2009 archive
Stray Thought 0
There is no moral difference between the high school thug who shoots his classmate for dissing him and the wingnut who wants to bomb some country for every little fancied slight.
Seen on the Street 0
GI Statue, Philadelphia, Pa., Korean War Memorial, Foglietta Plaza. A citizen has added the rose, no doubt taken from one of the hundreds of rose bushes in the Penns Landing and Society Hill areas.
Sun setting behind Society Hill Towers.
26 Per Cent 0
Will Bunch crunches the numbers.
Oleaginous 0
This sounds so much like an urban legend I’m having trouble believing it.
But I’m glad I don’t use cosmetics.
The gang allegedly targeted people on remote roads, luring them with fake job offers before killing them and extracting their fat.
The liquidised product fetched $15,000 (£9,000) a litre and police suspect it was sold on to companies in Europe.
Questionable Advertising 0
I just saw the English version of this ad. It posited that Italian restaurants serve pizza.
Three Four things.
- I’ve been to lots of Italian restaurants, like this one. Pizza was an afterthought. Pizza is a big deal at pizza joints, not at restaurants.
- “Dr. Oetker” is German. What do Germans know about pizza?
- The best pizza joints are run by Greeks.
- Modern pizza has little to do with traditional Sicilian pizza. I’ve had both, including Sicilian pie made by a real Sicilian. I know.
No sale.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Still over half a mil:
The loss of 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, the biggest drop of any postwar economic slump, makes an acceleration in firings less likely as consumers begin to spend. A rebound in hiring may take longer to develop as companies have ample room to boost hours for current employees before taking on additional staff.</blockquote>
“. . . Noone Was There” 0
Joshua Bell and Frankie Mureno.
Joshua Bell – Eleanor Rigby (featuring Frankie Moreno) (Official Music Video) – Funny videos are here
Fear –> Dumb 0
You can’t make this stuff up:
But the amendment included the following clause, which was reportedly designed to ban civil unions and domestic partnerships: “This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”
One thing that is “identical…to marriage,” of course, is marriage.
Via Unqualified Offerings, which recasts this as a jobs bill:
Limits 2
I remember when I was a young ‘un, pundits would talk about the limitless potential of the oceans to provide food.
Not so then, not so now.
From the BBC:
A study reveals that an error in the classification of the species has meant researchers have failed to see just how close to the brink it is.
Buzzword Bailout 0
Thoreau at Unqualified Offerings applies Wall Street strategy to lexicography:
The Misunderstanding of Carrie Prejean 0
She was alone.
They were abstinence tapes, folks. Abstinence tapes.
(Concept shamelessly stolen from Michael Feldman.)
Seen on the Street 0
On the south side of Chestnut between Front and Second.
The inscription reads
From the People of the
Bicentennial to the People of
the Tricentennial Our Mementos
to be Opened Only by the
Mayor of Philadelphia
July 4, 2076, 3 P. M.Depth 5 Feet
It’s not going to make it.
Something You Can Bank On 0
Thomas Noyes writes at the Guardian (emphasis added):
A year ago, Alan Greenspan, the high priest of laissez-faire capitalism, admitted that he was “absolutely, precisely” wrong in thinking that self-interest would protect the financial system from self-inflicted collapse. Yet, the belief that unfettered finance would bring blessings to shareholders and customers alike dies hard.
Instead of wondering which institutions might be too big to fail, it’s time to consider whether the financial behemoths are too big to succeed.
Buy the Book 0
It’s got to better than the Newsweek article. I read The Nation. Agree or disagree with its writers, you must concede that they can string sentences together using a subject and a predicate (click the image for the link):
Ten bucks for the ebook.
Drinking Liberally 1
I made it to the Philly Drinking Liberally for the first time in a couple of months. Some of my friends were there; some were out of town. It was good seeing those who were there and, oddly enough, good missing those who were out of town. Even though some were missing, the fellowship was not.
Now to investigate Liberallies in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Barrel. Bottom. 2
One knows that the Newsweek issue about Sarah Palin must be really bad when even diehard carpet chewing liberals are complaining that it’s disrespectful and sexist.
Afterthought: I gave up on Time and Newsweek a long time ago and U. S. News and World Report even a longer time ago. All they are good for is passing time in the dentist’s waiting room.
Well. Not even that. I have internet on my cellphone.
Chamber of Chutzpah 0
Fact Check dot org deconstructs the ravings of the Chamber of Commerce against health care reform. Follow the link for the full analysis:
Or would it help small business and encourage economic growth, as claimed in an ad sponsored by a big labor union and other supporters of federal efforts to expand health insurance coverage?
Who’s right? Will jobs be lost as businesses are required to cover their employees? Or will the economy, and jobs picture, brighten as almost all Americans acquire health insurance?
The truth is the House legislation would likely have a “small” effect on jobs, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. A RAND Corp. expert says the job loss would be “quite minimal.” A third estimate puts the job loss at several hundred thousand low-wage jobs, or well under one-half of 1 percent of all jobs. Furthermore, the bill doesn’t kick in until the year 2013, and by then the economy is expected to be much improved, with unemployment down to 5.8 percent according to CBO’s projections.
It is all about their country club memberships.