Scott Adams talks about lowering health care costs in a different way.

Also reminds us that IBM Watson diagnoses are still developing. Automated fast food? Automated doctor!

Remember, it's an act of war if Russia does it, but it's cool when we do it.

A group of Republican senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday asking him to launch a full-scale investigation into the Obama administration's efforts to meddle in elections around the globe, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The former president has been using taxpayer money to sway foreign elections for years, the senators alleged.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/03/15/gop-senators-ask-state-dept-to-investigate-obama-admins-meddling-in-foreign-elections/

Looks like Amy's health insurance woes maybe solved!

In his 2018 bid for governor of California, Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom told the the Sacramento Bee he'll propose a universal healthcare system for the state, a response to ongoing efforts by President Trump and the Republican-led Congress to replace the Affordable Care Act.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-gavin-newsom-adds-a-new-plank-to-his-1489439179-htmlstory.html

Huh, who knew?

“Rich people don’t get rich by spending it all,” says Pam Danziger, a researcher focused on the affluent market and founder of Unity Marketing, which helps brands better connect with affluent consumers. “They know better than anyone that by being careful shoppers, they can achieve a lifestyle several rungs up the income ladder.”

http://nypost.com/2017/03/14/the-unexpected-frugal-habits-of-rich-people/

What happens when Title XI runs into the American's with Disabilities Act?

I'll note that it's just north of $35K/year to attend Drake. http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=359

There are fundamental deprivations of justice, and then there's what happened to a male student at Drake University. The student, "John Doe," was expelled for sexual misconduct—ostensibly because he engaged in nonconsensual sex with a female student, "Jane Doe."

In truth, John was punished for failing to realize quickly enough that he was actually the victim in the encounter. Drake officials still refuse to fix their mistakes.

...

A key aspect of both suits is John's disability status: he is described as having a learning disability, and was prescribed two drugs to help him concentrate on homework. He was under the influence of both drugs—and tremendous amounts of alcohol—during the encounter with Jane.

The suit alleges that in failing to make accommodations for John during the Title IX process, Drake violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. That's an interesting claim, but other details of the lawsuit paint Drake officials as so hostile to John's plain-old due process rights that the ADA aspect seems almost secondary.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/03/14/female-drake-u-student-initiates-sex-wit

Amazon brag about charging you extra for stuff so they can donate to charity without effecting shareholder profits

https://twitter.com/amazon/status/842360052858163206

> Amy's health insurance woes

Dood, what is your obsession with California?

You read our papers and visit our blogs religiously, always with a sarcasm (your best, perhaps only reflex) that exceeds anything conversationally proportionate.

At this point I think we can assume that your first, more-attractive wife left you for an older man, an author of literary as well as commercial accomplishment who could offer her middle age and her seniority with a view of the Blue Pacific from his ranch over Santa Barbara... She has adopted his (grown) children with a love exceeding even that for your own, and last time you saw her, she was looking great... That vegetarian diet and all the outdoor exercise has her looking as good as she did in high school, when you used to feel her up in the parking lot at the Tasty-Freeze. You're a lesser chapter in her life now, and both of you know it.

Something like that, right, "Darth"?

It's the only explanation.

But you need to let it go now.

Today is National Panda Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlmsjstN6Aw

what is your obsession with California?

I like to laugh and point at the wackadoodles y'all vote into office, and the crazy schemes they come up with to give other people's money away and get votes in return.

Ok, so it's a guilty pleasure. Better than hookers and blow, amirite?

> I like to laugh and point at

No no, you're obsessed. This isn't casual fun for you. Wanna count how many times you did it last year? The year before that? There's a personal angle here, and it can't flatter you.

"I like to laugh and point at the wackadoodles y'all vote into office"

Like Nixon and Reagan, for example.

A few weeks ago, I had this thought: "Democrats are so desperate to dig up dirt on Trump that he could really destroy their credibility by feeding them disinformation." I wondered about whether the Trump Admin would have the balls, and lack of scruples, to do so.

Well, now it doesn't look he has to. Crowdsourcing is doing it for him.

Ahem. It's "Tastee Freez".

What's up with claiming territory on somebody else's blog, anyway? CA is in the news daily, seems an ordinary subject.

> What's up with claiming territory
> on somebody else's blog, anyway?

My question exactly.

> CA is in the news daily, seems
> an ordinary subject.

When a subject comes up between 300 & 330 days a year, it's no longer ordinary.

In addition, it will have a tiny amount of mitochondrial DNA provided by a female donor - the third "parent".

http://www.mirror.co.uk/science/first-three-parent-baby-could-10040312

OPEN ACCESS THREATENS SCIENCE!!!*

*find out how for $38

https://mobile.twitter.com/AcademiaObscura/status/842016411996307456

"The baby will have nuclear DNA"

I can see the CNN headline now:

"TRUMP INVENTS RADIOACTIVE BABIES FROM GODLESS THREE-PARENT TRYSTS!"

Meanwhile in red-as-the-clay Oklahoma, a Republican state Senator was busted in a hotel room with his underage rent boy.

The Oklahoma Senate was so outraged they voted to keep paying his salary.

Bible-thumpin' child-humpin' Family Values kind of folk.

Tell me again about California ...

Tax-exempt voodoo salespersons angry over proposed federal budget cuts.