Should be a big day for Hilary Clinton in South Carolina today and may be followed by a big Super Tuesday 3 days later.

The results may define the contours of the contest from that point, or perhaps the March 15 contests (when Florida and Ohio vote) will do that.

What I mean by that is these contests MAY relegate Sanders to a "message" candidate, which is not unimportant by the way. But it does lower the tolerance for negative attacks. Remember how Hillary Clinton should have dropped in February of 2008? When she was nearly tied? I would think Sanders wouldn't be asked to drop out, just drop the attacks.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of the voters which is always a mistake. Let the voters vote! Starting in South Carolina today.

From the AP, here's what happened today with the presidential hopefuls of both parties.

Bernie Sanders has never run for national office as a Democrat. Donald Trump has never run for office, let alone as a Republican. Jack Shafer at Politico calls them the "Political Parasites of 2016."

Trump isn’t the only political parasite on the hustings this season. Bernie Sanders, who never ran as a Democrat before this election, has likewise attempted to colonize the gastrointestinal tract of a major party in hopes that it will eventually deposit him at the White House. True to his parasitical nature, Sanders loves the idea of the party but has little interest in actually supporting it. He has raised only $1,000 for the Democratic Party’s fundraising alliance, while Hillary Clinton, who is many things but assuredly not a parasite, has raised $26.9 million.

I don't really get why Chris Christie's endorsement is important. Reuters has this article on Christie's benefit to Trump. I wonder what position Trump has promised him if he wins the election.

In other news, the Guardian has a very interesting article on how both the media and terrorists have adapted and made use of new technologies to capture viewer attention.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Trump vs Cruz vs Rubio at the debate in Houston tonight on CNN.

If sparks fly, can we expect John Kasich to hug it out and fix things for everyone? [More...]

We have a thread up for the Republican debate. Our last open thread is full, so here's a new one, for non-debate topics (politics is ok, just not the debate.)

So how much clout do Martin Scorcese and Mick Jagger have? Not only is Vinyl on HBO in the U.S., but check this out, from Mick Jagger's website:

The second episode of Vinyl airs tonight on HBO in the USA and Canada.Go here for listings in Latin America

The show airs in the UK and Ireland on Sky Atlantic on Mondays at 9pm.

Vinyl is also available on HBO Asia, HBO Nordic, HBO Czech Republic and Sky Italia.

Viewers in North America can stream the first episode for free here.

Explore the Vinyl website here.

Is there any other show that airs simultaneously in so many countries? I wonder which country has the highest ratings.

I didn't care for the first episode, it was too depressing and I'm into happy these days. Maybe I'll it give another chance. Has anyone watched both episodes? What do you think?

Again, this is an open thread, all topics welcome except tonight's debate, which you can comment on here.

Too funny. Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, responds to Donald Trump's plan for a border wall saying "I'm not paying for that f*king wall. He should pay for it, he's got the money."

Fox says Trump is not a Republican, he's a crazy man, he's just himself and egocentric. He wanted to know who the Hispanics are are who are supporting Trump because they are "following a false prophet." But he's not concerned Trump will win.

Trump responded on Twitter:

FMR PRES of Mexico, Vicente Fox horribly used the F word when discussing the wall. He must apologize! If I did that there would be a uproar!

Don't hold your breath, Donald.

Donald Trump is catching a lot of flack for his Nevada victory speech in which he proudly counted the "poorly educated" as being among his supporters.

"We won the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."

Jimmy Kimmel made a campaign ad about it. James Corden also mocked him on the Late Late Show.

I can't believe "poorly educated" got applause. There were people in the crowd going, "That's me, Hell yeah. I haven't learned a damn thing my whole life. I love you Donald Trump."

[More...]

Apple filed a motion today saying the Department of Justice has no right to make it hack into iPhones.

Apple argues that not only does it not even know exactly how to create the software in question, the larger issue is the bad precedent of allowing the FBI to compel it, or any other tech company, to write code against its will.

“If Apple can be forced to write code in this case to bypass security features and create new accessibility, what is to stop the government from demanding that Apple write code to turn on the microphone in aid of government surveillance, activate the video camera, surreptitiously record conversations, or turn on location services to track the phone’s user?” asks the brief. “Nothing.”

[More...]

Hillary Clinton did not write the 1994 Crime Bill, officially titled the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355, Pub.L. 103–322. She wasn't in the Senate when it passed. She did not coin the phrase juvenile "superpredator." The attention being given to an activist criticizing her remarks in 1996 is, as usual, overblown.

"Superpredators" was an idea created by Former Bush Drug Czars William Bennett and John Walters, along with former Princeton professor and Bush advisor, John J. DiIulio Jr., in a book titled "Body Count" (Simon & Schuster, 1996). It was widely repudiated by almost everyone shortly thereafter, but not shortly enough to avoid affecting the Democrats' crime agenda in Congress.

Ted Kennedy twice referred to the discredited term during remarks to Congress in 2004, once when advocating for the assault weapons ban and once when advocating for the Democratic version of an anti-gang bill (over its Republican rival, S. 1735, the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act.) On the assault weapons ban: [More...]

ISIS published video today of its training camp, Abu Hamza Al Muhajir, in Fallujah. In addition to running through fire, the recruits do somersaults while holding a large rifle, ending up in perfect position to fire. This is an Abu Wahib move. The child recruits trained in Raqqa also perform the somersault maneuver.

I don't link to ISIS videos, so please don't put links in comments. But I am curious as to news about Abu Wabib, I haven't seen any in a while.

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.

NPR has published Apple's Feb. 17, 2016 response to a federal magistrate judge in New York who requested information the day before on instances in which the Feds are seeking assistance unlocking encrypted data on iPhones. You can view it here. The case is In re Order Requiring Apple Inc. to Assist in the Execution of a Search Warrant Issued by the Court, No. 15-MC-1902, Eastern District of New York. The Magistrate Judge is Jamie Orenstein, who has long been concerned about the privacy intrusions inherent in government requests for cell phone data. Here's an example from last October. [More...]

Harry Reid has endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

Reid said he took pains to remain neutral in the competition between Clinton and Bernie Sanders so he would not be accused of rigging the caucuses.

John Kasich is not dropping out.

Kasich's campaign is running a strategy that relies on surviving through the March 1 Super Tuesday contest and winning Michigan's March 8 primary. Kasich says people need to "chill out" because there's a "long way to go" in the GOP nominating contest.

[More...]