Much is being made of the fact that Netflix now has more subscribers in the US than HBO. But Vadim Rizov at The Dissolve makes note of something hidden in the earnings indicating that Netflix’s DVD-by-mail model might not be long for the world: …until recently, [Netflix’s] physical rental business was more profitable than streaming, […]
Paul Constant
Posted inJerk
Now That the Spotlight's Off Him, Republican Outrage Queen Apologizes for His Behavior
Remember Republican outrage queen Randy Neugebauer’s insane rant at a park ranger during the shutdown? Two days after voting for the shutdown, Texas congressman Randy Neugebauer tried to lead a group of teabaggy veterans into the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, but it was closed, because the WWII Memorial is a federal park. […]
Posted inPolitics
Marco Rubio Says Public Outrage Against Obamacare Will Kick In Any Minute Now
Senator Marco Rubio—who, along with every other 2016 Republican hopeful in Congress, voted against the debt deal yesterday—thinks that the American people will come around to his way of thinking: “By the early part of next year, February, March, April and May of next year — and I know that sounds like a long time […]
Posted inPolitics
Grover Norquist Wants Teabaggers to Apologize to Republicans
National Review’s Betsy Woodruff says anti-tax baby-headed Republican “mastermind” Grover Norquist is fed up with extremists in the Republican Party. Well, he’s fed up with the extremists in the Republican Party who aren’t his kind of extremists. Specifically, he thinks the defunders should apologize to all the other Republicans: “It’d be a good idea if […]
Posted inScience!
“We Don’t Know What the Best Questions Are to Ask That Computer”
Google’s promotional video for its new quantum computer is a little twee, but the possibilities they’re talking about here are mind-boggling. (Via Kottke.)
Posted inHillbilly
What Do Republican Commenters Think of the Shutdown Deal?
Man oh man do Republican commenters hate the Senate’s shutdown deal. Here’s a sampling of comments from the National Review story about the deal: McConnell and Boehner are finished as Leaders! McConnell may not return at all and Boehner will be replaced by a leader not an establishment pimp!! Cruz September 19: “I will do […]
Posted inComic Books
"I Am Willing to Make Other People Uncomfortable so My Daughter Won't Have To"
Things in mainstream superhero comics can get better for women and minorities, as this Atlantic profile of Marvel Comics writer Kelly Sue DeConnick attests. Marvel is trying, slowly, to bring more female characters to the forefront. “I think that the message is that no one is ‘other,’ that white males are not the ‘default human […]
Posted inHealth
The Koch Brothers Are Trying to Trick College Students Into Not Buying Health Insurance
The program outlined in this Miami Herald story by Alex Leary makes me feel so disheartened about the country: As the battle over the healthcare law grinds on — Republicans no closer to victory than when they forced the government shutdown — a different fight was rising on a recent Saturday from inside Sharkey’s, a […]
Posted inHistory
New Book Debunks Important Piece of JFK Assassination Theory
Politico’s James Hohmann writes: A forthcoming book raises serious doubts about a key piece of evidence that led a House committee to conclude in 1979 that President John F. Kennedy was likely killed as part of a conspiracy. University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato commissioned a scientific analysis of the Dallas Police Department’s Dictabelt […]
Posted inPolitics
Chinese Media Says It's Time to "De-Americanize" the World
Agence France-Presse, via Yahoo News, says: While US politicians grapple with how to reopen their shuttered government and avoid a potentially disastrous default on their debt, the world should consider ‘de-Americanising’, a commentary on China’s official news agency said Sunday. “As US politicians of both political parties (fail to find a) viable deal to bring […]
Posted inJerk
Michele Bachmann Wants to Impeach President Obama for Being a "Dictator"
The only thing that could sink Congressional Republican approval ratings even lower would be if they moved to impeach President Obama. So, naturally: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Tuesday that President Obama has “committed impeachable offenses” and that the House could hold a hearing to impeach. “We can have an impeachment hearing in the House, […]
Posted inJerk
Arizona Republican Who Called Obama "De Fuhrer" Says She Obviously Wasn't Calling Him Hitler
ThinkProgress says that Republican Arizona State Representative Brenda Barton stuck her foot in it on a Facebook post complaining about parks being closed during the shutdown: Barton minced no words, calling Obama “De Fuhrer [sic]” and urging local sheriffs to arrest park rangers who enforce rules keeping people out of National Parks that are closed […]