21ST CENTURY CLAIMS: We Aren’t Using Your Robocar Laser Beam Secrets.
Archive for 2017
April 7, 2017
IT’S PRETTY: 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT/GT C Roadster.
AT AMAZON, Fire Tablets Starting at $39.99.
NAME THAT PARTY: Seattle Mayor Murray sued for alleged sexual assault of teen in 1980s.
The 46-year-old Kent man filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court on Thursday claiming Murray “raped and molested him,” as first reported by the Seattle Times.
D.H. alleged he met Murray when he was 15-years-old on a Metro bus, and Murray, who was about 32-years-old at the time, propositioned D.H. to visit his Capitol Hill apartment for sex. The encounters continued for “an extended period of time,” according to court documents.
“Addicted to drugs at the time, D.H. was willing to do whatever Mr. Murray asked for as little as $10-20,” the lawsuit claimed.
Murray’s lawyer denied the allegations and said, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these allegations have occurred in the midst of a mayoral campaign.”
However:
D.H. wasn’t the first person to accuse Murray of sexual abuse. Jeff Simpson of Portland, Ore. also claimed Murray abused him as a teenager in the 1980s.
Simpson, 49, said he first met Murray when he was six-years-old living in an orphanage. Murray was appointed Simpson’s resource parent, according to Simpson, and Simpson said he later went to live with Murray.
“He was my only parent figure,” said Simpson, who now works on a county road crew.
The details are shocking, but report did omit just one: Murray is a Democrat.
EMBRACING MULTICULTURALISM: Swedish football fans protest mask ban by wearing niqabs. “A group of Swedish football fans have launched a protest against a new ban on wearing masks at stadiums, exploiting an exception to the ban by wearing niqabs to cover their faces. On March 1st, the ban on wearing masks in the stands at Swedish football stadiums entered into force in an effort to combat violent behaviour at games. Exceptions to the ban can be made however for people covering their faces in the line of duty like police, or people who cover their face for religious reasons. And it was the latter exception that some supporters of Stockholm club AIK exploited during their Allsvenskan season opener against Häcken on Sunday. A number of ultras wore niqabs to the match at the Friends Arena.”
YUGE:
"The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences. Those days are over." – @NikkiHaley pic.twitter.com/PMb24zpPId
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 7, 2017
THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: Dietary fats make worms live almost 50% longer—no human results yet. “No studies in humans yet, but plant-based diets are definitely healthier anyway.”
BRIDGET JOHNSON: Russia Slams U.S. Strikes, Warns ‘New WMD Attacks Can be Expected’
GROUNDHOG DAY: Activity Continues at North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.
Over the past four weeks, there have been unusually high levels of activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, especially around the North Portal—the tunnel in which the four most recent nuclear tests have taken place. New commercial satellite imagery from April 2 indicates continued activity in this area and at the Main Administrative Area, while the rest of the facility remains quiet. This pattern of activity could mean a sixth nuclear test is imminent, but the imagery does not provide any definitive evidence of the installation of a nuclear device or the exact timing of such a test.
I hope President Trump brings this up, complete with the photos at the link, in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
READER BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Reader Evan Mayerle emails: “A first novel, “Hells’ Gate” by Bill Schutt and J. R. Finch, is a retro-techno-thriller with lots of action and enough odd tech bits thrown together to make quite a story. With proper treatment and casting it would make a great start for a new Hollywood franchise, but I doubt Hollywood is that competent and I know they’d cut some of the back history of the main character.”
NYT today: Missile Strikes on Syria Put U.S. Relationship With Russia at Risk.
NYT on Monday: Trump Tries to Deflect Russia Scrutiny, Citing ‘Crooked Scheme’ by Obama.
C’mon, fellas — which is it?
HEALTH: 23andMe is finally allowed to tell you if you have the genes for Parkinson’s.
Nine other diseases made the FDA’s approval list, including late-onset Alzheimer’s and celiac disease.
I get the feeling that an awful lot of people who think they’re sensitive to gluten are going to be disappointed with their results.
HORRIFIC MURDER CASE PUTS MILWAUKEE’S PROGRESSIVE FAILURES IN SPOTLIGHT: “Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been a bastion of the Left for over a century now; the last Republican mayor left office in 1908, and a string of Democratic and socialist mayors has ensued. Various sources have rated the city as one of the ten poorest in the nation, and also as one of the most segregated.”
Why are Democrat-monopoly cities such cesspits of violence, poverty, and segregation?
CHANGE: New Chinese Immigrants Are Different From Chinese Americans And Proud Of It. “The boisterous new diaspora from China is of a different breed. Their voice in the U.S. will only become louder as their home country becomes more powerful.”
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE? France Isn’t Good for the Jews.
MICHAEL F. CANNON: Here’s How Trump Can Get Congress To Repeal And Replace Obamacare.
The Mo Brooks Method still seems the best and most straightforward.
SHOULD DEMOCRATS MOVE LEFT IN DOWN-BALLOT RACES?
It’s either that or try Rahm Emmanuel’s faux-moderate “Blue Dog” approach of 2006, aka “Nancy Pelosi’s Crash Test Dummies,” most of whom ended up being slaughtered in the 2010 midterms after they voted en masse for Obamacare. Would voters fall for the same strategy once again? Pretending to be moderate and free of drooling Trump Derangement Syndrome would likely be quite a challenging sell.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Google is wading into the battle against online fake news and adding a fact check to its search results.
The Californian tech giant announced on Friday that it is rolling out globally a feature in its search and news results that will assess the authenticity of information shown.
Google isn’t doing this fact-checking itself: Instead, it’s relying on respected independent fact-checking organisations like PolitiFact and Snopes to provide the info.
No bias there.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Sean Davis nails it:
WHY ARE DEMOCRAT INSTITUTIONS SUCH HOTBEDS OF SEXISM AND LEONARD COHEN REFERENCES? Rachel Maddow Fans Accuse MSNBC of Sexism for Bumping Her for Brian Williams.
To be fair though, Williams did manage to namedrop a pretty cool song while playing anchorman last night. You never heard Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley riffing on Gerry and the Pacemakers during Vietnam, did you?
UPDATE (from Steve): I dunno, Ed — Brinkley could be surprisingly hip.
SALON: Donald Trump, who’s totally not Vladimir Putin’s puppet, warned Russia before airstrikes on Syria.
Can you imagine the headlines if Russia hadn’t been warned — doing so in Syria is a routine matter between Moscow and Washington, and has been since President Obama — and Russian personnel had been killed in the attack?
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Forget it, Steve, it’s Salontown.
THEY TOLD ME IF DONALD TRUMP WERE ELECTED, FASCISM WOULD STALK AMERICAN CAMPUSES. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Heather Mac Donald speech on ‘War on Cops’ shut down at Claremont, partly shouted down at UCLA.
This behavior needs to be punished. But don’t expect anything constructive from faculty: An Anti-Koch Meltdown at Wake Forest: Professors are attacking the billionaires and undermining academic freedom.
Though to be fair, my own Faculty Senate stood up quite strongly for free speech and academic freedom on campus last semester.