The unimportant news thread

[Jo498]

But it does not say anything about a control group. They should have had a control group listening to birdsong, another to "soft" muzak or so, another one to hard rock or so.

[Todd]

This legislation really hits the bullseye.

[Todd]

Direct democracy in action!

[Florestan]

Direct democracy in action!

"be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method"

Throw them off high places, as some Muslim clerics advise. Plenty of skyscrapers in California... 

Is this insanity really going to to be turned into a referendum?

[Todd]

Is this insanity really going to to be turned into a referendum?

Maybe.  The California Attorney General has publicly asked the court to prevent this from moving forward because she has no power to stop it. 

I'm not very familiar with the California initiative system, but a decent number of signatures would be needed to get it on the ballot (>300K), and in the very unlikely event it passed (as in 0% probability), it would be immediately struck down by a state or federal court.

Of more interest to me, but not enough to do a whole lot of digging, is the intent of Mr McLaughlin, who submitted the initiative.  I find it hard to believe that he actually advocates what he submitted, though he may, and see it as either A.) a disguised attack on the initiative process itself, or B.) a ham-fisted yet clever way to stoke discussion about LGBT (or is it LGBTQ or LGBTQQIA?) issues, forcing various politicians into uncomfortable discussions.  One would also be able to ascertain the geography of the pro- and con- voters.  Or, it could be a publicity stunt done in extremely bad taste.

[Florestan]

I see.

[Karl Henning]

A publicity stunt done in extremely bad taste is just a Californian's way of wishing you good morning!

[Florestan]

(*chortie*)

[Ken B]

Public school in the USA http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/27/boy-got-a-haircut-like-his-military-step

Somebody needs to be suspended, but it ain't the student.

[Todd]

New York "Progressives" seek to set election laws back a century.  (Well, less, if you count school board elections, I guess.) 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Walking sticks for everyone.

[Karl Henning]

Kremlin says Russians are drinking less and exercising more.

Survey sez:  Kremlin may just be air-brushing the data;  plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[Florestan]

Kremlin says Russians are drinking less and exercising more.

The Russians in the army, perhaps, as they are preparing for the next move. 

[North Star]

The Russians in the army, perhaps, as they are preparing for the next move. 

Nonsense - they drink twice as much when planning their moves. 

[Ken B]

I know why the caged bird snickers

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-maya-angelou-stamp-quote-20150407-story.html

My stamp will feature the complete works of Homer. Go big or go home I say.

[Todd]

OH HELL YEAH!!

[ibanezmonster]

OH HELL YEAH!!

Maybe, but didn't help my grandma. So go to the gym, people! 

[Todd]

A victory for equality and diversity in the workplace, or a cynical maneuver to keep wages down while appearing to appease contemporary political values?  (Or a way to stay in the news?)

[ibanezmonster]

A victory for equality and diversity in the workplace, or a cynical maneuver to keep wages down while appearing to appease contemporary political values?  (Or a way to stay in the news?)

My first thought, echoed in this comment:

heres contemporary hysterical feminism in a nutshell:
because women allegedly dont negotiate for higher salaries as well as men do,
reddit's "feminist" ceo has banned ALL employees from negotiating for higher pay. take the low rate youre offerred or leave it.

so now everyone has to suffer with a low pay rate, with no recourse -- because of the weakness of women.

and feminists hail this as a victory.

Reminds me of when that absolutely wonderful person, Jessica Valenti, wrote an article about her solution to the gender pay gap: pay men less. And when confronted by the idea that you can't do that because it would be gender discrimination, she replied: "Bummer. Because nothing else is working."  Maybe this is a solution, then.

[Todd]

Cruel and unusual punishment, plain and simple.