Whole Lotta Obamacare Schadenfreude

I've been neglecting this for a few days, and articles are starting to pile up in digital warehouse:

For Some Uninsured, Simply Signing Up Is A Challenge

When the Affordable Care Act rolled out last year, Californians enrolled in both Covered California and expanded Medicaid in high numbers. But there are still millions in the state without health insurance. Undocumented people don't qualify for Obamacare benefits. And many others still find coverage too expensive — or face other obstacles in enrolling.

One of those people is Leaburn Alexander. At 6 a.m., he's finishing his shift as the night janitor at a hotel near the San Francisco International Airport. He clocks out just in time to catch the hotel's shuttle back to the airport, where he will catch a bus.

"Right now I'm on the beginning of my commute," he says. "After an eight-hour shift, my commute is like 2 1/2 hours."

Well yes, if you work all the time, and have a long commute, getting anything done is tough. But another aspect of why it's difficult to sign up is simply the complexity of the process. Because this is run through the IRS as a tax event but administrated at the state level, the rules are complicated, and vary from state to state, making it difficult for anyone, let alone the poor and unsophisticated. Morever, much of it is intended to go through clunky computer systems, which further disadvantages the poor, the old and the unsophisticated.

Healthcare.gov average premiums increasing in 2015

Obama officials say the average prices for healthcare coverage on Healthcare.gov will increase in 2015, the Associated Press reportedThursday.

The Department of Health and Human Services says customers purchasing the lowest cost "silver" plans, which are the most popular type of plans in the states using the federal exchanges, should see an average increase of five percent. The second-lowest cost "silver" plans, meanwhile, are expected to only increase in cost by two percent, on average.

The more popular the plans are, the more expensive insured they attract, and the prices have to rise to break even.  Thus, expect a race to the bottom, with benefits decreasing in value as time goes on.

Obamacare sticker shock fears: Feds plead with Americans to shop around

The administration is trying to preempt Obamacare sticker shock in 2015 by pleading with Americans to shop around in the marketplaces instead of automatically re-enrolling in the health plans they chose last year.

Officials said Thursday those who don’t look around and compare plans during open enrollment could see their costs rise because the so-called benchmark plans are more expensive this year.

 Like drugs, the first use is often at discount rate.

Chuck Todd on Obamacare: ‘This Bill Is a Mess’

“This bill is a mess. There’s a reason it’s in the front of the Supreme Court. It’s amazing how many people I have in here who were telling me stories, ‘we just assumed we could fix that in conference committee and we could do this here’ and all that stuff, so they allowed a lot of sloppy language and sloppy this and sloppy that to happen and they just let all these guys put whatever they wanted in it because they said we’ll clean it up in conference. Well, obviously that didn’t happen,” he added.

Todd said his biggest critique of the healthcare law is the Democrats essentially allowed the health insurance companies to write the legislation.

“I understand the political decision to do that but you’re never going to – and maybe the insurance companies will keep it from ever being repealed, right, because at the end of the day they’ve changed their entire business model but what have you got? What is it? At the end of the day, it’s the ‘Keep the Insurance Companies’ Industry Intact Act.’ They own it and obviously they want all these customers so I wonder if that’s something someday you’ll start hearing more and more Democrats second-guessing themselves on,” Todd said.

There is some truth there; Gruber and his colleagues in the Congress wrote the bill with the idea of preserving the health insurance companies until the whole system collapsed under it's own weight, at which point they can claim they tried "free market solutions" and they didn't work, and subsequently take over as a single payer. Add Todd to the voice on the left who wish they'd have skipped the "let the system fail" part, and move straight onto the direct governmental control part.

The real lesson from 'Grubergate'

Obamacare was designed so that no one could figure out that it was created as a tax — and a massive wealth transfer away from the middle class. Gruber even acknowledged, "If [the Congressional Budget Office] scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies."

No problem, said Gruber. They simply wrote the law "in a tortured way to make sure the CBO did not score the mandate as a tax." Of course, the Obama administration went on to argue to the Supreme Court the mandate was indeed a tax all along. But by then it didn't matter — they'd already exploited the legislative process to pass Obamacare and hoodwink American voters.
. . .
This is the most important lesson to be learned from Jonathan Gruber's honesty: The bigger and more complex the bill, the more vulnerable it is to political manipulation — and the more likely it is to deceive the American people. Obamacare epitomizes why Congress should tackle such sweeping reforms with a piecemeal, straightforward, and transparent approach. Hopefully the incoming Congress will remember this as they take up health care reforms of their own.

Sebelius: Americans don’t like Obamacare because their “financial literacy is low”

Well, she may claim to not know who Jonathan Gruber is, but she sure did get a copy of his talking points. Discussing Obamacare with a USA Today reporter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius blamed many of the law’s problems on the fact that Americans lack her sophisticated understanding of insurance:

Still, Sebelius didn’t dispute the point that many Americans don’t fully understand how health insurance and the Affordable Care Act work, including the trade-offs involved in expanding coverage.

“A lot of Americans have no idea what insurance is about,” she said. “I think the financial literacy of a lot of people, particularly people who did not have insurance coverage or whose employers chose their coverage and kind of present it to them, is very low — and that has been a sort of stunning revelation. It’s not because people hid it from folks. It’s because this is a complicated product.”

Sebelius served as insurance commissioner for the state of Kansas before epically botching the roll-out of a federal entitlement program in historic and ostentatious fashion. So, she knows a thing or two, America.

They have about the same level of regard for the public as Rowdy Yates had for the cows.  Head 'em up!

And now, HHS denies Gruber for the third time as the cock gets ready to crow: HHS asks GOP: Keep us away from Gruber

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking lawmakers not to seat ObamaCare consultant Jonathan Gruber next to Medicare's top official when the two testify on Capitol Hill next week.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Jim Esquea wrote to the House Oversight Committee with the request, stating that government witnesses are "almost always afforded an opportunity" to sit alone or with other federal officials.

“The accommodation of separate panels for government witnesses reflects important comity in congressional-executive relations,” Esquea wrote. “The relatively few exceptions to this practice reinforce the seriousness of this accommodation.”
The Oversight panel, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), is preparing to grill Gruber over his comments that the "stupidity of the American voter" and a "lack of transparency" helped ObamaCare pass in 2010.

"The request is currently before Chairman Issa but at past hearings, government officials have testified alongside other non-administration witnesses," said Becca Watkins, a spokeswoman for the committee.

You paid him to advise you, and accepted his advice. Live with it.

Is Obamacare Destroying the Democratic Party? - One can only hope, but cockroaches are awfully hard to kill.

“Even though midterm elections favor Republicans, the 2014 results show middle- and working-class dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party rising to dangerous levels, which threatens the party’s growing demographic advantages.

Perhaps most notably, Republican House candidates in 2014 won 37 percent of the Hispanic vote, their highest percentage since Republicans rejected immigration reform in 2005, and a slight majority, 51-49, of Asian-American voters, who had been moving decisively in the Democrats’ favor. Asian-Americans and Hispanics are crucial to future Democratic presidential victories.”

“In combination with the growing Republican allegiance of whites, these trends raise the possibility that the Democratic plan for victory by demographics could implode, which would make the case for a full scale re-evaluation of its strategies and policies glaringly obvious.”

Obamacare benefited the bottom 20% of the country, and cost the remaining 80%. That doesn't strike me as a way to gain votes, especially when you consider the bottom 20%, even when the can vote, vote much less regularly than the others, and are already almost entirely in the democrats pockets.

Wounded Donkey: The Democratic Party's Obamacare Disaster

In 2009, Democrats made a tactical decision to sacrifice a large number of seats to pass a health-care bill. A few Jonathan Gruber gaffes later, they are starting to second-guess themselves.

Schumer helped build the Democratic congressional majorities of 2006 and 2008. Now those majorities are gone. Harkin is being succeeded in the Senate by a Republican, and a fairly conservative one at that.

Thus, it is fitting that they have both criticized Obamacare in the waning days of the Democratic Senate majority. Harkin in particular is saying it might have been worth it for single payer, but not for this.

 After midterm drubbing, senior Dems voicing regret over ObamaCare

For their part, Democrats -- including former Obama aides and a former top staffer for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- didn't hesitate to push back against Schumer's comments.

Several noted that, as a member of leadership, he not only voted for the bill but was deeply involved in its route to passage.

"Certainly the senator's statement was intended to appeal to Senate Democrats who might be looking for a new leader in the next few years," wrote former Pelosi Chief of Staff John Lawrence, who challenged Schumer's suggestion that the Affordable Care Act only benefited a small percentage of the electorate in a blog post. "It just wasn't necessary, in order to prove he has their backs, to put a dagger into the backs of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders."

In a tweet, former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett pondered: "So what exactly does Chuck Schumer believe was the error? Does he believe that the goal of winning office is winning office?"

Asked about the fact Republicans are using his comments against him at a Tuesday media availability, Schumer didn't walk them back but pointed out that his entire speech was some 20 pages long. That's "all I'm going to say on that issue," he said.

With executive action, Obama risks losing Chief Justice John Roberts

At issue is whether the administration must abide by one provision in the healthcare law, which says subsidies may be paid to those who enrolled in state health exchanges, or whether the president can extend those benefits to include people who signed up on the federally run exchange.
. . .
Experts say that legally the healthcare case is a close call. If so, the outcome may turn on whether the justices are inclined to give the president the benefit of the doubt, or whether they believe it's time to rein him in.

Obama's bold decision to press ahead with his immigration order in the wake of the GOP victories in the midterm election will not escape the attention of the court's conservatives.

Shapiro said the new immigration plan will "confirm the chief justice's view" that the court should not allow the administration to revise laws passed by Congress.

Utah Demands Land Back From the Feds

Utah to seize own land from government, challenge federal dominance of Western states

In three weeks, Utah intends to seize control of 31.2 million acres of its own land now under the control of the federal government. At least, that’s the plan.

In an unprecedented challenge to federal dominance of Western state lands, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert in 2012 signed the “Transfer of Public Lands Act,” which demands that Washington relinquish its hold on the land, which represents more than half of the state’s 54.3 million acres, by Dec. 31.

For a clue as to what motivates such a move:

I'm not really clear on how that pattern emerged, except a non causal explanation that the Feds kept more land for themselves as states were added to the union. Most of the land is arid and was not heavily settled. Utah is the third most federally owned (57.4%) after Nevada (with ridiculous 84.4%) and Alaska (69.1).

So far, however, the federal government hasn’t given any indication that it plans to cooperate. Still, state Rep. Ken Ivory, who sponsored the legislation, isn’t deterred.

I fail to see where giving a large portion of these lands back to the state where they reside would hurt the country. If the state wants to keep the land in wilderness, it can. If it wishes to sell or lease the land further for resource extraction, and generate jobs and revenue, it would be free to do so, the same way it has traditionally been done in the East.

Woohoo! This made #1 in William Teach's Fine Fifteen list of stories to read on "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup". Although, I don't know if that's ordered by quality or time.

Rule 5 Saturday - For a Swift Kick in the Butt, Jessica Hart

This Rule 5 Saturday special goes out to Jessica Hart, SI Swimsuit and Victoria's Secret model who has apparently been black-balled from the next VS Fashion show for doing something that many radio listeners everywhere have no doubt wished to do, giving Taylor Swift a kick in the butt:

Taylor Swift gets model Jessica Hart booted from Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

“It’s not been announced that Jessica is not walking, but it was a direct request from Taylor that this be the case if she were to go,” one well-placed Victoria’s Secret insider tells Confidenti@l. “No one can know that Taylor requested Ms. Hart not be in the show. They want to keep that under wraps, but that’s the facts.”

Last week's lucky Rule 5 winner, Lily Aldridge has a small gap between her front teeth of which she is justifiably proud, but cwhich ompared to Jessica's Lily's is just a little thing. I wonder if they ever get together to compare them.

Our source says that behind closed doors the singer gave Hart a Swift kick in her perfectly sculpted butt. Taylor had her team remove the Australian stunner from the spectacular show during talks that again landed Swift the coveted gig at the event.

No reason given as to why Jessica laid her foot upside the country pop singers skinny ass, but one suspects that being ready on time for her appearance is more familiar to cat walk model than a diva.

Jessica dressed a child's bicycle at a previous VS fashions show. Anybody wanna ride that? Can we get a psychiatrist's view of that? To be fair, she probably didn't design to costume.

GOODSTUFF is featuring the effects of gravity on Linda Carter (Wonder Woman) and others in the 167th issue of his blogging magazine. Linked at Pirate's Cove the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday and Pinup." Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

No Pardon for Mark Wahlberg!

I hadn't heard this story before, but it pretty much exemplifies the entitled feeling of celebrities:

Mark Wahlberg should not be pardoned

In April 1988, Mark Wahlberg, 16, set upon a Vietnamese immigrant named Thanh Lam, and, with a wooden stick, beat him so severely that Lam fell to the ground, unconscious. Later that night, according to contemporaneous accounts, Wahlberg found another Asian man, Hoa Trinh, and, calling him a "gook" and "slant eye," smashed him in the face.

Trinh lost sight in his right eye.

Wahlberg was arrested, convicted, and spent 45 days in jail, an experience that hardened him for the rest of his younger days and provided him creative fodder for many of his later projects. He has insisted that, despite his liberal use of racial slurs, race did not motivate his attack. His intoxication, apparently, did.

Only 45 days for destroying the sight in someones eyes?

Twenty-six years later, Wahlberg wants a formal pardon from the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Why? He has devoted the rest of his life to being a model citizen. His movies do not glorify violence (apparently). He has contributed significantly to his community. He has mentored many young boys away from a life of crime. He has demonstrated, in deed, a respect for the police.

His pardon application includes the following ambition: "My hope is that, if I receive a pardon, troubled youths will see this as an inspiration and motivation that they too can turn their lives around."

Mark seems to be doing just fine for himself despite whatever the legal ramifications of an obviously racially motivated attack on someone which led to a permanent disability.  I hope he's paying Trinh handsomely. He's lucky we're not sticking by the Old Testament rule of "an eye for an eye." I think he can go a few more years without being pardoned. But he can probably buy a pardon from Deval Patrick for  a few thousand dollar donation to his re-election campaign and a few movie passes.

The author, Marc Ambinder, has another suggestion:

Interesting logic. It works better, though, with this rewrite: "My hope is that, by not seeking a pardon, troubled youths will know that their actions have repercussions, even if they later become wealthy celebrities. Although this wonderful country provides plenty of opportunity for them to turn their lives around, they can never use their renown to erase the indelible consequences of their decisions."

While generally in favor of second and third chances, yeah. Pardon him when Trinh gets his full eyesight back.

Maryland Getting Ripped Off by TV

State Loosing Money over Tax Incentives for TV shows.

Maryland’s tax incentives for film production only brings in 10 cents for every dollar spent, and the legislature should let it expire in 2016, a study from the Department of Legislative Services recommends.

“While the credit may produce economic benefits that accrue to certain businesses and individuals, the credit does not pay for itself,” the study reads.

For every dollar granted by the credit, the state receives 6 cents, and local governments receive 4 cents. About 97 percent of the $62.5 million Maryland has spent on the tax credit since the beginning of the 2012 fiscal year has been spent on two shows: “House of Cards” and “VEEP.” “House of Cards” is filmed in Baltimore, and “VEEP” is filmed in Baltimore and Sykesville, Md., according to IMDb.

“Since the credit does not provide sustainable economic development and provides a small return on investment to the state and local government, DLS recommends that the General Assembly allow the film production activity tax credit to sunset as scheduled on July, 2016,” the study reads.

You don't have to be a Tea Partier to see that it's a waste off tax-payers money to subsidize these TV shows. If they don't like it, let them take it to some other state willing to waste their money on them.

Heck, here I have to pay to help them make the shows, and then pay extra to Comcast to even see them.

Wombat's Friday News

A quick dive into the day's media dirt pile courtesy of Wombat-socho's "Live at Five: 12.05.14"

Marchers Swarm NY, Minneapolis, Oakland, San Francisco For Second Night: Attorney General Holder pledges full review of the case: - According to Eric Garner's mother, someone needs to be held responsible.  How about the woman female Negro Black African American Sargent who was on scene supervising the arrest? Somehow I'll bet that's not under consideration.

House GOP Repudiates Obama’s Immigration Actions - Just a symbolic act for now.  We'll have to wait and see what happens in January.

Winter is likely to get colder and darker for some, thanks to the EPA - Coal States Brace For Plant Closings Over EPA Rules

“Millionaire Matchmaker” Has Advice For Jennifer Lopez: Marry a billionaire, and don't lead with your cooch.  I don't even know how she could lead with her cooch. It's kind of in the middle of everything. But the billionaire part seems like sound advice.

DHS On Hiring Spree To Carry Out Obama’s Immigration Orders - 1000 new bureaucrats with salaries up to $157,000 needed to just clean up the paperwork. Who says illegal immigrants cost Americans jobs?

Shockingly, I know, Miley Cyrus is still acting like a spoiled brat. - Miley Cyrus Smokes Weed On Stage At Art Basel.   Heck, do a show in Colorado and it wouldn't even be news. But I had a little sympathy for her when I heard her dog had been killed by a coyote on the wild streets of Los Angeles.

After Midterm Whipping, Senior Democrats Voice Regret Over Obamacare - But in different ways. Schumer thinks they screwed the pooch by ignoring the economic problems, Harkin just thinks they didn't go far enough and just nationalize the healthcare industry the way they really wanted to. I hate when I'm forced to side with Chuck.

Hagel Touts Sexual Assault Report As Sign Of Progress - Sexual assaults up 8% under Obama! Mission Accomplished!

Wozniak: No, Apple Was Not Founded In A Garage

"The garage is a bit of a myth. It's overblown. The garage represents us better than anything else, but we did no designs there. We would drive the finished products to the garage, make them work and then we'd drive them down to the store that paid us cash."

Don't mess with a perfectly good myth.

Jennifer Lawrence Debuts On Billboard 100 At #12 - So I went to YouTube, found it, and listened. Not bad for a cappella singing, but it won't land her a gig with the Pentatonix.

I know you're surpised like me, but Chris Rock Blames Hollywood’s Race Problem On White People. But it's not quite what you might think:

It's a white industry. Just as the NBA is a black industry. I'm not even saying it's a bad thing. It just is. And the black people they do hire tend to be the same person. That person tends to be female and that person tends to be Ivy League. And there's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, that's what I want for my daughters. But something tells me that the life my privileged daughters are leading right now might not make them the best candidates to run the black division of anything. And the person who runs the black division of a studio should probably have worked with black people at some point in their life.

Pentagon Confirms Failed Attempt To Rescue Hostage In Yemen - Good on them for trying. But if Al Queda takes revenge for the attempt by killing him, we should take one of theirs out of Gitmo and fry him in bacon fat.

Doug Powers: Obama’s 2011 Prediction Of A Million Electric Cars On The Road By 2015 “Barely” Missed

Back in the good old days when President Obama didn’t have so many dings on his record, he promised that by 2015 there’d be more than 1 million electric cars on the road. Well, with just days to go, he’s only about 826,000 or so cars short of that goal. Instead of 200,000 Nissan Leafs on the road today — as Obama’s Department of Energy predicted in 2011 — there are less than 70,000.

And while Obama forecast 375,000 Chevy Volt sales by 2014, just a bit more than 71,000 have made it off the showroom floor. Fisker, which was supposed to be selling 85,000 electric cars a year by now, went bankrupt last year.

Add it up, and there are a grand total of less than 180,000 plug-ins on U.S. roads today. Worldwide, there are only 400,000.

I don't see what people find so entrancing about coal-burning by proxy cars (at least in most of the United States). But with most liberal goals, it's all about the good intentions, and not so much about the reality.

Megan McArdle: What’s So Bad About Low Gas Prices? - It's good for the American economy and bad for a few tin-pot dictators and oil kingdoms. Win/Win. How long before the administration tries to ruin it?

Jammie Wearing Fools: After Wasting Trillion Dollars On “Stimulus”, Obama Whines US Infrastructure Is “Embarrassing” Their motto should be "Never Enough!"

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

6 AM Wake Up: - "Wasted"

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Electric Eels, the Original Puppet Master?

Shocking news: Electric eels exert remote control over prey

Electric eels, those perilous predators of South America, can unleash a potent electrical jolt to wallop their hapless prey. But this zap is not used merely to stun other fish.

A new study shows that the eels use it to exert a form of remote control over their victims, causing fish that may be hiding to twitch, thus exposing their location, or inducing involuntary muscle contraction to incapacitate their prey.

"Apparently, eels invented the Taser long before humans," said biologist Kenneth Catania of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who conducted the research published on Thursday in the journal Science.

The study reveals precisely what an eel's zap does to its victim. In laboratory experiments, Catania showed how the electrical discharges remotely activate the prey's neurons, or nerve cells, that control the muscles.

Yeah, thats' pretty much what happens when you shock a fish, or almost anything else for that matter. The electricity stimulates the muscle, which causes them to contract. . . a twitch.

While hunting, the eels periodically give off two high-voltage pulses separated by a 2 millisecond pause, causing a massive involuntary twitch in nearby hidden prey, the study found. The eels, highly sensitive to water movements, can detect motion caused by the twitch, learning the other fish's location.

We've known a lot about electric fish for a long time. I did a junior high science fair project using an electric catfish I borrowed from the fish store I worked at. Yeah, these days that would get you in trouble for animal cruelty, but back in the early 60s you could do a lot in the schools, including learn.

The only thing I got out of this is that scientists realized that electric eels used the "shock" response to help them sense their prey. But it has also long been known that the eels use the electrical system, using weak power output, as a sense organ, to sense fish nearby. They share this trait with their whole family of South American Knifefish, and some other unrelated fish, including some African fish, and the Torpedo Ray.

Electric eels typically live in very brown and dirty water, and having another way to identify that fish near them besides sight (and they have small, weak eyes) is a considerable help.

The eels can also put off a massive pulse, which can stun a man or even a horse, and certainly any fish nearby. We had a couple of large eels at the fish store.  Ugly as sin, they just sat laid around and zapped the goldfish we fed them. We handled them with great care. Little ones were kind of cute, though.

Will Maryland Repeal the 'Rain Tax'?

Md. Gov.-Elect Hogan Confident 'Rain Tax' Will Be Scrapped

Hogan, a Republican, was responding to comments Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller made to reporters on Tuesday. Miller, a Democrat, noted the possibility of passing legislation so that 10 local jurisdictions could pay for storm-water management needs out of their budgets, rather than charging residents a specific fee to fight Chesapeake Bay pollution carried by rain runoff.

Hogan said changing the 2012 law won't eliminate the need to pay for storm-water management. But he says Maryland can comply with federal requirements to fight pollution without imposing an added fee.

The 'Rain Tax' for those unfamiliar with it, is not actually a tax on rain, rather it is tax on the impervious surfaces on property in the 10 regions of MD affected. It was designed to satisfy an EPA mandate to raise money for storm-water management. It is an extremely unpopular tax in Maryland, and it may well have contributed to the anti-tax Hogan being elected governor in MD in the last election.

While I'm not in one of the affected jurisdictions, there are some aspects of the tax I find very objectionable, particularly how severely affects the more rural properties of the areas. I think the urban jurisdictions with big storm water problems need to find more equitable ways of paying for its management.

Wombat's Thursday News

No it's not. It's here.

A quick spin through the news cycle courtesy of Wombat-sochos "Live at Five: 04.012.14"

Seventeen States File Lawsuit To Halt Obama Amnesty Orders: Department of Homeland Security sued by states, arguing Constitution violated and laws broken. - Why not all 57 states? Well, we'll have to run with what we have, not what we want.

Protests Erupt After Policeman Not Indicted In Choking Death Of Eric Garner - Is it bad to hope that any rioting burns down the MSNBC studio?  I think the case is much stronger for some charge here. The choke hold should never have been used.  Some sort of negligent homicide charge seems warranted, but I wasn't on the Grand Jury. Still, you just don't resist arrest. Bad stuff can happen. Something to keep in mind is that this all happened over a liberal nanny state tobacco tax designed to discourage smoking and produce revenue for the state. Just sayin'

Thirty Years After Bhopal Disaster, India Hasn’t Learned Necessary Lessons - The lesson is that if you want a safe healthy country, you need a wealthy economy and a good energy supply.

Mariah Carey Apologizes For Drama, Keeps Promise To Sing At Rockefeller Tree Lighting - That's why they call 'em divas.

Landrieu, Senate’s Last Deep South Democrat, On Her Own Now - Aww.

Taxpayer Dollars Paid For Eco-Loonies’ $25,000 Christmas Party - I'm tangentially acquainted with the program being discusses here, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON).  While I think some good work is likely to come out of it, it is a huge program with a lot of institutions vying for money from it, and it's ripe for abuse.  A $25,000 Christmas party is the least of the worries.

Lindsay Lohan Launches Clothing Line “My Addiction”  I'll give her points for turning a negative into a profit center



Defense Bill Hits Snag Over Land Swaps, Wilderness

Quick passage of a sweeping defense policy bill hit a snag on Wednesday over public lands, dividing Senate Republicans.

The $585 billion measure authorizing funds for the military includes several unrelated bills to expand wilderness areas in the West and expand the program streamlining oil and gas permits, a popular step with western state lawmakers.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., objected to their inclusion and promised to block any attempt to quickly finish the bill next week in the final days of the lame-duck session.

The ultimate goal of the enviro-weenies is the elimination of private property regulation. Republicans need to resist even when it sounds good. Too much of the west is already bound up in Federal red tape, and underutilized.

Blake Lively Plans to Take Parenting Cues from Her Mom - Like she has a choice?

Wildlife Expert Claims Killing Wolves Actually Increases Livestock Attacks - The effect they are talking about suggests that leaderless wolf packs breed faster and kill more livestock. It may operate at the margins, but it's common sense that if you have a lot less wolves you'll have a lot less wolf attacks. Don't let scientists try and talk you out of common sense with buwadiffs (But, what if...).

Kesha, not her mom

Kesha's Mom Sues Dr. Luke - He Gave Me PTSD

Kesha's mom has countersued Dr. Luke ... claiming he tormented and abused her by allegedly date raping her daughter.

Pebe Sebert claims in her legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Luke did indeed rape Kesha in a way "as not to be tolerated in a civilized society." She claims she now suffers emotional distress and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

Pebe is largely restating the claims Kesha has made -- that Dr. Luke gave her a date rape drug and raped her. But she also adds new detail, claiming Luke would brag about taking girls out on a first date, get them drunk and then "f*** them in the ass."

Pebe also claims Luke dealt drugs to entertainers -- which she says is how he acquired the name "Dr." -- during his 10-year run as a guitarist on "SNL."

Really, an SNL performer being involved in drugs? I just can't imagine that. . .

No-Talent Michael Sam Claims He’s Not In NFL Because He’s Gay - No, he's not in the NFL because he sucks.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Feds Try to Withhold Evidence of White House Crimes

Feds balk at releasing docs showing IRS sharing tax returns with White House

Less than a week after ’fessing up that it found some 2,500 documents potentially showing that the IRS shared taxpayer returns with the White House, the Obama administration has reversed course and won’t release the trove to a group suing for access.

In an abrupt decision, the Treasury inspector general’s office said that the documents are covered by privacy and disclosure laws and can’t be provided to Cause of Action, despite a promise last week to hand over some 2,500.
. . .
“All of the 2,043 pages of documents we have determined to be responsive were collected by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the determination of possible liability under Title 26 of the United States Code. These pages consist of return information protected by 26 U.S.C. § 6103 and may not be disclosed absent an express statutory exception,” said the office in a letter dated Dec. 1.
. . .
Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, said Treasury was using “sophisticated” lawyering to weasel out of providing the documents. And he noted that their letter said that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is now looking into “potential liability” that his tax aides broke laws in sharing taxpayer information with the White House.

Epstein said that either Treasury was “stonewalling” his group, or that Lew “is incompetent” for just now looking at potential lawbreaking by his team on the case that is two years old.

They're trying to run out the play clock.

There's an easy answer to this. Redact the specific taxpayer information that's being passed in the email (tax payer numbers, socials, dollar amount etc), but leave in the information about  who sent and who received the emails, and the basic subject of the email so we can see if the tax payer information was passed to the White House was intended for political purposes, and who initiated the transmissions. We need to make both the personnel in the White House and Treasury/IRS accountable for their action.

Under the Obama administration, the IRS has become one the enforcement arms of gangster government.  The IRS needs to have its propensity to play favorites for the Democrats revealed and highlighted (good luck with having ABC, NBC, CBS and NPR axis carry that message) and it's ability to do so broken, either by amending the tax laws and making the selective enforcement of laws they favor on the people they don't favor impossible, or by simply putting enough of them in jail as a message to discourage the rest.

Then, put into place my "Modest Proposal". Strict affirmative action in government hiring by political leanings. Let the foxes watch the foxes.

6 AM Eye Opener - "Criminal"

It really is.



Old pictures of Fiona:



Recent picture of Fiona:

Drugs and/or anorexia have not been kind.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Best GoPro Video Yet

That bear is pretty damn fast. . .

Senate Passes Chesapeake Bay Budget Clean Up

Senate passes Warner-Wittman Chesapeake Accountability Act

The U.S. Senate today passed the bipartisan Chesapeake Bay Accountability Act of 2014, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), by unanimous consent. The legislation will bring increased accountability measures and a more collaborative management approach to Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts and spending. The 2013 legislation now returns to the House of Representatives for approval.

The Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act of 2014 requires the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to prepare a crosscut budget to better track the progress of Bay restoration efforts, comparing costs and the performance of restoration activities by the various federal agencies involved in the Bay preservation effort. The multi-state, multi-year initiative to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay involves at least 10 federal agencies, Virginia and five other states, the District of Columbia, and more than 1,000 local governments.

This seems like a inoffensive idea that bureaucrats may come to regret because it puts too much information in one place. I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I suspect that the amount of money being spent on the Bay, once it is laid out in one place, will be shocking to many people, especially considering the progress, or lack thereof in cleaning it up.

Second, if the number start looking unfavorable to the agencies spending the money, expect to see some funny accounting games to hide the expenditures.

Wednesday with the Wombat

Interesting (to me) selections from Wombat-socho's mostly daily "Live at Five: 12.03.14"

Obama Immigration Flipflops Problematic For Jeh Johnson - So just what does the executive amnesty do for the problem of black unemployment? Answer: Uh . . .

Wife And Son Of Islamic State Leader Detained In Lebanon - Maybe I'm just uncivilized, but I don't mind holding them hostage, in the middle ages sense of the word, to ISIS "good behavior".

FBI Seizes LA Schools’ iPad Program Documents

FBI agents seized 20 boxes of documents related to Los Angeles Unified School District’s beleaguered $1 billion iPad project, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Agents confiscated documents at the district’s offices Monday regarding procurement practices involving the Common Core Technology project, LAUSD’s plan to equip all schools with 21st century learning devices.

The FBI confirmed an investigation into the district, but would not provide any further information, citing the ongoing probe.

Part of the "Common Core" is "Crony Capitalism"?  Whoda thunk? , , , A lot of us, really.

Corn or Cane Syrup?

Hershey To Dump Corn Syrup For Cane Sugar? - I'm agnostic on the difference between high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar. Ultimately, all the sugars are easily converted to the form the body uses, glucose, but there may be some differences in the way the different forms of sugar are initially metabolized, and it may be important for people leaning toward diabetes. There can be too much of a good thing.

Kesha

Lady Gaga Denies Kesha’s Lawyer’s Claim That Dr. Luke Raped Her - Three people I could care less about, but only just barely, four if you count Howard Stern. But I guess false claims of rape are all the rage these days, even if a third party has to make them.

National Debt Exceeds $18 Trillion, Sparking Renewed Criticism Of Obama Spending - Despite record revenues. Government just can't get enough of a good thing; other peoples money.

The debt was at $10.6 trillion when Obama took office in 2009 but has increased by 70 percent during his roughly six years in office.

“The national debt has skyrocketed by over $7.3 trillion,” Priebus said. “President Obama once said it was ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘irresponsible’ to add $4 trillion to the debt. By his own reasoning then, (he) has reached a new level of irresponsibility.”

Rosario Dawson Adopts 12-Year-Old Daughter - Former Rule 5 winner must be a better person than I.

Dawson, who was adopted by her own father, has been vocal about wanting to adopt in the past. "I always wanted to adopt kids cause my dad adopted me," the 35-year-old star told Latina magazine in 2008. "That idea has stayed in the back of my head, but lately, I've been thinking about it more."

I wish her well, and hope she's ready.

Taylor Swift Bumps Jessica Hart From Victoria’s Secret Gig

I think I have this weeks Rule 5 Saturday post figured out.

Kirk Douglas: Not Dead Yet - I hadn't thought of him that way, but yeah, he's gotta be getting up there.

"The announcement of my death is premature," Douglas told USA TODAY's Andrea Mandell exclusively. "I'm looking forward to turning 98 next week." 

Lots of great movies.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Democrat Convicted for "Full Cosby"

Former Democratic congressional aide pleads guilty to sexual assault

A former Democratic congressional aide pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two women in 2010.

Donny Ray Williams Jr., 37, who served as a staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats.

Prosecutors say that on July 22, 2010, Williams invited a female congressional colleague to his Capitol Hill apartment and promised to introduce her to Senate employees. At the house, prosecutors said, Williams spiked a drink with Ambien. The woman, according to court documents, fell into a “deep sleep,” at which point Williams raped her.

A month later, prosecutors said, Williams invited another woman to his home and gave her alcoholic beverages. They said he had sexual contact with her when she was too intoxicated to give her consent.
. . .
Williams began his Capitol Hill career in 1999. He worked for panels chaired by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.). He also said he worked for Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

But I think we can all agree that this is not as serious or worthy of coverage as some minor Republican legislative assistant criticizing the Preznit's daughters for short skirts and lack of attentiveness at a routine turkey pardoning on her Facebook page.

“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re part of the First Family, try showing a little class,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.”

After a wave of negative publicity, Lauten on Monday resigned her position with Republican Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher of Tennessee. “After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were,” Lauten explained in a statement, saying her comments had been extemporaneous.

The path Lauten charted to this point is not without controversy. In December 2000, she was reportedly arrested on misdemeanor larceny charges in Onslow County, N.C., according to court records reported by the Smoking Gun. “Lauten, then 17, was collared for allegedly stealing from a Belk department store in her North Carolina hometown,” the Web site reported. Charges were eventually dismissed.

Because - war on women.

Big Guns, Hot Shells

Our favorite redneck, Heather LeCroix demonstrates more knowledge of guns than any network journalist ever has:



I know both rounds well. I used to shoot a .357 at Silhouette shooting meets back in Oregon. It was considered a minimal handgun for such use. You needed to hit the rams high on the back to knock them over consistently.  I wasn't much of a competitor at the sport; I just felt good if I hit the rams.  I used a .243 to deer hunt around the same time. Again, considered a little light as a deer rifle, I found its accuracy, and its flat-shooting due it's high velocity, light bullet to outweigh any worries about "brush busting." I killed a lot of deer with that thing. Probably not ideal for Roosevelt Elk or Grizzly Bear, but that was never a goal.

But there are possible pitfalls to shooting such videos:



Skip to 4:30ish for the magic moment.

Linked at Pirate's Cove the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday and Pinup."

Now That's Fast Food

I try not to steal too much from Ace's ONT, but I couldn't resist it.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Chesapeake Environmental Communities Discriminate Against Minorities

From the Bay Journal: The ‘green ceiling’: Environmental organizations lack diversity

A new report out this fall confirms what many have noted anecdotally: Environmental organizations and causes often do not reflect the country’s racial diversity.

The report, “The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations,” surveyed nearly 300 environmental nonprofits, government agencies and grant-making foundations to find a “green ceiling” that leaves people of color underrepresented at these organizations, especially in the higher echelons of leadership.

“For decades, environmental organizations have stressed the value of diversity…(But they) are not adequately reaching out to organizations representing people of color communities,” states the report produced by the Green 2.0 working group and authored by Dorceta E. Taylor, a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

The report finds that although people of color constitute 36 percent of the U.S. population and 29 percent of the science and engineering workforce, they did not exceed 16 percent of the staff at any of the organizations that were surveyed.

And my guess is that if you look at the actual positions of authority in the environmental movement, the figures would be even worse. There are simply very few minorities who have gone through the trouble to become educated in the STEM fields, and then chosen to squander the money and career potential on the relatively unsure life in the NGOs.

But even with that, the situation in the Chesapeake Bay region is exceptionally bad:

Forty percent of the more than 15 million people living in the Chesapeake Bay region are African American, Hispanic or another minority. But, for example, Brown found that the Alliance had only three minority employees on its Annapolis-based staff of 24, or 12 percent.

But how much do you want to bet that women are over-represented?

Any chance the Justice Department will be looking into this?

Louisiana Democrat: Vote Early, Vote Often . . .

. . . and you won't get arrested because the prosecutor is a democrat



But there is no voter fraud, because the people who advocate it tell you so.

Thanks!

To whoever ordered the Sennheiser HD 598 Over-Ear Headphones from one of the Amazon links on the side bar. It looks like you got a heck of deal too, at $99, since all the options I see are about $170+.

If you order items from Amazon from the two widgets on the right hand bar, there is a chance that we'll get a cut of the action of up to 6% from Amazon, which would not only provide a little support to the blog but make me smile, too. Or you can start your Amazon shopping by clicking on this link. Only 23 more shopping days until Christmas.

Tuesday Travels with the Wombat

Some interesting and amusing new excerpted from Wombat-socho's "Live at Five: 12.02.14"

Holder Announces Plan To Target Racial Profiling - I deeply distrust any attempt by Eric Holder to meddle in the racial affairs in America. It's pretty clear his method to "fix" problems is to inflame the situation as much as possible to justify his actions.

To wit, this link from Gateway Pundit:  17-Year-Old Charged As Adult In Brutal Hammer Beating Death Of Bosnian Refugee - More "Gentle Giants"? Can we expect to see civil rights charges here?

Angelina Jolie’s Sunday Night Smash - My favorite actress has a late night car crash:

On the way home from a screening of her latest film, “Unbroken,” the actress, 39, was a passenger in an SUV that lost control on a slick Los Angeles road, smashed into the median and blew two tires, reports TMZ.

According to the website, the driver of the vehicle lost control and hit the curb, with at least one tire exploding on impact.

Brad Pitt‘s better half appeared to be unharmed, and left the scene of the accident in another vehicle before authorities arrived. Members of the actress’ entourage are said to have told cops they were being harassed by paparazzi.

But the good news is that it rained in L.A.!

OPEC Squeeze On Oil Spares Renewables Mostly due to subsidies and other baksheesh - When you get paid regardless of what price the energy actually costs to produce, it's easy to make money.

So, just what kind of drugs were they?

So who wants to see a semi-naked 56 year-old washed up pop star? Madonna Poses Topless, Talks About Past Drug Use. Actually, she doesn't look that bad, which is a real testament to the power of Photoshop. The truly NSFW picture at the link.

EPA Staffers Linked To Allegedly Serious Misconduct - It seems eight EPA staffers have been on long term paid leave due to accusations of serious misconduct. Who says it's hard to get rid of government. It would be interesting to find out what those cases of serious misconduct were, but that information is even more deeply buried.




Lawsuit Claims ICE Purged Senior Officials Amid Immigration Policy Changes - However, the administration does know how to do it, when it suits their purpose.

The attorney, Patricia Vroom, made the allegations in a lawsuit filed last month. The lawsuit is getting renewed attention in the wake of President Obama's executive actions to let potentially millions of illegal immigrants stay in the country and work.

In the suit, Vroom claimed she was rebuked for her "push-back" on a prior effort to drop cases against illegal immigrants with identity theft convictions, and received a low performance rating at the time.

"It was part of an orchestrated, coordinated effort ... to purge [the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, OPLA] of senior Chief Counsel so that much younger, much less experienced, and thus much more impressionable individuals who were beholden to them, could be installed in their place," the lawsuit alleges.

The administration is in favor of identity theft, as long as it benefits one of their special interest groups.

Some moderately decent Rule 5 material here: FKA Twigs: “I’m Appealing To People Who Want Something Different” - I had no idea who she was before, and I don't know that much now, but I'll keep my eyes open now.

Landrieu Trails In Runoff Polls - Down 15 points, and the election is Saturday. Why in the world would Louisiana put her back in to join the out of power, anti-energy party? I'm sure she'll find a good job somewhere in her natural habitat, K street. Good riddance.

The "Ass that Broke the Internet" (heck, it didn't even have to flex much. really) goes abroad: Kim Kardashian Pays a Visit to Overseas Troops in Skintight Camo (PHOTOS). Clearly written by a woman, who thinks brown clothes equals camo. 

Well good for Kim the unmentionable Armenian. She may be a waste of skin, but it's such nice, well tended skin.

Ray Rice Hits Manhattan Nightclub After Winning Appeal - Are you sure that's a good idea, Ray? Remember what happened last time?

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Stop Winding!

There are more experienced fisherwomen. . .

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

This Would Make Me Happy as a Clam

Actually, I think clams don't experience happiness too much, but: At Va. Shore eatery, woman bites clam, finds $3K pearl

A Virginia Beach woman is happy as a clam after finding a rare 41/2-carat lavender pearl in a littleneck purchased at the Great Machipongo Clam Shack in Nassawadox.

"I bit down on it and I pulled it out and said, 'Look at this,'" said Kathleen Morelli.
Billy Bowen of B&E Seafood in Willis Wharf, who has been in the clam-growing business for a quarter century, said he has never found a pearl in a clam grown through aquaculture like the one Morelli bit into.

The littleneck, grown in Hog Island Bay, likely was between 1 1/2 and 2 years old, he said. "In the natural clams you could find them in there, about once a month you could find them. But in all my experience, I have never seen one to come out of an aquaculture clam – it's very rare," Bowen said.

The pearl's large size, found in such a small clam, makes it even more unusual.
"We've been buying from him for years. When he told me that he has never seen one in an aquacultured clam, I said, 'Gosh, that's fascinating,'" said Jean Mariner of the Clam Shack.

I guess pearls are rarer in aquaculture clams because they're raised off the bottom, and don't get the grit that grows into pearls.  But at $3,000 a pearl, it would behoove someone to try to reproduce the process like they do with pearl oysters.

Kinda cool, but worth $3,000?

O'Malley Pushes Last Minute Farm Regs

Md. moving to impose tough new farming pollution rules

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is moving ahead with a plan that seeks to reduce polluted phosphorus discharges into the water ways by imposing new rules for farmers.

The plan has been controversial and divisive. Environmentalists say the plan protects the Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies, while farmers have said the requirements would hurt them.

It's not really an either-or question; both assertions can be, and almost certainly are, true to some extent. The question is whether the benefits out weigh the down sides. Moreover, the upsides and downsides are felt by very different groups of people. The downsides effect farmers most, taking land out of production, and increasing their costs and decreasing their competitivity, and to a lesser extent, consumers who pay higher prices.  The upsides are felt by fish and shellfish in the bay, watermen perhaps, people who recreate on the bay, and mostly in the feelings of environmentalists that they have done "the right thing."

The plan involves something called a “phosphorus management tool,” which is a new way for farmers to identify when excess phosphorus is present in the soil.

The plan has been delayed previously due to opposition from farmers and the agricultural industry.

O’Malley forwarded the new regulations to the Joint Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee on Nov. 14.

The committee will review the new rules, which could be adopted just before O’Malley leaves office.

This tool has been in the works for some time, and pushing it through in the twilight of the O'Malley administration suggests that it was not something they were willing to do before an election. Now that they are on the way out, they leave it as incoming Gov. Hogan's problem.

When asked what Gov.-elect Larry Hogan intends to do if the rules were to take effect, spokeswoman Erin Montgomery said that he would not be commenting on any policy issues until after his inauguration on Jan. 21.

However, Hogan has said previously that the new rules “could’ve crippled the entire poultry and grain industry and crushed the economy on the Eastern Shore” according to one published report.

Hogan could try to undo the rules, if implemented, through new regulations or with the help of the legislature.

This reminds me of the slew of regulations that the Clinton administration quickly published after Al Gore lost the 2000 Presidential election. The bureaucrats, of course, desperately wanted to keep all those in place, but Bush did, in fact, put off a number of them, for later review. Some were kept and others were not.

I could see that playing out in Maryland over the next year or so.

Around the World with the Wombat

A quick survey of Wombat-socho's "Live at Five: 12.01.14" for any exciting news.

Nope. none. . . . OK, just kidding:

Obama To Meddle Further In Ferguson Mess: Cabinet meeting will review DoD programs that provide military equipment to police - I haven't said much about Ferguson, mostly because I'm so disgusted with the behavior of almost everyone involved. I was 14 when the Watts Riots broke out in Los Angeles. It's quite clear that as a nation we have made enormous progress in providing minorities with equal rights under the law, but that has done little or nothing to ease racial tensions, and in fact has probably made the situation worse. But you have to admit, Ferguson makes a pretty good case for why small town cops might need MRAPs.

Hundreds Turn Out For Traficant Memorial Service Did they all wear the ceremonial orange jumpsuit and hairpieces? He rolled a farm tractor over on himself. Ugh.

Obamacare Small Business Site Opens To Weak Interest  - I guess this will have to pass as the almost daily Obamacare Shadenfreude. A quote:

The Post also reported that insurers are having trouble accessing their accounts on the site and are not appearing in the system's master lists of professionals available to advise small businesses. The paper reported, citing confidential federal documents, that parts of the online marketplace are still being tested. CMS spokesman Aaron Albright claimed that the sections of the site needed to explore and select health plans has been "thoroughly tested."

Another repeat of last year's computer debacle? This was the section of the law that the Preznit decided to delay a year? It doesn't seem like they took the extra time to bother to get it right.

Asian Crude Plunges As OPEC Refuses To Cut Production: WTI $64.60, Brent $68.31 - As I have said previously, I don't really mind OPEC and Russia trying to keep prices so low it keeps some shale from being profitable. Think of it as a strategic reserve we don't have to pay the federal government to maintain. And their plan may be working: Falling Oil Prices Just Put Two Major U.S. Shale Basins in the Red

"I'll take a case"

Girl Scout Cookie Online Sales Okayed - Samoas and Tagalongs without the guilt trip? That'll never work.

PNC Reveals Cost Of “Twelve Days Of Christmas” Gifts In Today’s Economy  - Only 27k ish, because those nasty Republicans held the minimum wage down (5 maids a-milking). Seems like a bargain.

Roku? Chromecast? Fire TV? Which Streaming Stick Is Right For You? - Been thinking about it but basic cable seems to keep us content 90% of the time.

Study: Social Media Misused By Researchers

In a paper published in the current issue of Science, computer scientists Derek Ruths and Jürgen Pfeffer of Carnegie Mellon outline a number of problems with academia's current usage of social media data to study human behavior.

These days, "thousands of research papers each year are now based on data gleaned from social media," so there are far-reaching implications to the poor methodology detailed by the researchers, Ruths told McGill University.

"Many of these papers are used to inform and justify decisions and investments among the public and in industry and government," he said.

Melanie Brown (Mel B)

I'm shocked, shocked to see science misused to fit government and business, aren't you?

Mel B (Scary Spice): “I Do Have A Big Ego, And I’m In Love With Myself” - I know you're also surpised to hear that a good looking, rich, talented woman would have a healthy ego. Doesn't she know she's supposed to be more self effacing?

Scarlet Johansson Weds In Secret Ceremony - Oh man, does this mean I'm out of the running? I'm always the last person to find out.

Snooki got married too. - Dodged a bullet there, I guess.

Bale tells Clooney to ‘stop whining’ - Always appropriate.

Iraq Graft Probe Finds 50,000 “Ghost Troops” So they learned a trick or two about governance from Washington DC?

Nigeria's Economy Challenged as U.S. Oil Exports Dry Up - Frack, baby frack. It's not that I hate the Nigerians, I just like us better.

Boko Haram Attacks Nigerian State Capital - But we should still help them make an example out of these guys.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

From the Back of the Rack

Literally the oldest file in the "video" directory. Time to get rid of it.



Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts, "Rule 5 Sunday: Ton O’ Luv" ready at The Other McCain.

Rabbit Pays 'Possum