Milo Yiannopoulos’ Posts Are Actually Written by “About 44” Gamergate Clowns

Classic wingnut grift
Wingnuts • Views: 61,158

If you’ve wondered how Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos could possibly be writing so many sleazy far right hack pieces every single day, wonder no more.

Because he isn’t actually writing them: Top Conservative Writer Is A Group Effort, Sources Say.

A leading voice of the new “alt-right,” Breitbart.com tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, does not write many of the articles that appear under his byline on the conservative news site, two sources who have worked directly with him told BuzzFeed News.

These sources — a former intern and someone who has worked with Yiannopoulos for years both in and outside of the Breitbart News Network — as well as a video taken from a private chat offer a glimpse behind the curtain of one of a new movement’s leading provocateurs. The sources also suggest that much of the commentator’s work is written by a bevy of mostly unpaid personal interns.

Yiannopoulos confirmed in an interview with BuzzFeed News that he has “about 44” interns — “a mix of paid and unpaid” — writing and conducting research for him. But he denied that other people write stories for him start to finish.

“Two people write Breitbart stuff for me,” he told BuzzFeed News, but “ghostwriting is too great a word.” He said that the majority of his interns are researchers and that some write speeches for him. “I have two books coming out this year,” he said. “It’s completely standard for someone with a career like mine to have researchers and assistants and ghostwriters.”

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293 comments
1
darthstar  Mar 31, 2016 • 7:55:07pm

Milo Vanilli

2
darthstar  Mar 31, 2016 • 7:56:16pm
3
The Ghost of the Spaghetti Weevil  Mar 31, 2016 • 7:58:20pm
5
stpaulbear  Mar 31, 2016 • 7:59:20pm

re: #3 The Ghost of a Cunning Plan

That book cover can never be posted too often.

6
Charles Johnson  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:05:22pm
7
goddamnedfrank  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:07:12pm
8
scottslemmons  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:07:23pm

…Are we sure this isn’t an early April Fools joke?

In related news, goddamn it, do I ever hate April Fools Day.

9
Great White Snark  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:11:48pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

Confused, shocked, bewildered. Just a few of the words used in recent days to describe Japan and South Korea’s reaction to some of Donald Trump’s latest comments about the region.

cnn.com
Clearly the most dangerous candidate by a rational measure. Nobody wants that cold war chill.

10
ObserverArt  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:13:32pm

Been having trouble keeping LGF going tonight. Getting a lot of crashes in Chrome.

I just posted this in the last thread because Chrome came back to it. I thought it was a strange comment and wanted to share it because it fits into much of the election talk here.

- - - -

Lawrence has Tad Devine, Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager on. Lawrence asked him how Bernie would work with someone like Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House.

His answer: If Bernie is elected Paul Ryan won’t be in that position with that electorate (not a direct quote).

I guess he means that if the Sanders voters pull off their revolution they will also be dumping enough Republican representatives to turn the house Democrat.

Or Independent?

Or, the real revolution will be in two years when Bernie being president will cause the big change.

So, we do not have to worry about Bernie influencing the down ticket races…right?

Help me out here…do not understand.

11
Pawn of the Oppressor  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:14:04pm

Japan is aware of Trump now. How long before Kawaii girls start dressing as him for fun?

There will soon be a J-pop video with orange-wigged singers. THE WORLD AWAITS.

12
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:14:36pm

re: #10 ObserverArt

They are not working in reality, this much is obvious.

Maybe I should write an “Earth to the Berners” page.

13
jaunte  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:15:29pm

re: #11 Pawn of the Oppressor

Maybe Japan can lure him over to be a game show host.

14
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:15:52pm

re: #10 ObserverArt

Been having trouble keeping LGF going tonight. Getting a lot of crashes in Chrome.

I just posted this in the last thread because Chrome came back to it. I thought it was a strange comment and wanted to share it because it fits into much of the election talk here.

- - - -

Lawrence has Tad Devine, Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager on. Lawrence asked him how Bernie would work with someone like Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House.

His answer: If Bernie is elected Paul Ryan won’t be in that position with that electorate (not a direct quote).

I guess he means that if the Sanders voters pull off their revolution they will also be dumping enough Republican representatives to turn the house Democrat.

Or Independent?

Or, the real revolution will be in two years when Bernie being president will cause the big change.

So, we do not have to worry about Bernie influencing the down ticket races…right?

Help me out here…do not understand.

I think Devine is clueless. I think there’s a lot of cluelessness with the Sanders campaign that doesn’t inspire me at all if Bernie were to be nominated by the Democratic party.

15
Charles Johnson  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:17:30pm
16
Pawn of the Oppressor  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:19:28pm

re: #13 jaunte

Or! A game show host over there will dress as him.

Actually maybe there will be a Trump-themed game show, but with everything exaggerated, mis-interpreted, and filtered through Japanese culture. Like it will be a contest show hosted by an orange-haired jerky guy who makes contestants run through his golden palace to find hidden challenges and at the end somebody gets thrown in water or splattered with karo syrup or something, I dunno

17
Great White Snark  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:21:16pm

re: #10 ObserverArt

Been having trouble keeping LGF going tonight. Getting a lot of crashes in Chrome.

Okay so that’s not just me. Script errors, flash crashes. Ugh. All day at work but not here at home. huh.

18
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:21:33pm

Japan and South Korea have slammed Trump.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida forcibly reject, as has the White House, candidate Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. military be withdrawn from Japan and South Korea with nuclear weapons replacing them. A small minority in South Korea, such as the think tank Sejong Institute, agree with Trump on this issue. But, this is not mainstream policy.

A further elaboration:

Another statement, “South Korea is a money machine but they pay us peanuts,” was greeted with “howls of inaccuracy” from the South Korean Foreign Ministry and the White House. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert says “Seoul pays for 55% of all non-personnel costs.”

Trump managed to unite South Korea and Japan. That is seriously impressive.

19
Lidane  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:23:33pm

re: #8 scottslemmons

…Are we sure this isn’t an early April Fools joke?

In related news, goddamn it, do I ever hate April Fools Day.

Facebook Post

20
FormerDirtDart  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:24:07pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Winners all…
//

21
Great White Snark  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:24:27pm

So why do I want to think this 44 intern thing is some delusion. How could this guy get that many real people to throw in? Paid or not? Really??? Feeling like ringing the bullshit bell but this kind of thing exists so far out of my circles I dunno.

22
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:25:21pm

re: #8 scottslemmons

23
ObserverArt  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:25:23pm

re: #17 Great White Snark

Okay so that’s not just me. Script errors, flash crashes. Ugh. All day at work but not here at home. huh.

Yeah. I also see the page loading and loading and loading sometimes when I try to come back from a crash. I’ve tried shutting down Chrome because I know it becomes bloated. That works for a bit, but then I get the ol’ “Oh Crap - We cannot load page and have lost connection” message.

Very unusual.

24
Feline Fearless Leader  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:27:36pm

re: #23 ObserverArt

Yeah. I also see the page loading and loading and loading sometimes when I try to come back from a crash. I’ve tried shutting down Chrome because I know it becomes bloated. That works for a bit, but then I get the ol’ “Oh Crap - We cannot load page and have lost connection” message.

Very unusual.

I am seeing that as well using Chrome. Flash is disabled but on some pages there is a constant run of stuff loading, especially some spotxchange site or something like that. I presume it is related to the ads. Like the one wix ad video one that constantly runs.

25
The Engineer Lobuno  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:28:14pm

re: #14 HappyWarrior

I think Devine is clueless. I think there’s a lot of cluelessness with the Sanders campaign that doesn’t inspire me at all if Bernie were to be nominated by the Democratic party.

As much as I like Bernie’s general ideas, I believe he’s erring too much in the side of good faith in the electorate. If he ever gets that close to the White House, he’ll probably be a President with no accomplishments. His team is taking the legislature for granted, and that might cost them in the long run.

26
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:30:30pm

re: #24 Feline Fearless Leader

I am seeing that as well using Chrome. Flash is disabled but on some pages there is a constant run of stuff loading, especially some spotxchange site or something like that. I presume it is related to the ads. Like the one wix ad video one that constantly runs.

I’m using Opera, which is now based on Chromium, and having no troubles. I’m a subscriber, so there are no ads to create problems.

27
Charles Johnson  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:30:35pm

Some people now saying they think this story is an April Fool’s prank. If so, I’m fine with it. Breitbart never corrects or retracts anything - why should anyone else?

28
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:30:35pm

re: #25 The Engineer Lobuno

As much as I like Bernie’s general ideas, I believe he’s erring too much in the side of good faith in the electorate. If he ever gets that close to the White House, he’ll probably be a President with no accomplishments. His team is taking the legislature for granted, and that might cost them in the long run.

Good points. I agree with you. His team is taking the legislature for granted and that’s a huge mistake for someone who has ambitious plans like he does. Also bewildering since he’s been in office so long.

29
jaunte  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:31:52pm

Every day on the internet.

30
ObserverArt  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:32:53pm

Milo is a fool every month.

Actually he is a joke daily.

He sucks no matter how his crap is produced.

31
jaunte  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:32:57pm
32
Lidane  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:36:20pm
33
Great White Snark  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:36:36pm

re: #24 Feline Fearless Leader

I am seeing that as well using Chrome. Flash is disabled but on some pages there is a constant run of stuff loading, especially some spotxchange site or something like that. I presume it is related to the ads. Like the one wix ad video one that constantly runs.

Might not be the ads, I’m subscribed.

34
jaunte  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:39:34pm

re: #17 Great White Snark

Okay so that’s not just me. Script errors, flash crashes. Ugh. All day at work but not here at home. huh.

I was reading the site in Chrome from work today and about 1pm all the posted tweets turned into gibberish characters. It was fine in Firefox.

35
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:41:53pm

A lot of my fellow GMU alums are none too happy that our law school was renamed after Scalia. Can’t say I blame them. Scalia didn’t respect their right to marry who they loved under the law and in fact belittled it.

36
Great White Snark  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:44:35pm

re: #27 Charles Johnson

I had a whole Trump Ends Campaign Page worked up for AFD, set to publish at midnight (“Those mean and horrible Lizard people, believe me you don’t want to endure that”) but I just did not have the heart to disappoint everyone in the end with the cold reality that Trump is still in it.

37
Smith25's Liberal Thighs  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:45:20pm

re: #35 HappyWarrior

38
FormerDirtDart  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:45:40pm

re: #24 Feline Fearless Leader

I am seeing that as well using Chrome. Flash is disabled but on some pages there is a constant run of stuff loading, especially some spotxchange site or something like that. I presume it is related to the ads. Like the one wix ad video one that constantly runs.

I only visit LGF using Firefox now, use Chrome for all my other browsing

39
Targetpractice  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:47:03pm

re: #32 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Oh god, the horror…the horror.

40
FormerDirtDart  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:47:17pm

re: #37 Smith25’s Liberal Thighs

[Embedded content]

or ASSLaw

41
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:47:46pm

re: #37 Smith25’s Liberal Thighs

[Embedded content]

Hahaha yeah I have seen that. I have my paralegal certificate from GMU. This really bums me. Our school is named after the writer of the Bill of Rights and Scalia was very pick and choose when it came to them.

42
Belafon  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:48:21pm

re: #31 jaunte

I wonder if we can distribute them at Daily Kos?

43
teleskiguy  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:49:13pm

Egad! I log in for the first time today and Milo Yiannofuckthatguy is splashed all over the front page. And UpChuck too! I need

44
Sophist, Premature Anti-Trumpist  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:49:32pm

Hey, Milo has a very full schedule of preening and practicing his air of smug superiority in front of the mirror. It’s only natural some of the less important aspects of his work would be staffed out.

45
Jay C  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:50:38pm

re: #38 FormerDirtDart

I only visit LGF using Firefox now, use Chrome for all my other browsing

Odd, works the other way round for me: in Firefox, I used to get Script issues all the time, so I switched to Chrome, and now the site usually works much better. Though the last couple of days, I’ve had freezes (no cursor control in the LGF page) - had to close, and re-open Chrome to free it up.

46
jaunte  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:51:20pm
47
ObserverArt  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:51:44pm

re: #43 teleskiguy

Egad! I log in for the first time today and Milo Yiannofuckthatguy is splashed all over the front page. And UpChuck too! I need

Embedded Image

These are difficult times.

And I got kicked out of LGF trying to type that. Oh well. It’s telling me something. Time to go!

48
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:52:52pm
49
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:53:43pm

Story making the rounds about how Clinton has come against allowing employers to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage. Shit, I didn’t even know that was legal. Good for her for calling this out. This is an awful practice. I’m honestly surprised that Sanders hasn’t pounced on it.

50
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:55:24pm

re: #45 Jay C

Hmmm. I’m on Safari, and I never turn off or sign out, and ordinarily there is no issue. Every few weeks, it will tell me I’ve already up dinged a comment, and I will sign out and sign back in. Bless my Mac!

51
Kragar  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:55:50pm

re: #49 HappyWarrior

I remember Goodwill getting hit pretty hard by this. They make a big deal about how they employ so many people who are mentally handicapped, but then they only pay them a fraction of minimum wage for their work.

52
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:57:44pm

re: #51 Kragar

I remember Goodwill getting hit pretty hard by this. They make a big deal about how they employ so many people who are mentally handicapped, but then they only pay them a fraction of minimum wage for their work.

I just cannot believe that such a thing is legal. It really is greedy as hell. I am glad Clinton made it an issue. I suppose Godowill saw the good PR that comes with doing that and knows that most people aren’t going to be looking at actual wages.

53
Sherlock Hound  Mar 31, 2016 • 8:58:43pm

re: #51 Kragar

I’ve been waiting for either candidate to speak about the disabled. Good for Hillary. I don’t buy from Goodwill. Many of my friends and colleagues, and myself, are disabled.

54
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:00:14pm

re: #53 Sherlock Hound

I’ve been waiting for either candidate to speak about the disabled. Good for Hillary. I don’t buy from Goodwill. Many of my friends and colleagues, and myself, are disabled.

As many of you know, I’m on the autistic spectrum myself. Part of the reason why I’ve started to favor Clinton over Bernie is Clinton is actually talking about this issue quite a bit. I’m real surprised and honestly disappointed that Sanders hasn’t hit on it more. Obama as a candidate and as president has done some stuff on this issue as well but a lot more is needed.

55
FormerDirtDart  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:01:20pm

re: #48 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Court Agrees With Florida: Skim Milk Is “Imitation Milk Product” Unless You Add Vitamins

I think “Nutritionally Diminished Milk Product” would be more accurate

56
Sherlock Hound  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:01:30pm

re: #52 HappyWarrior

The other reason I wonder what Bernie thinks is that a lot of young males, who may be Berniebros, are stereotypically insensitive to the disabled. After all, it won’t happen to them.

57
teleskiguy  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:01:56pm

FWIW, Chrome has been giving me shit on *every* website tonight.

58
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:03:07pm

re: #56 Sherlock Hound

The other reason I wonder what Bernie thinks is that a lot of young males, who may be Berniebros, are stereotypically insensitive to the disabled. After all, it won’t happen to them.

I honestly don’t know. I think this does speak to what I’ve talked about Clinton having a more inclusive campaign than Bernie has. I myself am closer ideologically to him than her but I also think she’s building a much more inclusive campaign where people of all backgrounds can feel they’re being represented.

59
HappyWarrior  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:06:11pm

I think the BBs are so focused on their revolution that they’re not thinking about issues like sexism, racism, etc discrimination against the disabled, etc. They’re focused on income inequality and don’t get me wrong, I’m right there with them on that because that IS a problem but at the same time, where’s the beef on the other things too. You could fix income inequality and you’d still have a ways to go because there would be other problems too. I really think this is a fault that many socialist types have. It’s not that I think Bernie is racist, sexist, or prejudiced against the disabled. No, far from it but I don’t think he understands that even a product of the middle class like myself on the autistic spectrum can face the same trouble finding work that someone less well off does. Now I will acknowledge that because of my background, I do have more resources at my disposal but I do think he and his campaign need to be aware of this.

60
Naked Bunny with a Whip  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:07:00pm

Indeed, Milo needs a half dozen staffers just to keep him in sparkling white sheets.

61
teleskiguy  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:09:32pm

re: #60 Naked Bunny with a Whip

The fucker keeps such heinous company. He considers this lost soul a friend.

62
Bass Reeves  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:14:30pm

re: #61 teleskiguy

I generally don’t condone violence..but ‘day of the rope’? I’d have a hard time not slapping him upside the back of his head for that one.

63
majii  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:17:10pm

re: #58 HappyWarrior

In a way Bernie scares me because he and his supporters aren’t above whining when things don’t turn out the way they want them to, and I question their loyalty to the Democratic platform when they say they’ll write in Sanders’ name if he doesn’t win the nomination. Sanders also seems to be litigious when things don’t go the way he thinks they should. I’ve always had a positive opinion of him, but——-I’m getting turned off by some of the authoritarianism coming from him. That he has millions of supporters seems to have gone to his head. What has me steamed to the max is his seeming refusal to campaign and raise money for down-ticket dems. If he were to win the WH and GOP/TPers still have the majority in Congress, he’d be in the same position as President Obama has been since the 2010 midterm elections. What will he do then? Will he then re-think his comments about Obama’s leadership failure? Will his supporters do to him what they did to the president in 2018——be so pissed off that they didn’t get that pretty new bicycle within a few months of his election that they won’t bother to show up to vote in the midterms? Being in the WH and actually having to deal with issues related to the job is vastly different than sitting on the sidelines thinking you can do better than the current president. Reality will definitely intrude in a Sanders presidency if he has to deal with the GOP/TPer obstructionists in Congress whose main belief is “do not compromise with a democratic/socialist president under any conditions.”

64
BeachDem  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:23:16pm

re: #26 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

I’m using Opera, which is now based on Chromium, and having no troubles. I’m a subscriber, so there are no ads to create problems.

Not seeing it tonight, but last night there was an autoplay video for some diet crap that kept running (and I’m a subscriber as well.)

65
teleskiguy  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:23:22pm

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

66
Feline Fearless Leader  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:25:25pm

re: #64 BeachDem

Not seeing it tonight, but last night there was an autoplay video for some diet crap that kept running (and I’m a subscriber as well.)

It seems to vary by page for me. This page is fine, but the last two had the constant loading icon and very slow scrolling in addition to it crashing in Chrome once. So there is some variable, which I suspect has to do with the ad selection it is trying to pull.

67
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:29:07pm

re: #64 BeachDem

Not seeing it tonight, but last night there was an autoplay video for some diet crap that kept running (and I’m a subscriber as well.)

Well, I also run AdBlockPlus, so I’ve built two YUUGGGE walls to prevent that.

68
thecommodore  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:29:41pm

re: #32 Lidane

[Embedded content]

I hate PC’s with every fiber of my being.

69
FormerDirtDart  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:32:09pm

Saw this and thought of the GOP’s #NotTrump & #StopTrump efforts
Try as they might shedding that spent husk…
They’re still scorpions

70
Targetpractice  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:33:42pm

re: #59 HappyWarrior

I think the BBs are so focused on their revolution that they’re not thinking about issues like sexism, racism, etc discrimination against the disabled, etc. They’re focused on income inequality and don’t get me wrong, I’m right there with them on that because that IS a problem but at the same time, where’s the beef on the other things too. You could fix income inequality and you’d still have a ways to go because there would be other problems too. I really think this is a fault that many socialist types have. It’s not that I think Bernie is racist, sexist, or prejudiced against the disabled. No, far from it but I don’t think he understands that even a product of the middle class like myself on the autistic spectrum can face the same trouble finding work that someone less well off does. Now I will acknowledge that because of my background, I do have more resources at my disposal but I do think he and his campaign need to be aware of this.

It’s what I call “magical unicorn farts,” because that seems to be the entire basis to Sandbagger logic when it comes to how Bernie is somehow more inclusive than Hillary is. That income equality, “free” healthcare and college, and hanging bankers from lamp posts will magically solve all of America’s issues or give those suffering from them the tools to address their plight. That “free college” will magically mean that discriminatory admissions practices will disappear overnight. Or that income equality will stop employers from exploiting female or disabled workers. Or beating up on the banks will stop practices like red-lining and predatory loans. It’s a very white privilege mindset, with policies that are aimed almost exclusively at addressing white Millenial gripes and the goodness will “trickle down.”

71
Targetpractice  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:34:22pm

re: #69 FormerDirtDart

Saw this and thought of the GOP’s #NotTrump & #StopTrump efforts
Try as they might shedding that spent husk…
They’re still scorpions

[Embedded content]

It’s a natural process…that still looks like some alien out of a scifi horror film.

72
Shimshon  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:35:05pm

I agree this is an attempt at an April Fools Joke. But Milo and Breitbart are sadly, no joke.

73
BeachDem  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:36:49pm

re: #67 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Well, I also run AdBlockPlus, so I’ve built two YUUGGGE walls to prevent that.

I have AdBlock and AdBlockPlus, but they have been crashing just about every time I reload them. Not a problem here, but on sites like RawStory and (sadly) Wonkette, it makes them nearly unreadable without AdBlock. I don’t know what the problem is. I’ve re-installed them, and it still happens almost every time.

74
Jebediah, RBG  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:38:53pm

re: #37 Smith25’s Liberal Thighs

Antonin Scalia’s School House Of Law Education maybe?

75
teleskiguy  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:46:04pm

re: #70 Targetpractice

What the fuck, dude? This is a *far left* site (like you read about everywhere) and your center bullshit will not fucking stand, man!

76
electrotek  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:47:38pm

Um yeah

77
Targetpractice  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:50:12pm

re: #75 teleskiguy

What the fuck, dude? This is a *far left* site (like you read about everywhere) and your center bullshit will not fucking stand, man!

I know, I have brought shame upon Charles. I tried to commit seppuku to restore his honor, but I ended up committing sudoku instead.

//

78
William Lewis  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:51:47pm

Hey GDF, you around

6mAZMnxVWl2y7KGqV75VeLNOD7FnHq19YTvol3e1u8uH3gRS3eF4hTWv7FFXaspT2iI9uFVKKiU5pqYTA0sdklcWVDXDsheFISvPkks+lKC92ZbmmY9loMdGIXl08tQM6r2SgD458olFQDUHFMb7tm2HL2ksRN8YmkeuuwbMrujebngbW5LMdM4r5ekKTkV5ystEdwr4HHQq6Y5N5xYe2ZQdv0ONHpcBFvZHl5GyKX07SgiI5Hks43k1qshFCCZSlHJkf1v7lKb2jbXiobuPmzjhzi8UxhLEmjGwJ1Daib6ejJNb3rLC93HZ1HtwjhhaFjwMkszVqbvKZ7Vc3xrNS6GrnOEjEhRh05x6GYJQn1Q=

79
Pawn of the Oppressor  Mar 31, 2016 • 9:53:19pm

re: #72 Shimshon

I agree this is an attempt at an April Fools Joke. But Milo and Breitbart are sadly, no joke.

Yeah, me too. I didn’t think 44 people worked at Breitshart in the first place. That would also be 40+ people who can stand Milo enough to work with him, and in the same way a Cruz sex scandal seems impossible, I don’t believe Milo has that many friends.

80
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:08:48pm

UN supported attempt at a mediated government has run into a problem.

The Mufti is a hardline supporter of the MB, and many of his opponents are in prison or dead.

I don’t suppose we could send a drone to put that son of a bitch out of Libya’s misery

81
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:11:43pm

Libya is now a 5-sided conflict.

However, 2 & 3 are often aligned and helping one another.

82
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:14:00pm

re: #81 Ziggy_TARDIS

Oh, boy.

83
goddamnedfrank  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:16:26pm

re: #78 William Lewis

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

84
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:23:11pm

re: #82 retired cynic

It’s a little better than it looks.

Sides 2 and 3 are in an alliance. I will let the following summary stand on it’s own.

the rival Islamist government of the General National Congress based in the capital Tripoli, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, backed by the wider Islamist coalition known as “Libya Dawn”[57][58] and aided by Qatar, Sudan, and Turkey;[56][59] the Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, led by Ansar al-Sharia (Libya), which has had the support of the General National Congress and the unrecognised government in Tripoli led by former Prime Minister Omar Al-Hassi, stating that Ansar al-Sharia are “simple, beautiful and amiable” as well as being engaged in “missionary work”

Ansar al-Sharia is the group behind the attack on our consulate 4 years ago. This is why I hold the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds power in the General National Congress, responsible for the attack, and why I am so hell bent on wanting them to go to hell.

Side number 5, the Presidency Council, is a group whose existance was negotiated for by the UN, in order to get a unity government. They got on the ground Tuesday, and have 3 militias and 10 cities and towns now behind them.

I am adamant that, when this is over, Nouri Abusahmain (President of the GNC), Khalifa al-Ghawi (Prime Minister of the GNC), and Sadiq al-Ghariani (Mufti of Libya, GNC aligned) need to be executed for their role in the September 11th, 2012 attack in Benghazi, along with treason against Libya, and a number of opponents of the GNC who have been murdered. They need to die.

85
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:25:49pm

re: #84 Ziggy_TARDIS

It still looks darned complicated, like Syria.

86
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:31:28pm

re: #73 BeachDem

I have AdBlock and AdBlockPlus, but they have been crashing just about every time I reload them. Not a problem here, but on sites like RawStory and (sadly) Wonkette, it makes them nearly unreadable without AdBlock. I don’t know what the problem is. I’ve re-installed them, and it still happens almost every time.

Which Windoze you got?

87
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:32:30pm

re: #85 retired cynic

I know someone from the middle east, who is knowledgable about what is going on, and I asked him what on earth we could do. He said he was so bad now that he wasn’t sure anything could be done except let it play out. Members of his family have been killed, back in the beginning in Syria. Much of what he has loved of his homeland is destroyed: history, people, monuments. He said if he thinks about it, he can’t go on. So he can’t think about it.

88
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:32:52pm

re: #85 retired cynic

It’s a little, but to me looks fairly easy.

You have the secular government in Tobruk, the MB-Government in Tripoli + their radicalist allies like Libya Shield 1 and Ansar al-Sharia, and DEASH.

Big question is how the presidential council changes things, but they have only been on the ground for 2 days. If the MB government attacks, or is seen as attacking them (The Presidential Council) in the near future, I think the world may decide to deal with the MB Government.

It should also be noted that at least one militia in the Tripoli area has come out in support of putting in a Constitutional Monarchy under the Senussis, who were the Monarchs of Libya until Qaddafi overthrew them in 1969.

89
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:36:36pm

re: #88 Ziggy_TARDIS

Thanks for the info.

90
goddamnedfrank  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:43:31pm
91
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:44:21pm

re: #90 goddamnedfrank

Gag me.

92
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:46:54pm

re: #89 retired cynic

The big thing to watch will be to see if the MB tries anything stupid in regards to the embryonic Presidential Council.

The Senussi family was the one that resisted Mussolini during their occupation of the region before World War I. Something like 250-300 thousand Libyans died against Mussolini. And the Senussis still have some popularity in parts of the country. I don’t think it will go anywhere, but I wonder if other militias might decide to follow the Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade.

The 10 cities that have declared for the Presidential Council are all ones that are in the Western Third, and all on the coast. Sabratha may be one of them.

Ok, more news. GNC is having massive problems.

On March 31, the Libya Herald reported that top officials from the new GNC, under heavy pressure and warnings from former supporters, had dispersed back to their home cities.[366] GNC Prime Minister Khalifa Ghwell, Sheik Sadeq al-Ghariani, GNC President Abu Sahmain, GNC Media Department head Jamal Zubia, and milita commander Salah Badi were reported as having left Tripoli

93
William Lewis  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:47:36pm

re: #84 Ziggy_TARDIS

That last bit is tempting to believe, isn’t it? But then I remember the quote from Gandalf in LOTR: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.”

94
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:48:36pm

re: #93 William Lewis

That last bit is tempting to believe, isn’t it? But the I remember the quote from Gandalf in LOTR: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal our death in judgment.”

deal out death typo….

95
Ziggy_TARDIS  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:49:30pm

re: #93 William Lewis

Well, if the Libya Herald is correct, that Government may have just collapsed.

I am going to wait 48 hours to see what has actually happened, but that is an encouraging tidbit of news.

96
goddamnedfrank  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:50:11pm
97
William Lewis  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:51:33pm

re: #94 retired cynic

Got it, thx.

98
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:52:29pm

re: #97 William Lewis

Got it, thx.

It’s no biggie, and I have no place to stand and throw rocks. That is just one of my favorite Tolkien lines.

99
Kragar  Mar 31, 2016 • 10:58:57pm

re: #96 goddamnedfrank

100
goddamnedfrank  Mar 31, 2016 • 11:04:13pm

I feel pretty strongly about this advice in general, but it especially applies to Trump and his sons.

If you’re a straight, white, American male you probably shouldn’t be making the decisions when it comes to your hairstyle. I’ll probably get some pushback on this but I’m sticking by my guns here, this shit generally isn’t our bag, baby. The less we personally invest in and try to control the outcome the better we tend to look.

101
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 11:08:07pm

re: #100 goddamnedfrank

I feel pretty strongly about this advice in general, but it especially applies to Trump and his sons.

[Embedded content]

If you’re a straight, white, American male you probably shouldn’t be making the decisions when it comes to your hairstyle. I’ll probably get some pushback on this but I’m sticking by my guns here, this shit generally isn’t our bag, baby. The less we personally invest in and try to control the outcome the better we tend to look.

Do it, then don’t think about it! I’m SWAF, and haven’t thought about it for about 40 years. Much less stress!

102
retired cynic  Mar 31, 2016 • 11:14:35pm

re: #101 retired cynic

Wow. Shot the thread, and now everyone is wondering what the HELL I look like! Guess I’ll call it a night. Don’t think about it; you’ll sleep better!

103
BeachDem  Mar 31, 2016 • 11:29:17pm

re: #86 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Which Windoze you got?

Vista

I’m so embarrassed. I need a new desktop.

104
Single-handed sailor  Mar 31, 2016 • 11:44:56pm

I’m Trumpified

Video

105
Targetpractice  Apr 1, 2016 • 12:17:59am
106
Targetpractice  Apr 1, 2016 • 12:31:45am

So, it seems the same brain dead fuckwits who coined #MississippiBerning have now come up with their latest creation: #TheBronxisBerning .

107
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 12:57:09am

It’s that time of day, I am just coming on line to find the thread lying on the riverbank and no longer even twitching…

108
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 1:18:45am

Only in America can you make these kind of arguments and not get laughed out of town…

Gun Groups Push to Make Silencers Easier to Purchase

“It could be a really big deal for the gun industry,” said Waldron. “They make hunting and shooting safer.

109
Timothy Watson  Apr 1, 2016 • 1:46:37am

re: #108 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

However, Waldron stated that “there have been zero legally-owned suppressors used in crimes since the ’30s.”

The success of a gun control measure is a reason to get rid of it!

110
goddamnedfrank  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:08:20am

re: #108 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Only in America can you make these kind of arguments and not get laughed out of town…

Gun Groups Push to Make Silencers Easier to Purchase

“It could be a really big deal for the gun industry,” said Waldron. “They make hunting and shooting safer.

There’s sort of semi legit argument buried under all that gun industry bullshit. Silencers are totally legal in several countries that have much stricter gun control laws than the US. New Zealand, France, and I believe Norway don’t regulate them at all, they’re considered just another accessory like a scope. In those countries it’s actually considered courteous to use a silencer while out target shooting or hunting, to reduce the amount of noise experienced by other people.

The obvious difference is that in those countries getting any gun requires much more in the way of thorough background checks, police interviews, personal recommendations and safe storage requirements & inspections. Also there are often restrictions on caliber, and some demonstration that one has a legit need for a firearm. But mostly it’s different because getting semi automatic pistols (or any handgun for that matter) in such countries is even more difficult still.

That’s because silencers only really quiet a few calibers, the ones with standard loads where the bullet always remains at a subsonic velocity, and most of those (like the .45 acp) are pistol cartridges. Any bullet going faster than the speed of sound will leave a sonic boom in its wake, and silencers do little to nothing to make those rounds appreciably stealthy. They do reduce the muzzle report on a hunting rifle but anyone within a mile or more will still absolutely recognize the sound as a gunshot.

Anyway, again the answer that seemingly nobody wants to hear is that handguns are the problem. Handguns are involved in the vast majority of every type of firearms related offense, and handguns are the weapons that silencers truly tend to make even more abusable and conducive to murder. If the US did all it could to focus on, regulate and reduce the number of handguns in private possession we would realize the most significant improvement in our rate of death by firearms.

111
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:10:46am

re: #110 goddamnedfrank

I am trying to imagine the Republican Convention with open carry and silencers…

…and I am enjoying that mental image way too much.

112
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:29:21am

re: #110 goddamnedfrank

Anyway, again the answer that seemingly nobody wants to hear is that handguns are the problem. Handguns are involved in the vast majority of every type of firearms related offense, and handguns are the weapons that silencers truly tend to make even more abusable and conducive to murder. If the US did all it could to focus on, regulate and reduce the number of handguns in private possession we would realize the most significant improvement in our rate of death by firearms.

Believe you me, when the drafters of the Second Amendment thought about “Arms…necessary to the Security of a Free State” dueling pistols and naval boarding pistols were the last things on their minds. Anybody who thinks handguns are covered by it is just nuts.

113
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:42:48am

Just coz…

114
Ming5000  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:44:46am

re: #113 Alyosha

hahahaha… (catch breath) HAHHAHAHAHA

caught me off guard

115
Ming5000  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:51:12am

When LGF is quiet in the morning I get to work on time.

116
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:52:23am

re: #114 Ming5000

Don’t encourage me. I’m fighting the urge to continue in that vein.

117
LastYearsMan  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:52:52am

re: #113 Alyosha

Just coz…

[Embedded content]

Well, if you’re going to be like that … You might enjoy this Hugo-nominated Classic.

118
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:53:46am

re: #117 LastYearsMan

I have so many questions…

119
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 2:55:26am

Hugo Bareback?

120
LastYearsMan  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:02:19am

Maybe I’m 12 years old but I find the list of Chuck Tingle titles available at Amazon just too funny. One of those jokes that just keeps getting stupider in a brilliant meaningless way.

121
Le Lapin Tueur  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:45:24am

re: #16 Pawn of the Oppressor

Or! A game show host over there will dress as him.

Actually maybe there will be a Trump-themed game show, but with everything exaggerated, mis-interpreted, and filtered through Japanese culture. Like it will be a contest show hosted by an orange-haired jerky guy who makes contestants run through his golden palace to find hidden challenges and at the end somebody gets thrown in water or splattered with karo syrup or something, I dunno

This. It must include this game, somehow…

Possibly should put this behind hidden tags, in addition to the requirement to clicky the link. But, I won’t. Seems excessive. If you’re bug/small critter adverse/squeamish, you may want to think twice before clicking.

Blow a Cockroach, Crazy Japanese Game

122
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:45:45am

re: #103 BeachDem

VistaI’m so embarrassed. I need a new desktop.

To quote the Dixie Chicks, there’s your problem.

123
Single-handed sailor  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:53:14am

Reports of an explosion in Paris.

124
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:55:37am

re: #123 Single-handed sailor

Reports of an explosion in Paris.

[Embedded content]

Merde.

125
Single-handed sailor  Apr 1, 2016 • 3:58:04am

Linked to a stove according to The Local.

126
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:03:18am

re: #125 Single-handed sailor

Linked to a stove according to The Local.

As long as it was not another terror attack, though a gas explosion can be decimating as well.

127
Kent Dorfman  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:24:19am

The Dow, in this tumultuous first quarter of 2016, posted in the green.

At one point in the quarter, the major indexes plunged more than 11 percent from the start of the year. They rebounded, though, and enjoyed particularly strong runs in March.

The Dow Jones industrial average saw its biggest quarterly comeback since 1933.

The S&P 500 and the Dow both rose for the second-straight quarter, finishing 0.8 and 1.5 percent higher, respectively. The S&P enjoyed gains of 6.6 percent in March, while the Dow climbed 7.1 percent for the month.

We shall see what April Fool’s brings today…

128
Patricia Kayden  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:29:33am

re: #35 HappyWarrior

A lot of my fellow GMU alums are none too happy that our law school was renamed after Scalia. Can’t say I blame them. Scalia didn’t respect their right to marry who they loved under the law and in fact belittled it.

Just saw that on the local news and am flabbergasted.

129
Barefoot Grin  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:32:07am

re: #121 Le Lapin Tueur

This. It must include this game, somehow…

Possibly should put this behind hidden tags, in addition to the requirement to clicky the link. But, I won’t. Seems excessive. If you’re bug/small critter adverse/squeamish, you may want to think twice before clicking.

[Embedded content]

Video

Before I clicked I was going to say “not as bad as the one where they stuck raw steak to their foreheads and put their faces in a weasel cage,” but this made me gag.

130
goddamnedfrank  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:38:14am

re: #112 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Believe you me, when the drafters of the Second Amendment thought about “Arms…necessary to the Security of a Free State” dueling pistols and naval boarding pistols were the last things on their minds. Anybody who thinks handguns are covered by it is just nuts.

I’m not so sure about that, flintlock pistols were common enough on the battlefield at the time, in particular with cavalry units. However they were last ditch, single shot, muzzle stuffers and nothing like modern handguns. More to the point I don’t really care too much what the people who wrote the Constitution intended here any more than I care about how they would have viewed gay marriage under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. In each case I find the language they left behind allows today’s judges to interpret in a way that preserves the rights enshrined while also meeting modern standards of common sense and decency.

131
Archangelus  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:41:30am

re: #120 LastYearsMan

Maybe I’m 12 years old but I find the list of Chuck Tingle titles available at Amazon just too funny. One of those jokes that just keeps getting stupider in a brilliant meaningless way.

I very much doubt you’re anywhere near alone, and I for one haven’t qualified as a 12 year-old in a rather long time…

132
Le Lapin Tueur  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:41:44am

re: #129 Barefoot Grin

Before I clicked I was going to say “not as bad as the one where they stuck raw steak to their foreheads and put their faces in a weasel cage,” but this made me gag.

I showed this to Mrs. Lapin this morning. Luckily, she has a 15k race in PA (Philly) on Sat. morning, so I am safe from repercussion until she returns. Maybe, she’ll feel magnanimous and won’t kill me when she returns.

133
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 4:59:59am

re: #129 Barefoot Grin

Before I clicked I was going to say “not as bad as the one where they stuck raw steak to their foreheads and put their faces in a weasel cage,” but this made me gag.

Japanese game shows take the cake for the most bizarre on the planet.

134
The Ghost of the Spaghetti Weevil  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:19:24am

re: #133 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Japanese game shows take the cake for the most bizarre on the planet.

Then again, lots of stuff presented as “Japanese game shows” to English Internet audiences aren’t game shows. Some of it is comedy sketches using a game show format, and the ones involving naked people are usually porn.

135
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:35:37am
136
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:38:12am

re: #135 Dr. Matt

Did every last man-jack of those self-inflated windbags end up saying, ‘You alone can solve X’?

137
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:40:14am

re: #136 Alyosha

Did every last man-jack of those self-inflated windbags end up saying, ‘You alone can solve X’?

Trump is yooooge smart:

138
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:47:58am

heh

139
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:52:34am

re: #137 Dr. Matt

Trumpthagoras tells us that criticism A-squared plus observation B-squared describes the superlative you need to employ to make your hands (and thus dick*) seem normal.

*another eponymous law. The Trump Ratio describes the relation of finger length and palm-size to penis length and girth.
It applies only to Trump himself.

140
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:55:29am

Holy shiat….no more hiding…it’s now an established fact that the right are directly aligned with Nazis.

141
Romantic Heretic  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:57:17am

re: #49 HappyWarrior

Story making the rounds about how Clinton has come against allowing employers to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage. Shit, I didn’t even know that was legal. Good for her for calling this out. This is an awful practice. I’m honestly surprised that Sanders hasn’t pounced on it.

Speaking as someone who’s disabled and who has a physically disabled wife, doesn’t surprise me at all.

People don’t think about the disabled. Don’t want to because it gets too close to thinking about how easily they could become disabled. On top of that many people, perhaps most, think there is some element of choice involved with being disabled. Somewhere along the line we made bad choices. The sotto voce implication is that we’re getting what we deserve.

There is also our society’s worship of ‘strength’. This time the implication is that if we just tried a little harder we wouldn’t be disabled.

Finally there is the built in economic determinism of our society. A person is only as valuable as their positive economic production. Since those of us who are disabled are almost always a negative we’re regarded as not worth much.

So that the disabled are paid less is not a surprise to me. It’s one of the reasons why I write. No one can tell I’m disabled on the printed page or LCD screen.

142
Romantic Heretic  Apr 1, 2016 • 5:59:58am

re: #62 Bass Reeves

I generally don’t condone violence..but ‘day of the rope’? I’d have a hard time not slapping him upside the back of his head for that one.

I call those a ‘Gibb’s slap’.

143
Kent Dorfman  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:02:16am

Man builds Scarlett Johannson look alike robot

A humanoid obsessive has built an incredibly realistic female robot from scratch - and it’s got more than a passing resemblance to Avengers star Scarlett Johansson.

Ricky Ma, a 42-year-old product and graphic designer, has spent more than $50,000 (£34,000) and a year and a half creating the female robot prototype, Mark 1.

The designer confirmed the scarily lifelife humanoid had been modelled on a Hollywood star, but wanted to keep her name under wraps.

It responds to a set of programmed verbal commands spoken into a microphone and has moving facial expressions, but Ricky says creating it wasn’t easy.

Maybe it could date Lou Reed’s look alike robot, imagine the babies!
Lou Reed - No Money Down

144
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:03:58am

Math. How does it work?

Shaun King really should stick to revealing injustices in the justice system. He really sucks at math - especially polling and primary math.

But as bad as he is, Bernie fanatics are even worse.

One claimed that Bernie simply has to win 57% of the remaining delegates. Ayup. Bernie’s closest poll in NY has him down 10, though most other polls show him losing by 20 or more.

There’s wishful thinking and then there’s delusional.

In order for Bernie to win 57%, that means a 14 point win. 57-43. He’s down 10 points, which has Hillary up 55-45. Anyone see the problem here?

Well, if you know basic math, you don’t, but if you’re a Bernie bro, you think the math doesn’t matter.

They require such a series of highly improbable events that it is rendered impossible. Win NY and CA even though no polls have you ever shown you within sniffing distance? Right.

At this point, I’m hoping Hillary crushes Bernie by 20 in NY, just to rub it in. Bernie’s nice enough, but his supporters are doing him no favors.

145
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:07:11am

re: #135 Dr. Matt

The photo reveals more about who is involved, and who is noticeably absent. Not a single woman in the room.

But okay, he’s decided to surround himself with a bunch of white guys. Happens all the time, but you’ve picked a guy who thinks a clash of civilizations is needed (Walid Phares) and Islamophobia is a good thing - up to and including banning Muslims (other than rich guys like the bin Laden family) from entering.

146
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:07:51am

So, my co-workers replaced the “Page Loading” spinning wheel icon with a random Cat Picture generator.

147
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:08:14am

re: #145 lawhawk

The photo reveals more about who is involved, and who is noticeably absent. Not a single woman in the room.

They are off in the back alley being punished and slut-shamed…

148
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:08:25am

re: #145 lawhawk

No women, and one younger possible minority.

149
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:08:52am

re: #144 lawhawk

For so long, I’ve noticed that Clinton supporters have, perversely, hoped for a more even race with Sanders. The fear, of course being that too convincing a victory might sour their lefist allies.
I’m hoping NY is the coup de grace.
Over the Bernie Hagiographies.

150
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:09:50am

re: #146 The Vicious Babushka

So, my co-workers replaced the “Page Loading” spinning wheel icon with a random Cat Picture generator.

Winning

151
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:10:07am
152
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:11:11am

re: #151 Backwoods_Sleuth

Why are they raising Trump’s hair attachment?

153
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:11:59am

re: #149 Alyosha

For so long, I’ve noticed that Clinton supporters have, perversely, hoped for a more even race with Sanders. The fear, of course being that too convincing a victory might sour their lefist allies.
I’m hoping NY is the coup de grace.
Over the Bernie Hagiographies.

I can admire the Bernie supporters’ “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over” attitude as long as they are not attacking Hillary too severely in the process of delaying the inevitable…

154
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:12:46am

re: #144 lawhawk

Sometimes, you just have to let people figure it out on their own. Sometimes, people have to learn that they’re not going to always get what they want the hard way, and that they’ll have to adjust their expectations on their own. Highly invested people tend to be that way.

155
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:13:50am

re: #35 HappyWarrior

A lot of my fellow GMU alums are none too happy that our law school was renamed after Scalia. Can’t say I blame them. Scalia didn’t respect their right to marry who they loved under the law and in fact belittled it.

Antonin Scalia Law School…that’s a name no one would self-apply where I come from.

156
Great White Snark  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:14:34am
157
Kent Dorfman  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:16:32am

re: #141 Romantic Heretic

My wife is also disabled. SSDI limits how much income you can earn, then it starts taking your benefits away. I am going to sound like the biggest asshole here again, but these disabled adults are getting paid less than minimum because federal guidelines allow it, and that being out in the work force is therapeutic. Less than minimum pay is merited.

158
Franklin  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:16:44am

re: #144 lawhawk

Not only that, but it gets progressively harder when he loses (or misses his mark) on the larger states. To paraphrase James Carville, It’s the Math Stupid.

159
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:17:45am

re: #152 lawhawk

Why are they raising Trump’s hair attachment?

Perhaps to raise them, genetically modify them, and then use them as weapons against our enemies?

160
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:17:52am

re: #155 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Antonin Scalia Law School…that’s a name no one would self-apply where I come from.

Antonin Scalia School of Law: ASSOL

161
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:19:10am

re: #148 Dr. Matt

That’s Corey Lewandowski.

162
Alyosha  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:30:24am

The thing I enjoy most about Maddow is her ability to juxtapose and transpose current exents with historic events. They might not always be useful, but they’re clever enough even after the fact.
It reminds me of a public news radio station that broadcasts (in AM) here, called Rear Window.
A couple of weeks ago they did a bit that was bookended by Trump deportation rhetoric. The program is committed to opinion-free reporting so no judgement was cast when the first segment included his Mexicans-as-rapists remarks.
They proceeded to talk about the Mexican land taken in the middle of the 19th century, and the relationship between the annexed, the economically migrant, the very idea of what constitutes an ‘illegal’ and how the very prosperity of the West is largely reliant on manpower from your southern neighbour.
Trump was played at the end and it was even more clear what a horrid segment of society he is playing to.

163
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:31:59am

re: #161 lawhawk

That’s Corey Lewandowski.

This guy?

164
Smith25's Liberal Thighs  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:32:55am

re: #144 lawhawk

BUT MOMENTUM!!11!!

Really Hard to Get Bernie Sanders 988 More Delegates

I’m sure this link has probably been seen by many around here, but it was striking to me how much of an uphill climb for Sanders it really is.

165
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:34:38am

re: #163 Dr. Matt

Yup. I’m 99% sure that’s Corey.

166
Franklin  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:36:10am

re: #164 Smith25’s Liberal Thighs

BUT MOMENTUM!!11!!

Really Hard to Get Bernie Sanders 988 More Delegates

I’m sure this link has probably been seen by many around here, but it was striking to me how much of an uphill climb for Sanders it really is.

Thanks for posting, I missed it the other day.

Exactly this:

To reach a pledged delegate majority, Sanders will have to win most of the delegates from those big states (California, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland). A major loss in any of them could be fatal to his chances. He could afford to lose one or two of them narrowly, but then he’d need to make up ground elsewhere — he’d probably have to win California by double digits, for example.

167
Eventual Carrion  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:36:43am

re: #152 lawhawk

Why are they raising Trump’s hair attachment?

I knew it was an alien!

168
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:37:13am

re: #165 lawhawk

Yup. I’m 99% sure that’s Corey.

Looks like he’s been hitting the beach in Florida.

169
Great White Snark  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:37:22am

re: #167 Eventual Carrion

I knew it was an alien!

Looked like a baby Trump to me.

170
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:37:37am

Well, it didn’t take long for the right wing loons to come to their talking points, which Trump will promptly use this morning:

93 million out of work, which includes all the usual suspects - the retired, the young, and those in college who aren’t seeking full time jobs.

The right is as predictable as they are reprehensible.

171
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:39:19am

re: #170 lawhawk

Well, it didn’t take long for the right wing loons to come to their talking points, which Trump will promptly use this morning:

[Embedded content]

93 million out of work, which includes all the usual suspects - the retired, the young, and those in college who aren’t seeking full time jobs.

The right is as predictable as they are reprehensible.

Exactly, I wasn’t unemployed when I was in school. I was focused on my education first and foremost. This is really pathetic. Comes from knowing full well that Obama hasn’t wrecked the economy and has actually done quite a good job.

172
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:43:07am

re: #166 Franklin

Thanks for posting, I missed it the other day.

Exactly this:

It’s a good read. I mean I appreciate their enthaisusm but they do have a long way to go. Posting info graphics that show Obama was more less in the same spot isn’t true or helpful. I also don’t think Obama came close to trailing Clinton by 15% in the popular vote like he has. Ironically, he’s winning big in the caucuses, the process of the two I find least democratic. Anyhow, I leaned Bernie going in but I’ve been much more positively inclined to Clinton as a result of Bernie, his supporters, and taking a fair minded approach at both candidates. I’ve concluded that while I do like Bernie, I think his focus is too narrow for the job and that he’s made a lot of mistakes that make me question how he’d be as President. I think Clinton is much more ready for the job too. This all coming from someone who was staunchly opposed to her in 2008.

173
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:43:15am

re: #170 lawhawk

93 million out of work, which includes all the usual suspects - the retired, the young, and those in college who aren’t seeking full time jobs.

And Ben Shapiro, Rage Furby, members of Congress, Drudge himself, Dim Jim, etc.

/

174
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:43:19am

re: #170 lawhawk

93,482,000 Americans Out of Labor Force

That’s what we get for outlawing child labor!

175
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:46:04am

re: #170 lawhawk

93,482,000 Americans Out of Labor Force… t.co
— DRUDGE REPORT

Just so I’m clear here, the number of Americans “out of the labor force” is now the new standard economic and jobs measure we’re all going to pay attention to from now on. I just want to be sure to remember this number during the Trump/Cruz administration. And if this number increases or just happens to look like a lot, then that means the economy stinks.

/

176
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:46:34am

re: #170 lawhawk

Well, it didn’t take long for the right wing loons to come to their talking points, which Trump will promptly use this morning:

93 million out of work, which includes all the usual suspects - the retired, the young, and those in college who aren’t seeking full time jobs.

The right is as predictable as they are reprehensible.

Unemployment’s so bad in my area they have to hang Help Wanted signs just about everywhere.

177
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:47:45am

re: #70 Targetpractice

It’s what I call “magical unicorn farts,” because that seems to be the entire basis to Sandbagger logic when it comes to how Bernie is somehow more inclusive than Hillary is. That income equality, “free” healthcare and college, and hanging bankers from lamp posts will magically solve all of America’s issues or give those suffering from them the tools to address their plight. That “free college” will magically mean that discriminatory admissions practices will disappear overnight. Or that income equality will stop employers from exploiting female or disabled workers. Or beating up on the banks will stop practices like red-lining and predatory loans. It’s a very white privilege mindset, with policies that are aimed almost exclusively at addressing white Millenial gripes and the goodness will “trickle down.”

These are great points too. And the points you underscore why Bernie predominately has a white male support base. They don’t give those things much thought because they don’t think about them. It’s as I said, I don’t think they’re being bigots but I do think they are definitely guilty of thinking that income inequality is the only barrier. Just for an example but when we had the New Deal, much of American society was still very racist. If Bernie could talk about other types of inequality the way he focuses on income inequality, he might have gotten my vote. I do have other quarrels with him though.

178
Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:48:46am

re: #152 lawhawk

Why are they raising Trump’s hair attachment?

All hail HypnoTribble!

179
FormerDirtDart  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:48:49am

re: #163 Dr. Matt

[Embedded image]

This guy?

It’s George Papadopoulos, director at the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law & Security at the London Center of International Law Practice
Used this List of those who have been identified as part of Trump’s Foreign Policy team and did an image search of his name.

180
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:51:05am

re: #128 Patricia Kayden

Just saw that on the local news and am flabbergasted.

Yeah, I’m really disappointed. In the end, it’s their decision but I still can’t help but to wish they had chosen someone else. I don’t expect them to choose an icon of the left but Scalia, agh. Everyone is having a good joke about the ASS Law bit though.

181
Eventual Carrion  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:51:13am

re: #168 Dr. Matt

Looks like he’s been hitting the beach in Florida.

Or he can’t get his nose out of Trumps ass long enough to let The Donald use the tanning bed alone.

182
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:51:42am

re: #179 FormerDirtDart

That’s Carter Page, if not Lewandowski. Papadopoulos is far older.

183
Franklin  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:52:05am

re: #179 FormerDirtDart

It’s George Papadopoulos, director at the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law & Security at the London Center of International Law Practice
Used this List of those who have been identified as part of Trump’s Foreign Policy team and did an image search of his name.

This Guy?

184
Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:53:24am

re: #183 Franklin

This Guy?

Embedded Image

No. He’s just a pawn.

185
FormerDirtDart  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:53:52am

re: #182 lawhawk

That’s Carter Page, if not Lewandowski. Papadopoulos is far older.

No, and here’s a list with pictures

186
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:54:25am

re: #183 Franklin

This Guy?

Embedded Image

Mongo in a past life too right?

187
Smith25's Liberal Thighs  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:56:11am

Lost a little coffee through my nose just now:

188
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:56:17am

Joseph Schmitz I believe is the son of John Schmitz, the Bircher Representative from California in the late 60’s and brother of Mary Kay Latorneau who famously slept with her sixth grade student and had a couple children with him. We all know Sessions. Don’t know these other guys. Helpful to know this stuff.

189
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 6:59:41am

re: #110 goddamnedfrank

There’s sort of semi legit argument buried under all that gun industry bullshit. Silencers are totally legal in several countries that have much stricter gun control laws than the US. New Zealand, France, and I believe Norway don’t regulate them at all, they’re considered just another accessory like a scope. In those countries it’s actually considered courteous to use a silencer while out target shooting or hunting, to reduce the amount of noise experienced by other people.

The obvious difference is that in those countries getting any gun requires much more in the way of thorough background checks, police interviews, personal recommendations and safe storage requirements & inspections. Also there are often restrictions on caliber, and some demonstration that one has a legit need for a firearm. But mostly it’s different because getting semi automatic pistols (or any handgun for that matter) in such countries is even more difficult still.

That’s because silencers only really quiet a few calibers, the ones with standard loads where the bullet always remains at a subsonic velocity, and most of those (like the .45 acp) are pistol cartridges. Any bullet going faster than the speed of sound will leave a sonic boom in its wake, and silencers do little to nothing to make those rounds appreciably stealthy. They do reduce the muzzle report on a hunting rifle but anyone within a mile or more will still absolutely recognize the sound as a gunshot.

Anyway, again the answer that seemingly nobody wants to hear is that handguns are the problem. Handguns are involved in the vast majority of every type of firearms related offense, and handguns are the weapons that silencers truly tend to make even more abusable and conducive to murder. If the US did all it could to focus on, regulate and reduce the number of handguns in private possession we would realize the most significant improvement in our rate of death by firearms.

Good post ‘frank.

I’ve long felt that handguns are the biggest gun problem. What were they designed for in the first place? It sure wasn’t target shooting. It was for ease of carry, concealment and speed. Once they became semi-automatic the violence really increased.

190
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:02:24am

re: #185 FormerDirtDart

Yup. You’re right. I got it wrong then.

191
darthstar  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:07:27am

192
darthstar  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:07:39am

Happy Friday, everyone.

193
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:09:35am
194
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:13:21am

re: #144 lawhawk

Math. How does it work?

Shaun King really should stick to revealing injustices in the justice system. He really sucks at math - especially polling and primary math.

But as bad as he is, Bernie fanatics are even worse.

One claimed that Bernie simply has to win 57% of the remaining delegates. Ayup. Bernie’s closest poll in NY has him down 10, though most other polls show him losing by 20 or more.

There’s wishful thinking and then there’s delusional.

In order for Bernie to win 57%, that means a 14 point win. 57-43. He’s down 10 points, which has Hillary up 55-45. Anyone see the problem here?

Well, if you know basic math, you don’t, but if you’re a Bernie bro, you think the math doesn’t matter.

They require such a series of highly improbable events that it is rendered impossible. Win NY and CA even though no polls have you ever shown you within sniffing distance? Right.

At this point, I’m hoping Hillary crushes Bernie by 20 in NY, just to rub it in. Bernie’s nice enough, but his supporters are doing him no favors.

You need to discuss this with Joke and Meaty.

Video

195
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:13:55am

I dare Markos to put up a post today that says he was wrong about calling the nomination early, and just let people figure out if it’s an April Fools joke or not.

196
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:20:17am

re: #146 The Vicious Babushka

So, my co-workers replaced the “Page Loading” spinning wheel icon with a random Cat Picture generator.

Are you getting to see a lot of cats?

I did a little experiment with Chrome this morning since I’ve been having trouble with it and this site.

20 minutes and the front page was still loading. That’s freaking nuts.

I hope Charles or Google or whoever can fix it, because if Charles wants to build new viewers, this is not going to help.

So, I am using Firefox right now, but it has some loading problems too. Not nearly as bad, but there are issues. That single damn ad at the top of the comments and below the LGF Partners ad block has really been struggling, even with Firefox.

197
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:21:00am
198
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:36:09am

Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically ‘jerks’

Everybody knows the world’s worst people are the ones who never miss an opportunity to explain the difference between who and whom. Those “friends” who are pretending to be policing spelling and grammar for the sake of posterity are probably just flexing for attention, or so it seems to everyone they’re interrupting.

As a study from the University of Michigan recently found, those people aren’t just annoying, they’re also apparently huge jerks.

The study looked at the way both introverted and extroverted people reacted to typos within emails, and deduced that those who were less socially-inclined tended to “judge the person who makes such errors more negatively.”

199
Eventual Carrion  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:45:59am

re: #198 Dr. Matt

Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically ‘jerks’

That’s just the stupider. Whom do those people think they are?

200
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:47:20am

re: #199 Eventual Carrion

That’s just the stupider. Whom do those people think they are?

Your taken this whey to seriously.

201
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:52:39am

It covers much of the ground we’ve dealt with here, but it’s a one-stop shop for all the lies, obfuscations, and history of Trump’s actual business acumen and dealings.

202
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:53:50am

Anyone else using chrome and the loading circle won’t stop spinning for LGF? I’m not having an issue with any other site.

203
Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:55:29am

re: #202 Dr. Matt

Anyone else using chrome and the loading circle won’t stop spinning for LGF? I’m not having an issue with any other site.

Yes.

204
Dave In Austin  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:56:14am

re: #202 Dr. Matt

Using a Mac… No

205
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:57:06am
206
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:57:17am

re: #202 Dr. Matt

Anyone else using chrome and the loading circle won’t stop spinning for LGF? I’m not having an issue with any other site.

With or without ads? I’m on IE without ads (subscription) and I’m not seeing it.

207
Smith25's Liberal Thighs  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:58:08am

re: #205 Backwoods_Sleuth

The Clinton campaign didn’t lie, not like that matters.

208
Ziggy_TARDIS  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:58:58am

re: #205 Backwoods_Sleuth

Strange, isn’t it, how Sanders has been in Congress for longer than Clinton, but has many fewer endorsements from his compatriots.

It says something, doesn’t it.

209
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 7:59:17am

hasn’t Wisconsin suffered enough???

210
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:00:52am

re: #209 Backwoods_Sleuth

Wisconsin’s middle class has been hurt by DC… t.co
— Sarah Palin

LOLwhut?

211
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:01:37am

re: #209 Backwoods_Sleuth

hasn’t Wisconsin suffered enough???

Wisconsin has been “hurt” by DC and not their governor and legislature? So much for the Party of Personal Responsibility.

212
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:03:01am

re: #198 Dr. Matt

Study says those who call out grammatical errors are in fact scientifically ‘jerks’

Their are times and places where it is important to point out grammatical and speling erorrs…

213
makeitstop  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:03:10am

re: #202 Dr. Matt

Anyone else using chrome and the loading circle won’t stop spinning for LGF? I’m not having an issue with any other site.

Go into Task Manager and kill your Flash plugin. Works for me.

214
Jayleia  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:04:18am

Oh goodie…I’m twittering with someone in the “no-really, a literal nazi” camp. I don’t know if he’s from Illinois though, but he’s bad enough.

215
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:06:31am

re: #211 Dr. Matt

Wisconsin has been “hurt” by DC and not their governor and legislature? So much for the Party of Personal Responsibility.

I’m sure more tax cuts would help.

//

216
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:08:32am

Greyhound bus station gunman who fatally shot Virginia state trooper identified as Chicago area man with ‘anger about police’

The man who shot and killed a state trooper during a training exercise inside Greyhound station in Virginia has been identified as a Chicago area man with “a lot of anger about the police.”

Police identified the shooter as James Brown III, of Aurora, Ill., as the man who fatally shot state trooper Chad P. Dermyer, 37, in the chest at a Richmond, Va. Greyhound bus station Thursday afternoon after the officer approached him.

snip

Brown has a long violent criminal history including murder, intent to kill, aggravated battery with a firearm, failure to obey police, resisting a corrections officer and aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, according to local network WTVR.

Family said Brown may have been motivated by long-held grievances with law enforcement.

“He alway like the criminal side,” Brown’s aunt who helped raise him, Edith Brown, told WTVR.

“He had a lot of anger about the police in the past,” she said. “He pretty much thought that he wanted to be infamous…in terms of having a showdown. He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police.”

217
Eventual Carrion  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:08:47am

re: #209 Backwoods_Sleuth

hasn’t Wisconsin suffered enough???

[Embedded content]

218
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:10:14am

re: #216 Backwoods_Sleuth

Greyhound bus station gunman who fatally shot Virginia state trooper identified as Chicago area man with ‘anger about police’

snip

Classic case of an Obama-inspired cop killer. More motivation for police to empty their magazines first and ask questions later.

/

219
Ziggy_TARDIS  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:11:16am

re: #216 Backwoods_Sleuth

Why the hell would he be able to get a gun?

220
Dave In Austin  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:11:51am

Well, I see it’s going to be one of those days……..

221
iossarian  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:11:53am

re: #219 Ziggy_TARDIS

Why the hell would he be able to get a gun?

There’s this thing, it’s called the NRA, and…

222
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:11:58am

re: #219 Ziggy_TARDIS

Why the hell would he be able to get a gun?

To defend himself against the Police State…

223
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:13:32am

re: #213 makeitstop

Go into Task Manager and kill your Flash plugin. Works for me.

It used to. Not the past couple days. I had flash off and only one tab opened to LGF…and Chrome was still loading ad after 20 minutes this morning. I made mention of it up thread and last night.

Something has changed in the last few days. I’m using Firefox at the moment. Seems more stable and that is different too.

224
Ziggy_TARDIS  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:14:58am

re: #221 iossarian

re: #222 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Meant a bit rhetorically, but this seems like the kind of thing that would be easy to agree on. Those with violent criminal histories, or mental illnesses that would prevent them from being in the military, should not be able to buy guns. Yes, that would include me. That is just fine.

225
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:16:11am

re: #224 Ziggy_TARDIS

Meant a bit rhetorically, but this seems like the kind of thing that would be easy to agree on. Those with violent criminal histories, or mental illnesses that would prevent them from being in the military, should not be able to buy guns. Yes, that would include me. That is just fine.

Yes, that argument, however, is the one presented up until the moment he uses his 2nd Amendment rights to shoot someone who poses no threat to him or anyone.

It is then followed up by the argument that a good guy with a gun could have stopped him.

226
danarchy  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:17:17am

re: #219 Ziggy_TARDIS

Why the hell would he be able to get a gun?

My question is with a record like this:

Brown has a long violent criminal history including murder, intent to kill, aggravated battery with a firearm, failure to obey police, resisting a corrections officer and aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, according to local network WTVR.

Why the hell wasn’t he locked up in a deep dark hole.

227
iossarian  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:17:18am

re: #224 Ziggy_TARDIS

Meant a bit rhetorically, but this seems like the kind of thing that would be easy to agree on. Those with violent criminal histories, or mental illnesses that would prevent them from being in the military, should not be able to buy guns. Yes, that would include me. That is just fine.

We’re not getting a new supreme court justice until the NRA approves of the candidate, so don’t hold your breath.

228
calochortus  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:23:13am

re: #224 Ziggy_TARDIS

Meant a bit rhetorically, but this seems like the kind of thing that would be easy to agree on. Those with violent criminal histories, or mental illnesses that would prevent them from being in the military, should not be able to buy guns. Yes, that would include me. That is just fine.

I didn’t read the story, but I suspect he got his gun illegally, because the country is awash in easily available guns.

229
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:24:40am

re: #228 calochortus

I didn’t read the story, but I suspect he got his gun illegally, because the country is awash in easily available guns.

Which is why it is pointless to try and ban guns. Just like it is pointless to ban abortions because illegal ones are so easy to obtain…

now wait a second…

230
Ziggy_TARDIS  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:25:13am

re: #228 calochortus

Which I think would still reinforce my point. We have a problem that needs to be fixed. Just the relatively loose Scandinavian-style gun laws would help.

231
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:28:32am

re: #229 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

If abortion is outlaws, only outlaws will have abortions…

232
Shimshon  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:28:55am

re: #174 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

That’s what we get for outlawing child labor!

Thanks Obama

233
calochortus  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:30:25am

re: #230 Ziggy_TARDIS

Which I think would still reinforce my point. We have a problem that needs to be fixed. Just the relatively loose Scandinavian-style gun laws would help.

Of course they would. It would take time because of the sheer number of guns sloshing around out there, but one has to start somewhere and at some time.
But your original question was why he could get a gun, which to me implied that he must have obtained it legally. Perhaps I read more into it than you intended.

234
Great White Snark  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:32:11am
235
FormerDirtDart  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:32:23am

re: #209 Backwoods_Sleuth

hasn’t Wisconsin suffered enough???

@SarahPalinUSA
Just touched down in the great state of Wisconsin to #Stump4Trump! Wisconsin’s middle class has been hurt by DC…

Hmmm…where would most people be, if they were all about “family values”?

236
Romantic Heretic  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:34:33am

re: #157 Kent Dorfman

My wife is also disabled. SSDI limits how much income you can earn, then it starts taking your benefits away. I am going to sound like the biggest asshole here again, but these disabled adults are getting paid less than minimum because federal guidelines allow it, and that being out in the work force is therapeutic. Less than minimum pay is merited.

Well, the problem with that is that the cap is very low and the amount taken from a disabled person’s pay is rather gigantic.

Not sure how it works in the States but here in Ontario it works like this: If you are on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) and you make money they add $100 to your support, and take fifty cents off of your support for every dollar you earn. So, essentially, if you make more than $100 a month you are placed in the 50% tax bracket.

That makes people who are disabled really anxious to rejoin the workforce.

On top of that there’s nothing less therapeutic than working. People, especially employers, expect normalcy. They regard any thing out of the normal as a danger to their money. So they put stress on people to stop endangering their money.

Nothing like stress to help the disabled get better.

237
Eventual Carrion  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:37:31am
238
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:38:38am
239
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:44:35am

Again, won’t commit. Won’t raise for down ticket. Blasts Clinton for doing hundred thousand dollar fundraisers that DO raise for down ticket.

240
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:46:02am

re: #170 lawhawk

Well, it didn’t take long for the right wing loons to come to their talking points, which Trump will promptly use this morning:

[Embedded content]

93 million out of work, which includes all the usual suspects - the retired, the young, and those in college who aren’t seeking full time jobs.

The right is as predictable as they are reprehensible.

I am also out of the labor force, because I work for a foreign employer in a foreign country. There are at least a million others like me, either working or living abroad by choice.

93 million is almost 1/3 the population of America, and it should be obvious that America does not have its entire population working.

241
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:47:41am
242
Ming5000  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:48:22am

re: #235 FormerDirtDart

Pretty sure he has the remote in his hand. LOL

“Todd! Take a second from TV for a picture!”

243
Bass Reeves  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:53:56am

re: #157 Kent Dorfman

I guess the question I have here is, if the work is being done to the standard regardless of the status of the person doing it, how is less than the minimum pay merited? I mean, minimum seems like it should be the least compensation given. I do understand about using programs to help transition people or actually using it as therapy, but from what I recall from the Goodwill situation, that was most certainly not the case. They established a pay table less than minimum wage, and then cut that wage based on productivity.

I knew there was a reason I stopped going there, or donating stuff to them.

244
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:54:39am

re: #241 Jenner7

I believe everyone gets spotted .04%, so he’s pure and she’s infinitely more corrupt.

//

245
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:55:19am

Oh, and why won’t Bernie release more than one year of tax returns??

246
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:56:41am

Yeah, yeah, posting a lot, but this is what Al was alluding to last night.

247
danarchy  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:59:32am

re: #242 Ming5000

Pretty sure he has the remote in his hand. LOL

“Todd! Take a second from TV for a picture!”

I don’t know about you, but if I am just out of the hospital recovering from fairly serious injuries that is exactly how you would find me. On the couch with the remote in my hand.

248
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 8:59:41am

re: #246 Jenner7

Yeah, yeah, posting a lot, but this is what Al was alluding to last night.

I can’t see the linked tweet. What does it say?

249
Jenner7  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:01:59am

re: #248 Belafon

250
Shimshon  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:02:40am

I pray to the fsm this is an April fools joke… but I fear it is not:

rightwingwatch.org

251
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:02:50am

re: #248 Belafon

I can’t see the linked tweet. What does it say?

Gwen Rocco ‎@gwenrocco

Audio from today’s @HFA press call with Rep. Velázquez, Assemblyman Blake & the Phillips available here Video
11:53 AM - 1 Apr 2016

252
Ming5000  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:05:24am

re: #247 danarchy

I personally found it endearing.

253
gwangung  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:05:28am

re: #241 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

A lot of people conflate giving from employees in an industry with the industry itself. And they get annoyed when you point that out.

There’s some murkiness involved, here; of course, a lot of employees will be sympathetic to kindlier treatment to the industry, and the managers on up will have views aligned with the industry.

But it’s overly simplistic to conflate everything (I know a lot of higher ups at banks who are quite liberal in their politics, giving to progressive causes and not just politicians).

254
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:05:35am

re: #250 Shimshon

I pray to the fsm this is an April fools joke… but I fear it is not:

rightwingwatch.org

That’s very real. Erik Rush is insane.

255
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:06:12am

re: #253 gwangung

A lot of people conflate giving from employees in an industry with the industry itself. And they get annoyed when you point that out.

There’s some murkiness involved, here, of course; of course, a lot of employees will be sympathetic to kindlier treatment to the industry, and the managers on up will have views aligned with the industry.

But it’s overly simplistic to conflate everything (I know a lot of higher ups at banks who are quite liberal in their politics, giving to progressive causes and not just politicians).

That’s what I was thinking about as well.

256
Lidane  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:12:18am

I normally hate April Fool’s Day, but this is funny:

Facebook Post

257
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:12:29am

Here’s the thing. Clinton isn’t perfect and neither is Bernie. One thing I resent when campaigns like the Sanders or before him ones like the Paul campaign portray their candidate as pure as snow and incapable of error and then act like your opponents mistakes are the worst thing ever. There’s a tendency of die-hards to over-romanticize their own candidate and to demonize their opponent.

258
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:12:53am

Wouldn’t it be great if this were true…..

259
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:14:36am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned on Thursday that he will continue to sue critics who insult him in Turkey, where journalists and other critics of the president have been imprisoned.

He issued the admonition in Washington, a day before a hearing in Istanbul resumes in the trial of two high-profile Turkish journalists.

“I would (thank) each and everyone one of those who criticize me but if they were to insult me, my lawyers will go and file a lawsuit,” said Erdogan, speaking at an event on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

260
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:16:28am

re: #259 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

Ah I see Donald Trump has a Turkish cousin.

261
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:17:49am

Bernie wants everything to be ideal. His supporters want the ideal.

Nothing is ideal, and that counts for Bernie too.

I have a suspicion things are going to be very testy from here on out. I had hoped it wouldn’t get to this, but Bernie keeps pushing about her speeches, etc.

Jeff Weaver from his campaign said last night that as long as they do not mention Hillary by name in an ad, then it is not negative. To me that is very misleading. They are going to do ads that will be very clear as to who they are targeting and think they are not negative.

I’d have more respect if they would just admit they are going to go negative. To me it shows more deception on Bernie’s part. And his supporters will eat it up.

I’m really disappointed in Bernie these days. I used to be impressed.

262
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:20:24am

re: #261 ObserverArt

Bernie wants everything to be ideal. His supporters want the ideal.

Nothing is ideal, and that counts for Bernie too.

I have a suspicion things are going to be very testy from here on out. I had hoped it wouldn’t get to this, but Bernie keeps pushing about her speeches, etc.

Jeff Weaver from his campaign said last night that as long as they do not mention Hillary by name in an ad, then it is not negative. To me that is very misleading. They are going to do ads that will be very clear as to who they are targeting and think they are not negative.

I’d have more respect if they would just admit they are going to go negative. To me it shows more deception on Bernie’s part. And his supporters will eat it up.

I’m really disappointed in Bernie these days. I used to be impressed.

A politician is still a politician, even a socialist one.

263
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:23:45am

re: #262 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

A politician is still a politician, even a socialist one.

And that’s the thing isn’t it. A lot of Bernie’s supporters don’t believe he’s a regular politician even though he’s held some form of federal office since 1990. ARt’s right. If they could just acknowledge that they will and have gone negative, I could respect that but the way they portray it as Bernie the good, white knight of progressive socialism versus Hillary the bad, black knight of centrist corporatism just frustrates me.

264
Decatur Deb  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:30:38am

Severe weather is entrained over us for the rest of the day. Tornado watch, severe storm warning and 2-day rain of as much as 6” expected. The dog is showing more intelligence than usual, climbing into the tub in a windowless bathroom. Thanks, USWS outreach.

265
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:31:47am

I still do have a big problem with Bernie not committing to campaigning for down ticket candidates. Okay, I suppose I can grant that’s his decision but two things about that) You’re shooting yourself in the foot big time with that because effective Presidents need Congresses to back them up and the second thing is I don’t see how you can do that and then complain about the Superdelegates. You’re not just running for President of the United States. You’re becoming the head and face of your party. I just wish I could understand what he expects.

266
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:33:29am

re: #263 HappyWarrior

And that’s the thing isn’t it. A lot of Bernie’s supporters don’t believe he’s a regular politician even though he’s held some form of federal office since 1990. ARt’s right. If they could just acknowledge that they will and have gone negative, I could respect that but the way they portray it as Bernie the good, white knight of progressive socialism versus Hillary the bad, black knight of centrist corporatism just frustrates me.

I’m not going to get too frustrated over what they say right now. After the nomination, it’ll be a different story.

On the other hand, purity arguments aren’t going to convince me to support Sanders for the nomination, because, as you said, no one is pure. And getting shrill in their attempt isn’t going to change that.

267
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:33:41am

re: #263 HappyWarrior

And that’s the thing isn’t it. A lot of Bernie’s supporters don’t believe he’s a regular politician even though he’s held some form of federal office since 1990. ARt’s right. If they could just acknowledge that they will and have gone negative, I could respect that but the way they portray it as Bernie the good, white knight of progressive socialism versus Hillary the bad, black night of centrist corporatism just frustrates me.

A guy who’s held federal office for 26 years is a “career politician” in my book. That’s 1/3 of Bernie’s life, and he was a local pol before that. He’s not a DC outsider by any means. As I’ve said here before, I like some of Bernie’s ideas, and wish they could be implemented, but to paint him as some kind of New Guy who will sweep away the old way of doing things in DC is a hallucination. He’s been in office longer than some his supporters have been alive. Likewise, Trump supporters have this fairy-tale notion that Trump can waltz into the White House and start barking orders to “Make America Great Again,” whatever the fuck that means. He can’t, unless he dismisses Congress and dismantles the federal court system. And then the USA would essentially cease to exist.

268
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:34:59am

re: #266 Belafon

I’m not going to get too frustrated over what they right now. After the nomination, it’ll be a different story.

On the other hand, purity arguments aren’t going to convince me to support Sanders for the nomination, because, as you said, no one is pure. And getting shrill in their attempt isn’t going to change that.

Yeah I am good for now. People get passioante during the primaries. I just wish they would see the big picture now.

269
Decatur Deb  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:35:05am

re: #265 HappyWarrior

I still do have a big problem with Bernie not committing to campaigning for down ticket candidates. Okay, I suppose I can grant that’s his decision but two things about that) You’re shooting yourself in the foot big time with that because effective Presidents need Congresses to back them up and the second thing is I don’t see how you can do that and then complain about the Superdelegates. You’re not just running for President of the United States. You’re becoming the head and face of your party. I just wish I could understand what he expects.

Posted this yesterday. Bernie might be trying to grow an alternate Dem establishment.

edited to quote link—lost ability to ‘copy’:

About Bernie’s reluctance to support down-ticket candidates with appearances or cash:

MoveOn (created to defend a different Clinton) is the most established of the Bernie boosters. They are also raising funds/building lists for something new—“Sanders Democrats”. The three they solicited for today are Lucy Flores, Zephyr Teachout, and Pramila Jayapal. All are new or very local candidates.

thenation.com

270
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:37:46am

Which one is Cooper and which one is Dali?

271
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:38:12am

re: #269 Decatur Deb

Posted this yesterday. Bernie might be trying to grow an alternate Dem establishment.

littlegreenfootballs.com

Interesting observation, and it would definitely be a good direction for the party as a whole. Are they superdelegates?

272
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:38:18am

re: #267 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

A guy who’s held federal office for 26 years is a “career politician” in my book. That’s 1/3 of Bernie’s life, and he was a local pol before that. He’s not a DC outsider by any means. As I’ve said here before, I like some of Bernie’s ideas, and wish they could be implemented, but to paint him as some kind of New Guy who will sweep away the old way of doing things in DC is a hallucination. He’s been in office longer than some his supporters have been alive. Likewise, Trump supporters have this fairy-tale notion that Trump can waltz into the White House and start barking orders to “Make America Great Again,” whatever the fuck that means. He can’t, unless he dismisses Congress and dismantles the federal court system. And then the USA would essentially cease to exist.

Right, and you know what I don’t fault him at all for being a career politician. I actually value them more than the noob who talks a lot of shit about “fixing Washington” and gives vague bullshit and ends up being far worse than the “insider” he’d replace. But you’re right, there’s a lot of naivete going on. Paradoxically, I think Clinton would not only be more effective than Bernie as President but able to govern more progressive and implement more lasting change than he would. I imagine Bernie would get frustrated and implement a lot of executive orders that could be reversed. I’ve remained very liberal in my ideology but more centrist/pragmatic in implementation because I think that’s the best way to get lasting change. I don’t see Bernie as having Obama or Clinton’s shrewdness. I also think his cabinet would have a lot of yes men and women and not a healthy amount of ideological diversity.

273
Decatur Deb  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:45:32am

re: #271 Belafon

Interesting observation, and it would definitely be a good direction for the party as a whole. Are they superdelegates?

Not sure. One or two possibly, those who are elected Dems high enough up the food chain.

274
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:46:30am

re: #267 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

A guy who’s held federal office for 26 years is a “career politician” in my book.

Isn’t it well over 30 years if you include his time as mayor?

275
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:47:25am

re: #274 Dr. Matt

Isn’t it well over 30 years if you include his time as mayor?

We’re including just his federal experience. Wheat noted his local experience too.

276
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:52:19am

re: #256 Lidane

I normally hate April Fool’s Day, but this is funny:

Introducing Quilted Northern(r) Rustic Weave. Artisanal toilet paper inspired by a simpler time.

art is anal

277
gwangung  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:52:29am

re: #269 Decatur Deb

Posted this yesterday. Bernie might be trying to grow an alternate Dem establishment.

edited to quote link—lost ability to ‘copy’:

About Bernie’s reluctance to support down-ticket candidates with appearances or cash:

MoveOn (created to defend a different Clinton) is the most established of the Bernie boosters. They are also raising funds/building lists for something new—“Sanders Democrats”. The three they solicited for today are Lucy Flores, Zephyr Teachout, and Pramila Jayapal. All are new or very local candidates.

thenation.com

Jayapal is a good candidate, but she’s running in a very blue part of the state. It doesn’t add near as much as trying to flip seats that are currently red.

Also, I’m wondering why an third machine? He hasn’t made the case that the current Democratic party is unsalvageable, or more importantly, not amenable to change. Yes, they have advantages of money and experience…but that’s an advantage that can work for you if you’re in charge.

And certainly, the religious right has shown it’s quite possible to take over the established machinery of a political party….

278
Dr. Matt  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:52:31am

re: #275 HappyWarrior

We’re including just his federal experience. Wheat noted his local experience too.

Ooops. Sorry…I missed the word “federal” staring right at me . Derp.

279
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:53:08am

re: #270 The Vicious Babushka

Which one is Cooper and which one is Dali?

[Embedded content]

Dali is the Llama

280
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:53:18am

re: #278 Dr. Matt

Ooops. Sorry…I missed the word “federal” staring right at me . Derp.

No sweat.

281
Lidane  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:53:59am
282
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:54:17am

re: #264 Decatur Deb

Severe weather is entrained over us for the rest of the day. Tornado watch, severe storm warning and 2-day rain of as much as 6” expected. The dog is showing more intelligence than usual, climbing into the tub in a windowless bathroom. Thanks, USWS outreach.

Stay safe!

283
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:55:30am

re: #267 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

A guy who’s held federal office for 26 years is a “career politician” in my book. That’s 1/3 of Bernie’s life, and he was a local pol before that. He’s not a DC outsider by any means. As I’ve said here before, I like some of Bernie’s ideas, and wish they could be implemented, but to paint him as some kind of New Guy who will sweep away the old way of doing things in DC is a hallucination. He’s been in office longer than some his supporters have been alive. Likewise, Trump supporters have this fairy-tale notion that Trump can waltz into the White House and start barking orders to “Make America Great Again,” whatever the fuck that means. He can’t, unless he dismisses Congress and dismantles the federal court system. And then the USA would essentially cease to exist.

People have such a low opinion of politicians and politics as usual that they think that a (perceived) outsider would be some sort of improvement. Speaks volumes about the state of politics and the relationship between the government and the governed

284
lawhawk  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:55:49am

For the past 6+ years, the right wing has spewing nonsense about how Obamacare would destroy the economy. Not only only are we in the midst of the longest period of job growth, but the economy continues to chug along at an albeit slow but steady pace.

So, the right wing has now attached itself to blocking any increase in the minimum wage, even though millions of Americans would stand to benefit from the wage hikes resulting from this, and that too would drive more economic growth since people who have more take home wages can afford to do more with that money, and it could mean reduced reliance on social safety net programs since they’ll have living wages (as companies like Walmart pay crap wages to most of their workers, forcing those workers to turn to state assistance for SNAP or housing benefits, etc.)

None of the state efforts to raise the minimum wage will result in overnight hikes to $15, but over a period of years. Watch right wingers ignore that bit.

CA and NY are taking the lead, and NY is offering paid parental leave too (the combination of minimum wages and parental leave in NY have phase ins and smaller businesses have more time to get this done, and regional adjustments are in the NY plan too).

285
Whack-A-Mole  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:56:28am

re: #236 Romantic Heretic

WRT disabled individuals and pay rate, I used to work in a vocational rehabilitation program for individuals with disabilities. Severe disabilities. People whose disabilities affected their gross motor skills so completely that they were unable to walk, stand, dress, feed themselves, etc. The reason the minimum wage exceptions exist is to allow programs like the one I worked at to function.

The individuals all did real work that was contracted from community industries but, because of their disabilities, were unable to do it at any kind of rate that paying them actual minimum wage would be financially possible for the program. Instead, they were paid at a piece rate - essentially they were paid the percentage of the prevailing community wage (which sometimes could be higher than minimum wage) equal to the percentage of the ‘standard work rate’ that they could complete. This allowed them to earn real money at a job doing real work (as opposed to simulated work tasks that some rehab facilities use) and be real members of the workforce. In short, this is actual community integration.

Programs like this just couldn’t survive having to pay minimum wage.

Now, if an individual has less severe disabilities, and merely just needs a little more time, or a little more support than a typical worker, then there is absolutely no excuse for paying less than minimum wage.

286
HappyWarrior  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:56:35am

re: #281 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Haha cute little kid. They did a great job duplicating the Farrrell video.

287
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:56:43am

re: #277 gwangung

Jayapal is a good candidate, but she’s running in a very blue part of the state. It doesn’t add near as much as trying to flip seats that are currently red.

Also, I’m wondering why an third machine? He hasn’t made the case that the current Democratic party is unsalvageable, or more importantly, not amenable to change. Yes, they have advantages of money and experience…but that’s an advantage that can work for you if you’re in charge.

And certainly, the religious right has shown it’s quite possible to take over the established machinery of a political party….

It is, if you’re willing to put in the 30 years of work necessary.

288
BeachDem  Apr 1, 2016 • 9:59:45am

re: #268 HappyWarrior

Yeah I am good for now. People get passioante during the primaries. I just wish they would see the big picture now.

An interesting question I’ve seen posed to Bernie fans is “Why didn’t he run in 2004, or 2008—all the things he’s talking about now were going on then.”

I can’t remember what their response was about 2004, but they say that in 2008, Obama “promised” all the unicorns and rainbows they wanted, but then he failed them all big time (argghh).

I read that as Bernie was willing to sit back and let somebody else at least try to do the heavy lifting. But it wasn’t done to his/their satisfaction, so the only choice was for Bernie to finally step up to “save us.”

It makes me shake my head, because you could drive a truck through the holes in the theory, but here we are.

289
Kragar  Apr 1, 2016 • 10:00:52am

So, home internet service is turned back on.

Kids are in Spring Break right now and had a friend sleep over, and they were watching scary movies on their friend’s laptop.

Movies which the kid got from a file sharing site and got flagged as being shared from my home WiFi.

Got it cleared up, but I’ll be talking to some parents tonight.

290
Decatur Deb  Apr 1, 2016 • 10:03:38am

re: #288 BeachDem

A realistic goal for Bernie’s lifetime would have been to create an Independent Socialist party that could place 3 socialist senators in states with properly prepared electorates. He reached for the brass ring, and he’s going to fall off the pretty unicorn.

291
ObserverArt  Apr 1, 2016 • 10:04:25am

re: #289 Kragar

So, home internet service is turned back on.

Kids are in Spring Break right now and had a friend sleep over, and they were watching scary movies on their friend’s laptop.

Movies which the kid got from a file sharing site and got flagged as being shared from my home WiFi.

Got it cleared up, but I’ll be talking to some parents tonight.

A teaching moment, eh?

292
Belafon  Apr 1, 2016 • 10:07:32am

re: #289 Kragar

So, home internet service is turned back on.

Kids are in Spring Break right now and had a friend sleep over, and they were watching scary movies on their friend’s laptop.

Movies which the kid got from a file sharing site and got flagged as being shared from my home WiFi.

Got it cleared up, but I’ll be talking to some parents tonight.

My youngest has a friend whose family is into watching movies from file sharing sites. I love free stuff when it’s actually meant to be free. I don’t get free movies from the internet, and the only free music I’ve gotten is when the artists have given them away.

293
Eric The Fruit Bat  Apr 1, 2016 • 12:45:58pm

re: #284 lawhawk

Over at Mike Shedlock”s blog, he makes the argument that all the job growth is solely due to part time jobs (aka Uber, etc.) and not full time due to the way BLS calculates what counts as an employee.


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