2011 archive
Mitt the Flip without Borders 0
It is notable when Newt the Gingrinch sounds more reasonable than Mitt “Well, What Do You Want Me To Say?” Romney.
Pepper Rally (Updated) 2
At Philly dot com, John Timpane considers the “meme-mification” of the pepper spraying of protestors at the University of California at Davis, examining theories about why images and pastiches of that indicident spread so rapidly.
A nugget:
“That image was just too striking not to stick with people,” Wolford says.
Nonchalant cruelty towards the defenseless does tend to catch the eye, as Xeni Jardin points out at the Guardian:
Addendum:
We laugh because otherwise we cry.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
For all practical purposes, no change. Reuters tries to present that as something positive:
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed to a seasonally adjusted 393,000 from an upwardly revised 391,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.
(snip)
Initial claims below the 400,000 mark are normally seen as pointing to some healing in the jobs market.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, fell 3,250 to 394,250, the lowest since April.
As usual in these stories, there is no mention of how many persons no longer eligible for benefits are still out of work.
But the Dow is over 11,000.
QOTD 0
Oscar Levant:
A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it.</blockquote>
Take the Money and Run 0
That would mean customer accounts are missing about 22 percent of their total of $5.4 billion. A shortfall of 11 percent had been previously estimated by a person with knowledge of probes into the firm’s collapse. James Giddens, the trustee, said yesterday that forensic accountants and investigators are working “around the clock,” and the estimate may change.
Know, grasshopper, that, behind that curtain, they have no idea what they are doing.
They know only that someone else will be left holding the bag.
Back from the Shadows Again 0
The Firesign Theatre–Proctor, Bergman, Ossman, and Austin–unite at Radio Free Oz.
Live it, or live with it.
Words Matter 0
Philly dot com says:
Last time I looked, President Obama was not in the negotiation room.
More accurate would be
The failure of the congressional supercommittee to trim the federal deficit is the latest example of Republican
intransigencerefusal to compromise with Democrats.
A Rundown of the Republican Field 0
And I do mean rundown.
MSM on OWS 0
Documenting the distortions:
A nugget:
It is clear that those that question the methods have a problem with the message.
Zero Tolerance = Maximum Stupid 0
When I was in high school, I went with other members of a club to a school-sanctioned convention which involved an overnight stay in the old Roanoke Hotel. Our old maid (sorry, that’s the only phrase that truly conveys what she was like) teacher/club sponsor/chaperon warned us that there should be no “promiscuous intermixing” (there wasn’t any, but we chuckled mightily over her phrasing for the duration of the stay).
Even she wouldn’t have pulled something like this:
School brass actually reported the impromptu buss as a possible sex crime, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
(snip)
The kiss apparently occurred after two girls debated over whom the boy liked more. That’s when one of the girls “went over and kissed” the boy. The redacted sheriff’s report notes that Haring “stated there were no new allegations of sexual abuse as far as she knew.”
And a spitball would likely be classified as assault.
Children cannot learn good judgment from adults who have none.
Aside:
At that conference, we somehow got into a discussion of guest behavior with one of the hotel managers, wondering if a hotel full of high school juniors and seniors was troublesome.
I recall his saying that we might be a little noisy, but otherwise no trouble at all. Then he said that the most troublesome conventions would surprise us: Teachers.
This was back when the state did not allow restaurants to sell liquor and the attendants at the state stores wore uniforms and kept their stock locked behind a counter. His theory was that teachers were under such scrutiny at home that, when they got a chance to cut loose, they damn well did.
Back to my teacher, I understand that my father dated her once or twice in high school. Narrow escape.
The Sporting Life 0
How refreshing to open the sports section not see headlines about pederasty.
Instead, there are only heartwarming stories of stabbings and twittering twits.
. . . . . . . .
Oh, wait.
Danger Most Intents 0
At the Guardian, Joshua Clover explains the threat from the Occupy Movement. A nugget:
The sin of the Occupy Movement has been to exist.
Freedom of speech exercised against what in my younger days was called “the Establishment” is tolerated as long as it stays in the backwaters (sort of like this blog). Once persons start actually to notice it, the tear gas, or, these days, the pepper spray and tasers come out.
And Now for Something Completely Different 0
Face it, everyone has dreamed of doing this at least once.
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
I am certain this tour will be as fair and balanced as a Fox News show:
Where Are They Now? 0
Click for a larger image.
Via Some Guy with a Website, whose comments on the cartoon are worth reading.