July 11, 2019

Have we had a good knockdown drag-out about restaurant tipping lately?

Here's a cute one from a restaurant near me. I took this photo, because it was a jaw-dropper for me.

On the left is the "merchant copy" receipt for the customer to sign. On the right is the detailed bill:



Some additional facts to chew on:

This was a party of two, and there is no sign, note in the menu, or any other notice of the automatic service charge. Also, these sorts of charges are extremely unusual in restaurants in my area.

What I love about the merchant-copy is that it calculates the tip based on the total amount - including the already-added service charge.

Normally, I tip 20%, but if someone charges me 15% without even telling me about it up front, that's all they get. But deceptively throwing in check boxes for up to 20% on top of 15% is pretty ballsy.

July 11, 2019

Some more bold, crusading lawyers doing good for humanity

I got this ad while doing a search for some Epstein information.

Here's your next darling "go get 'em" presidential candidate pool right here, DU...



Can't wait until they do some press conferences and spend weeks at a time being praised as geniuses by Lawrence O'Donnell et al..

July 10, 2019

Worn out cliche countdown subject line in 3... 2...

That one could use a rest.

July 8, 2019

Epstein indictment to be released at 9AM, USAO-SDNY presser at 11AM - UPDATED

Everything you've read so far about the Epstein indictment includes a heavy load of speculation, in varying degrees of mild to off-the-rails.

One of the ways to handle bad news with disinformation is to include fictitious or over-the-top information among the actual facts, in order to attempt to fixate attention on the fake stuff. That way, when the fake stuff is shown for what it is, the long-overlooked truth is simply brushed aside.

That is, for example, how the fake Texas Air National Guard Memo was a brilliant tactic. Rather than to attempt to counter the allegations that W had a no-show post in the TANG simply to avoid the draft, the fake memo "confirmed" and reinforced that narrative. Because of the attention it got, the actual facts of W's non-service were swept away in a wave of "oh, that's bullshit" once it was shown to be fake.

Too many people think that trolls and disinfo agents spread material that opposes the viewpoint they are attempting to counter. But, no, that's not how it works at all. Disinfo is much more likely to be stuff you agree with and/or are predisposed to believe, so that you'll latch onto things that will take you right down a rabbit hole.

In the media, and on social media, the "analysts" that get attention are the ones who are attention-getting, and not necessarily accurate or realistic in their prediction. Media doesn't run on being accurate. It runs on getting eyeballs and attention. There is a reason why "TV lawyers" are on TV, instead of actually practicing law.

The measure of whether something is true or accurate is not "I believe it" or "it suits my biases". It's the stuff with which you agree, which merits a healthy level of skepticism.

So, when the indictment is released, I would encourage you to READ THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT FIRST before turning to the Wheel of Soothsayers who will be happy to provide you with any opinion about it which tickles your particular fancy.

Original US legal documents are written in English, and they get easier to read the more you exercise your ability to find things out for yourself, instead of depending on the opinions of others to form your own.

UPDATE:

The original indictment is here:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6184408-U-S-v-Jeffrey-Epstein-Indictment.html

July 3, 2019

North Korea Offers To Loan Sherman Tanks For July 4 Trumpapalooza

After finding out we don’t have any “brand new Sherman tanks”, Trump received a call from Kim Jung Un to inform Trump that the DPRK has several in like-new, low mileage condition...

July 2, 2019

Pence and Putin have just abruptly cancelled events

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/Mike-Pence-Talks-Opioid-Addiction-Drug-Flow-in-New-Hampshire-512106221.html

Mike Pence Called Back to White House, NH Visit Canceled

A spokesperson for the vice president originally said Air Force 2 was turned around due to an "emergency," but the organizers of the event are now characterizing it as a "diversion"

June 28, 2019

The discussion of Biden and school desegregation is missing context

What people don't seem to realize about politicians is that their "views" on various topics are more frequently driven by the necessities of maintaining office than any particular principles.

The University of Delaware did not admit black students until 1971. Biden graduated in 1965. Prior to that, despite the "hardscrabble roots" story, by the time his father was running a successful auto dealership in Wilmington, Biden attended what is, for this area, a relatively upscale private school.

After the assassination of MLK Jr., the upheaval in Wilmington led to the longest military occupation of a US city since the civil war. Longstanding redlining practices strictly segregated the neighborhoods of New Castle County generally. For most of white suburban New Castle County, African Americans simply did not exist in their neighborhoods, parks or stores.

(one thing to understand about Delaware is that while it consists of three counties, there northern county of New Castle is by far the most populous, and is essentially a proxy for "greater Wilmington" )

While a 1954 court decision required the desegregation of Delaware's schools, this was easily routed-around by the creation of separate school districts which tracked the boundaries of racially-segregated communities in New Castle County.

Biden was elected in a post-Watergate Democratic wave against a doddering incumbent. Holding that seat, in a state which straddles the Mason Dixon Line, was almost immediately challenged by the law catching up to the area's dodge of effective desegregation in the 1950's and 1960's. Filed in 1971, the case of Evans v. Buchanan, addressing Delaware's continued de-facto segregation, became a piece of civil litigation trench warfare which, after various appeals, remands and protracted attempts to resolve, eventually resulted in virtually direct administration of the New Castle County schools by the US District Court of Delaware.

There was no way that Joe Biden was going to be re-elected in 1978 without his usual attempt to be all things to everyone on the issue of school desegregation in New Castle County.

Whatever Joe Biden may personally believe about de-facto segregation caused by decades of redlining, or of busing as a remedy to that segregation, I can guarantee you that the only person who knows what that might be is Joe Biden. Going by any statements he made in the 1970's in order to fancy dance around taking a definable position for the purpose of being able to get enough Delaware voters he was marginally enough on their side, is an exercise in attempting to nail Jell-O to a wall.

Like his advocacy of an anti flag-desecration law in order to "protect the flag" or to prevent support for a Constitutional amendment gaining credible steam, it is one of those instances - and there are many - of Joe believing he has found some genius compromise position that allows him to wink and smile at people on either side to convey the impression he is on their side.

Joe is a good politician. A philosopher-king he is not.

June 24, 2019

Congratulations, everybody.... we won!

Many of you may not have known how perilously close we all came to losing this case:



https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.178704/gov.uscourts.mnd.178704.1.0.pdf

The court has adopted the findings set forth in the Magistrate's report, but I'm concerned the Magistrate left an appealable issue on the table:

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.178704/gov.uscourts.mnd.178704.3.0.pdf

June 19, 2019

Hepatotoxicity of a Cannabidiol-Rich Cannabis Extract in the Mouse Model

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/9/1694

The goal of this study was to investigate Cannabidiol (CBD) hepatotoxicity in 8-week-old male B6C3F1 mice. Animals were gavaged with either 0, 246, 738, or 2460 mg/kg of CBD (acute toxicity, 24 h) or with daily doses of 0, 61.5, 184.5, or 615 mg/kg for 10 days (sub-acute toxicity). These doses were the allometrically scaled mouse equivalent doses (MED) of the maximum recommended human maintenance dose of CBD in EPIDIOLEX® (20 mg/kg). In the acute study, significant increases in liver-to-body weight (LBW) ratios, plasma ALT, AST, and total bilirubin were observed for the 2460 mg/kg dose. In the sub-acute study, 75% of mice gavaged with 615 mg/kg developed a moribund condition between days three and four. As in the acute phase, 615 mg/kg CBD increased LBW ratios, ALT, AST, and total bilirubin. Hepatotoxicity gene expression arrays revealed that CBD differentially regulated more than 50 genes, many of which were linked to oxidative stress responses, lipid metabolism pathways and drug metabolizing enzymes. In conclusion, CBD exhibited clear signs of hepatotoxicity, possibly of a cholestatic nature. The involvement of numerous pathways associated with lipid and xenobiotic metabolism raises serious concerns about potential drug interactions as well as the safety of CBD.

June 10, 2019

I'm getting into shape, but they keep towing my car...