Fake Stats About School Shootings, Student Arrested for Saying AR-15, Playboy Model on How Trump Hid Affair: A.M. Links

• 

  LANE HICKENBOTTOM/Reuters/Newscom

  No, there haven't been 18 school shootings so far in 2018.

• A federal judge dismissed a copyright violation claim brought by Playboy Entertainment Group against Boing Boing over the blog's linking to a collection of Playboy centerfold photos that had been posted to Imgur.
• Meanwhile, another federal judge says that embedding tweets without the poster's permission is could be a violation of copyright law. [Correction: The judge has merely denied summary judgement to the media outlets being sued, not issued a final decision in the case.]
• A high school student was arrested and charged with making threats after someone overheard him arguing that it would be possible for him to buy an AR-15.
• In The New Yorker, former Playboy model Karen McDougal details an alleged 2006 affair with Donald Trump and how he hid the trail.
• Happy 60th, Ice T!

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

No, there haven't been 18 school shootings so far in 2018.

Don't you go all fake news on us, too.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Ice-T the drink is only 60 years-old?

Who knew?!

[Fist of Etiquette]

A federal judge dismissed a copyright violation claim brought by Playboy Entertainment Group against Boing Boing over the blog's linking to a collection of Playboy centerfold photos that had been posted to Imgur.

The judge's ruling was, "Playboy's still a thing, huh?"

[John C. Randolph]

Playboy is a tragic example of a business ruined by incompetent management. Hef's daughter just didn't have what it takes to keep them afloat.

-jcr

[Rhywun]

They float?!

[Griffin3]

Unlike the plastic ones.

[John]

I think it is an example of a business model becoming obsolete. Print magazines, in general, are dying. But print magazines that sell soft-core porn are doomed.

[Deflator Mouse]

Because people are idiots and don't prepare for power outages.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Your generator is powered by a wood stove?

[I am the 0.000000013%]

I've got an elbow generator that says you are wrong...

[What's that smell?]

you mean what Hef used...Viagra?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and how he hid the trail.

So to speak.

[Tom Bombadil]

The snail trail. Am'rite?

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

What? Are you implying he dragged her around?

[Fist of Etiquette]

A high-school student was arrested and charged with making threats after someone overheard him arguing that it would be possible for him to buy an AR-15.

If we had the attention span, this would be the new normal.

[Libertarian]

So I can get someone arrested just by saying certain things to a cop? Good to know.

[KerryW]

And Everytown for Gun Safety called it a school shooting...

[Citizen X - #6]

Well, is he wrong? It probably would be possible for him to buy an AR-15. It doesn't actually mean anything, though, unless the next part of the sentence was "and use it to shoot a bunch of people."

[Tom Bombadil]

It's also a direct quote from every gun control advocate crying about how easy it is to buy guns.

[Deflator Mouse]

It's illegal for him to do so in CT.

[Ken Shultz]

"Meanwhile, another federal judge says that embedding tweets without the poster's permission is a violation of copyright law."

Oh noes!

Now all those "journalists" might have to start doing actual journalism again.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meanwhile, another federal judge says that embedding tweets without the poster's permission is a violation of copyright law.

Yeah, that's not going to stand. There can't be that many Touchdown Tom fans on America's benches.

[Conchfritters]

Happy 60th, Ice T!

There goes the neighborhood.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Happy 60th, Ice T!

Here's to 60 more years of Detective Tutuola's righteous indignation on the Special Victims Unit.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Righteous indignation who couldn't raise a family right. Think I didn't notice that L&O?!

[Aloysious]

Happy Birthday, Ice T

[What's that smell?]

Such is America today;
Ice T makes fame for rapping about crime and killing cops, then make a fortune playing a cop on TV.
Howard Stern makes fame being a sleazy shock jock whose only talent was asking bimbos if the do anal and were raped by their step-dad. Now he's a judge on a talent show.
Ozzy Osbourne's wife who watched all manner of debauchery from backstage now sits on a talk show and is the arbitrator of acceptable behavior in the modern world.
We are so screwed.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

I don't see anything wrong with any of that.

[I am the 0.000000013%]

You don't see anything wrong with being screwed? Me neither...

[Citizen X - #6]

Meanwhile, another federal judge says that embedding tweets without the poster's permission is a violation of copyright law.

Reason editors hardest hit.

[loveconstitution1789]

Happy 60th, Ice T!

Are we going to be standing the whole time cause Ice T forgot his orthopedics?

[John]

This is getting a lot less attention that it should. They appointed a new judge to preside over the Flynn case after his plea. That is very unusual. What is even more unusual is this,

On Dec. 12, after just a few days on the Flynn case, Sullivan, acting on his own, ordered the office of special counsel Robert Mueller "to produce to [Flynn] in a timely manner ? including during plea negotiations ? any evidence in its possession that is favorable to defendant and material either to defendant's guilt or punishment."

Sullivan also ordered Mueller "to produce all discoverable evidence in a readily usable form." And he declared that "if the government has identified any information which is favorable to the defendant but which the government believes not to be material, the government shall submit such information to the Court for in camera review." In other words, Sullivan declared that he, not Mueller, would be the judge of what evidence should be produced.

http://www.washingtonexaminer......=hootsuite

[John]

The government has an obligation to produce all the material favorable evidence to a defendant before a defendant pleads guilty. Otherwise, the plea is not considered voluntary and can be re-opened and voided. It is very odd for a judge to demand discovery after a plea.

Understand also that there are two ways to vacate a plea. First, if the government fails to turn over material and favorable evidence. Second, if the judge later decides that he is not convinced of the defendant's guilt such that the plea violates the standards of due process. When a defendant pleads guilty he has to convince the judge he really is guilty or the judge cannot accept the plea. You can't plead guilty to something you are innocent of or if the judge isn't convinced of your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The fact that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn didn't think he lied is exculpatory evidence covered under Brady. That fact should have been turned over to Flynn before he pled guilty. Just as importantly, that fact should have been made known to the judge who accepted the plea so that the judge could validly concluded Flynn was guilty. Was it? I don't know. The fact that the judge is basically cleaning the government's clock over a completed plea makes me think it wasn't.

[Deflator Mouse]

When a defendant pleads guilty he has to convince the judge he really is guilty or the judge cannot accept the plea. You can't plead guilty to something you are innocent of or if the judge isn't convinced of your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Um, what? That happens in traffic court all the time. You get a ticket for speeding and agree to plea guilty for disobeying a traffic device because the penalties are lower, despite nobody claiming there was a stop sign or stop light anywhere.

[John]

And that is technically wrong. But, it is traffic court and there are no appeals. So there is no mechanism to enforce the rule there.

[Ken Shultz]

Either the judge was unusually concerned about Flynn being railroaded for no reason whatsoever, or he was concerned about Flynn being railroaded for good reason.

One can't help but wonder if there was a good reason, and it had to do with why a new judge was appointed to the case.

Is Captain Not So Obvious seeing what you're seeing there, John?

[John]

My best friend is a felony court judge in Texas. The day all of the stuff about the FBI agents texting started to come out we both wondered if it would not create a problem for the Flynn plea. The texts were interesting but arguably just impeachment evidence which the government, appallingly enough, doesn't actually have to turn over before a plea. But the Comey statement about the FBI agents who took Flynn's statement not believing that he lied or that he was intentionally trying to be deceptive is Brady evidence. That is exculpatory. If Flynn didn't know about that fact when he pled, his plea is not voluntary. Even if Flynn did know, it is still possible that a judge could reasonably conclude Flynn wasn't guilty no matter what he said. It all depends on the context. My guess is that is what Sullivan is trying to figure out. Why did those agents think Flynn was innocent and is there other evidence that makes his plea invalid.

[Domestic Dissident]

Further complicating all these ongoing cases, a highly placed man within the FBI who knows everything (and I do mean everything) is singing like a songbird as we speak to the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

The stuff that's coming down the pike in the months ahead is going to be even more explosive than what we've learned already.

[John]

Who knows what that guy has found. One of the things that strikes me about the FBI texts is how casual they were about abusing the system to spy on people. I don't think this was the first time they did it. They had done this before. And it is going to be very interesting if and when the full truth ever comes out to see just who else they did this to.

[Domestic Dissident]

Not only is Judge Sullivan the very same judge who overturned (now deceased) senator Ted Stevens' conviction because the corrupt prosecutors knowingly tried to withhold exculpatory evidence, but one of those very same corrupt prosecutors, a guy named Andrew Weissman, is amazingly one of the top guys on Mueller's team.

So it looks like there's a pretty good chance that history is going to repeat itself here. Because judge Sullivan is as much of an honest straight shooter as Weissman and judge Contreras are corrupt, dishonest bums.

[loveconstitution1789]

I don't thinks it intentional "n"th D Chess to have Flynn plead guilty to allow discovery of all the stuff the deep state is hiding but it sure is working to flip the script on Hillary's plan to discredit Trump.

[John]

I think it is a product of Mueller being desperate to produce something. Remember, Flynn was suddenly given this great offer to plead guilty to what amounts to a minor charge in return for the feds not bankrupting him and going after his kids the Wednesday before the Friday before FBI agent texts hit the media.

The tell is that they had Flynn actually plead guilty but also plead guilty to lying. You don't have witnesses actually plead until they are done testifying. You just give them a deal and then hold the threat of prosecuting them over their heads until they are done testifying. You also don't offer witnesses plea deals that involve them pleading guilty to lying. You want them to plead to other crimes so that when they do testify the defense can't impeach them by saying "you are a convicted liar correct?"

So there is no way they had Flynn plead because he was going to flip and provide all of this great evidence. They had Flynn plead because they had to get someone to plead and this was all they had.

[Ken Shultz]

Genius provision of the tax reform bill #379:

"At least 30 states provide their own tax breaks to people who put money into 529 savings plans, which allow families to save money for education tax-free and whose scope is defined by the federal government.

In December, as part of a broad tax overhaul, Congress expanded the accounts to cover up to $10,000 a year in expenses for kindergarten through 12th grade.

State budget officials are now concerned that a large number of parents will use 529 accounts to pay private-school tuition, giving them a new write-off for their state taxes.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/states- worry-you-may-claim- 529-tax-exemption- for-k-12-school-tuition -1518780605

People who send their kids to private schools have been getting ripped of to pay both for their own kids' private tuition and taxes for other kids to attend public schools for far too long.

This isn't just a provision that encourages the privatization of the school system at the expense of bureaucrats and teachers' unions; it's removing a tool the government uses to actively discourage sending your kids to private schools.

To make up for any lost revenue, I suggest the states cut spending.

[Rhywun]

Huh. Amazed that that hasn't received any attention.

[Conchfritters]

Cut spending? Sadly you will see those States remove the deductibility of the 529 contributions.

[Ken Shultz]

And make it harder for parents to save money for their children' college?

Aspiring female STEM majors would be hardest hit!

[loveconstitution1789]

Imagine what its like for adults who are kid free who pay 50%+ of their property taxes to schools.

The 15% in jail bonds because every city/county in Georgia has to have a new city hall and jail.

Fucking lefties are moving here like crazy and joining forces with all the old Democrats to spend us into oblivion.

[Rhywun]

adults who are kid free who pay 50%+ of their property taxes to schools

Drivers subsidize my commute so it's probably a wash. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours - it's the American way.

[loveconstitution1789]

Except that roads are described in the Constitution not education.

I would not complain as much about education taxes if (1) they weren't so high and (2) they resulted in American kids being taught rather than indoctrinated so they turn out smarter.

Road taxes are out of control too for what taxpayers get to drive on.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Welcome to Canada. I hate that I have to pay for public education once I decide to go private.

Fairness my ass.

[loveconstitution1789]

I guess the media is moving away from the actual story that seems to reveal some more bullshit corruption from Obama and Comey.

NR article on Steele dossier

Federalist article on Steele dossier

[John]

It is also because the media was in on the corruption. The media acted as mouthpieces for the people involved and assisted them in abusing federal law enforcement power to spy on the people around Trump. Needless to say, that is not something the media really wants to talk about.

[Palin's Buttplug]

BENGHAZI!! BLOOP!! ARRGHHHH! IRS!!!!! FBI!!!!! DERP!!! DEEP STATE!!!!

[John]

Looks like someone forgot to take their meds again.

[loveconstitution1789]

We'll get to Benghazi soon enough there Butt.

[CatoTheChipper]

Actually, the media wasn't been entirely bad regarding the Steele dossier. Steele was circulating his "dossier" among among mainstream journalists just before the election.

Mainstream journalists did not think the dossier's claims were credible enough to print, unless you consider Mother Jones to be mainstream. But the geniuses at the FBI thought they were credible enough to get a FISA warrant.

[John]

And the FISA court agreed, which is something that the judge involved should have to explain.

[CatoTheChipper]

FISA judges have seven year appointments. Guess who selected them?

But this is the Reason.com website. Nobody cares. This scandal exculpates Trump and validates many of the tweets he has made. Trump is bad, m'kay? You shouldn't support Trump. If you do, you're bad. Trump is bad, m'kay?

[CatoTheChipper]

Hint: it's the guy who invented the penaltax.

[CatoTheChipper]

"Steele's lawyers state that the former spook briefed several reporters at the end of September at the instruction of Fusion GPS, which was working on behalf of a Democratic ally of Hillary Clinton's. The outlets were The New York Times, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, The New Yorker and CNN. Steele met once more ? and again at Fusion GPS's instruction ? with The Times, The Post, and Yahoo! News."

-- quoted from Daily Caller

[Deflator Mouse]

CNN had been reporting that there was a shocking dossier alleging collusion with the Kremlin and serious dirt that the Russians had on Trump, but didn't actually print any of the dossier text. These were very damaging "facts" that aligned completely with the Dem narrative.

But then once Buzzfeed actually published the dossier, it was seen as obvious garbage. Printing the dossier was actually beneficial to Turmp.

[Domestic Dissident]

Even the more stupid members of the JournoList are finally starting to figure out now that they put their faith in the wrong people and that they're royally fucked.

[CatoTheChipper]

This is the Reason website. Nobody cares. Sure, it's a scandal but it seems to exculpate Trump, which is completely different from earlier scandals that implicated Obama. Reason was interested in the latter, but anything that makes Trump look good is off limits at Reason.

Trump is bad, m'kay?

[John]

Ken White is on Twitter smugly laughing at the possibility of Mike Flynn being an innocent man who pled guilty to a crime he didn't commit. He was associated with Trump, so he must be guilty of something I guess.

[JoeBlow123]

Mike Flynn was lying and withholding information on his clearance forms, something that is potentially a crime but one that, sadly, no one important is ever hit with. It seems to be par for the course.

Perhaps he was not some Russian stooge, but Flynn is still a corrupt piece of trash. Screw him.

[John]

http://news.grabien.com/story-.....ntally-ill

Jimmy Kimmel continues the greatest long con since Andie Kaurman's days as a coed professional wrestler. Kimmel is a funnier parody of the SJW celebrity than Colbert ever was of the conservative pundit. That is not to say that Colbert wasn't funny. He often was. It is just Kimmel has hit a higher level of parody. Anyone can be the angry SJW. Kimmel adds the element of tears and mawkishness that takes it over the top. "You are mentally ill, man!" That is comedy gold.

[Conchfritters]

I miss the Colbert Report. I've watched maybe two episodes of his current show.

[John]

Colbert had a character that worked. Colbert as Colbert is just another angry douchebag.

[Rhywun]

Yup, that show was pretty good. It was before late-nite TV went into a tailspin.

[Deflator Mouse]

Colbert Report got pretty tiresome with Obama in office.

[Rhywun]

Good lord. Who in the hell wants to watch that show?

[John]

Even if you agree with him, why would you want to watch it? It has become Glenn Beck of the left. Batshit crazy, incoherent and always crying about something. For God's sake get a grip.

[Rhywun]

These people seem to have forgotten the purpose of "entertainment".

[John]

The reason given is that no one watches late night anymore. So, you will never get a broad audience. They go as far left as possible figuring an audience of Tony and Shreek while not large is at least an audience. Even at that, you would think even the most brain-dead believers would find this shit boring.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Florida shooter a MAGA hat wearing Trumptard.

https://goo.gl/3eENhi

[loveconstitution1789]

I guess Butt won't wait to find out why this 19 year old killed and wounded innocent kids. It knows why.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I don't know WHY he did it.

But he IS pictured and videoed wearing a MAGA hat.

[loveconstitution1789]

Those voices tell you what other people think too. Dang. I had no idea you were that much of a lunatic.

Remember James Hodgkinson, the lefty Bernie supporter who shot at Congressmen playing a charity softball game? I don't remember him wearing a hat though.

[Rebel Scum]

I don't remember him wearing a hat though.

But he had an explicit political motive.

[Rebel Scum]

But he IS pictured and videoed wearing a MAGA hat.

Which is irrelevant in the context of a motive, which apparently (last I heard, there could be new info) was that he heard voices in his head telling him to plan/commit the act. And there was no apparent targeting of any particular individual or group of individuals. IOW he indiscriminately killed. Get over your tds.

[Domestic Dissident]

If he were truly a genius he would have lived like a ghost, like that Nevada Block Yomommatard Stephen Paddock did.

[Deflator Mouse]

And the guy who shot the Republican congressmen in Virginia was a Bernie bro. So?

[LynchPin1477]

Donald Trump seems like a gross human being, physically. Why do reasonably attractive women sleep with him? Is he really giving them that much money?

[loveconstitution1789]

Yuge dick and clearly you're jealous.

[Palin's Buttplug]

When you're even more repulsive than Harvey Weinstein you either have to buy it or grab it.

[loveconstitution1789]

Hey Butt, my wife read what you wrote and is giving me a blow job as we laugh and laugh at your ridiculous comment.

[Citizen X - #6]

The implications of this comment are astounding, and frankly, entirely unbelievable. Your wife is turned on by shreek?

[Red Tony]

It's called a blow-up doll, X. Get with the times!

[Citizen X - #6]

That wouldn't surprise me, but then we're left with the notion that lc1789 is turned on by shreek, which is [vomits uncontrollably]

[John]

I would say more than reasonably attractive women sleep with him. Melina Trump is unbelievably hot. I think it is more than just money. It is power and fame. Women love that. And it is confidence. A rich, powerful, confident guy is always going to attract gorgeous women and not just because they want cash. It is just how women are wired. There are too many examples of physically repulsive men who fit that description getting more pussy than Frank Sinatra to list within the Reason character limit.

[Domestic Dissident]

You have to laugh at just how sad Bill Clinton is. The dude was a governor and then the POTUS, and the best he could do was Hildog and Monica Lewinsky. It's kind of pathetic.

[John]

He did better than that. He is supposed to have had an affair with Elizabeth Ward Gracen who was a Miss USA. But overall, you are right. The guy is just a hound who would fuck anything. Even the women that turned him down were nothing to write home about. I don't think anyone ever offered Paula Jones and Juanita Broaderick any modeling contracts. Clinton's idol was John F. Kennedy. Kennedy married Jackie Bouvier and banged Marylyn Moroe. Clinton married Hillary Rodham and banged Monica Lewinsky. Talk about not living up to the standard of your idols.

[Citizen X - #6]

Clinton is the type of psychopath for whom it isn't about attraction - it's about having the power, to seduce, or - in Broadrick's case at least - coerce.

[John]

Yes. I think Clinton likely is a sex addict who had sex out of compulsion and a desire to degrade and feel powerful over women. But he is pro abortion making him a "feminist hero".

[Tony]

Yeah you morons don't get to sit in judgment of Bill Clinton's sexcapades anymore. There's a cost to supporting Trump.

[Longtobefree]

The Gracen thing was a one night stand, not an affair. As in no emotional attachments.

[Deflator Mouse]

Those are just the ones we know about.

[Deflator Mouse]

Stormy Daniels was way beyond the prime of her career when the alleged affair happened. So was Jessica Drake when he supposedly propositioned her. And of course a "retired" porn actress has banged hundreds of guys on camera for less money than they got from DT.

Not sure about this MacDougal person.

And Meliana is really not much to write home about at this point -- with the work she must have had done she probably will look like Dianne Feinstein in a couple of decades.

[John]

I wouldn't want any porn star. And I think Melina is worth writing home about. But to each his own.

[Deflator Mouse]

Stormy Daniels and this MacDougal chick appear to have gotten six figures to keep quiet. So, yeah.

[Ken Shultz]

Buried in an article at WSJ about Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's messy divorce:

"The investor's new projects in Los Angeles will include the creation of a new media endeavor, one of the people said. Mr. Thiel sees an opportunity to build a right-leaning media outlet to foster discussion and community around conservative topics, the person said.

In the MSM, "right leaning" and "conservative" are often code for "libertarian", and Thiel is more of a libertarian than anything else.

I think it might be nice to have a community on the web somewhere devoted to the discussion of libertarian topics. There's a big void for that kind of thing.

[John]

The problem that the Right has in media is that the average sane person on the right really isn't that interested in media or politics, unlike the Left where everyone is obsessed with both. So when you set up a right-leaning site, you get the gadflies and the crazies, because few normal people on the right care enough about politics and media to be involved.

I don't see how what Theil is trying is much different than what Andrew Breitbart tried to do. Breitbart had a great idea but it is really hard to get normal smart people on the right to participate in such a thing. So he ended up with gadflies and performance artists mostly.

The other problem is that the existing media on the right are obsessed with maintaining their status as gatekeepers. They would rather be gatekeepers over an ineffective and doomed opposition than lose their status and actually accomplish something. So even if Theil is able to get over the gadfly problem, the existing rightwing media will do everything to destroy it defending their status.

[Griffin3]

The problem that the Right has in media is that the average sane person on the right really isn't that interested in media or politics, unlike the Left where everyone is obsessed with both.

Same reason Trump's inauguration was sparsely attended. People on the right have jobs, work to do. Hell, *this* site is cutting into my work hours!

[John]

It actually wasn't sparsely attended. I worked the inauguration and worked both of the Obama ones. The size of the crowd when he was sworn in was about the same as the 13 Inauguration. They were a late-arriving crowd because there were roving bands of thugs beating people up around K street. At one point the DCMPD reported that there were "too many assaults on attendees to count."

The number of assaults that happened should have been a national story. But since it was leftists doing the assaulting, the media didn't touch it.

[Griffin3]

Huh. I was not aware of that. It's like the media didn't even report it. /sarc

Still, when they were being questioned in that big media blow-up about how the crowd was smaller, the white house staff missed their *perfect* opportunity to say "Crowd was smaller? Well, see, Republicans usually have to be at work during the day." Dropped mic, walked out.

[John]

Yes. And then mentioned the riot on K street and how perhaps people decided that getting beat up for the crime of attending an Inauguration was not a good idea.

[John]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/arti.....-c627rx239

UN responsible for 60,000 rapes in a decade. Holy cow.

Andrew MacLeod, who was chief of operations at the UN's Emergency Co-ordination Centre, said that "predatory" abusers used development jobs to get to vulnerable women and children.
He estimated that 60,000 rapes had been carried out by UN staff in the past decade, with 3,300 paedophiles working in the organisation and its agencies.

"There are tens of thousands of aid workers around the world with paedophile tendencies, but if you wear a Unicef T-shirt nobody will ask what you're up to," he told The Sun.

"You have the impunity to do whatever you want. It is endemic across the aid industry across the world.

[JoeBlow123]

It is almost like getting third worlders with few standards for entry into the military and terrible oversight to go police other third worlders may not always produce fantastic results.

Color me not surprised.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

THIS COMMENT BOARD GIVES TRUMP THE BEST AUTISTIC BLOW JOB EVAH!!!

[Citizen X - #6]

You're almost as bad at that joke as you are at not getting kicked out of your house.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Meanwhile, another federal judge says that embedding tweets without the poster's permission is could be a violation of copyright law. [Correction: The judge has merely denied summary judgement to the media outlets being sued, not issued a final decision in the case.]

Checking twitter, it looks like we have the worst to thank for this correction.

Either way, an issue near and dear to your heart, HUH ELIZABETH!?