Virginia Finally Repeals Dumb Happy Hour Restrictions

Virginia has finally repealed a dumb and unconstitutional restriction on how bars could advertise Happy Hours.

Are Our Critics and Commentators too White?

Should the pundit class look more like America?

Lee Iacocca, Who Headed Two Of The Big Three Automakers, Dies At 94

One of America’s fist celebrity CEO’s has passed away at the age of 94.

Trump And RNC Raise $105 Million In Second Quarter

President Trump And the RNC raised a record amount in the second quarter of the year.

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How Newspapers Killed Themselves

We all know the Internet broke the monopoly on classified advertising. Here’s the rest of the story.

NASA And SpaceX To Offer Civilian Rides To International Space Station

For the first time in more than thirty years, NASA is preparing to unveil a program to allow civilians to travel to the International Space Station.

Biden Continues To Build A Lead In Early Polling

Two weeks into his campaign, Joe Biden continues to build an impressive lead in polling at the state and national levels.

Why is the NYT Paywall Up the Other 362 Days?

Its explanation for why its paywall is coming down 3 days leads us to an obvious question.

Tire Chalking And The Fourth Amendment

A Federal Appeals Court recently found that chalking the tires of a car parked in a public place is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. It’s not at all clear that this decision is correct.

Oliver North Out As NRA President Amid Ongoing Scandal

After just a year in office, Oliver North is out as President of the National Rifle Association as the group faces an ongoing series of scandals centered around Wayne LaPierre and others.

Trump Could Win Re-Election

Larry Sabato lays out a quite plausible path.

*Ad-Free OTB*

After fifteen years of trying to support the site with advertising, we’re going in a new direction.

Donald Trump Is The President Of Trumpland, Not The United States

Donald Trump speaks largely just to his base, ignoring the nation as a whole. Whether this will be enough to win re-election in 2020 is an open question.

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Smartphone Migration

Breaking up is hard to do.

Navy Ending Red ‘Misconduct’ Stripes

Military culture is a strange beast.

Harvard Sued Over Ownership of Slave Photos

A racist scholar took some fascinating photos of an enslaved man in 1860. Now, his descendants want the rights to them.

Roy Moore Not Ruling Out Another Senate Run

Roy Moore, who lost a Special Election to replace Jeff Sessions in 2017 after being hit with allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, isn’t ruling another bid for the same seat.

Amazon Prime Removes Anti-Vax Documentaries

A powerful Congressman successfully pressured a media giant to pull content. We should be worried.

The Republican Game Plan For 2020: Demonization And Demagoguery

Following Donald Trump’s lead, the GOP is making clear that its game plan for 2020 is paint all Democrats as ‘socialists, baby killers, and anti-Semites.’

Family of Covington Teen Sues WaPo

While I’m sympathetic to his plight, he has no case.

Apple Launching Controversial News and Video Service

Is 50 percent too high a take? Or the best deal in town?

Streaming Killed the Video Star

AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV and TimeWarner is forcing price hikes that are driving customers away at a rapid clip.

Carlos Sanchez, Who Portrayed Coffee Icon Juan Valdez, Dies At 83

Carlos Sanchez, who portrayed Juan Valdez the unofficial ambassador of Colombian coffee for some 30 years, has died at the age of 83.

Amazon’s HQ2 Will Reportedly Be Split Between Northern Virginia And New York City

Amazon has reportedly decided to split its second headquarters between an already urbanized area of Northern Virginia and the outer boroughs of New York City.

Florida Voters Approve Restoration Of Felon Voting Rights

Florida voters approved an amendment to the state’s Constitution that will restore the voting rights of as many as 1.2 million ex-felons and make it easier for future released felons to get their civil rights back.

Mississippi Senate Race Could Decide Battle For Senate Control

A Senate race in Mississippi could end up being the deciding factor in the battle for control of the Senate.

Marijuana Legalization Takes Effect In Canada

Marijuana is now legal in Canada, and many people are watching the country to see how it adjusts to this change.

Even Fox News Is Sick Of Trump’s Campaign Rally Speeches

Those rambling campaign rally speeches the President loves to give aren’t getting the kind of coverage they used to, not even from his favorite news channel.

Amazon Becomes Second Company To Hit $1,000,000,000,000 Market Value

Amazon has joined Apple to become the second American corporation to reach $1,000,000,000,000 in market valuation.

Florida Sets Up Governor’s Race Between Trump Republican And Black Progressive Democrat

Florida voters in the Republican and Democratic parties have set up a Gubernatorial race that provides a stark choice on the table for Sunshine State voters in a race that will likely have national implications moving forward.

Tim Pawlenty Fails In Comeback Effort, Confirming That The GOP Is Trump’s Party

Former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty failed in his comeback effort last night, confirming yet again that the GOP is now the Trump Party.

The Cable Bundle is Dying. We’ll Miss it When it’s Gone.

As much as we hate paying $200 a month for television, the future is likely going to be worse.

New York City Cracks Down On Uber And Lyft

In an obvious effort to pander to the city’s taxi industry, New York City is placing new limits on ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

Senate Democrats Throwing In The Towel On Kavanaugh?

Senate Democrats appear to be recognizing that there’s basically nothing they can do to stop the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

On Kavanaugh, Democrats Lack A Coherent Message And A Coherent Strategy

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS Strikes Down Law Requiring Crisis Pregnancy Centers To Provide Abortion Information

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down a California law requiring Crisis Pregnancy Centers to provide information about abortion.

Michael Bloomberg Set To Make Big Investment In Midterms For Democrats

The former New York City Mayor is prepared to spend $80 million to help Democrats take back Congress this year.

TimeWarner Now WarnerMedia After AT&T Acquisition

The old name was apparently confusing for many customers.

No, the Trump White House Isn’t Having a Job Fair

A POLITICO story pushes a plausible narrative with an example that’s almost certainly not evidence of it.

Fallout from EU’s GDPR Continues

American companies are struggling to comply with the EU’s new privacy regulation, with many outlets choosing to simply block access abroad.

Republicans Dodge A Bullet In West Virginia

Republican chances to hold the Senate were boosted in West Virginia last night thanks to the fact that a fringe candidate was soundly defeated.

Chuck Schumer Introduces Measure To Decriminalize Marijuana

The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate has introduced a bill that would effectively decriminalize marijuana nationwide and leave it up to each state to decide how far they wish to go with regard to cannabis regulation. It’s a huge step in the right direction.

Republicans Blaming Trump For Declining Support For Tax Bill

Republicans are blaming the President for the fading popularity of the tax reform law passed in December. It’s more complicated than that.

House Committee Tougher On Mark Zuckerberg, But Regulation Seems Unlikely

Mark Zuckerberg’s second day before Congress was somewhat more contentious than the first, but at the end of the day it’s still unclear that more regulation is the answer to the issues raised by recent Facebook “scandals.”

Rick Scott Enters Florida Senate Race, Setting Up 2018’s Biggest Battle

Governor Rick Scott has entered the race to challenge Bill Nelson in Florida, creating what is likely to be one of the most closely watched races of the year.

OTB’s Engage Feed

You many have noticed the array of images and links under the footer of post pages. Here’s what it is.

Comedian Byron Allen Buys the Weather Channel

The guy from Real People? He’s rich.

Justices Appear Skeptical Of Law Requiring ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ To Provide Information About Abortion

The Supreme Court appears ready to strike down a California law requiring Crisis Pregnancy Centers to provide information on abortion.

OTB Site Refresh

The long-overdue redesign of OTB is now live.

Dodge Super Bowl Ad Featuring Martin Luther King Jr. Causes Controversy

Dodge is facing controversy this morning for using the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in a Super Bowl commercial, but they’re not the only party who may have some questions to answer.