Monday, November 30, 2015
Not Interested In Your Club
This post contains no deep thoughts, but I've really never understood the "New Atheist" movement generally. I grew up without religion. All evangelism sounds pretty ridiculous to me. I don't feel any need to convince people of the existence of supernatural beings. I also don't feel any need to convince people of the lack of them. More importantly, I don't think that we godless types actually lack our own superstitions. Not subscribing to or identifying with any existing religious creed/organization does not mean that all of our deeply held beliefs are rooted in RATIONALITY. That's silly too. I admit I don't really I get why people subscribe to one religion over another, but I also don't get why some self-described atheists (and I am a self-described atheist or agnostic or whatever I don't really care) think their concept of everything is somehow based on things we KNOW. We don't actually know that much. Yes, for example, Christianity seems to be pretty silly to me, but I don't claim that my framework for the universe is all that solid either.
I don't think atheism needs to be rescued, I just don't know why people need to be assholes about this stuff. And, no, saying something "seems to be pretty silly" isn't actually being an asshole unless your feefees are way too tender. Happy for people to say atheism "seems to be pretty silly." Just don't ask me to say Christian grace before lunch, like my 5th grade public school teacher did.
I don't think atheism needs to be rescued, I just don't know why people need to be assholes about this stuff. And, no, saying something "seems to be pretty silly" isn't actually being an asshole unless your feefees are way too tender. Happy for people to say atheism "seems to be pretty silly." Just don't ask me to say Christian grace before lunch, like my 5th grade public school teacher did.
By Design
My middle school had a friggin planetarium. I think you had to pay to rent/buy an instrument, but group music instruction was free after about grade 4 or so (earlier grades had music, too, just not maybe on instruments). I think The Kids Today should learn some math, but the "failing schools" narrative due to testing is just about providing an excuse for the grifters to steal their bit. My guess is they'll move on to bigger grifts at some point, as there is only so much blood you can draw from a stone, but they'll leave destroyed school districts in their wake and it will be incredibly costly to rebuild them.
But to devote so much time to algebra, ninth graders are no longer taking art, music and health. Now Ms. Brady and the other teachers are trying to pare the curriculum to give the students more time for other subjects.
And some people wonder if it is all worth it.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
If It's Sunday
I think there's a pattern here. Anyone see it? Not quite sure I do... thinking...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
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ABC's "This Week" - Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and John Kasich.
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NBC's "Meet the Press" - Carson; Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
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CBS' "Face the Nation" - Carson; Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
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CNN's "State of the Union" - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.
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"Fox News Sunday" - Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina; Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.
The Good War
I know there have been so many recently, but the recent Good War (TM) supported by the Decent Left (TM) involved Libya. That was a great and glorious noble struggle to save the people and Libya from some guy who was our friend then our enemy then our friend then our enemy again because reasons. So we tipped over the apple cart to knock over the dominos of freedom to usher in the spring or whatever the hell the metaphors were at the time. Nobody could have predicted.
Of course nobody could have predicted precisely. Some of us just said that maybe we should just stop bombing people all the time because no matter how noble and pure our intentions are, no matter how shiny this shining city in the hill is, it probably won't end well.
I guess we can give it one more go. See you in a few Friedmans.
The leadership of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is now clenching its grip on Surt so tightly that Western intelligence agencies say they fear the core group may be preparing to fall back to Libya as an alternative base if necessary, a haven where its jihadists could continue to fight from even if it was ousted from its original territories.
Of course nobody could have predicted precisely. Some of us just said that maybe we should just stop bombing people all the time because no matter how noble and pure our intentions are, no matter how shiny this shining city in the hill is, it probably won't end well.
I guess we can give it one more go. See you in a few Friedmans.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
What's It All About Then
Sure there was always some possibility this was over a conflict with a co-worker or other kind of personal issue. People snap about that stuff. But it wasn't very likely.
As NBC reporting, source tells me PP shooting politically motivated. After being arrested suspect said to officers: "no more baby parts"
— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) November 28, 2015Pro-Life Murderers
You can understand why our media has problems with this stuff. Both sides, also, too.
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Thanks for informing your readers, New York Times.
"Surreptitious." Yes that's a full and appropriate way to describe videos. Oh, yes, "deceptively-edited"might be a start.
Assholes.
The shooting came at a time when Planned Parenthood has been criticized because of surreptitious videos made by anti-abortion groups of officials discussing using fetal organs for research.
"Surreptitious." Yes that's a full and appropriate way to describe videos. Oh, yes, "deceptively-edited"might be a start.
Assholes.
Friday, November 27, 2015
I Guess The Hippies Were Right Again
But, you know, at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. Usual stuff.
Basically they couldn't get with foisting on suburban districts the stuff they've been destroying urban schools with for the past dozen or so years.
Less than a year ago, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York proclaimed that the key to transforming the state’s education system was tougher evaluations for teachers, and he pushed through changes that increased the weight of student test scores in teachers’ ratings.
Now, facing a parents’ revolt against testing, the state is poised to change course and reduce the role of test scores in evaluations. And according to two people involved in making state education policy, Mr. Cuomo has been quietly pushing for a reduction, even to zero. That would represent an about-face from January, when the governor called for test scores to determine 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation.
Basically they couldn't get with foisting on suburban districts the stuff they've been destroying urban schools with for the past dozen or so years.
Nice, Polite Brits
Sure there's a culture of respecting the queue, but if anyone suspects you're jumping the queue they'll cut you.
Vaporware
Happy to be wrong about self-driving cars, but that we're planning for a technology that doesn't exist...
Sure restriping lanes isn't the biggest deal, but I suspect for these things to actually work to whatever extent they will, a lot of public infrastructure will have to be added...
There’s also the consideration of specific lanes for autonomous vehicles. How many should be built, and when?
“Do we need 12-foot lanes? Can we get by with 9½- or 10-foot lanes?” said Biter, the Florida transportation official. “We can turn that four-lane express highway into a six-lane express highway with literally the same right-of-way footprint.”
Sure restriping lanes isn't the biggest deal, but I suspect for these things to actually work to whatever extent they will, a lot of public infrastructure will have to be added...
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Debates
After years of hearing Democrats complain about how the news shows are wall-to-wall Republican crap, it's pretty weird to hear Democrats talking about how we need fewer debates - less airtime! Because what we really need is to hear Republicans all the time, just like the rest of the year. Martin O'Mally is right about this.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Post-Apocalyptic Hellscape
Tennessee man horrified by need to walk several blocks in order to obtain free parking.
Burn it all down.
I am glad that Penn and Temple are no longer slum-looking schools, and that Drexel is coming up fast, but I could appreciate them more if I did not have to park several blocks away to avoid parking meters.
Burn it all down.
New Jersey Dreaming
New Jersey is weird state. It's big. It has a large population. It also doesn't have its own TV media market. Sure it has some local media outlets, but most coverage comes from Philly or New York City. That must be a bit weird. Local identity is forged by many things, and media coverage is one of them.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Going To Trial
My understanding is that the victims in this case were perfectly fine with the plea deal reached with the other two defendants. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the 3rd...
Knott faces trial on a count of conspiracy, two counts of aggravated assault, and related offenses in the Sept. 11, 2014, attack on a gay couple in Center City. Jury selection is expected to take place Dec. 9. Opening statements would likely begin the next day.
Michael Barry, chief of the District Attorney's Central Division, told Judge Roxanne Covington during a pretrial motions hearing Tuesday that Knott had posted "a number of tweets which clearly indicate a general dislike to a disgust of gays and lesbians and people of other backgrounds."
He said he was seeking to admit her tweets as evidence in her trial because "they are overwhelmingly relevant" and show a motive for her behavior on Sept. 11, 2014.
What's Going To Happen
Predictions are always hard, especially about the future, but I honestly can't see how the clown car show ends. I guess I'm just a silly blogger because if I were a big boy reporter I'd know that Christiementum is here and unstoppable.
This Shouldn't be Surprising
But it is.
A charge of murder is expected to be filed against a white Chicago police officer accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times, just one day before a deadline by which a judge has ordered the city to release a squad-car video of the incident.
Everybody Gets A Medal
Christie did his best to be the biggest asshole this week (and still failed!), so it's his turn.
There's no polling to justify this, but, hey, this journalist is just gonna feel it at you. I guess Barbaro's wheel-o-beat-sweetener landed on Christie, so he'll keep humping that leg until Christie drops out. Polls are for gay wizards like Gandalf and Nate Silver.
There's no polling to justify this, but, hey, this journalist is just gonna feel it at you. I guess Barbaro's wheel-o-beat-sweetener landed on Christie, so he'll keep humping that leg until Christie drops out. Polls are for gay wizards like Gandalf and Nate Silver.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Crazy Days, Man
For some reason Trump and Carson, talking about all those Mooslems they saw in New Jersey cheering on the falling WTC, remind me of Evil Bert.
Only Evil Bert is real!
Only Evil Bert is real!
Are The Kids Still On My Lawn?
Quite frequently I come across a comment (because I read too much of the internet) like "we'll never see a talent like that again." Yes, it's quite amazing that the pinnacle of human talent happened to arrive just at your formative years, about when you were between the ages of 15-25. Six billion people on this planet, and new ones being formed every day, and the greatest moments of art and music just happened to arrive at that time of your life. What a coincidence!
I'm old enough now to see younger people expressing such sentiments too, and I respond like an old to some extent, thinking "no that actually sucked you idiot!" Maybe it did, maybe it didn't, but the kids are always on the lawn, with their hippity hop and their fleek and whatever the hell it is they're up to now.
I'm old enough now to see younger people expressing such sentiments too, and I respond like an old to some extent, thinking "no that actually sucked you idiot!" Maybe it did, maybe it didn't, but the kids are always on the lawn, with their hippity hop and their fleek and whatever the hell it is they're up to now.
Maybe In Another Friedman
They already announced that Bertha won't start moving again for another month, but I put this in my calendar awhile ago because I figured it wouldn't happen.
That's from July. The new date for the completion of the training and arming of the moderate Bertha is December 23, because massive public works projects always start 2 days before Christmas.
Tunnel-boring machine Bertha, whose front end remains in pieces along the downtown waterfront, is to resume digging Nov. 23, according to a new timetable from the construction team.
That's from July. The new date for the completion of the training and arming of the moderate Bertha is December 23, because massive public works projects always start 2 days before Christmas.
There's Always Money For Killing Machines
Not much else though.
I'm sure the "military equipment budget" will do a heckuva job in its mission "to fight terrorism."
Prime Minister David Cameron will announce plans Monday to boost Britain’s military equipment budget by 12 billion pounds ($18 billion), the latest in a range of government commitments to fight terrorism and other security threats as Europe remains on a state of high alert.
I'm sure the "military equipment budget" will do a heckuva job in its mission "to fight terrorism."
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Radical Proposals
If only some cranky blogger with a silly baby blue blog template from 2002 had suggested this.
No I'm not the first or only one, but I think it was an underappreciated proposal even from the good people who get more respect than I do. They "printed" a lot of money, they just gave it to the banks instead of us. The "monetary policy" mechanism shouldn't be banks 5 seconds after the banks basically destroyed the economy. The banking function is supposed to be efficient capital allocation. That's the justification. They aren't actually any good at that. They're good at slapping down money on the craps table, then blackmailing the House into making them whole when they lose it all.
No I'm not the first or only one, but I think it was an underappreciated proposal even from the good people who get more respect than I do. They "printed" a lot of money, they just gave it to the banks instead of us. The "monetary policy" mechanism shouldn't be banks 5 seconds after the banks basically destroyed the economy. The banking function is supposed to be efficient capital allocation. That's the justification. They aren't actually any good at that. They're good at slapping down money on the craps table, then blackmailing the House into making them whole when they lose it all.
Burbsplaining
One local problem is that so many of our local elite - media figures, Big Charity, CEOs, etc... - don't actually live in the city. "Philadelphia Magazine" has become much better in its coverage of the city, but for years was a magazine for suburban Main Liners. All of this has changed a bit in recent years, but I'm still occasionally shocked that people I long associated with "Philadelphia" either never really lived in the city or moved "back" quite recently.
The point isn't that one has to be a resident to comment or try to influence what happens here. You don't have to be a resident to be a genuine stakeholder, and plenty of nonresidents pay taxes to the city. The problem is that it's so many powerful and influential people. It's like the urban hellhole version of the "deep state." As a group they're powerful, and to a great degree they don't live here. But they have big microphones and big pocketbooks.
The point isn't that one has to be a resident to comment or try to influence what happens here. You don't have to be a resident to be a genuine stakeholder, and plenty of nonresidents pay taxes to the city. The problem is that it's so many powerful and influential people. It's like the urban hellhole version of the "deep state." As a group they're powerful, and to a great degree they don't live here. But they have big microphones and big pocketbooks.
Of Course They Make Themselves Look Better
But the more "hilarious" thing is that it's almost 2016, and we're still training Iraqi troops. I guess we gave up on painting schools, at least.
Nobody ever actually explains what this "training" involves. It sounds nice. I suspect it involves finding a new bunch of recruits, giving them weapons, pointing them at the supposed bad guys du jour, and hoping for the best. Rinse and repeat.
Such changes are at the heart of an expanding internal Pentagon investigation of Centcom, as Central Command is known, where analysts say that supervisors revised conclusions to mask some of the American military’s failures in training Iraqi troops and beating back the Islamic State. The analysts say supervisors were particularly eager to paint a more optimistic picture of America’s role in the conflict than was warranted.
In recent weeks, the Pentagon inspector general seized a large trove of emails and documents from military servers as it examines the claims, and has added more investigators to the inquiry.
Nobody ever actually explains what this "training" involves. It sounds nice. I suspect it involves finding a new bunch of recruits, giving them weapons, pointing them at the supposed bad guys du jour, and hoping for the best. Rinse and repeat.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
America's Worst Humans
Chris Christie.
Christie on refugees: "I AM concerned about widows and orphans -- the widows and orphans of my state, of September 11."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 21, 2015
Minority Religion
I admit I continue to be confused by religious people who don't understand that freedom of religion is a wee bit important. I guess I blame all this on feel good Christian ecumenical stuff. Bring back the good old days when Catholics and Protestants hated each other!
I didn't have any religion growing up, and while I never self-identified as Jewish, it's probably the closest thing to a familial religious/cultural affiliation I had. A wee bit of cultural Judaism, and then Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I'm admittedly looking back on things with a bit more understanding than I had as a child, but I lived in places where Protestants (of various denominations) were dominant and places where Catholics were. And that dominance seemed to matter, enough so that the minority (in cultural power, if not numbers) religion members didn't feel so confident about their position. The community religion has a way of seeping into schools and other institutions in minor but nontrivial ways even if the School Board isn't actively trying to bring back prayer in the schools. Cultural traditions, even mostly secular ones, aren't as universal as people think.
I didn't have any religion growing up, and while I never self-identified as Jewish, it's probably the closest thing to a familial religious/cultural affiliation I had. A wee bit of cultural Judaism, and then Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I'm admittedly looking back on things with a bit more understanding than I had as a child, but I lived in places where Protestants (of various denominations) were dominant and places where Catholics were. And that dominance seemed to matter, enough so that the minority (in cultural power, if not numbers) religion members didn't feel so confident about their position. The community religion has a way of seeping into schools and other institutions in minor but nontrivial ways even if the School Board isn't actively trying to bring back prayer in the schools. Cultural traditions, even mostly secular ones, aren't as universal as people think.
Visa Waivers
Hopefully Yurp "retaliates," as is the norm with visa requirements. Going to be a lot of unhappy airline executives.
One of my favorite complaints comes from Americans anguished because they need a visa to travel somewhere. Don't you know we're Americans!!!
One of my favorite complaints comes from Americans anguished because they need a visa to travel somewhere. Don't you know we're Americans!!!
Friday, November 20, 2015
Cutting Their Way To Prosperity
Austerity keeps making the deficit worse. This is a mystery that no one understands.
It's "funny" that it doesn't matter how much the debt and deficit keep increasing. All responsible people know that austerity is the answer!
Even sensible people I know still obsess about the fact that in the late days of his administration Gordon Brown spent money on crazy things. He did! He was trying to dig holes and fill them up again. That was smarter.
It's "funny" that it doesn't matter how much the debt and deficit keep increasing. All responsible people know that austerity is the answer!
Even sensible people I know still obsess about the fact that in the late days of his administration Gordon Brown spent money on crazy things. He did! He was trying to dig holes and fill them up again. That was smarter.
The Zombie Apocalypse
Not quite but...
Bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment - also known as the antibiotic apocalypse - could plunge medicine back into the dark ages.
Soak The Rich
Denying government benefits to rich people just makes it that much harder for less than rich people to qualify. You know, eligibility, forms, a bureaucracy to determine that eligibility, etc. The way to not give Donald Trump's kids free college involves increasing his taxes. Then give the kids "free college." Democrats really need to get rid of their obsession with means testing everything. There's a simple way to means test everything: increase taxes on rich people. It isn't welfare. It's what the government provides, to everyone, and the price of that is taxes.
We're gonna get President Trump if the Clinton campaign doesn't stop talking to itself. I'm sure they all thought this was a true zinger. It isn't. Echoes of 2008 are still there. Get better.
We're gonna get President Trump if the Clinton campaign doesn't stop talking to itself. I'm sure they all thought this was a true zinger. It isn't. Echoes of 2008 are still there. Get better.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Lindsey Gets One Right
Excuse me while I go spend some time relighting the fires in hell.
“I don’t think we should be promoting Judeo-Christian values in the Arab world,” Graham told Real Clear Politics in an interview. “I think that was the Crusades.”
Why Did They Delete Their Account
One weird and sad thing about having a lot of "internet friends" is that sometimes they just disappear. Okay mostly they are acquaintances, not friends, but they're still people you might feel a connection to, people you might have actually met in real life, and then they just drop off the grid.
Internal Affairs
One trope of 80s-90s cop movies was the all powerful Internal Affairs department. They could be a force for good, getting rid of bad cops, or a force for evil, getting in the way of that lovable rogue cop who uses the smacky face when the smacky face has to be used in order to get rid of the bad guys. Whether good or evil, they were powerful. They would destroy your career.
So silly.
So silly.
Nice Grift
Because people always forget, while the City of Philadelphia is not exactly a model of perfect governance, it has no control over the school district. That is run by the state, and has been for about 15 years now. William Hite should delete his account, but he won't.
He won't even delete their account, presumably because there's enough grift to go around. Everybody wins! Except the kids today, of course. We do love our children.
(minor unnecessary disclosure: I know Amy Roat)
Yesterday, according to Source4Teachers, the fill-rate for substitute teachers was 26 percent. That’s not far above the 11 percent of substitute positions filled when school started in September, and is about the same as late October, when Source4Teachers began increasing pay rates to lure more subs. Source4Teachers had promised to have a 75 percent fill rate by September and 90 percent by January. The fill rate last year, when the district worked with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to find subs as it had for many years, was about 60 percent.
In September, district superintendent William R. Hite said the partnership with Source4Teachers was in jeopardy. But the district has yet to take action. Fernando Gallard, a spokesperson for the district, did not respond to multiple interview requests.
“The only thing I can think of is they are pleased with this level of failure,” said Amy Roat, a Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences teacher and member of the Caucus of Working Educators of the PFT. “I think everybody knew all summer that if you paid someone a fraction of a rate to do a difficult job you wouldn’t attract someone to do it.”
He won't even delete their account, presumably because there's enough grift to go around. Everybody wins! Except the kids today, of course. We do love our children.
(minor unnecessary disclosure: I know Amy Roat)
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
I Can't Keep Up
The forces of political correctness have robbed good Americans of their free speech.
I'd Rather Fondle My Detachable Death Penis
Fortunately you can do that at home. Pretty sure Macon, GA, isn't a top terrorist target, but a gun fetishist can dream.
Slightly more seriously, I have no idea what the gun policies of my local theater are because I am not insane and don't care, but the corollary to that is that if I wanted to "smuggle" in a gun to my local theater I could because nobody is patting me down or running me through a metal detector? And I live in an urban hellhole! Do gun gropers actually have to worry about this stuff?
Slightly more seriously, I have no idea what the gun policies of my local theater are because I am not insane and don't care, but the corollary to that is that if I wanted to "smuggle" in a gun to my local theater I could because nobody is patting me down or running me through a metal detector? And I live in an urban hellhole! Do gun gropers actually have to worry about this stuff?
Wednesday Crass Commercialism
I get a bunch of Jeff Bezos's money even when you send gift cards!
Give me all of Jeff's moneyz. As always, don't like Amazon, don't shop there. But if you're going to shop there anyway, give me all the moneyz.
Give me all of Jeff's moneyz. As always, don't like Amazon, don't shop there. But if you're going to shop there anyway, give me all the moneyz.
What Would You Do, Hippie???
I actually had a twitter exchange with some who runs a website that rhymes with trusinesss kinsider TrueShay on this. Britain's Corbyn is a very silly person because he's not sure that bombing people will solve the terrorist problem. This person was inspired, in the ways of twitter, to Shake His Damn Head. Silly Corbyn! Silly hippies! What would you do???
I actually have no idea. I just know that we've been bombing the shit out of everyone for 12+ years and... profit!!!
Obviously the strategy should be to kill all of the bad guys, and then there will be no more bad guys. I'm not sure why this has never occurred to us before.
I actually have no idea. I just know that we've been bombing the shit out of everyone for 12+ years and... profit!!!
Obviously the strategy should be to kill all of the bad guys, and then there will be no more bad guys. I'm not sure why this has never occurred to us before.
"Foreign Policy"
I'm not sure which demon was tasked with getting me to sort of defend Ben Carson. He is pretty much an idiot about almost everything. But in America there is foreign policy and there is "foreign policy." The latter is a creation of the Foreign Policy Community, a production of the deep state and the State Department. It is an elaborate dance, a dictionary filled with code words, a labyrinth, a Matryoshka doll, a set of rituals dictated from above by the Council On Foreign Relations. It's how we condemn enemies with bad human rights records, and hold hands with allies who have even worse ones. It's how Russia can be good one day, and bad the next. It's how Saudi Arabia is our buddy, and Venezuela is history's greatest monster. It's how we can call Assad a reformer one day, try to get rid of him the next, and then become his buddy again. It's alchemy. It's Chinatown.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
IT WAS JUST A GRIFT!!! DON'T LET OUR BOSS BE PRESIDENT!!!
Hilarious.
The conservative movement is all just a grift, from SuperPACS to whatever is Halliburton Jr. these days.
The conservative movement is all just a grift, from SuperPACS to whatever is Halliburton Jr. these days.
Hey, Dudes, Child Support is Real
Starting from some various premises: some anti-choice dudes have sex once in awhile, sometimes their use of birth control is imperfect, sometimes their little swimmers make it to the prize.
My pro-choice perspective isn't about preventing The Dudes from having to pay child support, but sometimes I think that they don't get that they will? Your uterus isn't about them, but they try to make it about them. I don't think they get that... it will be about them, for a lot of money, for a long time.
My pro-choice perspective isn't about preventing The Dudes from having to pay child support, but sometimes I think that they don't get that they will? Your uterus isn't about them, but they try to make it about them. I don't think they get that... it will be about them, for a lot of money, for a long time.
His TV Technique is Unstoppable
The second season of my good friend David Rees's TV Show, Going Deep, is being rolled out. I haven't watched the new ones yet, but I enjoyed the first season quite a bit. Ok, David isn't really my good friend. I think the extent of our actually meeting was him pulling over his car on some random corner in DC one day many years ago and yelling, "Hey Atrios! It's David Rees!" and I said "hi!" and we both went on our merry ways. But we're still "friends" in the way a lot of us are online friends due to the weird fucked up post-9/11/early blogging internet world we all were a part of. Our online adolescence, in a way. We connected. Get Your War On.
Mad Men
I get regular pitches from ad companies that I have never heard of. I never reply, because their pitches never offer any details and I don't have time or energy to have a long email exchange. I assume most of them are legit, or close enough, but the people in charge of reaching out to sucky bloggers like me are really horrible at it. So here's some advice that they'll never read, if they actually want people like me to bite:
1) What kind of ads?
2) How much do they pay (per click/per impression/whatever)? How much will they guarantee?
3) How long will it take me to be paid? How will I get paid?
I get a few of these every month. Include these answers in the pitch and maybe I will respond. Until then, keep giving me some of Jeff Bezos's money.
1) What kind of ads?
2) How much do they pay (per click/per impression/whatever)? How much will they guarantee?
3) How long will it take me to be paid? How will I get paid?
I get a few of these every month. Include these answers in the pitch and maybe I will respond. Until then, keep giving me some of Jeff Bezos's money.
In The Beginning Were The Mushroom Clouds
For those of us who were alive at the time, the runup to the Iraq war was all about mushroom clouds and oceans don't protect us anymore and balsa wood drones of death and gotta fight them over there instead of fighting them over here and scary vials of weapons of mass destruction and we're all going to die unless we take out Saddam, basically. Magically right about the time of the invasion, before the Bush administration had even bothered to clue in their sycophantic lickspittles in the right wing media, suddenly we we were talking about spreading peeance and freeance, about democracywhiskysexy, about painting schools, and liberty. Sure before that some eventheliberalhawks pretended this was about freedom for the Kurds, or something. Remember everyone had their own personal "real reason" we're going to war in Iraq. That there were about 17 contradictory ones didn't seem to dissuade anybody.
And you might remember that the logical of humanitarianism was used to justify bombing Libya. Does anybody remember Libya? For some reason no one talks about Libya anymore. How'd that humanitarian intervention go? Good, I assume! Our freedom bombs are the freest! Even some eventheliberals who opposed the Iraq war supported that one! It was quite amazing how they adopted the mantle of dripping condescension that the Iraq war supporters sported as the latest fashion. Silly hippies, this time it'll be good! Things are bad in Libya! Our freedom bombs will help them! Why do you hate the Libyan people! We must do something!
How'd that one work out?
There are people I used to consider friends, or at least friendly acquaintances, that can piss the hell off for all I care. Not over the disagreement, but because they were assholes about it then and are and silent about it now. Oopsy! Destroyed your country! Sowwy.
Anyway, the day that people who spend most of their time advocating freedom bombing advocate spending even 20% of that cost on actual humanitarianism is the day I'll listen to them. Painting schools doesn't count.
And you might remember that the logical of humanitarianism was used to justify bombing Libya. Does anybody remember Libya? For some reason no one talks about Libya anymore. How'd that humanitarian intervention go? Good, I assume! Our freedom bombs are the freest! Even some eventheliberals who opposed the Iraq war supported that one! It was quite amazing how they adopted the mantle of dripping condescension that the Iraq war supporters sported as the latest fashion. Silly hippies, this time it'll be good! Things are bad in Libya! Our freedom bombs will help them! Why do you hate the Libyan people! We must do something!
How'd that one work out?
There are people I used to consider friends, or at least friendly acquaintances, that can piss the hell off for all I care. Not over the disagreement, but because they were assholes about it then and are and silent about it now. Oopsy! Destroyed your country! Sowwy.
Anyway, the day that people who spend most of their time advocating freedom bombing advocate spending even 20% of that cost on actual humanitarianism is the day I'll listen to them. Painting schools doesn't count.
How About We Only Let In The One True Christian
Aside from the horrible bigotry, I just get a wee bit frustrated with tribal Christians who apparently know nothing about their own religion. There are a bunch of different denominations, you see, and they agree on a lot less than one might think. Yes they mostly all have the blahblahJesusblahblah but otherwise. I suppose we can can test them at the border by determining just how angry the holiday cups from Starbucks makes them. That seems to be the true test of American Christianity these days*.
*No I am not serious. Most American Christians don't deserve to be represented by the public face of Christianity in the country, which is indeed horribly stupid.
*No I am not serious. Most American Christians don't deserve to be represented by the public face of Christianity in the country, which is indeed horribly stupid.
Good Enough For Me
I'm voting Trump.
The Republican frontrunner boasted of his innate “instinct” for predicting terrorist threats, Trump told a packed crowd at Tennessee’s Knoxville Convention Center Monday night.
“In my book I predicted terrorism because I can feel it,” said Trump, who has made his billions developing casinos and hotels. “I can feel it like I feel a good location.”
Monday, November 16, 2015
Placing the Right Bets
I'd bet a reasonable amount that the entire New Jersey pension fund is invested in beanie babies. All those seemingly empty transshipment buildings along 95 probably hold them.
In case you had forgotten.
"Despite having had many months to contract for a long-term energy supply and arrange for the necessary heat to prevent the pipes in the Revel complex from freezing, Polo North has waited until the eve of winter to concoct a temporary heating plan that both unequivocally uses ACR's equipment without authorization and threatens that equipment," the utility wrote in a court filing.
And that's not all: Bank of New York Mellon is asking a judge to order Straub's Polo North Country Club to pay $1 million in back electric bills to ACR.
Both matters will be the subject of federal court hearings on Nov. 24.
So far, Straub has sunk well over $100 million into Revel, with very little to show for it.
In case you had forgotten.
Christie’s advisers say he has tried to make the best of a very bad situation. By the time he took office in January 2010, Revel was half-built on the boardwalk, a hulking mass of steel that was losing its financing. Morgan Stanley decided to take a nearly $1 billion loss on the project rather than spending more than $1 billion more to finish the project. One option was to halt construction — leaving an unfinished project looming over a boardwalk already struggling with blight.
Instead, Christie’s administration pushed forward and found new investors by early 2011, luring them with the promise of up to $261 million in tax incentives.
Before Trigger Warnings
Back before evil censoring leftists took control of college campuses and took away all of the free speech, it was common for my various faculty acquaintances and friends in the humanities to have to try to accommodate the various delicate sensibilities of conservative religious students who believed that their religion did not allow them to read certain books and (especially) see certain films. While the degree to which any particular accommodation is "reasonable" in these circumstances is debatable, they were a regular, if not extremely frequent, type of request that faculty members had to deal with. None of this ever made the news or inspired a billion frothing think pieces about how college students were censoring us all, or about how the delicate little flowers needed their safe spaces because the kids today are weaklings. But the substance of the requests was the same: warn me about the material, let me decide what I can and can't read/watch, and find alternative assignments for me if I ask for them.
Those who bleat loudest about trigger warnings (which, whatever their merits in any particular context, have not actually taken over college syllabi, though it's fun to pretend they have) would probably be leading the charge to demonize the faculty who were teaching their precious little darlings using some of the materials they are actually using. Faculty sometimes teach using violent and pornographic films and novels, including sexual violence. And gay stuff! Lots and lots of gays stuff. Some of this would horrify those horrified by trigger warnings which they imagine are regularly applied to The Great Novels they probably never read but know are truly great because white male canon. Those also include sex and violence, but the right kind.
Forcing faculty to stamp trigger warnings on everything would just lead to the equivalent of "Warning: this syllabus may contain nuts." That's neither smart nor helpful. But having a bit of awareness that this stuff might actually be a bit shocking and, yes, traumatic to 19-year-olds who haven't ever been exposed to it, and dealing with that accordingly, is perfectly appropriate. As I said, it's nothing new. Conservative religious students have been asking for it for years.
Those who bleat loudest about trigger warnings (which, whatever their merits in any particular context, have not actually taken over college syllabi, though it's fun to pretend they have) would probably be leading the charge to demonize the faculty who were teaching their precious little darlings using some of the materials they are actually using. Faculty sometimes teach using violent and pornographic films and novels, including sexual violence. And gay stuff! Lots and lots of gays stuff. Some of this would horrify those horrified by trigger warnings which they imagine are regularly applied to The Great Novels they probably never read but know are truly great because white male canon. Those also include sex and violence, but the right kind.
Forcing faculty to stamp trigger warnings on everything would just lead to the equivalent of "Warning: this syllabus may contain nuts." That's neither smart nor helpful. But having a bit of awareness that this stuff might actually be a bit shocking and, yes, traumatic to 19-year-olds who haven't ever been exposed to it, and dealing with that accordingly, is perfectly appropriate. As I said, it's nothing new. Conservative religious students have been asking for it for years.
The Great Humanitarians
At least we still have our freedom bombs to spread our love and kindness.
Snyder's office released a statement Sunday saying the state would not be accepting any Syrian refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fully reviewed its procedures.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Arab Spring
I'm so old I remember when toppling a few governments was going to spread more freedom than there had ever been freedom before, and only stupid libturds disagreed. Syria, in particular, was where the freedom was going to spread. Smell that freedom, Syria.
Who Is The Enemy
Pretty obvious, really.
A police intelligence-gathering unit tracked demonstrators and exchanged information about them with federal officials for nearly three months before getting the required approval from the department’s general counsel, according to the records, which the police released in response to a series of requests made under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
On Aug. 14, 2014, Kathleen Lichay, an intelligence research specialist with the U.S. State Department, e-mailed Chicago Police Department officials to ask whether they had picked up any “chatter” about vigils planned in response to the fatal shooting five days earlier of Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb. The shooting — for which a grand jury ultimately decided not to file charges — prompted protests around the nation.
Half an hour after sending the email, Lichay got a response from the Crime Prevention Information Center in Chicago, where the police collect intelligence alongside agents from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. An official there wrote back that activists were planning a rally that evening at the Daley Center.
What's All The Surveillance And Intelligence For Then
Not much confidence that the intelligence agencies can actually stop this stuff. What are we spending all that money for then?
Is that "pundit" highly likely (otherwise known as just making stuff up) or "I'm the Prime Minister so I actually know things" highly likely. If the latter, what do you know today that you didn't know two days ago?
David Cameron placed the UK on high alert for a terror attack, as holidaymakers in Paris were told to “stay indoors” and security checks were ramped up at British airports and ferry terminals.
The Prime Minister said the scale of the atrocity in France revealed “a greater ambition for mass-casualty attacks” on the West, and warned that an attempt to bring terror to the UK was “highly likely”.
Is that "pundit" highly likely (otherwise known as just making stuff up) or "I'm the Prime Minister so I actually know things" highly likely. If the latter, what do you know today that you didn't know two days ago?
What Would You Do, Hippies?
I've seen some version of this question around the internet a few times over the last couple of days, mostly from conservatives but also from "hawkish liberals." As always the point is that there are bad and violent people out there in the world, so if we're not going to blow them up and arm everybody who might be inclined to blow them up, also, too, then you got nothing, do you, hippie?
No simple cause and effect with these things, ever, but we've been blowing people up and arming other people to blow people up and toppling governments and siding with the "moderate rebels" and then siding with the new moderate rebels and then the new new moderate rebels and then sometimes reconsidering and siding with the people the new new moderate rebels were attacking because those moderate rebels suddenly didn't seem too moderate anymore. Hey, where did all of those weapons go? Better send some more! Also, too, more training.
It's horrible when a lot of people get killed. Sometimes we see that, sometimes we don't.
As for what the hippies would do? Probably not quite so much blowing up. Might not work, but the blowing up isn't working too well either.
No simple cause and effect with these things, ever, but we've been blowing people up and arming other people to blow people up and toppling governments and siding with the "moderate rebels" and then siding with the new moderate rebels and then the new new moderate rebels and then sometimes reconsidering and siding with the people the new new moderate rebels were attacking because those moderate rebels suddenly didn't seem too moderate anymore. Hey, where did all of those weapons go? Better send some more! Also, too, more training.
It's horrible when a lot of people get killed. Sometimes we see that, sometimes we don't.
As for what the hippies would do? Probably not quite so much blowing up. Might not work, but the blowing up isn't working too well either.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Which One Of You Pledges To Kill The Most People
Pretty sure that's how the debate's going to go. Anyone who isn't expressing MAXIMUM WAR will be chided by the moderaters.
The CBS News team immediately shifted gears and reformulated questions to make them more directly related to the attacks. Mr. Capus said it was important for the debate to go on because the world looks to the American president for leadership during international crises.
“American leadership is put to the test,” Mr. Capus said. “The entire world is looking to the White House. These people are vying to take over this office.”
“This is exactly what the president is going to have to face,” he added.
The Trumpman Cometh
Gotta admire the troll game, even if you don't admire the troll.
In recent days, Trump has homed in on this admission, making several barbs about what he called Carson’s “very serious, pathological disease”.
On Thursday evening, in an interview with CNN, he went further, saying: “It’s in the book that he’s got a pathological temper. That’s a big problem because you don’t cure that…
“As an example: child molesting. You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that.”
Friday, November 13, 2015
What Are You Paying For
Travel is a lot of fun. If I had more money I would do more of it, with less stress and more comfort. If I had all the money in the world I still wouldn't travel like this. What's the point?
All You Can Eat
It's always cool to hate the cultural output of the day. Movies/Tv/Literature/Art/whatever are not as awesome as they were in my day! Truly the Simelszoic era was a brief utopia. The past is always defined by the best, and the present is always defined by the average. The average usually sucks. It is average. As for the best, well, I don't have enough time to consume it these days. The average is probably as bad as it ever was, but the best is pretty damn good. And there's a lot of it.
If You Had A TARDIS, Which Babies Would You Strangle In Their Cribs
I think an entire GOP debate could be devoted to this question.
Who Gives A F***
I'm one who thinks there's a continuum between informal spoken English and perfect grammar formal writing. This blog is evidence of that! I aim to be understood, and to write in a conversational style. That doesn't excuse glaring typos or obviously atrocious grammar (I do plenty of both!) but sometimes I actually make deliberate "mistakes" because I think they make the text more readable. Real talk: split infinitives are quite often the way to go. Any time I doubt this I read it aloud to myself and reach that conclusion. Maybe I'd be less inclined to split those bastards if I were doing more formal writing, but often failing to split them just reduces ease of readability. Those adverbs belong after the "to," and as James T. Kirk has demonstrated, in the future this will be proper.
But, hey, to each his own. This is a sucky blog not formal writing. As long as I'm understood I'm happy.
The one "grammar debate" I don't get is the Oxford Comma debate. Of course there should be one. There's no argument for leaving them out, and a million obvious ones for including them. There is no debate. Include it, barbarians.
But, hey, to each his own. This is a sucky blog not formal writing. As long as I'm understood I'm happy.
The one "grammar debate" I don't get is the Oxford Comma debate. Of course there should be one. There's no argument for leaving them out, and a million obvious ones for including them. There is no debate. Include it, barbarians.
Also, Too, Shut Off All The Plumbing Systems?
The Superbowl Committee has a cunning plan to destroy some of San Francisco's public transit system.
The right answer is, of course, "fuck off," but the likely answer is, "yes, please, and we will pay for it."
If you want to have your event in a densely populated area, deal with it. If not find a big suburban parking lot somewhere like, you know, Santa Clara.
(ht reader rhymes with mofo)
In conversation with The Examiner, Supervisor Jane Kim confirmed the Super Bowl 50 Committee's desire to pull down Muni wires.
“The [Super Bow] committee has been very open about it," explained Kim. "They’ve said that’s what they want. They’ve definitely been asking to take down the overhead wires on Market Street.”
The right answer is, of course, "fuck off," but the likely answer is, "yes, please, and we will pay for it."
If you want to have your event in a densely populated area, deal with it. If not find a big suburban parking lot somewhere like, you know, Santa Clara.
(ht reader rhymes with mofo)
Save Us, Mittens!
You're our only hope.
According to other Republicans, some in the party establishment are so desperate to change the dynamic that they are talking anew about drafting Romney — despite his insistence that he will not run again. Friends have mapped out a strategy for a late entry to pick up delegates and vie for the nomination in a convention fight, according to the Republicans who were briefed on the talks, though Romney has shown no indication of reviving his interest.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Late Night
This is the greatest music video ever made. There is no way to argue about this. It is a FACT.
The Kids Today
It has come to my attention that the greatest threat to free speech in this glorious country of ours comes from a few black college kids. This threat is so looming and so large, so large and so looming, that 9 billion think pieces were written on this large and looming threat before the censorship began and the free speech was taken away.
Anyway, without getting too deep into all of the details, I'm a bit confused by the fact that no one remembers The Kids In Their Day. Nothing much has changed. Some college kids are socially active. They often focus on the things they know about and the things they might have some influence over. You know, their university. This is actually smart, not silly.
It is true that sometimes kids do silly things, because they're kids. Adults sometimes do silly things, too, because they're people. Sometimes adults do silly things like invade other countries and kill lots of innocent people for no good reason. Sometimes they are real threats to free speech! Silly adults! Sometimes adults actually have power, unlike the kids.
There were "silly" protests in my day too, sometime back in the late Simelszoic era. I don't know why no one remembers this. It isn't new. It only got massive media attention, when, say, Amy Carter was doing something "silly" because she was Amy Carter, but Amy Carter wasn't the lone gunman. I guess there was a bit of attention when a few silly kids got themselves shot to death in Ohio, too. Silly kids!
For some reason it's always the kids who are punching up, however clumsily, who get all the media attention and who are a grave and large and looming threat to all of the freedoms we hold dear. Those conservative kids and their affirmative action bake sales are making a serious point that no one has ever made before, after all.
Anyway, without getting too deep into all of the details, I'm a bit confused by the fact that no one remembers The Kids In Their Day. Nothing much has changed. Some college kids are socially active. They often focus on the things they know about and the things they might have some influence over. You know, their university. This is actually smart, not silly.
It is true that sometimes kids do silly things, because they're kids. Adults sometimes do silly things, too, because they're people. Sometimes adults do silly things like invade other countries and kill lots of innocent people for no good reason. Sometimes they are real threats to free speech! Silly adults! Sometimes adults actually have power, unlike the kids.
There were "silly" protests in my day too, sometime back in the late Simelszoic era. I don't know why no one remembers this. It isn't new. It only got massive media attention, when, say, Amy Carter was doing something "silly" because she was Amy Carter, but Amy Carter wasn't the lone gunman. I guess there was a bit of attention when a few silly kids got themselves shot to death in Ohio, too. Silly kids!
For some reason it's always the kids who are punching up, however clumsily, who get all the media attention and who are a grave and large and looming threat to all of the freedoms we hold dear. Those conservative kids and their affirmative action bake sales are making a serious point that no one has ever made before, after all.
Fourth Branch
So much peeance and freeance to spread.
Perhaps the most alarming revelation to emerge from the new Bush biography is the elder man’s recollection that while Cheney had been his defence secretary, he had commissioned a study on how many tactical nuclear weapons would be needed to eliminate a division of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard.
Apparently the answer was 17, though a more profound conclusion is that Cheney was a more dangerous figure than anyone knew. It adds weight to reporting by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker that Cheney also contemplated the use of low-yield nuclear bunker-busters against Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities. The more we hear about the George W Bush administration, the clearer it becomes that the global damage it wrought could have been even worse.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Differences
Apparently the important substantive difference between Cruz and Rubio - and, uh, why are these two guys being compared? thinking, thinking [editor: immigration! Messicans! write a piece about the two lattinohispanisto guys! ok boss!] - is that the former was always an asshole about immigration and the latter only recently became an asshole.
I guess that's a difference.
I guess that's a difference.
If Only More German Children Had Been Like My Boy, There Would Not Have Been A Holocaust
Well okay then.
I'm certainly not one who thinks "obedience" should be a high priority for parenting, especially as they age, but when you have to go to Hitler to make your case...
Obedience is not always a desirable behavior for which to strive. An extreme example in history is what happened (or failed to happen) to the conscience of the German nation during the Holocaust. In 1934, during a speech to a group of young people, Hitler stated, “We want this people to be obedient and you must practice obedience.” According to psychologist Alice Miller, all the leading figures of the Third Reich were trained to be obedient from childhood, raised in families where “obedience [was] their primary rule of conduct.” What followed, the blind obedience to a tyrannical leader, the collective loss of an inner moral code, and the extinguishing of millions of innocent lives, haunts us all today.
I'm certainly not one who thinks "obedience" should be a high priority for parenting, especially as they age, but when you have to go to Hitler to make your case...
Just Cut Stuff! The Unimportant Stuff! You Know, The Stuff!
We are ruled by horrible idiots.
This is Cameron's local council. It's a very rich conservative one. Even they can no longer afford nice things, or any things at all. He doesn't give a shit about the poors, who of course have it much worse, but when the right sort of people, his neighbors, start complaining...
Cameron complains that he is “disappointed” by the council’s proposals “to make significant cuts to frontline services – from elderly day centres, to libraries, to museums. This is in addition to the unwelcome and counter-productive proposals to close children’s centres across the county.” Why, he asks, has Oxfordshire not focused instead on “making back-office savings”? Why hasn’t it sold off its surplus property? After all, there has been only “a slight fall in government grants in cash terms”. Couldn’t the county “generate savings in a more creative manner”?
Explaining the issue gently, as if to a slow learner, the council leader, Ian Hudspeth, points out that the council has already culled its back-office functions, slashing 40% of its most senior staff and 2,800 jobs in total, with the result that it now spends less on these roles than most other counties. He explains that he has already flogged all the property he can lay hands on, but would like to remind the prime minister that using the income from these sales to pay for the council’s running costs “is neither legal, nor sustainable in the long-term since they are one-off receipts”.
This is Cameron's local council. It's a very rich conservative one. Even they can no longer afford nice things, or any things at all. He doesn't give a shit about the poors, who of course have it much worse, but when the right sort of people, his neighbors, start complaining...
Daddy Party
One reason (there are several) the media is mostly unwilling to treat the clown car members as clowns (and not nice funny clowns, the sad scary ones) is that Republicans are supposed to be the Responsible Daddy Party. Democrats are the wild crazy hippie mommies who spend all of Dad's money on crazy schemes, and then the sober, serious, responsible Republican Daddies clean up the mess. That this has nothing to do with reality and is, actually, the exact opposite of what has generally happened over the last several decades, doesn't matter. We all have our assigned roles in these stories, and that's the assigned role of the Republicans.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
So Many Clown Cars
Apparently there's the adult table, the kiddie table, and the Chuck toddler changing table.
He won't be silenced! No Republican Left Behind!
.@LindseyGrahamSC was bumped from tonight's GOP undercard debate, but he won't be silenced. He joins me next on #MTPDaily.
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) November 10, 2015
He won't be silenced! No Republican Left Behind!
And I Thought All Those Public Employees Were Living Large
All for $15 an hour for state employees, but a) they weren't earning it already? and b) Oh, right, most of them were.
By 2021, TEN THOUSAND WORKERS will receive a pay bump. And good for them. That's a bit less than 5% of state workers according to the most recent data this lazy blogger could find.
But, hey, good headlines Governor Bro.
State workers in New York City would earn $15 an hour by the end of 2018; state workers outside of New York City would also see wages rise, though more slowly, with rates climbing to $15 by the end of 2021. All told, some 10,000 workers would see a bump in pay, according to the governor’s office, with the vast majority of those living upstate or outside the city.
By 2021, TEN THOUSAND WORKERS will receive a pay bump. And good for them. That's a bit less than 5% of state workers according to the most recent data this lazy blogger could find.
But, hey, good headlines Governor Bro.
Do You Actually Work, Bro?
I do not understand this.
You can call it what you want, but those of us who work with computers need a screen and a decent keyboard. We also need easy ways to move and organize files and to not worry that we don't have access to our data if our internet goes out or that it all gets wiped out if we "sync" to the wrong thing. Make a nice product that does all those things and make up a new name for it if you want, but it'll basically be a PC with a different operating system. Microsoft tried to turn all their computers into tablets (Windows 8) and look how well that worked.
“I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?”, asks Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who has just flown into Britain for the launch of the iPad Pro. Cook, whose spotless tailored suit and red poppy belies the fact that he spent the night in a plane, is clearly in ebullient mood.
You can call it what you want, but those of us who work with computers need a screen and a decent keyboard. We also need easy ways to move and organize files and to not worry that we don't have access to our data if our internet goes out or that it all gets wiped out if we "sync" to the wrong thing. Make a nice product that does all those things and make up a new name for it if you want, but it'll basically be a PC with a different operating system. Microsoft tried to turn all their computers into tablets (Windows 8) and look how well that worked.
'Tis The Season To Be Angry
Yes there's always a bit of nutpicking involved with "The War On The Fake War On Christmas," but for years it has been spearheaded by one of our major cable news networks, and has now been embraced by the current presidential frontrunner of one of our two major political parties, so it's worth commenting on.
Well, ya, I'm glad the Donald's going to enforce the Christmas Holiday Speech Codes. America hasn't been great since they were abolished. This will be my last "Happy Holidays" for you before Rudolph comes and ships me off to the North Pole for some re-education. Don't tell anyone that the guy who wrote his song was Jewish.
Praise be to Christ. Amen.
Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in on the day's controversy on Monday, floating the prospect of boycotting Starbucks after the coffee giant announced it would abandon its Christmas-themed cups.
"I have one of the most successful Starbucks, in Trump Tower. Maybe we should boycott Starbucks? I don't know. Seriously, I don't care. That's the end of that lease, but who cares?" Trump told a crowd in Springfield, Illinois, on Monday. "If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again, that I can tell you. That I can tell you."
Well, ya, I'm glad the Donald's going to enforce the Christmas Holiday Speech Codes. America hasn't been great since they were abolished. This will be my last "Happy Holidays" for you before Rudolph comes and ships me off to the North Pole for some re-education. Don't tell anyone that the guy who wrote his song was Jewish.
Praise be to Christ. Amen.
Philadelphia's Worst Humans
Christine Flowers.
Okay she doesn't live in Philadelphia and the real worst humans are the ones firing everyone except her at our local newspapers and then wondering where duz all the circulation go???? But I can't keep track of who is in charge over there anymore, so...
Okay she doesn't live in Philadelphia and the real worst humans are the ones firing everyone except her at our local newspapers and then wondering where duz all the circulation go???? But I can't keep track of who is in charge over there anymore, so...
Monday, November 09, 2015
Silly Activists
Bet the administration of every school with a lucrative football program just said "oh shit."
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Amid a wave of student and faculty protests, primarily over racial tensions, that all but paralyzed its flagship campus here, the president of the University of Missouri system resigned Monday, urging everyone involved to “use my resignation to heal and start talking again.”
Cunning Plans
What, actually, would be the point of this even if we thought Officer Friendly was doing us a service? And aside from a phone or a gps navigation system, which aren't exactly worth big bucks, what "valuables" are people going to be leaving in their cars that wouldn't require a full search? Maybe people leave some cash in a bag or something, but figuring that out would require a pretty deep search.
Back in the dark ages car stereo systems were worth enough that people would steal them, but I doubt even the fine officers of New Haven planned on ripping them out just to make a point. Or maybe they did.
Back in the dark ages car stereo systems were worth enough that people would steal them, but I doubt even the fine officers of New Haven planned on ripping them out just to make a point. Or maybe they did.
Peak Pricing
I remember when peak time electricity pricing was all the rage, especially among energy economists, though too often their plans were too cunning by half. Um, no, I don't want to have to check the price of electricity every 15 minutes before making my rational informed decision about which appliances to turn on. Somehow these cunning plans just seemed to be an excuse to raise rates and gouge unsuspecting consumers. Amazing how that works. But a very simple system - one price during the day and then, say, free at night, makes sense in some areas (all of this depends on demand and generating capacity throughout the day).
DALLAS — In Texas, wind farms are generating so much energy that some utilities are giving power away.
Briana Lamb, an elementary school teacher, waits until her watch strikes 9 p.m. to run her washing machine and dishwasher. It costs her nothing until 6 a.m. Kayleen Willard, a cosmetologist, unplugs appliances when she goes to work in the morning. By 9 p.m., she has them plugged back in.
'Tis the season
Good morning, campers! Get ready for Bill O'Reilly's war on the spirit of Christmas! A little something to help.
Sunday, November 08, 2015
What Hippies Understand
Why Keystone? Roberts mentions it, but I'll emphasis again one big reason which I think was often lost: because it was Obama's call. Very often it's ludicrously easy to spread the "blame" around for things in Washington. If everyone is to blame, no one is, and there isn't a target for that kind of activism. It was possible to say, clearly, who would be responsible for it one way or another. That isn't the only reason, of course, so go read the whole thing, but it was an important one.
Got My Mind On The Mall And The Mall On My Mind
Was a bit busy earlier, but to flesh out the post below: the idea that significant (>0? doubtful) numbers of people are going to use their Newark layover time to visit a megamall is hilarious. The idea that people whose primary travel destination is NYC will head to the megamall no matter how many times they've visited Times Square (once is enough, really, unless you have to visit the neighborhood for other reasons) is hilarious. People visit Queens because Queens has interesting stuff worth visiting that you can't find elsewhere (good food for one). I guess if your dream is to hit a tiny indoor artificial ski slope...
New Jersey Dreaming
This will continue to be a disaster.
Hilarious.
“Given its location—and usually I’m considered the Dr. Kevorkian of the New Jersey economy—I’m not that pessimistic on this,” says James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. The New York-New Jersey-Connecticut market is huge and affluent. The American Dream is close to Newark airport, close enough that travelers on a layover could easily take a shuttle there to kill time. Besides, many people visit New York City multiple times. If it’s your third visit, you’ve already been to Times Square; why not hit the mega-mall? He refers to a recent New York Times article on Queens as an up-and-coming tourist zone. “If it reaches Queens, it can reach the Meadowlands.”
Hilarious.
What Is Wrong With People
One issue about the whole "speaking English!!!" genre is that for the most part Americans perceive speaking another language as some sort of superpower. Mastering enough tourist French to order a meal and ask for the bill is not a task for mere mortals. And, yet, people get enraged that "furriners" here (even if legally, even if naturalized) might occasionally speak their native languages, even if only to each other. Fortunately most of the enraged don't bean someone in the face with a beer mug over it, but...
The Wet Prince Of Bel Air
The mega mansion always confuses. Unless you entertain a lot of people, and often, and have a Downton Abbey-esque staff, I really can't see that point. And I wouldn't want a Downton Abbey-esque staff. Doesn't provide for much privacy. Not telling people how to spend their money. I truly just don't get it.
Maureen Levinson, a member of the Bel Air Beverly Crest Neighbourhood Council, nevertheless insists that most residents “have engaged in water conservation efforts”. The bigger concern, she says, is the construction of super-sized luxury homes in the area (locally referred to as “giga-mansions”).
“These development projects include excessive numbers of pools and water features,” says Levinson. She cites one instance where the city authorities have approved five massive pools for a single family dwelling.
Saturday, November 07, 2015
Brain Salad Surgery
I suppose poking around in people's melons requires a certain sense of personal infallibility. Don't think I could do it even if I didn't have shaky hands. Combine that infallibility with the fact that people mostly kiss your ass all of the time, and you might start believing all kinds of things about yourself.
I still don't believe Ben Carson had a girlfriend in Canada, though.
I still don't believe Ben Carson had a girlfriend in Canada, though.
Gonna Steal Our Precious Jawns
Uh-oh.
"Creed" opens a more modern Philadelphia to a new generation of fans: Johnny Brenda's, Max's Steaks, Front Street Gym. All take center stage in the new flick and so does newer lingo. "Yo!" makes way for "jawn," a Philly word that can be used to describe anything.
Tell Us About Your Girlfriend In Canada
That anyone would think this story is remotely believable...
In his 1990 autobiography, “Gifted Hands,” Mr. Carson writes of a Yale psychology professor who told Mr. Carson, then a junior, and the other students in the class—identified by Mr. Carson as Perceptions 301—that their final exam papers had “inadvertently burned,” requiring all 150 students to retake it. The new exam, Mr. Carson recalled in the book, was much tougher. All the students but Mr. Carson walked out.
“The professor came toward me. With her was a photographer for the Yale Daily News who paused and snapped my picture,” Mr. Carson wrote. “ ‘A hoax,’ the teacher said. ‘We wanted to see who was the most honest student in the class.’ ” Mr. Carson wrote that the professor handed him a $10 bill.
No photo identifying Mr. Carson as a student ever ran, according to the Yale Daily News archives, and no stories from that era mention a class called Perceptions 301. Yale Librarian Claryn Spies said Friday there was no psychology course by that name or class number during any of Mr. Carson’s years at Yale.
Friday, November 06, 2015
Who Would Mind?
I have no desire to start an argument about what the "real Philly" is. It's big city, both geographically and population-wise, and while I think there are some things which are characteristically Philly, that doesn't mean that other parts of the city aren't real. Still I think it's the case that for a long time the political leadership has focused on greater Center City (an ever-expanding concept, to be sure) as a place for tourists and business, while failing to notice that a lot of people actually live there, especially once you expand the "greater" concept a bit. It's one reason I'm a bit optimistic about the soon to be mayor.
Just one day after winning the election for mayor with a whopping 85 percent of the vote, Jim Kenney announced that he’ll be riding the subway to work in City Hall, at least some of the time.
The incoming mayor says it’s a way for him to stay in touch with the city, its neighborhoods and his South Philly roots.
It's unclear if the Broad Street Line will be an everyday thing for the former city councilman. Talking to reporters at Andrew Jackson Elementary School in South Philadelphia, Kenney produced a subway token from his pocket.
“I told the potential police commissioner that I want people on my protective detail who don’t mind public transit,” Kenney said. “Since I was nominated in May, people stop me and say ‘What are you doing on the subway?’ and I say ‘Going to work.”
To The Kiddie Table
I continue to find it hilarious that there even is such a thing.
He's probably due for a "star turn" or "masterful performance" or something which will send his poll numbers ROCKETING TO THE STARS. Maybe all the way to 4% or something.
Gov. Christie was sent down to the minors Thursday.
The New Jersey governor was bumped from next week's main GOP presidential debate after failing to muster enough support in national polls to qualify.
He's probably due for a "star turn" or "masterful performance" or something which will send his poll numbers ROCKETING TO THE STARS. Maybe all the way to 4% or something.
Jobs
+271K. Actual good news!
Of course all good news is bad news, as the Fed will pull away the (flawed but necessary) punchbowl...
Of course all good news is bad news, as the Fed will pull away the (flawed but necessary) punchbowl...
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Roll to the Rock, Rock to the Roll
I wish I had more deep thoughts about the clown car capers, but I really don't. They're all horrible. I don't care who wins. I don't think Jeb! or Rubio or Kasich or Sasquatch is more "serious" than the rest of them. They're just all horrible.
Words Speak Louder Than Deeds
Competent technocratic centrism is supposed to be, you know, competent.
WASHINGTON — President Obama vowed a year ago to give Central American children fleeing violence a new, legal way into the United States by allowing them to apply for refugee status while in their own countries instead of accepting help from smugglers or resorting to a dangerous trek across Mexico.
But not a single child has entered the United States through the Central American Minors program since its establishment in December, in large part because of a slow-moving American bureaucracy that has infuriated advocates for the young children and their families.
The Cossacks Work For The Czar
My little boy was not in charge.
Gog, magog, whatevs.
Former US president George HW Bush has hit out at Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, two of the most senior figures in his son’s administration, labelling them too “hardline” and “arrogant” in their handling of the 11 September attacks.
A new biography of the 41st president – Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey Of George Herbert Walker Bush – reveals that Bush Sr held Cheney and Rumsfeld responsible for the hawkish stance that “hurt” his son’s administration, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
The book, by Jon Meacham, is based on audio diaries that Bush recorded during his time in the White House, as well as interviews with the former president and his wife, Barbara.
Gog, magog, whatevs.
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
What Issues?
I wish people would stop saying that @lessig was running a one issue campaign. Money is the thing preventing EVERY issue from being solved.
— Road to Nowhere (@Exit_239) November 4, 2015
I am certainly not going to claim that the influence of The Big Money on politics is not an issue (tho I do think it's a largely unsolvable whack-a-mole problem in which "solutions" are often potentially more problematic than the status quo), but still I ask... what issues?
We have a long history of goo-goos thinking that if only they reform the process then good governance will lead us to utopia. But you still have to spell out the utopia. Exactly what policies are being thwarted by The Big Money? What issues are you going to solve by solving the money problem, even if it's solvable? What policies would be supported by a majority+ if not for The Big Money?
I am not saying there are no answers to this question. I can think of some plausibly true ones. But that's how you make it appealing. "We would have X, if only we had campaign finance reform. We would have Y, if only we had campaign finance reform." Ok. What are X and Y? Is that really true? Tell me what the rich bastards did or caused not to happen today.
Shut Up And Think For 24 Hours
I like to think that I am a fairly enlightened individual on issues of race, gender, sexuality, and all of the related structural issues in our society. You know, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Maybe I am! I hope so. Maybe not! But, you know, it's not really about me. Still, as a participant in the daily discourse on this sucky blog in my own small way, it is about me just a little bit and therefore I have some responsibility to not be horrible about such things.
There's a new round of "PC"-bashing largely centered on relatively privileged people who think they're good lefties but are upset that they've been "called out" on their racism/sexism/etc. WAH people on the internet are mean to me! But I'm an ally! I am not a racist sexist homophobe! Political correctness has gone too far this time!!!
There are idiots in every "cause." So, yes, "political correctness," or whatever we call it this week, sometimes does go too far because sometimes people are idiots. Still, when a woman/person of color/gay/trans person says something that I think is "stupid" about such issues, my basic rule is to shut up and think about it for a bit. 24 hours later I might still think it's stupid. Being a woman/person of color/gay/trans person doesn't make you magically a genius, any more than being a white dude does, even if it probably gives you a wee bit more perspective on what it's like to be a woman/person of color/gay/trans person. But that perspective thing is pretty important, and it's worth thinking about a bit before whitestraightmansplaining it to the world.
Like most of us, I fail to live up to my rules sometimes. Still worth having.
There's a new round of "PC"-bashing largely centered on relatively privileged people who think they're good lefties but are upset that they've been "called out" on their racism/sexism/etc. WAH people on the internet are mean to me! But I'm an ally! I am not a racist sexist homophobe! Political correctness has gone too far this time!!!
There are idiots in every "cause." So, yes, "political correctness," or whatever we call it this week, sometimes does go too far because sometimes people are idiots. Still, when a woman/person of color/gay/trans person says something that I think is "stupid" about such issues, my basic rule is to shut up and think about it for a bit. 24 hours later I might still think it's stupid. Being a woman/person of color/gay/trans person doesn't make you magically a genius, any more than being a white dude does, even if it probably gives you a wee bit more perspective on what it's like to be a woman/person of color/gay/trans person. But that perspective thing is pretty important, and it's worth thinking about a bit before whitestraightmansplaining it to the world.
Like most of us, I fail to live up to my rules sometimes. Still worth having.
Just Add Boom
Only about 13 months left to earn that Peace Prize.
As long as someone is killing someone, everybody wins.
The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials.
As long as someone is killing someone, everybody wins.
No Way To Unshit The Bed
Absent being bailed out one way or another (and one should not exclude that possibility) I really don't see how VW survives this.
Volkswagen’s pollution problems took a costly new turn on Tuesday when the company said it had understated emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, for about 800,000 of its vehicles sold in Europe, and overstated the cars’ fuel economy.
Wednesday Christmas Bonus Crass Commercialism
I'm sure kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews/etc need this.
And for the adults...all of The Wire for $59.99.
And for the adults...all of The Wire for $59.99.
No Hurry
Not that the US is doing much of anything except creating more refugees, but...
EU agreed in September to transfer 160,000 people from most affected states but so far just 86 have moved from Italy and 30 are due to leave Greece
Sweep
Dems took all 3 state Supreme Court seats, making it now 5-2 D majority. Important cases coming up soon, so...
Congrats to Helen Gym on her City Council seat in the urban hellhole. Dems always win the ones they're allowed to win (2 are reserved for minority parties), but some Dems are better than others. Helen is quite the badass.
Congrats to Helen Gym on her City Council seat in the urban hellhole. Dems always win the ones they're allowed to win (2 are reserved for minority parties), but some Dems are better than others. Helen is quite the badass.
Tuesday, November 03, 2015
Easy on the Eyes
I agree with Dave Roberts. Install f.lux. I know nothing of the rest of the science/health claims, but it makes staring at the screen a lot more pleasant. Eye strain is no longer (much of) a problem.
The Great Grift
I bet we'll see significant numbers of smaller colleges/universities be looted by their boards/administration to the point of closing over the next couple of decades. They almost managed it with Sweetbriar...
Great Moments In Facebook Ad Algorithms
And companies supposedly pay obscene amounts of money for this stuff because Facebook knows everything about us.
Morning Thread
Goodness, gracious. I'm enjoying the Republican meltdown over the debates way too much.
Monday, November 02, 2015
Sects
Hilarious.
That general election where the party leader was, also, a member of the OxBridge "top 1%" and run by people like Tristram Hunt - also, too, OxBridge - who apparently drove it into the shit.
The Labour party is “in the shit” and risks turning into a sect, the former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has reportedly told students at Cambridge University.
Speaking to the university’s Labour club at an event entitled Principles, Politics and Pathway to Power, Hunt said: “My fear is algorithmic politics [where because] everyone shares the same views as you on social media and in your social circles you become a sect rather than a party.”
According to the Cambridge University student newspaper Varsity, Hunt told students: “You are the top 1%. The Labour party is in the shit. It is your job and your responsibility to take leadership going forward.” A spokesperson for Hunt stressed that his comments specifically referred to the party’s defeat in the general election.
That general election where the party leader was, also, a member of the OxBridge "top 1%" and run by people like Tristram Hunt - also, too, OxBridge - who apparently drove it into the shit.
All About The Grift, The Grift, The Grift
If only I'd been smart enough to start a Ted Cruz Super PAC.
So funny.
The super PACs backing Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential run have yet to reserve any TV time in the early primary states — or anywhere else — despite a combined $38 million war chest that ranks second among presidential contenders only to Jeb Bush’s $103 million operation.
The total absence of ads has created confusion and growing consternation inside the Cruz campaign, which cannot legally communicate with its allied super PACs and has had to watch as its rivals lock in tens of millions of dollars in ads before prices spike, as they typically do as elections near.
So funny.
It's My Party They'll Cry When I Want Them To
Guess they're going to go with the Alpha Dog.
The day journalists (#notalljournalists) stopped pretending.
Donald Trump and his advisers have decided to work directly with television executives and take a lead role in negotiating the format and content of primary debates, which have become highly watched and crucial events in the 2016 race, according to Republicans familiar with their plans.
The day journalists (#notalljournalists) stopped pretending.
Who's a Good Boy
Now that the clown car members have told ALL THE MEDIA to play fetch the way they want them to play fetch, what will happen? I'm betting it's fetch! Good doggies.
Rocketed to the SKY!
It's funny how everyone in the GOP clown car at least gets a turn at being taken seriously due to their "star turns" and when their poll number zoom all the way to...13%. It was Rubio's turn, so that's the story.
Also Chris Christie is a big winner because he went up all the way to... 5%. Feel the Christiementum! Another 15 or so debates might do it, if they weren't canceling them all.
I'm no Lessig fan (really, not at all), but the Dems can't even get the media to take 4 candidates seriously. Actually, they can barely get them to take 2 candidates seriously.
I expect soon we'll get a "Jeb's back!" storyline if he acts Butch enough - they're the Daddy party after all - and then it'll be someone else's turn. The press declares a winner, and then pretends a tiny increase in support happened because the candidate had a great week, and not because the press declared they had a great week.
Nice work.
...guess I was 30 seconds early. Lessig's out. Also, too, should have phrased it as "the media isn't willing to" not "the Dems can't." If we define "the Dems" as "the DNC," they weren't interested either.
Also Chris Christie is a big winner because he went up all the way to... 5%. Feel the Christiementum! Another 15 or so debates might do it, if they weren't canceling them all.
I'm no Lessig fan (really, not at all), but the Dems can't even get the media to take 4 candidates seriously. Actually, they can barely get them to take 2 candidates seriously.
I expect soon we'll get a "Jeb's back!" storyline if he acts Butch enough - they're the Daddy party after all - and then it'll be someone else's turn. The press declares a winner, and then pretends a tiny increase in support happened because the candidate had a great week, and not because the press declared they had a great week.
Nice work.
...guess I was 30 seconds early. Lessig's out. Also, too, should have phrased it as "the media isn't willing to" not "the Dems can't." If we define "the Dems" as "the DNC," they weren't interested either.
Great Moments In Twitter Diplomacy
#Uzbekistan an important partner in bringing peace, prosperity to Central Asia. Good discussion w/President Karimov. pic.twitter.com/Kae6v5F9Hy
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) November 1, 2015
Karimov..Karimov.. Oh yes.
Independent human rights groups estimate that there are more than 600 politically motivated arrests a year in Uzbekistan, and 6,500 political prisoners, some tortured to death. According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death.
The US condemned this repression for many years. But since September 11 rewrote America's strategic interests in central Asia, the government of President Islam Karimov has become Washington's new best friend in the region.
The US is funding those it once condemned. Last year Washington gave Uzbekistan $500m (£300m) in aid. The police and intelligence services - which the state department's website says use "torture as a routine investigation technique" received $79m of this sum.
As long as we're spreading peeance and freeance.
Private Line to the Big Guy in the Sky
Either Boehner should be hailed as some sort of new Prophet or mocked? I don't really understand how people can just claim God speaks to them without there being a bit more skepticism. Instead people just nod their heads.
God could have just spoken to Ryan directly, but I guess only Boehner has The Gift of talking to God.
On CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday Boehner said he invoked God to persuade his fellow Catholic from refusing to run for speaker to agreeing to do so.
Boehner says he told Ryan: "'This isn't about what you want to do. It's about what God wants you to do. And God has told me, he wants you to" run for speaker.
God could have just spoken to Ryan directly, but I guess only Boehner has The Gift of talking to God.
Morning Thread
Interesting article about more and more companies forcing customers to go to arbitration instead of using the courts. Basically, privatizing the justice system. Guess who wins and who loses.
Sunday, November 01, 2015
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