very long time) I have no problem with it.

174 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:40:32pm

OT, Duke goes down in the first round, 2-v-15 matchup.

To borrow the words of a certain space-going misfit, I'll be in my bunk.

175 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:41:41pm

re: #173 EdDantes

I never wrote about legislation. Roe V. Wade is the law of the land. As long as it stands (which will be for a very long time) I have no problem with it.

Let me just say that while I find your thinking on the subject somewhat confused, I respect absolutely that you do not wish to push your moral choices into law. Were that more were like you.

176 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:43:03pm

Some dark humor from the Koskidz
Image: 1079ckSMALL-drone-assassina.png

177 Sionainn  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:44:05pm

re: #175 Obdicut

Let me just say that while I find your thinking on the subject somewhat confused, I respect absolutely that you do not wish to push your moral choices into law. Were that more were like you.

I agree.

178 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:44:48pm

re: #173 EdDantes

I never wrote about legislation. Roe V. Wade is the law of the land. As long as it stands (which will be for a very long time) I have no problem with it.

So if it's repealed you might have a problem with it? This strikes me as incredibly passive and not at all how people actually tend approach the law. It's something they say when they don't want to express opposition to what they actually view as an injustice.

Think about the historical consequences for a second, "as long as Loving v. Virginia is the law of the land I have no problem with it," implies were it repealed I would be equally okay with going back to the illegality of interracial marriage.

There's an opinion in there somewhere, smothering it isn't going to help anyone.

179 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:49:29pm

Duke loses! 2d #2 seed to lose to a #15 in 11 years.

180 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:49:38pm

re: #176 Killgore Trout

Some dark humor from the Koskidz
Image: 1079ckSMALL-drone-assassina.png

So are you pro or con?

181 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:50:28pm

re: #178 goddamnedfrank

It is a little passive, now that I think of it, and the bit 'and it will be for a very long time' does kind of imply that it will be repealed at some point.

But if he says he has no problem with it, I think we've got to take him at his word that he's got no problem with it. If he honestly believes (no matter how irrational the belief may be) that zygotes are person right after they're born, it'd be odd for him to not be perfectly content with a repeal of Roe V. Wade. He's made his actual opinion on the ethics of abortion clear, and I don't think he's buried that opinion.

182 SpaceJesus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:50:45pm

re: #179 aagcobb

this is the best day ever.

184 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:51:29pm

re: #179 aagcobb

Duke loses! 2d #2 seed to lose to a #15 in 11 years.

The second TODAY.

185 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:51:33pm

re: #182 SpaceJesus

this is the best day ever.

Hey, have you been following the Dharun Ravi case?

186 RadicalModerate  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:51:53pm

re: #5 March Madness, way better than politics!

Bracket buster! Mizzou out!

Duke (#2 seed) just got knocked off by Lehigh and Michigan (#4) lost to Ohio U.

Brackets are far past busted now. They've been freaking tac-nuked.

187 SpaceJesus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:52:09pm

re: #185 Obdicut

doesn't even ring a bell

188 SpaceJesus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:52:24pm

Missouri loves company

189 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:53:05pm

re: #185 Obdicut

I was very pleased by that verdict.

I also have to say that I like Clooney a bit more after today. He has cajones.

190 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:53:33pm

re: #187 SpaceJesus

doesn't even ring a bell

[Link: www.nj.com...]


The guy who spied on his (gay) roommate having sex, and then made plans to do it again and get others to watch.

He turned down a plea bargain of 600 hours community service, probation, and no deportation, and is now facing five-to-ten years in prison, and deportation after.

191 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:54:12pm

re: #190 Obdicut

[Link: www.nj.com...]

The guy who spied on his (gay) roommate having sex, and then made plans to do it again and get others to watch.

He turned down a plea bargain of 600 hours community service, probation, and no deportation, and is now facing five-to-ten years in prison, and deportation after.

He's an idiot.

192 SpaceJesus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:54:28pm

re: #190 Obdicut

ohhh, that guy. what a prick. sounds like justice, but i didn't follow the proceedings at all actually.

193 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:54:30pm

re: #189 ProGunLiberal

I was very pleased by that verdict.

I also have to say that I like Clooney a bit more after today. He has cajones.

Speak American!

194 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:54:55pm

re: #191 aagcobb

He's an idiot.

Or he really has no remorse at all and doesn't feel like he didn't anything wrong.

Or he had a shitty lawyer who just wanted to fight the case for his own sake.

195 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:55:50pm

re: #193 Atlas Fails

I'll code switch when I fucking feel like it! :P

196 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:56:35pm

re: #194 Obdicut

Or he really has no remorse at all and doesn't feel like he didn't anything wrong.

Or he had a shitty lawyer who just wanted to fight the case for his own sake.

I can't believe any criminal defense attorney would advise a client to turn down that deal.

197 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:56:52pm

re: #192 SpaceJesus

I expect it to crop up a lot in anti-gay talking points, because the jury basically said that they didn't think it was a hate crime until they'd had the details of the law explained to them. I've already seen some blog post saying that 'proves' that hate crime laws make no sense, since they need to get explained.

It was a slightly odd case, since there wasn't any real evidence offered that Ravi was bigoted against gays in general.

198 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:57:19pm

re: #190 Obdicut

[Link: www.nj.com...]

The guy who spied on his (gay) roommate having sex, and then made plans to do it again and get others to watch.

He turned down a plea bargain of 600 hours community service, probation, and no deportation, and is now facing five-to-ten years in prison, and deportation after.

God, what a dumbass in so many senses and on so many levels.

I pity his backwards thinking with regards to homosexuality. I don't feel the slightest pity with regards to his criminal invasion of privacy.

199 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:57:35pm

re: #180 Atlas Fails

So are you pro or con?

Very pro but I thought it was funny anyways.

200 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 6:57:41pm

re: #194 Obdicut

He reminds me of an over-privileged clown in APO, who was inducted last semester. Rich little snot who thinks he can get away with anything.

201 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:00:00pm

Agh I remember that story. I remember the anti gay people saying "Well this is proof of why homosexuality is immoral." Terrible story. I felt so bad for that kid. Being videotapped having sex would freak any vulnerable kid out gay or straight.

202 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:00:15pm

re: #178 goddamnedfrank

If Roe v. Wade is repealed , legislation will devolve to the states. I'm not at all passive on the subject and I believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. My problem is that I'm not omniscient and infallible.

203 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:00:44pm

re: #176 Killgore Trout

That's stupid, the comic is.

We didn't have to go to a judge before shooting in the Civil War. And if you do direct violence against the US or an ally's government (or aid in destabilizing a region), or are indirectly aiding such an endeavor in a crucial way, your ass gets Hellfired.

The people we are assassinating are violating other's human rights. Stop them.

204 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:01:28pm

re: #202 EdDantes

My problem is that I'm not omniscient and infallible.

Which is maybe why such decisions should be between a woman, her doctor and her conscience instead of a bunch of fallible legislators.

205 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:02:10pm

re: #202 EdDantes

But if you're fine with it being law, then you don't actively want it repealed, right?

206 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:02:26pm

Two number two seeds upset in one night. This is insane and now I feel like a dummy for thinking my brother was out of his mind for picking all those upsets in his bracket(it's his first time ever doing one).

207 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:02:31pm

Okay,,,So I'm sitting here in an airport hotel so I can be close by for a very early flight in the a.m.. I have a glass of vodka on ice, 2 Boston Cream donuts for later and the TV on flipping between the NBA and the NCAA tourney
so ,, entertain me!!!
//

208 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:02:38pm

re: #203 ProGunLiberal

That's stupid, the comic is.

The part about your essay being read and graded was pretty damn funny.

209 EdDantes  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:04:03pm

Hey everyone,
I have enjoyed the abortion discussion even though it is not my forte. My wife is home and I must cook!
bye

210 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:04:22pm

re: #208 aagcobb

A little, but it still doesn't cancel out the derp.

Again, I would instruct the KosKidz to look at the American Civil War.

211 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:04:52pm

re: #189 ProGunLiberal

I was very pleased by that verdict.

I also have to say that I like Clooney a bit more after today. He has cajones millions and millions of dollars, and his life will not be significantly affected by a single misdemeanor arrest.

I share the sentiment, but getting arrested isn't exactly an act of courageous heroism on his part.

212 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:05:21pm

re: #203 ProGunLiberal

That's stupid, the comic is.

We didn't have to go to a judge before shooting in the Civil War. And if you do direct violence against the US or an ally's government (or aid in destabilizing a region), or are indirectly aiding such an endeavor in a crucial way, your ass get's Hellfired.

The people we are assassinating are violating other's human rights. Stop them.

During the Civil War though, there was no international law to follow. Al-Awlaki, loathsome as he was, was not killed on a hot battlefield or warzone, and didn't pose an imminent threat to U.S. or allied forces at the time of his killing.

213 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:06:14pm

re: #203 ProGunLiberal

That's stupid, the comic is.

We didn't have to go to a judge before shooting in the Civil War. And if you do direct violence against the US or an ally's government (or aid in destabilizing a region), or are indirectly aiding such an endeavor in a crucial way, your ass get's Hellfired.

The people we are assassinating are violating other's human rights. Stop them.

Still funny.

214 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:07:28pm

re: #212 Atlas Fails

Al-Awlaki, loathsome as he was, was not killed on a hot battlefield or warzone, and didn't pose an imminent threat to U.S. or allied forces at the time of his killing.

215 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:07:34pm

re: #162 Obdicut

It is an examination about whether sheer numbers of sentient beings should be taken into consideration when making ethical decisions about allocating resources, saving lives, etc.

It's very interesting, and he makes quite a good argument that the numbers do not count, that human beings are not reducible in that manner.

I recommend it. I don't endorse the conclusions absolutely, but I do feel it's a point of view with some merit.

OK, I've skimmed it and if all there was to his argument is that the numbers don't necessarily count, there would be no arguing with that. However, he takes a position that the numbers should never count in the situation he describes. And so, I want him to defend his position in the hard way. Not for a ratio of 1:5 or 1:50, but, say, 1:50,000,000.

216 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:08:20pm

re: #212 Atlas Fails

However, he was playing a very direct role in causing trouble in Yemen, using the Arab Spring as a shield to do what he wanted. Also, he had a history of supporting terror in the US. Such as the Fort Hood Shooter, the Underpants Bombing, and more than a few others. He was a legitimate threat, and hence, a legitimate target.

217 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:08:25pm

re: #212 Atlas Fails

During the Civil War though, there was no international law to follow. Al-Awlaki, loathsome as he was, was not killed on a hot battlefield or warzone, and didn't pose an imminent threat to U.S. or allied forces at the time of his killing.

So because Al-Awlaki is a US citizen, as long as he's hanging out in a country which can't or won't extradite him, he's free to plot terrorist attacks against the US, whereas we would ice his ass if he was a Saudi like Bin Laden?

218 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:10:16pm

re: #217 aagcobb

So because Al-Awlaki is a US citizen, as long as he's hanging out in a country which can't or won't extradite him, he's free to plot terrorist attacks against the US, whereas we would ice his ass if he was a Saudi like Bin Laden?

Poor bin Laden. Shot unarmed while wearing his pajamas. Oh, well, These things happen.

219 erik_t  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:10:16pm

re: #217 aagcobb

So because Al-Awlaki is a US citizen, as long as he's hanging out in a country which can't or won't extradite him, he's free to plot terrorist attacks against the US, whereas we would ice his ass if he was a Saudi like Bin Laden?

My view of proper application of human rights has very, very little to do with technical citizenship status.

That's not explicitly a statement for or against drone attacks.

220 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:11:02pm

re: #206 HappyWarrior

Two number two seeds upset in one night. This is insane and now I feel like a dummy for thinking my brother was out of his mind for picking all those upsets in his bracket(it's his first time ever doing one).

HE DID?

fricken guru!

221 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:11:53pm

re: #215 Tourquoise Supremacist

Later in the essay he compares 'a handful' to 'a large amount'.

I'd say that his part with the 'equal chance for survival' is, if you accept it, equally applicable no matter what the ratio. And he's only talking about personal ethical decisions, not public health policy, for example-- I think his choice of medication is actually misleading and harms his argument.

As I said, I don't endorse it fully, but I do think that at least his critique of the 'special circumstances' clause employed by many in these situations is very trenchant.

222 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:11:58pm

re: #217 aagcobb

Alwaki wouldn't return to the US to face charges. Therefore, we had to find alternate means.

"Alternate Means" was a 108lb indictment going at 950mph, with a 20lb Anti-Armor warhead.

223 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:12:20pm

re: #216 ProGunLiberal

However, he was playing a very direct role in causing trouble in Yemen, using the Arab Spring as a shield to do what he wanted. Also, he had a history of supporting terror in the US. Such as the Fort Hood Shooter, the Underpants Bombing, and more than a few others. He was a legitimate threat, and hence, a legitimate target.

I agree that he posed a threat, but the U.S. rather plainly violated international law. I initially sided with the Obama admin. on this one, but the justification seemed very flimsy and set a horrible precedent. I also get tired of the U.S. regularly snubbing international law just because we can. Maybe I'm holding him to too high a standard, but I really expect better of Obama.

224 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:12:33pm

re: #218 Killgore Trout

Poor bin Laden. Shot unarmed while wearing his pajamas. Oh, well, These things happen.

He didn't have arms? Did he have legs at least ???

225 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:13:39pm

re: #223 Atlas Fails

And the alternative is....what exactly?

226 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:13:51pm

re: #224 sattv4u2

He didn't have arms? Did he have legs at least ???

He's 'armless!
/Cockney accent

227 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:13:54pm

re: #221 Obdicut

Later in the essay he compares 'a handful' to 'a large amount'.

Yes, the amount being 50. I took it into account.

I'd say that his part with the 'equal chance for survival' is, if you accept it, equally applicable no matter what the ratio. And he's only talking about personal ethical decisions, not public health policy, for example-- I think his choice of medication is actually misleading and harms his argument.

I would find a person who does not take 50,000,000 into account for a personal ethical decision to be very creepy.

228 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:14:22pm

re: #226 Killgore Trout

He's 'armless!
/Cockney accent

So now he didn't have a cock either? Did he have a crow??

229 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:14:57pm

re: #223 Atlas Fails

I agree that he posed a threat, but the U.S. rather plainly violated international law. I initially sided with the Obama admin. on this one, but the justification seemed very flimsy and set a horrible precedent. I also get tired of the U.S. regularly snubbing international law just because we can. Maybe I'm holding him to too high a standard, but I really expect better of Obama.

I expect the President to take out high ranking terrorists where-ever they may be, and being a stinking traitor doesn't give a terrorist a free pass.

230 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:15:35pm

re: #227 Tourquoise Supremacist

Yes, the amount being 50. I took it into account.

I would find a person who does not take 50,000,000 into account for a personal ethical decision to be very creepy.

Sure. That's part of why I was reminded of it-- that in many corner cases, principle can get fucking weird. I'm not sure there's ever been a case in human history where there was the choice between saving one life or fifty million.

231 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:16:04pm

Hey all!

mega CUTENESS!

How is everyone?

232 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:16:55pm

re: #227 Tourquoise Supremacist

Here is also my favorite critique of him, though I actually disagree with this guy too.
[Link: www-3.unipv.it...]

233 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:17:15pm

re: #218 Killgore Trout

Poor bin Laden. Shot unarmed while wearing his pajamas. Oh, well, These things happen.

Even putting al-Awlaki's citizenship aside (that's a separate hornets' nest), the main difference is that the U.S. had reason to believe that bin Laden posed an imminent threat (the international requirement for killing someone outside of a warzone), whereas al-Awlaki's status as an imminent threat was tenuous at best.

234 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:18:09pm

re: #230 Obdicut

Mind you, since I'm not a moral realist/objectivist, I don't find the "absolute moral rules everyone must follow" kind of argument to be persuasive either, so him relativizing this kind of thing is appreciated, altho he engages in the opposite (something never should be taken into personal account - well, what if people want to?). I'm just saying that would be my personal reaction.

235 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:19:51pm

re: #229 aagcobb

I expect the President to take out high ranking terrorists where-ever they may be, and being a stinking traitor doesn't give a terrorist a free pass.

I expect the former law professor to respect the law and follow its spirit, rather than look for (questionable) loopholes in it to justify actions after the fact.

236 Obdicut  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:20:02pm

re: #234 Tourquoise Supremacist

Yep. As I said, I find the very beginning, where he's untangling the 'special circumstances' to be the strongest part of the paper, and i feel that's where he's doing the best job of showing how absolutists usually aren't even absolutist.

Okay. This brand-new cold is kicking my ass. Going to bed.

237 Lidane  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:21:26pm

Hola Lizards!

Last night's Springsteen show was AMAZING. I'd never had the pleasure of seeing him live before, and I did it at a venue that holds less than 3000 people. I was on the floor, dead center, about three rows back from the stage. What an experience.

The first opening band was a small indie group from Rhode Island called The Low Anthem. They were really good. I'd never heard them before, but I liked them. Alejandro Escovedo played a set after them and was killer, as usual. Then, it was time for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. WOW. Their reputation as a hell of a live band is more than well-deserved. I don't know that anyone else will come close anytime soon.

The guests were interesting. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine came on stage and played for several songs, even singing a duet of "The Ghost of Tom Joad". Jimmy Cliff showed up for three songs. During his SXSW keynote speech, Springsteen admitted that he's a huge fan of The Animals and that Eric Burdon was his hero, and that "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" is every song he's written for the last 40 years. When he said that, Springsteen's Twitter feed immediately exploded with people saying that Eric Burdon was here in Austin for SXSW, so they managed to get him to join them on stage. And the final encore had Tom Morello, The Low Anthem, Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, and members of Arcade Fire singing "This Land is Your Land", since part of SXSW Music has been about celebrating Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday.

What an amazing, amazing experience. Killer show, killer band, and one hell of a night.

238 aagcobb  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:22:21pm

re: #235 Atlas Fails

I expect the former law professor to respect the law and follow its spirit, rather than look for (questionable) loopholes in it to justify actions after the fact.

There's a whole world of difference between being a law professor and being CiC.

239 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:22:53pm

re: #233 Atlas Fails

Even putting al-Awlaki's citizenship aside (that's a separate hornets' nest), the main difference is that the U.S. had reason to believe that bin Laden posed an imminent threat (the international requirement for killing someone outside of a warzone), whereas al-Awlaki's status as an imminent threat was tenuous at best.

Awlaki's speech was an organizing cause for terrorism. I think such an argument can be made.

Altho this would tend to do violence to KT's free speech argument

Obama made the world less rich! Boo! //

240 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:23:16pm

re: #233 Atlas Fails

Awlaki was an imminent threat. He aided at least 2 plots off the top of my head, one of which succeeded.

241 Atlas Fails  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:23:37pm

Okay, now that y'all have made me feel like Ron Paul (arguing against the al-Awlaki killing and in favor of some restrictions on abortion), I'm going to bed before I develop a sudden lust for gold and fear of toilet seat AIDS.

242 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:25:39pm

re: #160 HappyWarrior

So that story about the Kony 2012 guy. Too weird huh.

sounds like he is off his meds.

243 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:27:30pm

re: #59 Killgore Trout

Ah, I see his local chapter of Code Pink is listed as a contributor to his site. Bummer.

Kilgore, your pointy elbows keep getting rounded off! Muffled blows.

244 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:28:12pm

re: #242 ggt

sounds like he is off his meds.

Who masturbates in public?

245 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:28:59pm

re: #244 prairiefire

That guy, obviously.

246 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:29:16pm

re: #244 prairiefire

Who masturbates in public?

Someone who is mentally ill and off his meds.

People with Altzheimers

Very Little Children

247 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:29:23pm

re: #244 prairiefire

Who masturbates in public?

Define "public" !!!!

/

248 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:29:37pm

I'm not sure if the whole "masturbates in public" is not an exaggeration.

249 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:30:57pm

re: #246 ggt

Someone who is mentally ill and off his meds.

People with Altzheimers

Very Little Children

So true.

250 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:31:40pm

re: #246 ggt

Someone who is mentally ill and off his meds.

People with Altzheimers

Very Little Children

Someone in a culture that doesn't see it as bad.

251 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:33:43pm

re: #250 Tourquoise Supremacist

Someone in a culture that doesn't see it as bad.

Ted Nugent

//

252 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:34:17pm

re: #251 Gus

Ted Nugent

//

Anally fucking himself with a loaded gun on stage doesn't count.//

253 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:42:58pm

Police to release 911 tapes in Trayvon Martin fatal shooting, says report

(CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. - Police will release the 911 tapes in the Trayvon Martin deadly shooting after the victim's family has a chance to hear them, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Martin, 17, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch leader who called 911 from his sports utility vehicle, saying the teen was a suspicious person. Officials say the dispatcher told him to stay in his SUV and an officer would be there momentarily.

But Zimmerman got out. He and Martin fought, according to witnesses. At some point, Zimmerman pulled a gun and shot Martin, who died at the scene.

Zimmerman, 28, then told Sanford police he acted in self-defense. He has not been arrested or charged.

Photo: George Zimmerman (left) and Trayvon Martin (Credit: 2005 mugshot, left/family photo, right )

That's a "mugshot" photo for the shooter. Mugshot? Seriously?

254 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:43:04pm

Illinois Primaries are on Tuesday.

Guess who I am NOT voting for.

255 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:44:07pm

Don't know if folks heard about this in the Friday News Dump:

Obama administration details contraceptives rule fix

Looks like Obama's unfurling the white flag.

256 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:44:33pm

re: #252 Tourquoise Supremacist

Anally fucking himself with a loaded gun on stage doesn't count.//

Is that the "elevated discourse" I've heard so much about these days? Almost as persuasive as all the Santorum jokes. Anal humor is the tops!

257 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:46:07pm

re: #255 Targetpractice

Don't know if folks heard about this in the Friday News Dump:

Obama administration details contraceptives rule fix

Looks like Obama's unfurling the white flag.

Please tell me why we give a shit what the Catholic Bishops want or think.

258 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:46:08pm

re: #256 Killgore Trout

Is that the "elevated discourse" I've heard so much about these days?

Where have you heard it?

Almost as persuasive as all the Santorum jokes. Anal humor is the tops!

Oh, nobody forces you. You can continue to joke about macing young girls.

259 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:46:09pm

re: #256 Killgore Trout

Is that the "elevated discourse" I've heard so much about these days? Almost as persuasive as all the Santorum jokes. Anal humor is the tops!

That IS the "toned down" version!!

You should have seen the original!!!
/

260 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:47:55pm

re: #257 ggt

Please tell me why we give a shit what the Catholic Bishops want or think.

Two words: "Squeakiest wheel."

261 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:47:59pm

re: #258 Tourquoise Supremacist

Where have you heard it?

Oh, nobody forces you. You can continue to joke about macing young girls.

And rape jokes. Maybe drop a "fa*got" joke or two.

262 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:48:00pm

Flashback:

Liveleak Video
263 bratwurst  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:48:03pm

A surprising link between Rick Santorum and pro wrestling!

264 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:48:18pm

re: #261 Gus

And rape jokes. Maybe drop a "fa*got" joke or two.

Or a "fat dyke" mention.

265 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:48:33pm

re: #255 Targetpractice

Don't know if folks heard about this in the Friday News Dump:

Obama administration details contraceptives rule fix

Looks like Obama's unfurling the white flag.

How does this make us any different that the Imam's dictating to the Iranians?

266 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:48:50pm

re: #264 Tourquoise Supremacist

Or a "fat dyke" mention.

Fat dykes are infringing on my alpha manliness!

//

267 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:49:19pm

re: #260 Targetpractice

Two words: "Squeakiest wheel."

Dollar Bills?

268 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:51:03pm

Ah, good evening all. How's everyone this Friday? I've got the little one in bed, the dishes done some Guinness and bourbon to hand, Modern Jazz Quartet (The Last Concert) playing and a new Handloader journal to read. Nice quiet old fart Friday night... LOL!

269 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:51:33pm

re: #265 ggt

How does this make us any different that the Imam's dictating to the Iranians?

It's what we've come to expect of Obama, that seeming need to make all sides happy, when outside observers know that's impossible. The bishops aren't going to be happy unless the status quo is restored.

270 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:52:06pm

Thanks to the precedent set by the evangelicals, I'm going to need to see a detailed budget from every American so I can whine about what I don't want my tax dollars paying for, so if they can get right on that, thanks a bunch.

271 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:52:25pm

re: #268 William Barnett-Lewis

Ah, good evening all. How's everyone this Friday? I've got the little one in bed, the dishes done some Guinness and bourbon to hand, Modern Jazz Quartet (The Last Concert) playing and a new Handloader journal to read. Nice quiet old fart Friday night... LOL!

Been having a good laugh the last couple hours as brackets across the nation just got shredded like so much confetti.

272 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:52:58pm

re: #269 Targetpractice

It's what we've come to expect of Obama, that seeming need to make all sides happy, when outside observers know that's impossible. The bishops aren't going to be happy unless the status quo is restored.

I've truly had it with the Church.

done Kaput.

273 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:53:34pm

re: #264 Tourquoise Supremacist

Or a "fat dyke" mention.

Fat lesbian neighbor moved a few weeks ago, I think she was foreclosed on. Kind of sad but I won't miss her constantly barking dogs. On the bright side, she'd lost enough weight to not need the scooter anymore and could wear pants. She even carried boxes into the moving van. I never told her that I mowed her lawn that day or contacted the local church that got her help. I wish her well on her journey.

274 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:56:01pm

re: #273 Killgore Trout

How did you know she's a lesbian anyway?

275 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:56:41pm

re: #274 Tourquoise Supremacist

How did you know she's a lesbian anyway?

She weighs the same as a duck?

//

276 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:57:08pm

I'm outta here

Have a great evening all!

277 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:57:14pm

re: #274 Tourquoise Supremacist

How did you know she's a lesbian anyway?

Kilgore often dresses like a woman (nttawwt) and one time when he did she hit on him!!
//

278 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:58:15pm

re: #275 Targetpractice

She weighs the same as a duck?

//

A very big duck...///

279 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:58:49pm

There.

280 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 7:59:54pm

re: #279 Gus

There.

Where?

281 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:00:11pm

re: #279 Gus

There.

With solid bones and canine hippopotamus teeth.

282 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:00:31pm

Huh.

283 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:00:31pm

re: #274 Tourquoise Supremacist

How did you know she's a lesbian anyway?

Tons of lesbian bumper stickers on her old VW bus which used to leak oil all over the street. It took a lot of calling around to find a gay friendly church that was willing to give her help. I didn't want to call a church to help her that would end up pestering her about her sexuality. This is Portland and thankfully it wasn't too troublesome to find.

284 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:00:34pm

re: #280 sattv4u2

Where?

Upstairs.

285 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:01:19pm

re: #282 Tourquoise Supremacist

Huh.

Bud.

286 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:01:24pm

re: #284 Gus

Upstairs.

Can't be

I'm already on the top floor!

287 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:03:16pm
288 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:03:18pm

re: #283 Killgore Trout

Tons of lesbian bumper stickers on her old VW bus which used to leak oil all over the street. It took a lot of calling around to find a gay friendly church that was willing to give her help. I didn't want to call a church to help her that would end up pestering her about her sexuality. This is Portland and thankfully it wasn't too troublesome to find.

A church van used to show up to her place every fall and unload about a half dozen 6 foot tall pot plants. I won't mention which denomination but I was pretty impressed.

289 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:05:10pm

re: #288 Killgore Trout

A church van used to show up to her place every fall and unload about a half dozen 6 foot tall pot plants. I won't mention which denomination but I was pretty impressed.

I didn't know pot plants had different religions!
/

290 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:05:46pm

re: #288 Killgore Trout

Medicinal?

291 simoom  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:06:20pm

re: #255 Targetpractice

Obama administration details contraceptives rule fix

Looks like Obama's unfurling the white flag.

re: #269 Targetpractice

It's what we've come to expect of Obama, that seeming need to make all sides happy, when outside observers know that's impossible. The bishops aren't going to be happy unless the status quo is restored.

What are you seeing in that article that's any different than what the President previously announced? The only thing that stood out to me was a couple sentences on proposals concerning religious self-insurers, something that hadn't been covered in the President's statement. The article isn't really detailed enough for me to really evaluate those propasals though:

From the Article:

The notice calls for third-party administrators including insurers to handle contraceptive coverage for self-insured groups.

Costs would be covered through a range of options unrelated to the employer, including drug rebates, reinsurance credits and multistate insurance plans.

292 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:06:50pm

re: #289 sattv4u2

I didn't know pot plants had different religions!
/

Sativa, Indica...

293 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:09:55pm

re: #291 simoom

re: #269 Targetpractice

What are you seeing in that article that's any different than what the President previously announced? The only thing that stood out to me was a couple sentences on proposals concerning religious self-insurers, something that hadn't been covered in the President's statement. The article isn't really detailed enough for me to really evaluate those propasals though:

The details are lacking because what's being put forth currently is just a bare bones proposal, opening a 90 day public comment period. It looks like an olive branch being offered out to the bishops, in the hopes of bringing them to the table to hash out something that will make them happy. It's a fool's gamble, as they're not interested in compromise, else they'd have accepted the initial revision of the mandate.

294 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:11:18pm

re: #287 Tourquoise Supremacist

Hilarious. So you wanna talk about school fist fights?

//

295 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:13:45pm

re: #287 Tourquoise Supremacist

From their "book"'s ToC:

Authority—The Proper Male Form 121
Purpose of Authority 121
Society Opposes Male Authority 123
Authority Maintained By Pain & Pleasure 125
Pleasure Establishes Authority 127
Pain Maintains Authority 129
Fear 129
Authority Requires Submission 132
Why Authority Belongs To Men 140
Being Responsible To Those Under Your Authority 144
Personal Authority 145
Social Authority 145
Exercising Functional Authority 147
Saying “NO” 147
Leading 153
Honoring Vs. Obeying 157
Giver 159
Initiating 161
Why Women Play Games 16

And:

WHY AUTHORITY BELONGS TO MEN
Today, feminism has deceived women into believing their authority
is autonomous. Because they see no distinction between male
and female capacity, women assume that their authority exists
independently of men’s authority. Many women even believe that
their authority supersedes men’s authority. This stems from the belief
that sexual access—a key male need—is independently regulated by
women. But women fail to realize that their ability to regulate anything
is attributable solely to men—apart from male permission, women can do nothing.
[...]
Women also lack a stable
reasoning faculty like men.
They allow their emotions
to dictate their decisions.
For instance, many women
reading this book will allow
their anger to override the
reasonable arguments presented.
Rather than approaching this
material from an objective,
rational perspective, their
hurt feelings will dictate their
conclusions. Thus, instead of
trying to reconcile the inherent
contradictions of feminism, they
will simply ignore them14
[...]
However, women today have been
conditioned by feminism to believe
that protection is a right, not a
privilege provided by men. Women
assume that men must protect them
simply because women demand it or
are entitled to it. They fail to realize
that men are stronger than women;
if instead of asking for sexual
access, men suddenly demanded
it, there would be absolutely
nothing women could do to stop
men from taking it by force. Thus,
without male consent, women really
have no autonomy. Without male
enforcement, female autonomy
would never exist.

Wow.

296 simoom  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:16:08pm

re: #293 Targetpractice

The details are lacking because what's being put forth currently is just a bare bones proposal, opening a 90 day public comment period. It looks like an olive branch being offered out to the bishops, in the hopes of bringing them to the table to hash out something that will make them happy. It's a fool's gamble, as they're not interested in compromise, else they'd have accepted the initial revision of the mandate.

I doubt very much they're under any illusions about courting the Bishops. They're likely plenty happy with some of the Catholic moderates (like the Catholic Health Association) who shifted on board with the President's previous 'compromise' statement.

I'm still not seeing what's being bargained away here. What's the olive branch or white flag or whatever? Previous DHS rules also went through a public comment period too.

297 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:18:43pm

re: #256 Killgore Trout

re: #258 Tourquoise Supremacist

re: #261 Gus

re: #264 Tourquoise Supremacist

You guys really need to lay off the Sir Gallahad bullshit. You're all smart enough to understand dark humor. The world doesn't need you to be indignant on its behalf.

298 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:19:00pm

re: #295 Tourquoise Supremacist

Holy Shit.

Bunch of damn regressives.

299 Usually refered to as anyways  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:19:19pm

Across the pond.

The case for gay marriage is fundamentally conservative
- it will strengthen Britain's social fabric
In America this week, David Cameron will see a Republican Party expending a great deal of time and energy deciding how, precisely, it will lose the presidential election in November. As fractious as the Tory tribe can be, it has nothing on the GOP in 2012 for splits, disaggregation and pointless introspection.

Nor has British party politics been infected thus far by the culture wars that have so disfigured American politics, or the “God gap” – the chasm between secular voters and those whose religion guides their electoral behaviour.

Last week’s Super Tuesday in the Republican presidential primaries failed to settle the nomination upon Mitt Romney’s patrician shoulders. And few sights in this uninspiring race have been more desperate or toe-curling than his flip-flopping struggle to win the votes of social conservatives. Whatever dilemmas and indignities lie ahead of Cameron in the 2015 general election campaign, he will not be forced to tap-dance on such issues of conscience.

More...

300 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:19:59pm

re: #297 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

re: #258 Tourquoise Supremacist

re: #261 Gus

re: #264 Tourquoise Supremacist

You guys really need to lay off the Sir Gallahad bullshit. You're all smart enough to understand dark humor. The world doesn't need you to be indignant on its behalf.

You ever hear of that song "I've got to be me"?

301 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:21:02pm

re: #36 Killgore Trout

US: N. Korea Rocket Launch Would Make Food Aid 'Hard to Imagine'
So it looks like they didn't get their food delivery. What's the point? Are they playing a game that gets them something or are they just nuts?

FOB is our concern. Fractional Obital Bombardment. In layman's terms, it means that if North Korea could put an object into a stable orbit, they could potentially put a nuke into orbit and then de-orbit the nuke over the USA. Some of the concern is an EMP attack, but a direct attack on a city could also be devastating. Thus, any major rocket launch by North Korea is viewed as a threat.

302 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:21:45pm

re: #289 sattv4u2

I didn't know pot plants had different religions!
/

It seems they do and this denomination has some pretty good shit. These were huge monster plants. An elderly priest, a grey church lady and three ruffians with face piercings and tattoos all working together to deliver the goodness, A sight of beauty.

303 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:21:51pm

re: #288 Killgore Trout

A church van used to show up to her place every fall and unload about a half dozen 6 foot tall pot plants. I won't mention which denomination but I was pretty impressed.

Amen for the Weed:

Youtube Video
304 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:21:56pm

re: #296 simoom

I doubt very much they're under any illusions about courting the Bishops. They're likely plenty happy with some of the Catholic moderates (like the Catholic Health Association) who shifted on board with the President's previous 'compromise' statement.

I'm still not seeing what's being bargained away here. What's the olive branch or white flag or whatever? Previous DHS rules also went through a public comment period too.

On a third read, I can see where I've misinterpreted the article. My apologies. In my defense, it's a Friday night. I'm surprised I'm still coherent.

305 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:23:04pm

re: #298 ProGunLiberal

Feminists often lament the
emergence of a “rape culture”
supposedly perpetuated by
men. Yet no feminist is willing
to hold women accountable for
their systematic exploitation
of male sexuality in strip clubs
across the world. On a daily
basis, women are allowed to
use their bodies to defraud
men out of their hard earned
money.

306 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:23:51pm

re: #301 Dark_Falcon

FOB is our concern. Fractional Obital Bombardment. In layman's terms, it means that if North Korea could put an object into a stable orbit, they could potentially put a nuke into orbit and then de-orbit the nuke over the USA. Some of the concern is an EMP attack, but a direct attack on a city could also be devastating. Thus, any major rocket launch by North Korea is viewed as a threat.

EMP would be the bigger worry than a direct attack. Detonate the nuke high enough and you could wipe out an entire coast, if not the whole of the US. The military hardware, at least the most critical stuff, would be okay. But everything from banks and financial institutions to hospitals would be thrown back to the Dark Ages.

307 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:23:54pm

re: #298 ProGunLiberal

Holy Shit.

Bunch of damn regressives.

Reactionaries is more like it. That's the sort of thing you'd expect to have been written in pre-Victorian times.

308 Achilles Tang  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:24:28pm

re: #212 Atlas Fails

Al-Awlaki, loathsome as he was, was not killed on a hot battlefield or warzone, and didn't pose an imminent threat to U.S. or allied forces at the time of his killing.

Did not pose a threat (at the time of his killing; whatever that means)?

You must be kidding, or do you have a very very tiny understanding of the meaning of threat?

You seem to one of those who think Americans can organize all the mayhem they desire and be immune to repercussions as long as they can't be apprehended by civil police action where they are.

Sounds about as ridiculous as pacifist who rely on others to protect their freedom to not do so.

309 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:24:47pm

Liturgical music

Youtube Video
310 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:25:53pm

re: #305 Tourquoise Supremacist

women are allowed to
use their bodies to defraud
men out of their hard earned
money.

defraud??
Cash in pocket,,,, woman starts getting naked ,, cash comes out of pocket ,, woman gets more naked ,, cash changes hands!
Sounds like a straight forward transaction to me!!!

311 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:26:46pm

re: #309 Killgore Trout

Druggie. ///

312 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:27:18pm

re: #306 Targetpractice

EMP would be the bigger worry than a direct attack. Detonate the nuke high enough and you could wipe out an entire coast, if not the whole of the US. The military hardware, at least the most critical stuff, would be okay. But everything from banks and financial institutions to hospitals would be thrown back to the Dark Ages.

The good news is the Norks can't do that, yet. You don't need a megaton-range warhead to do that, but it would take a warhead yield of greater than 100 kilotons, and they don't have anything that powerful.

313 simoom  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:27:59pm

re: #304 Targetpractice

On a third read, I can see where I've misinterpreted the article. My apologies. In my defense, it's a Friday night. I'm surprised I'm still coherent.

No apologies needed. I'm definitely all for keeping the pressure on the administration to stand firm against bullying from the Bishops. As the new DHS rules are hashed out they absolutely should be scrutinized in that context. I wonder what's involved in participating the public comment period -- maybe I'll write them something in support of a Rule promoting universal contraceptive coverage.

314 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:28:10pm

re: #311 Tourquoise Supremacist

Druggie. ///

Godless abomination!

315 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:28:47pm

re: #312 Dark_Falcon

The good news is the Norks can't do that, yet. You don't need a megaton-range warhead to do that, but it would take a warhead yield of greater than 100 kilotons, and they don't have anything that powerful.

"Yet" being the operative word. Once you've harnessed the power of the atom, building bigger bombs isn't a question of "if" but "when."

316 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:29:34pm

Was OD'ing on the wingnuts many times last week.

317 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:30:41pm

re: #300 Gus

You ever hear of that song "I've got to be me"?

No. But I have heard of the song "Elephant Talk".

Youtube Video

Talk
It's only talk
Babble
Burble
Banter
Bicker bicker bicker
Brouhaha
Balderdash
Ballyhoo
It's only talk
Back-talk

318 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:31:23pm

re: #314 Killgore Trout

Now I know why you need a greenhouse! ///

319 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:32:02pm

re: #312 Dark_Falcon

The good news is the Norks can't do that, yet. You don't need a megaton-range warhead to do that, but it would take a warhead yield of greater than 100 kilotons, and they don't have anything that powerful.

The EMP threat is vastly overstated.

320 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:32:37pm

re: #313 simoom

No apologies needed. I'm definitely all for keeping the pressure on the administration to stand firm against bullying from the Bishops. As the new DHS rules are hashed out they absolutely should be scrutinized in that context. I wonder what's involved in participating the public comment period -- maybe I'll write them something in support of a Rule promoting universal contraceptive coverage.

I think part of my rush to view it as capitulation has been Obama's poor track record so far. We saw it so many times during the initial debates over the Affordable Care Act itself, when popular items like UHC were shredded in order to appease screeching minority.

As always, time will tell. Perhaps this effort will help reinforce the notion that the bishops are never going to be happy, no matter what accommodations the administration makes, and efforts to do so are wasted.

321 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:34:00pm

PaleoPat chimes is and gets retweeted:

322 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:34:08pm

re: #317 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

No. But I have heard of the song "Elephant Talk".

[Embedded content]

10,000 Maniacs -- Don't Talk in paragraph form.

Don't talk, I will listen. Don't talk, you keep your distance for I'd rather hear some truth tonight than entertain your lies, so take you poison silently. Let me be. Let me close my eyes. Don't talk, I'll believe it. Don't talk, listen to me instead, I know that if you think of it, both long enough and hard the drink you drown your troubles in is the trouble you're in now.

Talk talk talk about it, if you talk as if you care but when your talk is over tilt that bottle in the air, tossing back more than your share. Don't talk, I can guess it. Don't talk, well now your restless and you need somewhere to put the blame for how you feel inside. You'll look for a close and easy mark and you'll see me as fair game.

Talk talk talk about it, talk as if you care but when your talk is over tilt that bottle in the air tossing back more than your share. You talk talk talk about it, you talk as if you care. I'm marking every word and can tell this time for sure, your talk is the finest I have heard.

So don't talk, I was sleeping. Don't talk, let me go on dreaming. How your eyes they glow so fiercely I can tell your inspired by the name you chose for me. Now what was it? O, never mind it. We will talk talk talk about this when your head is clear. I'll discuss this in the morning, but until then you may talk but I won't hear.

323 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:34:08pm

re: #315 Targetpractice

"Yet" being the operative word. Once you've harnessed the power of the atom, building bigger bombs isn't a question of "if" but "when."

For some nations that's true, but not for others. EMP is only really effective with an H-Bomb, A-bomb likely could not generate enough yield. Now, an fission bomb could generate an EMP strong enough to knock down several dozen planes if aimed right, but even the Norks aren't dumb to do that. That would kill hundreds of Americans, maybe even thousands, but its main effect would be to piss us off. After which we'd proceed to nuke North Korea into a radioactive wasteland.

324 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:35:11pm

re: #319 goddamnedfrank

The EMP threat is vastly overstated.

I hope you're right, Frank.

325 bratwurst  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:36:23pm

re: #324 Dark_Falcon

I hope you're right, Frank.

I hope we never find out!

326 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:36:56pm

re: #318 Tourquoise Supremacist

Now I know why you need a greenhouse! ///

I've composted more weed than the average person can smoke in a lifetime. No greenhouse needed. I've gone out to my mailbox to find massive bags of weed to repay some random act of kindness from the neighborhood foragers who eat my figs and blueberries. The most exotic thing growing in my greenhouse is wassabi. The real shit sells for about $100 a pound.

327 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:37:02pm

re: #321 Tourquoise Supremacist

PaleoPat chimes is and gets retweeted:

I wish them a nice life. ;)

328 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:37:10pm

re: #325 bratwurst

I hope we never find out!

Quite Concur.

329 Achilles Tang  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:37:38pm

re: #306 Targetpractice

EMP would be the bigger worry than a direct attack. Detonate the nuke high enough and you could wipe out an entire coast, if not the whole of the US. The military hardware, at least the most critical stuff, would be okay. But everything from banks and financial institutions to hospitals would be thrown back to the Dark Ages.

They have only had one fizzle nuclear test so far. An EMP nuke is nothing like a starter test and to make one of sufficient size to do what you describe is probably not possible in one device, let alone by NK.

Needless to say, even NK must be sane enough to know it would be suicide, and a failed launch of a nuclear device would probably be detected and something even their friends in China would have a hard time stomaching. Also, a low orbit would degrade relatively fast so it is a matter of use it or lose it once up and again, it would probably be detectable as such if it burned up in the atmosphere, when the shit will hit the fan.

I take Iran much more seriously. They have Allah on their side.

330 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:37:52pm

re: #323 Dark_Falcon

For some nations that's true, but not for others. EMP is only really effective with an H-Bomb, A-bomb likely could not generate enough yield. Now, an fission bomb could generate an EMP strong enough to knock down several dozen planes if aimed right, but even the Norks aren't dumb to do that. That would kill hundreds of Americans, maybe even thousands, but its main effect would be to piss us off. After which we'd proceed to nuke North Korea into a radioactive wasteland.

Which is why, for the moment, I don't consider the NorKs a very serious threat. It's like the specter of a nuclear Iran, namely that the infrastructure to build a large nuclear stockpile and the means to deliver them in any reliable manner means years, if not decades, of work. And if we truly believe the regime crazy enough to engage in a suicidal mission with even a handful of nukes, then engaging in diplomacy is an exercise in futility.

331 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:38:31pm

re: #327 Gus

I wish them a nice life. ;)

I don't ;)

332 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:39:18pm

re: #331 Tourquoise Supremacist

I don't ;)

Siempre la buena suerte. :P

333 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:39:48pm

re: #326 Killgore Trout

I've composted more weed that the average person can smoke in a lifetime. No greenhouse needed. I've gone out to my mailbox to find massive bags of weed to repay some random act of kindness from the neighborhood foragers who eat my figs and blueberries. The most exotic thing growing in my greenhouse is wassabi. The real shit sells for about $100 a pound.

*chokes* You're shittin' me.

334 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:40:47pm

re: #305 Tourquoise Supremacist

Prostitution has existed long before feminism. And in many cases, the prostitute has to give much of her money to whatever pimp or whatever he has.

335 Achilles Tang  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:41:48pm

re: #326 Killgore Trout

I've composted more weed that the average person can smoke in a lifetime. No greenhouse needed. I've gone out to my mailbox to find massive bags of weed to repay some random act of kindness from the neighborhood foragers who eat my figs and blueberries. The most exotic thing growing in my greenhouse is wassabi. The real shit sells for about $100 a pound.

You have bears that grow pot?

336 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:42:14pm

OK let me throw a proposition out there: Brooks Bayne is not antisemitic.

Thoughts?

337 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:42:17pm

re: #333 Targetpractice

*chokes* You're shittin' me.

Nope. The stuff you get in restaurants or in the grocery store is horseradish with green food coloring. You've probably never eaten real wassabi. Even in Japan only a very small portion of the sushi joints serve real wassabi.

338 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:43:23pm

re: #326 Killgore Trout

I've composted more weed that the average person can smoke in a lifetime. No greenhouse needed. I've gone out to my mailbox to find massive bags of weed to repay some random act of kindness from the neighborhood foragers who eat my figs and blueberries. The most exotic thing growing in my greenhouse is wassabi. The real shit sells for about $100 a pound.

LOL, in 1955 maybe. Medicinal weed tends to retail for between $40 and $80 per eighth ounce.

339 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:43:57pm

re: #337 Killgore Trout

Nope. The stuff you get in restaurants or in the grocery store is horseradish with green food coloring. You've probably never eaten real wassabi. Even in Japan only a very small portion of the sushi joints serve real wassabi.

Huh, you really do learn somethin' new every day.

340 jaunte  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:44:29pm

re: #336 Gus

"Not Antisemitic, But #1 With Antisemites."

341 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:44:57pm

re: #336 Gus

Bullcrap. He follows one of the biggest anti-semites today, and believes in several old stupid tropes.

Also, he is a woman hating piece of shit. Thankfully, I can predict the only relationship he has had would be with a blowup doll.

342 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:47:16pm

re: #338 goddamnedfrank

Missed the switch to wassabi, sorry. Figure that it would actually cost more since it's so picky about climate.

343 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:48:55pm

re: #336 Gus

OK let me throw a proposition out there: Brooks Bayne is not antisemitic.

Thoughts?

First thought: how do you know?

344 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:49:22pm

re: #341 ProGunLiberal

Bullcrap. He follows one of the biggest anti-semites today, and believes in several old stupid tropes.

Also, he is a woman hating piece of shit. Thankfully, I can predict the only relationship he has had would be with a blowup doll.

It's too bad that people let themselves be led by their own ignorant thoughts.

345 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:49:41pm

re: #343 Tourquoise Supremacist

First thought: how do you know?

I don't know. It's a proposition.

346 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:51:55pm

re: #345 Gus

I don't know. It's a proposition.

MacDonald's book is available online. Skim through it and tell me if someone who is not antisemitic would recommend it as a defense against antisemitism.

347 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:51:57pm

re: #321 Tourquoise Supremacist

how do you quote Twitter content thusly?

348 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:52:22pm

re: #347 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

how do you quote Twitter content thusly?

Just post a link to a tweet.

349 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:52:37pm

re: #337 Killgore Trout

わさび is not that uncommon in Japan, at least from what I remember of the grocery stores. Of course there is the "Western wasabi" sold, but it is called so, and no doubt the cheapest of convenient store fast foods use that stuff, but any self respecting chef in Japan would use the real thing if he just said "wasabi".

350 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:52:44pm

In any event. The whole task is rather pointless. At the very least he won't even listen. And yes, I am very aware about the contribution of Jews to socialism and variations therein. re: #346 Tourquoise Supremacist

MacDonald's book is available online. Skim through it and tell me if someone who is not antisemitic would recommend it as a defense against antisemitism.

He's almost insane. There are two personalities.

351 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:54:01pm

Before I was thinking "was it with all these gentiles trying to tell Jews how to think?"

352 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:54:07pm

re: #339 Targetpractice

Huh, you really do learn somethin' new every day.

The real thing is a plant that needs plenty of fresh flowing water. Needless to say, it's not something we grow here in the dessert.

353 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:54:41pm

re: #352 freetoken

pimf "desert", though wasabi can find a place in desserts.

354 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:55:18pm

re: #350 Gus

In any event. The whole task is rather pointless. At the very least he won't even listen. And yes, I am very aware about the contribution of Jews to socialism and variations therein.

He's almost insane. There are two personalities.

I don't think this whole thing is about to make him listen.

355 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:59:00pm

re: #348 Tourquoise Supremacist

Just post a link to a tweet.

nope. Watch:

356 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 8:59:53pm

re: #355 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

Ah, you mean the style. Reload the page.

357 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:00:00pm

re: #354 Tourquoise Supremacist

I don't think this whole thing is about to make him listen.

I know. You know one of them, from the dead louse, he called my mother a Nazi whore. A comfort woman. He blogged my name as being a Nazi or a totalitarian progressive more than I can count.

But I've got bigger balls than they do.

358 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:01:07pm

re: #355 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

nope. Watch:

herp:
Image: 6LJrk.png

derp:
Image: tuYJI.png

359 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:01:12pm

re: #357 Gus

Fuck'em.

360 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:01:22pm

re: #355 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

nope. Watch:

Oh, brother! Do I even want to know what she thought she was saying?

361 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:04:11pm

re: #359 Tourquoise Supremacist

Fuck'em.

With a 10 foot dick? Not even that. Before I was thinking that this is the secular version of the "perfected Jew." In order to be a "perfect Jew" you can't be a socialist and have to adhere, make that sign off, on an Americo-Christo version of Free Market Jesus.

362 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:05:27pm

re: #353 freetoken

pimf "desert", though wasabi can find a place in desserts.

Also very good with mashed taters. I use the leaves which are plentiful. grinding the roots is saved for special occasions.

363 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:06:24pm

Listening to Frank.

364 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:08:28pm

re: #350 Gus

In any event. The whole task is rather pointless. At the very least he won't even listen. And yes, I am very aware about the contribution of Jews to socialism and variations therein.

He's almost insane. There are two personalities.

Not only is he an obvious anti-semite, but only a closet case would obsess that much and rail that hard against "beta males"

365 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:09:31pm

re: #361 Gus

There's nothing bigoted in itself in negative view of socialists, IMHO - regardless of religion/ethnicity. This guy, of course, had to go and make it about ethno-religious identity, emphasizing it where it was simply irrelevant.

366 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:09:52pm

re: #364 goddamnedfrank

While he himself is below Omega.

367 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:11:12pm

re: #365 Tourquoise Supremacist

There's nothing bigoted in itself in negative view of socialists, IMHO - regardless of religion/ethnicity. This guy, of course, had to go and make it about ethno-religious identity, emphasizing it where it was simply irrelevant.

Yep. I can't say what I'm thinking.

368 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:11:25pm

re: #363 Gus

Listening to Frank.

Frank has his place but let's not pretend that Charlie Rose isn't awesome.

Frank Zappa tells Charlie Rose about Pat Robertson and Iran-Contra

Youtube Video
369 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:12:52pm

re: #368 Killgore Trout

Frank has his place but let's not pretend that Charlie Rose isn't awesome.

Frank Zappa tells Charlie Rose about Pat Robertson and Iran-Contra

[Embedded content]

They can't take that away, from, here.

370 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:18:50pm

Part 1 - Frank Zappa at PMRC Senate Hearing on Rock Lyrics

Youtube Video
371 TedStriker  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:19:59pm

re: #338 goddamnedfrank

LOL, in 1955 maybe. Medicinal weed tends to retail for between $40 and $80 per eighth ounce.

Umm, he wasn't talking about the price of the MJ, he was talking about the wasabi.

;-P

372 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:21:04pm

re: #371 talon_262

Umm, he wasn't talking about the Weed, he was talking about the wasabi.

;-P

Weedsabi!

373 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:22:07pm

re: #366 ProGunLiberal

While he himself is below Omega.

I'm betting that he's an alcoholic, I've seen that level of incoherent rage before and it doesn't come from a sober, happy place. He is also the latest mask to fall from the Right's pretense that it gives a shit about Jews per se. Instead the Right simply uses them as a cudgel at best, or as religious end times pawns at worst.

374 TedStriker  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:22:19pm

re: #372 Killgore Trout

Weedsabi!

That would be some really harsh stuff indeed.

375 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:23:11pm

re: #372 Killgore Trout

Weedsabi!

I would buy that product, and put it on everything.

376 William of Orange  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:24:34pm

Oh dear....


I don't want to say that Apple is holy and that their workers in China are earning a decent wage but it seems that the company was shafted by a sloppy documentary. A few weeks ago a documentary made headlines as it highlighted the working conditions of it's Chinese employees. Conditions were hazardous, working hours were long, living quarters were inadequate.

But now it turns out a lot of the information given in the documentary was faked!

Apple in the meantime got grilled over this controversy. As said, I don't think everything is alright now but this time I think Apple got a bad rep for the wrong reasons.

During fact checking before the broadcast of Daisey's story, This American Life staffers asked Daisey for this interpreter's contact information. Daisey told them her real name was Anna, not Cathy as he says in his monologue, and he said that the cell phone number he had for her didn't work any more. He said he had no way to reach her.

"At that point, we should've killed the story," says Ira Glass, Executive Producer and Host of This American Life. "But other things Daisey told us about Apple's operations in China checked out, and we saw no reason to doubt him. We didn't think that he was lying to us and to audiences about the details of his story. That was a mistake."

Comment from the documentary maker Mike Dailey:

"I'm not going to say that I didn't take a few shortcuts in my passion to be heard," Daisey tells Schmitz and Glass. "My mistake, the mistake I truly regret, is that I had it on your show as journalism, and it's not journalism. It's theater."

This stinks....

377 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:24:36pm

re: #374 talon_262

That would be some really harsh stuff indeed.

I can make it happen. I got wicked gardening skilz

378 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:24:41pm

I don't wake up in the morning thinking about people to get back at on the internets.

379 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:26:13pm

re: #368 Killgore Trout

Frank has his place but let's not pretend that Charlie Rose isn't awesome.

Frank Zappa tells Charlie Rose about Pat Robertson and Iran-Contra

[Embedded content]

Charlie Rose is awesome.[Link: www.realclearpolitics.com...]

380 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:27:00pm
Youtube Video
381 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:27:36pm
I've got you under my skin
I've got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me
I've got you under my skin

I tried so not to give in
I said to myself this affair never will go so well
But why should I try to resist, when baby I know so well
I've got you under my skin

I 'd sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of having you near
In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear

Don't you know little fool, you never can win
Use your mentality, wake up to reality
But each time that I do, just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin

I would sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of having you near
In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats, how it yells in my ear

Don't you know little fool, you never can win
Why not use your mentality, step up, wake up to reality
But each time I do, just the thought of you
Makes me stop just before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin
Yes, I've got you under my skin

382 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:30:34pm

Frank was the master.

383 sattv4u2  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:30:38pm

re: #381 Gus

There are ointments for that, you know!

384 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:31:07pm

It happened in Monterrey.

385 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:31:26pm

re: #383 sattv4u2

There are ointments for that, you know!

You say something moh man?

386 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:31:27pm

re: #380 Killgore Trout

[Embedded content]

One of the first songs to cause me to love music! Namaste

387 Charles Johnson  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:32:48pm

re: #321 Tourquoise Supremacist

PaleoPat chimes is and gets retweeted:

[Embedded content]

Not the first time we've encountered "Patrick" around here: How to Get Banned From LGF.

388 Gus  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:33:31pm

Noyce. Frank's spectacular.

389 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:34:44pm

re: #386 prairiefire

One of the first songs to cause me to love music! Namaste

Namaste
and the footage reminds me that Ringo may indeed be the greatest Beatle. That's some serious shit to ponder.

390 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:37:46pm

re: #288 Killgore Trout

No shit?!? Presbyterians, I hope.

391 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:38:54pm

re: #376 William of Orange

Oh dear...

I don't want to say that Apple is holy and that their workers in China are earning a decent wage but it seems that the company was shafted by a sloppy documentary. A few weeks ago a documentary made headlines as it highlighted the working conditions of it's Chinese employees. Conditions were hazardous, working hours were long, living quarters were inadequate.

But now it turns out a lot of the information given in the documentary was faked!

Apple in the meantime got grilled over this controversy. As said, I don't think everything is alright now but this time I think Apple got a bad rep for the wrong reasons.

Comment from the documentary maker Mike Dailey:

This stinks...

My first though upon reading this story around 5:15 this afternoon was to compare Mr. Daisey to Alan Grayson and Andrew Breitbart for his dishonest presentation. But after thinking about it, I realized the analogy doesn't work: Breitbart, and Grayson dishonestly edited videos, so that even though what Shirley Sherrod actually had said was entirely at odds with what Andrew Breitbart said she had said, he really did use footage of her speaking.

What Daisey did was more like Stephen Glass or Jayson Blair, completely inventing his 'facts' out of thin air. But also like Glass and Blair, Daisey does not earn from me the same level of moral condemnation as Breitbart. This is because while Daisey did lie massively, his intent was ultimately decent, unlike Breitbart's history of malice aforethought.

392 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:39:58pm

I just can't believe that jerk's name is Daisey.

393 William of Orange  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:40:05pm

Please. Can I get your attention? This is essential read.

An effect of the now stringent Texas anti-abortion law. This happened to a couple that already had a healthy daughter and were now expecting a son. This son was very welcome until the doctors told them that he would not develop into a healthy baby.


Heartbreaking stuff.

Halfway through my pregnancy, I learned that my baby was ill. Profoundly so. My doctor gave us the news kindly, but still, my husband and I weren’t prepared. Just a few minutes earlier, we’d been smiling giddily at fellow expectant parents as we waited for the doctor to see us. In a sonography room smelling faintly of lemongrass, I’d just had gel rubbed on my stomach, just seen blots on the screen become tiny hands. For a brief, exultant moment, we’d seen our son—a brother for our 2-year-old girl.

Yet now my doctor was looking grim and, with chair pulled close, was speaking of alarming things. “I’m worried about your baby’s head shape,” she said. “I want you to see a specialist—now.”

My husband looked angry, and maybe I did too, but it was astonishment more than anger. Ours was a profound disbelief that something so bad might happen to people who think themselves charmed. We already had one healthy child and had expected good fortune to give us two.

Instead, before I’d even known I was pregnant, a molecular flaw had determined that our son’s brain, spine and legs wouldn’t develop correctly. If he were to make it to term—something our doctor couldn’t guarantee—he’d need a lifetime of medical care. From the moment he was born, my doctor told us, our son would suffer greatly.

So, softly, haltingly, my husband asked about termination. The doctor shot me a glance that said: Are you okay to hear this now? I nodded, clenched my fists and focused on the cowboy boots beneath her scrubs.

She started with an apology, saying that despite being responsible for both my baby’s care and my own, she couldn’t take us to the final stop. The hospital with which she’s affiliated is Catholic and doesn’t allow abortion. It felt like a physical blow to hear that word, abortion, in the context of our much-wanted child. Abortion is a topic that never seemed relevant to me; it was something we read about in the news or talked about politically; it always remained at a safe distance. Yet now its ugly fist was hammering on my chest.

My doctor went on to tell us that, just two weeks prior, a new Texas law had come into effect requiring that women wait an extra 24 hours before having the procedure. Moreover, Austin has only one clinic providing second-trimester terminations, and that clinic might have a long wait. “Time is not on your side,” my doctor emphasized gently. For this reason, she urged us to seek a specialist’s second opinion the moment we left her office. “They’re ready for you,” she said, before ushering us out the back door to shield us from the smiling patients in the waiting room.

Read the rest here.

394 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:40:10pm

re: #387 Charles Johnson

Not the first time we've encountered "Patrick" around here: How to Get Banned From LGF.

Oh, that freak again. Not just a homophobe, but the kind of gun-stroking nutcase who makes decent firearms owners look bad.

395 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:47:53pm

re: #393 William of Orange

The sick twisted bastards who pass these laws must be punted out of office.

This just causes raw hate to boil up in me,

396 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:49:58pm

re: #395 ProGunLiberal

The sick twisted bastards who pass these laws must be punted out of office.

This just causes raw hate to boil up in me,

That is understandable, but you must learn to purge that hatred. It will lead you to rash and foolish words and deeds if not supressed.

397 TedStriker  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:55:47pm

re: #396 Dark_Falcon

That is understandable, but you must learn to purge that hatred. It will lead you to rash and foolish words and deeds if not supressed.

I'm sorry, Dark, but I have to agree with PLL on this one. This law and type of laws are pure unfettered horseshit, worthy of as much scorn and derision as one can muster; the politicians that pass such laws are worthy of the same scorn and derision.

This shit is all about power and control over others for the RWNJs and those who pander to them. Somehow, someway, people have to get off their ass and tell these misogynistic throwbacks, "We draw the line here...this will go no further!"

398 TedStriker  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 9:58:11pm

re: #392 prairiefire

I just can't believe that jerk's name is Daisey.

Daisey, Daisey, give me your answer do...

399 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:02:03pm

re: #397 talon_262

I'm sorry, Dark, but I have to agree with PLL on this one. This law and type of laws are pure unfettered horseshit, worthy of as much scorn and derision as one can muster; the politicians that pass such laws are worthy of the same scorn and derision.

This shit is all about power and control over others for the RWNJs and those who pander to them. Somehow, someway, people have to get off their ass and tell these misogynistic throwbacks, "We draw the line here...this will go no further!"

Yes, draw your line, but defend it wisely. Raw hatred may lead you to attack at a bad time and get hammered into the ground, or it might lead you to say something that can be easily turned against you. Fight smart.

400 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:03:23pm

re: #397 talon_262

It isn't just that. It is also the inference made by the legislation about women not being able to make decisions on their own, and sadistic use of all these measures to try and control women.

All my friends are women. So, this winds me up more than you could believe.

401 WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.]  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:04:13pm

re: #396 Dark_Falcon

That is understandable, but you must learn to purge that hatred. It will lead you to rash and foolish words and deeds if not supressed.

Hatred of racism and racists got civil rights passed in America

402 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:04:21pm

One person's response to an anti-choice clown on that board:

Trust me. Women know exactly what is going on here. If wishes came true, I'd wish for you a transrectal sonogram to make sure your head wasn't up there.

403 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:04:58pm

On a more somber note, the 36 year old staff Sargent on his 4th tour of duty that committed mass murder is at Ft Leavenworth.[Link: www.kansascity.com...]

404 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:05:03pm

re: #393 William of Orange

Please. Can I get your attention? This is essential read.

An effect of the now stringent Texas anti-abortion law. This happened to a couple that already had a healthy daughter and were now expecting a son. This son was very welcome until the doctors told them that he would not develop into a healthy baby.

Heartbreaking stuff.

Read the rest here.

She started with an apology, saying that despite being responsible for both my baby’s care and my own, she couldn’t take us to the final stop. The hospital with which she’s affiliated is Catholic and doesn’t allow abortion. It felt like a physical blow to hear that word, abortion, in the context of our much-wanted child. Abortion is a topic that never seemed relevant to me; it was something we read about in the news or talked about politically; it always remained at a safe distance. Yet now its ugly fist was hammering on my chest.

If you want to know how such laws get put into place, look no further than those two lines. Women have spent decades now assuming that the fight for equality was over, RvW settled law in perpetuity, and the idea that the state could force a you to endure such a nightmare just to exercise control over your own body unthinkable. It's that lull that they've worked themselves into that social dinosaurs are now exploiting to roll back the clock, trying to press their morality on new generations of women, whether it be in the name of control, of religion, or just sheer misogyny.

405 WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.]  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:06:53pm

re: #404 Targetpractice

Republicans want to enslave women, using laws, using shame, using violence if the first two don't work


it is just that fucking simple

406 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:08:44pm

re: #404 Targetpractice

This is why I call these people Christian Salafists. Because they act like it, and because that gives me much more energy against them, because I can draw on the anger I have at Salafis, which is second only to my immediate response to Utoya last year.

Hell, the Republicans are basically trying to legislate the use of virginity tests the ultrasound wands. This is evil. This is state-sanctioned rape.

407 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:09:15pm

re: #403 prairiefire

On a more somber note, the 36 year old staff Sargent on his 4th tour of duty that committed genocide is in town.[Link: www.kansascity.com...]

Genocide isn't really the right term, since it requires a determination of malice. This may be a diminished capacity case, so let us not assume we no why this man acted as he did. This is not to minimize the deaths of the victims, nor the pain felt by their families, but rather a desire to see justice done. And should this man prove to have killed 16 people out of malice, it is my most earnest hope that he be executed.

408 WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.]  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:10:15pm

re: #406 ProGunLiberal

This is why I call these people Christian Salafists. Because they act like it, and because that gives me much more energy against them, because I can draw on the anger I have at Salafis, which is second only to my immediate response to Utoya last year.

Hell, the Republicans are basically trying to legislate the use of virginity tests the ultrasound wands. This is evil. This is state-sanctioned rape.

Rape is only the beginning for these fuckers

409 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:10:34pm

re: #407 Dark_Falcon

I changed it to mass murder, but it really seems like splitting hairs.

410 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:10:37pm

re: #401 windupbird is in the gravity well

Hatred of racism and racists got civil rights passed in America

True, but nonviolence and reasoned arguments got farther than riots and screaming matches. Even Malcolm X, militant though he seemed to many, preached that the first choice should be the ballot.

411 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:10:59pm

re: #401 windupbird is in the gravity well

Hatred of racism and racists got civil rights passed in America

No sir, it was a desire to right the wrongs that had been committed and make America truer to her principals that got civil rights passed.

412 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:12:05pm

re: #410 Targetpractice

And before his death, didn't he moderate?

413 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:12:10pm

re: #407 Dark_Falcon

And should this man prove to have killed 16 people out of malice, it is my most earnest hope that he be executed.

By whom, and by what method?

414 Stanghazi  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:12:10pm

re: #403 prairiefire

On a more somber note, the 36 year old staff Sargent on his 4th tour of duty that committed mass murder is at Ft Leavenworth.[Link: www.kansascity.com...]

So messed up.

415 A Man for all Seasons  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:12:37pm

re: #397 talon_262

I'm sorry, Dark, but I have to agree with PLL on this one. This law and type of laws are pure unfettered horseshit, worthy of as much scorn and derision as one can muster; the politicians that pass such laws are worthy of the same scorn and derision.

This shit is all about power and control over others for the RWNJs and those who pander to them. Somehow, someway, people have to get off their ass and tell these misogynistic throwbacks, "We draw the line here...this will go no further!"

You make valid points...But D_F is correct.. Hate has no place in the equation here in politics..Slowly America will rise above this..

416 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:13:40pm

re: #406 ProGunLiberal

Hell, the Republicans are basically trying to legislate the use of virginity tests the ultrasound wands. This is evil. This is state-sanctioned rape.

Huh? I can't see an analogy here. An ultrasound is not in any way like a virginity test, and unlike those tests in Egypt what that ultrasound shows remains subject to doctor-patient privilege. So your analogy does not work.

417 Targetpractice  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:14:54pm

re: #412 ProGunLiberal

And before his death, didn't he moderate?

Mostly after he broke with the Nation of Islam and becoming a Sunni Muslim. He still preached black self-determination and self-defense, but he was more willing to work with other leaders in the civil rights movement.

418 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:15:19pm

re: #413 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

By whom, and by what method?

Executed by the US government. By law the method would be lethal injection, but if it were up to me I'd have him hanged.

419 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:15:52pm

re: #416 Dark_Falcon

Huh? I can't see an analogy here. An ultrasound is not in any way like a virginity test, and unlike those tests in Egypt what that ultrasound shows remains subject to doctor-patient privilege. So your analogy does not work.

Please describe, to the best of your understanding the "ultrasound" as it pertains to this discussion.

How does it differ from the Egyptian "virginity test", as far as you know?

420 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:19:07pm

re: #419 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

For my part, what I see is a violation of a woman's right to her own body for the purpose of intimidation and humiliation, with the other details being too disturbing for me right now.

And that is why I made the comparison.

421 prairiefire  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:20:23pm

re: #419 Pope Ron Polyp XXXVII

Please describe, to the best of your understanding the "ultrasound" as it pertains to this discussion.

How does it differ from the Egyptian "virginity test", as far as you know?

I thought every citizen of America had the dignity provided by the right to privacy.

422 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:22:28pm

re: #416 Dark_Falcon

Huh? I can't see an analogy here. An ultrasound is not in any way like a virginity test, and unlike those tests in Egypt what that ultrasound shows remains subject to doctor-patient privilege. So your analogy does not work.

Doctor patient privilege goes out the window when the procedure is mandated by the State, medically totally unnecessary, the doctor is coerced / threatened with the loss of their license, required to read from a script containing medical inaccuracies & lies, required to wait 24 hours and to maintain documentation proving that all these steps irrelevant to the actual abortion itself were performed.

423 ProGunLiberal  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:22:56pm

A great response here to the Texas Law in that articles comments:

I know that you are grossly misinformed if you think that anyone who has chosen to terminate a pregnancy at a hospital or Planned Parenthood is not informed of what is going on/will go on or what the procedure consists of.

Additionally, since we live in a day of modern technology, it is possible for anyone interested to investigate and learn what the procedure consists of, for themselves, from unbiased resources (unbiased to both sides of the issue is the important factor).

Regardless, it is a great disservice and an insult to woman who have made a decision like this, or will have to, to think that it has been done in a cavalier manner. There will never be any sort invasive procedure EVER that will be treated as such.

But to guilt and manipulate woman into making a decision to keep a pregnancy after deciding for themselves that it is not a option (for whatever reason) AND THEN have the same politicians turn around and CUT medicaid, medicare, unemployment, social security and welfare benefits, is unacceptable.

You can't tell woman that they have no rights over their own bodies and lives and then turn around and then tell them that they also have no resources to help aid them.

424 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:24:08pm

re: #421 prairiefire

I thought every citizen of America had the dignity provided by the right to privacy.

Conservatives don't believe in the right to privacy, except as it relates to who donates to Super PACs.

425 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:32:11pm

re: #424 goddamnedfrank

Conservatives don't believe in the right to privacy, except as it relates to who donates to Super PACs.

right to privacy, except if they don't like what you might be doing, like having premarital sex or reading the wrong books

426 Four More Tears  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:36:57pm

re: #425 Kragar

right to privacy, except if they don't like what you might be doing, like having premarital sex or reading the wrong books

We cannot overstate the damage to society that can occur if the ideals put forward in The Lorax are allowed to propagate.

427 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:54:15pm

re: #426 Meh.

We cannot overstate the damage to society that can occur if the ideals put forward in The Lorax are allowed to propagate.

Why The Lorax/Mazda Ads Are So Insulting

428 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 10:56:19pm

Lorax Tie-ins Go Overboard: Is it Greenwashing?

429 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:00:02pm

And then people wonder why I am a doomer.

430 Kragar  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:09:11pm

re: #429 freetoken

And then people wonder why I am a doomer.

Youtube Video
431 Four More Tears  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:17:56pm

Trayvon Martin's story is really getting me down lately.

432 palomino  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:28:46pm

Why the hell is Dana Loesch still employed by CNN? They might as well give Limbaugh a job while they're at it.

As vile as Pat Buchanan often was, I don't think he initiated twitter flamewars in which he called bloggers (in this case, CJ) pedophiles. And Loesch seems to enjoy that kind of pernicious name calling, and rolling around in the mud. Truly a repugnant excuse for a a journalist. Worse than anyone else I can think of on MSNBC or CNN. Would even be near the bottom of the barrel at Fox.

433 palomino  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:37:35pm

re: #431 Meh.

Trayvon Martin's story is really getting me down lately.

The Orlando PD in this case seem to have no interest in closely examining Zimmerman's claim of self-defense, despite the fact that it's their job to do exactly that. Maybe there's no racism involved, but if it walks like a duck...

Virtually any other racial/ethnic permutation of shooter and victim would probably get dealt with differently by the OPD. Shame on them. I guess in some places, it's still 1964.

Sounds as if Zimmerman was a cop wannabe. Funny in movies, not so funny in real life.

434 Four More Tears  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:39:15pm

re: #433 palomino

The Orlando PD in this case seem to have no interest in closely examining Zimmerman's claim of self-defense, despite the fact that it's their job to do exactly that. Maybe there's no racism involved, but if it walks like a duck...

Virtually any other racial/ethnic permutation of shooter and victim would probably get dealt with differently by the OPD. Shame on them. I guess in some places, it's still 1964.

Sounds as if Zimmerman was a cop wannabe

The more I read of this the more I agree with that assessment.

435 freetoken  Fri, Mar 16, 2012 11:55:23pm

re: #432 palomino

Why the hell is Dana Loesch still employed by CNN?

Because they make money from controversy.

436 palomino  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:07:03am

re: #435 freetoken

Because they make money from controversy.

Makes sense, but then why does CNN have so many non-controversial bland commentators like Andersoon Cooper, John King, Blitzer, Brazile, etc.

Are there any left wing bomb throwing counterparts to Loesch at CNN? Maybe Begala or Carville is the closest, but they're exemplars of civility compared to Loesch, who's sunk down to Limbaugh territory with her sick unfounded accusations of pedophilia.

437 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:12:17am

Another Whopper From Fox's Graphics Department
Fail.

438 freetoken  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:14:36am

re: #436 palomino

Makes sense, but then why have so many non-controversial bland commentators like Andersoon Cooper, John King, Blitzer, Brazile, etc.

Marketing:

Andersoon Cooper, John King - sex symbols (well, of a sort - good looking mature men who are attractive to women)

Blitzer - looking older, and the older one looks the more trustworthy they seem

Brazile - market segment chasing.

It's turtles money, all the way down.

439 freetoken  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:15:57am

re: #437 Varek Raith

Numeracy is asking too much of Fox News or its viewers.

440 freetoken  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:18:47am

Would have won DWTS:

MP3 Audio
441 Lidane  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:24:14am

re: #237 Lidane

Just to give an idea of how close I was, this photo was taken by a photographer that was right next to me:

Image: springsteen.jpg

Amazing show. It's going to take a while to come down from my SXSW high.

442 teresa  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 12:55:08am

As the mother of three children I read the Observer article in horror. I cried for hours after reading it. I am shocked and appalled at the Texas state legislature. Their goal seems to be to humiliate women. You know what, I am glad Rush said what he said, because now women have been alerted to the right wing efforts to restrict access to basic health care, which sometimes includes abortion. I am so angry, but grateful that women and men all over the country are standing up and fighting back.

443 Lidane  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:01:12am

re: #442 teresa

I am shocked and appalled at the Texas state legislature. Their goal seems to be to humiliate women.

That's because it is. Humiliate them, shame them, push them back into the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.

If some of these whackjobs got their way, women would lose the vote and other fundamental rights. They want women to be subservient to and dependent on men, just as their version of God intended.

444 freetoken  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:04:31am

First two movements of Jordi Savall's El cant de la Sibil.la: València:

MP3 Audio


MP3 Audio
445 palomino  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:11:27am

re: #438 freetoken

Marketing:

Andersoon Cooper, John King - sex symbols (well, of a sort - good looking mature men who are attractive to women)

Blitzer - looking older, and the older one looks the more trustworthy they seem

Brazile - market segment chasing.

It's turtles money, all the way down.

Makes perfect sense. But my point was that CNN only has right wing bomb throwers--Loesch and McErickson. Their liberal commentators, like Brazile, are pretty sedate by comparison. It's a dumb strategy: they're not going to gain a lot of Fox viewers (most of whom see CNN as the Communist News Network). And they lose credibility by having people in the same league as Andrew Breitbart.

446 palomino  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:17:58am

re: #442 teresa

As the mother of three children I read the Observer article in horror. I cried for hours after reading it. I am shocked and appalled at the Texas state legislature. Their goal seems to be to humiliate women. You know what, I am glad Rush said what he said, because now women have been alerted to the right wing efforts to restrict access to basic health care, which sometimes includes abortion. I am so angry, but grateful that women and men all over the country are standing up and fighting back.

The PA governors response on that was absurd. "You can just close your eyes [when the fetus monitor is put in front of your face]." Gee, when you're being humiliated, all you have to do is close your eyes and everything's OK! What an amazing dumbass.

447 researchok  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:19:32am

Morning, all

448 researchok  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:25:46am

re: #444 freetoken

I'm tempted to reach into my closet and grab my robes.
/

449 Lidane  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:30:19am

re: #446 palomino

The PA governors response on that was absurd. "You can just close your eyes [when the fetus monitor is put in front of your face]." Gee, when you're being humiliated, all you have to do is close your eyes and everything's OK! What an amazing dumbass.

When I saw that, it took a lot for me not to start spitting nails. WTF. Women who are being shamed and humiliated can just close their eyes?

My first thought was of Clayton Williams. Tom Corbett can get bent.

450 Stanghazi  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:37:09am

re: #447 researchok

Morning, all

Good night! (Late one here in CA)

451 Stanghazi  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 1:39:42am

re: #433 palomino

re: #434 Meh.

I read this when it happened and a little after. Tonight they released the 911 calls. The cops say they can't disprove his claim of self defense.

Absolutely horrible. He was heading home with skittles. :(

452 Decatur Deb  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 2:21:02am

Prodigals--The Morning After

Youtube Video
453 Ziggy Standard  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 4:28:35am

re: #266 Gus

Fat dykes are infringing on my alpha manliness!

//

And who could forget the whining about the 'disgusting' 'emasculation' of men in modern America?

454 freetoken  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 4:39:22am

NWS is saying that the snow level is going to get down to 1250 feet this weekend here in SoCal ... GLOBAL COOLING!!

455 BongCrodny  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 4:40:51am

re: #452 Decatur Deb

Prodigals--The Morning After

[Embedded content]

Nice.

And a happy St. Paddy's Day to you too, sir.

Parkington Sisters - "Ring of Fire"

Youtube Video
456 Decatur Deb  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 4:59:15am

Dancing on Dangerous Ground--Bar Scene

Youtube Video
458 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 5:59:51am

re: #457 Varek Raith

Good thing he didn't die during the trial. Now that would have been embarrassing.

459 Ziggy Standard  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:03:23am

re: #454 freetoken

NWS is saying that the snow level is going to get down to 1250 feet this weekend here in SoCal ... GLOBAL COOLING!!

Different story here where all the daffodils are already out (not normal for this country) and there's a shortage of pickers:

[Link: www.bbc.co.uk...]

460 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:09:05am

The International Obsession With Joseph Kony Is Already Ending

I have a conspiracy theory about the Russell incident now. //

462 BongCrodny  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:14:24am

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse:

HuffPo: Rick Santorum Shirtless Picture


Caution NSAB (Not Safe After Breakfast)

463 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:23:50am

re: #462 BongCrodny

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse:

HuffPo: Rick Santorum Shirtless Picture

Caution NSAB (Not Safe After Breakfast)

Thankfully, your link doesn't work.

464 ReamWorks SKG  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:25:05am

re: #462 BongCrodny

At least he didn't tweet it to me!

465 ReamWorks SKG  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:25:44am

(the link is missing the : before the //. Add it to see shirtless rick)

466 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:30:02am

re: #465 ReamWorks, SKG (fka Reuven)

Or just click here ;)

467 RogueOne  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:30:08am

re: #464 ReamWorks, SKG (fka Reuven)

At least he didn't tweet it to me!

You might not want to check your email.

468 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:32:44am

Lorax iz fails!

//

469 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:33:19am

re: #466 Amory Blaine

OK, this was in suggested videos:

Youtube Video
470 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:34:48am

re: #469 Tourquoise Supremacist

OK, this was in suggested videos:

[Embedded content]

Shinizzle

471 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:35:55am

He look like good Serbian boy.

//

472 BongCrodny  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:36:03am

re: #463 Amory Blaine

Thankfully, your link doesn't work.

My bad.

Or, my good.

Once was too much. If anyone *really* has a desire to see Rick Santorum without a shirt on, they know where to find it.

473 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:37:20am

That. Would be a problem.

//

474 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:37:49am

Moew. Grown up Meadow Soprano.

This is my fave Andy video.

Youtube Video
475 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:38:30am

re: #473 Gus

That. Would be a problem.

//

Jizzizle?

476 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:39:17am

re: #475 Tourquoise Supremacist

Jizzizle?

At the store, etc? Si.

477 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:39:37am

re: #475 Tourquoise Supremacist

Yuh, well, I should've looked that up. Turns out the word exists. Oops. ;)

478 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:40:50am
479 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:41:41am

Don't cry for me Puerto Rico.
You were supposed to speak in English.
Not much to ask for....

480 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:42:28am

re: #478 Tourquoise Supremacist

Huh what? Antisemitic sentencing?

481 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:42:52am

re: #480 Gus

Huh what? Antisemitic sentencing?

That's the JIDF guy.

482 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:43:43am

re: #481 Tourquoise Supremacist

That's the JIDF guy.

Oh. That nut.

483 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:44:48am

re: #482 Gus

I know the story is old by now, but damn, it's such a funny trainwreck. OK, bbl.

484 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:45:46am

re: #481 Tourquoise Supremacist

That's the JIDF guy.

Pollard is in prison for being a spy. Now, I can argue against a life sentence and would have thought maybe 20 years max. But he's in the slammer for being a, well, spy. S-p-y. Funny that the same people that want to hang Bradley Manning take a different view on Pollard.

485 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:46:12am

Hey all,

I've gotten some nice responses to my emails from yesterday. Seems the candidates are on their game so close to a primary --who knew? LOL

Seems I haven't been paying close enough attention and what ever webpage I consulted hasn't either. My voting district has changed and I was emailing the wrong candidates. Check your districts Lizards.

How is everyone?

486 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:47:09am

Charring a bit'o the green in honor of St. Pattie.

487 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:48:26am

re: #461 Tourquoise Supremacist

'Stop Kony' screening tour cancelled after Ugandans react with outrage

I love it! Regardless of the type of coverage, the world is now learning about Kony and the issues in Uganda.

Maybe the whacko christians will be seen for what they really are.

488 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:50:11am

re: #443 Lidane

That's because it is. Humiliate them, shame them, push them back into the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.

If some of these whackjobs got their way, women would lose the vote and other fundamental rights. They want women to be subservient to and dependent on men, just as their version of God intended.

We must return to the Natural Order of the Universe.

/gah

489 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:50:52am

re: #488 ggt

We must return to the Natural Order of the Universe.

/gah

You have to wear a helmet and breathing device when you say that.

//

490 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:51:02am

re: #439 freetoken

Numeracy is asking too much of Fox News or its viewers.

What about Numerology?

:0

491 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:53:33am

re: #416 Dark_Falcon

Huh? I can't see an analogy here. An ultrasound is not in any way like a virginity test, and unlike those tests in Egypt what that ultrasound shows remains subject to doctor-patient privilege. So your analogy does not work.

It's attempt to tattoo a "scarlet letter" on the women. Nothing else.

492 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:54:36am

Saint Paul MN Forecast

Today: Mostly Sunny
Hi 81 °F

493 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:55:46am

Denver CO Forecast

Today: Breezy
Hi 78 °F

494 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:56:02am

Morning traffic is coming up next...

495 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:57:39am

Miami 83 chance of showers; Phoenix 82 with blowing dust.

496 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 6:57:50am

After a sleepless night Thursday, I had hubby turn the air conditioning on last night. It is that hot in our upstairs.

I can breathe better too!

NEVER in my memory have I had to turn the air on in March in any part of the Midwest in which I have lived.

497 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:03:57am

Irish History Podcast

498 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:05:25am

re: #489 Gus

You have to wear a helmet and breathing device when you say that.

//

There is a condom joke in there somewhere. I don't have the right combination of chromosomes to find it.

:0

499 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:05:33am

Graphical Forecasts - CONUS Area

You can "mouse over" over the columns and rows on the left to see the different times/weather.

500 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:06:18am

re: #497 Amory Blaine

Irish History Podcast

St Patrick Days is supposedly a celebration of what it means to be Irish.

St Patty's day is an excuse to drink. Not that the Irish need an excuse.

:0

501 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:08:29am

re: #500 ggt

St Patty's day is an excuse to drink. Not that the Irish need an excuse.

:0

The Dubliners - In The Rare Old Times

Youtube Video
502 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:11:19am

My new favorite Stout The Poet

503 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:12:23am

I love it,

I'm getting very prompt reports from the candidates--from their iPhones.

Being so close to the Primary is a big, big motivator.


teehee

504 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:14:18am

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is actually my favorite favorite =)

505 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:15:06am

Our power went out the other night. My first act was not to find candles but to download a flashlight app to my iPhone.

Maybe I'm not as old as I think I am.

:0

506 Obdicut  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:19:32am

re: #504 Amory Blaine

Beer Advocate always annoys me because the reviewers there seem to take it for granted that beer should have complex tastes. I really think there's a lot to be said for a beer that just has a simple, straighforward taste. I feel like lagers there implicitly are judged worse than porters or IPAs.

507 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:22:47am

re: #484 Gus

Pollard is in prison for being a spy. Now, I can argue against a life sentence and would have thought maybe 20 years max. But he's in the slammer for being a, well, spy. S-p-y. Funny that the same people that want to hang Bradley Manning take a different view on Pollard.

I would suppose Pollard will never get out not out of revenge but because he still knows plenty.

508 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:24:06am

Family Feud by P.J. O'Rourke.

The wonderfully conservative Koch brothers are trying to take control of the magnificently libertarian Cato Institute, a spectacularly stupid thing to do.

It's a nice try, but I think Cato's reputation is forever tarnished.

509 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:24:59am

Yeah Lagers get ignored a lot. I'm an ale man myself. Mostly.

510 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:25:02am

re: #506 Obdicut

Beer Advocate always annoys me because the reviewers there seem to take it for granted that beer should have complex tastes. I really think there's a lot to be said for a beer that just has a simple, straighforward taste. I feel like lagers there implicitly are judged worse than porters or IPAs.

Back when I drank, the only purpose for beer was to get drunk.

Taste belonged to hard liquor.

511 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:28:52am

I walked into a liquor store about 20 years ago, and it was a new liquor store that had some of the old liquor stores stock. Right there in the aisle was a stack of boxes filled with Belgian Lambics. $2.50 a bottle. Normally like 12 bux a bottle. I bought all 6 cases they had right there and skipped out of there like a schoolboy in love.

512 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:29:18am

COOK YOUR MEAT

or be like me and FBV and don't eat it in the first place.

513 Obdicut  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:29:50am

re: #511 Amory Blaine

Have you had Smuttynose? I love Smuttynose. It's my favorite brewery, these days. Unfiltered, so watch out when serving it to guests who might freak at some sediment.

514 Obdicut  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:30:07am

re: #512 ggt

COOK YOUR MEAT

or be like me and FBV and don't eat it in the first place.

I grind my own meat.

515 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:30:37am

re: #514 Obdicut

I grind my own meat.

Don't encourage Sergey.

//

516 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:30:48am

re: #513 Obdicut

Nope. On my list now though.

517 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:31:18am

re: #487 ggt

I love it! Regardless of the type of coverage, the world is now learning about Kony and the issues in Uganda.

Maybe the whacko christians will be seen for what they really are.

Joseph Koney has nothing in common with the evangelicals who wield cultural power in Uganda. He's an insurgent leader, one of the most murderous ever, and those evangelicals aren't within a Mississippi Mile of him when it comes to wrongdoing.

518 Obdicut  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:31:41am

re: #516 Amory Blaine

Nope. On my list now though.

They make a wide variety-- their IPA is, I think, their best offering but all their stuff is rockin'.

519 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:32:01am

re: #515 Gus

Don't encourage Sergey.

//

Why, I never. What a dirty mind! /

520 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:32:40am

re: #519 Tourquoise Supremacist

Why, I never. What a dirty mind! /

Image: 220px-Organ_grinder_with_monkey.jpg

521 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:32:45am

re: #489 Gus

You have to wear a helmet and breathing device when you say that.

//

Not really, considering that he was the one who put it out of balance in the first place by aiding Palpatine in killing off the Jedi.

522 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:33:39am

re: #520 Gus

Image: 220px-Organ_grinder_with_monkey.jpg

What's with the monkey? Do you... Nevermind.

523 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:34:04am

re: #519 Tourquoise Supremacist

Why, I never. What a dirty mind! /

Image: daily-mail-reader.jpg

524 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:38:06am

re: #520 Gus

Speaking of this, you absolutely should beat your meat for a special treat.

Youtube Video

bee bee el

525 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:38:10am

The "re-nig" anti-obama bumper sticker is making it's rounds on fb. And I saw it first right here on LGF.

I feel so "cutting edge".

526 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:39:03am

Image: _59099262_thatcher_reagan_doodles464.gif

527 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:40:02am

I hope I never see it on the street. I like freedom of speech and all but I disapprove of all the vile things people put on their cars where children can see. At least try to be witty.

528 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:40:20am

re: #525 ggt

The "re-nig" anti-obama bumper sticker is making it's rounds on fb. And I saw it first right here on LGF.

I feel so "cutting edge".

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who puts that on their car deserves to have their car keyed.

529 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:40:55am

re: #528 Dark_Falcon

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who puts that on their car deserves to have their car keyed.

I understand your sentiments, but cannot endorse them.

530 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:42:01am

re: #526 Gus

His doodle is so buff.

531 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:42:23am

re: #526 Gus

Image: _59099262_thatcher_reagan_doodles464.gif

Another of Reagan's doodle pages showed both himself as Jo Gipps and as a cowboy. He seems to have frequently reflected on how people perceived him through the roles he'd played as an actor.

532 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:42:25am

re: #530 Amory Blaine

His doodle is so buff.

like Santorum?

/gah

533 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:44:23am

re: #529 ggt

I understand your sentiments, but cannot endorse them.

They deserve to have their car keyed, but I would never do such a thing and I'd report a person who did do it. Racists assholes often deserve punishments it would be morally wrong to inflict on them. More's the pity.

534 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:49:34am

Image: 999x.jpg

A handout photo distributed by Syrian News Agency (SANA) shows Syrian security members inspecting a damaged building near the intelligence centre in Damascus, March 17, 2012.

Terrorism? Or a rebel operation (a de facto counter-military force)?

535 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:51:26am

I hate carpet cleaners.
That is all.
/

536 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:51:48am

New Logo for the Washington Redskins Whiteskins.

537 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:53:05am

re: #535 Varek Raith

I hate carpet cleaners.
That is all.
/

Carpet Cleaner Purge. Varek's third major purge, the Jedi still being #1 and the Ewoks holding steady at #2.

///

538 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:53:32am

re: #536 Gus

Hmm. He could be angrier looking..

539 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:54:08am

re: #538 Amory Blaine

Hmm. He could be angrier looking..

He does though look like he could be "working at the front office."

540 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:55:33am

re: #539 Gus

I'd give him my money./

541 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:58:49am

re: #540 Amory Blaine

I'd give him my money./

You ever think about that name? Redskins? Hey, why don't we have teams called the Whiteskins, Yellowskins, or Blackskins?

542 tackle  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:59:23am

Good news in Utah. Common sense prevails.
Herbert vetoes sex-ed bill.

543 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 7:59:38am

re: #541 Gus

You ever think about that name? Redskins? Hey, why don't we have teams called the Whiteskins, Yellowskins, or Blackskins?

clearly, there ought to be a law.

/

544 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:00:10am

re: #543 ggt

clearly, there ought to be a law.

/

Well. Apparently Indians still don't count.

545 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:01:48am

re: #544 Gus

Well. Apparently Indians still don't count.

I see it the other way around. Every skin color should have a team named after them. I feel left out.

no Pinkskins?

:0

546 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:02:54am

re: #541 Gus

My wife is american indian.

547 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:03:49am

re: #546 Amory Blaine

My wife is american indian.

Any thoughts on naming a team "Redskins"?

548 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:05:01am

On Wednesday, I Paged Greg Smith's New York Times op-ed piece Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs. The uproar the story generated has not gone away, and yesterday City Journal contributor Nicole Gelinas weighed in. A sample of her article:

It’s hard to overstate what a bombshell Smith’s resignation is. The news pushed Goldman’s stock down more than 3 percent in one day. London’s tabloids splashed the story on their front pages. Disgruntled bankers don’t come forward all that often. They’re well-paid in part to be discreet, and, if they don’t like the work, to leave quietly.

Yet Smith’s revelations aren’t surprising or even unique to Goldman. In 2008, Wall Street’s business model—packaging up loans and selling them to investors while reaping high fees in the process—collapsed. For two decades, that business model had generated record profits. To replace those profits, investment firms have to take huge risks with stockholders’ money, an approach not nearly as popular as it once was. The firms and their beleaguered employees are tempted to take advantage of the customers and investors they’ve got left. In the last few years, Wall Street firms’ multiple settlements with regulators and private investors show that there’s a grain of truth, at least, to Smith’s complaints.

The problem isn’t bad Washington regulation. Sure, President Obama’s new regulations are terrible, and they’re certainly not helping matters. But Wall Street’s core dilemma goes far beyond that: just as Detroit once sold bad cars, Wall Street is selling bad—well, whatever it sells—and it doesn’t seem able to fix the problem.

Bolding mine. Gelinas does take a swipe at Obama, but it's strictly pro-forma as she seeks to make clear than Goldman-Sachs is the author of its own current misfortunes.

549 BARACK THE VOTE  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:05:25am

Happy St Patrick's Day, everyone! Hope everyone is having a great day. It's sunny here in Scotland! (for a change)

550 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:06:20am

re: #547 Gus

Any thoughts on naming a team "Redskins"?

Non other than my normal hope than they lose to the bears whenever they play Chicago.

/Go Bears!

551 BARACK THE VOTE  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:07:29am

re: #550 Dark_Falcon

Non other than my normal hope than they lose to the bears whenever they play Chicago.

/Go Bears!

hey DF-- How are you? How's your dad?

552 Holidays are Family Fun Time  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:08:06am

Wow, look at the time.

Well it's been fun all.

Have a great day!

553 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:09:13am
554 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:10:57am

re: #547 Gus

Any thoughts on naming a team "Redskins"?

Yeah. It's outdated.

555 The Gender Ambiguity of a Flea  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:11:12am

re: #517 Dark_Falcon

Joseph Koney has nothing in common with the evangelicals who wield cultural power in Uganda. He's an insurgent leader, one of the most murderous ever, and those evangelicals aren't within a Mississippi Mile of him when it comes to wrongdoing.

So far. Ssempa and his backers have pushed their execute-gays bill as a test case for how they can influence the Ugandan government. It remains to be seen what else they'll try and legislate, how their followers will react if their attempt to control the government fails. There's also a question about how much of current anti-gay violence in Uganda is sole actors versus group cooperation.

The Ssempa Christianists aren't likely to act like the LRA because their violence would be internal to a community they're trying to control and maintain, rather than involving raids, abductions, and razing of villages like the LRA.

556 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:12:13am

re: #551 J1mmah

hey DF-- How are you? How's your dad?

My dad is fine. I just got told yesterday I'm changing events. I expected this, but it's earlier than I planned. It looks like I'll get at least one sale off of the event I've been working on first, and I'll need that. But my new event is on countering IEDs (it's our 8th iteration of the event) and that's an event I was born to handle. I come to it with several binders worth of contacts who will find relevance in the meeting. I should do well.

557 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:13:06am

Over at CNN:

Quick vote
Do you agree with Rick Santorum that Puerto Rico must have English as its principal language to become a state?

No 50% 98106
Yes 50% 97539

558 BARACK THE VOTE  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:13:07am

re: #556 Dark_Falcon

My dad is fine. I just got told yesterday I'm changing events. I expected this, but it's earlier than I planned. It looks like I'll get at least one sale off of the event I've been working on first, and I'll need that. But my new event is on countering IEDs (it's our 8th iteration of the event) and that's an event I was born to handle. I come to it with several binders worth of contacts who will find relevance in the meeting. I should do well.

That's great! Hope you do well!

559 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:13:19am

For the photo geeks

5DMKII View Camera

I’ve had this Piccolette Contessa-Nettel (1919) folding camera for ages. Its been a great piece of photo history sitting on my shelf. Was curious if it could make pictures again, so I hacked it onto my 5D. Here are the results. WOW!!! IT’S ALIVE!!!

560 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:13:22am

Do you agree with Rick Santorum that Puerto Rico must have English as its principal language to become a state?

NO!

561 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:15:03am

re: #555 The Ghost of a Flea

So far. Ssempa and his backers have pushed their execute-gays bill as a test case for how they can influence the Ugandan government. It remains to be seen what else they'll try and legislate, how their followers will react if their attempt to control the government fails. There's also a question about how much of current anti-gay violence in Uganda is sole actors versus group cooperation.

The Ssempa Christianists aren't likely to act like the LRA because their violence would be internal to a community they're trying to control and maintain, rather than involving raids, abductions, and razing of villages like the LRA.

They haven't even been able to get the bill debated on the floor of Parliament, much less get a vote on it. And the current iteration of the bill has had the death penalty provision removed, likely to give it a chance at passage.

562 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:15:45am

re: #557 Gus

Over at CNN:

Quick vote
Do you agree with Rick Santorum that Puerto Rico must have English as its principal language to become a state?

No 50% 98106
Yes 50% 97539

Polls like that can be spammed.

563 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:16:46am

re: #562 Dark_Falcon

Polls like that can be spammed.

Of course. Just your run of the mill online poll. The answers should have read:

YES [ ]
NO [ ]
RON PAUL [ ]

//

564 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:19:54am

This story is such bullshit.

911 calls detail neighbors' terror during shooting of Florida teen

George Zimmerman needs to be brought to justice.

565 McSpiff  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:22:30am

re: #94 Charles Johnson

I've said this before and I'll say it again - I don't think the government has ANY business at all telling women whether or not they can have abortions. It's nobody's business but the woman's.

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

The Canadian model. There are no legal restrictions on abortion. Period. Makes me damn proud.

566 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:33:43am

re: #557 Gus

Over at CNN:

Quick vote
Do you agree with Rick Santorum that Puerto Rico must have English as its principal language to become a state?

No 50% 98106
Yes 50% 97539

Wrong question, given that Puerto Rican statehood is not an issue, currently.

Right question: Why did Rick decide to bring this up?

567 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:38:16am

re: #566 SanFranciscoZionist

Wrong question, given that Puerto Rican statehood is not an issue, currently.

Right question: Why did Rick decide to bring this up?

[ ] RON PAUL

[ ] RON PAUL

[ ] RON PAUL

568 Amory Blaine  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:38:31am

Do you agree that Rick Santorum should keep his shirt on?

569 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:39:19am

re: #566 SanFranciscoZionist

Wrong question, given that Puerto Rican statehood is not an issue, currently.

Right question: Why did Rick decide to bring this up?

Puerto Rico has another referendum on the question upcoming in the fall, SFZ. And Puerto Rico's presidential primary is today.

570 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:42:30am

re: #566 SanFranciscoZionist

Wrong question, given that Puerto Rican statehood is not an issue, currently.

Right question: Why did Rick decide to bring this up? Why is this idiot Rick Santorum even on the ballot?

FTFY ;)

571 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:43:24am

re: #570 Gus

FTFY ;)

[ ] RON PAUL

[ ] RON PAUL

[ ] RON PAUL

Too easy.

572 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:43:31am

Yes. Of course. He was a family man. Went to church on Sundays and was a nice quiet neighbor. Yawn.

573 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:43:38am

re: #569 Dark_Falcon

Puerto Rico has another referendum on the question upcoming in the fall, SFZ. And Puerto Rico's presidential primary is today.

So, Santorum decided that since Romney's in the lead there, he'd just go ahead and preach to Puerto Rico about learning English instead of trying to pick up a few delegates?

Seriously not understanding what he thinks he's doing, besides the usual pouting about English-only, that doesn't even make any sense in this context.

574 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:45:51am

re: #572 Gus

Yes. Of course. He was a family man. Went to church on Sundays and was a nice quiet neighbor. Yawn.

Neighbors Remember Serial Killer As Serial Killer

575 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:46:37am

re: #573 SanFranciscoZionist

So, Santorum decided that since Romney's in the lead there, he'd just go ahead and preach to Puerto Rico about learning English instead of trying to pick up a few delegates?

Seriously not understanding what he thinks he's doing, besides the usual pouting about English-only, that doesn't even make any sense in this context.

During the Revolution, did we go around telling Pennsylvania that if they didn't stop speaking German, we wouldn't let them be involved? Are we gonna go to Mexico next and tell them that if they want to stay in NAFTA, they'd better make English an official language?

Seriously, Puerto Rico? No sense. No logic. No reason to bring it up now.

576 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:46:53am

re: #574 Varek Raith

Neighbors Remember Serial Killer As Serial Killer

"Yeah. He was a family man but boy was he a freak. I always knew he'd do something like this."

//

577 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:48:44am

Alien World To Help Out Syria Since This One Refuses To

IMPERIAL CITY, PLANET ZARKLOM 12—Frustrated by "the astonishing incapacity of earthlings to halt the rampant slaughter of their own kind" in Syria, the emperor of Zarklom 12 announced Wednesday he had no choice but to dispatch his own intergalactic forces from 3 million light years away to end the senseless bloodshed.

From his floating palace within his gaseous planet's swirling clouds of blue-green ammonia, Supreme Emperor and Dynastic Overlord Thuu'l told reporters that while the human race appeared willing to sit idly by, the planet of Zarklom 12 could no longer turn a blind eye to the mounting casualties in the yearlong uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

"We have monitored the ongoing violence in the region of your world known as Syria, and we find ourselves as disgusted by your reluctance to stop it as we are horrified by the deaths themselves," said Thuu'l, an oily, amoeba-like creature who held in his pseudopod a U.N. report indicating al-Assad's forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians. "It's unbearable to watch even from the far end of the Triangulum Galaxy, and yet you who dwell upon the same planet continue to tolerate it. How is that possible?"

"We understand your species is primitive, but surely even your simplistic, half-formed consciences recognize that this cannot be allowed," Thuu'l continued. "Regardless, we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands. Our stellar armada is already on its way. Please do not distract our vessels with your air defenses."

578 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:50:39am

re: #577 Varek Raith

Alien World To Help Out Syria Since This One Refuses To

I guess even aliens don't care about Africa.

:(

579 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:53:15am

re: #578 SanFranciscoZionist

I guess even aliens don't care about Africa.

:(

The universe and everything in it suck.
Just plain suck.
:/

580 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:53:50am

re: #573 SanFranciscoZionist

So, Santorum decided that since Romney's in the lead there, he'd just go ahead and preach to Puerto Rico about learning English instead of trying to pick up a few delegates?

Seriously not understanding what he thinks he's doing, besides the usual pouting about English-only, that doesn't even make any sense in this context.

Santorum knew Puerto Rico was over the mill dam for him, has likely known that since Marco Rubio endorsed Romney back in December (most of Florida's Republican "Caribbean Latino" leaders endorsed Romney at the same time, sending a strong signal about which way Puerto Ricans were likely to lean).

Santorum is (In my opinion) instead trying to use the "Speak English" issue as a way to fire up more xenophobic GOP voters in other states, hoping that they'll think: "Santorum is Catholic, but he's on our side, seeing as how he stood up to those brown people who don't speak English". I'm not kidding with the mock quote, but I wish I was.

581 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:54:58am

re: #580 Dark_Falcon

Santorum knew Puerto Rico was over the mill dam for him, has likely known that since Marco Rubio endorsed Romney back in December (most of Florida's Republican "Caribbean Latino" leaders endorsed Romney at the same time, sending a strong signal about which way Puerto Ricans were likely to lean).

Santorum is (In my opinion) instead trying to use the "Speak English" issue as a way to fire up more xenophobic GOP voters in other states, hoping that they'll think: "Santorum is Catholic, but he's on our side, seeing as how he stood up to those brown people who don't speak English". I'm not kidding with the mock quote, but I wish I was.

Sadly, I think you've got it.

582 wrenchwench  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 8:58:09am

I finally made my 20,000th comment, sometime yesterday. Took me seven and a half years. Some people do that in 6 months. Maybe I need to type faster.

583 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:06:36am

re: #582 wrenchwench

I finally made my 20,000th comment, sometime yesterday. Took me seven and a half years. Some people do that in 6 months. Maybe I need to type faster.

Impressive number of pages though.
I got...
5.
Yeah, shut up.
/
:)

584 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:07:05am

Breaking News:

Mozilla to to rename their Firefox™ browser to Firefox (Not Responding)™

585 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:07:57am

re: #584 Gus

Breaking News:

Mozilla to to rename their Firefox™ browser to Firefox (Not Responding)™


Firefox (Wut Memory Leak)™

586 wrenchwench  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:09:57am

re: #584 Gus

Breaking News:

Mozilla to to rename their Firefox™ browser to Firefox (Not Responding)™

I got an invitation this morning to upgrade to version 11. I always wait for the .1 after a numeral change.

587 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:13:43am

What's up with a new Firefox version every five minutes???
Just a few months ago I was at 3.5.
Now? looks like a phone number.
/

588 allegro  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:17:46am

Oh dear. On this lovely spring St. Patrick's Day after my morning dog walkies and visits with the neighbors along the way, I sat down with my coffee to see the following gems that will make any woman's day so special:

Breaking: "First Degree Homicide Of The Unborn Child Bill" Passes CO House On Second Reading

and for the cherry on top (pun only slightly accidental), we have this:

Image: gdb.JPG

I saw it at Digby's place. I will not link to the site that created it and thinks it's so amusing.

589 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:28:12am

re: #584 Gus

Breaking News:

Mozilla to to rename their Firefox™ browser to Firefox (Not Responding)™

Special Follow-On Report: We now have confirmation that LGf member 'Gus' has been punched in the mouth for flinging one wisecrack too many.

/kidding

590 dragonath  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:29:12am

re: #588 allegro

Why do conservatives tend to be such crappy cartoonists? Even Al Capp lost his sense of humor when he went winger.

591 wrenchwench  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:31:09am

re: #588 allegro

Oh dear. On this lovely spring St. Patrick's Day after my morning dog walkies and visits with the neighbors along the way, I sat down with my coffee to see the following gems that will make any woman's day so special:

Breaking: "First Degree Homicide Of The Unborn Child Bill" Passes CO House On Second Reading

and for the cherry on top (pun only slightly accidental), we have this:

Image: gdb.JPG

I saw it at Digby's place. I will not link to the site that created it and thinks it's so amusing.

I hate to repeat myself, but these idiots are making it necessary.

The proper response to a 'Personhood Bill' is a nice package of used feminine hygiene products wrapped in 'Crime Scene' tape.

They can be shipped to the Republican Convention in Tampon, Florida.

592 Interesting Times  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:31:40am

re: #588 allegro

and for the cherry on top (pun only slightly accidental), we have this:

Image: gdb.JPG

I saw it at Digby's place. I will not link to the site that created it and thinks it's so amusing.

Durr hurr, we drew all those leftist women as dogs because female dogs are bitches! Get it??!!! Derp.

593 Targetpractice  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:35:04am

re: #588 allegro

Oh dear. On this lovely spring St. Patrick's Day after my morning dog walkies and visits with the neighbors along the way, I sat down with my coffee to see the following gems that will make any woman's day so special:

Breaking: "First Degree Homicide Of The Unborn Child Bill" Passes CO House On Second Reading

and for the cherry on top (pun only slightly accidental), we have this:

Image: gdb.JPG

I saw it at Digby's place. I will not link to the site that created it and thinks it's so amusing.

And my faith in humanity goes down another notch.

November can't come quick enough.

594 jaunte  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:36:08am

re: #593 Targetpractice

595 allegro  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:36:18am

re: #591 wrenchwench

I hate to repeat myself, but these idiots are making it necessary.

The proper response to a 'Personhood Bill' is a nice package of used feminine hygiene products wrapped in 'Crime Scene' tape.

They can be shipped to the Republican Convention in Tampon, Florida.

I think that is a brilliant and totally appropriate response.

596 The Gender Ambiguity of a Flea  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:38:12am

re: #561 Dark_Falcon

They haven't even been able to get the bill debated on the floor of Parliament, much less get a vote on it. And the current iteration of the bill has had the death penalty provision removed, likely to give it a chance at passage.

...because of international pressure.

Museveni has no issue with harassing gays, and there are many laws already on the books that penalize homosexual acts (see US State Department 2006 Country Report on Human Rights). Indeed the discussion that led to table the Feb 2012 version of the bill was based on the feeling the current anti-homosexual laws were sufficient. Those laws--which are leftovers of the British--including mandating life sentences for carnal acts and seven years for gross indecency.

And in the mean time violence and harassment of gays is overlooked or mitigated...go look up what occurred in and around the murder of David Kato.

Hence my entire point about you comparison having issues. Uganda's action towards gays in very much statist monopoly of violence.

597 wrenchwench  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:48:09am

re: #87 wrenchwench

Later, lizards.

I think I can designate goddamnedfrank to speak for me for the rest of the night...

/don't abuse it...

Frank did OK, but I should have designated Charles:

re: #94 Charles Johnson

I've said this before and I'll say it again - I don't think the government has ANY business at all telling women whether or not they can have abortions. It's nobody's business but the woman's.

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

Canada and McSpiff agree:

re: #565 McSpiff

re: #94 Charles Johnson

I've said this before and I'll say it again - I don't think the government has ANY business at all telling women whether or not they can have abortions. It's nobody's business but the woman's.

Period. I'm an absolutist. If it were up to me, there would be no restrictions. I don't believe that women need a patriarchal overseer to make sure they aren't frivolously killing their children.

The Canadian model. There are no legal restrictions on abortion. Period. Makes me damn proud.

598 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:48:27am

re: #588 allegro

Oh dear. On this lovely spring St. Patrick's Day after my morning dog walkies and visits with the neighbors along the way, I sat down with my coffee to see the following gems that will make any woman's day so special:

Breaking: "First Degree Homicide Of The Unborn Child Bill" Passes CO House On Second Reading

and for the cherry on top (pun only slightly accidental), we have this:

Image: gdb.JPG

I saw it at Digby's place. I will not link to the site that created it and thinks it's so amusing.

Geeze, that's nearly Ted Rall-level nasty, though with better drawing skills. Sick and hateful, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I don't like the idea of a show with a name that means "Good Christian Bitches" either, but this wasn't the right way to satirize it. I fact, it just plays right into the Democrat's like of attack.

599 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:49:21am

It's slow around here this so I'll toss this out and see if anyone has some thoughts.
Has anyone ever explored the effects of Think Tanks on the blogosphere? As I look around everyone is either shilling for Heritage/CATO or Center For American Progress. I'm not implying that there's some grand conspiracy from Soros/Koch Bros but it does seem that these think tanks have a lot of influence on pushing content into the blogosphere.

600 Interesting Times  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:52:04am

re: #599 Killgore Trout

Your false equivalence between the Koch Brothers and Soros is false:

[Link: other98.com...]

601 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:54:41am

re: #562 Dark_Falcon

Considering the community on CNN, the fact that it is nearly tied is not a good sign.

Nevermind that English is already an official language of Puerto Rico. Along with Spanish.

Can we get a new page? I'm at home for Spring break, with a miserable connection.

602 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:55:50am

re: #599 Killgore Trout

It's slow around here this so I'll toss this out and see if anyone has some thoughts.
Has anyone ever explored the effects of Think Tanks on the blogosphere? As I look around everyone is either shilling for Heritage/CATO or Center For American Progress. I'm not implying that there's some grand conspiracy from Soros/Koch Bros but it does seem that these think tanks have a lot of influence on pushing content into the blogosphere.

They've always had such influence, Killgore, even before the Internet. Magazines like The Nation and National Review depend on think tanks to produce the studies and data they need to make the case for the magazine's preferred policies. Their website kin do need same thing.

603 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:57:05am

re: #600 Interesting Times

Your false equivalence between the Koch Brothers and Soros is false:

[Link: other98.com...]

My point is I'm not looking for conspiracy theories. I googled a bit to see if anyone has written anything serious on the topic but it's pretty much all conspiracy theories and whispers of hidden agendas. I'm just wondering about the political machines that seem to dominate to the conversation in this country.

604 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:58:11am

BBL

605 wrenchwench  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:58:38am

re: #601 ProGunLiberal

Can we get a new page? I'm at home for Spring break, with a miserable connection.

Switch to Spy Mode. Click the little magnifying glass under the 'donate' button at the top of the thread. You can comment from there too.

606 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 9:59:50am

re: #602 Dark_Falcon

They've always had such influence, Killgore, even before the Internet. Magazines like The Nation and National Review depend on think tanks to produce the studies and data they need to make the case for the magazine's preferred policies. Their website kin do need same thing.

I think that's probably accurate. Blogs are a bit different that a magazine. When a think tank owns a magazine they control the content. I doubt Hot Air or Dkos are paid shills for their respective partisan think tanks but they still run their content and push the appropriate agenda for some reason.

607 Charles Johnson  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:02:09am

re: #599 Killgore Trout

It's slow around here this so I'll toss this out and see if anyone has some thoughts.
Has anyone ever explored the effects of Think Tanks on the blogosphere? As I look around everyone is either shilling for Heritage/CATO or Center For American Progress. I'm not implying that there's some grand conspiracy from Soros/Koch Bros but it does seem that these think tanks have a lot of influence on pushing content into the blogosphere.

The difference, and it's a big difference, is that the stories originating at Think Progress or Media Matters are always factual; they link to original sources and provide video or audio clips.

On the other hand, the stuff coming out of Heritage and Cato is almost always insanely biased, and often completely false. Heritage especially is deeply invested in promoting fake conspiracy theories to the right wing.

608 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:06:28am

More Republican BS. This time in Colorado:

Colorado bill with penalties for harming unborn child raises red flags over "personhood" status

A person who hurts a pregnant woman and causes her unborn child's death or injury would face additional charges under a bill that got an initial nod from the House today.

House Bill 1130 sparked a ferocious debate, with Democrats arguing the bill conferred "personhood" status on a fetus and could be interpreted as criminalizing abortion.

They also claimed the measure amounted to another battle in the war on women, a contention dismissed by the sponsor, Rep. Janak Joshi, R-Colorado Springs.

"If Democrats want to shield offenders who commit crimes against pregnant women, that's their prerogative," he said. "If a pregnant women is beaten by an abusive husband or killed by a drunk driver, and her child does not survive, the perpetrator should not get away with those crimes."

In those situations, a suspect could be charged with a crime against the mother, but there is no separate charge for injuring or killing her unborn child...

From DailyKos:

From State Rep Daniel Kagan (D):

"...we were unable to prevent the Republican majority in the House from passing on second reading the First Degree Homicide of the Unborn Child bill. Under some circumstances, it makes both termination of pregnancy and the use of the morning after pill a homicide. It also confers personhood on a newly fertilized egg."

609 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:06:37am

Cato.

Heritage.

610 Kragar  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:09:06am

re: #608 Gus

So would having a drink or smoking while pregnant be contributing to the delinquency of a minor? Would having sex with a pregnant woman be considered as pedophilia because you're having a threesome with the fetus there?

611 Varek Raith  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:10:15am

re: #610 Kragar

So would having a drink or smoking while pregnant be contributing to the delinquency of a minor? Would having sex with a pregnant woman be considered as pedophilia because you're having a threesome with the fetus there?

I'd pay to have a journo ask a politician in CO that.

612 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:10:56am

re: #607 Charles Johnson

The difference, and it's a big difference, is that the stories originating at Think Progress or Media Matters are always factual; they link to original sources and provide video or audio clips.

On the other hand, the stuff coming out of Heritage and Cato is almost always insanely biased, and often completely false. Heritage especially is deeply invested in promoting fake conspiracy theories to the right wing.

Agreed. I stopped reading CAP sites after the "Israel Firster" thing. I'm wary of their agenda but their reporting on most issues is pretty accurate.
Regardless of accuracy what I'm wonder about is their influence. It's seems independent blogosphere never really materialized and content seems to mostly come from a handful of think tanks.
I imagine some of it is paid for. I assume big bloggers like Breitbart or Andrew Sullivan might get some financial support from them.

613 A Man for all Seasons  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:12:48am

re: #608 Gus

What is all this shit about Abortions and Woman's rights these days?
I thought this was all settled in the 1960's..Are we in a time machine?
I think It was the great Grantland Rice that once said, 'Are my eyes seeing what I think they are seeing?'

614 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:14:11am

re: #607 Charles Johnson

You might know: Has anyone ever written seriously about the influence of think tanks on the internet? I imagine at some point an insider has written about it but I can't seem to find anything. I have no idea how these think tanks operate and I'm kind of curious.

615 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:14:18am

re: #608 Gus

This is the last gasp for the CO Republicans. The majority they hold is extremely narrow, and I don't believe they hold the Senate.

I expect god things to happen in November.

616 allegro  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:16:27am

re: #613 HoosierHoops

What is all this shit about Abortions and Woman's rights these days?
I thought this was all settled in the 1960's..Are we in a time machine?
I think It was the great Grantland Rice that once said, 'Are my eyes seeing what I think they are seeing?'

Image: still_protesting.JPG

617 Targetpractice  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:16:33am

re: #613 HoosierHoops

What is all this shit about Abortions and Woman's rights these days?
I thought this was all settled in the 1960's..Are we in a time machine?
I think It was the great Grantland Rice that once said, 'Are my eyes seeing what I think they are seeing?'

Like I said last night, this shit's happening for exactly that reason, because people assumed it "settled" and so haven't been paying attention as the GOP has started moving to confer "personhood" for the purposes of making it virtually impossible to undergo a legal abortion.

618 A Man for all Seasons  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:17:45am

re: #616 allegro

Image: still_protesting.JPG

Perfect sign

619 Kragar  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:17:51am

re: #615 ProGunLiberal

I expect god things to happen in November.

That has been the GOP's whole problem this year...

620 jaunte  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:18:35am

re: #608 Gus

Maybe Oliver Willis will read this:

621 Targetpractice  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:19:01am

re: #619 Kragar

That has been the GOP's whole problem this year...

What, that they haven't been stopped via divine intervention?

622 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:22:41am

re: #620 jaunte

Maybe Oliver Willis will read this:

Never in a thousand years.

623 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:22:54am

re: #619 Kragar

Misspelled, but it actually fits anyway.

Colorado is blue-shifting very quickly.

624 jaunte  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:23:04am

Rick Santorum unavailable for comment.

625 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:25:56am

re: #620 jaunte

Maybe Oliver Willis will read this:

Sure enough. Have a look here.

Chirpstory - Milt Shook's "Black-and-White Progressives" article and the firestorm that ensued on Twitter

626 Kragar  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:26:03am

re: #624 jaunte

Rick Santorum unavailable for comment.

"Women's rights groups have said the law is used to justify a traditional practice of allowing a rapist to marry his victim to preserve the honour of the woman's family."

I got an idea! How about we work in the idea that castrating a rapist restores the family honor? How does that sound?

627 jaunte  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:28:11am

re: #625 Gus

I saw Willis on Twitter this morning, talking to himself about establishing some kind of progressive purity litmus test. Maybe he wants to emulate Grover Norquist.

628 Targetpractice  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:28:13am

re: #626 Kragar

"Women's rights groups have said the law is used to justify a traditional practice of allowing a rapist to marry his victim to preserve the honour of the woman's family."

I got an idea! How about we work in the idea that castrating a rapist restores the family honor? How does that sound?

Come now, Kragar, we all know that men cannot be blamed if a woman seduces them. Even if that woman did nothing but make eye contact, that's enough!

629 Gus  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:29:05am

re: #627 jaunte

I saw Willis on Twitter this morning, talking to himself about establishing some kind of progressive purity litmus test. Maybe he wants to emulate Grover Norquist.

Seriously? lol The man is so full of himself. Just watching him argue with Charles last week. Truly pathetic. He's a legend in his own mind.

630 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:30:28am

re: #523 Amory Blaine

Image: daily-mail-reader.jpg

Youtube Video

But they listen to the radio and watch the telly as well!
;)

631 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:31:41am

Ah, I just remembered sourcewatch. Seems to have a lot of the information I'm looking for. Close but not quite.

632 Kragar  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:35:17am

Fox has their next outrageous outrage...

Obama Administration's Crusade Against Voter ID Laws

633 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 10:35:28am

Is it me, or is Burma getting better at a very, very quick rate?

Burma signs an agreement with the International Labour Organisation to end forced labour by 2015.

634 CuriousLurker  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 11:00:42am

re: #614 Killgore Trout

You might know: Has anyone ever written seriously about the influence of think tanks on the internet? I imagine at some point an insider has written about it but I can't seem to find anything. I have no idea how these think tanks operate and I'm kind of curious.

I'm sure someone has, but finding the really good stuff usually take lots of time & digging, and sometimes just lucky accident. As you've noticed, the first bazillion pages of links in search engine results are usually partisan.

A few tips if you're interested enough to bother investing some time:

1.) Since most blogging is a sort of non-professional "citizen journalism", try looking for studies or articles on sites run by professional journalists that are dedicated to media ethics, objectivity, literacy, etc.

2.) Go to Wikipedia and really read what's there, including footnotes as it's in the footnotes and the "External Links" section at the end that you'll often find really useful info (often including links to scholarly works, white papers, etc.) For example I found these just now: A huge (if incomplete) list of think tanks in the U.S. and a link to The Think Bank, a web site that catalogs all articles released by U.S. think tanks—your eyes will bug out of your head when you see how much info they disseminate every single day.

I'm not implying that they're evil or that it's some sort of conspiratorial effort at mass mind control going on, I'm simply observing that some percentage of this rather prolific output—whether it's good or bad, objective or partisan, etc.—is bound to percolate up into (and influence) politcs, the blogosphere, the MSM...i.e. into the general public discourse.

3.) When you do use Google, employ the advanced search features like using filetype:pdf as white papers & reports are almost always released as PDFs—IOW, it helps to cut down on the loony crap ion the search results. Here are the results for think tanks influence blogs filetype:pdf.

It may not be exactly what you're looking for, and much of what you find may be influenced by think tanks themselves, but it's better than having to puyt on gloved & hip-boots and wading through the more general search results.

And—BINGO!—as I post yet another tl;dr comment, Charles posts a new article. Excuse me now while I go look for the spycam he installed in here...

635 Killgore Trout  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 11:15:16am

re: #634 CuriousLurker

I'm sure someone has, but finding the really good stuff usually take lots of time & digging, and sometimes just lucky accident. As you've noticed, the first bazillion pages of links in search engine results are usually partisan.

A few tips if you're interested enough to bother investing some time:

1.) Since most blogging is a sort of non-professional "citizen journalism", try looking for studies or articles on sites run by professional journalists that are dedicated to media ethics, objectivity, literacy, etc.

2.) Go to Wikipedia and really read what's there, including footnotes as it's in the footnotes and the "External Links" section at the end that you'll often find really useful info (often including links to scholarly works, white papers, etc.) For example I found these just now: A huge (if incomplete) list of think tanks in the U.S. and a link to The Think Bank, a web site that catalogs all articles released by U.S. think tanks—your eyes will bug out of your head when you see how much info they disseminate every single day.

I'm not implying that they're evil or that it's some sort of conspiratorial effort at mass mind control going on, I'm simply observing that some percentage of this rather prolific output—whether it's good or bad, objective or partisan, etc.—is bound to percolate up into (and influence) politcs, the blogosphere, the MSM...i.e. into the general public discourse.

3.) When you do use Google, employ the advanced search features like using filetype:pdf as white papers & reports are almost always released as PDFs—IOW, it helps to cut down on the loony crap ion the search results. Here are the results for think tanks influence blogs filetype:pdf.

It may not be exactly what you're looking for, and much of what you find may be influenced by think tanks themselves, but it's better than having to puyt on gloved & hip-boots and wading through the more general search results.

And—BINGO!—as I post yet another tl;dr comment, Charles posts a new article. Excuse me now while I go look for the spycam he installed in here...

Excellent response. The volume of stuff on the Think Bank list is huge!

636 CuriousLurker  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 11:18:27am

re: #635 Killgore Trout

You're welcome. Heh, see? I toldja your eyes would bug out. ;)

It'd be interesting to read what gets released for several weeks, then see how much & which parts percolate up.

637 Ziggy Standard  Sat, Mar 17, 2012 2:51:51pm

re: #612 Killgore Trout

Regardless of accuracy what I'm wonder about is their influence.

Please repost in grammatically intelligible english as opposed to the SarahSpeak you just presented us with.


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