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Michael Flynn to Plead the Fifth, Supreme Court Takes Patent Trolls to the Woodshed, Bitcoin on the Rise Again: P.M. Links

Scott Shackford | 5.22.2017 4:30 PM

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  • Mike Flynn
    Douliery Olivier/Sipa USA USA/Newscom

    Sources say former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will invoke the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena to testify over his communications with Russian officials.

  • An 8-0 Supreme Court ruling today severely limits where patent lawsuits may be filed, which will likely reduce the ability of "patent trolls" to shop around for friendly courts to try to shake down businesses and tech firms.
  • The Supreme Court also ruled, 5-3, that Republicans in North Carolina improperly used race when drawing congressional boundaries in order to diminish the power of black voters.
  • People (and babies) have died (sometimes gruesomely) in the jails overseen by Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, but by all means let's argue instead over whether he properly attributed quotes in his master's thesis and whether the journalist who pointed this out completed college.
  • The fatal stabbing of a black student on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park on Saturday is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The suspect in the stabbing allegedly belongs to a Facebook group called "Alt-Reich: Nation."
  • Turkey is, probably unsurprisingly, trying to blame the United States and accuse officials of "aggressive and unprofessional actions" for the brawl last week where they were caught on video physically attacking pro-Kurdish protesters.
  • Ford Motor Company is replacing its chief executive officer. Stock prices for Ford have dropped 30 percent over the past three years, even though the market for auto purchases has been on the upswing.
  • Bitcoin prices are soaring, as they often do during periods of government uncertainty. There was also that ransomware thing, too.

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NEXT: HHS Secretary Tom Price Touts Faith-Based Rehab Over Evidence-Based Addiction Treatment. These 600 Experts Disagree.

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Sources say former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will invoke the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination in response to a subpoena to testify over his communications with Russian officials.

    JUST LIKE LOIS LERNER.

    1. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      Hello.

      OMG OMG OMFG! HE'S PLEADING THE 5TH THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED OMG WHY AREN'T POLITICIANS DOING THEIR FUCKEN JOBS AND STOPPING THIS CRAZY BAT INSANE CRAZINESS?!?!?!? IMPEACH SOMEONE. IMPEACH SOMETHING. IMPEACH THE WHOLE FUCKEN GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKEN HOUSE!

      1. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

        [slowly pries bottle of Forty Creek from Rufus' clenched hand, tucks him in]

        1. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

          I'm drinking Monkey Shoulder.

          But whatevs.

          1. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

            You finally exhibit some good taste.

    2. Adam330   8 years ago

      Actually, not like her at all. Contrary to Reason's summary, the subpoena was to turn over documents, not to testify. And, with pretty limited exceptions, a person cannot rely on the fifth to avoid turning over documents.

      1. NotAnotherSkippy   8 years ago

        Too bad all of his harddrives crashed.

        1. Adam330   8 years ago

          afaik, she never got a subpoena for a computer. Any of those would have been directed to the IRS. She refused to testify in response to subpoena. That's what led to the contempt vote.

    3. TrickyVic (old school)   8 years ago

      Yeah, but Lerner was on their team so it was ok.

    4. ThomasD   8 years ago

      Yep. It is exactly the same Kabuki. They won't give him immunity because, just like with Lerner, if they actually got to the bottom of anything then Congress might have to actually do some work and try to fix the systems that allow for abuses.

      So much easier to rattle the partisan cges in order to fill the tin cups.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    The Supreme Court also ruled, 5-3, that Republicans in North Carolina improperly used race when drawing congressional boundaries ...

    The GOP isn't allowed to do that.

    1. Rhywun   8 years ago

      Only Democrats are.

      1. Juice   8 years ago

        Because they do it properly.

  3. Aloysious   8 years ago

    Shlakcefrod links...*pours glass of Old Skullfucker*

    1. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

      Old Skullfucker was the name my worshippers gave me before I incarnated after I arrived in the solar system on a beam of light.

  4. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    ...but by all means let's argue instead over whether he properly attributed quotes in his master's thesis and whether the journalist who pointed this out completed college.

    Those quotes didn't do anything to get themselves locked up in his thesis.

  5. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

    Nassim 'Black Swan' Taleb says the future will be 'a libertarian's dream'

    "You cannot have incompetence, serial incompetence, for such a long time without some kind of pushback," Taleb said.

    Taleb is aware of the libertarian moment.

    1. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

      And the libertarian movement is aware of the black swan. The movie, not the book.

    2. Fuck You - Cut Spending   8 years ago

      In a libertarian's dream, teachers having consensual sex with students would not be a crime.

    3. Just the Tip   8 years ago

      I was already impressed with this guy after reading "Black Swan". He just moved further up the list of most interesting man in the world.

  6. Aloysious   8 years ago

    I want to hear more from Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke on swamp people. What tomfoolery are they up to now?

  7. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    The suspect in the stabbing allegedly belongs to a Facebook group called "Alt-Reich: Nation."

    That should be Alt-Recht, Idioten.

    1. Jerry on the sea   8 years ago

      Alt-Richtig.

      1. Rhywun   8 years ago

        Gesundheit!

    2. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

      [ ] NOT REKT [x] ALT-REKT

    3. Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon   8 years ago

      What was the worser crime...
      The murder or the hate?

  8. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

    Police: Florida chemistry teacher had sex with student

    Florida police say a 35-year-old high school teacher was unaware they were listening in when she confirmed that she had a sexual relationship with a student.

    The boy said in late April or early May he twice met Geliga off-campus, where they had sex in her car.

    Detectives say they listened in while the student called Geliga on the phone and had a conversation with her in which she allegedly confirmed that they had sexual relations.

    FELONY ARREST

    1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

      They had chemistry.

    2. Rhywun   8 years ago

      I'm not certain, but this seems like a thing.

    3. mad.casual   8 years ago

      Geliga

      I was awesome at Geliga when I was in HS. I would play for hours until I ran out of quarters.

      1. Juice   8 years ago

        Must not have been that awesome if you played for hours and had to use more than one quarter.

  9. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Turkey is, probably unsurprisingly, trying to blame the United States and accuse officials of "aggressive and unprofessional actions" for the brawl last week where they were caught on video physically attacking pro-Kurdish protesters.

    Someone bring up that "diplomatic immunity" clip from Lethal Weapon Part Whatever.

    1. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

      Part whatever? WTF?

      1. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

        "B-b-but, Sir, you are black."

      2. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

        Like I can keep track. Mel is an anti-Semite, you know.

        1. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

          Mel is an anti-Semite,

          Only when he drinks.

          1 has Mr. Johsua and Enzo, 2 has Joe Pesci and diplomatic immunity, 3 has Rene Russo's high-waisted jeans and vests, and 4 has Chris Rock and Jet Li.

          1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

            In vino veritas, sugar tits.

    2. Unlabelable MJGreen   8 years ago

      This is getting me hot. I haven't really bothered mocking Trump supporters when he fails them, but if he simply rolls over when Turkish thugs assault American citizens in the nation's capital, I'm gonna have to go to Staten Island and find some voters to laugh at.

  10. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    ...which will likely reduce the ability of "patent trolls" to shop around for friendly courts to try to shake down businesses and tech firms.

    Another industry stifled by regulation.

  11. Aloysious   8 years ago

    The fatal stabbing of a black student on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park...

    Stepping into Rico Suave's territory. The Hair will be by to 'talk' to you. Soon.

  12. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

    Lawrence County teacher arrested on sex charges with a student

    Lawrence County Sheriff's Investigators have charged a Moulton Middle School teacher with the offense of School Employee Engaging in a Sex Act or Deviant Sexual Intercourse with a Student Under the Age of 19, which is a Class B felony.

    Ah, the ol' SEEIASAODSIWASUTAO19.

    1. Fuck You - Cut Spending   8 years ago

      It's only news when Catholic priests do it.

    2. Chipper Morning, Now #1   8 years ago

      There is a place for her at Crusty's School for Tots.

      1. Aloysious   8 years ago

        Tater Tots?

    3. perlchpr   8 years ago

      Would.

  13. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

    Despite its 14.6 percent share of the U.S. car and truck market in 2016, Ford's market value of $44 billion has been surpassed by electric-car upstart Tesla at $50 billion.

    That $50b of valuation with Tesla is largely based on overhyped speculation. Take a look at the PE ratios of Ford vs Tesla.

    Typical Silicon Valley hubris.

    1. Fuck You - Cut Spending   8 years ago

      Are you suggesting CalPERS, CalSTRS, et al are not doing their fiduciary duty?

    2. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

      Negative PE Ratio = Negative
      After looking at 30 of the biggest bankruptcies, I found that the most common and measurable characteristic was negative earnings. All things considered, a company with negative earnings is a ticking time bomb. It will either violently recover, or violently not.

      A prudent investor like yourself should not subject yourself to that kind of drama. Leave the drama for things not related to your hard earned savings.

      A negative PE ratio should be avoided at all costs.

      Tesla's PE ratio for 2016 was Negative Sixty. The example above talks about the horrors of negative seventeen.

      1. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting   8 years ago

        As long as Musk can continue to convince the government to provide generous subsidies for his operation, while tech-dorks and green-tards continue to drink his flavor-aid, Tesla will continue to suck in investors because those people care more about the stock price and their returns on that stock price than whether Tesla actually shows a profit.

        Hell, look how long Amazon's operated mostly at a loss, yet is arguably stronger than ever and is rapidly destroying its brick-and-mortar competition--it's mainly because they've kept afloat with stock prices that have never matched their actual operating costs. I doubt even the reports coming out about Tesla's increasingly bad reliability will stop the train from running, short of a complete economic collapse.

        1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

          I place Amazon in a different category than Tesla. Tesla is a company trying to be many things where it is actually only one: It sells cars.

          There's nothing wrong with that, but Musk wants to be the CEO of Juicero as much as he wants to just sell cars.

          Amazon is an online retailer. Amazon could cut back on some of its wilder aspirations and probably be profitable tomorrow. They're an established business, and their model is solid.

          Example: I don't know anyone who bought a Tesla car, but everyone I know has ordered stuff from Amazon. I'm not suggesting people base their investment on that little personal fact-nugget, but it does speak to the ubiquity of Amazon services vs. Tesla's product footprint.

    3. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      P/E multiples.

      Pay attention to it.

      Or else.

    4. ATXChappy   8 years ago

      You know it's over valued when Musk himself says so.

      "I do believe this market cap is higher than we have any right to deserve," Musk says.

      1. Juice   8 years ago

        Holy shit. A CEO said that? I mean, thinking it is one thing. Obliquely alluding to it is another. Coming out and stating it just like that...damn. Any other CEO would have had his ass handed to him for that.

        1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

          I have mixed feelings about that. A CEO saying his stock is slightly overvalued might let some air out of the bubble, potentially softening a downturn. Especially when it's abundantly clear that Tesla is in a bubble that would make most bubbles blush.

          There's no way a company that sells a few ten thousand vehicles annually is worth more than a company that sells a few hundred thousand a month.

        2. ATXChappy   8 years ago

          Yea, he said it in an on-the-record interview no less.

  14. Mickey Rat   8 years ago

    So what the North Carolina legislature did was clearly illegal, but it is also required to deliberately draw up majority-minority districts to ensure minorities get elected to Congress.

    Exactly at what point is taking race into account following the Civil Rights Act, and at what point is it violating Civil Rights? Because concentratiing Democrat voters into.a few districts has always been an effect of cresting race conscious majority-minority districts.

    1. Rhywun   8 years ago

      Critics accused Republicans of cramming black voters into what the NAACP civil rights group called "apartheid voting districts" to diminish their voting power and make surrounding districts more white and more likely to support Republicans.

      You got me. I remember when the above was demanded, but now it's totally hitler.

      1. Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting   8 years ago

        Argument #1: "Minorities should be classed together so their representative voice isn't diluted! Minority representation for minority areas!"

        Argument #2: "Creating minority-dominant districts? Das' rayciss."

        Both are employed out of convenience, occasionally at the same time, depending on who's political goose is getting cooked. So goes the prog tactic of continually shifting the goalposts.

        1. Juice   8 years ago

          Well, people with the same skin color all have the same opinions and voting preferences. This is well known.

  15. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

    People (and babies) have died (sometimes gruesomely) in the jails overseen by Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, but by all means let's argue instead over whether he properly attributed quotes in his master's thesis and whether the journalist who pointed this out completed college.

    It is disgusting.

  16. Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"   8 years ago

    The suspect in the stabbing allegedly belongs to a Facebook group called "Alt-Reich: Nation."

    Solution: ban Facebook.

    BOOM!

  17. Unlabelable MJGreen   8 years ago

    Gillespie's been on a bit of a Twitrole today:

    "Like freedom, "conceptual penis" is just another word for nothing left to lose."

    "The only political alignment map that matters. HT @robbysoave"

  18. UVaGrad   8 years ago

    An 8-0 Supreme Court ruling today severely limits where patent lawsuits may be filed, which will likely reduce the ability of "patent trolls" to shop around for friendly courts to try to shake down businesses and tech firms.

    The effect will be to massively increase the number of patent lawsuits filed in Delaware, which already has a reputation as a plaintiff-friendly court in patent litigation.

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