Thanks to budget cuts, the New York City Department of Transportation has stopped its graffiti removal program. Good, cause graffiti is cool.

http://gawker.com/5-pointz-has-b...

Government by the people, for the people would be great if we, the people, weren’t such morons. In deed, in an effort to insure that good grammar shall not perish from the earth, Official House Resolution No. 1220 comes to the good people of Missouri from Rep. Tracy McCreery, who has apparently built up some deep-seeded loathing for her colleagueses abuse of the English language. In an interview with the Missouri Riverfront Times, McCreery explained that her fellow pubic servants’ constant slips of the tongue had the affect of “nails on a chalkboard” and that “it happens pretty much daily.”

Now, with the help of the the House Resolution below, McCreery is knitting this problem in the butt.

Of course, for all intensive purposes, the Resolution doesn’t come with any consequences for the dolts who can’t stop saying “physical” when they mean “fiscal.” But McCreery’s made her massage loud and clear irregardless.

[h/t The Washington Post]

When Donald Trump announced his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, people had a lot of questions. Is he really this evil? (Yes.) Is this going to be the gaffe that does him in? (In your dreams.) What about Trump’s fabulously wealthy buddies—will they still be let in? (They’ll be just fine.)

During his extended interview with the candidate yesterday, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked Trump about the specifics of the plan. From Mother Jones:

“I have actually—believe it or not, I have a lot of friends that are Muslim and they call me,” Trump said, when asked about his plan by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, the event’s moderator. “In most cases, they’re very rich Muslims, OK?”

Matthews then asked Trump if his rich Muslim friends would be able enter the country under Trump’s Muslim ban. “They’ll come in,” Trump said. “You’ll have exceptions.”

The Muslim ban is a horrible, racist thing. Plenty of people have gone as far as to call it un-American, having seemingly forgot about slavery, the Chinese exclusion act, internment camps, Jim Crow, and so on. But Trump is not an aberration, and neither is his plan. With this latest clarification, he’s embracing yet another one of our country’s most cherished principles: no matter the rule, always make an exception for the rich.

On Wednesday, 16 conservative female members of the media joined together to put out a well-intentioned if demented letter urging Donald Trump, their party’s leading presidential candidate, to admit that a woman’s experience might be worth considering.

The letter, which you can read here in full, was written in response to Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s assault on Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields—an assault which was captured on camera and reported firsthand by the Washington Post, but which the campaign has repeatedly denied, choosing instead to subject Fields her to widespread abuse from Trump’s hellacious base and work as hard as they could to tarnish her reputation.

Specifically, Lewandowski, Trump, and Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson initially insisted that Fields’ claims were invented to earn herself publicity. Then, after the video footage was released, Trump changed tack—Fields was actually attempting to assault Trump, and Lewandowski was defending him.

In response to all that, this group of professional commentators thought that a relatively polite open letter would do the trick. (You wonder: as women who have covered the GOP for a living, they should know better. But on the other hand, it’s been their job to support the way this party functions, too.)

“The press is to have an adversarial, yet civil approach to those in, or running, for elected office,” the letter reads. “Never in this line of work is it acceptable to respond to reasonable and legitimate questioning with use of physical force.”

The letter, which is signed by Dana Loesch, Katie Pavlich, Meghan McCain, and S.E. Cupp, among others, continues:

The photographs, audio, videos, and witness accounts documenting the treatment of Michelle Fields by Corey Lewandoswki [sic], Donald Trump’s campaign manager, are inexcusable and unprofessional. Donald Trump should immediately remove Lewandowski from his campaign. The Trump campaign has stated that Lewandowski will not be fired even if convicted, however unlike the Trump campaign, we believe in making a statement on the record to clearly highlight the difference between right and wrong.

It’s a noble sentiment, but one that either betrays an utter lack of understanding of Donald Trump and of the party to which he and these women belong, or else a total unwillingness to accept the facts.

First of all, Trump is notoriously, astoundingly unconcerned about what the media thinks of the way he’s running his campaign, much less what female pundits think (ie. “Crazy Megyn Kelly;” “Blood coming out of her wherever;” other female reporters have been called “third-rate reporters,” “absolutely terrible,” “liberal clown;” he referred to CNN commentators S.E. Cupp and Ana Navarro as, “two of the dumbest people in politics,”) and he has largely grown in popularity based on smug disdain alone. That these women feel a civil, quietly virtuous gesture such as this one would ruffle the steel wool on his head is depressing.

More depressing, perhaps, is the hopeful naiveté exhibited by this group of intelligent women—who fight tooth and nail, continuously, in order not to be associated with liberal feminism, but now hope that some mechanism within their own political party might suddenly swing into gear when they are the ones pointing out sexism and misconduct.

And most depressing of all is the suggestion within the letter that they’ve already adopted a fatalistic viewpoint. That last sentence—“even if Lewandowski is not fired, which he won’t be, we believe in making a statement on the record”—is so utterly defeated. It’s so pragmatic and even more alarming as a result. What else can we do? they are asking themselves, understanding that their party’s mistrust of women at this point seems permanently baked in.

There’s a Republican answer in this situation that allows the party to condemn the assault without admitting that the treatment of Fields has been depressingly gendered. “Physical aggression towards any reporter, regardless of gender, is unacceptable,” goes the easy way out. But that response goes flat as soon as you survey the reactions from the Trump campaign, from Breitbart News, and from Trump’s base. All of these camps have relied on the assumption that a female reporter might have something to gain from such a scandal (strikingly similar to the widespread assumption that some women falsely report sexual assaults for publicity or money).

Meanwhile, Vocativ reported that the campaign’s rhetoric against Fields had resulted in hundreds of tweets from Trump supporters using language like “bitch,” “whore,” and “bimbo.”

But what are Republican women to do? The Republican party has no mechanism for dealing with blatant instances of gendered abuse, because it doesn’t have the language to do so. For so many prominent Republicans (at least the prominent Republicans of this election cycle), any sort of demonstrable sexism is an invention, a tool fabricated by the left to stoke outrage, and the way this affects Republican women’s ability to assert their independence is painful. A Republican troll (or somewhat standard party member; his bio reads “Freelance writer, Constitutionalist”) replied to Dana Loesch, saying, “These broads need to get back in the kitchen and make some sandwiches & be quiet.” To that, Loesch replied, “We only make sandwiches for real men.”

Reading this, you wonder: what might it be like to have earnestly believed in all this as a woman? To have been invested in a meritocratic system where sexism either isn’t real or is something that the best women rise above? What happens when, one day, the hideous, sexist gaslighting you thought you were protected from happens to a respected, credible conservative woman like you?

What happens when, all at once, it becomes clear what others have been saying—that Trump’s inability to treat women like humans will actually have a significant effect on his electability, and that it’ll sink the party’s prospects in the end? Or, perhaps what’s scarier, that it won’t, largely because the GOP has built a contemporary ideology based on the premise that sexism doesn’t matter, that anyone can be as successful as anyone else and it just so happens that white men are the best at it, that discrimination is a liberal construct and isn’t real?

And what do you do when you realize that Ted Cruz and John Kasich, the only other remaining candidates, refuse to address women as a distinct group with a distinct experience except to say that they should be protected as wives and from themselves? When you realize that Cruz and Kasich can stay conveniently, conspicuously silent because it won’t affect their standing either way?

The New York Times wrote this week about the growing push among congressional Republican women to appeal to their own:

Acutely aware that the Democrats will most likely have a woman at the top of their ticket in 2016, [Rep. Cathy] McMorris Rodgers and some of her female colleagues undertook an ambitious campaign — and an unconventional one by Washington standards. They decided to reach out to women via women’s magazines and new media, hoping to connect with them in grocery store aisles and through popular online forums.

They recorded some success with upbeat tales of Republican women scattered through the pages of publications such as Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire and, most recently, Elle...

“I think it is important that we respect that women have different political views,” said Ms. McMorris Rodgers, a strong conservative who grew up picking fruit in her family’s orchard in eastern Washington and became the 200th woman ever elected to the House. “The idea that just because you are a woman you should be supporting Hillary Clinton I think is false. There is a broad base of political views.”

When Jezebel writer Ellie Shechet and I went to New Hampshire for the lead-up to the primary, we asked voters on both sides of the aisle what women needed most, and which candidate could conceivably get it for them. Democrats listed access to good reproductive healthcare, wage equality, and more representation among a number of other pressing concerns; Republicans far and away refused to answer.

“I think we all need to be treated as a unit,” one Rubio supporter told us. “I think the black-white issue, the women vs. men issue isn’t uniting us all together. We need to be working for all of us.”

Of course, that position fails when gender becomes an issue.

Illustration by Bobby Finger

I don’t ever remember eating applesauce, which looks and tastes disgusting, so, at the age of 27, I tried it.

Previously:

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

http://domesticity.gawker.com/watch-an-adult...

Solitary confinement is torture. Confinement in a solitary cell with a cellmate? That my be even worse.

It is becoming an increasingly mainstream recognition that confining prisoners in small cells alone for extended periods of time is fundamentally inhumane. President Obama has banned solitary confinement for juveniles; states have been taking their own steps to cut back on the use of solitary in prisons. But even as we see these baby steps of progress, few of us may have considered the fact that in prisons across America, overcrowding has led to something even more horrifying than solitary confinement: small solitary cells with an extra bed added in to accomodate two prisoners. This devastating story by The Marshall Project and NPR examines the consequences of such claustrophobic treatment, that is widespread beyond belief:

While there are no national statistics on the number of people confined in double-cell “solitary,” at least 18 states double-up a portion of their restrictive housing, and over 80 percent of the 10,747 federal prisoners in solitary have a cellmate...

In Menard [a prison in Illinois], double-celled prisoners are placed in rooms that are a foot-and-a-half narrower than those in general population (too narrow, one inmate has said, to do push-ups). Gerard Schultz, who was double celled at Menard for a cumulative eight months, explained in a letter that he had to create a schedule with his cellie to determine when someone could stand up.

These prisoners receive limited rec time and only two showers per week. The rest of the day and night, they are locked in a tiny, stuffy cell with a stranger, too small to even allow them to both stand up at the same time. “Being housed in solitary confinement with another person, unable to escape that person’s presence, habits, or tactics, is like wearing a corset made of nails and explosives, constantly,” one inmate who murdered his cellmate told The Marshall Project.

If we cannot jail people humanely we should not be allowed to jail them at all. What the fuck.

[The full story]

Wendi Deng was married to Rupert Murdoch for 14 years before they divorced in 2013 amidst rumors that Deng had been cheating on the founder of News Corp. with Tony Blair, the ex-prime minister of the United Kingdom. (Both parties deny this.) With one, maybe two of the world’s most prominent morally questionable, gross men down, you may ask, who else is there left to romance? Who could be ickier or more morally repugnant than Rupert Muroch? According to Us Weekly, the paper of record for international intrigue, she has found someone who fits the bill: Vladimir Putin.

Per Us:

How’s this for a new couple alert? The rumor circulating around the corridors of power — from Washington, D.C., to Europe and Asia — is that Vladimir Putin and Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife, are dating.

Reports of the pair have been floating around for years, ever since their respective divorces in 2014 and 2013.

One insider close to the powerful leader tells Us Weekly the relationship is “serious.”

The source of the rumors cited by Us is unclear, but at the very least writers have been fantasizing about this pairing since Deng’s divorce from Murdoch. Journalist Virginia Heffernan apparently made a Pinterest page imagining a relationship between Deng and Putin, and author Gary Shteyngart tweeted this on the day the divorce was reported:

As recently as six days ago, a website called Orb Magazine reported that Deng and Putin were an item, citing “one of the most prominent and worldly citizens of NY and London.” (Lindsay Lohan????)

I wonder what they talk about.

Americans are drinking less soda with each passing year—which makes the remaining soda that we do drink all the more important. Sadly, new evidence indicates that this country’s taste in soda is going to hell. Hey, someone call a “Doctor....”

..........Pepper,” that is. And watch out—he’s a quack!

2015'S FOURTH MOST POPULAR SODA BRAND: Mtn Dew.
BUT NOW IN 2016: It’s Dr. Pepper.

Apparently some people think Dr. Pepper is better than Diet Mtn Dew? Nope. Wise up idiots.

Can you freaking believe this?

I can’t EVEN!!

A sobering thought but one that’s impossible not to consider—like a large orange elephant in the room—when confronted by images of Donald Trump and Melania Trump in close proximity. What are they like off-camera, just doing stuff at home? I imagine it goes something like this.

Almost as if on cue, Trump’s wife, Melania, walked by in a bathrobe and giant sunglasses, headed for the spa. Even at home, Trump was wearing his red cap emblazoned with “Make America Great Again” - and carrying a stack of news clips about himself.

Sounds about right. That being said, if you know what Donald and Melania Trump do all day please contact tips@gawker.com.

Shocking news out of Argentina’s seething, sweat-streaked strip club of a country—the woman who led Obama in a sultry tango last week at a State Dinner had been expressly forbidden from rubbing her harlot body against him, and she did it anyway.

“It wasn’t in the protocol. To tell you the truth, it was forbidden for me to ask him to dance,” the Daily Mail quotes the dancer, Mora Godoy, as saying.

Obama, who initially refused her request, finally succumbed to her dark seduction, engaging in a frankly delightful performance, in a forced participation at a matinee production of Cabaret sort of way. Except, the Mail warns:

What President Obama may not have known at the time is that Ms Godoy previously appeared on the July 2006 cover of Playboy, and was fully nude in an accompanying spread.

For shame.

http://gawker.com/who-gave-obama...

Earlier today on this very website, my colleague Sam Biddle referred to a recent photograph of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pouring a bag of M&Ms into a box of M&Ms as “embarrassing” and inexplicable—an analysis as unfair as it is incorrect. Because in this instance, for what may be the very first time in his life, Chris Christie did the right thing.

http://gawker.com/chris-christie...

As Christie explained in this morning’s radio interview, “You get the box, you open the box, there’s a bag inside the box.” The veteran snack gourmand did not purchase two separate containers of M&M’s chocolate candies, as was widely assumed. In fact, M&M’s are often sold with the excessive packaging seen both above and in the tweet below.

Surely, one does not need two M&M’s containers, so when faced with the choice, one must choose the best vessel for the situation. Chris Christie was at a basketball game; this means lots of excitement, lots of movement, and lots of potential for scattered treats. M&M’s bags are anything but sturdy. A cardboard box, on the other hand, is far more likely to stand up to rowdy, sportsmanlike jostling.

Does it take a little extra effort and care to pour the contents of the bag into the box? Sure. But is it worth it? Absolutely.

For once, Chris Christie is not the monster in this situation. A man should not be judged for choosing what is clearly the superior of two options. Mars, Incorporated, however, should be rebuked for its excessive use of packaging and—more importantly—its silence. For the shame some, including Biddle, have foisted upon Christie is in fact the company’s own.

And Chris Christie, you are an awful man for many reasons. Your candy strategy is not one of them.

Jalopnik The Tesla Model 3 Could Be The Tipping Point For How Cars Are Sold In America | Lifehacker Correct a Child’s Behavior Without Punishment By Focusing on These Three Things | io9 Statistical Analysis Has Revealed Game of Thrones’ True ‘Main’ Character | Kotaku The Division’s Endgame Is About To Get A Lot of New Stuff |

There are plenty of ways to arouse suspicion as a sitting governor. Here’s a pretty good one from Alabama’s Robert Bentley, who is currently beating back a festering adultery scandal: personally purchasing cheap burner phones at Best Buy.

http://gawker.com/alleged-mistre...

According to AL.com, multiple employees of a Best Buy in Tuscaloosa confirm that they personally sold—or witnessed another employee selling—AT&T burner flip phones to the governor on several occasions. Said one source:

[U]p until the scandal came to light, Bentley HIMSELF would by (sic) little burner phones ... I witnessed it with my own 2 eyes and even sold him one,” the current Best Buy employee wrote via online message. “I sold to him once, saw him purchase twice.”

AL.com further reports that when they filed a public records request to see text message conversations on Bentley’s state phone they were given back a whole bunch of nothing:

But Bentley’s office only provided one short string of less than a dozen text messages between him and Mason in response to an AL.com public records request last year seeking text exchanges from his state cell phone, saying that he did not text often on that phone.

But in the leaked phone conversations, Bentley makes several references to sending and receiving texts. He also at one point talks to his alleged mistress and recently deposed advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason on FaceTime, which suggests he used multiple phones, a suspicion confirmed by the ex-police officer who spoke about Bentley’s rumored affair on the record last week. Per AL.com:

The revelation that Bentley purchased disposable “burner” phones comes as he attempts to politically recover from allegations by former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency head Spencer Collier that Bentley had a sexual relationship with former top political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

Collier told AL.com last week that while he worked for Bentley, the governor was a text message user and frequently changed cell phones.

“Don’t buy your own burners” should probably be one of the first things they teach you in Governor’s School.

Tomorrow, the Chicago Teachers Union will hold a one-day walkout to protest budget cuts, pay, and contract issues. “It has been death by a thousand cuts,” one teacher says. “But recently it’s felt more like, I don’t know, chopping off our arms.”

http://gawker.com/5944890/strike...

George Mason this week scheduled a future campus PC incident by announcing plans to rename itself after a Supreme Court justice who, frankly, would never have hired one of its graduates.

The University’s Board of Visitors voted Thursday to change the law school’s name to the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University. The school also announced $30 million in new donations, including a $10 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation, which already underwrites the rest of the university so why not the law school too, I guess.

Far sadder is the fact that aspiring lawyers can attend the Antonin Scalia School of Law but Antonin Scalia himself, as Above the Law’s Elie Mystal notes, would never have wasted his time on them.

“By and large,” Scalia told an American University of Law student in 2009, “I’m going to be picking from the law schools that basically are the hardest to get into. They admit the best and the brightest, and they may not teach very well, but you can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse. If they come in the best and the brightest, they’re probably going to leave the best and the brightest, OK?”

At the time, American was ranked 45th. George Mason is currently ranked 45th.

Related: Earlier this year, Gawker published a story containing multiple firsthand, on-the-record allegations of unfair treatment of black law students by Antonin Scalia, when he was an instructor at the University of Chicago.

http://gawker.com/black-former-l...

Brand new Dash buttons, Philips Wake-Up Lights, and a Dremel Gold Box kick off today’s best deals.

Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter to never miss a deal. Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter.

Top Deals

From now until 8PM ET, eBay is taking $15 off any $75 order (with a few exclusions) when you check out with Paypal and use code C15LIMITEDTIME at checkout. That includes gift cards (other than eBay gift cards), so there’s really no reason not to take advantage.

Note: The section below is just a few top picks, but eBay sells gift cards to hundreds of different retailers. Just head over to their site and search for what you’re looking for.

Top Picks:

• Refurb WORX 20V Grass Trimmer & Blower Combo with 2 Batteries ($70) | eBay
• Open Box Xbox One Elite Controller ($105) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME
• $100 Lowe’s Gift Card ($75) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME
• $100 Cabela’s Gift Card ($70) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME
• $100 Jiffy Lube Gift Card ($65) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add two $50 gift cards to your cart.
• $100 Steak & Shake Gift Card ($65) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add four $25 gift cards to your cart
• $120 AMC Theaters Gift Card ($85) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add two $50+$10 gift cards to your cart
• $90 Regal Movie Gift Card ($60) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add three $25+$5 gift cards to your cart
• $100 BP Gas Gift Card ($77) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME
• $75 Southwest Airlines Gift Card ($60) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add three $25 cards to your cart.
  
• $75 Domino’s Gift Card ($60) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add three $25 cards to your cart.
  
• $120 Red Lobster/Olive Garden/Longhorn Steak House/Etc. Gift Card ($85) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add two $50+$10 gift cards to your cart.
  
• $75 Panera Bread Gift Card ($60) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add three $25 cards to your cart.
  
• Two Years PlayStation Plus ($85) | eBay | Promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. Add two cards to cart.

If you still haven’t upgraded your morning routine up a life-changing wake-up light, Amazon’s deeply discounting two different models as part of a Gold Box deal today.

http://gizmodo.com/a-light-up-ala...

http://bestsellers.kinja.com/bestsellers-ph...

For starters, the high-end HF3520 is down to $104, which is within a few bucks of the best price we’ve ever seen. The HF3520 features five different wake-up sounds, an FM radio, the ability to set two different alarms, and a color-shifting light that accurately mimics a sunrise.

Update: Amazon has sold out of both models, but a third party seller has the HF3505 available for a similar price right now.

If you don’t want to spend quite that much, the HF3505 is also marked down to $65. While it lacks its big brother’s color-shifting light and a few wake-up sounds, it does still include a radio, and its yellow light will still get your body ready for the morning. I have the similar HF3500, and I don’t know how I’d function without it.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Wake-U...

Just remember that like all Gold Box deals, these prices are only available today, or until sold out, so don’t sleep on it.

You might not need to use a Dremel all that often, but it’s one of those things everyone should keep in their tool box, if only for sanding things and carving jack-o-lanterns. Today only as part of a Gold Box deal, Amazon’s discounting a variety of Dremel starter packs, starting at just $29.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

It wasn’t long ago that portable, USB-powered external hard drives maxed out at 2TB, but Seagate’s new Backup Plus manages to double that, and you can pick one up for an all-time low $95 today, in red or silver with promo code C15LIMITEDTIME. That price even includes 200GB of Microsoft OneDrive storage for two years, which is a $96 value on its own.

We’re not sure how long this deal will last, so if you need to keep a lot of storage in your travel bag, or plugged into your Xbox One, I’d grab this quickly.

Dorco, the best deal in razor blades and supplier of Dollar Shave Club, is offering a BOGO deal on their popular Pace 4 razor today. Just add two to your cart, and use promo code BOGOPACE4 to get one for free. Plus, all orders ship for free.

Note: Each unit comes with a handle and two cartridges, so you’ll get two handles and four total cartridges with this deal.

Want to try out Apple CarPlay without...buying a new car? This aftermarket Pioneer head unit is marked down to an all-time low $400 on Amazon today, and can be installed in any double-DIN dash opening on your existing vehicle.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SPH-DA...

Solar gadget chargers are great for camping, or just for peace of mind if you’re worried about natural disasters, and this 8 watt model is marked down to just $18 today, one of the lowest prices we’ve ever seen on any solar charger.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...

Amazon added over 70 new Dash buttons to their lineup this morning, and while you probably don’t need most of them, there may be a few in there that you want. The buttons still cost $5 each, but as an added incentive, you’ll get that $5 back in the form of an Amazon credit when you make your first purchase.

http://gizmodo.com/if-you-need-th...

You can probably live without this aluminum phone stand on your desk or nightstand, but for $3, why would you want to?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MUHUCBI?...

Between shedding fur on your seats and a seemingly biological need to jump into the front seat while you’re passing an 18-wheeler on the freeway, it’s no secret that a lot of dogs don’t do particularly well in the car. Personally, I put my dog in a collapsible fabric kennel in the backseat, but if you want your pooch to have a little more freedom, this backseat dog cover looks like a perfect solution.

The cover hooks into the headrests on both the front and back seats, creating a kind of loosely enclosed room that will keep your dog safely in the backseat, and her fur a layer removed from your upholstery.

For a few years now, Antec’s USB-powered HDTV bias light has been one of our most reliably popular deals whenever it went on sale. The problem: It only got a significant discount once every few months. Luckily, a copycat has emerged to fill in the gap.

http://bestsellers.kinja.com/bestsellers-an...

Just like the Antec model, these Vansky LED light strips plug directly into your TV’s USB port for power, and sticks to the back of the set via built-in adhesive. Once you turn your TV on, the light strip will cast a soft glow on the wall behind it, which can reduce eyestrain when watching in the dark, and improve your TV’s perceived black levels.

Whenever we post a deal on the Antec light, it sells out within hours. I’m not sure if that’ll be the case today, but I wouldn’t take any chances.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9RN2L2?...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9RN0UK?...

Update: Now $105 with promo code C15LIMITEDTIME

The Xbox One Elite controller is ridiculous and indulgent and...maybe actually worth it? As long as you don’t mind an open box model, this is the best price we’ve seen to date.

http://kotaku.com/xbox-elite-wir...

If you have any camping trips or beach outings on the horizon, Amazon’s discounting a bunch of highly rated Coleman gear, today only. Options include everything from coolers to air mattresses to giant screened canopies, so everyone should be able to find something they need, whether they’re avid outdoorsemen or not.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Today only, Amazon’s deeply discounting a number of Yukon Outfitters bags, running the gamut of cheap dry bags to versatile backpacks to giant duffles. Like all Gold Box deals though, these prices are only available today, or until sold out.

We see deals on car-starting battery packs just about every day, but even by our standards, $35 is a really fantastic price. Just note that this model is only 300A, so if your car’s engine is 3L or larger, keep reading for a more powerful alternative.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZZKGVY4?...

For larger trucks and SUVs, you’ll want to shell out a few extra bucks for a 400A or 600A model.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0191DLAZ0?...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZZGE4KG?...

Remember the Lytro Illum? The professional-grade light field camera that could refocus and shift perspective on photos after you took them? It was undoubtedly cool, but a tough sell at its original $1600 price. But could you be tempted at $320? [LYTRO ILLUM 40 Megaray Light Field Camera, $320]

http://gizmodo.com/lytros-new-pro...

$6 is about as cheap as Bluetooth selfie sticks ever get, so if you’ve been wanting to pick one up, now’s the time to do it. Just don’t use it to take selfies with your plane’s hijacker, please.

http://gizmodo.com/hijack-pics-or...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017VE4LP2?...

Corsair’s Scimitar gaming mouse is perfect for MMO players (or even for general computing tasks), and Amazon’s marked it down to an all-time low $60 today. That’s still a decent chunk of change, but it gets you a 12,000 DPI sensor, dynamic backlighting, and 12 programmable side buttons.

http://lifehacker.com/why-i-started-...

Final Fantasy XV is up for preorder on Amazon, which means that Prime members can save 20% on their order, including on the Deluxe Edition. Just note that you won’t see your discount until checkout.

Here’s your occasional reminder that Prime entitles you to 20% off any preorder or newly released physical video game, so check out our upcoming game calendar for some more savings opportunities.

http://deals.kinja.com/calendar-of-up...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJPA9YE/...

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-...

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http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-...

When it comes to smartphone dash mounts, magnetic solutions have dominated the sales charts over the last year or so. But if you don’t want to obstruct a vent, or use a case with your phone, a these deals might bring you back into the suction cup camp.

First up, iOttie’s One Touch 2 universal dash mount is marked down to $13, matching an all-time low. The original One Touch won a Kinja Co-op a few years back, and the sequel added a longer telescoping arm, as well as a bigger cradle for today’s skateboard-sized phones.

http://www.amazon.com/iOttie-Holder-...

And if you’ve got $40 to spare, and hate plugging and unplugging a power cord every time you get in the car, the iOttie One Touch Wireless is also marked down to an all-time low price today. This thing is basically just a One Touch 2, but with a Qi charger built right in for hassle-free charging. That’s no use for iPhone owners, but if you own a modern Android phone, I’d say it’s well worth the price premium.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UXS7958/...

For a limited time, you can save $50 on an Xbox One choose your game bundle, and get a bonus controller tossed in for free. I’ve long said that extra controllers represent the best value in value-added toss-ins, because unlike games, they don’t really depreciate over time.

The choose your game bundle gives you a free download of one of four titles:

• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Forza 6
• Rare Replay
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

Between the game and the controller, you’ll have yourself a solid gaming setup for just $299.

You’ve probably never been to Thailand or Asia in general, and at $699 including air and a 4-star hotel, this deal from the folks at TravelZoo is too good to ignore. Don’t forget promo code TZBKVC150.

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/how-to-avoid-t...

As far as we and TravelZoo know, this is the best price on this particular trip ever, but there’s a lot to consider before booking. As TravelZoo notes, seven nights is a lot of time to spend in one city, and this is a long flight. You should prepare for and research booking excursions, extending the trip, and flying to other parts of Thailand to get the most return for your money and your time in the air.

This deal is available for another nine days assuming the promotion doesn’t get extended. Departure dates run through December. I’ll be doing my research tonight!

http://deals.kinja.com/visit-iceland-...

Update: Now $70 with promo code C15LIMITEDTIME

If you’ve got a yard to take care of, battery operated trimmers and blowers are worth their weight in gold, and you can get a combo kit with both for just $85 right now from Worx’s official eBay storefront. The catch is that they’re refurbished, but at that price, we can’t really complain.

Like the idea of a Belkin WeMo Switch, but not willing to spend $40-$50 to try one out. This TP-Link alternative has a nearly identical feature set for half the price.

Just like a WeMo switch, TP-Link’s Smart Plug will let you turn appliances on and off from your smartphone, and set schedules to toggle them automatically. The only major feature it’s lacking is IFTTT support, but it will integrate with an Amazon Echo for voice control.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

If you don’t care about smartphone control, this three-pack of outlet switches will perform the same function with an included remote; you’ll just have to be nearby for it to work.

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Wirel...

Hands down, Nespresso is the easiest way to make decent espresso at home, and their high-end VertuoLine model will make regular coffee too. The whole set is down to an all-time low $130 on BuyDig’s eBay storefront today, complete with an Aeroccino Plus milk frother. That’s a whopping $45 less than Amazon’s current price.

http://gear.kinja.com/buying-guide-n...

Blacklight flashlights are great if you want to spot hidden stains on train seats, hotel sheets, or (gasp) even in your own house...if that’s something you want to do.

It may seem silly, but if you find even one stain in a hotel room and complain to management, I guarantee that this thing will pay for itself several times over.

It might not be mission-critical equipment for your home, but a good label maker is a nice gadget to keep around, and Amazon’s top seller is back down to $10 today, if you missed out on the same (short-lived) discount earlier this month

If you remember the old label makers that literally pressed the letters into a piece of tape, this is a bit more advanced than what you’re picturing. The Dymo LabelManager 160 can print in eight fonts at six sizes, along with clipart and special characters, and you can even preview the entire label on its LCD screen before you print. Every time we post this deal, it sells out quickly, so you’ll want to grab yours fast.

http://www.amazon.com/DYMO-LabelMana...

Tech

Storage

$50 | Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1 TB Portable External Hard Drive | eBay

Power

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014ZO46LK/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017923IGE/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014UL9190/...

Audio

$30 | SMS Audio BioSport Wired In-Ear Headphones with Heart Monitor and Mic | Adorama

$40 | LG Tone Ultra Wireless Headphones (1st Generation) | eBay

Home Theater

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9RN2L2?...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9RN0UK?...

$350 | Sceptre E555BV-F 55" 1080p 60Hz Class LED HDTV | Walmart

$650 | BenQ MW705 WXGA DLP Projector | eBay

$90 | Samsung - BD-H6500/ZA - Streaming 4K Upscaling 3D Wi-Fi Built-In Blu-ray Player | Best Buy

$130 | Pioneer VSX-524-K 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver | Newegg | After $20 rebate

Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VRCLHYS/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006DEBYWU/...

$10 Off $50 or $20 Off $100 at Monoprice with Codes BUY10 or BUY20

$130 | Dell - Inspiron 11.6" Laptop - Intel Celeron - 2GB Memory - 32GB eMMC Flash Memory | Best Buy

$18 | Samsonite Madagascar Slim Laptop Briefcase | eBay

$20 | Platinum - Laptop Tote | Best Buy

PC Parts

$80 | Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX Extreme Performance Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 240mm | Newegg | After $20 rebate

$70 | Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Laptop Hard Drive | Newegg

$65 | Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD | Newegg

Mobile Devices

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017VE4LP2?...

$600 | Samsung Galaxy S7 SM-G930F 32GB GSM Unlocked 12MP Smartphone | eBay

Photography

$770 | Refurb Nikon D7200 DSLR Body | Adorama

$320 | Lytro Illum Light Field Digital Camera | B&H

Home

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E91EGDS/...

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$5 credit with first purchase using an Amazon Dash Button | Over 70 new products added

$39 | Black & Decker Flex Cordless Mini Canister Hand Vac | Walmart

$250 | Neato Robotics XV Signature Robotic Vacuum Cleaner | Best Buy

$60 | Convertible 19" Carry-On Small Rolling Luggage | eBay

$5 | 100PCS Magic Sponge Melamine Foam Eraser | eBay

Apparel

$40 | ASICS Men’s GEL-Flux 2 Running Shoes | eBay

$50 | Columbia Thimbleberry Rain Jacket - Women’s | REI

Beauty & Grooming

$5 | Walmart Beauty Box | Walmart

Kitchen

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIBKC3K/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0034J6QIY/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018UQ5VEK/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013QLNNGW?...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011NXJTM2?...

$21 | Dunkin’ Donuts Keurig K-Cup Pods, 44 Pack | Staples

Camping & Outdoors

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009PUSZI/...

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Up To 40% Off Select Yukon Outfitters Packs & Bags | Amazon

$24 | Igloo 48-Quart IB Cooler with Playmate Mini and Legend 1-Quart Jug | Walmart

Fitness

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHP42NY?...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013FVRBJI?...

Tools & Auto

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BAHF64/...

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$59 | BLACK+DECKER 20-Volt Max Li-Ion Cordless Trimmer Combo Kit (2-Tool) | Home Depot

Media

Movies & TV

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Books

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009RRHTM4/...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A9UJWU0/...

$15 | The Aurora Award 10-eBook DRM-Free Bundle | Story Bundle

$3 | Shelter Audiobook | Harlan Coben | Audible.com | Audible

Apps

FREE | Take It Easy | iOS | Normally $2

$1 | Cannabalt | iOS | Normally $3

FREE | Hook | iOS | Normally $1

$2 | Sleep as Android Unlock | Android | Normally $5

Gaming

Peripherals

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019OQJ9XE/...

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Scrol...

$100 | Polk Audio Striker Pro ZX Wired Stereo Gaming Headset | Best Buy

PC

$18 | Hyper Light Drifter | Steam

$8 | Human Resource Machine | Steam

$5 | Trine 3 | Steam

PlayStation 4

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJPA9YE/...

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-...

http://www.amazon.com/EA-Sports-UFC-...

$54 | Dragon Quest Heroes Slime Collector’s Edition | Gamestop

Xbox One

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJPA8WC/...

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-...

$7 Murdered: Soul Suspect | Microsoft

$120 | Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller | eBay | Open Box

Wii U

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AC3ZE46/...

3DS

$19 | Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash amiibo Bundle | Gamestop

Toys

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IANUDPQ/...

Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter. We want your feedback.

The NYPD’s recent arrest of an on-duty mailman who had apparently committed no crime was so revolting that not even the NYPD could stand behind it. Lieutenant Luis Machado, who oversaw the arrest, was placed on stripped of his gun and badge and placed on modified duty, the New York Daily News reports today.

http://gawker.com/nypd-cops-cuff...

According to Glenn Grays, the postal worker who was cuffed, the officers approached him after he shouted at them for nearly hitting his truck with their car. A video of the ensuing scuffle and arrest circulated widely earlier this month.

According to the News, Grays was charged with solely with resisting arrest, a favorite catch-22 tactic of combative cops everywhere. If your only crime is resisting the officer who’s trying to arrest you, what were you being arrested for in the first place?

All of the officers involved were removed from the unit in which they worked, and the NYPD Internal Affairs is investigating the incident, the News reports.

A Virginia state trooper and two other people were shot at a bus terminal in Richmond on Thursday afternoon. The trooper succumbed to his injuries, but the two civilians were expected to survive. The gunman was shot and killed by police. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:

Corinne Geller, a state police spokeswoman, said the violence began when the state trooper encountered a man just inside the entrance to the station on North Boulevard and was shot. The man then was shot by other troopers, Geller said.

The suspect died after being taken to the hospital, Geller said. The civilians suffered what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Geller said the trooper was wearing a dark-blue uniform when the encounter with the man took place.

An unnamed law enforcement source told the Times-Dispatch that the troopers were already at the station for a training exercise involving Richmond police, Virginia state police, the FBI, and agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“The police units just poured in like a river,” Vincent Smith, who works next door to the Greyhound station, told the Associated Press. “I went to the end of the lot and there must have been 30 units just a block away.”

Update – 8:32 pm

The state trooper injured in the shooting has died, the AP reports.

On Tuesday, following a rally at SUNY-Purchase, Greenpeace activist Eva Resnick-Day confronted Hillary Clinton, asking her whether she would stop taking money from the fossil fuel industry. Clinton, frustrated, jabbed her finger in Resnick-Day’s face: “I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me.”

“I have taken money from people who work for fossil fuel companies,” Clinton said, which is an odd way of denying an accusation that hadn’t actually made. “I’m sick of it.” An enthused Huffington Post political reporter, Christina Wilkie, tweeted, “Hillary Clinton lost her temper at a Greenpeace activist today. And it was kinda badass.”

It’s not clear from the clip—which quite brief, and in which Clinton is obviously distracted—what lies the Sanders campaign are purported to have told. Perhaps the perceived insinuation was that contributions from the fossil-fuel industry have influenced her softer position on fracking and other environmental issues than her rival? Maybe!

Certainly Clinton couldn’t have been contesting that she takes money from anyone affiliated with the fossil fuel industry other than low-level employees, because she has disclosed (willingly!) having done precisely that. As two of Wilkie’s Huffington Post colleagues reported in July, nearly all of the 40 lobbyists disclosed by the Clinton campaign as bundling contributions for the the former secretary of state have worked at one point or another for the fossil fuel industry. And not just lobbyists, either:

There is one Hillblazer bundler — the name for Clinton boosters raising more than $100,000 — who stands out.

Bundler Gordon Giffin is a former lobbyist for TransCanada, the company working to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Giffin sits on the board of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, an investor in the pipeline. The Canadian bank paid Clinton $990,000 for speeches in the months leading up to her presidential announcement. Another Canadian financial institution with an interest in Keystone XL, TD Bank, paid her $651,000 for speaking engagements.

As for those smaller, individual contributions: According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton has received $307,561 in direct contributions from people employed by the fossil fuel industry. Sanders, meanwhile, has received $54,060.

Taken by itself, this is not a particularly significant number—it’s far more than Sanders has received, but far less than someone like Ted Cruz. Earlier this month, however, Vice News reported that fossil fuel interests have contributed $3.25 million to Priorities USA Action, the largest super PAC supporting Clinton’s White House bid:

The bulk of fossil fuel industry contributions to Priorities USA Action came from two donors. Donald Sussman, the founder and chairman of Paloma Partners, donated $2.5 million. His hedge fund is invested in energy companies like Phillips 66, AGL Resources, and Occidental Petroleum. David Shaw, chief scientist at D.E. Shaw Research, a computational biochemistry research company, gave some $750,000 to the Clinton-affiliated PAC. He also donated $50,000 to Clinton’s Ready PAC, formerly known as Ready for Hillary. Shaw served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) under presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. His investment management firm D.E. Shaw & Co., LP has major holdings in Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

As well as holding substantial assets in oil and gas, Shaw is also an investor in solar energy projects and an ambitious offshore wind project in New England. Greenpeace said that the split in such investments signals a concerning incongruity in interests, especially given Shaw’s role in PCAST, which has previously submitted recommendations to the president to continue efforts to decarbonize the economy and invest in renewable energy.

And, while Clinton says she supports—with many, many qualifiers and caveats—regulating the fracking industry, she also is happy to take the industry’s money: On January 27, she attended a fundraiser in Philadelphia co-hosted by Michael C. Forman, whose $17 billion “alternative investments” firm, Franklin Square Capital Partners, holds significant stakes in a number of domestic fracking companies. (Also: Jon Bon Jovi played an acoustic set.)

When asked about the fundraiser at the Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, early this month, Clinton said, “I don’t believe that there is any reason to be concerned about it.”

Five prominent members of the U.S. Women’s National Team have filed a wage discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that governing body U.S. Soccer has illegally and unfairly paid women’s players less than their counterparts on the USMNT, despite the women’s team being more successful and, at the moment, more profitable.

The complaint, which was filed by Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Alex Morgan, alleges that,

“There are no legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for this gross disparity of wages, nor can it be explained away by any bona fide seniority, merit or incentive system or any factor other than sex.”

According to the complaint, USWNT players currently take home four times less than their male counterparts. Here’s how that manifests in bonuses, appearance fees, even per diems:

This is not so simple a matter as the men being paid more because they earn more for U.S. Soccer. The filing includes the minutes from the USSF’s annual general meeting held earlier this year, in which the budget going forward was set. U.S. Soccer expects USWNT international games to bring in more revenue than the USMNT games this year—and significantly more in 2017.

(World Cup revenues don’t factor in here, as those are set by FIFA.)

This filing should be read in the context of the ugly, drawn-out labor war between the women’s team and the USSF, which has manifested itself in battles over games held in stadiums with artificial turf, which the players deem dangerous. A December friendly in Hawaii was canceled, a day after Rapinoe tore her ACL training on the field.

http://screamer.deadspin.com/u-s-soccer-doe...

At issue is whether the players and U.S. Soccer have a valid collective bargaining agreement. The last CBA expired in 2012, and the sides signed a memorandum of understanding in 2013. The USWNT wants to dissolve that MOU, while U.S. Soccer maintains it constitutes a binding contract that runs through the end of 2016. U.S. Soccer preemptively filed suit earlier this year, seeking a federal court to confirm the status quo; the USWNT is fighting it. That case remains pending.

http://screamer.deadspin.com/uswnt-players-...

The demand is simple: the women want equal pay, and if they won’t get it in a CBA (something USSF has indicated is not on the table, according to the players’ lawyer Jeffrey Kessler), they’ll seek redress under their civil rights.

And the women have one more bullet in the chamber if it comes to it. Kessler would not comment on the possibility of a work stoppage ahead of this summer’s Olympics. Hope Solo, in a call with reporters this morning, would not rule it out.

“We reserve the right to make a decision based upon what we think is fit at the time. Right now all options are open to us. We hope we don’t have to go down that road, but we are prepared to take any action if our attorneys and teams see it fit.”