Last Call For Rocky Mountain Lows

Earlier today I talked about Chris Hayes, privilege, and the massive disparity between the arrest rate of white and black marijuana smokers.  The awesome Goldie Taylor made the very compelling argument Friday on Twitter that Colorado's legalization setup is only going to make this worse:

... Colorado's new regulations further tip the scales in favor of a privileged class already largely safe from criminalization...
— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) January 3, 2014

... those people-- largely black, brown and poor-- due to exorbitant pricing and heavy taxation, are priced out of the legal market...
— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) January 3, 2014

Do read the entire Storify by Kashann Kilson, who captured all of Goldie's tweets on the subject.

Bottom line:  the state of Colorado now has not only every legal incentive to go after non-licensed pot dealers and the people who buy their product, but every financial incentive too.  Black market pot from your neighborhood dealer costs the state tax revenue dollars.  Expect prosecutions and raids to be up big time...and there's absolutely nothing to make me think these pot-based arrests won't be as wildly skewed towards minorities as they were before Colorado put this into place.  Look for the state to bring its full power down upon "your usual connection".

If anything, I agree wholeheartedly with Goldie Taylor that it will be far more race and class based.  The people who can afford pot at Colorado's licensed prices will buy.  Those who can't, well, things are going to get ugly.

Out And About In Washington DC

So, here's the question:  Is it okay to publicly out a Republican Congressman as gay when he does everything he can to be a hypocrite and anti-LGBT bigot, and sponsors and votes for legislation to that effect?

Apparently at least one CBS News journalist (in this case Itay Hod who is gay himself and is an anchor for CBS News's show on the LGBT-themed Logo network) thinks the answer is "oh hell yes, and about time too."

Early yesterday, Hod — who is also gay — posted a long note on Facebook wondering why no journalist has ever outed Schock, who he claims has been caught by a journalist in the shower with his male roommate by as well as in gay bars by TMZ. "Doesn't the media have an OBLIGATION to expose hypocrisy?" he asks:

here's a hypothetical: what if you know a certain GOP congressman, let's just say from Illinois, is gay... and you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower... together. now they could have been good friends just trying to conserve water. but there's more. what if this congressman has also been caught by tmz cameras trolling gay bars. now what if you know that this very same guy, the darling of the gop, has also voted against repeal of don't ask don't tell, opposed the repeal of doma, is against gay marriage; and for the federal marriage amendment, which would add language to the us constitution banning gay marriage and would likely strike down every gay rights law and ordinance in the country? 

Are we still not allowed to out him?

Hod goes on to defend outing the "certain GOP congressman" before posting a link to "The 7 gayest Aaron Schock Instagram posts of 2013" juuuuust to make sure we're all on the same page.

So is what Hod did the right thing to do?  I'm a straight ally, so do I even have a valid opinion either way in this fight?  Any opinions out there?

Privilege Is A Hell Of A Drug

Last night MSNBC All In host Chris Hayes talked about Colorado's legalization of marijuana and NY Times columnist David Brooks admitting that he smoked pot as a teenager, but I will give Hayes all the credit in the world for his story of checking out the Republican National Convention in Philly in 2000 and realizing he still had a bag of weed in his glasses case, heading towards a search checkpoint for convention security.



Hayes's on-air admission, in part:

"I've re-run that incident countless times since, and while I have no earthly idea why the cop not only didn't arrest me but decided to give me my weed back, the best case seems to be that he looked at me like I could have been some Senator's son, and that arresting me was going to possibly cause a whole bunch of headaches that he did not need on a night when he was mostly there to make sure no one was bringing weapons or explosives into that building. 

"And I can tell you as sure as I am sitting here before you that if I was a black kid with cornrows instead of a white kid with glasses, my ass would have been in the back of the squad car faster than you could say 'George W. Bush'."

Thank you, Chris Hayes, for personally admitting that truth about our society, drugs like marijuana, and who actually gets arrested for them.

More people need to admit that America is not colorblind, and never will be.  Not in my lifetime, at least.

The Big Bad Bluegrass Battleground

Increasingly, Kentucky is becoming a battleground state.  Not over electoral votes in 2016, but over President Obama's energy and environmental policies, as Mitch the Turtle is setting himself up as the "only person" who can stop the Friends Of Coal license plate state from becoming clean and green, but Kentucky's far from the only state where this battle will rage in 2014:

Republicans like Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) plan to go on the attack against President Obama’s  climate action plan, which they have dubbed a “war on coal.”

They’re backed by conservative groups like the American Energy Alliance, which is already airing campaign ads attacking Democrats such as Rep. Nick Rahall (W.Va.) for supporting a carbon tax. 

Green activists led by Tom Steyer plan to return fire.

The billionaire former hedge fund manager, who has poured his money into environmental causes, said Thursday that his New Year’s resolution is to make climate change a voter concern in 2014.

“This election year, more than ever, we must hold our leaders responsible for the role they play in the fight against climate change,” he wrote on NextGen Climate’s  website,  keystonetruth.com.

Energy and environmental issues are expected to take a front seat in dozens of races across the country, from coal country in West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, where Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) faces a tough reelection race just as she prepares to take up the chairmanship of the Senate Energy Committee.

Noise surrounding crude oil exports and offshore oil development from coastal states is already being made, and Landrieu may push policy that evens the playing ground for coastal states when it comes to collecting federal dollars tied to energy development.

In Alaska, Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) faces a difficult reelection battle in a major energy state. On Thursday, he distanced himself from Obama's climate agenda, pushing for more oil exploration.

Open-seat Senate races in South Dakota and Montana are also places where energy will be a major theme as the natural-gas boom becomes a prominent debate in 2014.

Here's the political reality in states like Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana and the Dakotas: you want to get elected as a Democrat?  Better get in line with Big Energy or you'll lose to a Republican who will.  So yes, Mark Begich, Mary Landrieu, and yes, Alison Lundergan Grimes are all going to have to play nice with the oil and coal boys or lose to Republicans.

The EPA can still do things at the federal level...for now.  Enough Republicans in the Senate however and that may go away too.  I hate it, I think climate change is a real problem, and that future generations are going to really, really loathe us over our failure to act.  The damage will be insane.

But the political reality of now is a factor, like it or not.

The Return Of Mayor McSleaze

Oh Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, never, ever change.

Never mind the admission to smoking crack cocaine, or the bizarre home video, or the unforgettable remark about the sexual fulfillment in his marriage.

Rob Ford wants you to evaluate him on his record and, if you do, he's pretty confident you'll conclude — like he did — that he's Toronto's finest mayor ever.

“I’ve got the strongest track record. I’ve been the best mayor that this city’s ever had. My record speaks for itself,” Ford said, as quoted by the Toronto Star.

Ford filed for re-election on Thursday, the first day for candidates to turn in paperwork for Toronto's Oct. 27 mayoral election.

He was the first candidate to file for the race.

I have to hand it to Canada: why muck about with all the American-style fake remorse, the false penitence play before the Good Lord, and the pretend Christian hand-wringing (after getting busted doing crack on video) when you can just directly go to the part where you balls it out and dare the bastards to try to come for your job?

Watch him get re-elected, too.

StupidiNews!

• The Northeast is bracing for a major winter storm that will dump snow from DC to Maine.
• Bill Nye "The Science Guy" will go head to head with Creation Museum founder Ken Ham in a debate at the museum in Kentucky in February.
• A suspected suicide bombing has killed 5 near Hezbollah's Beirut headquarters, prompting police to look for connections to Syria's civil war.
• Wal-Mart will DNA test its donkey meat sold in China after recalling contaminated product containing fox meat.
• The NSA is trying to build a quantum computer than can break encryption algorithms in record time.

Last Call For Rand Paul Meets Annie Hall

Remember this classic scene from Woody Allen's Annie Hall?





As Steve Benen points out, Rand Paul got the Marshall McLuhan treatment on his idiotic insistence that cutting federal unemployment benefits is a good idea.

This week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had a McLuhan Moment of his own. The Republican senator continues to argue that extending federal unemployment benefits to jobless Americans would be bad for those already struggling, and cited economist Rand Ghayad to bolster his claim. 

Ghayad didn’t literally say, “You know nothing of my work,” but he came awfully close.

Oh it gets worse.  Ghayad's response in part:

So why does [the senator] want to end unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for 6 months or longer? Well, Paul cites my work on long-term unemployment as a justification – which surprised me, because it implies **the opposite** of what he says it does. 

Now, we clearly have a long-term unemployment problem. The question is why. Paul says it’s all about incentives. He thinks extending unemployment benefits does a “disservice” to the unemployed by encouraging them to stay unemployed for too long. And as a “big-hearted” member of a party that cares about the jobless, he wants to protect them from making such mistakes – by cutting their benefits, of course. 

But Paul misreads my work to try to back up his argument.

Ouch.

"You know nothing of my work," indeed.

PS, here in Kentucky the unemployment rate is 8.2% for November 2013, significantly higher than the national average.  Perhaps Rand Paul might want to take his constituents into account and do his job rather than trying to lie his way into being a presidential "contender" in 2016 at our expense.

Rick Scott Fails The Test

Sorry Governon Batboy, you lose big time.

A federal judge in Orlando, Florida ruled Tuesday that the state’s law requiring drug tests from all applicants for public assistance is unconstitutional. According to the New York Times, Judge Mary S. Scriven found that the law — Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott (R)’s signature piece of legislation — violates the U.S. Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. 

“The court finds there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless, suspicionless drug testing at issue in this case could be constitutionally applied,” Scriven wrote. 

Note the key word there: "suspicionless".  Subjecting people to drug testing just because they are poor enough to need government help is criminalizing being poor.  Requiring a drug-free workplace is one thing, but requiring a drug free private home is unconstitutional, period.

The decision made permanent an earlier temporary hold she placed on the law, which was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed by Scott in 2011. Scott is refusing to back down, saying in a statement on Tuesday that the law was designed to ensure that children aren’t being raised in homes headed by drug users. 

“Any illegal drug use in a family is harmful and even abusive to a child,” read the statement. “We should have a zero tolerance policy for illegal drug use in families — especially those families who struggle to make ends meet and need welfare assistance to provide for their children. We will continue to fight for Florida children who deserve to live in drug-free homes by appealing this judge’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals.”

Only one problem with that:  the rate of drug use is higher among people who aren't on assistance.

Reuters reported in 2011 that — during the short time it was allowed to proceed before courts put a stop to it — the testing found a much lower rate of drug use among applicants for public assistance than in the population at large. Less than two percent of applicants tested positive for drugs. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that around eight percent of the general population ages 12 and older report using illicit drugs. The high cost of testing applicants and low rate of denial of benefits ultimately meant that Scott’s plan cost the state more to implement than it saved.

Less than two percent.  Gosh, it's almost like people on public assistance are too poor to afford illegal drugs or something, and are just working class people trying to survive, and not all junkie criminals or something, but actual human beings.

Not to Rick Scott and Floridia Republicans they aren't.  To him, they're potential customers to the chain of medical test providers he used to own and divested to his wife when he became Governor.

Funny how THAT works, huh.

Retire Your Way Of Thinking

The Associated Press takes a look at retirement for those of us not in the top 1%.

Many boomers expect to work the rest of their lives because they have little cash put away for their old age and they worry Social Security won't cover their bills. Some hope to move to jobs that are less physically demanding. 

The share of U.S. workers who are 55 and older is expected to continue growing, according to the "The Oxford Handbook of Retirement 2013." The group comprised 12.4 percent of the workforce in 1998. The share jumped to 18.1 percent in 2008 and is expected to be almost 25 percent by 2018. 

The book is edited by Mo Wang, co-director of the Human Resource Research Center at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business Administration. In an interview, Wang said it's a misconception that lower-wage workers are slackers in preparing for retirement.
"People don't have adequate earnings," Wang told The Associated Press. "It's not because they don't want to save. It's because they just can't." 

Many people don't save enough for their own retirement because they lack financial literacy skills, Wang said. Also, he said it can be incorrect to assume that people with lower incomes have more financial concerns than people with higher incomes. Psychologically, the important thing is the ratio of life earnings to wealth - how much money a person earns in a life span, compared to how much of it she gets to keep. 

"Whether they have the 401(k) is not the decisive factor in influencing how well they live," Wang said. "Whether they have their own house is a big factor."

The reality of most Boomers working until they die is here, now.  For my generation it'll be far worse.  Nobody my age, in their thirties or younger, believes we will ever see a dime of Social Security or Medicare, only that we'll be paying in payroll taxes on what we earn for 50+ years and get nothing in return. These are not "entitlements".  These are programs we will pay into all our adult lives that are being plundered by the wealthy.

The biggest single change we must make is to eliminate the cap on earnings taxed for Social Security.  If you earn more than $117,000 in 2014, you don't pay any Social Security taxes on income above that.  Not a single dime.

It's the definition of a regressive tax.  Our system would remain solvent for decades with this change.  But it won't happen for the same reason Social Security is a mess now:  Boomers vote, the rest of us don't give a damn.

That will only become more true as the years progress.

StupidiNews!

• Colorado is now the first state to regulate both the production and sale of marijuana for recreational use as the state's new drug use laws took effect on Wednesday.
• Japan's population shrank by nearly a quarter of a million in 2013 as the country's low birth rate remains below the level to maintain the current population numbers.
• The state of Utah is now appealing directly to the US Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a December federal court ruling overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
• The 2013 numbers for the richest 300 individuals on Earth are in, worth a collective $3.7 trillion, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates leads the pack at $78.5 billion.
• The next Android OS hardware platform could be your car as Google is reportedly teaming up with Audi to bring apps to your vehicle.

Last Call For Honey Badger Mode

Sen. Harry Reid isn't wasting any time, for as soon as the Senate reconvenes next week, extended jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed will be on the table and up for a Monday vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Associated Press in an interview that the Senate will vote Monday on a three-month extension of federal unemployment benefits.

Calling the House a “black hole of legislation,” he offered no prediction on whether the lower chamber would take up the extension as well.

“We’ll see what happens,” he told the AP on Monday.

Reid had previously said taking up the extension would be his first priority when the Senate returns in January. Monday is the first day the Senate is back in session in the new year.

President Obama and Democrats are pressuring Republicans to pass an extension of the jobless aid, which expired on Saturday for about 1.3 million people. 

The Senate is expected to take up a bill sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), which would temporarily extend the benefits without offsetting the cost.

“I hope we can get that done,” Reid said.

President Obama has endorsed the proposal, but Republicans in the House have insisted that any renewal of the extended jobless benefits be offset.

It's that last part that guarantees problems for the House GOP.  Voting against jobless benefits in an election year with a down economy isn't going to make you friends...so they'll simply never vote on the Senate proposal, and pass a extended jobless benefits bill that makes brutal cuts elsewhere, then blame Reid.

Or at least, that's the plan.  Lately that hasn't always worked out for the GOP.  We'll see if they overplay their hand again.

Meanwhile, millions lost their benefits over the weekend and are facing a very hard New Year this week because Republicans cut an extension out of the latest budget deal.  Every week that goes by, things are only going to get worse.

An Israel/Palestine Reality Czech

Meanwhile, in Prague, a real spy thriller is shaping up.

The Palestinian ambassador to Prague was killed in an explosion at his residence on Wednesday that Czech authorities believe was probably an accident. 

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said ambassador Jamal al-Jamal had been trying to open a safe that was recently moved to his new home and a Czech government source told Reuters that the explosion was probably caused by a security device on the unit. 

It was unclear what that was. Some safes can be fitted with mechanisms designed to destroy secret documents in the event of the lock being tampered with. The Czech source said the government did not believe it was a terrorist attack. 

Czech police said the ambassador died of his injuries in hospital after the explosion on the morning of New Year's Day in the two-storey suburban residence. No one else was injured, police said, although Jamal's family was at home at the time. 

No signs of damage to the house was visible from the street. 

"There has been a detonation of a so far unidentified explosive mixture," police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova said. "The ambassador was ... taken to hospital with serious injuries."

A safe with a serious failsafe just happens to go off killing the ambassador?  Something about that doesn't make sense.  Sure, it's a great way to destroy sensitive documents, but also a great way to, you know, kill an ambassador.

There's more to it than a mere fatal accident, especially when the Palestinians are involved.  Because wherever there's Palestinian ambassadors, there's Israel...and they play for keeps.  Not saying Israel had a hand in this, but they're probably not losing any sleep over this accident, either.

Not a wink.

Operation Sonia Says

Justice Sonia Sotomayor took a whack at the Obamacare pinata last night, granting a temporary stay from Affordable Care Act provisions for a group of nuns.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a temporary exemption late Tuesday to a small group of Catholic nuns that shields it from having to comply with a part of President Obama's healthcare law that requires it to provide contraceptive coverage in its insurance plans. 

She acted on an emergency appeal from lawyers for the group who said the nuns faced "draconian fines" beginning on New Year's Day if they failed to comply with the law widely known as Obamacare. 

Sotomayor gave the government until Friday to file a response in the case. Her order extends only to the group of nuns and does not apply more broadly to the Affordable Care Act and its requirements.

So it's a very narrow stay for a specific group, and so far it's the only stay granted, but whether or not it means she is showing her hand as the fifth vote in favor of November's Hobby Lobby case, I cannot tell you. We'll see, but I don't think it's a good thing for the law's mandate.

Zandar's 2014 Predictions

Well, we're getting back into the swing of things here at ZVTS, and that means another batch of wacky predictions for the year ahead.  Here we go:

1)  The Dems will keep the Senate, the GOP will keep the House in November.  Call me an optimist, or call me crazy, but the GOP is going to find a way to overplay their Obamacare hand, and I think it's going to come a lot sooner than anyone thinks with the debt ceiling negotiations and threats to completely shut down the Senate. America will soon be reminded why the congressional GOP's approval rating is in the low 20's.

2)  Google Glass will be delayed until 2015, or later.    Google Glass is supposed to be out in 2014, but with all the noise about privacy concerns in our super-connected world, I think Google is going to find releasing a product as invasive as Glass to be a real problem right now.  As such, I think they'll go back to the drawing board.

3)  Alison Lundergan Grimes would beat Mitch McConnell to be the next Senator from KY.  And she may be the only bright spot for the Dems in 2014.  People are badly underestimating just how much people here hate Mitch McConnell.  If the Clintons come in to back Alison, she'll win.  Should Matt Bevin beat Mitch in the primary however, things are going to be really interesting.

4)  And speaking of the Clintons, Hillary won't announce any run for 2016...at least not in 2014. She's too cagey and knows part of the reason she lost to Obama in 2008 was because of her attitutde of inevitability and the fact that familiarity bred more than a little contempt.  She'll keep a low profile until 2015, minimum.  Besides, look how far Chris Christie has gotten by not announcing his 2016 plans yet.

5)  Marvel will continue their movie hot streak in 2014 with Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  I predict all three movies will make $200 million domestically.

6)  The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on same-sex marriage later in 2014, but the decision won't come until 2015.  And it's going to be a hell of a decision, with the court having to face the legality of same-sex marriage in all 50 states.  I fully expect a Loving v.Virginia-level event.

7)  No impeachment measures in 2014, but 2015 will be a different story.  At some point, the GOP will have to play the impeachment card against President Obama, especially if #1 up there becomes true.  It's all they will have left.

8)  Obamacare will be around through 2014 and beyond.  Sorry Republicans, it's not getting repealed in 2014 or, well, ever.  Deal with it.

9)  The Sochi Winter Olympics will be a disaster.  The whole world will get a close up view of Putin's Russia in February for two weeks, and it's not going to be pretty.  It will make Atlanta 1996 look like the most competent games ever put on.

10)  ZVTS will make it to 2015.  I'm back from vacation starting tomorrow, and back in the ball game.  We'll be around for another year.

We'll check back in a year to see how I did.  Here's hoping all my readers have a happy and prosperous 2014, and as always, thanks for being here.

Zandar's 2013 Prediction Scorecard

With 2013 almost over, it's time to revisit my predictions for 2013 and get my picks for 2014 in order, and well...my score wasn't too good.  Not good at all:

1) The upcoming debt ceiling fight will cost America another credit notch from one of the big three agencies. 

Nope, this didn't happen. Thankfully. It may still happen in 2014, but I was pleasantly surprised here.

2) Bashar al-Assad won't be Syria's President by Dec 31, 2013. This also seems like a pretty safe bet, as the end of 2012 sees him barely holding on as leader.

Not only is he sill in charge of Syria, but with Russia's tacit and in some cases overt support, Assad and the Syrian civil war will last for years.

3) President Obama will have to make a recess appointment for a Cabinet position. That's unprecedented as far as I know. But that's really the next step in Total Republican Opposition, isn't it?

Wrong again, but only because Harry Reid finally changed the rules on presidential appointments in the Senate.  And thank God he did that.

4) Chris Christie will be re-elected as Governor of New Jersey with Cory Booker holding out for Senate...but don't be surprised if Christie doesn't finish his term.

Nailed this one.

5) As more Obamacare benefits kick in, it will gain majority approval by Americans. I honestly believe this will get better as more benefits come due.

The jury's still out on this one. Some argue that the program will never have a majority approval, some argue it will, but it will take years, and some predict it will be repealed completely by scared Democrats in 2014 or 2016. But as far as 2013 went, no, the program doesn't have majority approval. Yet.

6) Republicans will muster enough votes to split the electoral vote by Congressional district in at least one state that went for Obama in 2012. Ohio would be the biggest prize.

I thought this would happen, then Republicans realized how hard this would be, and that it would bite them in the ass later on.

7) The Leap Motion controller turns into one of the big tech successes of 2013. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, enough to put my money on one.

Nope.  The Leap Motion faded into one of yet another also-rans of 2013, but it was overshadowed by much larger tech failures:  Blackberry's near-death disintegration, Target's massive credit care breach, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch phone, and yes, the first month of healthcare.gov.

8) Kim Kardashian's baby with Kanye West will be the story we're all sick of by the end of the year. I'm already sick of it.

Maybe.  Lord knows I'm still sick of hearing about North West, but it was Kanye's videos that really made me want to pull my hair out.

9) Lincoln takes home the most Oscars. Tall order, I know. But I just see this being the big Oscar flick in 2013's awards.

Nope.  Lincoln lost to Life of Pi and Argo for most Oscars.

10) ZVTS makes it to the end of another year. I still plan to be around, and Bon is concentrating on her writing these days, but you'll see more of us. Still plenty of Stupid to fight.

Yeah, still here, technically.

So, final score, 2 yes, 2 maybe, 6 wrong.  I'll have my 2014 predictions up tomorrow.