Sunday, April 21, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
EPIC Act would discontinue pensions for Congress members
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| Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY4) |
Context
Members of Congress who served at least five years are eligible for a pension once they reach a certain age.
As of 2016, 611 retired or defeated members of Congress were collecting pensions. This amounted to $36.1 million in taxpayer money spent per year.
Members elected before 1984 receive an average pension of $74,028. Members elected after 1984, when pension rules changed, receive an average of $41,076.
What the bill does
The End Pensions in Congress (EPIC) Act would do exactly what its name implies.
More accurately, it would end pensions for all future Congress members, as well as any currently serving who have not yet reached the five years of service necessary to merit a pension. Anybody who’s already earned a congressional pension would be grandfathered in.
It was introduced on January 3 as bill number H.R. 191 by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY4).
What supporters say
Supporters argue the bill saves taxpayers money by reducing expenditures that Congress members should be able to accrue themselves through private alternatives.
“Our country is over $21.9 trillion in debt, yet congressmen receive ‘defined benefit’ retirement plans unavailable to most in the private sector,” Rep. Massie wrote in an online post. “If congressmen want to save for retirement, they should do so with 401(k)-type defined contribution plans, rather than rely on taxpayers to take care of them after leaving Congress.”
“To tackle out-of-control federal spending, Congress must lead by example by ending defined-benefit pensions for members.”
What opponents say
Related: Off the Grid with Thomas Massie
Opponents counter that congressional pension spending is already decreasing — by a lot.
Rules regarding congressional pensions changed for members first elected in 1984 and later. For members elected before then, their average pension is $74,028. For members elected after then, their average pension is $41,076, or a -44% decrease.
Let the actuarial tables run their course, so the argument goes, and taxpayers will eventually save an identical -44% without any further changes to federal law necessary.
Odds of passage
The bill has not yet attracted any House cosponsors, even though a previous version introduced in 2015 attracted 13 cosponsors, including one Democrat.
The current version awaits a vote in either the House Administration Committee or House Oversight and Reform Committee.
10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (4/20/19)
Another week has gone by, so it’s time to take a look at some of the weird news stories you may have overlooked. If you missed last week’s adventures, you can get caught up with those offbeat stories here.
It has been quite a notable week for science. We talk about zombie pigs, ancient urine, giant prehistoric lions, and the first molecule in the universe. We have not one but two tales from the world of pornography and the story of the Japanese Walter White.
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to read any potential spoilers about the final season of Game of Thrones, you should skip entry 10 and proceed straight to entry nine.
It has been quite a notable week for science. We talk about zombie pigs, ancient urine, giant prehistoric lions, and the first molecule in the universe. We have not one but two tales from the world of pornography and the story of the Japanese Walter White.
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to read any potential spoilers about the final season of Game of Thrones, you should skip entry 10 and proceed straight to entry nine.
10AI Predicts The Survivors Of Game Of Thrones
Photo credit: apnews.com
Last Sunday night, tens of millions of people tuned in to watch the premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones. Besides copious amounts of sex and violence, the show is known for introducing a large cast of compelling characters who then get killed off in gruesome ways.Those who want to enjoy all the twists of the show might want to skip this one, but many fans are concerned that their favorites will die this season. For those who do not like surprises, students from the Technical University of Munich developed an artificial intelligence that studied all the information available about the show to predict which characters are going to die.According to the algorithm, Daenerys Targaryen has the highest chance of survival of the main characters at 99 percent. At the other end, Bronn only has a 6 percent chance of survival and is deemed a goner.[1]We have a few months to go to find out if it was right or not, but the school has a good track record. Back in 2016, another group of students programmed a different AI which correctly predicted that Jon Snow would be resurrected.
9Name A Planet
Photo credit: BBC
Astronomers have reached out to the public for help in christening the largest-known body without a name in the solar system.The trans-Neptunian object has the official designation of (225088) 2007 OR10. It was discovered back in 2007 by scientists Meg Schwamb, Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz. They decided that it is time for the cosmic object, most likely a dwarf planet, to get a proper name. Therefore, they want the people to vote on the suggestion which they will officially submit to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).The proposed monikers must adhere to IAU guidelines which require all minor planets in the Kuiper Belt to be given names associated with mythological creation figures. Therefore, the dwarf planet will not be dubbed Moony McMoonface or anything similar.In fact, the public has the option of voting on just one of three candidates. They are: Vili, a Norse god; Holle, a Germanic goddess of fertility; and Gonggong, a Chinese water god. The cosmic object has one of the reddest surfaces ever discovered, and all three gods, besides being associated with creation, have a connection with the color red.[2]Voting will continue until May 10.
8The Royal Canadian Moose Police
Photo credit: cbc.ca
Canadian police officers trying to contain a wild moose received an unexpected bonus as the animal led them to a stolen car.Last Saturday, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) in St. John’s received multiple calls from residents that a moose was on the loose in the city. Officers caught up with the animal and tried several times to lead it into the wooded areas up north of St. John’s. For some reason, the moose insisted on going south and evaded police containment efforts.In the end, the animal gave the RNC a helping hand as it unwittingly led them to a car which had been reported stolen the previous day. The officers stayed behind to handle this new development while the moose was able to head into the Southside Hills as it intended.[3]7Porn Stash Gets Plundered
Photo credit: people.com
An Indiana man is suing his parents for getting rid of his vast collection of pornography and sex toys worth almost $30,000.Back in 2016, the unnamed man moved to Michigan to live with his parents following a divorce. Ten months later, he relocated to Muncie, Indiana. Subsequently, his parents had all of his stuff delivered to his new home, but something was missing: his porn stash.It had consisted of 12 moving boxes of films and magazines and two additional boxes of sex toys. When the man inquired about their whereabouts, his father revealed to him that they had disposed of them for his own well-being.Now, the 40-year-old man is suing his parents. He is seeking compensation in excess of $86,000, almost triple what he estimated his collection to be worth. He claims that his parents acted “vindictively.” Although neither side has publicly commented on the matter, the father said in an email that he did his son a “big favor” and hoped that he will realize this one day.[4]6Extracurricular Activities
Japan has its own version of Walter White in the form of a university professor who admitted to teaching students in his pharmaceutical science class how to make Ecstasy.Tatsunori Iwamura is a 61-year-old teacher at Matsuyama University in Ehime prefecture. He divulged that he had showed his pupils how to manufacture MDMA and 5F-QUPIC, a cannabis-like designer drug, in 2013. Drug enforcement officers acted on a tip, and while they did not find signs of Ecstasy, their search did uncover traces of the cannabis substance.Unnamed sources claimed that Iwamura once had a license to manufacture illegal drugs issued by a local government outside Ehime, but it has since expired. The professor said that he taught his students how to make Ecstasy to “further their knowledge.”Authorities believe that 11 students manufactured drugs under Iwamura’s guidance. He could face up to 10 years in prison for his actions.[5]
5Exploring Your BeeSexuality
Online pornography giant Pornhub has revealed its latest charitable initiative: the “BeeSexual” campaign. People can visit the site’s latest channel, which is full of “bee porn,” to learn more about the perils that these crucial pollinators are currently facing. Moreover, for each view, Pornhub will...
Library Journal Comes out Against Books Guilty of ‘Whiteness’
What this really is of course is a soft launch towards censorship and book burning.
In a tweet published earlier this week from Library Journal’s verified account, the trade publication announced to its 202,000 followers that “Library collections continue to promote and proliferate whiteness with their very existence and the fact that they are physically taking up space in our libraries.”
The tweet links to a semi-incoherent piece written by librarian Sofia Leung on her personal blog, who complains at length about “library collections … written mostly by straight white men [that] are a physical manifestation of white men ideas taking up all the space in our library stacks.”
She continues:
Ms. Leung is entitled to her opinions, and while it’s disturbing that a librarian, someone in a position to influence minds, holds such opinions, as long as she is doing her job in a professional manner, she is entitled to believe whatever she wants.
If you look at any United States library’s collection, especially those in higher education institutions, most of the collections (books, journals, archival papers, other media, etc.) are written by white dudes writing about white ideas, white things, or ideas, people, and things they stole from POC and then claimed as white property.
…
Library collections continue to promote and proliferate whiteness with their very existence and the fact that they are physically taking up space in our libraries. They are paid for using money that was usually ill-gotten and at the cost of black and brown lives via the prison industrial complex, the spoils of war, etc. Libraries filled with mostly white collections indicates that we don’t care about what POC think, we don’t care to hear from POC themselves, we don’t consider POC to be scholars, we don’t think POC are as valuable, knowledgeable, or as important as white people.
The Library Journal promoting this surreal mix of nonsense and racial hate is, though, something altogether different.
What we have here is a trade publication that affects how public dollars are spent essentially arguing against books, opposing books, promoting the idea that a certain category of books are “physically taking up space in our libraries.”
In other words, these books must be removed to make room for “acceptable” books that contain “acceptable” ideas and opinions.
The category under fire here is “whiteness,” a deliberately vague and imprecise term, a word right out of George Orwell’s 1984 that manages to be whatever it needs to be to the woke fascists, censors, and book burners desperate to blacklist specific ideas, thoughts, and opinions.
The term “whiteness” is meant to conjure up the same feelings as the term “white supremacist,” but “whiteness” sounds more polite, more scholarly, and it allows the blacklisters and censors to...
How Has Former MI6 Spymaster Richard Dearlove Dodged Scrutiny Despite Links To Russiagate?
One of the figures involved in the Obama administration's "Russiagate" scandal who has largely avoided scrutiny is former MI6 spymaster Sir Richard Dearlove, who is intimately linked to several key players in what many now believe was a high-level Set-up against the Trump campaign during the 2016 US election.
Dearlove, who served as chief of MI6 from 1999 to 2004, had contact during the 2016 campaign with dossier author Christopher Steele. He is also a close colleague of Stefan Halper, the alleged FBI and CIA informant who established contact with several Trump campaign advisers. Dearlove and Halper attended a Cambridge political event in July 2016 where Halper had his first contact with Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. -Daily Caller
Of note, Dearlove is best known for peddling a report alleging that Saddam Hussein had WMDs, which then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair used to justify launching a war against Iraq.
In 2014, the retired British spymaster hosted an event at Cambridge University along with Halper. In attendance was then-director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn, as well as a Russian-born college student Svetlana Lokhova. Both Dearlove and Halper reportedly expressed concerns about Flynn's contacts with Lokhova - which the 38-year-old Russian-born academic says is complete bullshit.
"General Flynn was the guest of honor and he sat on one side of the table in the middle. I sat on the opposite side of the table to Flynn next to Richard Dearlove because I was the only woman at dinner, and it's a British custom that the only woman gets to sit next to the host," Lokhova told Fox News, who added that she has never been alone with Flynn. On the contrary, the unplanned encounter was professional and mildly productive. Sir Richard Dearlove (L), Prof. Christopher Andrew (center), and then-Defense Intelligence Agency Director Michael Flynn (R), at Cambridge University, Feb. 28, 2014.
Dearlove - who has feigned not knowing "Trump-Russia" dossier author Christopher Steele, discussed ongoing matters with the former MI6 spy during a meeting in London's posh...
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