PBC News & Comment: Another Fact-Free GOP “Debate” Tonight

Framed like a WWF smackdown, CNN hosts another gotcha session with GOP’s parade of idiots, who can lie without consequence…--factcheckers show incredible rates of deceit in GOP candidates, but nobody cares
--trying to shore up his plummeting poll numbers, Ben Carson demands investigation of CAIR on false claim it’s aligned with terrorists
--all Los Angeles public schools were closed today after bomb threat emailed from Germany
--more unproven leaks from anonymous government sources say female suspect in San Bernardino posted pro-jihad comments on Facebook, as the prior claim of Dec 2 Facebook post is embellished without proof
--man is busted in Maryland, FBI says he got $8,700 from alleged Islamic State source in Egypt
--in Chicago, Illinois man joins his cousin in guilty plea over alleged plan to join IS or stage an attack in US, as usual, there is a paid FBI informant in the case
--author Steven Hill and reporter Carolyn Said of the SF Chronicle talk about Airbnb and its impact on rental housing rates and inventory
--in last week’s podcast with Hill about Uber, he talked about the fight to unionize Uber drivers in Seattle; the drivers have won the first round. Uber has also tried to jam new contracts on drivers that bars future class action lawsuits
--Saudi Arabia forms faux coalition of 34 Muslim nations vowing to fight the terrorists they fund and support
--violence in Burundi continues, could be the next Hotel Rwanda
--as low crude oil prices yield low gas prices and stock market turmoil, the oil bust in Canada’s tar sands province of Alberta leads to hardship, suicide increase
--Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will face desertion charges in general court-martial