Thirteen Iowa Democrats wearily took their seats here this weekend and discussed among themselves the source of their angst: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I’m utterly tired, tired of the Clintons and the whole establishment,” said Carol Brannon, 71, a retired nurse.

Anne Kinzel, 57, a former health-care lawyer, nodded sympathetically.

“The hacks think Hillary is entitled to be president,” Kinzel said. “I think she is one of those people who has lost the sense of why they are in politics.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-may-look-inevitable-but-some-iowa-democrats-are-ready-for-warren/2015/02/09/1f0063fe-b083-11e4-854b-a38d13486ba1_story.html

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http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7fe1d32e-b047-11e4-92b6-00144feab7de.html

A judge has ruled that a 61-year-old Oregon man did nothing illegal when he crouched in a store aisle and snapped photos up a 13-year-old’s skirt.

It was lewd and appalling but not outlawed, Judge Eric Butterfield said. “From a legal point of view, which unfortunately today is my job to enforce, he didn’t do anything wrong,” the judge said Thursday.

Patrick Buono of Portland didn’t dispute using his cellphone to take the photos on Jan. 3 at the store, The Oregonian newspaper reported.

His defense lawyer, Mark Lawrence, argued that he hadn’t violated laws against invasion of privacy and attempted encouraging child sexual abuse — a child pornography count.

The privacy law bans clandestine photography in bathrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms and tanning booths, but the Target aisle was plainly public, Lawrence said.

Upskirt sightings can occur by happenstance, he said, citing a famous photo of Marilyn Monroe with her dress flying up. And that could happen to someone riding up an escalator, taking a spill or exiting a car, he said. “These things are not only seen but video-recorded,” Lawrence said. “It’s incumbent on us as citizens to cover up whatever we don’t want filmed in public places.”

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/07/world/crime-legal-world/upskirt-photos-of-teen-ruled-legal-in-oregon/

Medical marijuana has the potential be used to treat depression caused by chronic stress, researchers have said.

In a study looking at endocannabinoids – chemicals in the brain similar to substances found in cannabis – scientists found chronic stress its reduced the production, which led to depression-like behaviour in animals studied.

The team, from the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions in New York, noted that endocannabinoids are a naturally produced chemical compound that affect motor control, cognition, emotions and behaviour.

They are similar to the chemicals found in marijuana and the active ingredient in it – THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).

Senior researcher Samir Haj-Dahmane said: "Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression. Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilise moods and ease depression."

Their findings were published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/marijuana-can-reduce-chronic-stress-depression-1486715

She kicked ass. That is all.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025285596

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/02/04/christian-missionary-discouraged-to-find-africa-isnt-complete-wasteland-that-she-can-save/

The flu vaccine given to millions of people in the UK barely works, health officials have admitted, amid warnings that the number of deaths this winter will be the worst for 15 years.
Public Health England (PHE) warned that the main strain of influenza in circulation - which is particularly lethal among the elderly – has mutated from the type that was used in the jab.

As a result, it is working in just three per cent of people given it, when it is normally effective in around half of cases.

And it has no effectiveness at all against the dominant strain of flu in circulation this winter, which is particularly dangerous in the elderly.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11393560/Flu-jab-given-to-millions-is-useless.html

http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/04/facebook-gets-into-the-robot-game-and-data-centers-could-be-involved/

The robots go after the IT hardware employee jobs....Robots work 24/7/365, they are a depreciating asset to businesses, they don't require benefits and work at the same pace day after day after day. The revolution is in its infancy but it's only a matter of time before the robot/AI revolution is everywhere.

The Rayburn House Office Building is a labyrinth of beige offices.

And then, there’s . . . Rep. Aaron Schock’s new digs.

Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top. And this is just the Illinois Republican’s outer office.

“It’s actually based off of the red room in ‘Downton Abbey,’ ” said the woman behind the front desk, comparing it to the luxurious set piece at the heart of the British period drama.

This was a bold room. But the confidence was a mirage. For on Capitol Hill, caution is king when it comes to the micromanagement of one’s image, even in the case of how a congressman decides to decorate his office.

And sometimes, a friendly outsider can inadvertently ruin a communications director’s day.

A blond woman popped out of an inner office. “Want to see the rest?” she asked.

She introduced herself as Annie Brahler, the interior decorator whose company is called Euro Trash. She guided me to Schock’s private office, revealing another dramatic red room. This one with a drippy crystal chandelier, a table propped up by two eagles, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and massive arrangements of pheasant feathers.

Then, my phone rang.

It was Schock’s communications director, Benjamin Cole.

“Are you taking pictures of the office?” he asked. “Who told you you could do that? . . . Okay, stay where you are. You’ve created a bit of a crisis in the office.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hes-got-a-downton-abbey-inspired-office-but-rep-aaron-schock-wont-talk-about-it/2015/02/02/1d3f1466-ab1f-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html

Obama administration officials and other supporters of the Affordable Care Act say they worry that the tax-filing season will generate new anger as uninsured consumers learn that they must pay tax penalties and as many people struggle with complex forms needed to justify tax credits they received in 2014 to pay for health insurance.

The White House has already granted some exemptions and is considering more to avoid a political firestorm.

Mark J. Mazur, the assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, said up to six million taxpayers would have to “pay a fee this year because they made a choice not to obtain health care coverage that they could have afforded.”

But Christine Speidel, a tax lawyer at Vermont Legal Aid, said: “A lot of people do not feel that health insurance plans in the marketplace were affordable to them, even with subsidies. Some went without coverage and will therefore be subject to penalties.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/us/politics/white-house-seeks-to-limit-health-laws-tax-troubles.html