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Archive for 2017
March 28, 2017
NEIGHBORS: Sixth-Grader Cited for Trespassing After Cutting Through Yards to Get to Bus Stop.
The winters I spent as a kid cross-country skiing through neighbors’ yards seem even longer ago than they actually were.
HMM: Border wall funding likely to be put on hold.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, announced at a leadership press conference that Trump’s supplemental funding request will wait until later in the year.
He said the Senate and House leadership are very close to negotiating a bill to fund government for the rest of 2017.
Adding a supplemental spending bill requested by Trump to pay for military activities and a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would complicate the talks and should be dealt with at a later date, Blunt added.
“We have the FY17 defense bill,” Blunt said, noting it is the top priority of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and could be used as a vehicle to pass bills funding other federal departments.“All of the committees, the leaderships of the House and Senate, are working together to try to finalize the rest of the FY17 bill,” he added. “My guess is that comes together better without the supplemental.”
We’ll see.
FUNNY, I REMEMBER WHEN JUST ABOUT EVERYONE KNEW THIS: How to Do a Burnout With a Manual Transmission.
WELL DONE: Dem Mayor Vetoes $15 Min Wage Bill.
The “Fight for $15” movement faced a setback Friday after Baltimore Democratic Mayor Catherine Pugh vetoed legislation which would have raised the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Citing negative economic impact of the legislation, Pugh said that the city would wait with other municipalities on the state of Maryland to act. The decision was not shocking, as the Mayor’s office has signaled that it was wary of a $15 minimum wage increase.
The council meets April 3 and could overturn the Mayor’s veto with support from 12 of the 15 members. It is unlikely that the council will veto the Mayor’s decision, with the Baltimore Sun reporting that the coalition of supporter for the bill crumbled.
In 2016, former Democratic City Council President Bernard Young warned that any initiative to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour could cost new jobs.
If common sense can break out in one of America’s bluest cities…
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: ABA Places Arizona Summit Law School On Probation After 25% Bar Passage Rate.
Related: How To Con Black Law Students.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: 9 Sarah Silverman Tweets She Hopes You Forget.
MARK STEYN: IF EVERYONE IS HITLER, THEN NOBODY IS (VIDEO).
DON’T KISS THE CHECKOUT GIRLS GOODBYE: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks.
The store in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle uses cameras, sensors and algorithms to watch customers and track what they pick up, according to the people familiar with the matter. But Amazon has run into problems tracking more than about 20 people in the store at one time, as well as the difficulty of keeping tabs on an item if it has been moved from its specific spot on the shelf, according to the people familiar with the matter.
For now, the technology functions flawlessly only if there are a small number of customers present, or when their movements are slow, the people familiar with the matter said. The store will continue to need employees to help ensure the technology is accurately tracking purchases for the near future.
Some days you get the feeling we might just get flying cars before we get automated shopping or driving.
(Classical reference in the headline.)
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THANATOPHILES: Medical Ethicists Think You Have A Duty To Die At 75.
As I’ve observed before, the entire Ethics Establishment is pretty much a fraud, but the “medical ethics” wing is possibly the worst. And, as I’ve also noted before, even modest reductions in aging could have huge economic benefits.
HEAVY, METAL: Did Rammstein’s Mega-Hit Portend a Weakened Germany?
DAVID HARSANYI: Devin Nunes Has Absolutely No Reason To Recuse Himself.
Ostensibly, demanding recusal is framed as an effort to save the impartiality and integrity of the committee. In reality, it’s meant to create the impression that Nunes’ has done something unethical or illegal to defend Trump. It meant to proactively poison any investigation. Schiff offers two reasons for his position: 1 – Nunes shared information with the White House. 2 – Schiff got his information from someone in the White House.
Nunes has said this isn’t an inquiry into charges of Russian collusion, so what’s wrong with the House Intelligence Committee Chair sharing intelligence about the president with the president — and then letting the world know he’s done so? And, furthermore, why is it wrong for the House Intelligence Committee Chair to see classified information from a source at the White House? “If that’s where the information is, and the information is relevant, and it’s authentic, and it’s reliable, wouldn’t you go where the information was?” Nunes asked The Weekly Standard.
Even if we concede, for the sake of argument, that Nunes had been ethically compromised, does the information attained in the effort become less valid? Were the leaks that cost Mike Flynn his job any less persuasive because they were illegally obtained? Haven’t many Democrats been defending the need for whistleblowers to speak up in the name democracy? Schiff has no reason to give up the name of his source. If the NSA abused its power, and the evidence is legitimate, we should welcome the information. If not, Nunes’ credibility will be blown forever. Considering Nunes’ history, the media had no reason to assume the latter, which mirrors the concerns and goals of Democrats.
Nunes’ attitude all along has been an laudable “Apologize for what?”
SHOULD WE DISSOLVE THE INDIAN RESERVATIONS?
Whiteclay, Nebraska is the putative home of the Nebraska Guitar Militia, but the song about Whiteclay itself, “The Town That Booze Built,” isn’t online. Though, like Margaritaville, it’s also a town that lives in a lot of people’s heads. And I really need to put all this stuff up in one place on Soundcloud or something.
Meanwhile, here’s “Ghost Town,” which isn’t bad. Like all the Militia songs, I mostly wrote the lyrics and my brother Jonathan mostly did the music, but there was a good deal of back-and-forth. Songwriting involved a guitar, a yellow legal pad, and copious amounts of beer.
IS THERE ANYTHING HE CAN’T DO? Julie Upton: Is Trump Making You Fat?
I’ve eaten an additional 16,625 calories since President Trump was sworn into office. At least, that’s what my calculations based on my recent (and unusual) 4.75-pound weight gain tell me.
I’m not alone: Many of my clients, friends and colleagues are complaining about POTUS pounds. They wake up each morning wondering which crazy tweet the president has fired off, which ally he’s offended, which latest conspiracy theory he’s peddling or which executive order he’ll sign next. Their increased anxiety triggers stress eating.
He’s living inside their heads — and, apparently, refrigerators — rent-free.
TRY, TRY AGAIN? Affordable Care Act Repeal Is Back on the Agenda, Republicans Say.
Republican members of Congress said they hoped that revisiting the issue would lead this time to a solution and a vote in the House.
“I think everyone wants to get to yes and support President Trump,” said Representative Dave Brat, Republican of Virginia and a Freedom Caucus member. “There is a package in there that is a win-win.”
Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho, another Freedom Caucus member, said he hoped the discussions would yield a compromise that brings the party together after a divisive debate that revealed deep fissures. “I think we will have a better, stronger product that will unify the conference,” Mr. Labrador said.
The House leadership needs to worry less about what might clear the Senate, and concentrate more on winning passage in the House.
POSITIVE FEELINGS ARE GOOD, BUT I WONDER IF PEOPLE WHO ARE HEALTHIER TO START WITH DON’T HAVE MORE OF THEM: A Positive Outlook May Be Good for Your Health.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING: Yes, Burglars Read Your Social Media to Learn When You’re Away.
THIS IS NOT MAKING ME THINK MORE OF NAVAL ACADEMY GRADS: Naval Academy grads ask alumni group to rescind honor for former Sen. Jim Webb. “Several Naval Academy alumni have asked the alumni association to rescind an award planned for former U.S. Sen. James Webb because of his decades-old essay questioning the decision to admit women into military service academies.”
OH: California School Faces Budget Cuts Because It Has Too Many White Students.
Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood is one of the schools expected to face budget cuts because the percentage of non-white students has fallen below 70 percent, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Monday. The cuts in funding could result in five teachers and one counselor being let go from the school, as well as the average class size increasing from 35 to 39 students.
The funding guideline comes from a 1978 Los Angeles Superior Court-ordered integration program, under which schools with a large minority student population receive additional funds. The funding model requires a school’s white-student population to be below 30 percent in order to receive the increase in funds.
For the past two years, the percentage of minority students at Walter Reed Middle School has fallen below 70 percent, according to a letter sent out to parents on March 22. The district has continued to give the school the additional funds, but in the coming school year, that will no longer be the case. The district will not categorize the school as being a predominantly minority one in the fall.
69% is a unique kind of minority.