Tuesday Morning Trying Not to Screw it Up Links

Good after… damn. Let me come back in from the top.

We caught Sloopy at work

Good Moooooorning, Glibs. Sloopy is back on the road this morning. Gotta feed all those moufs. In the meantime, I’ll try not to release these links an hour early and incomplete. Its like the Dan Rather days of the internet all over again “PROFESSIONAL blogs would never do that!”

In sports, Houston Rockets got run out of the gym by Golden State, Army On Ice picked up a home win to even the series, Astros lost a close one to the good Los Angeles team, Oakland beat the Bean(town)ers, and the Reds streak came to an end after they stopped play bad Los Angeles. And now… the links!

We’ll start with a story about a very nice man who humbly donated plasma as often as they’d let him for 60 years, helping generations of Australian babies with Rh compatibility. He is retiring at age 81 from doing so because the rules for donation have aged him out. Thank you, sir.

Hungary creates official “enemies list” with 200 names. Thousands more ask to join. (T/W most of those on the list work for George Soros)

So this guy got talked into running for Senate and doesn’t really want to, and now people are shocked, Shocked! That he doesn’t show up for campaign events. Maybe he really meant he doesn’t want to be a senator.

Its the cure for the common cold — only 25 years away! (Still!)

 

99 years ago, L. Frank Baum joined this list.

 

Comments

416 responses to “Tuesday Morning Trying Not to Screw it Up Links”

  1. butthurt government liquor monopoly pitches an infantile fit with anti-competitive tactics

    The New Hampshire Liquor Commission, which operates the state’s liquor stores, says it plans on getting into the business of shipping wine directly to consumers.

    But at the same time, in its role as a regulator, the commission has been taking steps to limit out-of-state wine retailers from selling to New Hampshire customers, making the business of ordering a favorite Bordeaux a lot more complicated

    “The fact of the matter is this: It is a profound conflict of interest for an agency that sells all the wine in the state to be regulating its competitors. When that happens, this is the sort of abuse of power that you see.”

    To him, these are gangster tactics. To the state, this is how you protect taxpayers and the bottom line. And to wine lovers, it’s bound to uncork a bit of confusion about where they’ll be able to order their favorite bottles.

    So so so close this time. Statements adjacent too!

    1. Pope Jimbo

      They aren’t wrong. Municipal liquor stores in Minnesoda have learned the hard way that they can’t compete with “big box” liquor stores.

      Edina’s lower profits correlate with the opening in late 2014 of a Total Wine & More store near Interstate 494 and France Avenue. Overall, Minnesota’s 193 munis took a nearly $3 million hit in 2015. Munis have taken a long time to bounce back from the “Total phenomenon,” Kaspszak said.

      Edina is the poster child for munis in Minnesoda. The linked story is old, but it is the best one. They are still way down in revenue. For some reason the municipal liquor store employees are not as interested in customer service as Total Wines.

      The funny thing is that we have been swamped with stories in the Twin Cities about how evil Total Wines is because they hurt munis and small family run stores. However, the Total Wines near my house is always swamped and all my neighbors would take up arms if they tried to close it. Funny how good service and low prices seem to win out over the dreams of our betters.

      1. commodious spittoon

        You know who else took up arms over booze…

        1. Western Pennsyltucky?

        2. R C Dean

          Al Capone?

        3. A Leap at the Wheel

          The Cheif Steward at the Wedding at Cana?

        4. Spudalicious

          Joe Kennedy?

    2. Badolph Hilter

      It is a profound conflict of interest for an agency that sells all the wine in the state to be regulating its competitors.

      I don’t understand this statement. Isn’t “regulating their competitors completely out of the market” the entire reason they exist? I mean, why else have them?

      We don’t have state-run liquor stores here, so maybe I’m missing something.

      1. Badolph Hilter

        I see from the Pope’s link that some of them are not government-run monopolies on liquor sales, they’re actually trying to own and operate a competitive business. Interesting.

        I guess this is a step up over just confiscating the money directly through taxes, but:
        – It seems destined to fail on a competitive basis.
        – It further seems that when it does inevitably fail, it will use the power of government to tilt the system back to its own favor.

  2. PieInTheSKy

    Hungary creates official “enemies list” with 200 names. Thousands more ask to join. – did I make it? Any Romanians on it?

    1. SP

      You’re on all the lists, Pie.

    2. Drake

      Working for a George Soros organization is a pretty easy way to spot an enemy of Western Civilization. Sulla would know how to handle them.

      1. PieInTheSKy

        Let’s not exaggerate now…

        1. Drake

          The first sentence isn’t exaggeration – they are pretty actively and openly destroy Western Civilization.

          Sulla’s solutions to shore up a crumbling republic were extreme and didn’t outlive him by much.

          1. Yeah, I’ll pass on the whole proscription list/dictatorship thing. Thanks.

          2. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Yeah, I hate Soros as much as the next guy, but this is not the way to go about it.

          3. spqr2008

            Is it to send a loose cannon secret agent to infiltrate his secret island base, and blow it up with many explosions, while romancing his right hand gal?

    3. MikeS

      Now I’m Hungary for Pie.

  3. SP

    Excellent links. Quality links. On time and complete! A+

    1. MikeS

      And alt-text! A++

  4. PieInTheSKy

    In sports, Houston Rockets got run out of the gym by Golden State, – oh come on it was not that big a blowout.

    1. Drake

      I didn’t watch (because the NBA sucks) but I seriously doubt that. The transition game is dead in the NBA – which is one reason it sucks,

      1. PieInTheSKy

        Lonzo will fix it

        1. Drake

          Is he going to get rid of the 3-point line and teach them how to dribble the ball?

          1. PieInTheSKy

            Anything can happen when you have Balls

          2. AlexinCT

            That’s what she said…

      2. straffinrun

        It’s alive and well in the decathalon. BTW, who is this dude on my Wheatie’s box?

      3. straffinrun

        Steph is the best shooter I’ve seen in my life. Not your cup of tea. Fine. But I put him ahead of Curr, Reggie Miller and Nash. Fun to watch lights out shooting like that.

        1. PBRstreetgang

          Agree completely. Incredible shooter, which spaces the floor for everyone else.
          I think the NBA is actually pretty great right now, so much talent and so much of it under the age of 25 (Embiid, Porzingas, Towns, Antetukouspomopo (Giannis. Whatever), Simmons, Tatum, so forth and so on.
          They do need to speed the games up though.

        2. Pope Jimbo

          If it wasn’t for Steph, Klay would be lauded for his shooting (his D is also much better than Steph’s). Fuck Klay would be a superstar shooter on any team in the NBA, but he is overshadowed by Steph.

          Yeah, Steph Curry is the best shooter I have seen in my life. Of course, his success was guaranteed when the T-Woofs passed on him.

          1. PBRstreetgang

            That Johnny Flynn pick looks like one of the worst ever ‘non-Anthony Bennett’ category.

          2. straffinrun

            Klay may end up being the better shooter over time. He has the size and Steph is going to lose a step eventually and not be able to create enough space. They’re both great. Not the greatest of all time, but I loved Hodges threes.

          3. Pope Jimbo

            One of the things that makes it hard to compare is the 3-point line. How many old timers could have shot just as well as today’s shooters, but never did because there was no bonus to shooting 3-length shots back then.

            Personally, I’d like to make the following two changes:

            1) you can only get 3’s in the last 3 minutes of a half
            2) If you are over 6′ 7″ you cannot get a 3

            The last one is because I am sick of seeing big men with NO low post moves sit out at the 3 line.

          4. straffinrun

            If you are over 6′ 7″ you cannot get a 3

            That there is commie ball.

          5. *tells Jack Sikma and Tom Chambers posters that it will be alright*

            *narrows gaze*

          6. Drake

            That’s what gets me to turn the channel. The “center” shooting 3’s. Constant uncalled traveling, and everyone carrying the ball instead of dribbling.

            They just toss up 3’s with nobody under the hoop. Rebounds these days are just who the ball happens to bounce to 20-feet from the hoop. Nobody plays low-post. Kevin McHale could score 80 points a game now, but his team wold lose because they would all be 2’s.

            And since players now concentrate on nothing but long-range shooting, the transition game is totally dead in the NBA. There are still occasional fast-breaks off of steals, but there was a time where every play was a fast break unless the opposition stopped it. Here’s an hour of Showtime showing how it’s done. Most of these breaks are off of scored baskets or rebounds.

          7. Pope Jimbo

            Drake, you can’t link to Magic and Showtime AND complain about carrying the ball.

            Magic was fantastic, but he was the first to start blatantly carrying the ball and getting away with it.

            Agree that watching James Hardin dribble one time between the 3-pt line and getting a layup is tough to watch. How can you defend against that?

          8. Raise the hoop by 2 feet and solve all of these problems.

          9. everyone carrying the ball

            This is the biggest problem to me. Carrying is a dead violation — it doesn’t exist.

          10. trshmnstr

            Get rid of the restricted area

  5. Maybe he really meant he doesn’t want to be a senator.

    The weightlifting photo is epic.

    1. straffinrun

      Dead lift? Does he think Weld is his running mate?

    2. Gustave Lytton

      “If elected, I will not spot!”

    3. Florida Man

      If he promised to continue to do nothing, I would vote for him.

      1. Drake

        Seriously, if he never showed up he’s be a massive improvement over McCaskill.

        1. Gustave Lytton

          [insert clip of Baldrick wondering how to vote, shortly before getting rolled by Pitt the Younger]

          1. Evan from Evansville
          2. straffinrun

            BTW, Evan. Nice piece on your experience with the hip replacement. Nice as in that must’ve really sucked.

          3. Gustave Lytton

            https://youtu.be/T3jIE3b-bhY

            Also, nice work on the article. It was painful to read. Glad you’re doing better now.

          4. Evan from Evansville

            Thanks, gents.

      2. Pope Jimbo

        Exactly. I think the country is ready for a candidate who just promised to do nothing.

    4. JaimeRoberto

      Maybe he’s copying Hillary’s winning Wisconsin strategy.

    1. Drake

      What would be my motivation for clicking?

      1. Rasilio

        watching a train wreck happen in slow motion?

        1. This shit always makes me sad. Hollywood routinely chews people up and spits them out and then lectures the rest of society on how to take care of people.

  6. PieInTheSKy

    Its the cure for the common cold — only 25 years away! (Still!) – what happened to good old socks soaked in vinegar? Or is that just a Romania thing?

    1. PieInTheSKy

      Also did you Americans come to realize the mortal danger of a drafty room?

    2. straffinrun

      That’s not Romanian. That’s a Walmart douche.

    3. PieInTheSKy

      Also eating garlic helps

    4. Florida Man

      I was distracted by the word “nobble” in the article and wandered off.

  7. PieInTheSKy

    In case you were thinking there is nothing truly wrong with the world these days

    Nine-year-old Instagram star Lil Tay’s ‘flexing’ got her mom fired — that’s only the beginning of her reign of terror

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/14/17340682/who-is-lil-tay-mom-fired-child-stars-instagram

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      That kid is the first horseman of the apocalypse.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        STINKY JUST A BROKE ASS BITCH

      2. WTF

        “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer”.
        The White Rider has also been called “Pestilence”, particularly in popular culture

    2. PBRstreetgang

      Wait. Lil Tay is Canadian? And her mom looks… well, completely average and normal? I am so confused by the world right now.

      1. WTF

        Jesus, first the flappy heads inflict Bieber on us, and now this? Canuckistan really does hate America!

  8. Derpetologist
    1. Suthenboy

      School shootings?

    2. Florida Man

      Thousands of small donation = big gun buying elections. Yup.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Ollie will fix that.

  9. LJW

    Seattle City Council votes 9-0 for scaled-down head tax on large employers

    I’m enjoying this. Bezos helped create the monster, now he doesn’t want it.

    1. PieInTheSKy

      Weak. Seattle needs to elect some real progressives.

    2. Gustave Lytton

      Now they have the money to erect more monuments to socialism. How about putting up some Mussolini and Hitler statues next to that Lenin one? He must be lonesome without his fellow travelers.

      1. WTF

        I wonder how they plan to keep these big companies from moving out of Seattle?

        1. Gustave Lytton

          Maybe a wall could help?

        2. Suthenboy

          Something something article last night on forcing more jobs downtown public transportation or something.
          Nail their feet to the deck and force them to row.

    3. WTF

      I love the signs: “Tax Amazon Create Union Jobs!”
      Sure, that’s how it works.

      1. “Make everyone Equally Poor!”

    4. straffinrun

      Starting next year, the tax will be $275 per employee, per year on for-profit companies that gross at least $20 million per year in the city — down from a $500-per-head proposal that Durkan threatened to veto.

      The city declared a homelessness state of emergency in late 2015. A point-in-time count last year tallied more than 11,600 homeless people in King County and one in 16 Seattle Public Schools students is homeless.

      Anyone see a connection between those adjacent sentences?

      1. Gustave Lytton

        No no no. It’s the higher paid employees of these companies that are driving up living costs.

        The same higher paid employees who are getting paid starvation wages because they’re not unionized according to the union protesters.

        Cognitive dissonance, how the fuck does it not work?

      2. invisible finger

        This is even more back-asswards than Chicago. When Daley eliminated the employee head tax, companies started slowly moving back into the city from the suburbs.

      3. Raston Bot

        “for profit” companies. not school districts, hospitals, or any other public-ish sector employer.

      4. “one in 16 Seattle Public Schools students is homeless.”

        The plan is working.

    5. Florida Man

      Seattle has such nice weather, that they can afford to charge whatever they like and big companies will pay it.

      1. Drake

        Maybe they are looking for ways to get everyone to just leave so they can go back to being a depressing fishing town.

        1. Tejicano

          Well, Seattle is where the original Skid Row is/was.

    6. Slammer

      racerstan 4 hours ago
      @Plato 16 I agree–just like a letter in the print edition of the Times today–Amazon get lost–I’m retired–I remember how good Seattle was years ago–no traffic jams on I-5 on the weekends–even in the summer sun–could actually drive to events in the South end on weekends from the North–I-5 wasn’t a parking lot then–so what if my house drops in value from $800,000 to $200,00 if tech leaves–I received raises over my working career–remember those posters–have investments–would love to see Amazon disappear–maybe bookstores would come back again–more brick and mortar stores –could shop for detached houses in Seattle again.

      biscuitpoisoning 1 hour ago
      I remember when pop-pop would take me down to the docks on the back of our wagon to get a sasparilla and a look-see at the folks getting off the boats, moving here to take pop-pop’s job. He used to shake his fist at them and tell them to “get back to where ya came from!”

      Yeah, you and old pop-pop would have been best buddies. Those were the days, weren’t they? You could sit at a lunch counter without any people who looked weird staring at you, and for a nickel you could get a shoe-shine from one of the street urchins. No Amazon, no Starbucks, but those kids had real jobs, paying real wages. And their families had 10 or 20 kids so they could afford that corrugated tin shack on the other side of the tracks, safely out of view of DECENT folk like you and pop-pop… So what if those kids died at 13 or from TB or the measles, at least we got an affordable shoe-shine and they stayed out of OUR neighborhoods.

      1. RAHeinlein

        Why are these people looking back instead of following the teachings of Black Jesus? This is what happens when people have no hope…

      2. “–I remember how good Seattle was years ago–no traffic jams on I-5 on the weekends–even in the summer sun–could actually drive to events in the South end on weekends from the North–I-5 wasn’t a parking lot then”

        Sounds like a conservative.

    7. creech

      Amazon should take the tax out of the employees’ paychecks and immediately create 45,000 pissed off voters.

      1. WTF

        Make sure it’s a single line item on their pay stub so they know exactly what’s happening.

        1. Breet Pharara

          “But the company was meant to pay it. it’s their fault for passing it on to the employee instead of eating it like we intended them to do.”

          /Seattle city council

          1. Rasilio

            It will shock them to learn that companies never pay taxes and taxing the company just transfers the decision of who ultimately pays the tax from the politician to the company

  10. PieInTheSKy

    Infant growth patterns affected by type of protein consumed

    A new study by CU School of Medicine researchers has determined that protein intake from solid foods has a significant impact on infant growth during the first year of life.

    The study tested whether dairy-based or meat-based protein in an infant’s diet contributed to growth and weight gain. Sixty-four infants were involved in the study, with the group evenly divided between those who ate dairy and those who ate meat in addition to their formula and fruits and vegetables.

    “We found that the source of protein may have an important role in regulating growth,” said Minghua Tang, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, who led the study. “The infants had distinct growth patterns, especially for length, depending on whether they ate meat- or dairy-based complementary foods.”

    Based on the measurements, meat-based complementary foods promoted linear growth. The analysis showed the length-for-age increased in the meat group and declined in the dairy group. At the same time, the weight-for-length measurements significantly increased in the dairy group compared with the meat group.

    So give your babies steak, I guess…

    1. Derpetologist

      Scientific proof that cheeseburgers are nature’s perfect food.

      1. Semi-Spartan Dad

        Freakanomics described McDonald’s double cheeseburger as the cheapest, most nutritious, and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history.

        1. commodious spittoon

          I have a soft spot in my heart gut for the McDouble.

      2. Suthenboy

        Bacon cheeseburgers. Don’t forget the bacon.

        1. AlexinCT

          Classy!

        2. R C Dean

          Well, bacon is magic. It Is Known.

    2. Raston Bot

      first year of life? my kids had dairy from momma.

      how do you feed steak to someone with no teeth and is prone to choking b/c they’re a stupid infant?

      1. WTF

        Vitamix!

        1. pan fried wylie

          God. Fucking. Dammit.

          “ah-ha lemme just refresh and put vitamix here….NOOOOO”

  11. When Listening to “Postern of Fate” I noticed some problems with Agatha’s time line. Then I listened to “N or M” and found some more. The latter ones were less irritating than Postern, but I think I have to lay out the issues.

    Tommy and Tuppence Beresford appear in five novels. The first “The Secret Adversary” takes place Five years after the sinking of the Luisitania, aka 1920. It does not explicitly state an age for either character save that Tuppence was a nurse then a driver for a general during the war, and the Tommy served in the army. “Partners in Crime” takes place six years after “Secret Adversary” (thus 1926) and states that Tommy is 32, meaning he was born in 1894 and was 21 in 1915, perfectly reasonable time frame. At the end of “Partners in Crime” it is revealed that they are going to be parents. “N or M” is set explicitly in 1940 and again gets Tommy’s age correct at forty six. However, it has one of their twins working in codebreaking, and the other flying for the RAF. These twins who should at most be Fourteen.

    Postern of Fate is set when Tuppence is “past seventy” but since we don’t have an exact age previously, we only know that she was active in her WWI service from 1915-1918, and is almost certainly born no later than 1897, but probably a few years before that. The events of Postern deal with uncovering espionage from the WWI time frame. Several named characters they deal with are in their eighties, with one explicitly stated to be 94. These people have lived in the town their whole lives – but state that the people around whom the mystery revolves were “Before their time” and share information “from their grandmother”. At one point Tuppence makes the assertion that the dead woman died “when she was only three”. 1900 is a bit early for WWI espionage about submarines. It wouldn’t be so annoying if it didn’t keep getting repeated as if they were talking about things that happened during the Crimea and not the first world war.

    1. PieInTheSKy

      Stop listening to books. You need to feel the paper

      1. I need to drive. Audiobooks play during my commute.

        1. PieInTheSKy

          Stop killing Gaia. Take the bus.

          1. Fuck off slaver!

  12. A Leap at the Wheel

    Pardon if the Gliberatti have already covered this, but WTF is up with the NRA electing an actual gun smuggler to be their president.

    We are at the dawn of a reawakening of interest in the RKBA among non-old, non-fat, non-white, non-Republicans, and the NRA picks this fuck head to be their spokes mouth?

    I’m glad my regular donations to RKBA groups don’t include the NRA any more.

    1. Florida Man

      It’s not just coastal marketers that live in a bubble.

    2. straffinrun

      You are seeing this page because we have detected unauthorized activity.

      Great. Is that like looking at Wikileaks?

      1. Florida Man

        Worked fine for me.

        1. straffinrun

          You’re a Florida man. Nothing is unauthorized.

          1. Florida Man

            There is only one rule. If I ask you to hold my beer, you’re not allowed to drink it unless I die.

          2. WTF

            How about hospitalization? Because otherwise it would just get warm and flat.
            Oh, right, Florida Man: you’d drink it on the way to the Emergency Room.

          3. Florida Man

            You got it.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      North is a weasel, that is all.

      1. Negroni Please

        Is he? I do not recall.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          My understanding is that he was taking kickbacks on the gun sales during the Iran-Contra affair, nevermind the illegality of the entire “Enterprise” as it was called.

          1. Negroni Please

            I was just referencing his testimony. Hours and hours of “I do not recall” in response to nearly every question

          2. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Gah, need more coffee

        2. Mistakes were made.

      2. Stinky Wizzleteats

        He’s a better pick than Ted Nugent but that’s about it.

        1. WTF

          Oh come on, think of the entertainment value Ted Nugent would bring!

        2. Bobarian LMD

          He’s pretty much a ‘Donald Trump’ type, ‘Fuck the standard selection’ kind of pick.

    4. tarran

      Read Hackworth’s write up on Iran-Contra. Ollie North basically sold the contras down the river for a bribe that paid off his mortgage. In return for these kickbacks, he selected arms dealers who supplied crappy guns that didn’t work.

      Smarmy little fuck.

    5. Raston Bot

      i just assumed the board was trolling everybody with their pick of North.

    6. EvilSheldon

      I’m not a fan of Ollie (in fact, I think that his ass should still be in jail), but there really weren’t many other choices. The NRA president has to be a sitting board member, and has to agree to take the position.

      Once Julie Golob takes her seat, I plan on lobbying for her to take over as president.

  13. PieInTheSKy

    Exclusive: how rightwing groups wield secret ‘toolkit’ to plot against US unions

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/15/rightwing-thinktanks-secret-plot-against-unions

    Rightwing activists are launching a nationwide drive to persuade public sector trade union members to tear up their membership cards and stop paying dues, posing a direct threat to the progressive movement in America.

    The anti-union marketing drive is the brainchild of the State Policy Network (SPN), a coast-to-coast alliance of 66 rightwing thinktanks that has an $80m war chest to promote Donald Trump-friendly regressive policies such as low taxes and small government. – So very regressive government must never be scaled down! Also lets name drop Trump cause hes bad!

    The group is funded by such billionaire conservative donors as the Koch brothers and the Walton Family Foundation that stems from the Walmart fortune. -Kochs!!!! This is worse than I thought

    Top investigative journalism. Non leftist think-tanks push non leftist policies.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      “regressive policies such as low taxes and small government.”

      Sounds terrible…and racist.

      1. WTF

        low taxes and small government

        The horror, the horror….

    2. Rebel Scum

      regressive policies such as low taxes and small government

      Liberty is “regressive”, I guess.

  14. The Elite Elite

    “Fit and active” 25-year-old with Stage 3 brain tumour doesn’t qualify for benefits ‘because he went travelling for two years’. What!? Unpossible! I was told that the UK’s government healthcare is the most moral system ever because everyone gets treatment and they don’t have to worry about paying for it.

    1. Florida Man

      paid national insurance from the age of 16 until he went travelling.-

      I thought it was free.

      1. Sensei

        There may only be one plan, but you mean I still have to pay for it?

    2. Florida Man

      17 hours ago
      LauraSullivan
      This is Curts girlfriend Laura. I suggest you remove this immediately. This was not authorised by us! Do you realise how much more stress this is causing to him?! He’s already been going through enough without you adding to things!

      Real class news organization, too.

      1. TK

        Journalists and NHS workers belong together. Sick people

    3. PieInTheSKy

      But I don’t think it is about healthcare. It is about welfare. He got the surgeries and I don’t think he is paying for chemo

    4. Gustave Lytton

      Gotta ration those bullets…

    5. Spudalicious

      Next season on the BBC, “Hunger Games for Health Care”!!!

  15. Rufus the Monocled

    I give blood. Well, gave. The last couple of times for some reason I couldn’t see it through as I was on the verge of fainting. I don’t know why.

    And it pisses me off because I stopped giving.

    1. Florida Man

      I couldn’t see it through as I was on the verge of fainting. I don’t know why.-

      Low T?

    2. Brett L

      I had a classmate in college who fainted any time someone stuck her with a needle.

    3. ElspethFlashman

      I’m a fainter. I had to give blood samples every week for a while (medical reasons) and it was … nauseating to say the least. But I did it without passing out (yay!).

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Hm. I do hate bloods and needles but I gave many times prior without incident.

    4. leonadasiv

      I stopped giving when some ass of a Capitan tried to force me to give.

    5. Drake

      Every time I give, they think I’m fainting because I’m dozing off.

    6. TK

      I faint too, and its uncontrollable. I’m not even scared of the pain or anything, its the blood that makes me faint. It doesn’t even go:

      See blood > get grossed out > faint

      It just goes:

      See blood > faint

      It’s really annoying.

      1. Rasilio

        I have fainted or come close to it a couple of times but it is not the blood that causes it, it is the needle. No clue why, I’m not afraid of them or anything, it can be from having blood drawn or getting a shot but every now and then when I get a needle jabbed in me my blood pressure drops, I get stomach cramps possibly with an urgent need to vacate my bowels, cold sweats, tunnel vision, and occasionally faint. Other times, I have no issues at all.

        1. TK

          Ah I gotcha. See I know its not the needle that gets me, because recently I almost fainted because I accidently cut one of my gums pretty bad with some dental floss.

          Seriously, I almost fainted while flossing my teeth. Smh. Its really, really annoying. Stupid brain.

    7. Tejicano

      I just have this instinctual difficulty with sitting there with something stuck into my arm. It freaks me out. “Why am I sitting here with that stuck in there?”

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        To help others?

        1. TK

          What are you, some kind of commie?

    8. Spudalicious

      Many moons ago when I was in high school, they did a big assembly for a blood drive. Basically a free day for the students. I can gaurantee that whoever got my blood caught a righteous buzz.

    9. AlexinCT

      I have been giving regularly for decades now (remember when they paid you $50 to give? I used to do it twice, then go get a cheap drunk, and get up the next day to do all that fun PT), and think I would need more details to diagnose your problem. I think the most important pieces of information to get a feel for why you are feeling weak as you are giving are your weight and blood pressure. What about your iron content & red blood cell counts? Do you have that info?

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Starting next year, the tax will be $275 per employee, per year on for-profit companies that gross at least $20 million per year in the city

    Hippies and other assorted blood sucking morons rejoice.

    Amazon HQ2 contestants revise plans for even larger Amazon presence. HQ3 contestants dig their HQ2 presentations out of the trash.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      Seattle seems intent on strangling the golden goose but their loss will be someone else’s gain.

      1. Grumbletarian

        Kshama will simply make it illegal for the strangling goose to die.

      2. Rebel Scum

        strangling the golden goose

        Euphemisms…

  17. The Elite Elite

    I’ll be honest. This sounds about as believable as the stories about “the waiter wrote nigger on my receipt” stories, just from the other side.

    1. Florida Man

      Cheesecake Factory? Yeah, I’m going with fake.

    2. WTF

      The Daily Wire claims to have viewed footage and photographs that confirm witness reports.

      I’m not so sure it’s fake. The left really is a violent mob. Right around the election an older man got attacked in a Friendly’s parking lot near me because he was wearing a MAGA hat. Do not underestimate the derangement of the left where they are the vast majority.

      1. Sean

        ^^^ This, The left is nasty and potentially violent.

      2. Rebel Scum

        The left really is a violent mob.

        There is this.

        So it is perfectly plausible. The problem I see is claims to have viewed footage. So where is the footage? (no time to follow link and investigate)

    3. TK

      Sounds like Cheesecake factory suspended the employees. If this is true, I hope they all get fired. Leave your politics at the door. If they physically assaulted the guy, I hope every dollar they earn from their shitty hourly-wage jobs goes to this guy for the next 10 years.

    4. Black-on-black violence? I mean, the guy is a total race traitor.

      1. WTF

        I wonder if the media will make a big deal out of this like they did the two guys who got arrested for refusing to leave Starbucks?
        Actually, no, I don’t wonder at all.

  18. Brett L

    Reposted as NOT a reply: You guys give Robby Soave a lot of shit, but I’m gonna say good on him for appearing as a witness to testify AGAINST hate crime laws before the US Commission on Civil Rights. To be sure, he’s right on this one. (TW: TOS)

    1. Pope Jimbo

      Good for him. I’ve never been a true Robbie hater.

      On the other hand, WTF is he doing on a civil rights advisory committee? Has he done anything in real life (other than writing for TOS)? How the fuck did he get that job?

      Maybe one of the reasons that the bubble exists is because the committees that are supposed to be a feedback loop are staffed by cocktail party weenies?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Most of DC is occupied by underqualified “thought leaders” who support each other because they’e all afraid of getting found out for the idiots they are.

        1. TK

          ^This. I’ve lived in/near DC all my life and I can’t tell you how many people I know that get snapped up out of college, work as a low-level peon for 2 years and then somehow become some sort of consultant or think tank geek. None of these people really know what they’re talking about. They’re just as clueless, if not more clueless – except on government regulation type stuff.

    2. Just Say’n

      Robby gets a lot of undeserved shit. The positions that he takes, while working in media, has no doubt hindered his job prospects. And he’s not as squishy as people make him out to be. At this point, he’s the most libertarian writer at TOS

      1. WTF

        At this point, he’s the most libertarian writer at TOS
        Which is a sad commentary on the current state of TOS.

        1. Just Say’n

          True. But, also Robby has gotten better. On the same day that he wrote that article opposing hate crime laws, ENB wrote a nice smear against Jordan Peterson (among others) for having the gall to oppose a state mandated pronoun law. “Woketarianism” best defines TOS at this point.

          1. kinnath

            But, also Robby has gotten better.

            Unfortunately, I would never know this, because I am not returning to that site.

          2. R C Dean

            Same here.

            What annoyed me about Robbie (memed as “to be sure”) was his steadfast refusal to question the assumptions and givens of the progressive media hive, no matter how irrational and falsified. The epitome of this, to me, was his refusal to name Jackie Coakley, the lying liar who lied and caused a lot of damage at UVA with her false and utterly implausible rape claims.

            The given, of course, is that you don’t name rape victims (for some reason, even though the victim of every other crime is named). Fine. But the narrative that she was a victim had to be maintained, even after it was conclusively proven that she wasn’t the victim and was actually a perpetrator, and he played along by continuing to treat her as a victim by refusing to use her name.

          3. Just Say’n

            But he pushed back against the UVA narrative before anyone else would

          4. Just Say’n

            I feel like I’m playing the part of a less douchey Crusty or Sparky here defending Robby

          5. R C Dean

            True enough, Just Say’n. I can’t be arsed to go back and look at it to confirm, but my recollection is that his first article on the UVA hoax was pretty weak tea, and that the commentariat gave him a load of shit for not calling out an obvious and complete hoax for what it was. I recall getting only a little way into the article, to the part where she was gangraped on broken glass and didn’t go to the ER, before it was 100% clear to me that Jackie was telling a total fabrication. Robbie, as I recall, was still hemming and hawing.

            But, recollection can be faulty. Maybe he was more muscular in his article than I recall.

          6. tarran

            TI wasn’t a robust push back.

            He just reported on someone else pointing out the obvious contradictions and impossibilities.

            But he did speak truth to power – a little. That’s far better than the abject surrender that almost every other news organization carried out. So he does stand out.

          7. Badolph Hilter

            Tarran’s right, the first journalist to seriously challenge the UVA story was Richard Bradley. Robby then joined the chorus, but the heavy lifting was done by Richard. I was disappointed that Robby seemed a bit too willing to take the credit.

            This seems to be a reprint of the original Bradley blog post:
            https://www.ncfmcarolinas.com/single-post/2014/12/01/Is-the-Rolling-Stone-Story-True-by-Richard-Bradley

      2. Bobarian LMD

        At this point, he’s the most libertarian writer at TOS

        Hmmm…Imma say no. I still peruse the magazine. KMW is in charge of the print side and it has stayed a lot more reasonable. *drink*

        I think they have purposely (and misguidedly) tacked left on the web because ‘libertarian moment!’.

        Sullum did a really good piece on the “Opiate Epidemic” and Root doesn’t seem to stray too far off the plantation.

        1. Just Say’n

          Remember when the print publication had a front page cover calling for sanctions against Russia for lolz, while simultaneously bemoaning Trump’s tariff threats? That wasn’t reasonable or logical.

      3. What is Charles Oliver? Chopped Oliver?

      4. Chipwooder

        Perhaps true, but only because 2 Chili and Stossel are merely contributors, and not staff writers.

    3. Gilmore

      I’m gonna say good on him for appearing as a witness to testify AGAINST hate crime laws before the US Commission on Civil Rights

      He’s only on that commission because he’s a soft opponent.

      Who would Catherine Lhamon rather have as her critic? An actual libertarian demanding the repeal of Title IX? or a handwaving equivocator whose prime interest is making lots of friends in DC area to land more think-tank gigs on bullshit culture-war stuff?

  19. WTF

    STEVE SMITH AGAINST HATE CRIME!! STEVE SMITH COMMIT LOVE CRIME!!!!!

    1. ElspethFlashman

      and by crime mean RAPE ?

      1. No, and by LOVE mean RAPE.

    2. WTF

      Meant as reply to Brett L.

  20. PieInTheSKy

    How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation at Coachella

    https://www.teenvogue.com/story/coachella-cultural-appropriation

    Since it launched in October of 1999, Coachella’s become something of a cultural force. The music and arts festival draws almost 100,000 people per day, according to Goldenvoice, including today’s top performers and street-style stars. But every year, the thorn in the festival’s side is appropriative fashion. From the overtly racist to the blindly ignorant, some Coachella attendees see festival fashion as the opportunity — knowingly or unknowingly — to demean cultures for Instagram likes.

    Bindis, feathered headpieces, dashikis, war paint: Coachella street style is mired in cultural appropriation. And it’s the kind that reeks of privilege. For South Asian women, bindis are a cultural symbol that represents the third eye, a sacred site of wisdom and spiritual development. For some Coachella attendees, it’s just a pretty forehead accessory.

    TW: teenvogue, it is dumb as shit and also auto-play video

    1. Charlie Suet

      Teen Vogue is owned by Condé Nast, right? I really hope that trying to make a fast buck out of all this woke rubbish bites them on the arse some day. On that note, did Univision ever recognise the union that the Onion / A V Club tried to form?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Conde Nast is going broke anyway.

        This is just a desperate attempt to gather more attention. I’m certain their behavior is encouraged.

    2. commodious spittoon

      How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation at Coachella

      Don’t go to Coachella. Check it out, I’m all woke and shit!

      1. pan fried wylie

        No, no, no, all wrong. You still go, but you bring lots of mayo, wonder bread and saltines to feed yourselves.

    1. straffinrun

      Woodn’t.

    2. WTF

      The fight broke out on Monday afternoon at a complex on MLK Boulevard

      Violence on MLK Boulevard? I’m shocked, shocked, to hear of such a thing.

  21. Negroni Please

    Colorado glibs: We are considering a move to Fort Collins right now. The wife got a pretty nice offer from CSU (alma mater of Anwar Al-Awlaki!) and neither of us have been thrilled living in Florida so far.

    Do we have any Northern Colorado glibs that can offer any advice/commentary on Fort Collins? Our big concern at the moment is finding a place to live there as there appear to be virtually no vacancies in that town.

    Upsides/Downsides?

    Any help y’all can offer the decision analysis would be appreciated.

    1. ODELL. BREWING. COMPANY.

      1. Negroni Please

        And New Belgium and a shitload of other beer joints. That is a definite upside. I grew up in Austin and Fort Collins seems like a mix of the rural rednecks my inner yokeltarian prefers to have as neighbors alongside the neckbeard hipsters making tasty artisanal nonsense like I’m used to back home.

    2. Mr Lizard

      What!?!??!? Impudent mammals! Have you no appreciation for the greatest product of intergalactic entertainment known as your neighbors?

      Or traffic? Or snow birds who live a perpetual state of slowly driving while having no Fucking clue where they are going while riding their brake in the left lane?…

      I heard Colorado is nice, good riddance

      *lays on horn while waving my Sig at a car with Toronto license plates*

    3. PieInTheSKy

      Upsides/Downsides? – I though Colorado was mostly mountainous. So Up I guess?

      1. Until you crest the ridgeline, then it’s down.

        1. Just like John Denver.

      2. straffinrun

        Half the state. The other half is as flat as 2012 Bruce.

        1. Just Say’n

          “The power of the State compels you to use his preferred name!”

    4. SP

      Having relocated on short notice many times in the past decade, my go-to housing strategy: go on Zillow, but don’t look for a home. Look for a real estate agent who has the kinds of listings in which you are interested, even in nearby towns. Contact them and they will be able to hook you up. They have access to lots of non-public listings for short or long term rentals.

      1. straffinrun

        I’d avoid Greeley if it still smells like dog food. *Barf*

      2. Negroni Please

        That’s a good tip. Thanks SP I’ll give that a shot.

    5. I lived in Boulder but that was in 1990!

      Back then I liked to drive my brother’s Sentra into the mountains and explore the little weirdo towns / abandoned mining areas. Great hiking, and the winters up there were strange. Tons of snow one day, and then it would all melt away the second day. And that mountain sun was intense – could be 50ish out and I was running around in a t-shirt.

      And when you get back down to sea level you feel like superman.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that a network of radical conservative thinktanks spanning all 50 states is planning direct marketing campaigns targeted personally at union members to encourage them to quit. The secret push, the group hopes, could cost unions up to a fifth of their 7 million members, lead to the loss of millions of dollars in income and undermine a cornerstone of US progressive politics.

    I’m not seeing the downside.

    1. Charlie Suet

      By “encourage them to quit”, the Graun means “encourage them to act against their own interests, false consciousness wah wah wah”. Anyone who doesn’t believe in that crap isn’t going to see this as a big deal.

  23. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Tard Tuesday: The Guns of Newsomtown Edition

    @GavinNewsom
    Hi @NRA –

    Received your questionnaire. Not sure what gave you the impression I would ever WANT your endorsement. Or your money.

    Look forward to the day you’re swept into the compost bin of history. Until then, receiving my F is an honor.

    XoXo,
    Your California snowflake

    1. leonadasiv

      “Until then, receiving my F is an honor.”

      Not keeping my oath to uphold the Constitution is an honor.

    2. …he wrote, safely protected by his cadre of armed guards.

    3. Just Say’n

      Allow me to virtue signal about how awful the NRA is, while I ignore the people pushing for gun control..

    4. Rufus the Monocled

      I truly loathe idiot, ignorant progs who are the most shrill, emotional group of irrational ideologues calling others ‘snowflakes’.

      Fuck. You.

  24. PieInTheSKy

    The long read
    Has wine gone bad?

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/15/has-wine-gone-bad-organic-biodynamic-natural-wine

    Natural wine’ advocates say everything about the modern industry is ethically, ecologically and aesthetically wrong – and have triggered the biggest split in the wine world for a generation. – ecologically can be debated but aesthetically wrong is silly

    A recent study showed that 38% of wine lists in London now feature at least one organic, biodynamic or natural wine (the categories can overlap) – more than three times as many as in 2016. “Natural wines are in vogue,” reported the Times last year. “The weird and wonderful flavours will assault your senses with all sorts of wacky scents and quirky flavours.” – yeah organic and natural are ill defined and biodynamic is just silly. Also I do not want wacky scents and quirky flavours

    At a recent natural wine fair in London, I encountered winemakers who farmed by the phases of the moon and didn’t own computers; one man foraged his grapes from wild vines in the mountains of Georgia – Suthenboy should fit in (unless it is Georgia the country not the state)

    This means using only organic grapes, picked by hand, and fermenting slowly with wild yeasts from the vineyard (most vintners use lab-grown yeasts, which Riffault says are engineered “like F1 cars, to speed through fermentation”). No antimicrobial chemicals are added to the wine, and everything is bottled – bits and all – without filtering. The result is that Riffault’s sancerre comes out a deep amber colour and very sweet, tasting like crystallised honey and preserved lemons. – hard pass

    While I agree with many modern wines being over-engineered as to become generic, this does not mean you need to go full hippie. You can control the process and stabilize the drink while keeping the let us say terroir in it. Feteasca Neagra from Dealu Mare can be typical for the grape and region without tasting like vinegar.

    1. I’m not a sine drinker, but even I am reading that and going “these people have lost their minds.”

      1. straffinrun

        Were you trig gered?

        1. Naw, I decided not to go off on a tangent.

          1. Slammer

            Don’t drink and derive

          2. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Nice

            *waits for Swiss’s hyperbolic response*

          3. That’s the inveitable solution.

          4. Private Chipperbot

            I’m thinking it will be a calculated response.

          5. *narrows gaze*

          6. Rasilio

            You know we could discuss both issues in parrallel

    2. Suthenboy

      “foraged his grapes from wild vines in the mountains of Georgia – Suthenboy should fit in”

      Nothing is more overloaded with pretentious horseshit than the wine industry. Half of mine are wild vines that I transplanted and half are hybrids that I bought. I put two five gallon buckets in the bathtub. I squish the muscadines in one, pour in water and let it sit overnight. The next day I pour through cheesecloth into the second bucket and add the yeast and sugar. Then I put it into gallon jugs (the empty jugs the distilled water was in), put a balloon over the mouth and let them sit for 4 months. Then I syphon the wine into glass bottles and hide it.

      There is nothing magic or complicated about it. The testimony I get is that my wine is better than the crap they sell in the stores.

      1. So you gave up bathtub gin for bathtub wine?

        1. Private Chipperbot

          A country boy can survive.

        2. Bobarian LMD

          Sounds like he gave up baths.

          1. pan fried wylie

            The purple feet hide the coal dust stains.

  25. Rebel Scum

    Hungary creates official “enemies list” with 200 names.

    Do you know who else had an enemies list?

    1. PieInTheSKy

      Hillary Clinton probably had one.

      1. Has. It only got longer after 2016.

        1. Rebel Scum

          And possibly shorter. Don’t forget the list of deaths under curious circumstances.

          1. Bobarian LMD

            Her list does seem to have a lot of turn-over.

    2. Evan from Evansville

      Moe Szyslak?

    3. Badolph Hilter

      Francis “Psycho” Soyer ?

      1. MikeS

        Lighten up, Francis.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Do we have any Northern Colorado glibs that can offer any advice/commentary on Fort Collins? Our big concern at the moment is finding a place to live there as there appear to be virtually no vacancies in that town.

    This article from the Bozeman paper might give you a little useful info. Mostly about growth.

    or maybe not.

    I never spent much time in Fort Collins, but Colorado is vastly better than Florida, in my highly prejudiced view.

    1. WTF

      Not if you like the ocean.

      1. Negroni Please

        That’s the only reason my wife wants to stay in Florida. She’s a water person. I’m a mountain man and I like hiking, camping, and hunting. CO is a no brainer for me. But she like snorkeling and paddle boarding and beach stuff. She does hate the rest of Florida life though.

        1. WTF

          I also need to be within easy access to the ocean. I can’t imagine not having that.

        2. Rasilio

          They do have these things called lakes in which one can snorkle and paddle board.

          1. Not cold at all, are Colorado lakes?

          2. Rasilio

            That depends on the time of year

  27. robc

    Other sports news: Fat Sam is out!!

    Marco Silva is target for new Everton Manager.

    1. Poor Allardyce. You get involved in just one massive financial scam and you can’t jeep a job.

      1. robc

        He was horrible. He pretty much admitted to playing in a way that minimized the probability of relegation instead of maximizing the probability of 7th. He wasn’t smart enough to word it that way though. And then blamed players (who deserve a huge heap of blame, but still) who didnt respond well to his idiotic formations.

        1. robc

          I really wish they had stuck with Unsworth, just to see. I don’t think relegation was ever a real possibility, and they needed to see in Unsworth was cut out to be a PL manager or not.

  28. Rebel Scum

    Viruses hijack the host

    So what you are saying is that ‘progressives’ are like a virus.

    1. WTF

      Progressivism is exactly that, a cultural virus that is destroying Western Civilization from within.

      1. Just Say’n

        That’s not very woketarian

  29. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Tard Tuesday: John Oliver Hates Real Socialists Edition

    aka “You’re Never Going to Satisfy the True Believers”

    I just seen John Oliver’s Segment on Venezuela, and was hoping for some vindication regarding its protest and US involvement. But the exact opposite was true. I was quite surprised because John Oliver does do his research and investigations. This portion upsetted me the most when John attempted to brush aside “some coup attempts in the 60s and 70s in only 3 Latin American Countries”. We all know that the US and CIA obviously did a lot more in Central and South America.

    But to even take this a step further and say that the US has absolutely no involvement what so ever is absolutely ridiculous and false.

    But first, I don’t want to get into whether Venezuela is truly socialist. The fact of the matter is, their steps towards dictating their own future, Hugo Chavez, and the important attempts they are taking is in the interest of any socialist, and false attacks by imperialistic propaganda ought to be refuted. BadMouseProduction had a great response to this

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      lol.

      And. Oliver does research? Lol.

      1. Breet Pharara

        He confirms their biases. Therefore he must be informed. Therefore he does research. QED

    2. “upsetted me”

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Formula for Justice, as brought to you by the United Nations

    The United Nations General Assembly passed the measure called CEDAW in 1979. It defined discrimination against women and set up an agenda to end that discrimination.

    Since then, 189 nations have signed onto the bill. The U.S. hasn’t been one of those.

    The group wants Bozeman to run a gender analysis to spot inequalities, build a task force to respond to the “blind spots” the analysis points out and create an evidence-based action plan for the city to examine its own policies for gender equity, diversity and inclusion.

    Sounds legit.

    1. Yet they take the side of the bomb-throwing (and woman-subjugating) Palestinians over Israel.

      1. WTF

        Look, the actual purpose of the UN is to hamper and attack the US and Israel as much as possible. Principles got nothing to do with it.

        1. That sounds like a set of principles to me.

          1. WTF

            Point conceded.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    I have no idea what the actual on-the-ground duties and responsibilities of the NRA president are. Using Charlton Heston as an example, I thought it was a largely ceremonial post. Is North really expected to actively participate in setting policy?

    1. Gadfly

      AFAIK this is correct: the Pres (North) is just a ceremonial position while the actual work is done by the VP (LaPierre – who has been basically running things since the 90s).

  32. Just Say’n

    “Hungary creates official “enemies list” with 200 names.”

    The media is incredibly dishonest when it comes to “reporting” on eastern Europe, particularly Poland and Hungary who are terribly “unwoke”. The US sanctions Russians who they allege did something or other to prevent Her from winning election and the UK bans Lauren Southern from coming to its country (former ISIS fighters are totes OK, though). Why is it totally different when Hungary sanctions foreigners who they allege interfere in their internal elections?

  33. The Late P Brooks

    She’s a water person. I’m a mountain man and I like hiking, camping, and hunting. CO is a no brainer for me. But she like snorkeling and paddle boarding and beach stuff. She does hate the rest of Florida life though.

    There’s nothing remotely like the ocean, but depending on your preferences and inclinations, Colorado has lakes and reservoirs and rivers in which to play and splash.

    1. pan fried wylie

      Give me a shady creek over the ocean any day. Sand can go pound itself.

  34. Rebel Scum

    Notorious Tyrant Bloviates on Social Media

    The media had another meltdown this week after President Trump tweeted the following: “The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?

    Leftists are nothing without credentials.

    The White House Press Corps pounced on Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, with ABC News’ Cecilia Vega arguing that Trump’s tweet and advocating for a free press “don’t go together.”

    I don’t think “freedom of the press” means what they think it means.

    MSNBC’s Steve Benen insisted “this isn’t how leaders of a free society are supposed to operate.” Playboy reporter Brian Karem cried from a soapbox on CNN, telling the president to “shut up and take his medicine.”

    Yea, it’d be better if Trump investigated them and threatened to prosecute them for espionage for reporting things that the admin. found uncomfortable as opposed to simply lambasting them on twitter.

    1. TK

      Trump’s ongoing war with the media is toxic on both sides. Specifically with this tweet, he implied that every negative story that’s reported about his administration is “fake,” which is not true, and even Trump supporters should acknowledge that the truth matters whether it helps or hurts this president. From the mounting shadiness of Michael Cohen to the spending of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, these controversies shouldn’t automatically be dismissed simply because the mainstream media reported them

      Why should Trump voters acknowledge that the truth matters? These are people that have watched for decades as the media continuously lies either outright about them or their ways of life, or by omission. They’ve been taught that lies work and are effective, by the exact people that are flipping out about “but truth! but our credentials!”

      Freedom of the press is obviously important, but freedom of the press doesn’t mandate that we have to have a white house that gets all warm and fuzzy with media outlets and has annual dinner parties where journalists buddy up with one side’s politicians to blast the other side’s and make fun of regular law-abiding Americans.

      The press is lucky that the constitution protects them, because if we lived under mob rule (as they seem to be pushing for these days), I don’t think that freedom of the press would be something that lasted this long. 50% of the country feels like they get a negative return on freedom of the press without having done anything morally wrong. They just live their every day lives and freedom of the press has just ripped into them every single day for it.

      1. Breet Pharara

        Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I notice that the things they list as objectively not “fake” doesn’t include any mention of Russia. That and the full blitz on Stormy Daniels and if that is impeachable makes me think that they’re throwing in the towel on that story before it blows up in their faces.

      2. R C Dean

        Naturally, they don’t quite get the point, that having government-issued “credentials” means that they are already part of a system where government limits access by the press. Credentials are like a license, and every license is a ban wrapped in a bureaucracy.

    2. 1A does not guarantee you access to the President. It just means he can’t throw you in jail and/or shut down your outlet for the stuff you say. And believe me, if this actually were a tyrannical dictatorship with no press freedom, most of you hacks would already be rotting in a cell for the shit you’ve said about him.

      1. Rebel Scum

        ^^This.

    3. commodious spittoon

      Verbally incontinent man waxes incontinent on Twitter. Lemme know when he’s directing Pai to review broadcasting licenses. Something Pai would resign over, let’s not forget.

    4. Just Say’n

      The president threatening to remove credentials doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies inside, but let’s not forget that these are the same people who were giddy when RT was stripped of credentials and also complained that conservative media outlets don’t deserve credentials

      https://www.thedailybeast.com/dc-press-corps-closes-the-door-on-gateway-pundit-trumps-favorite-blogger

      http://thehill.com/homenews/media/362540-rt-fires-back-after-capitol-hill-press-credentials-pulled

      Between the bag of dicks that are known as “reporters” and Trump the imbecile, they’re both assholes

      1. A bag of dicks is an asshole. The English language is amazing!

  35. Rufus the Monocled

    How are they always able to get a nice, round number with these lists? Why 200? Why not 201? Or 199?

    1. Breet Pharara

      Martin Luther does not approve.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Him too. You trying to tell me he didn’t force it to 95?

        1. Breet Pharara

          If he forced it to 95, he would have just thrown out 5 more and make it and even 100.

  36. Just Say’n

    I’m looking forward to the Bill Weld 2020 Libertarian nominee declaring that “free speech is a black hole”. Woketarians are an endless source of amusement

    1. Just Say’n

      But, Starbucks…..

      1. Just Say’n

        New Russia fever dream: All black people who support Trump are clearly agents of the Kremlin. I want to believe

        1. I’m sure you’ve heard of Black Russians.

          1. straffinrun

            Very Painful on the Crotch? Oh wait, that’s a sex on the beach. VPOC.

    2. straffinrun

      Is it asking to much too look upthread? 😉

      1. Yes. Did you even need to ask?

      2. AlmightyJB

        Short bathroom break:)

      3. OH LOOK, SOMEONE DIDN’T PAY ATTENTION TO A LINK!

        FEEL THE PAIN!

      4. commodious spittoon

        Is it asking too much

        OH, I’M SORRY, I THOUGHT THIS IS A WEBSITE FOR LIBERTARIANS

        1. Why would you think that?

          1. commodious spittoon

            To make matters worse, I’m having to review ANSI requirements for bathroom designs, and all I can think of is that shyster lawyer in California who makes bank suing businesses into near-bankruptcy for failing to maintain a 1:48 slope or 36″ t-clearance under the sink.

          2. I am perfectly okay with vexatious career plaintiffs “disappearing” without a trace.

    3. It’s one thing to get harassed by another customer, but by staff? If they don’t go in a fire every single one of them then add another place to the list I’m never going to again (not that I do anyway, Cheesecake Factory is garbage).

      1. l0b0t

        What?!? You’re not enthralled by a 75 page menu, 30 pages of which are ads for other local firms, describing a thoroughly unfocused cuisine?

        1. robc

          My wife loves it, for some reason. Fortunately, we don’t have one in Bowling Green.

          Their cheesecake is good, so they at least have the name right. Eat somewhere else and pick up a piece of cheesecake there on the way home would be a good plan.

          1. l0b0t

            To be fair, I’ve never had a bad meal there. My MiL loves it so we often get taken there for lunch and the place is busy and hectic enough that our ill-behaved children don’t stand out. Well… except for the time when our daughter was 3 and had eaten more fruit pouches than was good for her and tried to take on the banana/sweet brown bread plate they make for kids and projectile vomited (like, serious firehose action) all over the 4 top next to us. Good times.

          2. robc

            had eaten more fruit pouches than was good for her

            Considering my 2.5 year old has not transitioned to solid food (autism related), that is a day ending in Y in our household.

  37. Rufus the Monocled

    What, no mention Margot Kidder died?

    1. Just Say’n

      Ironically, I just read the exact same remark that you made in the comment section of Robby’s article. What is with you and Margot Kidder?

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        I posted that in error over there.

        I meant it for the ‘Round up’.

        LOIS LANE brah. LOIS. LANE.

  38. Ladies dressed up in their finest outfits specifically designed to be taken off.

    http://archive.is/2JUOx

    2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 20, 34, 39, 40, 43, 55, 56, 60, 76.

    44 is a good Christian girl.

    1. Rebel Scum

      designed to be taken off

      I like lingerie to stay on. There’s something about getting it on while partially clothed.

      1. +1 pair of crotchless panties

  39. The Late P Brooks

    I’m looking forward to the Bill Weld 2020 Libertarian nominee

    Weld/Kucinich 2020

    Make Libertarianism Relevant Again

    1. Just Say’n

      “Make Libertarianism Relevant Again”….

      while simultaneously making liberty an insignificant part of that relevance!

      1. Just Say’n

        Although, I like Kucinich, but there is no way that he would get the VP slot when there’s Jeff Flake and Bill Kristol who are the most libertarian-y people ever, because they say mean things about Drumpf!

  40. Rufus the Monocled

    “The list was met with a tide of condemnation, including from Michael Ignatieff, president of the Budapest-based Central European University, who called it “a flagrant attempt at intimidation.”

    But if that was the goal, evidence soon grew from Ignatieff’s own faculty at the Soros-funded university that it hadn’t entirely succeeded.”

    So that’s where Ignatieff ended up? He annoyed me when he led the Liberal party. Mind you, anyone in the Liberal party irritate me now.

    Anyway. They say Orban is a conspiracy nut. It’s hard to tell if Central Europe is unfairly maligned by the Western media (and let’s face it, our media isn’t all that trustworthy in matters of political ideology) or it is indeed a tad to, shall we say, Alex Jonesish?

    1. Just Say’n

      Eastern Europe is unfairly tarred by Western media. The mere fact that the EU tried to sanction Poland for their law criminalizing suggestions that Poles assisted the Nazis in the Holocaust speaks for itself. Note that no attempt was made to sanction Spain for beating its own citizens who attempted to vote in a non-binding election.

      Oh the irony of the French and Germans, with their endless list of hate speech laws, attempting to sanction the Poles for instituting a hate speech law. Beyond stupid.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        The two biggest egos. What did you expect?

  41. Rufus the Monocled

    The case for redistribution….and reach sexual fulfillment! I admit I didn’t read it but if it’s as bad as the title…

    https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/05/think-americans-should-have-more-sex-redistribute-wealth-not-robots.html

  42. robc

    Still earlyish on Day 2 (of 3) of NCAA regional golf, and the high seeds that are flaming out (shots out is out of qualifying for Nationals next week):

    #6 LSU – 8 shots out
    #9 Cal – 6 shots out
    #13 Texas Tech – 2 shots out
    #17 North Carolina – 6 shots out
    #19 USC – 10 shots out

    Texas Tech isnt really flaming out, 2 shots is nothing in team golf. USC and LSU are in the deepest holes, not just in terms of shots, but they are in same regional, so even if they both rally, they may be fighting each other for last spot.

    Top 5 in each of the 6 regionals make nationals. So anyone in the top 30 should qualify, if they follow form.

    Biggest surprises – unseeded teams in qualifying position:
    Iowa St – 11 shot cushion
    UCF – 6 shots
    San Diego St – 2 shots

    1. Let me know how Kalamazoo U plays.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    LOIS LANE brah. LOIS. LANE.

    I hate to break it to you, but 21st century Margot Kidder bore no resemblance whatsoever to Lois Lane.

    1. Bobarian LMD

      No shit. She looked older than Noel Niell.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    It’s a feelgood story. Let’s turn back the clock, to a better America.

    People who read this column know my political ideology: I’m a Whig. If progressives generally believe in expanding government to enhance equality, and libertarians try to reduce government to expand freedom, Whigs seek to use limited but energetic government to enhance social mobility.

    Back in the 19th century, during their heyday, Whigs promoted infrastructure projects, public education, public-private investments and character-building programs to create dynamic, capitalist communities in which poor boys and girls could rise and succeed.

    ——–

    There’s a promising effort called the Modern Whig Party trying to revive the movement, but until last week I was under the impression that there were basically only 24 of us left.

    And then I read James and Deborah Fallows’s book, “Our Towns.” Now I realize that Whigs are the most important political force in America today. It’s just that the people who are Whigs don’t call themselves Whigs and they are all on the local level.

    We just need to make everybody free to do what David Brooks approves of. And if they won’t? Well, our gulags will be kinder, gentler gulags.

    1. R C Dean

      limited but energetic government

      That’s a lot of syllables for “big”.

      I love the implication that, because he’s a “Whig”, he hasn’t supported every single progressive expansion of government.

      1. commodious spittoon

        And of course there’s Conquest’s second law… the only inoculant against left-wing predation is vociferous denial of the left-wing. It’s not promising when your charter boils down to progressivism lite.

    2. Rebel Scum

      Back in the 19th century, during their heyday, Whigs promoted infrastructure projects, public education, public-private investments

      He left out the punitive tariff taxation and subjugation of the States by the federal government. I think there was a war fought over that…

  45. MikeS

    This story is a few days old, but it’s new to me.

    Dem candidate compels TV station to run ‘Fuck the NRA’ ad

    In the ad, Davis says: “Fuck the NRA. Their pro-gun policies have resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers. I’m Pat Davis and I approve this message because if Congress won’t change our gun laws, we need to change Congress.”

    According to the FCC website, “Profane language includes those words that are so highly offensive that their mere utterance in the context presented may, in legal terms, amount to a nuisance.”

    But Anderson told Fox News the station is “complying” with FCC rules.

    “A federal candidate certified to be on the ballot by the secretary of state is a bona fide candidate, and if they have opponents on the air then we are legally obligated to give them access to purchase air time on our station, and legally prohibited from censoring their commercials,” the station’s general manager said.

    1. TK

      I whole-heartedly encourage this move. Keep going. In fact, get louder. Fuck the NRA isn’t far enough, how about “fuck middle America, their pro-gun preferences have resulted in dead children, dead mothers and dead fathers. I’m Pat Davis and I approve this message because if America won’t change its gun laws, we need to change America.”

      Never stop your enemy, etc. etc.

    2. commodious spittoon

      Haven’t heard it or anything about it, but by all means, godspeed. Gun control isn’t topping anyone’s list of priorities here.

    3. Raston Bot

      Anderson said. “This station, by law, is not permitted to censor or in any way edit this commercial. What we can control however, is the 15 seconds of air time preceding it, which we will use to warn the viewer of a possible offense, disclaim our own views, and cite the federal laws imposed on candidates and tv stations.”

      run it just before dinnertime. please.

      1. R C Dean

        The station should tack on a short intro: “We don’t approve of the language in this ad, but we believe you should see exactly who is trying to take power in this election.”

      2. CPRM

        The after school block on Nick Jr.

    4. Rebel Scum

      Fuck the NRA

      So. Edgy.

      Please continue to take cues from that Hogg kid. I can’t wait to taste your salty ham tears when you lose as a result.

      1. Rebel Scum

        Also, I still find it strange how the NRA is the big boogieman. But, whatever. This allows GOA, SAF, and everyone else to work under the radar.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    Their book is a group portrait of 42 of these success stories. To anybody with a Whig mind-set, the tales have a familiar ring.

    Most of the cities tell a redemption story about themselves. They had a booming industry; it collapsed; now they are rebuilding with new industries and new wealth.

    Many of the cities began their recovery with infrastructure projects that revived the downtown core. In Greenville, S.C., an ugly highway bridge was removed and replaced with a gorgeous walk along the Reedy River, which is now home to parks and cafes. In Fresno, Calif., the misbegotten pedestrian mall that crushed downtown development was bulldozed, and now there are human-size streets that encourage visits and activity.

    If you build it piss away a bunch of money on state sponsored urbanist wet dreams, they will come.

    1. Just Say’n

      Or they won’t come. The suburbs remain the fastest growing part of the country.

      1. I have a pool in my yard and a built-in firepit. it’s awesome. Once the freshly planted trees get bigger, it’ll become a private resort.

  47. trshmnstr

    In reflection on the whole Vice “don’t meme this” thing (of which I only have a cursory knowledge), it seems to highlight an intellectual shortcut that human brains take and that progs exploit. We, by and large, assume that people only make sweeping pronouncements when they have the authority (formal or otherwise) to do so. You can see the effect in public opinion polling. If you state your preferred policy statement and follow it with “agree or disagree?”, the poll will skew in the affirmative compared to if it were rephrased as a question.

    However, I think many people are waking up to this rhetorical tactic and are overriding their go along to get along subconscious tendencies. This Vice kerfuffle is an example. The response is a resounding “who the hell are you?”

    1. tarran

      ?

    2. I’m not familiar with this “kerfuffle”. What’s the background?

      1. trshmnstr

        Linky

        Disclaimer: everything I know about this is from a few insta accounts… I haven’t actually read the article yet.

  48. The Late P Brooks

    Michelle Goldberg is, shall we say, not happy.

    The juxtaposition of images of dead and wounded Palestinians and Ivanka Trump smiling in Jerusalem like a Zionist Marie Antoinette tell us a lot about America’s relationship to Israel right now. It has never been closer, but within that closeness there are seeds of potential estrangement.

    ———

    But if Israelis love Trump, many Americans — and certainly most American Jews — do not. The more Trumpism and Israel are intertwined, the more left-leaning Americans will grow alienated from Zionism.

    I personally don’t give a shit about the Middle East at this point, other than wanting them to settle their differences on their own dime. They can all die in a blinding flash of light and heat.

    Just as long as we all agree Trump is a monster.

    1. R C Dean

      I really don’t think most Americans mind much if Palis trying to invade Israel and kill Jews get killed first.

      the more left-leaning Americans will grow alienated from Zionism.

      Oh, fer fuck’s sake. The left has hated, not just been alienated from, but hated Israel for at least a generation. How stupid does she think we are?

    2. Raston Bot

      Indeed, by moving the embassy to Jerusalem in the first place, Trump sent the implicit message that the American government has given up any pretense of neutrality.

      pre·tense
      ˈprēˌtens,prēˈtens/
      noun

      1.
      an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.

      2.
      a claim, especially a false or ambitious one.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    “Most American Jews do not”

    I’m sure she has some rock solid evidence to support this.

    1. Just Say’n

      Did you just respond to your own link in a different reply?

      1. Bobarian LMD

        He didn’t want anyone to think he was Tulpa.

        Bona fides.

    2. commodious spittoon

      If “most American Jews” are of the lefty secular type, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.

      Of course, why their opinions on Israel matter any more than Muslims’ on our Syria policy or Russian ex-pats’ on sanctioning Putin cronies is anyone’s guess.

    3. I don’t know of any solid data about this specifically, but the percentage of Reform (read: prog) Jews that support Israel in the abstract has been steadily falling for a while.

      Most (((Reform))) have supplanted Judaism with Lefty politics. They haven’t completely thrown away Judaism, it’s just that anywhere the two conflict, Lefty politics are superior.

      1. Raston Bot

        i’m torn between conservative and reformist. i get where the cons are coming from with tradition but damn if i don’t love me some oysters.

        1. I just do my own thing. I can’t stand going to Temple anymore. The ones in my area are either 1. Progtastic or 2. Ultra-Orthodox. I’m just as capable of reading the Tanakh as some proggy Rabbi.

    4. Raston Bot

      NYC cocktail party polling.

    5. Raston Bot

      i’m betting this prominent 2A (((litigator))) and his tweet associates would disagree with her.

      https://twitter.com/alangura

  50. Just Say’n

    http://babylonbee.com/news/man-frequently-compared-to-hitler-recognizes-jerusalem-as-israels-capital/

    “Man Frequently Compared to Hitler Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital”

    1. Just Say’n

      Just like Hitler

      1. R C Dean

        Well, if you think about it, Trump is pushing for a final solution in the Middle East.

    2. Gadfly

      Is it even parody when your headline is mundane reporting of fact?

  51. I’m on the fence about this:

    https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/44870/

    On the one hand, you shouldn’t post on the internet expecting absolute anonymity. If that’s what you want, don’t bother owning a computer (or a cell phone, or have a bank account, or a mortgage/apartment lease etc. etc.). On the other hand, being doxxed and losing your job is a terrible precedent. On the gripping hand, own your fucking opinions. Stand up for yourself and your ideas. Don’t be such a pussy. *If* I ever got doxxed on this website, I’d stand behind every word I’ve said here. If it costs me a job or whatever, fine, but my integrity is not for sale.

    1. Just Say’n

      “Opposing points of view are worse than Hitler. We need the state to mandate opinions”

      – ENB in about a week

    2. trshmnstr

      I work for a progressive silicon valley company. If I were ever doxxed, I’d be fired by end of day. Hell, I’m a bit nervous posting here while connected to company wifi. There’s no way in hell Glibs touches my work computer.

      1. My parent company is also a Silicon Valley tech firm and I post from a work computer all day. If they find out and decide to fire me, fuck em. I can get another job. Not compromising myself for a bunch of assholes.

        I already got my security clearance pulled for standing firm on my principles. A job’s a job, I’ll be buried alive before I let some prog bureaucracy intimidate me.

        NB: This is not saying you’re a coward or should follow my example. You’re probably a lot smarter than me for being careful. I’m just reckless.

        1. trshmnstr

          I’m $175k in student debt. I can’t afford to have principles yet.

          1. kinnath

            I’m $175k in student debt.

            For real?

          2. trshmnstr

            Yup. Private law school plus some piss poor decisions on mine and my wife’s parts led to a shit ton of student loan debt.

          3. kinnath

            That’s a decent house in town near where I live.

          4. trshmnstr

            It’s a second mortgage payment. Literally within $50 of my mortgage (+tax +insurance) payment. Wouldve been significantly cheaper if I had accepted the offer at UTexas and moved down to Austin, but I thought that working while in school was going to be the frugal option. ?

          5. Bobarian LMD

            Not for nuthin’ but the Army Reserve has 50K in Student Loan Repayment and up to 20k in cash bonus right now.

            For 6 years of some of your time.

    3. commodious spittoon

      I have to admit, much as I enjoy posting here, I have a lamentably weak password and my browsing habits routinely expose me to keyloggers. So if I’m ever outed as a patron of this website, there’s a good chance that many, if not most, and certainly all of the inflammatory comments were posted by malafactors using my account to advance their wicked agendas, and I wholeheartedly disavow their attacks on my sterling character.

    4. *snort* I’m pretty sure if I got doxxed, anyone who knows me would go “That figures” and life would go on as before.

      1. R C Dean

        Same here.

        “That’s it? Hell, he’s said worse in staff meetings.”

      2. Rasilio

        This.

        Go ahead and dox me, hell make me famous, I’d love the platform to spread my “hate”

        As far as losing a job, yeah I got more than 20 years experience in IT and there are no shortage of businesses who are not in the Silicone Valley progressive stack and only care if you can do the job so yeah I might not be able to work for Google, but Insurance companies, banks, medical device companies, and the like would hire me in a minute.

    5. After reading, Benton went waay too far and is at fault. She’s a commenter for crying outside. Why put effort into doxxing a commenter? Is he that thin-skinned he can’t take criticism?

    6. Raston Bot

      user terms violated wrt PII make this much more interesting and might explain why everyone’s shutting up.

    1. Just Say’n

      I was just about to link this. You’re alright, chip

  52. mikey

    Let me see if I understand this. You bought a home on an active volcano and then wait until AFTER the place gets buried in lava to ask if your homeowners insurance covers volcano damage?

    https://tiny.iavian.net/mxpk

    1. MikeS

      Some homeowners forgo policies that include lava coverage because they can cost more than $3,000 per year, said Moa, who has fielded many calls from anxious homeowners.

      The way FEMA hands out money after events like this, is there any reason to buy any sort of catastrophe insurance anymore? Or are they not as generous as I perceive them to be?

  53. The Late P Brooks

    What should happen to Remington? Andrew Ross Sorkin has an idea

    The usual suspects of potential buyers are circling, including rival gun manufacturers like Sturm, Ruger & Company and some small financiers willing to accept whatever criticism would come from buying Remington.

    More tantalizing is a pie-in-the-sky idea: whether a beneficent billionaire, like Michael R. Bloomberg, could buy the company and either try to transform it or shut it down — a sort of philanthropic euthanasia in the name of gun control.

    ————

    And they would not be out to kill the business; quite the opposite: They could create a profitable model for the rest of the industry using technology and sound sales policies to reinvent the modern-gun manufacturer.

    A reimagined Remington with a new management and mandate could develop smart-gun technology. It could back fingerprint technology meant to prevent anyone who is not the gun’s owner from shooting it, a measure that could greatly reduce suicides and the potential for guns to be stolen. It could add an identity stamp to ammunition fired from any of its guns. It could also establish and standardize responsible sales policies for retailers to sell its firearms.

    All those “gun safety” technologies are fully developed and just waiting for somebody to apply them, but that mean old NRA won’t let them. Just like like the 200 mpg carburetor that totally would have revolutionized personal transportation until it was squelched by Standard Oil.

    Koch Industries should buy Remington, just for the lulz.

    1. Nobody is interested in the “smart gun”. The people who want a lockout aren’t interested in buying a gun. The people who want the gun aren’t interested in an unreliable, expensive brick.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        You mean that “Smart Guns” don’t work absolutely perfectly like they did in that James Bond movie?

    2. “A reimagined Remington with a new management and mandate could develop smart-gun technology”

      Yeah because billionaires become billionaires by making beyond-retarded business decisions. Such a company would instantly become a money toilet that wouldn’t last 6 months.

    3. commodious spittoon

      No idea what the hurdles in starting another gun manufacturer would be, but pouring billions of dollars into purchasing Remington can’t be terribly dissuasive. Hey, speaking of Standard Oil, isn’t that precisely what Rockefeller tried to do to monopolize oil production? And then he ran afoul of an army of fly-by-night drillers who’d build new derricks expressly to sell out to Standard Oil.

    4. R C Dean

      A reimagined Remington with a new management and mandate could develop smart-gun technology. . . . It could add an identity stamp to ammunition fired from any of its guns.

      Step one: add features to your product that will make your target market refuse to buy your product.

      It could also establish and standardize responsible sales policies for retailers to sell its firearms.

      Step two: reduce your sales outlets by mandating policies many gun sellers won’t accept. And, for those that do, will reduce the number of customers who can actually buy the product.

      Sounds like a bulletproof plan for “a profitable model for the rest of the industry”. Actually, on second thought, it would be profitable for the rest of the industry, because the other gun makers will absorb Remington’s current market share.

      1. Psycho Effer

        You know how people tend to have recurring dreams/nightmares about stuff? Some people have the flying dream and others have the various high school nightmares. I only have one; it always ends with me pulling the trigger on my pistol and it not firing. No smart gun, ever!

    5. commodious spittoon

      Speaking of…

      A new protest art exhibition in Chicago gives the illusion that renting an AR-15 rifle is as easy as borrowing a bike.

      The “Chicago Gun Share Program” is a new public display that replicates a bike-sharing station with 10 replicas of the controversial firearm, Chicago’s WGN TV reports.

      “Our hope is to raise awareness of this important issue. We’re hoping the Chicago community can take advantage of this … and learn how simple it is for a civilian to obtain a weapon of war,” said Max Samis, press secretary for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

      Art is supposed to be “challenging” and “subversive,” or whatever, but when it doesn’t comport with reality in the slightest… and not like a Dali, but in a way that perfectly aligns with a class of political opportunists… it’s no long art, it’s propaganda.

      1. Mr Lizard

        Actually it looks like a great way for Chicago to make money off tourists…

      2. R C Dean

        It’ll probably backfire, because its actually a pretty cool idea.

      3. R C Dean

        learn how simple it is for a civilian to obtain a weapon of war

        In the unlikely event anyone is actually inspired by this stunt to investigate how easy it is to acquire an AR in Chicago, I suspect that what they will find out is that its not easy at all, between Illinois gun owner licensing requirements, the Chicago assault weapons ban, and the relative lack of gun stores in Chicago, dating back to when Chicago actually banned them.

        1. BakedPenguin
    6. Raston Bot

      not even uber-businessmensch Mike Bloomberg can turn around Marlin.

  54. The Late P Brooks

    No idea what the hurdles in starting another gun manufacturer would be, but pouring billions of dollars into purchasing Remington can’t be terribly dissuasive.

    I don’t imagine it would be especially expensive. CNC machinery is ubiquitous. Technology can be licensed, if it’s not already in the public domain.

    1. R C Dean

      There’s actually a bunch of small gun makers out there, mostly (I think) making higher-end AR platform variants.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    There’s actually a bunch of small gun makers out there, mostly (I think) making higher-end AR platform variants.

    Aside from the fact that it’s a great gun, I think one of the main reasons so many people build 1911s is because the patents have expired.

  56. Just Say’n

    Author Tom Wolfe passed away today.

    If Wolfe had written his article “Radical Chic” today there is no way New York magazine would ever publish it. Also, Wolfe would be denounced as using “shock” tactics for questioning the beliefs of rich white liberals today and, no doubt, be labeled a Nazi today.

    http://nymag.com/news/features/46170/

    1. That sucks a giant, fatty horse cock. He was one of my favorites.

      1. Bobarian LMD

        This, he came and talked at my “trade-school” right about the time Bonfires of the Vanities came out.

        Very engaging and enjoyable speaker.

        We’d all studied The Right Stuff in our mandatory literature course, so there were a lot of questions about that. (To the point of distraction).

    2. Chipwooder

      My high school’s most famous alumnus. RIP.

  57. The Late P Brooks

    Did you just respond to your own link in a different reply?

    An addendum.

    I endeavor to persevere.

  58. The Late P Brooks

    I didn’t know Tom Wolfe was still alive. He wrote some good stuff.

  59. The Late P Brooks

    “Our hope is to raise awareness of this important issue. We’re hoping the Chicago community can take advantage of this … and learn how simple it is for a civilian to obtain a weapon of war,” said Max Samis, press secretary for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

    Lying in the furtherance of a political agenda is now “art”?

    1. “a weapon of war”

      If they want a war, I’m sure they’ll get it good and hard.

    2. Rebel Scum

      A weapon of war like this one?

    1. Chipwooder

      Those poor chickens….

  60. The Late P Brooks

    Well, huh. It is a gloriously beautiful day. I just observed a pair of rock chucks out gamboling around on one of the big rocks in my “yard”. Maybe they’re house hunting. I will refrain from shooting them, but it’s definitely duck rabbit gopher season.

  61. The Late P Brooks

    In the unlikely event anyone is actually inspired by this stunt to investigate how easy it is to acquire an AR in Chicago, I suspect that what they will find out is that its not easy at all, between Illinois gun owner licensing requirements, the Chicago assault weapons ban, and the relative lack of gun stores in Chicago, dating back to when Chicago actually banned them.

    Pffft. You can buy one on any corner, from a street vendor. They sell them out of pushcarts.

    1. commodious spittoon

      It’s like crack, your twelve-year-old neighbor can sell you a rock if you give him twenty minutes to meet his dealer. Which, uh, goes to show why we need prohibition on firearms, because the drug war shows us how… effective… listen, why do you hate children?

    2. No. You have to go to Indiana and just pick one up off the ground. They have thousands of them just lying around.

      1. Raston Bot

        ha. jokes on you. Indiana doesn’t have any roadz.

        1. Chipwooder

          Mr. Fusion is a reality in Indiana?

          1. Raston Bot

            it’s an unregulated disaster like Somalia