Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Leonhardt: The Original Lie About Obamacare (NY Times)
You hear it from Republicans, pundits and even some Democrats. It's often said in a tone of regret: I wish Obama had done health reform in a bipartisan way, rather than jamming through a partisan bill. The lament seems to have the ring of truth, given that not a single Republican in Congress voted for Obamacare. Yet it is false -demonstrably so.
Paul Krugman: Populism and the Politics of Health (NY Times Blog)
Obamacare helped a large number of people at the expense of a small, affluent minority: basically, taxes on 2% of the population to cover a lot of people and assure coverage to many more. Trumpcare would reverse that, hurting a lot of people (many of whom voted Trump) so as to cut taxes for a handful of wealthy people. That's a difference that goes beyond political strategy.
Paul Krugman: Smart Republicans? (NY Times Blog)
I claim no special expertise in the legislative process. But reading a couple of pieces about what looks like a health care debacle from the good folks at Vox, I have some thoughts about what's going on - namely, don't presume that Ryan and company have any idea what they're doing.
Harold Pollack: "Will 'repeal and replace' implode?" (healthinsurance.org)
Republicans just proposed a $12,900 annual premium increase on low-income 64-year-olds. A shambolic [chaotic, disorganized] performance.
Garrison Keillor: The Epic of Donald Trump (Washington Post0
Instead of spending money on war, let's spend some on literature glorifying war.
Mark Morford: "Eating 'somebody else's babies': How racist will Trump's GOP get?" (SF Gate)
Do you think there's some sort of competition? Among Republicans? Right now? To see how far they can go, how insufferable and cruel and sort of ruthlessly, face-stabbingly insulting to as many intelligent humans as possible in a single blurt, tweet, senate confirmation hearing? Are they all testing just how much they can get away with before the devil himself says "Hey, you know what? I think that's just about enough from you."
Interviews by Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Phil Hoad: How we made Beauty and the Beast (The Guardian)
'There's been talk of Stockholm syndrome with the Beast, but Belle changes him.'
"You can take your heels and…" Lucy Mangan on the high heels debate (Stylist)
I honestly thought more than 10 MPs would turn up to the Westminster Hall debate about high heels in the workplace last week, even if they only went for curiosity's sake or to kill some of the otherwise dead hours of doing their parliamentary duty. In the event, the turn-out was p*sspoor. Still, what we lose in rigorous discussion and forward legislative motion we gain in hope.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Internet
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Team Coco
CONAN
Reader Contribution
Current Events
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from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
THE KIDS STEAL THE SHOW.
THE FASCIST IN CHIEF.
KING OF THE FASCISTS!
GET READY TO RUMBLE!
THE REPUBLICANS WANT US TO DIE QUICKLY.
THE WHITE REPUBLICAN RACIST!
"D'OH!"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Foggy morning, sunny afternoon.
T-rump Goes After
Snoop Dogg
President Trump (R-Grifter) has weighed in on the controversial new music video showing the rapper Snoop Dogg aiming a gun at a clown that depicts him.
"Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!" Trump tweeted.
Trump's response comes just days after the release of the video for the remix of "Lavender," a song by the artist BadBadNotGood and Kaytranada that features Snoop Dogg.
In the past few months, Trump has repeatedly sparked national firestorms by picking fights with prominent cultural figures, including Meryl Streep and the hit musical "Hamilton."
During the 2016 campaign, Trump himself faced a backlash for suggesting gun enthusiasts could be able to stop Hillary Clinton from taking away their Second Amendment rights.
Snoop Dogg
Sony/ATV Says ...
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney, who has waited decades to reclaim ownership of hundreds of the Beatles' songs, should wait a little longer rather than continue his U.S. lawsuit against Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, the defendant said.
In a filing on Monday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for Sony/ATV said the publisher has never challenged the validity of McCartney's notices to terminate its copyrights in the songs, starting in October 2018.
As a result, McCartney's Jan. 18 lawsuit "impermissibly seeks an advisory opinion on a hypothetical claim" and should be dismissed for the time being, the lawyer, Donald Zakarin, wrote.
The rock legend, 74, was outbid by Michael Jackson in 1985 for the rights to songs credited to McCartney and John Lennon such as "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Yesterday" and "Hey Jude."
These rights were rolled a decade later into Sony/ATV, a joint venture with Sony Corp. Jackson's estate sold its stake in that venture to Sony for $750 million last year.
Paul McCartney
'Revenge Porn' Sex Tape
Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton is allegedly the victim of "revenge pornography," and she's fighting back.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that a sex tape involving Barton was being shopped around to porn outlets. On Wednesday, Barton responded to those reports with the help of attorney Lisa Bloom during a press conference, saying that they plan legal action against the alleged tape peddler.
In a statement at the press conference, the former "O.C." actress said, "I've been put through an incredibly hard and trying time. This is a painful situation, and my absolute worst fear was realized when I learned that someone I thought I loved and trusted was filming my most intimate and private moments, without my consent with hidden cameras. Then I learned something even worse: that someone is trying to sell these videos and make them public. I came forward to fight this not only for myself but for all the women out there."misc
While she did not reveal the name of the person allegedly shopping the sexually explicit images, Bloom said that Barton has been granted an immediate domestic violence restraining order against the person. Bloom clarified that, because Barton previously dated this person, that they consider it to be "a form of domestic abuse."
Ahead of Wednesday's press conference, Bloom also released a statement on Tuesday in response to reports about the sex tape. In it, the lawyer vowed to "come after" anyone who tried to sell the images.
Mischa Barton
Disruption Ends
Nielsen's
If you're wondering why it's been a few days since you've seen a TV ratings story, it's because a power outage at a Nielsen facility in Florida over the weekend crippled the company's ability to process data all the way through Wednesday morning, so no one had access to numbers of any kind. It was bliss for network PR, agita-inducing for network researchers, and a very unpleasant four days for Nielsen, already a favorite punching bag for network heads.
The cause of the power outage at Nielsen's facility in Oldsmar, Fla., remains mysterious as weather in that area early Sunday morning was clear. The outage didn't affect the collection of data from the 40,000 Nielsen TV households across the country, merely the processing of the data, and Nielsen says the quality of the data wasn't affected either.
Nielsen released a statement: "A power outage at our Oldsmar Data Center impacted the availability of some Nielsen applications and the planned delivery of some Nielsen data for Sunday, March 12th and Monday March 13th. We are actively working to resolve the issue and will continue to provide clients with updates as more information becomes available."
It's true: For all the pearl-clutching about not being able to discuss the ratings for the "This Is Us" finale, the world managed to spin on for four days, even with the promise of a delay in the ratings for Rachel Maddow's big reveal of two pages of President Trump's 2005 tax returns and Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead." Ad agency research sources shrugged off the delay as well - the vast majority of their deals with networks are based on C3 and C7 data, which measure commercial deliveries for episodes within three and seven days and typically take a week or so extra to process (three weeks at the start of the TV season).
Nielsen's power problem was solved Wednesday morning, and preliminary Saturday numbers came out. However, due to the backlog, the ratings for Sunday through Tuesday evening will dribble out at a currently unknown pace. That means we won't know for a while how "This Is Us" fared in its final outing for Season 1, or the average audience for "The Bachelor" finale Monday, or how "American Crime" did in its Season 3 premiere.
Nielsen's
Guilty Of Obstructing FBI Probe
Former LA County Sheriff
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was convicted Wednesday of obstructing an FBI investigation into corrupt and violent guards who took bribes to smuggle contraband into the jails he ran and savagely beat inmates.
The trial, the second Baca faced after a jury last year deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal on obstruction charges, cast a dark shadow over a distinguished 50-year law enforcement career that abruptly ended with his 2014 resignation from the nation's largest sheriff's department as the corruption investigation spread from rank-and-file deputies to his inner circle.
In addition to tarnishing his reputation as a policing innovator and jail reformer, the case threatened to put Baca, 74, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, behind bars for up to 20 years.
The federal probe began in 2011 when Baca's jail guards discovered an inmate with a contraband cellphone was acting as an FBI mole to record jail beatings and report what he witnessed.
Baca's subordinates hid the FBI informant from federal agents by moving him between different jails and booking him under fake names. Other department members tried to intimidate his FBI handler by threatening to arrest her.
Former LA County Sheriff
Sex Assault Reports Up
Navy, Army Academies
\Reports of sexual assaults increased at two of the three military academies last year and an anonymous survey suggests sexual misconduct rose across the board at the schools, The Associated Press has learned.
The new data underscore the challenge in stemming bad behavior by young people at the military college campuses, despite a slew of programs designed to prevent assaults, help victims and encourage them to come forward. The difficulties in some ways mirror those the larger military is struggling with amid revelations about Marines and other service members sharing nude photos on websites.
Assault reports rose at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, while dropping at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. The Air Force decline was sharp, going to 32 last year from 49 in 2015, contributing to an overall decrease in the overall number of reported assaults at the academies. The total reported cases fell to 86 from 91 in 2015, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.
Pentagon and military officials believe more people are reporting sexual assaults, which they see as a positive trend because it suggests students have more confidence in the system and greater willingness to seek help.
But the anonymous survey results suggest more assaults and crime occurring. They showed more than 12 percent of women and nearly 2 percent of men saying they experienced unwanted sexual contact.
Navy, Army Academies
More Sordid Details Emerge
Navy Bribery Scandal
Officers in a burgeoning Navy bribery scandal called themselves the Lion King's Harem, the Wolfpack, the Cool Kids and the Brotherhood. They scouted for others who might also accept sex, trips and other lavish perks from a Malaysian defense contractor known as "Fat Leonard" in exchange for classified information.
Allegations outlined in an indictment unsealed in San Diego on Tuesday give more details in the 3-year-old scandal that had appeared to be fading before re-emerging even bigger and more sordid than before.
Nine current and former military officers were charged in the latest indictment, including a recently retired rear admiral who collected foreign intelligence for the Navy's Seventh Fleet.
It gives an extensive list of bribes to the officers from 2006 to 2012 from Leonard Francis in exchange for classified shipping schedules and other information to help his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. In one example, a party with prostitutes at the Manila Hotel's MacArthur Suite during a 2007 port call to the Philippines included sex acts using historic MacArthur memorabilia.
Prosecutors say Francis, who is nicknamed Fat Leonard for his wide girth, bilked the Navy out of nearly $35 million, largely by overcharging for his company's services supplying Navy ships in the Pacific with food, water, fuel and other necessities.
Navy Bribery Scandal
Used Alias In Emails On Climate Change
Tillerson
The New York attorney general says that while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of Exxon he used an alias in emails to talk about climate change.
The attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, made the accusation in a letter from his office to a New York court Monday. He is investigating whether the company deceived investors and the public by hiding for decades what it knew about the link between fossil fuels and climate change.
Schneiderman said Exxon failed to disclose that Tillerson used an account named "Wayne Tracker" to send and receive emails about issues including risk management related to climate change. Wayne is Tillerson's middle name. The account was used from at least 2008 through 2015, he says.
Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers said Tillerson's regular email address received a large number of emails, including from outside the company, and the Wayne Tracker account was created for secure and quick communication between Tillerson and senior executives over a broad range of topics.
Tillerson resigned as chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. at year end, after then-President-elect Donald Trump (R-Crooked) picked him to become the nation's chief diplomat.
Tillerson
Announces Superconductivity Breakthrough
Eurotapes
European researchers said Tuesday they had developed a cheaper and more efficient superconducting tape which could one day be used to double the potency of wind turbines.
Eurotapes, a European research project on superconductivity -- the ability of certain materials to channel electricity with zero resistance and very little power loss -- has produced 600 metres (1,968 feet) of the tape, said the coordinator of the project, Xavier Obradors, of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona.
"This material, a copper oxide, is like a thread that conducts 100 times more electricity than copper. With this thread you can for example make cables to transport much more electricity or generate much more intense magnetic fields than today," he told AFP.
Eurotapes is a four-year project involving world leaders in the field of superconductivity from nine European nations -- Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
The European Union covers the bulk of its budget of 20 million euros ($21 million).
Eurotapes
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