Rubio's Tax Plan: I Like It!

Finally someone is stepping up to the plate with some tax reform.

The current seven individual tax rates would be consolidated into two brackets of 15 percent and 35 percent – a slight reduction from the current top rate of 39.6 percent. Meanwhile, the top corporate tax rate would fall from 35 percent to just 25 percent.  

That sounds excellent so far. He is also adding this sweetening to the pot.

There was far less enthusiasm for the centerpiece of the Rubio-Lee plan – a $2500-per-child tax credit to help ease financial burdens for middle-class Americans. This is the group Rubio and other presidential wannabes hope to woo.

I think that is a good idea but maybe split the different with a $1500 child tax credit and a $1000 bump to the earned income tax credit for people making under some threshold like $50K a year. That way parents get a boost with some more money while every other American also gets a cool grand and a big boost to their take home pay from a move to a 15% tax bracket. This would unleash quite a bit of spending in America I assure you. I would not care about this part.

When scored with traditional methods used by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Rubio-Lee plan would result in revenue losses of $414 billion a year after a 10-year transition period, William McBride, chief economist for the Tax Foundation, wrote this week.

This is if you did not do any dynamic scoring and just believed that these tax cuts would not cause any growth to the economy which is asinine. I think car buying would shoot up as everyone will get a nice down payment at tax time and can afford the terms because their take-home pay will rise. I think it would be a great way of rewarding a middle class that has been beaten in the face by the Obama-economy this last 6 years.

White House Scrambles to Explain Why the Didn't Know Hillary had a Private Email Account: She had her own email account for 4 years!

This has to be the worst CYA in a very long time.

That timeline got murkier on Friday as the White House struggled to respond to mounting questions over Hillary Clinton's private email use. The heat was turned up after Politico reported that top White House officials knew back in August that Clinton was conducting official business on personal email. 

Wait they only knew of this development in August of last year? She was sending email from that private account for 4 years!

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, when asked about what the White House knew, said senior officials were emailing Clinton while she was secretary of state and a few noticed she wasn't using a .gov email address. However, he did not say when they noticed it and whether red flags were raised. 

She was there for 4 years! They didn't notice that her probably 1000s of MBs of emails did not have .gov at the end when all of theirs do? Also I need to ask who else at the White House has their own private email services? How many of those servers have Red Chinese lurking on them?

He also said he had no idea when President Obama first found out and claimed he wouldn't be surprised if Obama only learned about it from "newspapers."

Again the most powerful man in the world has to learn things from "newspapers" rather than staffers or his billion dollar security apparatus. Hell, Obama could have found out that Hillary was running her own private email by looking at any piece of email he got from her at any time in the 4 years she was in Secretary of State. The White House must really think the American People are morons.

Wait Hillary Used her Own Home Email Server to Conduct Government Business? How do we Know that Server Wasn't Hacked?

I think the talk about transparency misses the point.

The computer server that transmitted and received Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails — on a private account she used exclusively for official business when she was secretary of state — traced back to an Internet service registered to her family's home in Chappaqua, New York, according to Internet records reviewed by The Associated Press.

 This part is especially rich.

Operating her own server would have afforded Clinton additional legal opportunities to block government or private subpoenas in criminal, administrative or civil cases because her lawyers could object in court before being forced to turn over any emails. And since the Secret Service was guarding Clinton's home, an email server there would have been well protected from theft or a physical hacking.

 Wait this is the same Secret Service that did this.

The Secret Service's ability to keep the first family safe is under scrutiny after a report Monday revealed that a knife-wielding White House intruder managed to run through the main floor of the presidential mansion earlier this month before he was stopped. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson is scheduled to address the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee Tuesday as some lawmakers are calling for her resignation. The White House intrusion is only the latest Secret Service security breach during the Obama administration. Since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, his security detail has been hounded by allegations of misconduct and improper procedures, including a breach involving party crashers at a state dinner in 2009, bullets hitting the White House in 2011, drinking and prostitution scandals, and 16 instances of people climbing the White House fence.

If they couldn't let all this from happening how do you think they are able to harden a server on a private residence that was being used for State Department business? That server probably had spy agencies competing for bandwidth on that thing. The Red Chinese Malware could have been crashing North Korea's Malware because they all can't download vital state secrets fast enough. People won't talk about this part of the scandal but I think it is far worse than her just hiding her emails from FOIA requests.

Blackstone Things Europe Will Never Grow: Never?

I guess Blackstone has forsaken Europe more or less.

At a luncheon hosted by the Wall Street Journal, Blackstone CEO Steven Schwarzman said that his firm is working under the assumption that Europe will never grow.

“Our baked-in assumption is that Europe never grows," Bloomberg quoted Schwarzman as saying, “you have to improve it..."

And by "improve" Schwarzman means making meaningful structural reform, which will require political action and consensus.

I think that action might eventually come but it might have to come via riots and social change by unemployed people. It has happened to Europe in the past but people were far more destitute then so it is hard to tell.

A Supposition: Maybe Obama Wants Iran to Get the Bomb

I was thinking why Obama would be so anti-Israel and is willing to give Iran nearly anything they want on a nuclear deal. Maybe the White House and the 56 Congressmen that ducked out of Bibi's speech want a nuclear armed Iran as a counterbalance to Israel.

Everyone knows that Israel has a number of nuclear warheads that has created a virtual detente in the region. I mean there is regional fighting between proxy armies like Hamas and Hezbollah but no out-and-out fighting like in the 70s. Israeli nuclear deterrent keeps the other nations from attacking them and gives them a freer hand in the region. This might give them too much power in the eyes of the White House and the "anti-Israel 56."

But what if the Dems and Obama want this calculus to change? Maybe they want a counterweight against Israel to come in the form of Iran. The Saudis will probably go nuclear as well so that Iran would not threaten them as well. So we would have three nations that could conceivably annihilate one another. Maybe this detente is what the White House is looking for. A new Cold War in the Middle East.

Up to three nuclear powered enemies squaring off might force Israel to come to concessions on Palestine that the Dems find more palatable. That means destruction of Jewish settlements and other things Obama hates that is "standing in the way of peace." Maybe the Dems can get right of return and Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine thrown in as well.  A peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians that is bought at the barrel of Iranian nukes.

The White House and the anti-Israel 56 are banking on the idea that if Iran gets the bomb they will not use. The Iranians will only threaten to use it. Much like how the Soviets bluffed in the Bay of Pigs but climbed down when there were warships off Cuba. I guess 8 million Israeli lives are the stakes these people are playing with.

Obama Poo-Poos Netanyahu Speech: Says Nothing New in It: I Guess Israel Stands Alone

Obama is such an amateur on the world stage.

President Barack Obama says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn't offer any "viable alternatives" to the nuclear negotiations with Iran during his speech to Congress.

Obama says he read a transcript of Netanyahu's speech Tuesday. He says "there was nothing new" in the speech.

I guess Obama skimmed it because a viable alternative is continue the sanctions until Iran gives up the pursuit of the bomb. Between a bad deal and no deal you take no deal. A 10 year waiting period on a nuclear Iran is no kind of deal if Obama is serious about Israeli Security.

If Iran keeps going after the bomb you have to destroy their research facilities. I mean Israel will do it if the White House blinks. Then Obama will probably condemn it in the strongest possible terms and punish Israel for protecting itself. You would bet the Dems would want to put sanctions in place on Israel if they start bombing nuclear sites.

#Netanyahu for President 2016: This is How a You Give a Speech to Congress

It is rare to see an actual leader with conviction speak to Congress after 7 years of Obama but Netanyahu knocked it out of the park.

Facing me right up there in the gallery, overlooking all of us in this (inaudible) chamber is the image of Moses. Moses led our people from slavery to the gates of the Promised Land.

NETANYAHU: And before the people of Israel entered the land of Israel, Moses gave us a message that has steeled our resolve for thousands of years. I leave you with his message today, (SPEAKING IN HEBREW), 

“Be strong and resolute, neither fear nor dread them.”

My friends, may Israel and America always stand together, strong and resolute. May we neither fear nor dread the challenges ahead. May we face the future with confidence, strength and hope.
May God bless the state of Israel and may God bless the United States of America.

I can understand why Obama dodged the speech and 56 spineless Democrats joined him. Including Hawaii's 2 cowardly Senators. They don't want to hear the strait truth from a real leader. Netanyahu is fighting hard because Iran with nukes can destroy Israel on a whim. It will be Holocaust Redux this time with 8 million victims. The 10 year path to the Iranian bomb, that Obama wants to pad his thin accomplishments with, will leave the world much more dangerous with everyone in the region with nuclear arsenals.

If I was playing Iran in the Great Game I would take this nuclear deal yesterday because it comes from a desperate White House that hates the leadership in Tel Aviv. They will probably not get a better deal from Hillary or Scott Walker or whomever. The idea of no sanctions for 10 years so you can build up a literal war chest and then a year to ramp up to the bomb in 2025 and you are a nuclear power. I would take that deal so quick it would knock Kerry off of his wind surfboard. Oh and now the Dems seem to be supporters of a nuclear armed Iran that is clear.

Here is Why Income Inequality Doesn't Resonate So Much with Most Americans

I think the Dems need another issue because as LBJ would say "this dog just won't hunt."

PSID data show that by age 60:

- 70% of the population will have experienced at least one year within the top 20th percentile of income;
- 53% of the population will have experienced at least one year within the top 10th percentile of income; and
- 11.1% of the population will have found themselves in the much-maligned 1% of earners for at least one year of their lives.

That means the majority of Americans have spent at least a little time in the top 20th percentile of income with more than half in the top 10th percentile. You couple this with the fact that almost all Americans actively strive to get into that top 20 percent. That is why this income inequality issue falls by the wayside. People don't care about minimum wage when most Americans do not want to make that amount again if they can help it. So when the Dems attack something that many Americans work hard for then their economic message is drowned out.

Obama to Iran: Wait 10 Years Before You Build a Bomb

Obama must be the worst negotiator of all time.

Iran must commit to a verifiable freeze of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear activity for a landmark atomic deal to be reached, but the odds are still against sealing a final agreement, U.S. President Barack Obama told Reuters on Monday.
Interviewed at the White House, Obama moved to dial back tensions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress on Tuesday opposing the Iran deal, saying it was a distraction that would not be "permanently destructive" to U.S. Israeli ties.

He's right about it not being "permanently destructive" because Obama will not be in office in 2 years. I'm sure Hillary Clinton or Scott Walker or whomever will actually treat Israel like an ally and not a pariah like Obama has. However, if Iran just waits out the clock they can go right back to building a nuke in 10 years time. Obama is so desperate for a legacy that he will take almost any deal Iran comes up with and the "10 years to the bomb plan" is not something anyone wants.

New Battle of the Sexes? Ronda Rousey called out by Former Dallas Cowboy I have Never Heard of Named Jesse Holley

After she has been demolishing most of the women in MMA maybe Rousey should fight this guy.

A former NFL player says he's found the ONE person who could beat Ronda Rousey in an MMA fight -- himself -- saying if the two got in the octagon, Rousey wouldn't stand a chance!!!
The man talking the smack is Jesse Holley -- who played WR for the Dallas Cowboys after winning a tryout with the team on Michael Irvin's 2009 reality show "4th and Long."

Holley -- who's 6'3", 215 pounds -- was on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas this morning ... when the gang began questioning if ANYONE will ever defeat the greatest female fighter in UFC history.

He would have to drop weight to get down to 135 which is what Rousey weighs. I don't think that would be possible but stranger things have happened. It would be interesting to find out if a female MMA fighter can beat an athletic amateur male who has 8 weeks to train. I know Rousey would demolish the vast majority of shlubby guys out there but I would watch her against someone like this Holley character.

Obama "Middle Class Tax Cuts" Amount to $12?

Yeah some "fighting for the middle class." You cannot even pay for an entire McDonalds meal for a family of four with this pitiful cut.

But these proposals are mostly small in scope, with limited near-term effects on middle-class economic fortunes. The White House had a telling spat last month with the Tax Policy Center, a center-left joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution that produces estimates of the distributional impacts of tax proposals. Len Burman, the center’s co-director, who was a Treasury official in the Clinton administration, ran the numbers and found the president’s plan produced an average tax cut of just $12 for families in the middle quintile — a surprising result for a plan aimed at the middle class, and one that produced inconvenient headlines.

What the White House needs to do is dangle tax incentives for companies that follow Wal-Mart's lead in jacking up entry level pay to $9. Or even better tripling the earned income tax credit so every American making below a certain amount can get more than $12 back from so-called "tax cuts." That will get people spending again. Put a couple $1000 in someones pocket and they can pay down debt or put a down payment on a car or something similar.

Second Weird Light seen on Ceres

One is a coincidence but two is a trend.

Could dwarf planet Ceres be watching us watching it? As NASA's Dawn spacecraft approaches the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, it seems to be lighting up. Not long after images of Ceres revealed a strange reflective spot, another dimmer one came into view in the latest NASA images, giving the appearance of a spooky pair of eyes peering back at Dawn.

So what's going on here? Metallic mineral deposits? The local ice skating rink on an improbably shiny frozen lake in the bottom of a huge crater? A giant Ceresian mirror or solar farm?

If we lose contact from the Dawn spacecraft after it was zapped with an Ion cannon then we have a much bigger problem.

It's Official ISIS is now Officially Genocidal Maniacs that Engage in War Crimes

As if there were any doubt.

Several human rights groups released on Friday what they consider to be the first legal analysis for war crimes proceedings against IS.

The report, titled “Between the Millstones,” says the jihadists are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide for their persecution of Christians, Kaka’i, Shabak, Turkmen and Yazidi.

I wonder if the UN will just condemn their crimes in the strongest possible terms or are they really going to something about ISIS.

We Shall Live Long and Prosper Leonard Nimoy

This is one great final Tweet.

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.  LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015

GOP Pragmatism: Homeland Security Department funded for Now

At least they aren't going to shut down parts of the government again.

Congress closed in Friday on approving a short-term spending bill for the Homeland Security Department that would avert a partial agency shutdown hours before it was to begin.

The legislation also leaves intact Obama administration executive actions on immigration that Republicans have vowed to overturn. But Republicans insisted that passing a short-term bill preserved their ability to keep fighting them.

An early vote in the House clearing the way for final passage of the bill was approved easily, 240-183.

The GOP blinks for once. Hopefully, they will get some actual reform done and we can solve immigration problem more or less.

Sign that there is Too Much Money Sloshing Around: Art Sales Hit New Record

Even though much of this spending is by new museums opening up that money is coming from somewhere.

Works worth $15.2 billion (13.5 billion euros) sold at auction during the year, an increase of 26 percent on 2013, Artprice said in its annual report, produced with China's Artron.

A record number of 1,679 sales worth $1 million or more were recorded over the year, four times more than a decade ago, it added.

Thierry Ehrmann, founder and CEO of Artprice, described the figures as "an amazing result, an increase of 300 percent in a decade".

That decade was one of low interest rates and much money printing. Oh and this generic looking thing sold for $84 million.

Net Neutrality Passes: Verizon and Comcast Can't Rip Us Off: At Least for Now

Well this is quite a blow to two of the worst companies in America by reputation.

New rules from the Federal Communications Commission adopted on a 3-2 vote will prohibit Internet service providers like Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon Communications (VZ) from discriminating against any web site or online service. That means sites like Netflix (NFLX) or Google’s (GOOGL) YouTube won’t have to pay extra fees or face sluggish connections with their users. And new sites and services will be able to reach everyone on the Internet on the same terms as the big players.

So I don't have to pay a "Gamer Rate" because the majority of my packets are coming from the Xbox One or other nonsense. This defense is just hilarious as well:

Cable and telecom companies say congestion is due to the Internet companies sending more data. Higher fees are needed to cover the cost of building more capacity, they say.

Comcast made nearly $7 billion in profit last year and bought back $2 billion in shares in Q4 and are increasing their share buyback to $10 billion. I think they have more than enough money to "clear the congestion" and "build more capacity." Maybe cut that share buyback down to $5 billion and take the other $5 billion and improve service? In any case I think it will be a stopgap until Comcast can get their financial wizards online to figure some other way to nickle and dime us.

Weird Light on Dwarf Planet Ceres: Its Alien Mining Colony or something!

Now this is one weird thing.

A dwarf planet is shining two bright lights at a NASA spacecraft right now, and our smartest scientists are unsure what they are. 

As bizarre as that sentence sounds, that's the situation with Ceres — the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, officially designated as a dwarf planet (the same category as Pluto). 

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is approaching Ceres ahead of a March 6 rendezvous. The picture above was taken February 19, from a distance of just under 29,000 miles, and shows two very shiny areas on the same basin on Ceres' surface. 

My money is on an alien surface base shining a light on a craft that is flying close to their mining operation. Now more UFOs will be seen on earth to see what we humans are up to.

Ball Rolling Downhill: TJ Maxx Follows Wal-Mart 's Lead by Hiking Pay

It seems that Wal-mart is the trend-setter. Hopefully other retailers will follow suit.

The owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods stores said Wednesday that it will boost pay for its U.S. workers to at least $9 per hour.

The announcement by TJX Cos. comes a week after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would increase wages for its employees and is a sign that more competitors may follow suit. Low-paying retailers are having a harder time retaining workers as the job market improves.

I think this may have a knock-on effect to the rest of the economy. You give workers another $2 an hour and they will spend another $2 on goods and services. I would love to see an economist calculate the economic impact of a majority of companies hiking their minimum pay all at once. Also it would be interesting the see the cost savings of reducing employee churn. Lets see what other companies do with this trend.

401K Supreme Court Case Could save us some Money

I hope the SCOTUS finds in favor of the 401K participants.

In the initial class-action lawsuit, Tibble v. Edison, participants in the 401(k) plan sponsored by California-based utility Edison International argued that they were being charged excessive fees. 

Under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, companies that sponsor 401(k) plans have a "fiduciary responsibility" to act in the best interest of their employees. The lawsuit claimed that Edison breached this duty in the case of six of its fund options, where almost identical offerings charging lower fees were available. 

Sounds like this is a no-brainer.The company offering the 401K should put lower fee options in when the offerings are the same. That means institutional shares over retail ones every time.

It Seems ISIS Wants to Destroy Rome, Break Crosses, and Enslave our Women

I guess Obama not calling them Islamic Extremists does them a disservice.

The Islamic State is different from al Qaeda and almost all other jihadist movements, according to Mr. Wood, “in believing that it is written into God’s script as a central character.” Its spokesman has vowed: “We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women.” They believe we are in the End of Days. They speak of how “the armies of Rome will mass to meet the armies of Islam in northern Syria.” The battle will be Rome’s Waterloo. After that, a countdown to the apocalypse. 

I think the armies of Rome needs to smash the crap out of these guys but people like Obama don't understand the threat these guys pose. I think we might need boots on the ground going forward because they hold territory that needs to be recaptured.

The Greek Euro Exit aka Grexit has been Postponed for 4 Months at Least

The can has been kicked.

The euro gained against the U.S. dollar on Friday after euro zone ministers agreed to extend Greece's financial rescue package by four months.

The agreement removed the immediate threat that Greece could run out of money next month and be forced out of the single currency area. The new leftist-led Athens government now can try to negotiate longer-term debt relief with official creditors.

"It certainly looks like we're moving away from disaster," said Sebastien Galy, senior foreign exchange analyst at Societe Generale in New York. "It should help a stress that has been building up in the market to be released."

Maybe a gradual exit from the Euro with promises to stay from the other laggards like Portugal will go a long way to solving this crisis. People will take a haircut but the Germans no longer have to prop up the bad debts from Greece going forward. 

Climate Change Big Wig Might be a Sexual Harasser: Did he Show Her his Growing Carbon Footprint?

Is isn't just global warming making things hot in there.

Indian police are investigating claims that the one of world's top climate change officials, Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sexually harassed a 29-year-old woman, police and lawyers said on Friday.

The woman, who is a researcher at Pachauri's Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), claims the 74-year-old Indian scientist began harassing her soon after she joined the non-profit think-tank in September 2013.

Oregon Governor Out under Cloud of Suspicion

I guess corruption and cronyism finally got to him.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned Friday, giving in to mounting pressure to abandon his office amid suspicions that his fiancee used her relationship with him to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business.
In a lengthy statement, the state's longest-serving chief executive insisted he broke no laws. He said the resignation would be effective Wednesday.

He won pretty handily so this is really quite a fall from grace.

Obama Calls out Staples for Skirting Obamacare Rules

I guess this is the power of the jawbone or shame them into compliance.

"It's one thing when you've got a mom-and-pop store who can't afford to provide paid sick leave or health insurance or minimum wage to workers … but when I hear large corporations that make billions of dollars in profits trying to blame our interest in providing health insurance as an excuse for cutting back workers’ wages, shame on them,” Obama said in an interview with BuzzFeed.

Staples also payed $355 million in taxes last year as well. I guess that isn't their fair share. This is the same tired line from Obama that companies shouldn't be maximizing profits. These companies need to make profits in order to stay in business and keep employing the 46,000 people that Staples currently employs.

They are cutting back hours so that they don't have to pay fines. Sounds like a perfectly sound business decision. That is what happens when you use the stick instead of the carrot to get companies to comply. Lets say for the sake of argument each company got $500 per 40 hour a week employee (or some arbitrary number) in tax deductions or credits to offset higher health insurance costs you would bet that no hours will be slashed.

End of an Era: Jon Stewart Out at Daily Show

Well now the derby for his replacement begins.

The AV Club is reporting that Stewart told the audience at today's taping that he's stepping down from the Comedy Central news show he's hosted since 1999. No word yet on when he'll be leaving, or who might replace him. (Perhaps Stewart himself will deliver the news on tonight's broadcast.)

I think they need a woman to replace him to change things up. My vote is for Amy Poehler or Olivia Munn. I would tune in to watch them day to day. They wouldn't be as biting as Stewart but they would be interesting change of pace. It would also be interesting to have a number of different guest hosts for several months. Have a rotating anchor to get a taste for different people on the show.

Wait Someone wants to seriously inject Sulfur Dioxide into the Atmosphere to Combat Global Warming?

I'm not sure if these people are playing with a full deck.

It's time to study and maybe even test the idea of cooling the Earth by injecting sulfur pollution high in the air to reflect the sun's heat, a first-of-its-kind federal science report said Tuesday.

The idea was once considered fringe — to purposely re-engineer the planet's climate as a last ditch effort to battle global warming with an artificial cloud. No longer.

That has got to be the worst idea to combat global warming I have ever heard (I guess genocide is worse but few main stream people talk about that.) 

What is wrong with simply dealing with the "warming earth?" If it really going to be as bad as some Warming alarmists believe just mitigate things. Build seawalls in coastal cities. Move populations around and that sort of thing. Develop next generation sources of energy. Instead of pumping pollution into the sky just use that money to build more next generation nuclear plants and get off of the combustion engine. Hell they can start planting more trees and crops because a higher CO2 environment will start bringing in record crop yields. 

No Big Bang? I Guess They Need to Rename the Big Bang Theory

This is an interesting development.

The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity. The model may also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple problems at once. 

I always wondered about dark matter and energy. If those items happen to have been errors in the theory it might make sense that there needs to be an addendum to Einstein. If the universe has always been and will always be it changes quite a few things. These guys need to go back into the lab and make sure everything checks out but it certainly is intriguing.  

The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity. The model may also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple problems at once.

Great More Messing With the Temperature to prove Climate Change

I think this is one of the main reasons why people cannot get behind the idea of Climate Change.

Following my last article, Homewood checked a swathe of other South American weather stations around the original three. In each case he found the same suspicious one-way “adjustments”. First these were made by the US government’s Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). They were then amplified by two of the main official surface records, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) and the National Climate Data Center (NCDC), which use the warming trends to estimate temperatures across the vast regions of the Earth where no measurements are taken. Yet these are the very records on which scientists and politicians rely for their belief in “global warming”. 

They will chalk it up as smoothing or massaging the data or what have you. If Climatologists are serious they will push for several billion from the UN to install thousands of extra temperature stations in these rural areas to create a better temperature map of the earth. Maybe add some cellular stations or satellite uplinks and you can get a temperature gauge and bring broadband to the entire earth. Then after this is in place we can see what the temperature is like. No more "adjustments" just raw data. 

Uh uh, They found the Lost City of the Elder Things in Antarctica!

Why the Great Old Ones haven't destroyed the planes of the survey of East Antarctica by WEGAS (West-East Gondwana Amalgamation and its Separation) is beyond me.

Such formations are inconsistent with meteorite impacts, which generally leave a single crater with a raised center. And as a general rule, these craters also measure between ten to twenty times the size of the meteorite itself – in this case, that would mean a meteorite 200 meters in diameter. This would mean that, had the ring structure been caused by a meteorite, it would have been the largest Antarctic meteor impact on record.

It is clear that it is the Lost City of the Elder Things. If they keep trying to pry into these things they will glimpse the city that even the Elder Things fear. The City that caused Danforth to lose his sanity in H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness." That place is known as the hated and accursed Plateau of Leng where ululating horrors from out of time lurk and plot to destroy mankind. If they merely glimpse this fortean place all the peoples of the earth will be lost! Pry not into the rime-stained hills from lost and ancient times for they only lead to madness and death!

Brian Williams Has Got to Go: Now He's Caught Lying about Katrina Coverage

You would think nearly dying when your helicopter gets hit by an RPG would have been remembered more clearly but things are really flying apart now.

Williams' reporting about Hurricane Katrina has also been disputed since the scandal began, and a soldier who initially backed up some elements of the anchor's Iraq tale says he is now "questioning my memories."
Last Friday, Williams said on NBC that while he was in Iraq in 2003, he was flying in a helicopter that "was forced down after being hit by an RPG."

His Katrina reports seem especially bad as well.

Williams’ account of seeing a body float by in the French Quarter — which remained largely dry — and even a claim of catching dysentery from drinking Katrina floodwaters have raised eyebrows among bloggers and elsewhere since he took it on the chin this week over a claim that he rode in a helicopter that was downed by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

I guess it is time to go through Williams reporting looking for inaccuracies like they did for Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair. In any case his credibility has been shot to hell because you cannot lie about being shot down for 10 years and hope to keep your credibility intact.

Climate Change Proponents Understand they Cannot Use Ridicule to Get their Points Across

It is good that the dynamic is changing on persuading people that Climate Change is happening and there needs to be something done about it.

For example, communication from the scientific community and its supporters that ridicules sceptics' concerns is likely to drive the groups further apart.
This is particularly problematic as we know from previous research on the politicisation of climate change. Ridicule is only likely to strengthen scepticism and therefore increase sceptics' determination to act in support of their groups' cause.

This is 100% true. No one has ever gotten people on their side by calling them or their concerns stupid. The whole idea of calling Skeptics "Deniers" is a way to create an us-vs-them mentality that is unlikely to get Skeptics to buy in. I agree with this statement as well. The mentality that all Climate-Deniers are stupid needs to get buried if they want these people on board.

Conflict between groups can also be diffused by shifting the focus from differences to focusing on similarities between the members of the two groups. And, more importantly, on broader goals that both groups share.

The idea is to push electric cars because they save a ton of money instead of saying "if you don't buy an electric car the earth will burn up and you are too stupid to know that." Moving the electric grid to renewables and next-gen nuclear might be able to drop the prices on nearly everything and have a side benefit of reducing carbon emissions. People want to save money and some aspects of fighting Climate Change might make that happen. If people focuses on this and dialed down the scare tactics we might see a change in this issue.

 

Jordan Promises "earth-shaking and decisive" Response to ISIS Burining Their POW to Death

I hope that means rolling tank armies into northern Syria and Western Iraq but it probably won't be the case.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the content of the video, which showed a man resembling airman Mouath al-Kasaesbeh standing in a small black cage before being set ablaze.

The furious reaction of the Jordanian authorities made clear they treated it as genuine.

Jordan, which has been mounting air raids in Syria as part of the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic State insurgents, would deliver a "strong, earth-shaking and decisive" response, a government spokesman said.

Whatever the response ISIS acting like something out of the Middle Ages and need to be wiped out.

$150,000 Fine for Not Baking Wedding Cake for Gay Couple

I think this one needs to go to the Supreme Court to clarify.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ruled that Aaron and Melissa Klein, who own Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, will have to pay the lesbian couple up to $150,000, USA Today is reporting. The final amount is set to be determined at a March 10 hearing, according to the report.

Bureau spokesman Charlie Burr said in a statement cited by Reuters that although Oregon law provides an exemption for religious institutions, it "does not allow private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot legally deny service based on race, sex, age, disability or religion."

I think a new cottage industry could spring up from people scoring fines from various religious businesses. So a Kosher Deli could be sued by someone bringing in a pig for them to slaughter. If they refuse to dress the pig you can conceivably sue them for discrimination. You could do the same thing at a Halal butcher or other sort of business that has a religious background.

Conspiracy Theory Alert: Was the New York Snow-maggeddon Shutdown for Secret Reasons?: Transporting Weaponized Influenza or a High Value Target?

I was thinking about how nearly all transportation in New York seemed to have shut down all at once.

With meteorologists predicting blizzard conditions and perhaps as much as 18 inches of snow for New York City, city and state officials moved quickly to shut down as much of the transportation system as possible. Highways were closed to all but essential personnel. The Metro-North and Long Island commuter railroads were shut down, and all bus and subway service was suspended at 11 pm Monday night.

So what would you do if you had all transportation shut down in one of the biggest cities in the world? You could probably transport something scary or politically damaging and make sure people didn't either see it or try to stop it.

I was thinking what that could be and it would have to be something extremely deadly like small pox or maybe a weaponized version of the flu or bacteria. Officials could not risk letting slip that they were moving this item at all and especially through a major metropolitan area.

So what they waited until there was a "blizzard of the century" and then moved it via essential personnel driven vehicle. They loaded it onto a ship, under guard, and that ship left Tuesday for parts unknown. Maybe they are moving it by ship because of the fear that an airplane crash could release it accidentally or expose it to scrutiny.

Also it might have been to get a certain person of interest out of the country in a very secret way. Maybe Zacarias Moussaoui was traded to Al-Quida for aid against ISIS or some other trade of that sort. Right now there is a fake Zacarias Moussaoui residing at ADX Florence in Colorado. Maybe they didn't want to send him out through a military base because there would be too many witnesses. Moving him through silent streets in a van with tinted windows and then loaded on a slow boat could dodge prying eyes.

Bill de Blasio Says You Cannot Put a Price on Safety: Yeah you Can $200 Million

It seems that the storm of the century was only  a light dusting of snow for New Yorkers.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio again defended his administration's decision to prepare for the storm by banning travel.

"You can't put a price on safety," he said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show.

Yeah you can. It seems that price tag was $200 million.

New York City lost an estimated $200 million in economic activity in the fizzled snowstorm and the decision to shut down the transit system had the biggest impact on businesses.

Michael Moore Doubles Down on the American Sniper Hate

I guess if you didn't have a reason to avoid Michael Moore movie's going forward this should do it.

One tweet stated, “Tomorrow's Sunday School (1) What Would Jesus Do? Oh, I know what he'd do -- hide on top of a roof and shoot people in the back!”

He followed that tweet with: “Sunday School: (2) But What Would Jesus Do if he could be a sniper & save soldiers lives by shooting "savages" in the back?”

I guess Michael Moore doesn't want to see the movie. In whatever case he is trolling the Right just like he wants to.

Fox News’ Todd Starnes sounded off on Monday against Moore. “There was a time when Hollywood and Democrats stood in solidarity with our fighting men and women,” Starnes said. “Folks like Jimmy Stewart and Bob Hope and John Wayne - American heroes. Those days are long gone and our sweet land of liberty has been soiled by the stinking stench of Michael Moore and Howard Dean and their liberal minions.”

I suppose Fox News can just ignore provocateurs like Moore but it is such red meat they probably cannot. This is the problem with liberals they just cannot fathom how movies like this are enjoyed by Americans they clearly do not respect. In fact Howard Dead spouts off.

“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry,” Dean said. “And this guy basically says ‘I’m going to fight on your side.’ … I bet you if you looked at a cross-section of the Tea Party and the people who go to see this movie, there’s a lot of intersection.”

Yeah $200 million two week gross were just angry people who are also Tea Party nuts. I wonder how many of these sorts of people produced, bankrolled, and stared in this movie. It seems that Bradley Cooper who will probably win an Oscar isn't some angry Tea Party nut job. In any case it would be nice to be entertained by a movie and not have to be subjected to nuance and ambiguity all the time.

Well I Won't Be Shopping at Target Anymore: Perp Walk Leads to Employee Suicide

Just when they were living down the shame of one of the great hacks of all time this happens.

"The walk of shame is a Target policy to purposely cause shame, embarrassment and emotional distress to any Target employee who is suspected of stealing from Target,” the suit, filed last Thursday, states, according to NBC Los Angeles. ”The policy consists of employees being arrested and paraded in handcuffs through the Target store in full view of co-workers and customers.” The suit alleges that’s exactly what happened on July 15, 2014 to Gentles, who was later released and not charged with any crime. (The true reason for his firing, according to mom, was a verbal altercation Gentles had with another employee, off-site, months prior). 

So they perp-walked this kid out of the store and there were no charges or even a crime committed? That kind of thing has no place in retail or anywhere else in the US. Even the cops would let the kid leave the premisses before they cuffed him and put him in the squad car. Maybe Target couldn't afford removing his hand because of high insurance costs so the perp-walk would have to do.

Great Idea fround in liberal Washington Post: Tax Cuts for Companies that Pay Cost of Living Adjustment

Every now and then I am rewarded for reading liberal talking points in the main stream media. This is one such idea.

Democratic House leaders have introduced proposals to limit tax deductions for corporations that give their chief executives performance bonuses but don’t similarly reward their workers. (They should go further and propose reducing tax rates on companies that give their employees wage hikes keyed to increases in productivity and the cost of living.) 

The first idea about limiting tax deductions unless companies have to reward workers if their CEOs get performance bonuses sounds like something that could be dodged. However, that second idea is pure gold. Tying corporate tax rates to providing a COLA sounds like something the Congressional Budget Office needs to score. If the savings is substantial I can see quite a few companies reducing their taxes through giving their employees a raise.

You can tie tax incentives to quite a few different perks for employees as well. Perhaps providing strait dollar for dollar matching or maybe a 1.5x match to an IRA the company gets a tax credit. A corporate tax code that is advantageous to the worker that ties it to corporate tax cuts that benefit the company would be some great out of the box thinking. It would be a middle class tax cut that will really help America.

King Abdullah Dead at 90

It seems that there will be a new King in charge of the largest oil nation in the world.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington's fight against al-Qaida and sought to modernize the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women, has died, according to Saudi state TV. He was 90.

I wonder if they will have a lavish coronation or not? The Muslim world equivalent of Elizabeth IIs coronation in England? The Crown Prince was pretty much in charge for years so there won't be any kind of royal crisis.

Atomic Cassandras Move Up Doomsday Clock for Some Reason

Looks like we are back to 3 minutes until Doomsday.

The advocacy group founded by the creators of the atomic bomb moved their famed "Doomsday Clock" ahead two minutes on Thursday. It said the world is now three minutes from a catastrophic midnight, instead of five minutes.

"This is about doomsday; this is about the end of civilization as we know it," bulletin executive director Kennette Benedict said at a news conference in Washington.

She called both climate change and modernization of nuclear weaponry equal but undeniable threats to humanity's continued existence that triggered the 20 scientists on the board to decide to move the clock closer to midnight.

Equal threats? You have got to be kidding. Modernization of nuclear weaponry might have a chance of wiping out humanity but climate change has no chance. Even if things get hotter by whatever degrees and the polar ice caps melt or whatever "Climate Change Doom" scenario is cooked up it will not end humanity. We will adapt and move around and endure because that is what humans do. I think they only added climate change into their equations because the chance of global thermal nuclear war is so remote it makes this clock worthless.

Fox and Friends Blast Free Community College Tuition: Um, It's a Good Idea Shut Up

One of the few things I took out of the State of the Union speech that resonated with me is the idea that the government will foot the bill for community college. That sounds like a good use of my tax dollars. It seems that Fox and Friends doesn't agree.

While others have critiqued the president's plan for potentially high costs to states and unlikelihood of increasing the graduation rate, "Fox & Friends" co-host Steve Doocy had a slightly different complaint.

"Here's the thing that really bothers me about this," Doocy said Wednesday morning. "I made my final two college tuition payments about two weeks ago!"

And according to co-host Brian Kilmeade, this whole free college thing is just pointless anyway. I mean, it's not that hard to just pay for it. Right?

"If you want to go to college, you can get a part-time job and make that tuition payment even without a loan, which available to you, and even without grants," he said.

Okay, Steve Doocy is 58 so I guess his comment was hyperbole. However, if it is so cheap that you can pay off community college with a part-time job we might as well let the government pay for it. It won't be a huge expenditure because Tennessee seems to be doing quite well with it. They are a Red State after all.

Also with the public schools so poor quality maybe a few years of community college might be able to at least get people to a baseline skill level. I wouldn't mind my tax dollars go to something like that. I am tired of the knee-jerk conservative line to everything is "too expensive!" or whatever. Lets price it out and see where we can cut to make it happen. This is the kind of thing that will be a quick boost for the middle class so we need to see hard numbers on it.

Disney Ditched George Lucas's Ideas for Star Wars: Thank God!

I guess the idea for a kid friendly character named Car-Car Lings that was actually an offensive Asian stereotype seems to have been ditched by Disney.

Following comments that he had started to craft some ideas for a new "Star Wars" trilogy before Lucasfilm was acquired, Lucas was asked in an interview with Cinema Blend published Tuesday to divulge some of the ideas he had cooked up for new "Star Wars" material.

"Well, the ones that I sold to Disney and everything, they came up to the decision that they didn't really want to do those," Lucas told Cinema Blend. "So they made up their own. It's not the ones that I originally wrote."

I now really cannot wait to see the new Star Wars now. Lucas was great for creating the universe but his tinkering has been intolerable. "Han shoots first" Nuff Said.

Buy Shares in the US? A Great Idea!

Now this is some forward thinking financial engineering.

Let Treasury offer a more equity-like instrument, one that paid the investor a constant percent of nominal Gross Domestic Product ("GDP"), and nothing more, for, say, 30 years. Then the investor would have protection from inflation, Treasury would get some relief when the economy was in recession and, since it self-liquidates, there would be no need to refinance the issue; hence we would no longer burden our progeny with our profligate ways.
Indeed, we can sum up the benefits of GDP Certificates ("Certificates") as follows:
• Investors purchase a no-load, no-fee, marketable term annuity with inflation protection, growth, no counter-party risk and a low correlation with stocks and bonds during periods of inflation - a new asset class.
• Treasury raises capital, buys a financial hedge and sells inflation insurance with a self-amortizing instrument.

The idea of going long America (tax free) sounds like a great investment. The idea that if America does well your dividend increases sounds like such a great investment. You could also load up during a recession so your dividend increases when America recovers. It is so much better than endlessly increasing the debt load.

Climate Change Researchers Move Goal Posts on "Social Cost" of Carbon

I love how there models are always underestimating something.

"Rich and poor countries will fare very differently when dealing with future climate change effects."

Researchers from Stanford University found that the current price of climate change is more likely six times as much, approximately $220 for every ton of carbon produced. Using a new model to calculate the number, the researchers took into account the economic damage that catastrophic climate events, like storms or crop loss, could pose to a country’s GDP over time. “If climate change affects not only a country's economic output, but also its growth, then that has a permanent effect that accumulates over time,” Frances Moore, co-author and environmental scientist, said. Their findings appeared Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

I wonder if their model builds in the idea that growth might be helped by some aspects of climate change? For instance more carbon in the air might increase crop yields. Also some areas that were once impossible for growing things might become available as well. Maybe building up coastlines and moving cities would create large amounts of money for heavy industry and construction. Unions would certainly love climate change.

Also the thing about growth is that it is very hard to permanently keep it down unless its bad governance or bad economic policy. The idea that this growth will never come back is quite a leap of logic. Another thing I found interesting is that these climate scientists are are projecting growth out for decades. I don't think any economist can actually do that with any form of certainty. Who knows what the world will be like, technology wise, 50 or 60 years from now? Maybe there will be cold fusion that will reduce emissions down to negligible levels? I just never understood how you can project something out for a 100 years like this.

Predictions for 2015: All in One

Political:

1. The GOP Congress will work with Obama to a lesser extant but there will be many battles between them on immigration and other issues. Obama will veto several bills and have a few of them overturned with some moderate Democrats on-board.

2. A Grand Bargain on Tax Reform will be passed with work from both parties.

3. The Obamacare exchange will be made illegal by the Supreme Court. The federal government will require all states to have a Healthcare exchange and lawsuits are generated by GOP controlled governors. It will not be resolved in 2015.

4. Obama will start to withdraw from politics and start to prepare for his time after office. He will play lots of golf and lead from behind and basically just ignore his job.


World:

1. ISIS will be severely damaged by the end of the year. They will be attacked from many fronts and start to show signs of defeat.

2. Islamic terror will start to ramp up as ISIS starts to feel the sting of airstrikes and Iraqi and Syrian resistance. They will take the fight out of the "Caliphate" and into the West. More attacks like Charlie Hebdo will be felt across Europe. The lone Islamic terrorist with a gun or bomb will be the new thing to fear in the Western world.

3. China's economy will start to show cracks. Growth will slow and they will do everything they can to keep things going.

4. Russia will start to quiet down as oil prices stay low. They will rattle the sabre less and cooperate more in the wider world.

5. Low oil prices will disrupt the governments of Venezuela and Nigeria. They will have massive disruptions by the end of the year.

Economic Predictions:

S&P 500: 2250
Dow: 18700
Nasdaq: 4700
Crude Oil: $71
Gold: $1226 and ounce
EUR/Dollar: 1.09
10 Yr Bond: 2.15%

Sports Predictions:
NFL: Seattle Seahawks
NBA: Golden State Warriors
MLB: St. Louis Cardinals
NHL: NY Islanders
Premier League: Manchester City
Bundesliga:Bayern Munich
NCAA Football (played in 2016:) TCU Horned Frogs
NCAA Basketball: Duke

Charlie Hebdo Does not Back Down: Puts Mohammed on the Cover

Now this is the kind of backbone that is in short supply in this day and age.

The cover of the first edition of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo since its staff were murderously attacked by Islamist gunmen last week shows a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed crying and holding up a "Je suis Charlie" sign under the words: "All is forgiven".

The spineless cowards at Sony Pictures or the White House couldn't carry Charlie Hebdo's jockstrap. These guys are what is right about the Western world. Don't back down from extremists and fight strength with strength. That is the only thing they respect.

Ryan wont Run in 2016? That sucks!

The best (or one of the better men) for the job is going to sit on the sidelines in the next Presidential race.

Republican U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, the party's vice presidential nominee in 2012, said on Monday he will not run for president in 2016 in order to focus on his new role in Congress as chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee.

Ryan told NBC News he made the decision to pass up a White House bid "weeks ago," well before his former running mate, Mitt Romney, said on Friday he was considering another presidential bid.

I really hope Romney doesn't win the nomination because he failed already. Let's get some new blood in there. I also hope it won't be Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush because in a nation of 316 million people we cannot find someone that is not part of the two families that has had multiple Presidents already?

White House Admits Blunder: Should have Sent at Least John Kerry to Paris Freedom March

Yup the tone deaf administration strikes again. At least they admit they screwed up for once.

While leaders from Europe, the Middle East and Africa linked arms for Sunday's march through the boulevards of Paris, the United States was represented by its ambassador to France. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris for security meetings but did not attend the march.

"It's fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. The administration also announced that Secretary of State John Kerry, who was on a long-planned trip to India Sunday, will visit France later this week.

Kerry was there but didn't march. Why he didn't march I have no idea. Maybe he was too busy windsurfing or something. In any case you have this picture of the heads of nearly every Western nation linking arms and we don't have any senior Americans administration people there at all. Also this part doesn't wash IMO:

"There's no doubt that had the president or vice president, on this very short time frame, gone to participate in this event that took place outdoors with more than a million people in attendance, that it would have significantly impacted the ability of those who attended the march to participate in the way they did yesterday," he said.

Yeah or they could have trusted the French to guard Obama or Biden's lives if there were there. I mean the Israeli PM was there and he would have been a big damn target for Jihadis to go after. In any case the Obama White House looks stupid, tone-deaf and leads from behind yet again. 

MS Treatment might Stop the Progression of the Disease

This seems pretty encouraging if you have MS.

The procedures, abbreviated as HDIT and HCT, are the focus of the multicenter trial that includes experts from seven U.S. states, plus Canada and England.
A three-year interim report published recently in the journal JAMA Neurology offered positive results: Nearly 80 percent of those enrolled, including Kearny, not only survived but also showed no increase in disability, relapse of MS symptoms or new brain lesions. Few serious complications or unexpected side effects were reported. 

That is pretty stunning news because 80% chance of stopping the disease in its tracks sounds outstanding. What is interesting is that the mechanism seems to be what you use to get rid of lueukimia

The trial patients all had failed standard treatments for MS in the 18 months before they enrolled; typically they’d exhausted three different lines of care, said Dr. Richard Nash of the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute.
They received high doses of drugs to wipe out their immune systems and then doses of their own stem cells to rebuild them.

It’s a technique first pioneered for to the now-common treatment for leukemia and other cancers.
This kind of sounds like CAR-T Immunotherapy but you use stem cells instead of specially engineered T-Cells. I guess your body uses the new stem cells to recreate the immune system without creating the lesions in the brain that come from MS.

De Blasio Blasts Cops for Turning Their Backs on Him; Quit While you are Behind Moron

This guy should just step down already. He has lost the confidence of the rank-and-file police and now he is badmouthing them again.

In his first public remarks on the officers' protests, de Blasio said the cops' searing rebuke was hurtful to the families of the two officers killed in an ambush last month and was an offense to the city at large.

"Those individuals who took certain actions the last two weeks, they were disrespectful to the families involved. That's the bottom line," de Blasio said at a news conference held at police headquarters. "I can't understand why anyone would do such a thing in the context like that."

No Mr Mayor you were disrespectful of them when you threw them under the bus so you can cuddle closer to Sharpton and his ilk. This mayor said he feared for his own sons life when he dealt with the cops who nominally work for him and his government. 

Those cops turned their backs in that context because they think Mayor and his rhetoric got two cops gunned down in cold blood. Their job is dangerous enough without the Mayor of their city badmouthing them and inciting nut-jobs to kill them off.

Here is the Program for the 1958 Rose Bowl Matchup Between Oregon and Ohio State

Wow 50 cents was big money in 1958. Remember a comic book cost 10 cents and a newspaper cost a nickle.

Oregon's National Champion Uniforms Looks Like the Came out of a Lame Best Buy Ad

Playing for one of the biggest games in their history and they end up taking the field in these boring things?

The Front:

The Back:

They look like the generic uniforms you see in a Best Buy ad for LCD TVs. The TV maker cannot show the actual uniforms due to licensing issues so they just show a generic white team and a generic red team.

My pick would be a throwback uniform to the 1958 Rose Bowl team that lost 7-10 against Ohio State. Call it the revenge match-up 57 years in the making.

Game Changer: Dish offers Streaming ESPN

Well it looks like the last reason to have cable (live sports) is about to fall by the wayside.

For $20 a month, Dish will offer ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, TNT, Food Network, HGTV and the Cartoon Network to consumers to stream on their laptops and mobile devices. It's a huge step in the cord-cutting movement, the ongoing migration away from cable contracts that require subscribers to pay for hundreds of channels they may never watch.

That really just leaves pay-per-view sports and local sports. I watch some BBC America, Comedy Central and FoxFX because they have Simpsons reruns but that is pretty much it. I am moving closer and closer to the cord cut myself. 

Should Killing Cops be a Hate Crime? I tend to Agree

This is an interesting question.

Violence against police officers that is motivated by anti-police bias should be prosecuted as a hate crime, the nation’s largest police union is arguing in a letter to President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders this week.

“Right now, it’s a hate crime if you attack someone solely because of the color of their skin, but it ought to be a hate crime if you attack someone solely because of the color of their uniform as well,” said Jim Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police.

I mean the ambush attack in New York was the definition of a hate crime. An insane person that hated the police shot them in cold blood. If he didn't commit suicide then you could make the argument that he was motivated by hate and thus committed a "hate crime." You can also prosecute those scumbags who tossed garbage cans on the heads of cops in the same way.

Maybe expand this legislation to people that shoot at firefighters or ambulance drivers as well. I mean these people are there to help so anyone that targets them should have a little extra added to their sentence. First responders should never fear for their safety when they are trying to do their jobs.

Yeah the Detroit Loins got Robbed

I was watching this game on Sunday and I have to say that if it happened to my team I would be asking for a Senate investigation. The pass interference was a judgement call and picking up the flag so late was egregious but this part was worse.

That fellow there without a helmet is Dez Bryant who is a wideout. He had no business being on the field to argue a call and should have been flagged for it. The ref in this game just pointed to the sideline and didn't throw a the flag all. The pass interference was a judgement call but there is no grey area with a guy running onto the field like that. The Cowboys need to send a fruit basket to whatever ref let this happen.

The only reason I was watching was out of loyalty to Bryant and Golden Tate who were both on my fantasy team this year. I really couldn't care less who won but it was still galling to watch a player that did so well on my team almost blow it for his real team.

Centrist Think-tank Urges Obama to Push Asian Trade Deal: Wait there is a Centrist Think Tank?

Yeah, there is such a beast.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies said if Obama can work with Republicans and address divisions within his own Democratic party over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, legislation to facilitate the pact could be passed midyear, enabling TPP's conclusion this fall.

I agree with this assessment as well. Pass these trade deals and let out goods flow out to these countries. Also let their goods flow back. Some authentic Thai food or Japanese delicacies would do well in certain parts of the US.

Stack-Ranking and Yahoo's QPR Systems need to be Put in the Dustbin of History

You figure that anything that messed up the MSFT of the Ballmer era should have been forgotten. However, it seems that Yahoo embraced the mess that was Stack-Ranking and it has the company reeling.

Mayer would stick to this semantic line of defense for the next year. It irritated employees, and even some of Mayer’s direct reports, to no end. The problem was that while “stack rank” and “bucket sort” were different words, the systems those words described had the same effects. Mayer had given the company’s senior managers orders for how many of their employees could go into each bucket. These senior managers had then passed down the ratios to the managers below them. And so on.

It was a forced curve. In general, only 75% of any group got in the top three buckets. Twenty-five percent of every team had to go into the bottom two — “occasionally misses” and “misses.” The result: Teammates directly competed with each other to make sure that they weren’t a part of that 25%.

It was stealth layoffs by any other name. What happens with this system is that talented people don't work together so you cannot multiply their brilliance. So there will be no All-Star team at any company because one of those people end up getting put in the bottom 25%. If Yahoo was smart they should have had this in place for maybe 6 months and you clear the deadwood. Then you change to a different system that rewards teamwork. Maybe a team bonus system or something similar. Mayer was lucky that AliBaba held up the stock price because the core Yahoo business seems to be in shambles.