Hostage Situation in Mali, Top U.S. Insurer Wants to Ditch Obamacare, Princeton Sit-In Ends: A.M. Links


  • Gunmen have taken over a luxury hotel in the capital of Mali—a city "that serves as a logistics hub for French forces helping in a fight against Islamist insurgents," The Washington Post notes. About 170 have been taken hostage inside, and three are dead. As of Friday morning, the affiliation of the attackers remains unknown, though some people claim they were released after being able to sing a Muslim religious song. 
  • UnitedHealthcare, America's largest health insurer, is threatening to pull out of Obamacare. 
  • More than half of D.C. residents favor reinstating the gun ban that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2008. 
  • Mike Huckabee is being sued by "Eye of the Tiger" guitarist Frank Sullivan for using the song at a rally in support of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. 
  • Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said the school will begin considering whether to stop honoring former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on campus, following a 32-hour student sit-in at the president's office. 
  • Sen. Rand Paul "is correct that the cities and states with the highest income inequality are led by Democrats," according to The Washington Post, "but this is a misleading claim."
  • There's a refugee crisis in Southeast Asia, too.
  • London police have settled with seven women whom undercover officers deceived into long-term relationships

New at Reason: 

Brickbat: I'm Dizzy, Drunk, and Fighting —By Charles Oliver

Jerry Brown's Arrogant Response to Oil Scandal: Administration claims any member of public would get similar service. —By Steven Greenhut

The Night Before and Secret in Their Eyes: Seth Rogen celebrates a bro-com Christmas, Chiwetel Ejiofor stalks a killer from out of the past. —By Kurt Loder



NEXT: Princeton University student protests, 1995 vs. 2015


  1. UnitedHealthcare, America’s largest health insurer, is threatening to pull out of Obamacare.

    Pull out? Don’t they know their contraception is covered?

    1. Hello.


      Is being a gutless coward a prerequisite to be president of a college?

      1. I find the name ‘Eisgruber’ offensive and I demand many, many resignations.
        I begin my hunger strike after lunch.

        1. I’m making $86 an hour working from home. I was shocked when my neighbour told me she was averaging $95 but I see how it works now.I feel so much freedom now that I’m my own boss.go to this site home tab for more detai….

      2. You know what?

        I’m cool with this. Fuck Woodrow Wilson! Reanimate his corpse and fuck him with a rusty woodchipper… sideways!

        That segregationist, protofascist piece of shit deserves every bit of fucking abuse that could be heaped on him and then some.

        1. I know. Is there any president more hated here at H&R? Down with Wilson.

          It’s not even like they wanted him gone for a bad reason. He was an incredibly shitty racist.

          1. But they did want him gone for a bad reason. They wanted him gone because they want to stifle all dissenting views and erase them from their lives. I can’t think of a worse reason to get rid of something.

            Sure Wilson was a piece of shit. But this is a slippery slope we don’t want to even take one step toward. Blotting out the past makes us forget it, thereby making it more likely we will repeat it.

            1. If they were asking for him to be removed from history books and course syllabi, I might agree with you.

              1. They merely want him removed from campus, right? Blotting him out from the school’s past.

                Is that not censorship? Is that not the slippery slope I was referring to?

                1. It’s not “censorship” to want a building currently named after an asshole to be renamed after a non-asshole. It’s also not “blotting him out from the school’s past.”

                  Are the Russians going to have to spend the rest of time with statues of Stalin in their public squares, and their buildings named after Lenin? Because “censorship”?

                  1. https://www.washingtonpost. com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/11/18/ princeton-protesters-occupy-presidents-office -demand-racist- woodrow-wilsons-name-be-removed/ (2 breaks in there)

                    They’re demanding a lot more than you’re representing:

                    FTA: the group demanded that the name of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president, a segregationist who some believe supported the ideas of the Ku Klux Klan, be removed from a residential college, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, and any other buildings ? and that his mural be scrubbed from the dining hall.

                    It demanded “cultural competency training” for all faculty and staff, including discussion of “the true role of freedom of speech and freedom of intellectual thought in a way that does not reinforce anti-Blackness and xenophobia.”

                    The organizers demanded that classes on “marginalized peoples” be added to the university’s required courses. “Learning about marginalized groups, their cultures, and structures of privilege is just as important as any science or quantitative reasoning course,” the group wrote in its demands.

                    And it demanded a space for black students on campus. The document ends with a request that President Christopher Eisgruber sign it.

                    They want him down the memory hole as he relates to the university. And they want to redefine freedom of speech and freedom of thought so they don’t include any anti-black thought or (their definition of) xenophobia.

                    1. These people are totally fucked in the head. So is anybody who would support them for their reasons.

                    2. Sloopy,
                      Just state that Wilson was for open boarders, the “real” Libertarians will defend then.


                      The administration did not agree to all their demands, though. This is irrelevant.

                    4. You said “It’s not even like they wanted him gone for a bad reason.”

                      I can’t think of a worse reason than redefining what freedom of speech and intellectual thought is. So regardless of the degree to which the school gave in to their demands, their reasons are completely fucked in the head.

                      Do you want to stand by your statement about their reasons after reading what they really are?



                      Which is…not why they said they wanted Wilson gone. They wanted his name removed from buildings because of his racism. So yes, I want to stand by my statement. I didn’t just read their list of demands; I’ve been following this since the sit-in started.

                    6. Oh, so their demands are separate. They just happened to be made in the same manifesto.

                      These people are shitheaded censors. They also want a segregated place for just “their kind” and want to redefine what free speech and intellectual thought are.

                      Best of luck throwing your lot in with them.

                  2. I can’t wait to see who this non-asshole is they’ll suggest the building be named after. Imma guess it’s a much bigger asshole than Woody Wilson. Che Guevara? Or one of those two Russsian fellas you mentioned? Maybe Mugabe or Toure?

                    It’s fine that Princeton is going to consider their demands, but if the consideration takes more than about 12 seconds, a hearty chuckle and a “Fuck off” there’s not much hope for Princeton standing firm when they come back with their next set of demands and the next and the next and the next.

                    1. Yeah, that argument never gets old. You must resist good changes, because someday someone will want bad changes!

                    2. ” You must resist good changes, because someday someone will want bad changes!”

                      That depends on why you’re making the changes.

            2. Agree, sloopy. Wilson is part of Princeton history, for better or worse. They need to own it. If they want to tone it down – maybe remove his bust from the foyer of the Admin Bldg – that’s OK. But to deface buildings by chiseling out his name is nonsense. Like the Taliban blowing up those statues.

              1. Really. Let’s nuke the pyramids because they were built by slaves.

                1. Yeah, because removing someone’s name from a college building is the same as destroying irreplaceable artworks from hundreds or thousands of years ago.

                  1. Let us know when something becomes an irreplaceable artwork. Is there some dollar amount, passage of time or geographic placement that makes it so?

                    Or will you know it when you see it?

                    1. Is there any reason at all to believe “having Wilson’s name on a building” is artistically or architecturally important?

                    2. Was it part of the original structure? Was it commissioned as an artwork or architecture?

                      Then it is/was architecturally and/or artistically important.

                      This sounds an awful lot like you’re just supporting censorship of shit you don’t like.

                    3. I don’t know on what planet “taking someone’s name off a building” is censorship, dude. Princeton owns the buildings and gets to decide whose name is on them. Is no one ever allowed to take down a monument to a historical figure?

                    4. It’s their right, sure. But that doesn’t change the motivation of the activists, which is to eliminate that which they find distasteful and to redefine what constitutes free speech and thought.

                      Not to mention their desire to segregate by creating a space for just their own kind.

                      These are class acts you’re supporting, Nikki. Class. Acts.

            3. ^ This x1984

              No memory-holing, please.

          2. that Wilson is hated does not matter. If we’re going to start down the road of presentist sensibilities applying to all historical figures, that will eventually impact someone who is not hated. Thomas Jefferson comes to mind. Oh, wait; that’s already been tried in a couple of places.

        2. Someone didn’t learn a lesson from Lisa’s history crusade against Jebediah Springfield.

          1. Or Whacking Day!!

            1. Isn’t every day Whacking Day?

        3. I partially agree. It just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth to see anyone cave to these little shits. Giving in to their demands is a bad idea.

          1. I know. It’s hard to get worked up over Wilson but it’s disturbing how easily these guys submit and toe the line.

            1. Toad the Lion, you moron.

              1. No, Lion the Wet Sprocket.

          2. Why, if their demands are good?

            This is how things change. How else do you think the name of a vile ex-president gets removed from a bunch of buildings, if not because of people complaining about it?

            1. this same mentality is being used as the impetus to get rid of people like Jefferson, too, because he owned slaves in a time when that was legal, even though he and others knew that was going to end and some plan for it was needed. Wilson is an easy target but it’s not like this stops with him.

              1. Both points are fair. I think Nikki is separating the fact some protests are legit and others not.

              2. Wilson is an easy target but it’s not like this stops with him.

                Since I’m not a conservative, I don’t feel any need to keep a bunch of shitty stuff around just to hold back the rate of change.

                1. Since I’m not a conservative,

                  which has nothing to do with anything. And statues don’t hold back rates of change. Wilson and Princeton are ample evidence of that.

                  1. It has everything to do with your whole argument, which is that you should resist positive changes because all change must be managed.

                    1. It has everything to do with your whole argument which is that you should resist positive changes because all change must be managed.

                      try arguing against what I actually said rather the shit you want to make up. I didn’t say anything about either conservative or resisting change. I said this is an Orwellian practice that, if allowed here, is going to be hard to contain to the people that you find loathsome.

                2. Knock down those idols!!

            2. Sigh. I guess. /slowly stirs Quick into curled milk.

              1. Is curled milk some Canadian delicacy we don’t know about?

                1. That’s where they leave the milk outside until it freezes and then slide a rock across it by sweeping gently in front of the rock, i think.

                2. Curdled. AGHHH.

            3. Why, if their demands are good?

              Their demands are that they want him blotted out from the school. They also include redefining what is considered free speech and free intellectual thought to fit in with their worldview.

              Do you consider those good? Really?

        4. I am with you. We should have left Europe to continue to slog it out in WWI. Fatigue was already setting in. Eventually they would have agreed to a ceasefire. “Make the world safe for democracy.” What a crock. Citizens were a hell of a lot freer in Imperial Germany than under the tsar in Russia. If Wilhelm II was anything other than a fucking dufus in terms of dealing with the US, the people here may have kept Wilson from getting us into it.

          1. The Brits were working us hard to get in on their side. They sent secret agent Aleister Crowley to reconnoiter. His cover was – he was pro German.

      3. I made the mistake of reading the comments on a WaPo article about this. Basically “well their CEO still got paid $X Million and they still made $X Profit and insurance companies are evil, Singler Payer Derp Derp Derp. Of course they’ve never in their life complained about the $60-100B in fraudulent Medicare/Medicaid payments…

        Peak derp hasn’t been reached yet, everyone!

      4. 32-hour student sit-in

        At least they had time to get some studying done, rather than marching around the quad shouting obscenities at cringing administrators and students trying to get to class.

    2. if they leave the market, do they have a Plan B?

    3. Pull out? Don’t they know their contraception is covered?

      They’re worried Obama lied about the contraception, like everything else.

  2. UnitedHealthcare, America’s largest health insurer, is threatening to pull out of Obamacare.

    Nationalize it.

  3. UnitedHealthcare, America’s largest health insurer, is threatening to pull out of Obamacare.

    No one threatens Obamacare and gets away with it.

    1. “We need some muscle over here!”

  4. 115) I saw an article the other day on a new wave of musicians who make kids’ music adults can listen to also. Nothing against that?my kids liked the Wiggles when they were little, and they’re a lot better than what my siblings and I used to listen to as kids. But I started wondering why parents take such an interest in what their kids listen to nowadays. I don’t think my parents ever really cared what we kids listened to.

    But it occurred to me it happened around the time cassette decks started appearing in cars. Before then, kids listened to records on little record players in their rooms, and adults were spared exposure. Once the switchover to cassettes happened, kids could request their music be played in the car while their parents drove. I think that’s probably when Raffi and Anne Murray and the others in the first wave of adult-bearable kids’ music appeared.

    1. Ok, so my parent’s cars had mostly the six-button AM radios in them when I was growing up. If there was something particular I wanted to listen to in the house, it was usually part of my parent’s record collection, which was limited to pre-Beatles rock and roll. I also hd one of those “close and play” turntables. It wasn’t until sometime in high school that the car could play cassettes, and even longer before my parents even bought a cassette. Just trying to add evidence to your theory.

    2. More likely it’s because of the different style of parenting. My parents wouldn’t play what i liked on the car cassette desk. But then again they weren’t trying to be my friends.

      1. Good point. One of the cool things about finally learning to drive in my house was that we had the rule that “driver picks the music.” So that meant that we could feel cool behind the wheel.

      2. I listen to metal (Amon Amarth, FFDP, Trivium etc) and my 11 yo son asks me turn it down because it’s too loud. And do I have Ariana Grande? Fuck me.
        WE ARE DOOMED!

        1. I hope you grounded him. That is really uncalled for.

        2. Metal heads of the world unite! My step son listens to mindless top 40 garbage. Whereas I like Meshuggah, Thy Art of Murder, etc. Blast Liquid Metal every time I get behind the wheel.

          1. Next time he is asleep wake him up with a Dillinger Escape Plan album turned to 11 and tell him to stop being a pussy.

        3. “my 11 yo son asks me turn it down because it’s too loud”

          Not because it sucks?

      3. But then again they weren’t trying to be my friends.


        I never had “my” music. I listened to whatever my older brothers listened to, and that became “my” music. That’s why I grew up with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple instead of Raffi.

    3. One of the bar bands in college is churning out kids music now. I just saw them play at Bell’s brewery a few months ago (playing their normal stuff) and they still sound great. Anyway, Verve Pipe kids music…

      Here ya go.

    4. -1 Kenny Loggins on 8 track

    5. I got to listen to whatever my parents listened to, period. Thankfully they were into Motown, the British Invasion, the Beach Boys and all sorts of great music from 60-70.

    6. My dad’s car music preferences were Vivaldi, Johnny Cash, ZZ Top, and George Thorogood

      1. I would have liked riding with your Dad. I go from Baroque classical, to metal, to outlaw country.

    7. In elementary school I remember a group of girls singing Joan Jett’s ‘I love rock’n roll’.

      What do they sing today? Or do they just twerk?

      1. Too busy sexting selfies to classmates for eventual perusal by local cops.

      2. The kiddo’s choir person is actually into modern stuff, which is when I hear some of it, so the choir will be more “into” singing. So she lets them pick 2-3 songs for a concert, which you can tell they really like. Last year they had a “through the ages” theme, and his class picked Kansas’s “Carry on My Wayward Son.” But they also picked “Happy.”

      3. Twerk and Dick Slang mostly

    8. When I’m driving, my kids listen to what I like, and they don’t complain – anymore. When you buy a car you can listen to what you like.

      1. This^

    9. We listened to Simon & Garfunkel on 8-track in my parents’ Olds station wagon.

    10. I’m teaching my 4-yr old grandson some classic Stones when I drive him to/from places. So far he knows Sympathy for the Devil, You Can’t Always Get What you Want, and Out of Control.

    11. musicians who make kids’ music adults can listen to also

      I think They Might Be Giants have a lot of kids’ stuff. I don’t know it, but as a fan of their older stuff I bet it’s probably listenable for adults.

      1. They are by far the best purveyor of kid’s music out there. Sometimes I try to get my five year old to listen to them, but she’s more into early Rod Stewart.

  5. Quarter of men believe they have ‘man periods’

    As part of a study of 2,412 people (50pc men and 50pc women), male participants were asked if they frequently suffered the same common side effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) that women experience during their menstrual cycle, including tiredness, cramps and increased sensitivity.

    And whilst 26 per cent of men revealed that they did experience these feelings on a regular basis, perhaps a more shocking statistic is that 58pc of their female partners believed them.

    1. I thought that PMS had been disproven.…..rch-shows/

    2. I thought we covered this one yesterday.

      Women have periods; men suffer from periods.

  6. London police have settled with seven women whom undercover officers deceived into long-term relationships.

    The officers have agreed to change to make it work.

    1. I’m not quite sure I understand why these women have a case. Undercover officers by their very nature betray the trust of everyone around them. I’m not sure why these women have more of a case than the guys who thought these men where there best friends ’till the end.

      1. Defrauding your friends about who you are isn’t a crime. Defrauding your sex partners about same, is.

        1. The guy in the bar claiming to be a doctor isn’t guilty of a crime though. This seems like a very grey area.

        2. Bullshitting a woman to get into her pants is a crime now? I wonder what criminal statute that falls under?

          1. IF this is – in fact – some sort of fraud then the VAST majority of men are guilty of it at some point in their lives.

          2. Make up, push up bras, perfume and antidepressants. Bullshitting on both sides.

          3. Actually the cops were breaking their own rules by sleeping with women they were spying on. Or, in the case of two of them, having children with them, as part of a long-term operation.

            I’m slightly amazed that on a libertarian site no-one feels even mildly appalled that agents of the state were doing this.

            1. Cops breaking rules?!?! Jesus, NOW I AM UPSET!!!
              But seriously, ifh, I guess I am so jaded that I expect this from cops. And as for their relationships, would it have been okay for the cops to bullshit them into long term relationships and have kids with them if they WEREN’T spying on them? And do you feel them having kids with the women was in furtherance of their investigation or because they, you know, actually CARED for the women?

        3. Spanx ought to be outlawed. So should push-up bras, colored contact lenses, hair extensions, concealer makeup, high heels, girdles, tanning beds and about a hundred other things that alter appearances to make one more attractive I’ve than they really are.

          It’s the responsibility of each person to verify the other person is who they say they are.

          1. Sloopy, you gonna post some pics of you in a push-up bra, high heels and a girdle just so we can judge whether or not you’re more attractive?

            /not asking for a friend

  7. Princeton Sit-In Ends

    Due to having spent too much of this mroning reading comments from last night, I misread that as “Princeton shit-in”. The commentariat is pretty foul-keyed.

    1. You’re just now realizing this?

    2. Well sir, that is more accurate.

  8. More than half of D.C. residents favor reinstating the city-wide gun ban that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2008.

    Curiously, the majority of supporters are white and affluent. Black people are in favor of allowing guns.

    1. Just like in Chicago.

      1. Ahhhh, for the good ole days when DC and Chicago vied between themselves (sometimes with Detroit) for murder capital of America. Seems DC has been replaced by Baltimore in the rivalry with the Windy City, but thank God the denizens of America’s capital want to restore it to its former glory!!!
        I would also be willing to bet that a huge percentage of “D.C residents” that would like to reinstate the gun ban also have heavy security or security details already.

    2. Funny how we can’t vote away people’s rights (SSM), but we can vote away people’s rights (gun control).

      1. Well that’s because one of those “rights” was enumerated in the original bill of rights while the other has only recently become politically popular.

    3. The most interesting part of the study is that something like 60% of people polled thought the ban wouldn’t make a difference or would make the city less safe. So you have a substantial number of people supporting the ban while admitting it will be ineffective.

      1. Yes, because guns are icky.

    4. I don’t really understand why this even matters. I can’t imagine the outrage if more than half of Alabama residents favored reinstating the state mandated segregated schools that the U.S. Supreme Court rules unconstitutional in 1954, or the mockery that results when more than half of the residents somewhere favor reinstating the ban on abortion that the U. S. Supreme court ruled unconstitutional in 1973.

      It’s funny how these people have almost a religious devotion to the righteousness of institutions like the Supreme Court…until a decision goes against them. Then democracy should rule the day.

      1. Seconded!!

    5. Those white affluent supporters most certainly are not in favor of a city-wide gun ban. They’re only in favor of banning guns not in the hands of government. Why do you need a gun to protect yourself when you’ve got gunmen to protect you? Which is largely why blacks are opposed to the ban – they not only don’t have gunmen to protect them, those gunmen are more likely to harm them.

  9. These college protesters are demanding the media who cover them support their cause. Really.


    So when they held a sit-in Wednesday to protest racial discrimination, their solution was to not let in members of the media in the first place ? unless said media members pledged allegiance to the cause.

    1. Wow, the sad part is this has a good chance of working. Reporters are mostly on their side to begin with, so I could see them choosing to side blatantly with the protestors rather than be upset that they can’t do their job how they please.

      1. It works for the government, why not for proggie dimwits too?

        Oh wait…

    1. Don’t let them off easy…


      1. What the hell? I can’t masturbate to that!

        1. It’s like watching a dipshit assfuck a thesarus.

          1. Now that, I could masturbate to!

        2. I can’t masturbate to that!

          I pity you.

        3. It is as about as erotic as the Federal Register:
          “10 CFR 50.54 was rolling its bulbous salutation all over the central area of The Notice of Enforcement Discretion. As the regulator playfully bit the license amendment request, the commission has asked for comments from the full-figured copulating public.”

        4. It’s certainly doing nothing for my otherwise central zone.

          1. Well, there’s your problem. Everyone knows the most erogenous zone is north of central.

      2. I don’t know what any of that means.

        I will take Warty Hugeman stories over that any time.

      3. Sugarfree…

        Did you make this up? Or did that actually get published?!?

        1. No, that’s real.

            1. Her mouth was intensely ovoid

              What in holy fuck?

              That makes a pain form right behind my eyes when I try to think about it.

      4. If it’s not love, then it’s the bulbous salutation that will bring us together.

        1. When I hear bulbous salutation, I can only think of the Benny Hill salute.

          1. [slide whistle]

        2. ‘Greetings and bulbous salutations!’

      5. This sounds like a sober person trying to approximate Agile Cyborg on a bad trip.

      6. As if any more proof were needed that Johnny Marr was the brains behind the Smiths.

      7. Someone got “My First Thesaurus” for his birthday.

        1. I read that as “My Fist Thesaurus,” and it made sense to me.

      8. How could he get into the otherwise central zone with a bulbous cock? Most otherwise central zones require a more cylindrical appendage.

  10. Poll: White D.C. Residents Favor Gun Ban, Black Residents Don’t

    The survey of 1,005 D.C. residents, conducted by the Washington Post between November 12 and 15, found a bare majority of D.C. residents?51 percent? support banning all guns, while nearly as many?47 percent?oppose it.

    The Post’s analysis of the respondents’ racial and economic background show a gun ban is most popular among white residents and least popular among black residents. The paper also found that 67 percent of whites with college degrees supported the idea of a ban, 5 percent more than whites in general.

    Sixty-one percent of those making more than $100,000 per year supported the ban?whose racial makeup was not specified?while only about 40 percent of those making less than $50,000 did.

    1. Gun buy-bax are like socialism. No matter how many times it doesn’t work people are enthusiastically in favor of it.

      1. Gun “buy backs” along with “eminent domain” are also a negation of private property rights.

        I remember one of those Chuck Norris jokes: “There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures that Chuck Norris has allowed to live.”

        The statists’ version is, “There is no private property, just a list of items that the government has allowed you to keep. And they can take it from you by force if they claim to be serving a ‘public interest’ in doing so, and if they give you what they deem to be a ‘fair price’.”

    2. people whose lives are almost never likely to include violence or real danger oppose guns; those in dangerous areas do not. I. Am. Shocked.

      1. A few days ago there was an article in the Post about rising crime rates in affluent areas of DC, such as Capitol Hill. Not murder or anything especially violent, mind you. But stories such as a woman having her expensive cell phone stolen while she was out walking her expensive dogs. Many of the residents quoted in the story were “shocked, shocked!” that crime was happening in their neighborhood. Nevermind that DC’s murder rate has spiked this year. These people are completely out of touch.

        1. “These people are completely out of touch.”

          Isn’t that why they moved to D.C. in the first place?

    3. Interesting about the racial split.

      Re: Majority supporting full ban: That’s a fun figure, but it takes super-majorities of both Houses of Congress and 3/4 of the states to amend the Constitution, WaPo.

    4. Exactly like NYC’s stop and frisk.

    5. If I understand correctly, this is the lowest percent of support for a ban in WAPO polls.

      Gun control is dying there even.

  11. Poll: White D.C. Residents Favor Gun Ban, Black Residents Don’t




    1. double Hitler post!

      1. You know who else posted on two fronts?

        1. Lew Alcindor?

          1. You try draggin Lanier up the court for 40 minutes.

            1. Straffinrun, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?

    2. White D.C. Residents Favor Gun Ban, Black Residents Don’t

      the white residents are all cops?

    3. If you’re white and wealthy, you can afford to believe the police are effective and on your side. If you’re black and poor, you have no such illusions.

  12. Sen. Rand Paul “is correct that the cities and states with the highest income inequality are led by Democrats,” according to The Washington Post, “but this is a misleading claim.”

    Accurate, but fake.

    1. Paul totally doesn’t take the intentions of the leaders into account!

    2. I’m not clear on why this is supposed to be a problem. I have a greater chance of getting stinking filthy rich in NYC than in Utah. Why is this controversial?

    3. No, it’s a ‘claim about misleading’

    4. Without checking the link, I can guess that what Rand actually said was true, but what WaPo claims he meant by what he said was false and here’s the stats to prove that what he didn’t actually say is not true. I don’t believe for a second that Kessler and his ilk don’t know the difference between an implication and an inference, that stating as a fact what Rand meant by what he said is pure bullshit because it’s only their opinion of what he meant. The “fact” checkers are pretty consistent in asserting that their opinions are facts.

      I can also guess that they’re saying Rand is wrong to say the shitholes are shitholes because the Dems are in charge when the truth is that the shitholes are shitholes despite the Dems being in charge and just imagine how much shitholier they’d be if the Dems weren’t in charge. Also, given that the shitholiest Dem places tend to have large non-white populations, isn’t it obvious Rand is just being coy about his racism? We all know what Rand really means when he uses that dog-whistle term “Democrats”, don’t we?

      Did I get that about right?


    The capital has a democrat majority? Who would have guessed.

    1. If you go by county size increments, in the last couple of elections, DC is the most left partisan voting block in the country, followed by marin county CA. There are a couple of Counties in UT that are almost as partisan to the right.

  14. “Gunmen have taken over a luxury hotel in the capital of Mali”

    How did that headline get past Reason’s censors? Here let me fix for you.

    “Widows and orphans have taken over a luxury hotel in the capital of Mali”

    1. Remember when Roger Simon and Bill Maher made fun of Romney for mentioning Mali as a target for terrorism back in 2012. Good stuff from real men of genius.

      1. I know Romney gets a lot of shit here, but it’s like every freaking day something happens to prove him right. If he would have just had the balls to say we tried “Romneycare” in Massachusetts. We were wrong. It failed. We would be talking about what Mitt was going to do during his second term, since nobody of any substance was running against him.

  15. The tiny pill fueling Syria’s war and turning fighters into superhuman soldiers

    As The Post’s Liz Sly recently noted, the war in Syria has become a tangled web of conflict dominated by “al-Qaeda veterans, hardened Iraqi insurgents, Arab jihadist ideologues and Western volunteers.”

    On the surface, those competing actors are fueled by an overlapping mixture of ideologies and political agendas.

    Just below it, experts suspect, they’re powered by something else: Captagon.[…]

    A powerful amphetamine tablet based on the original synthetic drug known as “fenethylline,” Captagon quickly produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing Syria’s fighters to stay up for days, killing with a numb, reckless abandon.

    1. Also “red mercury”.

      1. And BLUE KRYPTONITE!!!

    2. When they’re off duty, they’re sniffing jenkem and eating candy bars with embedded needles.

      1. And attending rainbow parties where they buttchug vodka.

        1. No, they buttchug beer and use vodka tampons.

    3. Don’t laugh, my grandmother’s neighbor’s babysitter’s brother’s friend knows this guy who once took one of those pills and woke up the next morning in a tub full of ice with one of his kidneys missing. The worst part was somebody had scrawled on the mirror in lipstick “Welcome to the wonderful world of ADIDS.” He still doesn’t know if he’s HIV positive or if somebody owes him a new pair of sneakers. True story.

  16. Alaska and Wyoming, the states with the most equal income distribution, are more reliant on resource extraction

    Drill, Baby, drill!

    1. Resource extraction. Do I make a joke about my wife or The Bern?

      1. Resource extraction isn’t very effective as birth control.

        1. Unless you buy that theory about the shape of the male glans.

  17. Judge rules to release video of Chicago teen being shot 16 times by police

    An autopsy report from the Cook County medical examiner’s office showed that McDonald was shot 16 times, at least twice in the back.

    In April 2015, the FBI announced a joint investigation with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, into the shooting.

    Two days later, the city council approved a $5m settlement for McDonald family, though they had not filed a lawsuit. Chicago’s corporation counsel, Stephen Patton, said the dashboard-camera footage had prompted the city’s decision to settle.

    5M without a lawsuit pending? This video must be damning as hell.

    1. I’m hearing it may “tear Chicago apart.”

      The really weird thing is the city is doing basically nothing to contest its release. At least not now that Rahm’s been reelected.

      1. It was pretty clever to argue that the state FOIA didn’t apply to Chicago city government. That’s some Jedi mind trick shit.

      2. I’m hearing it may “tear Chicago apart.”

        Rahm needs a new crisis to use…to distract from the whole teacher strike/pension mess.

    2. You would think that would make an indictment ham sandwich level of easy too.

      1. I’m with robc here. Either the kid still had the kitchen knife that he used to slice up the cruiser, in which case fuck him; good shoot. Or the kid didn’t have the kitchen knife, in which case why the hell’d they shoot him?

        If it’s such an open and shut bad shoot that Chicago wants to give $5M right off the bat to make it go away, why isn’t a cop looking at a manslaughter or murder 2 indictment?

  18. Young man forced to post a photo of his passport on Facebook to prove his real name is ‘Phuc Dat Bich’


    1. ha! Seriously though, the real name thing is dumb dumb dumb.

  19. “Mike Huckabee is being sued by “Eye of the Tiger” guitarist Frank Sullivan for using the song at a rally in support of Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses.”

    Pretty sure this falls under Fair Use rules. Also, if rock stars don’t want just anybody making use of their songs, maybe they shouldn’t release them on singles and albums with nation-wide distribution, go on big multi-city tours, etc. You want to keep your art out of the wrong hands, stay local and don’t go for the big time. That’s the tradeoff.

    1. THIS. I get an artist asking a pol not to use it. Hell you can ask for whatever. Reminds when Reagan was using Born in the USA. It bothered me so much, not because I disliked Reagan, but I hate Springsteen and the song was rather down on America.

      Interesting fact: Christie uses Bon Jovi music. Jon Bon Jovi is a strong Dem but is actually friends with Christie so he said go for it. I like that friendship can transcend politics. Of course, Christie is literally the worst “R” running.

  20. I say we boycott Reason until they affix AM Links. WHO’S WITH ME?

    1. I just assumed ENB realized she did not post a few abortion stories and shut down the links until she could find a suitable one.

    2. Hunger strike!
      Oh wait, my pancakes just got to my table. How about a nasty comment and we call it a day?

  21. Great News! Americans Don’t Really Care About Climate Change

    According to a new Pew Research Center poll, the amount of cars that run purely on gas is up as a percentage over the past three years. Fewer than three percent of all cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and light-duty vehicles run on anything other than gas or diesel. The market for heavily-subsidized alternative-fueled vehicles has fallen. After years of subsidized unproductive sectors and constantly bolstering the idea that inefficient electric cars are the future, no one really wants them. Even the use of hybrid cars is down from 2013.

    In 1980, 64 percent of Americans who commuted to work did would do so alone in their car. Today, even after massive publicity effort cajoling people to get out of their cars and billions of dollars spent on public transportation projects like light rail, 74 percent of Americans who commute to work do so alone in a car. The percentage of commuters who carpool has fallen by more than half.

    1. Makes sense. Electrics and hybrids had a shot when we were under the impression that gas prices were going to keep skyrocketing. Now that we realize cheap gas is here to stay there isn’t really a reason to buy one.

      1. I bought a hybrid September 2014. Gas prices were $3.75 a gallon around here. Calculated out the price difference and the amount I drive, and figured gas would have to fall below $3.00 before the price difference between the regular and the hybrid didn’t make sense. Whoops.

        1. I was thinking of getting an electric car since 95% of my miles are just short city hops. But going up north to my parents would always require the use of my wife’s car since the distance is just at the range of the electric car. I don’t have that much faith, especially as the battery ages and loses some capacity.

        2. I’ve a Prius, mainly because it was a great deal on a used car, and because, per TUV and Consumer Reports, Priuses are supposed to be insanely reliable.

          I could feel smugger if gas were back to $3.50+ a gallon, but fuck it: it’s better for most everyone not in the oil/gas trade, if we have cheaper energy.

    2. It cost me 30 bucks to fill my tank yesterday, a tank which I can remember recently cost me 60 bucks. I drive a lot less now too so my gas bill has become negligible.

      No matter how much pants shitting there is about climate change no one will care unless there actually is climate change, which there is not.

    3. I just hope the fucks over at the IRS don’t realize they’re allowing people like me to cash in at 57.5? per mile reimbursement. Because once I got rid of my Navigator and am now getting 34 MPG, the 5000 miles a month I drive have turned into a nice bonus.

    4. Fucking Big Oil and their propaganda about climate change. All those commercials about how if you use more gas it will make the environment better to get people to spend even more money on gas. Oh, there were no ads like that? Energy companies are always trying to find greater efficiency? Oh well still, Fuck Big Oil!

    5. Thank to Obama, for freeing up the exploration and production of oil and gas in the US.


      1. Well, more like not being competent enough to block fracking, despite his best efforts.


    Good luck, because the Huckster enjoys the thrill of the fight.

    1. Rising up, to the challenge of a rival ?

      1. It’s the rye or the kaiser it’s the wheat or the white….

        Oh wait I’m thinking of weird Al’s version.

    2. “Cry Of The Cougar” would suit Huckster better.

  23. ‘Our melting, shifting, liquid world’: celebrities read poems on climate change

    Actors including James Franco, Ruth Wilson, Gabriel Byrne, Maxine Peake, Jeremy Irons, Kelly Macdonald and Michael Sheen read a series of 21 poems on the theme of climate change, curated by UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Includes two bonus poems from Byrne and Franco

    1. Now if they can just melt away along with it.

    2. At least Jeremy Irons could smile for his photo. The rest looked like smirks

    3. I didn’t start the fire, but the fires been burnin since the worlds been turnin

    4. Charlie Sheen said “fuck it”.

    5. I fucking hate James Franco.


    Appeasement only makes them stronger. Or whinier. Both, I guess.

    1. Waiting for the protesters to start targeting local businesses – asking Winberies to repaint their mural, removing pictures from the Yankee Doodle Taproom.

      1. Read that as Yankee Doodle Tampon.

        “Why do they have pictures on em?”

  25. Utah School Apologizes For Terrorism Poster Assignment

    Nebo School District spokeswoman Lana Hiskey said the assignment at Salem Junior High School was canceled Thursday after several parents called to complain.

    Hiskey says the assignment came from a first-year world civics teacher and was not part of official curriculum or approved by the school.

    The assignment involved students doing a mock-up of a poster for one of the terrorist organizations studied in class, including IS.

    Hiskey says World War II propaganda was also discussed.

    She says the teacher is apologetic and has met with administrators but no disciplinary action is planned.

    1. But that is an awesome assignment. It’s a good way to both prove that the students understand what motivates the terrorists while also helping them to become immune to the tactics used. Nothing takes the wind out of propaganda’s sales like understanding the mechanics behinds it.

      1. Teaching students to identify and discount propaganda contradicts the core mission of public schooling.

      2. If I actually for a minute believed that would happen, then great. But Jr High kids aren’t exactly free thinkers (actually they aren’t thinkers at all). This lesson COULD be used to absolutely have that outcome. But not in a public school and not with a young, I am sure very lefty teacher.

      3. The exercise might be good for advanced students who are better at thinking critically and putting ideas in context, but jr high civic students should still be learning history and the basics of our political institutions.

  26. Japan Rolls Out Limited Edition Kit Kat Wrapped In 24-Carat Edible Gold-Leaf

    Kit Kat comes in an assortment of unusual and interesting flavors in Japan, and they have once again outdone themselves with this latest version of the popular snack.

    In celebration of the millionth customer that has visited their specialty Kit Kat Chocolatory stores, Kit Kat will be selling limited edition Kit Kats, which are hand-wrapped in 24-carat gold-leaf and priced at 2,016 yen (about US$16).

    Chocolatory members will also stand a chance to win a real 24-carat gold Kit Kat bar, which would be a prized procession for any chocolate lover.

    1. A real 24-carat gold Kit Kat bar is going to be hard on the teeth. And it will taste kinda metallic.

  27. Sanders Wants New NATO with Russia

    Bernie Sanders wants a new NATO — and he wants Russia to be part of it.

    In a lengthy speech to a jam-packed house at Georgetown University this afternoon, the senator and presidential candidate called for the creation of a new multi-nation organization to fight global extremism.

    “We must create a new organization like NATO to confront the security threats of the 21st century — an organization that emphasizes cooperation and collaboration to defeat the rise of violent extremism and, importantly, to address the root causes underlying these brutal acts,” he said in the speech. “We must work with our NATO partners, we must work to expand the coalition with Russia and we must work with members of the Arab League.”

    1. Holy fuck Sanders is an idiot. How long would it take before Russia would argue that the treaty requires us to support their activities in Chechnya or Georgia?

      1. I’m sure Poland would love having Russian troops stationed there again. So many fond memories..

      2. We’ve always been at war with the Ukraine.

      3. to defeat the rise of violent extremism and, importantly, to address the root causes underlying these brutal acts

        Keep in mind Bernie says the root cause of terrorism is global warming and the root cause of global warming is capitalism. Bernie doesn’t want Russia to join NATO, he wants the old Soviet Union to lead NATO. And just think of the shovel-ready jobs created by disinterring that rotted corpse.

      4. Hey Romney! The 1980’s called, they want their foreign policy back. /B.H.O.
        At least Sanders is more honest about it, still want him to fall off a cliff though.

    2. It is like he gets a modicum of truth, and spins it way out of control to the highest levels of stupidity. If we had a president who wasn’t like our current boob-in-chief, we actually could work with Russia on a case-by-case basis. Get some leverage out of it. Every thing we work on together we try to get some benefit. But I agree the idea of a NATO type thing is ludicrous. Perhaps we could do a similar thing with Arab countries. Again case-by-case and always use it to get positive change.

  28. Study Finds More Mexicans Leaving the US Than Coming





    1. Trumps wall will just keep them in.

      1. *Chazz Palminteri stands behind the wall’s exit*

        “Now yous can’t leave.”

        1. The. BEST.

    2. And pot will be completely legal there, at least if their Supreme Court decision holds up.

      1. Get better about ass sex, and Mexico will be Libertopia! Well, it won’t be Somalia, but close!

    3. 800,000 Mexicans moved to the States in a five-year period, during a time when enforcement was dwindling, and Federal Government policies seemingly encouraged immigration, either legal or not. Sure. Add a zero to that number and I might buy it.

      It makes me give pause to the veracity of the rest of Pew’s products, including their polling on attitudes towards violence within the Muslim world.

      1. Ah, but they said “Mexicans”. Remember that a lot the migration in question was people from countries further south coming through Mexico, not just Mexicans themselves.

        1. True, but consider this list of Latin American counties by population. Mexico is second on the list (behind Brazil) with 121 million. You have to go quite a ways down the list to get to the first Central American country, Guatemala, at 16 million. Columbia and Argentina are in the 40 million area, Peru and Venezuela are in the 30 million area, and then nobody else is above 20 million. Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador are all under 10 million.

          My point is, it takes a lot of emigration from other Latin countries to equal Mexico’s, just because it takes such a small proportion of Mexico’s population to equal a large number in the U.S. I just think it’s a lot more likely that Pew’s research is flawed in some fundamental way, akin to a Hemenway or Kellermann study on gun control and crime, instead of thinking that the shortfall between Pew’s numbers and my lying eyes is made up by ~20 percent of the population of Central American countries not named Mexico.

  29. Most mayors, regardless of their party, care about the economic development of their city, want to improve residents’ incomes and invest in low-income neighborhoods.

    Objection. Assuming facts not in evidence.

    1. This. Remember the Detroit mayor a few years ago? I can’t think of the name (kwefmie mgdiifsftwyu something I think). I don’t think there was a whole lot of concern for his residents.

      1. Kwame Kilpatrick can hardly be blamed for his moral turpitude – both of his parents were politicians and “community activist” sorts. If you’re raised by dung beetles you’re probably going to take naturally to rolling around in shit.

  30. Derpy’s Army Countdown: Endgame

    I leave for the Army Sunday morning. Here is some going away music:

    If you want, you can imagine a little red line moving across a map of the US.

    The good news is these days, the Army lets guys in boot camp use their cell phones once a week. I have the cell #s of a couple Reasonoids. I will send updates when I can. I also get 2 weeks of leave for Xmas, so I’ll do some posting then.

    Today, my libertarian girlfriend will be giving me a going away present.

    Goodbye, friends!

    1. Farewell, Derpy. Good luck.

    2. Shit damn! Fucking wars take another good one.

    3. Good luck, Derpy! Although I’m morally opposed to the Military Industrial Complex of which you are now a part.

      (not sure if reference too obscure…)

      1. [condescendingly pats Lisa on the head; returns to hosing stains off monument]

        1. Hey Derpy, bring me back a torpedo.

          1. Might as well post the whole quote:

            Homer: See you in a week.

            Lisa: Good luck, Dad. Although I’m morally opposed to the military-industrial complex of which you are now a part.

            Homer: Aw, that’s sweet, honey. I’ll bring you back a hat.

            Bart: Hey, Homer, bring me back a torpedo.

            Homer: No.

            Bart: But Flanders got his kids torpedoes.

            Homer: Oh, he did, did he? I’ll show him! I’ll bring you a weapon of unimaginable destructive power!

            Marge: Homer!

            Homer: But only if you’re good. Even if you’re not.


    4. Don’t say goodbye. That sounds permanent. How about “Y’all take care and I will be back soon.”

      Good luck Derpy.

    5. I just want to tell you good luck. We’re all counting on you.

    6. Gratz and good luck, of course, but what is a rugged individualist doing joining the army?

      1. I have to work somewhere. Might as well get paid to do something I’m interested in. The Army will pay me to learn a foreign language and let me play with various bang-bang toys. I’ll take that over working in a bubble wrap factory. That was by far the most boring job I’ve ever had. At least I got exercise when I worked on a Xmas tree farm and used a leaf blower to remove the dead needles.

        1. Plus the Army is one of the best places to research derp, which is my passion and profession.

        2. Well, you’ll likely have to do a penance for taking taxpayer money at some point.

          Seriously, though, you’re right. I’ve know more than a few people who’ve gotten a great deal from their time with the Army. Even my dad (who would have made a pretty good fit around here) said as much about himself and his time in there.

        3. Derp, I almost believed your tale of joining the Army, but you gave yourself away with the phrase “my libertarian girlfriend”.

          There is no such thing as a female libertarian.

          1. There is no such thing as a female libertarian.

            Hey, she lives in Canada

          2. Maybe she lives in Canada. You don’t know.

        4. What MOS are you contracting for, Derpy?

          Good luck and Godspeed. Most everyone I’ve known who’s gone through the Service has commented that their time there brought home to them the incompetence, wastefulness, and Leviathan-like nature of the federal government.

    7. Damn Derp. The Army? Of all the branches? Man.

      Well from an Air Force guy, good luck and hopefully we’ll see you back on here soon.

    8. From an old Navy guy. Semper Fi (the Marines are still part of the Navy aren’t they?)

      1. wiki says yes:

        Unlike its U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force counterparts, the Department of the Navy comprises two uniformed services: the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps (sometimes collectively called the “naval services” or “sea services”).[4]

        The Department of the Navy consists of all elements of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

      2. Not since about 1830. How old are you?

    9. Good luck! (not clicking the second youtube link….)

    10. As someone who went through basic, blew out my knee at the end, then rehabbed it and WENT THROUGH BASIC AGAIN, I can say with full confidence that you got this. Good luck and God speed and drop by when you can…

    11. Derp, the place just won’t be the same without your special messages. Some of us might gain a few IQ points by not being subjected daily derp.

    12. Fair weather and good fortune Derpy. Be sure to swat your girlfriend on the fanny on the way out the door. Traditionally speaking, fanny swatting brings good luck.

      1. He should give her a swat on the fanny (in the British sense) with his bulbous salutation.

    13. Good luck and stay safe. If you’d post your address here we could all write you warm mushy letters while you’re in boot. (They still prohibit letters in boot and fuck with you when assholes send ’em?)

    14. Bizarre – you are entering the service just 2 days before the 40th anniversary of the day I first enlisted. Almost weirder is the fact that I got out, came back in, and I’m still in (part time).

      I hope they grant you every wish that you enlisted for. After that, well, just remember to keep your expectations (of the Army – not of what you can accomplish) low.

  31. “More than half of D.C. residents favor reinstating the gun ban that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2008.”

    Did gun crime go up or down A) when that ban was initially enacted, B) after it was struck down and if they reinstate it do we expect gun crime to go up or down?

    I posit that gun crime rates are completely independent of gun bans or restrictions and that more than half of DC residents are ignoramuses.

    1. Why the fuck would FACTS enter into their feelings about guns?!?!

  32. How does Reason fight the squirrels?

    1. They pull the looms down and take that furry midget penis up the ass like the rest of us, Rufus.

    2. By not letting them seek asylum in the first place?

    3. Parboiled,then sauted in butter,onions garlic and dark mushrooms Serve with a porter or stout.Wood duck is very good like this.

      1. Someone around here needs to ruin the natural habitat of all those delicious squirrels Adans is eating.

        1. I have a corn feeder for them.Deer and turkey come by too.Nice and fat during in season.Oh and doves,wonderful eating.

  33. You’d have to be a corpse from an odd time lost to the dirt buried deep under the fucking stadium to not consume booze at an AC/DC event. I don’t give a fuck if you are Jesus Christ strumming whirling dervishes exploding acid-flaked naked angels from fucking polka dot V- no booze equals a square time, bitch.

    1. What about their Christian cover band, AD/BC?

      Kindly deeds, done for free..

      1. Comedic divinely-inspired opera requires at least 8 bottles of Dragon’s Milk, Juv.

      2. Or the children’s entertainers, AB/CD?

      3. Or the Objectivist prog-rock cover band, AI/SA?


    I said this yesterday, but I hate this victimhood mentality… Living in historically segregated residences, walking past statues of people who would have hated seeing you there; these are a slap in the face of segregationists! Revel in your victory over these assholes, don’t cringe in fear from their bronzed gaze! Why do you give them so much power over you?

    1. Agreed. Conor Friedersdorf had a nifty few pieces on this recently:



      1. that their worth is inherent

        They’d have to believe in natural rights that are not granted by the government first.

      2. I think it is a mistake to engage these useful idiots arguments directly. That is not really what they are after.

      3. Wilson was a sporting guy, but he packed it in.

        1. I thought he fell off the raft and floated away?

          1. His body fell off the raft, his head still hovers above Tim’s fence.

            1. “My name’s Voit, jackass.”


      While I agree with this sentiment, I still think it’s perfectly fine for them to want Wilson removed from stuff since they are now the paying customers of the school. Fuck that guy, and they now have enough power to get rid of him.

      1. It’s the images and names they’ll put up afterwards that’s the problem.

        1. Well let’s complain about that then.

        2. that some subsequent generation will find offensive and will demand their removal. Lather, rinse, repeat.

          1. Yes, that is how history works.

            1. Applying current sensibilities to events of the past is stupid. If you could convince people to abandon the practice of erecting statues altogether, that would be something. But I don’t see that happening.

              1. Erecting staues will give you dick burn. Or cuts.

            2. Yeah in Soviet Russia.

              In Soviet Russia, the future is known. It is the past that is always changing.

      2. Frankly, I doubt these particular protesters are “paying” customers.

  35. Fun history fact: the tale of Herostratus

    On 21 July 356 BC, seeking notoriety, he burned down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in ancient Greece (now Turkey).



  36. Obamacare Insurers Are Suffering. That Won’t End Well.

    But on the conference call, Stephen Helmsley, the CEO of UnitedHealth, expressed concerns that the exchanges were seeing adverse selection anyway. Not just that the Obamacare insurance pool is sicker and more expensive than expected, which we already knew. But that the pool is experiencing adverse selection over the course of the year, as healthy people stop paying their premiums, and sicker people buy in. According to Helmsley, the people who bought insurance from them through the exchange, but outside of the open enrollment period, are averaging about 20 percent more expensive than the rest of the pool.

    This is potentially extremely bad news for Obamacare. It may be that UnitedHealth simply had an especially bad experience, but with more than 500,000 people covered, that doesn’t seem actuarially likely. Which raises the worrying possibility that only two years in, people have figured out how to game the special enrollment process so that it’s safe for them to go without insurance, and then sign up for coverage if they get sick. That’s not the only possible explanation. Perhaps people who have “qualifying life events” are simply more likely to buy insurance if they need a lot of health care.

    1. Amazing, people aren’t dumb. Who would of thunk. Hell, I go through a lot of trouble each year to make sure that I’m in the plan that benefits me the most monetarily and I’m one of the sick people that they don’t want.

    2. The next around of rate increases is going to come just around or after the conventions next year. Given these kinds of news stories, they’re going to be some rather significant increases. That’ll make for some interesting (read: terrible) political posturing from Team Blue.

    3. The part of Obamacare that is, currently,blowing my mind the most is how it includes allowing children to remain on their parent’s insurance until age 26. So, at the exact time they are in dire need of young people to sign up, they allow anyone age 18-26 to ride on their parents’ insurance.

  37. “cities and states led by Democrats have the worst income inequality”

    That’s because in those states the poor people vote for the party who actually care about them, when they’re actually allowed to vote that is. Kochtopus! Tearat! Bagfuck! Argle-bargle!!!!!!1!eleventytotheeleventy /plug

    [repost from cartoon thread]


    *shrugs* He was a racist piece of shit that actively hurt the cause of black equality so this is perfectly fair. Blind squirrels, nuts, etc.

    I don’t have to agree with their reasoning to appreciate the justness of the end result. Now if only they would turn their sights on FDR who I’m sure is honored at some college campuses.


    2. The more disgusting monument is that POS about FDR on the Mall. Sickening to honor a true enemy of freedom.

    3. FDR would be the natural target after Wilson ? FDR served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Governor-General of Haiti for Wilson and many of the people in the FDR Administration previously served in the Wilson Administration.

  39. “Gunmen have taken over a luxury hotel in the capital of Mali?a city “that serves as a logistics hub for French forces helping in a fight against Islamist insurgents,” The Washington Post notes. ”

    They’re apparently killing people who can’t recite the Koran, just like Al Shabaab did at Westgate shopping mall massacre and in their college attack where they killed 150 Christians.

    This has nothing to do with religion though. I’m sure it’s purely based on political grievances.

    1. If the French just didn’t ban the Hijab, or something… I forget what today’s excuse is

      1. It’s clearly climate change that drove these poor, misguided young men to carry out these acts. Haven’t you been listening to anything Bernie Sanders says?

    2. Dude, Islam isn’t the problem here. Islamic law is.

      1. The distinction confuses me, but okay

          1. He is right to an extent, the problem is Pew Research found that approximately 1 billion out of 1.6 billion Muslims support Sharia law.

            Therefore, if your complaint is Sharia law, your complaint is with well over half of all Muslims. This is not a fringe we’re talking about.

    3. It’s just a trivia game with a dark twist

    4. Surely they made them recite a few lines from Al Gore’s bible…

    1. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid lambasted secret political cash when he appeared last week in a video filmed and produced by a liberal advocacy group.

      “Working families can’t compete with billionaires,” Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in the ad that also featured another liberal luminary in Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “Let’s stop the flood of dark money into our political system and do it now.”

      One catch: The group behind the video, a nonprofit called American Family Voices, doesn’t generally reveal who funds its operations ? although a Center for Public Integrity review of Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor records indicates large unions, environmental interests and a major corporate retail lobbying group have this decade provided it with six- or seven-figure contributions.

      1. The hypocrisy is forgivable, but the term “dark money” is deeply problematic, don’t you think?

        1. +1 Visa Black Card

          1. Money of Color?

            1. Is that the movie starring Paul Nubian and Tom Cracker?

  40. The picture on the AM links makes Mali look like it’s on Mars. Did ISIS beat us to Mars? Did NASA’s muslim outreach work?

  41. The subprime auto loans bubble is close to popping:

    Loans to borrowers with credit scores below 660 are the highest since 2005.

    The reports notes “With the surge in the second quarter, the total number of subprime originations has since reached a ten-year, pre-crisis high

    Typically banks react too late, after most of the damage has been done. It’s the same every cycle. By the time credit is available to those on the bottom rung, the party is about over.

    Regardless, and as I have pointed out numerous times, the surge in autos is one of the few things holding up consumer spending and is also the only bright spot at all of manufacturing.

    What cannot go on forever won’t. And it’s nearly the end of the line for autos. Repercussions will be deeper than economists expect.

    1. What we need is a bubble in unsecured loans to replace the auto loan bubble.

      1. +125% of home value so you can buy Jet Skis.

    1. People given free shit abuse it – who knew?

      It’s like when I was a teenager and got my dad’s hand-me-down car… oil change what? tire pressure?

      1. At least you were still a kid, these were adults who presumably should have known better.

    2. Wow, these guys have major league issues. Holes in the wall and things ripped up I could see being a grief response. Blood, feces, and maggots is unable to act in a decent manner and deserving of public scorn.

    3. Before clicking on the link, the thought occurred to me, “I bet the dad has a throat tattoo.”


    4. What do you expect with those neck tatts. Gah.

      1. Or, what CX said.

  42. “Bernie Sanders explains ‘democratic socialism’ in latest speech”
    “”What Roosevelt was stating, in 1944, what Martin Luther King Jr. stated in similar terms 20 years later, and what I believe today is that true freedom does not occur without economic security,” Sanders said Thursday at Georgetown University.”…..tes/npRbw/

    Conveniently ignoring the part where he needs the persuasive abilities of Stalin and Mao to get it.

    1. Economic security is not achieved through theft. Theft necessarily entails a downward spiral to poverty and dependency.

      Economic security is achieved through diligence and hard work in a system that strongly protects property rights.

      Fuck you Bernie.

      1. The Chron columnist who was forever flogging the ‘we’re all just one pay check from being on the street’ lefty lie is retiring.
        I hope he misses a paycheck…

      2. Economic security is not achieved through theft.

        The thief’s economic security is.

        1. Nope. A thief didn’t work for what they have so they burn through it in a flash and then they are out looking for more. Eventually other people’s money runs out and there is nothing left to steal. That is not security, that is a race to the bottom.

          I remember a scene from ‘Yuri’s Gold’ where some thieves rob a beekeeper of his yearly take. The beekeeper busted his ass all year to make that and budgeted it out over the next year, including saving some. When the thieves open the bag and see the piles of cash one exclaims to the other “Las Vegas, here we come!”. That might be fictional but it is a pretty good summation of the thief mentality.

    2. Before Sanders, progs said “How Dare You Call Us Socialists!”

      Now they say, “But He’s A *Democratic* Socialist!”

    3. Complacency and dependency isn’t security. People reliant on socialist welfare have given the socialist ruling class complete control over their survival, and can no longer act freely without considering the will and needs of their masters. The only real freedom is found in either independence, or more plausibly, egalitarian co-dependence, such as results from a peer to peer capitalist economy.

      As for socialism, it’s the opiate of the masses. In carefully controlled doses, as a temporary measure, it can do more good than harm (though voluntary charity can easily fulfill this limited mission of social security, and carries far fewer risks); however, it is highly addictive, and deeply damaging to those it enslaves and the people around them.

  43. What It’s Really Like to Be an NFL Cheerleader
    “When the scale showed 127 pounds on game day, I was pulled from the performance.”

    Determined to make the required weight by game two, I took a week off from my full-time job, hired two personal trainers, did three hours of cardio and 30 minutes of ab work per day, and ate nothing but canned tuna and almonds. Exactly one week later, I weighed 118….I’d lost 9 pounds (and an entire bra cup size) in seven days! The choreographer patted my butt and said “Good girl!”

    I grew to dread those pregame weigh-ins. No one would eat or drink that day for fear of gaining weight. I would get up early and sit in the gym’s steam room for hours in hopes of sweating out a few extra ounces. All the cheerleaders would jockey to be first in line to step on the scale, because the sooner you weighed in, the more precious seconds you had to scarf down energy bars before dancing and cheering for four exhausting hours straight.

    Over the next several months, I alternated between starving myself and purging, operating solely on caffeine, herbal energy supplements, and a fear of being yelled at in front of the entire team. I got colonics, had body wraps, took diet pills, fasted, and got enemas. Eventually, I had not just the six-pack abs they wanted, but visible ribs and dangerously low body fat to boot.

    1. So find another job.

    2. Forced labor, that’s what I say.

    3. Clearly sexism at play. It’s not like male NFL players perform exhausting workouts and abuse their bodies in order to make the cut.

      1. Misogyny hurts men too, or something.

      2. Well, sometimes I get the menstrual cramps real hard.

    4. Perhaps change your diet and lifestyle to look the way you want all the time.

    5. If you can’t exploit it yourself- someone else will.

    6. So she had the same experience as every high school and college wrestler.

      1. -5 pounds jogging in a plastic suit in the sauna.

    7. I never get the sweat the water out philosophy. If you body thinks it’s going to be denied water it will try and store it causing water weight. If you drink water consistently all the time your body realizes its not in danger and is perfectly willing to piss it all out and hour after you drink it. Most early weight loss in exercising is due to people actually drinking enough water and starting to lose their water weight.

      1. I think it does make sense though if you are only trying to “make weight” like this. If you’re normally hydrated, you always have a little bit you can lose at the last minute, then gain right back again.

    8. The whole point is to be male eye-candy. WTF did she expect?

    9. Bet she looked hot, tho. I could help her out with some of that stuff…

  44. There’s a refugee crisis in Southeast Asia, too.

    We had nothing to do with that one, right?

    1. We essentially won the Viet Nam war, then Dems defended the South, we ran and the Communists came in and millions of people fled.

      We essentially won the Iraq war. Dems didn’t really negotiate to stay in Iraq. We ran, the Islamists came in and millions of people are fleeing

      So it is our fault. Just not in the way the left thinks.

      1. Yeah. I saw that movie too.


    What’s funny is that if you read their justification for why this is misleading, it also explains why worrying about America’s income inequality is misleading, so I look forward to the WaPo fact checkers explaining why leftist claims about American income inequality are irrational

    1. Shorter WaPo: Don;t let the truth mislead you!

    2. Example:

      “High-inequality states have economies that are oriented toward technology, finance, law and other industries where the United States holds significant international advantages, and whose employees earn significantly more than similarly qualified people in other locations, he said.

      “These activities thrive most in metro areas that have high densities of jobs and populations. These very same metro areas also tend to have high numbers of African Americans because of historic domestic migration patterns and high proportions of foreign-born residents who have been drawn in the past three decades to these metro areas by thriving economies,” Pendall said.”

      So diverse cities with lots of technological and financial jobs have higher income inequality. Gee…wouldn’t that mean diverse NATIONS with lots of technological and financial jobs (like America) would also have higher inequality? I look forward to WaPo looking into this subject.

      1. Ha! We might be waiting a while for that op-ed.

  46. I guess because moonbeam is too much of an embarrassment, the Chron features this guy in an op-ed opposing legal dope:

    “Reasons to Oppose “Medical Marijuana” in Arizona”
    “Several patients asked me for a letter recommending marijuana, or told me they were looking forward to legal medical marijuana in Arizona. And all of these patients had serious histories of substance abuse. They abused meth, alcohol and very clearly marijuana.

    Yep, some real losers drive BMWs, so BMWs should be outlawed! Uh, editor,…..

    1. I drive a BMW. *hangs head in shame*

      and I’ll be buying another one next year.

      1. You know the difference between a beamer and a porcupine?

        *hangs head in shame*

        1. something something pricks inside?

          1. Hey, I already hung in my head in shame, you don’t have to rub my nose in it.

      2. I shoulda picked VW Diesels, since they were all the rage before VW admitted you can’t get something for nothing.

    2. An addiction psychiatrist resisting marijuana legalization is an effigy of attribution bias at its most puerile level.

      1. Like I said, AC, moonbeam is too embarrassing:
        “The problem with anything, a certain amount is OK. But there is a tendency to go to extremes,” he said in a wide-ranging interview aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”And all of a sudden, if there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation?”…..urt-state/

        He said that. No one made that up and put words in his mouth.

    3. Statistical ignorance, I love you. Let me count the ways:

      Selection bias
      Ridiculously small sample size
      Correlation vs causation
      Lack of evidence

      Of course aside from the very obvious fact that meth and marijuana use at all (like every other illegal drug) is considered substance abuse right off the bat.

      1. You left out gross stupidity.

        1. There is that

  47. Kiwis starting the first of two votes on a new flag

    Key has complained that the inclusion of the British flag is an anachronism and that the current version is not representative of New Zealand — the fact that it looks very similar to Australia’s may have something to do with that — hence the push to change it. The postal ballot will be open for just under a month.

    The five choices will be flown across the country during the period of the vote in a bid to familiarize people with the choices.

    The winner from the shortlist will face off against the current flag in a poll next year.

    Look at some of the flag proposals that didn’t make the cut. I wonder if Agile Cyborg was involved in creating any of them.

    1. All of the proposals look like some aesthetically pleasing artsy crap with trivial meaning that would fly at some beach resort.

      Have the Kiwis all been turned into useful idiots along with most of Europe?

      1. I haven’t been to New Zealand yet. I hope to change that in 2017. Based on some things I’ve read about New Zealand, the culture is much more British than Australia, though the New Zealand government was more gun friendly than the Aussie government. In the 80s, The New Zealand government got rid of its gun registry because the registry was useless and expensive. I’ve heard New Zealand has been tightening up its gun laws, but there still is no registry despite attempts to bring back the registry.

    2. But perhaps the most anguish was expressed at the defeat of fan-favorite designs, including a crude Kiwi with a rainbow trail, a Kiwi bird shooting green lasers out of its eyes, and a stick drawing of a “deranged cat raking its garden.”

      My vote is for the Kiwi with frickin’ lasers

      1. That is a pretty cool one.

  48. Lexington, KY votes to increase minimum wage to $10.10.

    Minimum wage workers in Lexington, Kentucky are about to get a raise.

    The Lexington Urban County Council voted Thursday to boost the city’s minimum wage from the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour over the next three years.

    The county will see a preliminary increase to $8.20 per hour on July 1, 2016. A year later, the minimum wage will jump to $9.15 per hour. The final increase to more than $10 will take place on July 1, 2018.

    The ordinance includes an exemption for agricultural workers.

    1. Too many employed kids in Lexington? That’ll get fixed.

      1. It will result in far fewer being hired by me. And being limited to less than 29 hours because of Obamacare had already caused some of them to get 2nd jobs already.

        1. You reckon they’re getting ‘financially secure’?

  49. I wonder why Hillary says Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. She couldn’t be angling for the Muslim vote, which is not big enough to matter. She must be going for the clueless “coexist” sticker crowd.

  50. OT: Progressives now actually use the term “witch hunt” for what they want to do on college campuses due to the rape kkkulture.…..642690.php

    1. Warlocks!

      t’s true I tell you.

    2. Damn, that poor kid. I hope he finds somewhere more sane to finish his degree. Also glad this chick is publishing her name. Hopefully future employers will take one look at this and toss her resume in the trash.

    3. Reading the things that girl said and what she did. Another false accusation from an emotional unbalanced girl getting revenge for feeling slighted. Who knows what he actually did, but this has all the same feel as Jackie.

      1. I blame ergot.

  51. Cis gendered patriarchal microaggressing triggering warlocks.

  52. I was watching The First 48 last night and the serial murderer they were investigating was committing his crimes with the same kind of gun I own. Hint to murderers: better to do it with a Glock 19 than a Taurus Judge.

    1. How is your Judge doing? Shoot it much? Do you prefer the 45lc or the 410B in it?

      1. I only shot it once with the 410 because the 45 long was so hard to find. It was pretty cool. I need to get back to the range.

        1. *comes in back door lays smoking hot Ruger and empty brass on dining room table*

          Range? *sigh*

          Yes you do.

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