Privatize Marriage!

By Marian Atodiresei: In the American state of Oklahoma, Todd Russ has filed a bill that would abolish marriage certificates altogether in the state with a population the size of Ilfov county including Bucharest (3.8M).

The motivation behind the legislative project is rather complicated and it has a lot to do with the insistence of some courts to legalize same-sex marriage despite a state-wide referendum rejecting the idea. But that’s less relevant. What’s more relevant is Todd Russ’ statement which reads: "Marriages are not supposed to be a government thing anyway"
 No matter what one might think about Mr. Russ, this statement is not only valid in Oklahoma, but it’s universally valid across the planet.
Historical context
Marriage, throughout almost all of human history, was not the business of the state – but rather a private affair, supervised by a religious institution in most cases.
We say in most cases because, for instance, in the Romanian territories in the 17th century and even up until after the formation of modern Romania in the 19th century, the word “family” doesn’t appear at all in the state’s laws and it’s barely mentioned in the theology. The family was thought of as being built around a “legitimate couple” – and a couple was deemed “legitimate” if it had the acceptance of its community¹. The acceptance by the Church was recommended, but not mandatory.

Let's Tell US Congress Members To Skip Benjamin 'The Butcher Of Gaza' Netanyahu's speech!

Last week House Speaker John Boehner went behind President Obama’s back to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress. Let's tell Congress members to skip the speech!
If you're from the United States, email Congress.
Everyone, sign the petition.
Unless we raise our voices now, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who continues to obstruct progress towards a just peace, will be handed a high-profile platform on March 3 to promote war — using bigoted rhetoric, deception and outright lies.
Join us in raising our voices to protest Netanyahu’s speech, not because it’s a partisan snub, nor because the date is close to the Israeli elections, but because Netanyahu is going to Washington to undermine the U.S. strategy of diplomacy with Iran.

If It Bleeds, It Leads - Max Keiser, Stacy Herbert and Ricardo S Pliego

The significance of Teotihuacan to the modern era of semi-divine elite hoarding wealth during a time of financial crop failures and lending droughts. In the second half, Max interviews media, retail and banking tycoon, Ricardo Salinas Pliego about ending prohibition, a buffet of ideas at the Festival of Ideas and the news business mantra of “if it bleeds, it leads” leading to the bad PR of Mexico. Finally, Max puts him in the ‘shark tank’ to pitch Mexico to China which has $250 billion to spend in the region.

Stranger Gave Mum £10 To Piss Off

MOTHER of three Nikki Hollis was given £10 by a stranger to leave her local pub and take her kids with her. 

TDM: She has since launched a public appeal to track down the stranger so she can shout at him about it being a free fucking country.

The man is described on Hollis’ Facebook appeal page as “Early 40s, medium build, and possibly muttering ‘for ‘Christ’s sake’ under his breath”.

Pub regular Wayne Hayes said: “She was just texting her mates as her little ones were arsing about putting peanuts into the fruit machine when this gent pressed a tenner into her hand and pointed at the exit.

MHRA: McMurphy's Law

I don't know anything else about you Andrew. But if your aim was to well and truly give me the willies, mission accomplished. DoctorRandomercam

'UK government threatening charities for criticism’

Charities in the UK have been targeted by prominent political figures for publicly criticizing the coalition government’s austerity policies, being threatened to lose funding if they speak out about inequality and poverty.

Press TV: The report, by the National Coalition for Independent Action (NCIA), said the voluntary groups that have government contracts regularly face threats to remain silent on the issues that plague the British society, Russia Today reported on Tuesday.
The report added that many charities fear losing funding or being targeted by other restrictions if they engage in unwelcome public debate.
In addition, the report said the coalition government has embedded gagging clauses in contracts with charities in order to prevent voluntary groups from criticizing the government’s policies.
“Voluntary services are confronted by implicit, or explicit, pressures to ‘say less and do more’; they face gagging clauses in contracts which threaten to stop them advocating and campaigning,” the NCIA report read.
Under the contract clauses, charities are obligated to withhold observations or information from the British public even if the findings may positively impact communities and the lives of Britons.
According to the NCIA, the government’s gagging clauses and intimidation have resulted in less criticism against government policies in public debate.

Greek Revolution Against Corruption - Will We Follow? + Is The UK Government Fracking Us Over?

Russell Brands reaction to Syriza's victory in the Greek election and a look at what their anti-austerity measures might mean for Europe.

Global Unlicensed Drug Trade Gets More Efficient, Defies US War On Unlicensed Drugs, Revolt Builds in Latin America

By Don Quijones: As is now common global knowledge, on September 26, 2014, two buses ferrying student activists through the small city of Iguala, Guerrero, were stopped by a motley crew of police officers and narco foot soldiers and sprayed indiscriminately with machine-gun fire, allegedly on the orders of the city’s narco mayor and his wife. Six students were killed in the one-sided shoot out and another 43 were kidnapped in the ensuing chaos. Almost exactly four months later, the students are still missing.
What is not so much common knowledge is the fact that of the 228 firearms seized by the police for suspected involvement in the massacre, 36 were G36 assault rifles manufactured by Heckler & Koch, a German company already under investigation by Stuttgart authorities for illegal sales of arms to Mexican states gripped by violent conflict.
The German Connection
This is not the first time that Heckler & Koch weapons have been found at a bloody crime scene in Mexico. In fact, both state forces and narco-soldiers have been repeatedly caught on camera sporting H&K hardware.
The question is: how did the weapons get into their hands, especially given that their export to conflict zones, including the Mexican states of Guerrero, Chihuahua and Jalisco, is strictly prohibited under German law?

Greece Begins The Great Pivot Toward Russia

By Tyler Durden: Ten days ago, before the smashing success of Greece's anti-austerity party, Syriza, we noted that Russia gave Greece a modest proposal: turn your back on Europe, whom you despise so much anyway, and we will assist your farmers by lifting the food import ban.
And, sure enough, Greece's new premier Tsipras did hint with his initial actions that Greece may indeed pivot quite aggressively away from Europe and toward Russia in general and the Eurasian Economic Union in particular (as a tangent recall "Russia's "Startling" Proposal To Europe: Dump The US, Join The Eurasian Economic Union").
Today we got further evidence that Tsipras will substantially realign his country's national interest away from the west and toward... the east.
First, as Reuters reported, today the new premier halted the "blue light special" liquidation of Greece to those highest bidders who have the closest access to various printing presses and stopped the privatization of Greece's biggest port on Tuesday, "signaling he aims to stick to election pledges despite warning shots from the euro zone and financial markets."

Feminism Displays 8 Out Of 10 Features Of Conspiracy Theories

By Eldritch Edain: Conspiracy theories are not just for people with tin foil hats. They’re quite common, and some conspiracy believers have very high IQs. Part of the issue is that conspiracy theories often take a small truth and exaggerate it into something larger.
Let’s look at a couple examples. One often hears the phrase cultural Marxism thrown around. YourDictionary.com defines cultural Marxism as “A loose Marxist movement seeking to apply critical theory to matters of family composition, gender, race, and cultural identity within Western society”.
That’s a good definition, and represents the small truth of cultural Marxism. Indeed, in the early 20th century, Marxist intellectuals established the Frankfurt School to combine Marxist economic theory with social and cultural theory. It had a huge influence in academia, and became especially popular in the 1960s and ’70s with hippies, radicals, second wave feminists, and other social justice activists.
This, in turn, had some influence on the Democratic Party in America. But this does not mean Democrats are a Marxist party, just as Republicans are not a fascist party even though there are racist and xenophobic influences in it.
It is further true that cultural Marxists wish to transform society – as do libertarians, Republicans, Christians, atheists, and so on.

Unfunny [Misandric] Comedy At The Expense Of The Innocent

By Jim Muldoon: Chris Gethard last year gave a video rant to what he called “women haters.” He was referring to the men’s movement, which he decided to address after the killings by Elliot Rodger. He seems to believe young men’s complaints solely centre around not getting laid and women being allowed into night clubs while they wait outside.  He calls it “the movement for villainising women” and we can only hope, for his sake, that he updates his research skills before he writes anything of importance.
His advice for young men is to “chill out” and not get “guns and methamphetamines” from the internet. Those who follow this sage advice might not get utopia, but they are promised by Gethard to be just “fine.” Presumably he will give some kind of refund if this doesn’t work out.
He then amuses himself by declaring that there should be a law which stops men who post on “one of those message boards” from ever finding love. He actually doubles over whilst laughing. Generally, comedians don’t laugh at their own jokes. Maybe Gethard hadn’t heard that one before.
But, let’s look a little closer at what Gethard is saying. There are two options. The first is that the young men who write on “those message boards” are just like Elliot Rodger. These young men, then, are disturbed and irrational, if not insane. They are certainly dangerous. How does mocking them and calling for them to be banned from ever having sex help?