Noah: The Comedy - Magic seeds, unicorns, and rock people, oh my! Erick Erickson watched it so that you don't have to. Say "Thank you". [NDH]

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• Ezekial's Prophecy: Obamacare's Biggest Disruptions Are Yet To Come
  
• The Autumn Of Patriarch Harry Reid
  
• NRSC Jumps On Braley Gaffe
  
• State Department Gets Tough On Putin By Posting Selfies
  
• Russian Build Up On Ukrainian Border Stokes Worries
  
• Rhode Island Teach Assaults Student For Eating A Cookie In Class
  
• So God Made A Trail Lawyer
  
• Condi Rice Blasts Obama On Weakness
  
• Has Pop Culture Prepared Us To Settle For Less
  
• CITI Fails Stress Test
  

Sorry for the weak sauce news dump, I had a late night.

Follow me on twitter.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:14 AM | Comments (587)
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FRIDAY! Woooooo!

South Dakota judge gives okay for lawsuit over ABC News' "pink slime" stories to proceed.

One last great read on the Hobby Lobby argument.

Weekly Standard piece stating that there's little reason to believe Condi Rice is angling for a 2016 run likely to stoke commentary about whether Condi Rice is angling for a 2016 run.

Have a good weekend.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:45 AM | Comments (329)
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Littlewood's Law

Littlewood's law, or adage, states that an individual can expect to experience "miracles" at the rate of about one per month.

Littlewood defines a miracle as an exceptional event of special significance occurring at a frequency of one in a million. He assumes that during the hours in which a human is awake and alert, a human will see or hear one "event" per second, which may be either exceptional or unexceptional. Additionally, Littlewood supposes that a human is alert for about eight hours per day.

As a result a human will in 35 days have experienced under these suppositions about one million events. Accepting this definition of a miracle, one can expect to observe one miraculous event for every 35 days' time, on average - and therefore, according to this reasoning, seemingly miraculous events are actually commonplace.

Statistical miracles happen to us a lot. But we're either oblivious to them or they involve trivial events that we simply don't care about. But when something does cause us to pay exceptional attention to every single detail, all of sudden we discover these fairly common 'miracles' and they become the amazing coincidences that conspiracy theories are built on.

How Inmarsat Figured Out the Flight Path of MH370

On one hand the techniques used - precise timing differences, trigonometry, and using the Doppler Effect - are not new. But putting them all together, using it on the limited data they had, and cross-checking and confirming it against actual plane data in such a short time is reminiscent of the 'failure is not an answer' engineers of NASA's glory years.

And more here and here.

Also: 10 Planes That Mysteriously Vanished Without A Trace

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:06 PM | Comments (773)
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First, the bizarre attack itself, apparently an attempted "citizens arrest."

A George Mason University law professor was pepper sprayed in his classroom today after a man tried to place him under a citizenÂ’s arrest, according to Arlington County police.

The incident happened at GMU’s Arlington campus, near Virginia Square, around 3:00 p.m. Police say the man entered the classroom and attempted to place the professor under a citizen’s arrest. The professor tried to get the man — described as a white male in his 20s or 30s — to leave, at which time the man pepper sprayed him and a scuffle ensued, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

You might suspect this guy was a lefty motivated by politics. Well, he may or may not be a lefty, but he doesn't seem to be motivated by politics.

He seems to have been motivated by delusions.

The man who attacked economist and George Mason University professor Tyler Cowen with pepper spray yesterday has been identified as 31-year-old John Pendleton.

Now, we don't know this email came from this John Pendleton, but shortly before the attack, a John Pendleton left this comment on Cowen's blog:

What better place to do prison research than inside a prison?

If the police and FBI won't arrest you for hacking my computer and sexually harassing me over the past several months, I will do it myself—in the next couple weeks before school starts again. Either way, one of us is going to prison

I will entertain settlement offers at the email address provided.

Sincerely,
Jonathan E Pendleton

I'm going to assume, provisionally, that Cowen did not in fact hack Pendleton's computers, nor "sexually harass" him, apparently remotely.

Coincidentally enough -- and this is true -- when Cowen was suddenly pepper sprayed in an attempt at a "citizens arrest," he was teaching a class on vigilante justice.

Cowen just emailed me to say he will go forward with next week's class, about Bugfuck Crazydrool Justice, as scheduled.

Thanks to Monty, @aoshqdoom.

Posted by: Ace at 02:10 PM | Comments (420)
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The law firm's report exonerating (supposedly) Christie says that key Bridgegate player Bridgie Kelly had a "personal relationship" with Christie's then-campaign-manager, Bill Stepien, a relationship which had cooled -- or soured -- just before Kelly sent her infamous email, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

The report claims the affair resulted in Kelly and Stepien barely communicating... and that this might have caused communication breakdowns regarding the Fort Lee lane closings.

"Indeed, that fact may have affected how Kelly and Stepien conducted themselves and whether they communicated about the lane realignment."

Two points: 1, feminists are going to freak out at the (claimed) implication that a woman's hormones caused all of this. The report doesn't say that, and doesn't really imply that, but, you know. You can get there if you really want to.

And MSNBC is going to really want to get there. "CHRIS CHRISTIE'S OLD BOYS CLUB BLAMES BRIDGEGATE ON WOMAN'S LIBIDO." You heard it here first.

2, when Bridgegate broke, I asked, jokingly, on the podcast, "Is it too early to speculate about an affair?"

Just sayin'.

It's Old: JackStraw says my prediction already came true before I predicted it -- he says Chris Matthews and a NJ State Senator guest were shouting tonight about how "gratuitous" this disclosure was, and complaining of Christie's War on One Single Woman.

Posted by: Ace at 04:04 PM | Comments (444)
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No, a real douchebag scheme.

Patrick Cannon, the Mayor of Charlotte, NC was arrested today and accused of accepting nearly $48,000 in bribes during a four-year-long FBI sting. A good portion of those bribes came in the form of a quote-unquote investment into one of Cannon’s business ventures: a “feminine hygiene product” called “Hers”.

The precise type of feminine hygiene product is currently unknown, but analysts theorize it could be a douchebag.

More at AP.

Cannon, a longtime radio show host and the founder of E-Z parking, a parking management company, was elected mayor in November...

Why are parking businesses always corrupt?

Oh, note that this guy has only been on the job six months. The road to corruption is a quicker one for fast learners.

Before becoming mayor, in 2013 and 2014, he is alleged to have taken $20,000 in bribes for providing "access" to city officials in zoning matters. He was a City Councilman at the time.

He procured $12,500 in bribes -- allegedly -- to help a nightclub get its permits. In exchange for his help with the permit, the undercover agent agreed to pay him $12,500 so that Cannon could develop "Hers," his feminine hygiene product.

Cannon disputes that, of course, and in fairness, I have to point out that AP says that in a "later" conversation with the undercover agent, Cannon attempted to clarify that "help with the nightclub permits" and "$12,500 investment in 'Hers'" were two entirely unrelated transactions, completely and in all ways unconnected to one another, because he didn't want people thinking he was corrupt or anything.

More: Buzzfeed has excerpts from the indictment affidavit of one of the FBI agents involved in the sting. In one exchange, Cannon actually offers to return the money to the undercover agent, apparently becoming worried that there was "linkage" between help-for-the-nightclub and the "twelve-five." But Cannon doesn't return the money, and, per Buzzfeed, never brings up the possibility of returning it again.

Hers

Gentle enough for delicate skin.

Strong enough for Nancy Pelosi.

Posted by: Ace at 01:20 PM | Comments (245)
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The other day, a reporter asked Harry Reid about the $17,000 his campaign had funneled to his granddaughter.

"Sixteen thousand," Reid snipped, chiding the reporter for getting the figure wrong.

The reporter did have the figure wrong. It's $31,000. At last count.

And it gets worse, because one of Reid's organzational supporters, NV Energy Foundation, is considering making a separate donation to the granddaugher's theater troupe, for some reason.

His granddaughter has also received financial support for her fledgling New York theater company from two Nevada-based foundations that typically prohibit donations to organizations outside of their service areas. The foundations belong to gaming and energy companies that have also donated to the lawmaker.

...

According to the Brooklyn Arts Council, Sprat “is supported by funds from Clinton Global Initiative, Caesars Foundation, NV Energy Foundation, and individual donors.” (The Sprat website also lists these contributors, along with others.)

The Caesars Foundation is the philanthropic wing of Caesars Entertainment, a Las Vegas-based gaming corporation that owns and operates dozens of casinos. Sen. Reid has received funds from the corporation in the past.

...

The NV Energy Foundation, also a philanthropic wing of a larger corporation, donates to a variety of causes -- from artistic endeavors to educational institutions. However,Still, the benefactor “reserves the right to give special emphasis to specific categories of funding from time to time or to change or withdraw this program without notice.”

A couple of updates on this (from the same link). The Caesars Foundation says... well they deny funding Ryan Reid's theater company. But then they say they funded "a proposal."

In a statement to RCP, Caesars Foundation spokeswoman Jan Jones said, "The Caesars Foundation did not provide funding to Ryan Reid's company. We funded a proposal from the Las Vegas Keep Memory Alive (of the Cleveland Clinic Luv Ruvo Center) in support, along with several other non-profits, [of] bringing Reid's play . . . to Las Vegas." Jones added that the play, which deals with Alzheimer's disease, fits with the foundation's focus on the illness.

And NV Energy says it did not make a donation... but is considering doing so.

A spokeswoman for the NV Energy Foundation and another for two foundations set up by philanthropist Larry Ruvo separately told Nevada reporter Jon Ralston that they had received applications for funding from Reid's granddaughter. However, NV Energy is still considering a donation, and Ruvo's groups declined the requests. None of the spokeswomen knew why their foundations were listed as donors.

Posted by: Ace at 10:47 AM | Comments (304)
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Remember when Republicans complained about Obama's lawlessness? Good times my friends. Good times.

The GOP wants to spend more money on the "Doc Fix", which would raise the amount paid to doctors for Medicare patients. The thing that needs to be "fixed" is that current law was put into place during the Clinton administration to save money and reduce the deficit. But cuts can never actually happen so when it looks like they will, they have to be "fixed".

Conservatives weren't thrilled with spending more money especially since the Democrats swore ObamaCare would save money by assuming the "doc fix" would never happen even though we all knew it would.

So today Boehner and Cantor found out they couldn't get their way so they simply held a sham vote to ram it through and prevent conservatives from calling them out on it.

House Republican leaders had planned to bring up the “doc fix” under a procedure requiring a two-thirds majority to pass, but after a series of closed-door meetings on Thursday morning, they determined they didn’t have the votes to meet that threshold and didn’t want to stay in session long enough to set up a simple majority vote.

So with just a few members on the House floor before a scheduled vote on an unrelated Ukraine measure, Republicans brought up the Medicare bill by voice vote. When no one in the chamber objected, the measure passed.

“Bullshit,” said a visibly annoyed Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) as he emerged from the floor following the Ukraine vote. When Mulvaney was asked to comment about the upcoming GOP budget, he replied: “I can’t talk about the budget because I’m so pissed about the [doc fix].”

GOP leadership "didnÂ’t want to stay in session long enough to set up a simple majority vote". I'm sorry if doing their damn job is too inconvenient for them.

But hey...bi-partisanship!

Republican leadership worked with their Democratic counterparts to orchestrate the ploy. As members returned to the floor when the House came into session, they discovered that the bill had already passed. Nearly all of them were surprised.

No one had the chance to vote no, no one had a chance to vote yes.

Boehner likes to talk about the House of Representatives being "The People's House". Well today he and his leadership team broke in and trashed the place. Remember this the next time he or Cantor complain out how Obama is lawless.

But yay GOP, right?

Posted by: DrewM at 11:57 AM | Comments (289)
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Gabe mentioned this at the end of the podcast last night.

You might remember that, last Friday, two Washington Post writers regurgitated a left-wing "activist" group's fanciful claim that the Koch Brothers were pushing for the Keystone pipeline, because of all their oil sands holdings in Alberta.

The article claimed that they were the biggest lessor of oil sands lands in the province, which is false. When Powerline called them on that, they responded by saying, basically, "Close enough."

The main thrust of their claim -- ignoring their mistatement of fact --is that the Koch brothers are lobbying hard for the Keystone pipeline, because Evil Oil People. The article glosses over tiny details like the fact that the Koch brothers are not in fact lobbying for the Keystone pipeline, as the pipeline would actually hurt them economically.

But the progressives hate the Koch brothers, and desperately need a pair of distracting bogeymen for this election cycle, and progressives hate the Keystone pipeline, so... unconnected dots must nevertheless be connected.

Now comes Powerline to report that promptly after the publication of this false report, Congressional Democrats issued the Koch brothers a menacing letter demanding they answer the question posed in the Washington Post's article.

To wit:

What is Koch Industries doing there?

Yes, Washington Post, what an interesting and probing question. What is an energy company doing leasing tar sands from which oil (also called "energy") can be extracted?

It's all terribly suspicious.

Powerline writes:

But it may have been even more political, and more nakedly partisan, than we suspected. Today Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman wrote a letter to David Robertson, President and COO of Koch Industries. The DemocratsÂ’ letter was premised almost entirely on the Washington PostÂ’s discredited article; it repeatedly footnoted that article and the IFG report on which the Post story was based. The two Democrats concluded by requesting that Koch answer questions and produce a long series of documents relating in various ways to the Keystone pipeline.

The Democrats' questions -- hostile, prosecutorial, conspiratorial -- can only be characterized as implying wrongdoing.

If there are dots in need of connection, let's check these dots:

* Democratic politicians in dire need of an election-year distraction

* Far-left agitation groups funded by far-left donors -- by which I mean Democratic donors

* Usefully pliant writers in the "mainstream" media who are ready, willing, and eager to float whatever Conspiracy Balloon that crosses their transom

Yes, let's see some connect-the-dots analysis of that.

Cui bono?

Posted by: Ace at 08:39 AM | Comments (1020)
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