No, I totally agree. I've made the point several times that in a sane political system you could have a choice between a big business, centre right hawk (Hillary) and a pro-environment, tax and spend socialist (Bernie). That would at least be a valid choice.

It sucks what the DNC did.

But now you have to live with it and what do you do?

Because the wolf is at the door and the stakes are too high to let Trump win.

The draws back the curtain on the absurdity of security theatre. There is no way in hell that we would put up with the level of security required to ensure that something like this doesn't happen. All it took was a truck rental.
I suspect this attack will up the stakes more than many of the previous ones, because there will be no way to make people feel 'safe' from this kind of horror.

So, ignoring everything else... why is carrying a firearm legal if the cops are incapable of dealing with an armed suspect without the use of lethal force?

I wonder if it is workable to have specialised armed response units rather than giving all cops guns. I wonder how many of those occasions where an officer was shot were situations were the perp felt their life was in danger. If you lower the stakes might there be a reduction in the amount of arrests that turn bloody, for both parties?

I dunno, I think the performance has merits. It's not the feat itself but the presentation is tongue-in-cheek funny and enhances the schadenfreude stakes.

We're watching alternative comedy, really.

Nothing about this looks appealing. Jumping from "reconstructing ship" to "destroying recently reconstructed ship" does nothing for me. Clearly nothing is sacred and everything can be pooped back out brand-new, this incarnation already has its first resurrected character, so what's at stake here?

Ever since Wrath of Khan, Star Trek writers have been convinced they can only produce Khan-a-likes as a path to success. I was only partially onboard after the first film, I checked out completely after the last one, but I'm particularly surprised at the laziness of this one. The CG and action direction seem to be the only areas that are getting any creative engineering in any of these films.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Although I love the idea of the chaos and "resetting" of the system that a 3rd party run by Bernie would cause, the stakes are too high.

Splitting the Dem vote through 3rd party campaign hands the election to Trump. If Trump gets elected there's a possibility he could be nominating up to 4 Supreme Court justices during his term. This could honestly be the start of the dissolution of the US. I don't want that to happen. I'd like to come back someday.

I'll be absentee voting against Trump.

that is my focus because this is where all the harm is taking place. as Paul Farmer said, "The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.”

the video is about being a man being kind to a dog and a bird-i was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of being kind to these animals while paying others to murder cows, pigs and chickens who are not at all different from the dog or the hummingbird.

"In fact, if one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people." — Ruth Harrison

I hope whoever picked this music was fired, dragged outside, molten led poured in their ears, tarred, feathered, and burned at the stake....but whatever, I don't have strong feelings about it or anything

Sweet Zombie Jesus, this is just getting INSANE.
I just saw the DNC head on TV just yesterday claiming she (and the DNC) was still completely impartial, neutral, and had absolutely no stake in either candidate. I wonder what she would have said about this story.

It's pretty clear that there's something ridiculously fishy going on, with so many super delegates going to Clinton before a single primary vote was cast (469 today), and still so few going to Sanders (31 today), who's only behind by 10% at worst (45% of delegates to Clinton's 55%) with almost 1/2 of the delegates still up for grabs in states that almost all favor Sanders in non-midday-land line only polls.
It's almost like something made up their minds for them besides the will of the people....hmmmmmm....what might that have been?

The problem is that sets up what reminds me of the 2000 election. It absolutely astounded me half the country thought George W. Bush was a valid candidate, let alone the better candidate than Al Gore, not that I liked Gore, but given the choice between the two, Gore had viable plans for the budget, a cohesive foreign policy, etc.

It shouldn't have been a close election, but not only was it razor close, Gore lost. Countless times there have been in world history leaders who came about who generally wouldn't and shouldn't have, but they did. All it takes is a bad recession or other event to tilt the odds in their favor at the right time. Hitler doesn't come to power without the Great Depression and the Treaty of Versailles leaving Germany dependent on US loans.

And to me, Trump is absolutely frightening. I honestly have absolutely no idea what he would do as President, and not in a good way. I quite honestly don't even know if he's actually in line with the Tea Party or not. It is terrifying to me that he's on a course where potentially a recession at the wrong time could make him president because so many voters are absolutely ignorant or stupid enough to support him.

Screw the entertainment value of it. I keep thinking back to the George W. Bush Iraqi occupation and the crapshow that was Katrina and realize people's lives are literally at stake by botching the selection of the next President, and when you make one option completely invalid before the election even starts, it doesn't help.

Yep, Pell is a goddamn scumbag. Fucker should be staked to the ground in the middle of the outback and left for dead.

Once again you do not understand the fucking difference between COPYRIGHT and TRADEMARK.

They shut down that guy's video for a COPYRIGHT violation because he used their videos wholesale without permission from them.

Whereas you can bet your ass that fine bros get all the legal permissions necessary from all the videos, items and people before they run any of their episodes. They are too big of a target and too much money at stake not to do it!

They shut down that guys video for COPYRIGHT violation, not TRADEMARK violation. They got a trademark for the logos and the exact format of their shows!
They did not trademark the concept of a "react" video!

So...the feds holding property they've held at least since 1907 as a wildlife refuge, or surroundings they've purchased since then, and leasing it to people like these at ridiculously low prices is 'creeping into our lives' and 'overgrowth of government'?
Um...yeah...how does that work?
These people committed arson on federal land DURING A WILDFIRE and were found guilty, and are sentenced under federal MINIMUM guidelines, not given the max, and these Bundy people are finding that an overreach of government...how?
The cognitive dissonance in their last statement would be hilarious if it wasn't an actual mindset so many people AGREE with when talking about white groups, but scoff at as self serving drivel when applied to black groups.
THESE people think the law is rigged against them? What should the Black Lives Matter people think when it's PROVEN the law is rigged against them, and it's their LIFE at stake, not their right to do whatever they want on other people's property, including arson, without consequence.
And can you imagine the terrified outrage on Fox if a group of armed BLM (Black Lives Matter) people took over a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) office, like these nutjobs did? Now consider the ridicule if they did it to 'protest' the mandatory sentencing of a convicted arsonist....who's black.

Oh...interesting to find out this as well....
-Many of the tactics and talking points being used were popularized in the 1970s by the white supremacist group Posse Comitatus. This group promoted the “Christian Patriot” movement, advocated the formation of “Citizens Militias,” helped forge an idiosyncratic reading of the Constitution, said the county sheriff was the highest elected official that should be obeyed, and opposed federal environmental restrictions.

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

The raving lunatic with a machete is a clear threat to everyone in the area. Incapacitating him with tasers is far quicker and safer (to the cops and civilians) than trying to contain him with riot shields. Is there a chance that the taser could kill him? Sure. However, the chance is far lower than if you shoot him with a gun. And again, it isn't just the life of one man at stake. The suspect was obviously deranged, violent and unpredictable. At any point, he could have made a beeline for one of the cops or some random pedestrian and done serious damage. That's 30 minutes of putting lives at risk vs 1 minute of relatively safe tasering.

As for the possible positive outcomes... what, he recovers and leads a mediocre life working as a janitor because nobody wants to hire someone with a history of violent psychosis? How many years would it take to reach that point? How much taxpayer money would be spent? Is a single lost cause worth all that time, money and risk? If humanity were on the verge of extinction and every life really mattered then sure, he might be worth it. However, there's no shortage of perfectly sane and productive members of society that don't run around swinging machetes and howling like animals. Society already puts down animals that pose a threat to humans. Why not extend that policy to the most dangerous animal of all?

WTF, they've got the evidence on tape, they've got the employees and owner on the phone, they're staking out the joint, and they've got the ex-cop sitting across the street watching... and you still can't get an arrest? All the assholes have to do is say "nuh-uh", and they live to cheat another day.
Totally unsatisfying...