Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

And just like that, the GOP found themselves condoning pedophilia for absolutely nothing.

The beginning of the end of the Trump era? Let's hope so.

Republicans, Roy Moore, and Steve Bannon all deserved this. It takes a special kind of incompetence to piss away a Senate seat in a state that Trump won by nearly 30 points. Aside from the sexual assault allegations, Moore was a garbage candidate, easily the worst of the three main candidates in the primary. I wasn't crazy about Mo Brooks (especially after he became such a Trump cheerleader) or Luther Strange (whose appointment reeked of quid-pro-quo corruption and served in part to bring down Governor Bentley) but I could've at least lived with them as not-godawful Senators. (Honestly I probably would've not voted if it had been one of them in the general election today.) But Moore was much worse--truly a statist theocrat. When the sexual assault allegations are factored in, there's no question that Moore absolutely had to lose. Which is why I voted today.

Write-ins made a surprising impact, especially when you consider the likelihood that they were mostly Republicans who couldn't vote for Moore but couldn't bring themselves to vote for Jones either.

This is terrible for Kay Ivey, who will get a lot of (not exactly deserved) blame for not saving the Senate seat, but I suspected Tommy Battle would win that race anyway.

Speaking of Tommy Battle, he's the mayor of Huntsville. He's done quite a good job attracting business and industry to the city and I think he's easily the strongest candidate for governor next year. He won his second and third terms with 80% of the vote each time, and against actual candidates. Madison County (where Huntsville is located) went for Jones by 17 points tonight. That's what a terrible candidate Moore was.

Sometimes, evil doesn't triumph. Bravo, Alabama.

Remember when things seemed hopeless? No Moore.

OH MY GOD.

A few observations about the election today:
- Two ladies who I know, who were definite Trump supporters, were still undecided about this vote today before they left work to go vote. My parents, who voted Trump because they just couldn't bring themselves to vote D, and saw a third-party vote as a throwaway (my thought was, that may be true, but where better to throw it away than in a safe state?), didn't vote. No one is excited about voting for Moore.
- I voted for Jones. Not crazy about either of the options, and also not crazy about the direct election of Senators in general, but that's another post, but I don't feel that sitting this one out was a viable option. Although I do believe that the right to vote also includes the right not to vote.
- Turnout was HIGH. At least at my place, it was probably on par with a mid-term election. And there were no other things on the ballot. (Well that's not exactly true, but you had to go through another line to get a separate ballot, which almost no one was doing.)
- A loss for Moore tonight would be, on a state level, a big loss for Governor Ivey. She was the only person who could've changed the date of today's election (which would've been irregular, but she still could have) and decided not to. She said she believed the allegations about Moore, and then supported him in the election. Outside of the candidates themselves, no one has more to lose based on the outcome tonight. If Moore loses, this absolutely will be used in the primaries against her next year.
- I don't think that Moore or Jones survives beyond 2020 either way. Barring a high demographic change, Jones will face a tough road in a high-turnout Presidential election, and if anything, the allegations against Moore have provided perfect primary fodder.

People are taking out mortgages to buy bitcoin, says securities regulator:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/11/people- ... r=sharebar

Sabin wrote:McCain is supporting the tax bill, so...that’s it? We’re all fucked, right?

Almost, but not quite yet. The bills from the House and Senate will have to go to reconciliation where it might fail, yet. Should it pass, however, it's the Republicans who will likely be fucked in the 2018 elections, if they aren't already.

McCain is supporting the tax bill, so...that’s it? We’re all fucked, right?

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are "going to be the biggest bubble of our lifetimes:"

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/novogra ... times.html

Bitcoin futures approval sparks fears: 'The financial crisis all over again':

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/bitcoin ... peaet.html

Astronomers discover 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby star:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/world/new ... very-nasa/

The next Un Secretary General will be Antonio Guterres, born in my country (Portugal)

He was the UN High commissioner for refugees during the last 10 years. Prior to that he was Portuguese prime minister from 1995 to 2002. Although not from the same political family as mine, he was not a bad prime minister. He benefited from a good economic environment during the late 90’s but was unable to maintain his political reforms (mainly based on social welfare) during the last two years of his government. He resigned in December 2001 after his party lost local elections (curiously the prime minister that followed him was Jose Durão Barroso, who later became European Union Comission president).

Guterres is a true humanitarian so he is a very good choice for this role.

Texas Youth Football Team to Continue Protesting Anthem Despite Death Threats:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-youth-fo ... d=42082211