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A porn-hacker attacked the Daily Caller! But bandits beware: TheDC has a plan. A damn fine plan. And the key players are you, the reader; us, TheDC; that punk hacker; and a gun. The snare: TheDC gives that gun to the first Internet sleuth who tracks down that son-of-a-gun and sends us his name.
But in the cowboy spirit of our ancestors, we aren’t about to let not knowing how to use confounded technologies get in the way of a good old-fashioned manhunt, so next week, the the reader who describes the most fitting punishment for the scoundrel gets a gun too. And in the spirit of public cowboy justice, we’ll publish the winning essay on TheDC “for all the people to see.”
As we like to say around the office, “Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses, and guns for our readers.”
So saddle up, boys and girls. Let’s ride!
2.) Colorado congressman justifies Obamacare using… Colorado shooting rampage:
Actually, we suppose that took longer than expected. Just about two weeks after a lunatic’s rampage left 12 moviegoers and one unborn child dead, and just about one week after a decidedly unfunny jerk comedian cracked the first bad joke on video, a decidedly unfunny jerk congressman cracked the second. TheDC’s executive editor, David Martosko, reports:
Colorado Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter said during a Monday online town hall meeting that victims of the July 20 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. “would be uninsurable” without President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
“[U]nder the Affordable Care Act they can’t be discriminated against starting in 2014.”
RevealingPolitics.com reproduced video of Perlmutter telling his constituents that Obamacare would “stop the discrimination against people with prior illnesses or injuries — or, say, some of the folks who were shot in the theater.”
Stay classy.
3.) The taxman cometh… for all the precious metals in your Olympic medals
Leave it to the IRS to figure out a way to raid the wallets of the few triumphant Olympians the U.S. is fielding this year. And even if they don’t — and some say they won’t — leave it to the IRS to have a plan to ruin our party just in case they want to. We have to admit, our favorite part is that the bronze is only worth five bucks. TheDC’s Caroline May reports:
According to ATR, accepted winnings will be applied on top of an athlete’s taxable income and could be taxed up to a rate of 35 percent. Based on their assumptions, gold medal winners could pay the IRS up to $8,750, silver medalists could pay up to $5,250, and bronze up to $3,500 on their winnings.
Not only could the awards be taxed, but the value of the medals are also taxable, ATR says. The low-tax advocacy group pins the value of a gold medal at $675, a silver medal at $385 and a bronze at under $5. ATR’s tax assumptions render gold, silver and bronze medal winners further on the hook for up to $236, $135 and $2 respectively.
Take that, bronze.
4.) Shocker: The tyrant of the Senate takes his cues from… tyrants!
Of all the places we expect to find some half-baked scheme cooked up by a bunch of tyrants, the Senate is, well, the first place we’d look after the White House. TheDC’s Josh Peterson reports:
In September 2011, Russia, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan urged U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead discussion on the “International Code of Conduct for Information Security.”
The proposal called for international cooperation on defeating cybercrime and political dissension, as well as a truce in the use of cyberweapons.
States that agreed to the code would also agree to “bolster bilateral, regional and international cooperation, promote the United Nations’ important role in formulation of international norms, peaceful settlement of international disputes, and improvement of international cooperation in the field of information security, and enhance coordination among relevant international organizations.”
…
Ironically, similar language to the Russian and Chinese proposal can be found in Section 603 of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which is sponsored by independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and cosponsored by Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein, John D. Rockefeller IV and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Of course, since a couple of tyrants are involved, the U.N. couldn’t resist hopping on the wagon.
5.) Apology of Yesterday: After White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer incorrectly accused Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer of spreading lies about the very real returning of a British Winston Churchill bust by Obama, Krauthammer called Pfeiffer out, adding that he expects his favorite baseball team, the Washington Nationals, to win the World Series before he hears an apology. Well, take your bets out now, because Pfeiffer manned up and said sorry:
A better understanding of the facts on my part and a couple of deep breaths at the outset would have prevented this situation. Having said all that, barring a miracle comeback from the Phillies I would like to see the Nats win a world series even if it comes after my apology.
Here we go, Nats.
6.) Tweet of Yesterday — MariekeKonstanz: Favorite news of the day: Snoop Dogg upgrades to Lion. Next up, Eminem considers upgrade to “Snickers.”