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Thursday, January 10, 2013

News Morning News: HORSE, Orcas, Academy Awards

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 8:09 AM

Charging Drivers By the Mile: The state may study transitioning away from flat gas taxes to a "pay as you go" road-fee system.

HORSE for Kings, Motherfuckers: The city of Sacramento vows to scrimmage Seattle for the rights to retain their beloved basketball team.

Ohio Newspaper Sues Judge Over Rape Case: The Cincinnati Enquirer is suing to unseal files associated with an Ohio college student who posted fliers around his college campus counseling students on how to get away with rape. The student initially pled guilty, but was then allowed to withdraw his plea and have the charge against him dropped. The Enquirer is arguing that the judge improperly sealed the files.

Lincoln Leads with 12 Nominations: The Academy Awards are coming.

Portrait of the Aurora Shooter: Prosecutors contend that before opening fire at the Colorado movie theater, suspect James Holmes took cell phone photos of himself sticking out his tongue with a cache of weapons, as well as reconnaissance photos of the theater itself. The defense is widely expected to argue Holmes is not guilty by reason of insanity.

Three Kurdish Women Shot Dead: The killings were described as "precise assassination style executions." The victims included one of the co-founders of the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK), which wants political and cultural separation from Turkey for all Kurds. Their bodies were discovered Thursday morning inside the Kurdish Information Centre in Paris.

Save the Orcas: "Ice encroaching on a pod of killer whales trapped in Hudson Bay." Where the fuck is global warming when you need it? UPDATE: The whales are apparently free now. Hurrah for happy endings!

Consider the Mingus: Go on. Consider it.

Chavez Rules from the ICU: The Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled that President Hugo Chavez can postpone his inauguration while allowing his government to continue in office, to the chagrin of opposition leaders. However, amidst medical complications from cancer, questions remain about when he'll be fit to return to power.

Indian Rape Suspects Claim Torture, Coercion: A lawyer for one of the Delhi rape suspects claims that the five men on trial for raping and murdering a woman last month were tortured into confessing.

Pull That Trigger: America's Favorite Uncle™, Joe Biden, says that President Obama is considering issuing an executive order to restrict access to assault weapons and certain types of ammunition.

For Fuck's Sake: Woman objects to her son taking a yoga class in elementary school because thanking the sun for its warmth is too Hindu for her tastes, so now she's part of a group lobbying to kill yoga in schools.

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My King Dome for a HORSE? #hereallweek

Posted by Ziggity on January 10, 2013 at 8:15 AM

Ten billion light years? Talk about fossil light!.

Posted by Pope Peabrain on January 10, 2013 at 8:28 AM

Hey, the orcas were freed when the winds shifted. Here's an update. http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/10/… Happy Ending!

Posted by No Offense on January 10, 2013 at 8:42 AM

Pay-as-you-go would clearly target poor people who are less likely to live near their jobs. Hope they rethink that one.

Posted by seattlejenny on January 10, 2013 at 8:48 AM

@3, hurrah! I will update.

Posted by Cienna Madrid on January 10, 2013 at 8:49 AM

The road tax problem is simple. Its working so raise the amount per gallon and continue to encourage people to drive less in more economical cars.

Posted by wl on January 10, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Go Sacramento! Make my neighbor taste foot for painting such a huge, fugly (unfortunately, public) mural in honor of some stupid basketball team.

Posted by treehugger on January 10, 2013 at 9:09 AM

Why not offer tai chi or qi gong as options to yoga in schools? Those also offer mental and physical health benefits.

How do Yanks manage to bloviate fear-and-insanity-driven spew online without coming across factual evidence to negate their false beliefs? Is that what they mean by the "American Dream?"

Posted by Dogma + insanity = "Freedom!" on January 10, 2013 at 9:36 AM

Raise the gas tax. Fuel efficient cars tend to be lighter and cause less wear and tear. Heavy vehicles use more gas and cause more wear and tear. Gas tax is reasonably fair. You could figure out a fee for electric cars to match similar fuel efficient cars, but they are really light and cause very little wear and tear. Adjust everything for construction costs- those are frequently paid by general funds, so the adjustment could be small. Mileage based fees would be regressive. Heavy SUV's should pay more than small compacts.

Posted by gttim on January 10, 2013 at 9:53 AM

I trust that Sean Penn sent Hugo Chavez a get-well card and some flowers.

Posted by Phoebe in Wallingford on January 10, 2013 at 9:54 AM

@9: So do obese people cause more ware and tear on our sidewalks than thin people?

Posted by Phoebe in Wallingford on January 10, 2013 at 10:01 AM

@11 Yes, but the magnitude is nowhere near the wear and tear of environmental causes, completely unlike how wear and tear occurs on roads, so your analogy fails badly. Not even a good try.

Posted by gttim on January 10, 2013 at 10:18 AM

Poor people with cars are screwed any way you figure it--they live too far from work, they drive crappy, old, poorly maintained cars that get dreadful mileage. A gax tax screws them, a mileage tax screws them. Being screwed is part and parcel of being "poor".

Posted by tiktok on January 10, 2013 at 10:29 AM

Ugh. Because I support some sensible gun controls in light of the Sandy Hook Massacre, I have to also support an executive order (a maneuver I find intensely distasteful) in order to seem them enacted? Thanks, Machiavellian GOP-controlled congress.

Lots of good stuff in here this morning. Thanks, Cienna.

Posted by Knat on January 10, 2013 at 10:39 AM

The woman in the article (Mary Eady) relies on the opinion of Mark Driscoll.

Also, interesting that people who worship a replacement for Dionysis-Osirus are questioning gratefulness for the Sun.

Posted by dirac on January 10, 2013 at 10:47 AM

Mileage charges actually mean installing GPS trackers on your car.

Which part of HELL NO, PRIVACY! don't they GET?

Posted by Will in Seattle

on January 10, 2013 at 11:06 AM

A mileage tax, colected either through gps monitoring or annual milage checks is a lot more expensive to collect as well as not incentivising smaller cars. BTW charitarizing all poor people as driving giant gas guzzeling hoopties is false and probably somewhat racist. I know lots of poor people who drive sub-compacts.

Posted by wl on January 10, 2013 at 11:24 AM

@17,

Where did anyone imply that poor people drive large cars? If anything, they were implying that poor people drive old cars that typically get worse gas mileage than newer cars of comparable size. Is that not true?

Posted by keshmeshi on January 10, 2013 at 11:35 AM

@17 OK, wrong assumption perhaps. But racist? No.

Unless you presume that all poor people are black. Which is what you seem to be doing.

What's up, racist guy.

Posted by Rotten666 on January 10, 2013 at 11:42 AM

@16: I think the odometer will cover the mileage measurements. Want a refund for out-of-state driving? Submit your GPS records.

Posted by tiktok on January 10, 2013 at 12:01 PM

What could me a more straight-forward pay-as-you-go system than the gas tax already in place? A gas tax accounts for vehicle weight, efficiency, and frequency of use (and therefore miles driven). The idea the tax is a "fixed price" is idiotic, given the reasons one burns gas.

Posted by Dougsf on January 10, 2013 at 12:20 PM

Peg the gas tax to the cost of a gallon instead of a fixed rate per volume. Rise in gas costs (somewhat) covers loss of sales. Plus you don't have to revisit the tax every few years.

Posted by sloegin on January 10, 2013 at 1:18 PM