For now, it feels remarkable to think that barely five weeks ago, the vast majority of Tory MPs were telling us Boris Johnson was the only possible answer to various questions. It turns out those questions were: “How would Dudley Dursley and Draco Malfoy’s baby look and behave?”, “What if you shaved the Honey Monster and put him in a suit for a court appearance?” and “Does anyone know the ancient Greek for shitting the bed?”.
Despite practising since boyhood, Boris Johnson’s entire demeanour is that of a man who has won a competition to lead the country for a day. He is Mike Bassett: England Prime Minister, yet wheels out jokes he’s done 437 times before as though he’s Frank Sinatra and reckons the crowd can’t wait to see him do My Way again. Johnson must be the only performer whose audience spends his gigs screaming: PLEASE, DO YOUR NEW STUFF.
Saturday, September 07, 2019
Tosser
Just a righteous column mocking Boris.
Friday, September 06, 2019
Parked Vehicles
For a long time I said, about self-driving cars, that safety wasn't really the issue because, almost tautologically, if they work they'll be safe. I didn't bargain on Elon Musk.
“It’s not unique to Tesla,” said David Zuby, chief research officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which has studied how automated driver-assist systems perform. “We’ve seen evidence in our test driving of other systems with this kind of problem.”It isn't unique to Tesla, but Tesla is unique in overselling its products to consumers who want to believe.
The radars and cameras used to sense obstructions ahead each have their limitations and computer software that evaluates the data is still a work in progress, according to the experts and advocates. In many cases, they are better at tracking moving vehicles ahead than recognizing parked ones.
America's Dumbest Humans
Rich Lowry.
They're old now (me too!) but it's worth pondering when people like Lowry and Jonah Goldberg were like 15 years old and for some reason on our teevees all the time. It isn't that I object to younger people doing this stuff, it's just... why them? Why is Rich Lowry on my teevee telling me we have to invade Iraq? He can't find it on a map, either! I mean we know the answers, but they aren't good answers.
They're old now (me too!) but it's worth pondering when people like Lowry and Jonah Goldberg were like 15 years old and for some reason on our teevees all the time. It isn't that I object to younger people doing this stuff, it's just... why them? Why is Rich Lowry on my teevee telling me we have to invade Iraq? He can't find it on a map, either! I mean we know the answers, but they aren't good answers.
Sharpie Man
I try to keep "lol Trump is a big dum dum" posts to a minimum, as easy as they are, because as funny as he is (and I don't fault anyone for finding humor!), it's also... not funny. But Sharpie Man is something different. There is something indisputably not right with a man who did that. "Oh I'll just draw in a weird extra circle that looks absolutely nothing like anything else on the map and I'll get away with it."
The brain worms are winning.
It was Trump who used a black Sharpie to mark up an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map, which he displayed during an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.Trump ordering his flunkies to doctor the map would also be bad, but bad in a different way, and they would have at least done a marginally better job.
“No one else writes like that on a map with a black Sharpie,” the official said of the map, which added Alabama into the hurricane’s potential pathway inside the loop of the marker.
The brain worms are winning.
Thursday, September 05, 2019
Sharpie Man
It is impossible not to conclude that the sharpie man is Donald himself, because as much as the subliterate lickspittles who work for him are the worst that humanity has to offer, even they can't have imagined that it would have been an acceptable thing to show to the press.
There's dumb, and there's thinking everybody else is dumb, and then there is... something is not right with that boy.
There's dumb, and there's thinking everybody else is dumb, and then there is... something is not right with that boy.
Brain Worms
The little buggers chomp slowly, but the man is worse now than he was 3 million years ago when he became president.
One For The Lawyers
Elon, you aren't supposed to admit that you're putting buggy software into 2 ton high speed semi-autonomous vehicles.
Still too buggy to be in wide EAP. Requires more testing. Hopefully, going to wide EAP next week.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2019
Unsafe At That Speed
Highway driving is largely the "easy" problem for various level of automated driving. Except for one thing - the speed. The speed is especially (but not just) a problem for what they call Level 2 or Level 3 systems, which in theory kinda drive themselves in some situations but still need "attentive" drivers. At 65mph you travel 475 feet in 5 seconds. The cars "see" about twice this (assuming flat, straight) so that's 10 seconds. There's a very small window of time to realize a) your Tesla is about to drive into a fire truck and b) react even if you are hands-on-the-wheels looking straight ahead at all times. If the car can't handle these situations, it is unrealistic to put blame on the driver because even a perfect driver isn't going to fix it.
This happened at a slower speed, but it isn't much different, and if the car can't handle the situation at a slower speed it isn't going to at the faster one.
This happened at a slower speed, but it isn't much different, and if the car can't handle the situation at a slower speed it isn't going to at the faster one.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited both driver error and Tesla's Autopilot design as the probable causes of a January 2018 crash, in which a Model S slammed into a parked fire truck at about 31 mph. According to the report, the driver was distracted and did not see the fire truck. But NTSB says that Tesla's Autopilot was also at fault, as its design "permitted the driver to disengage from the driving task."
The driver reportedly had Autopilot engaged and was following closely behind a large SUV or truck. The lead vehicle changed lanes to move around a fire truck that was parked in the lane ahead. The Tesla driver claimed he was drinking coffee and eating a bagel and did not see the firetruck. When the lead vehicle changed lanes, the Model S accelerated. About .49 seconds before the crash, the vehicle detected a stationary object in the road and displayed a warning, but it was too late.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident
Yes, sure, Jefferson, then why did you feel the need to spell them out. Huh? HUH?
Pretty sure even the most tuned out voter in America has, at this point, heard a "LOL MR. TRUMP YOU SAID MEXICO WOULD PAY FOR THE WALL" SICK BURN HIGH FIVE!!!!
People get that Trump is a buffoon. People also think politicians are all full of shit and corrupt. If you want to make the case that Trump is even more corrupt than that you gotta go on teevee and explain it and say what, in fact, you are gonna do about it (McCaskill is not in Congress at the moment, but those who are). That Trump is a buffoon and full of shit and corrupt in a normal politician way is self-evident. Don't need SICK BURNS about LOL MEXICO WALL. People get that much. The rest is not, actually, self-evident.
The Republicans managed to hold 876 hearings about things that were bullshit.
“Going to build a wall!”
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) September 5, 2019
“ and Mexico is going to pay for it!”
Nope...Check that.
“ and our Military is going to pay for it!”
(Remember when Congress was controlled by Rs during Trumps first 2 years they did NOTHING on wall funding) https://t.co/6uSTJifR09 via @NYTimes
Pretty sure even the most tuned out voter in America has, at this point, heard a "LOL MR. TRUMP YOU SAID MEXICO WOULD PAY FOR THE WALL" SICK BURN HIGH FIVE!!!!
People get that Trump is a buffoon. People also think politicians are all full of shit and corrupt. If you want to make the case that Trump is even more corrupt than that you gotta go on teevee and explain it and say what, in fact, you are gonna do about it (McCaskill is not in Congress at the moment, but those who are). That Trump is a buffoon and full of shit and corrupt in a normal politician way is self-evident. Don't need SICK BURNS about LOL MEXICO WALL. People get that much. The rest is not, actually, self-evident.
The Republicans managed to hold 876 hearings about things that were bullshit.
GoNNA bE ciViL WAR
I saw this when Axelrod tweeted it and rolled my eyes.
No it wouldn't tear the country apart, in part because it would barely inspire Democrats to do anything but make some sassy tweets about it. Mr. McConnell, SIRRAH, the HYPOCRISY!
I remember somebody in the Obama administration complaining that when McConnell was refusing to deal with Garland, reporters were, instead of reporting on the NORMS VIOLATION, basically asking them...well, what are you going to do about it? Obama barely got mad about it. Whatever the flaws in reporting, you can't expect reporters to get mad for you. At the time everybody knew what the Obama people were going to do about Garland was... Nothing. Advantage, Mitch.
And, no, the people aren't going to take to the streets over a Supreme Court appointment. If they did half the Democrats would be on teevee rejecting this uncouth display of incivility. They don't want to lead and they don't want "the people" to do anything. They want Joe Scarborough to have an "at long last" moment and RESTORE THE NORMS AND CIVILITY.
In 2020 they can get mad at "the base" who they hate for not voting. Again.
If there is a SCOTUS vacancy next year and @senatemajldr carries through on his extraordinary promise to fill it-despite his own previous precedent in blocking Garland-it will tear this country apart.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 23, 2019
No it wouldn't tear the country apart, in part because it would barely inspire Democrats to do anything but make some sassy tweets about it. Mr. McConnell, SIRRAH, the HYPOCRISY!
I remember somebody in the Obama administration complaining that when McConnell was refusing to deal with Garland, reporters were, instead of reporting on the NORMS VIOLATION, basically asking them...well, what are you going to do about it? Obama barely got mad about it. Whatever the flaws in reporting, you can't expect reporters to get mad for you. At the time everybody knew what the Obama people were going to do about Garland was... Nothing. Advantage, Mitch.
And, no, the people aren't going to take to the streets over a Supreme Court appointment. If they did half the Democrats would be on teevee rejecting this uncouth display of incivility. They don't want to lead and they don't want "the people" to do anything. They want Joe Scarborough to have an "at long last" moment and RESTORE THE NORMS AND CIVILITY.
In 2020 they can get mad at "the base" who they hate for not voting. Again.
After both of this century’s Republican presidents came to power in corrupt fashion, and as popular vote losers, then set about stacking the judiciary, the case for reversing the GOP theft of the courts couldn’t be stronger. But that work won’t start by warning McConnell he’ll “tear this country apart”—a consequence he couldn’t care less about, and may actually excite him. It will only start by resolving to use power in turn to set things right.
We will know by the end of the year which Democratic faction prevailed, but we’ll look back on the bygone season as the moment the party reached a crossroads and chose a path.
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
Wednesday Night
Would hypothetical third term President Obama prefer PM Johnson or PM Corbyn?
Discuss.
Discuss.
A Blog About All The Dumb Stuff Trump Does
I could just point and laugh all day.
The President of the United States altered a National Hurricane Center map with a sharpie to falsely extend the official forecast toward Alabama so he didn't have to admit he was wrong in a tweet. https://t.co/i0CJcYV4yq pic.twitter.com/pR57IL6WfT
— Dennis Mersereau (@wxdam) September 4, 2019
The Thing That Makes America Special Is That We Do Love Children
A lot of the people involved in this have children and should know better. Did know better. Nobody could've known! I'm not a parent and I know.
Mr. President, tell us about your tweets!
A government watchdog report published Wednesday said immigrant children who were separated from their parents at the border by the Trump administration last year suffered increased post-traumatic stress and trauma.
Some unaccompanied immigrant children who end up at government facilities already experienced physical or sexual abuse in the countries they fled, or violence on the journey to the US, the report said. The trauma was only made worse by the "zero-tolerance" policy that led to thousands of children being systematically separated from their parents by immigration authorities in the spring of 2018.
Mr. President, tell us about your tweets!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)