SAR #14176

Consequences. An interesting word, that.

One For The Rest Of Us: The Supremes, in a 9 to zip decision, have said that the police must get a search warrant before they can peruse your cell phone or other personal electronic device – even after they have arrested you. The money quote: "The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought." Hope the same nine justices show up when the NSA's warrantless snooping gets a hearing.

Progress: Physicians in the UK have proposed that cigarette sales to individuals born after 2000 be prohibited. 
 
The New Up: The nation's 1Q 2014 GDP - which was pegged at a 2.6% raise in January, revised down to a -1.0% decline, then whittled down to a 1.8 decline in recent expectations - has been pegged as a -2.9% disaster. Worst since the 5.4% drop in 1Q 2009. The stock market didn't notice. Why? Because were talking about 1Q, not IQ. The market's IQ has dropped a lot more than 2.9%.

Check Out Time: A suicide bomber blew himself up in a Beirut hotel, rather than be captured. 
 
BFF: Chinese naval warships will join in US-led naval exercises off Hawaii in a symbolic and hypocritical display of cooperation between rivals.

Social Whirl: VP Joe Biden has declared that “protecting gay rights is a defining mark of a civilized nation and must trump national cultures and social traditions." Federal judges in Utah and Indiana did their part by ruling that those states' bans on gay marriage violate the 14th Amendment.
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Don't Just Stand There, Sue Somebody: John Boehner, scrambling to remain relevant, is suing President Obama "on behalf of the House over his frequent use of executive actions that Republicans believe are reserved for members of the Bush family beyond his authority."

Magic Carpets Are Us: 25,000 Indian Shia Muslims are on standby to fly to Iraq and enter the religious war over holy shrines.

Contract? Law? A NJ judge has let Chris Christie's $1 billion looting of the state pension fund stand and implied he could steal another $1.5 billion next year despite the 2011 pension reform law's contractual obligations. A contract is obviously not really a contract in Christie's New Jersey.

Better Later Than Never: The NC Senate, responding to a massive coal-ash spill by Duke Energy has passed legislation urging Duke to close its coal ash pools. By 2029.

Laugh Test, Fail: UK Home Secretary Theresa May: "There is no programme of mass surveillance and there is no surveillance state".

Complete The Sentence: “Drones laden with drugs … “

Porn O'Graph: Number 17, with a bullet?

The Parting Shot: